Enchanted Forest (Amusement Park) Turner, Oregon

 Misty, Adalei, Brielle, and Elijah met me at Enchanted Forest on Saturday and we spent the day there.  It was a fun place and I really enjoyed being there with them.

 Humpty "Dumpty above.

 Adalei coming out of the house from the story of Hansel and Gretel (above).

 Adalei and Brielle at the key hole from the story of Alice in Wonderland (above).

 The kids had a fun time and I had a fun time watching them.

 Above, you go in the witches mouth and climb up the stairs and come down a slide on the other side of her head. 

 Above and below, you can see the shoe from the story - the old woman that lived in a shoe.  You went in the shoe at the door above where Brielle is standing.  Then the kids get on a mat and slide down a very long slide.  This was one of their favorite places and we went there a second time.

 Two cute sisters enjoying their ice cream.

 The distorting mirrors above - Misty, Adalei and Elijah.

 Misty with Brielle, Adalei, and Elijah above.

 The bumper boats were a favorite ride.  Adalei above and Brielle/Elijah in the next two pictures below.

 The train - Brielle above with Misty and Elijah below.

 Adalei and Brielle both loved this Frog Hopper ride.  I was surprised that they didn't get scared.  (They are second and third from the right.)

Here I am in front of the restroom for the women - "ma"!  Just for me!

I had a wonderful time and look forward to going again!  Thanks to Misty and the kids for making the 2+ hour drive to meet me.  It was a terrific day!

Fifty-Five!

I had a super fun birthday this year!  I am so blessed with a loving family, lots of friends, and kind co-workers.  I received gifts, cards, flowers, phone calls, emails, and texts for my birthday!  I felt so loved.  It was wonderful.

Although I got lots of really nice and wonderful gifts, one in particular really touched me.  When I was last in Grants Pass, Misty gave me a large, heavy box and told me not to open it until my birthday.  I couldn't imagine what it was.  I was so surprised when I opened the box on my birthday and found 55 wrapped gifts!  Can you imagine?  She spent a fortunate on my birthday gifts - gift cards, jewelry, snack foods, supplies for baking, food, pens, candle, foot scrub, lotions, soaps, fuzzy socks, pictures from the kids, notes, note pad, etc, etc, etc.  I couldn't keep from crying.  It was especially fun to talk to Misty and the girls (Adalei, Brielle) while I opened my gifts.  I just can't thank them enough for such a terrific birthday gift.  This has been my best birthday ever!  I am so grateful to be so blessed! 

Thanks also to Jason, Ashley, Casey, and Jenna for some great gifts off my wish list - headlamp for running in the dark, baking supplies, jelly roll pan, bracelet, page protectors, etc.  I was so excited to receive them as well.  My mother rarely sends gifts and she even sent me a check to buy a pair of shoes.  I am thrilled with the new shoes I bought also.

What a birthday!   It was super fun!  Thanks everyone!

Misty's Birthday - Ashland, Oregon - September 2012

Charity and I met in Grants Pass to celebrate Misty's birthday with her.  We went to Ashland, Oregon, which is only 35 miles away to attend the famous Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  Before the play, we had a delightful lunch at Pangea Grills & Wraps.  The food was great and we enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere.

This is a picture of us front and center - Charity, Misty and then me.  We saw the play "Romeo and Juliet."  It was excellent and I loved it.  It was so fun to go with Charity and Misty.

This is a picture of Ashland.  It is a cute little town with lots of Oregon Shakespeare Festival flags up and down the streets.  There are lots of little shops that look like a lot of fun.  It was so much fun next year we want to plan to stay longer and attend "My Fair Lady."  Let me know if you want to join in the fun.  I'm not sure when we will go but I'm thinking in September if we can possibly coordinate it with Adalei's baptism.  Otherwise, we'll come up with a different plan.  Thanks Misty for celebrating your birthday with us!  It was fun!  (And, thanks to Nate for watching the kids and making it a fun day for them while we were gone.)

Two Year Old Elijah Can Ride A Bike By Himself!

 Look at this!  Elijah can ride a bike all by himself!  He was just adorable.  When I arrived in Grants Pass, he got on his bike and started riding around and around in the driveway.  Then he said, "Look at me, Grandma.  Take a picture!"  Of course I took a lot of pictures.  I just was amazed that he could ride a bike and he's only 2 yrs old!  He is really good at riding it too!  Way to go Elijah!  Brielle has also learned how to ride a bike since I saw her last. 

 Besides riding his bike, Elijah loves playing with his cars.  He calls them his race cars.  I loved how he lines them up.  I was just there for a couple of days but he asked me a few times if I wanted to play with cars with him.  He is just so sweet.

 I took Adalei and Brielle to Walmart with me and I let them pick out coloring books, stickers, and crayons.  They had a fun time coloring after we got back.

 I just love this smile of Elijah's above.  

Here's Charity below.  I was thrilled that she drove the 7 1/2 hours to Grants Pass so we could both spend the weekend with Nate and his family.

 Elijah with his cars again above and below is a cute picture of Brielle.

 Nate made us delicious pancakes for breakfast Sunday morning!  Yum!  Great job Nate!

 Charity reading to Brielle above.

 Brielle and Adalei had fun playing with play dough.  They are each holding an ice cream cone made from play dough.

 Here's Adalei above and Elijah below.  Both all ready for church looking so cute with their beautiful smiles! 

Benson and Weston

Jenna, Weston, Benson, and Allison came to visit me the Sunday of Labor Day weekend.  They arrived in time for breakfast before church.  It was so fun to see them and spend time together.  After church, Jenna made her fabulous coconut chicken.  I LOVED it!  She even made extra so I had two servings to freeze for later.  (Only one is left now.)  It was wonderful to hang out together on Sunday.  I got a couple of shots of the boys.  Benson, above, was so cute playing games on Jenna's i phone and wearing the boots that I got him.  Weston, below, was playing games on my i phone. 

Isn't this a cute picture below?  Benson in his boots and helmet.....  Weston's cute smile!

The next day we went to the Portland Childrens Museum and had a great time there then they went to Hillsboro.  Jenna's sister Joanna was so thoughtful and invited me over for dinner one nite later that week so I had some extra time to spend with Jenna and the kids.  It was just great to see them and I hope they will be able to come again soon!  Jenna, thanks so much for coming!

Portland Children's Museum

 Jenna and the kids came up to visit me for two days over the Labor Day weekend.  It was so very fun to have them here.  I was just thrilled.  On Labor Day we went to the Children's Museum in Portland.  I thought it was great and the kids really seemed to have a wonderful time.  I enjoyed watching them very much.  

All the pictures for this blog post are from the Children's Museum.  

Above and below are pictures of Weston and Benson doing face painting.  It was fun putting it on but it wasn't so fun when it had to be washed off!

 Allison was so good.  I don't think she ever fussed or cried once the whole time we were there and we spent most of the day there.

 

 The kids liked brushing the alligator's teeth.

 We spent quite a bit of time in this little store.  The boys had fun shopping, paying for their groceries and eating some!

 Another picture above of Allison being so good.  She is such a pretty little girl.  I just adore her.

 This might have been the room that was the most fun for the boys.  They really liked playing in the water - watching the ducks float....

 lots of fun things to do with the water.....

 This was a little ticket counter for the theater.

 This was my favorite picture.  I wish we could have seen Allison better but you can tell she is there.

 Playing in a bus............

 Playing with clay......

 Playing in the tree house...

 Playing with the trucks in the dirt.....

 Cute Benson above and below both boys were on stage performing!

It was a really fun day and I hated to see it come to an end.  I'm so happy they came to visit me!  Thanks Jenna for making the long drive and taking the time to spend two days with me.  It was wonderful from beginning to end!

Random Shots from My August Visit to Folsom/Roseville

 I had a blast going to garage sales with Casey.  We got some great deals on sports equipment.  Weston and Benson were excited with our finds also!  Don't they look so cute?

 Benson, above, was just so cute eating his pancake and dipping it in syrup. 

 Here's Spencer, above, playing with his animals.  He just loves his animals.

 While I was there, I was able to attend one of Paisley's soccer practices.  She is dressed up so cute and I just had to take a picture.  It was hot and she really ran and played hard.  I was pleased to see how good she is at playing soccer.  Spencer was on the sidelines practicing his soccer skills so I'm sure it won't be long until he's playing soccer too.

Jason was working and the kids surprised him.  I thought it was great that he is so happy to see them.  Working from home can be hard with a family.  He is a wonderful dad.