Avo, Big Avo, & Bernie’s Oregon Visit….

The time was short, the days were long, but we had a great visit!!!!

Maddux came home from a month long vacation in California. When he came back home he also brought family with him. Avo (Judy), Big Avo (grandma), and Miss Bernie (as Maddux calls Aunt Bernie). This was the first visit for Big Avo and Bernie to Oregon. Paul, Paityn, and I were so excited to see everyone.

There are so many beautiful places we wanted to take them, but we only had a couple days.

They flew in Saturday March 20th, Paul was already at work, and I had to take Paityn to a 2 game softball scrimmage with the Sherwood Fireballs in Beaverton. I was able to watch her first at-bat and then I had to drive to the airport to pick everyone up. We hurried back to the ball field to watch most of the second game. Paityn had a great day playing. She went 4-6 and played a mean second base.






Sunday we all went into the Nike Employee Store for a “shopping day”!!!! I should have actually dropped Bernie and Judy off in the morning and pick them up when the store closes. If I would have let them, they would have been in there “ALL DAY!!!!”. Sometime I take the store for grated, but I remember the first time I went there, you want to take it all in and not miss anything. Monday we wanted to take everyone somewhere to show them a piece of Oregon, so we decided on taking them to the coast. We drove to Lincoln City, which is a little over an hour away from our home in Newberg. The day ended up beautiful, there was SUN!!!!!. We went to lunch at a local seafood restaurant and then walked the kids down to the ocean. Both kids had so much fun. Tuesday was the day we had to take them all to the airport. Goodbye’s are never an easy thing, especially when it comes to family.

We had such a wonderful visit and hope we have more family and friends visit us soon!!!!

My Man is 40!!!

As you grow each year,
To the sky without fear.
Sound judgment and roots,
Sweeter than fruits.

With seasons you change,
Isn’t that strange?
Standing tall and strong,
You know you belong.

Many climb for support,
You’re a great sport.
At forty, a young tree,
We must all agree.

Saturday March 6th was Paul's 40th birthday!!!

I had planned to have close friends from Oregon (actually most of them live on our street) over for dinner. I made dinner, made margaritas, and 2 cakes...

The first cake was a coconut cake made from scratch and the second one was a "shit cake". The cake was actually a 4 layer chocolate and white cake with a big pile of "shit" on top. My dad did a great job and I think had fun making the "shit" out of a buttercream and cocoa mix. He really got into this task and made it look very realistic.

Innocence

I love the way how Paityn is still so “Innocent”.

There is a newer song out right now that Paityn loves to work out to.
BedRock

The first time we heard this song was when Paityn was working out (softball conditioning) with the 16A NW Bullets softball team. Tracy invited Paityn to continue her conditioning when we left The Spot Fitness. This was the best move we ever made for Paityn. Tracy works the girls out hard and Paityn loves it….

Every time this song came on during the workout and every time there was a bad word sung the entire team would “SCREAM”. At first I could not figure out why they would scream like that. Later that evening Tracy told me why and we both laughed. She told me that the girls were protecting Paityn from all the bad words that were in the song, not actually all the bad words, but just the bad things they were singing about. I thought that was very nice of the girls for blocking part (actually most of the song) from Paityn.

When Tracy started a softball conditioning class with Paityn’s 12A softball team, Tracy asked Paityn to build a “play list” to play during the class. Paityn was excited and had it all done by the first class. Paityn had really thought about what she wanted on the “play list”. She had a little slower songs at the beginning, when the girls are warming up, fast paced songs in the middle, during the “hard” portion of the workout. And then again slower songs, during the cool-down. I thought she did a great job!!!

Once the workout started, so did the songs. About half way through this song (Bed Rock) came on, Tracy looked at me and asked…”is this the clean version?” I replied, “Is there a clean version?” We both just laughed and the girls continued their workout.

On our 45 minute drive home, Paityn played the song in the car. She listened to the entire song in great detail. Once the song was finished she said. “There was only one bad word mom, it was the “P” word”. I just said, “Well you must have gotten the clean version then”. What else was I supposed to say???

She thinks the song is about the Flintstones and the town of Bed Rock!!!!

I want to bottle up all her charming hopes and dreams, her endearing innocence and her enchanting confidence to fuel her spirit forever.

A Busy Week!!!

This week has been very busy…

Besides work which is always busy, I have been busy planning two surprises.

1. Someone is turning 40 this Saturday
2. A surprise limo ride for Paityn and 5 of her closest friends

I can’t believe both Paul and I are turning 40 this year!!! I originally wanted to have a big surprise party for Paul. Go somewhere or have his family and friends from California come up and meet some of our new friends here in Oregon. Plans were never really set since he was laid off at the end of the year. So I am doing the next best thing…having a dinner for him at the house with close friends and family that are here in Oregon. The dinner was never supposed to be a “Surprise”, but I have just not mentioned anything to him about it. I think he finally has caught on though. So many people have mentioned something when we see them around the neighborhood or at practice. It is actually kind of funny!!! He thinks we are having a BBQ and asks me…all I keep asking is “we are not having a BBQ.” I will add photos after this weekend and let you all know how dinner was in the next post…

Now for Paityn….isn’t it always about Paityn?

Many elementary schools now end at 5th grade. I think this is a big moment in Paityn’s life and want to celebrate it in a special way. I have come up with a limo ride with her closest friends. Not just a limo.... a “PINK HUMMER LIMO”. She has 5 really close friends and all but 1 live on the same street as us. All 6 girls are not “girly girls” and are not too crazy about the color “PINK”, so that is the reason why I went with that car.

This is a “surprise” and will hopefully stay a “surprise”. The deposit is down, the day picked, but the plans are not fully defined yet. We have until June, so we have plenty of time.