Happy Birthday, Luke!

Our sweet boy turned 7 last week! It's hard to believe we've been parents for seven years already. Luke has filled our lives with kindness, sensitivity, sports, and JOY.

This kid is all-things-sports. He watches Sportscenter daily, Football is his go-to choice of television, and Football or Basketball is his go-to sport to play with Ella. To say he's obsessed is an understatement. He LOVES the Ducks, which makes me VERY proud, the Philadelphia Eagles and LeBron James. Not only does he watch the game, he studies the game. I hear him try to teach Drew moves and it's particularly funny when Ella messes up a play. It's a daily reminder that Ella is a dog, with four legs, and can't physically catch a ball. The first question every night when Adam walks through the door is, "Dad! Will you play football with me?"

Balloons sent to school 

New Jersey! Thanks Ms.V!!! (It hasn't come off him yet!)

Treats in his classroom :) 

Boys each got a new bike for their birthdays! Luke has been a rockstar riding along with me as I run. Fun! 

We are so thankful you are OURS, Luke. Thank you for softening our world and showing us how to care for others. And, thank you for reminding us that football is the answer to all-the-things.

Thankful

'Tis the season...

Giving thanks is something I definitely do not reserve for the holidays. I try to stop and make time for gratitude in my life daily. And I feel blessed that I don't have to look very hard. Gratitude is what gets me through difficult times, it's what reminds that what I have is enough and it always sheds a positive light when the light feels dim.

I once did a Thankful activity with my students and the quote I wrote on it was: There is always, always, always something to be thankful for. So true. 

We had a wonderful time in Roseburg celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday with our families. Sitting around the table, eating together, laughing and talking was JUST what my heart had missed so, so much. Don't get me wrong, we loved our Thanksgiving potlucks in Singapore and our friends there made the holidays brighter. But simply put, HOME is where I want to be, especially for the holidays.

My beautiful sister...SO fun being with her and having our kids back together. 

These four are a joy to watch grow up.

Black Friday brought wine tasting and another Thanksgiving dinner with my Dad, Michelle and family.

Cousins...trying to get a smile out of Drew :) 

The weekend wrapped up with the Civil War game and a little birthday celebration for Luke :) 

Two peas in a pod!

We are loving the holiday season back home!

Tanya's Visit!

Our dear friend, Tanya, came back Portland for a visit. Given that it was her Fall break, she just had a week here....but it was a PERFECT week. We loved having her here!

She enjoyed the every-day-routine things and we threw in some not-so-every-day-fun!

First day brought a DUCK GAME! She loved it and I loved taking her to the Happiest Place on Earth!

So happy to have this crazy lady here! 

They decided our house needed a little Halloween decorating :) 

She was making us sausage rolls...so good!

One of my favorite moments...having her do some planning with the Specialists at my school. She was exactly what they needed.  

Dinner out...just the adults! 

Drew has a love/like/pretending not to know relationship with EVERYONE. She finds it especially funny and would much prefer hanging out with D when I'm not around. :)

Girls day! Coffee and shopping! 

One of our few morning runs 

Dropping Luke off at school...she's loving the Drew snuggles :) 

Visiting the Roloff Pumpkin Patch, followed by the best burgers & fries afterwards!

Happy Family :) 

We took D for a walk - he loved looking at everyone's decorations

Pumpkin carving party. There was an EXCELLENT cheese, cracker & spread plate inside, with wine. A favorite dinner of ours! 

Her last morning here...getting ready for HER FIRST 10K RACE!!

Race is DONE. She rocked it! So proud of this girl...

Having T here reminded me just HOW MUCH we laugh together. Constantly. Whether it was time in our pj's on the couch, morning runs, random errands, or day adventures - we love to laugh. Life is more fun with her in. Simple as that.

We miss her hugely (let's be honest, we missed her the minute she boarded the plane) but can't wait to have her back next summer. I'm trying not to think about how much time there is until then. For now, our daily texts and occasional FaceTimes will have to do.

Love you T! xx

Happy Halloween!

We had a wonderful Halloween at HOME. I got to be a real-life-volunteer for Luke's class party, which was fun. You'd think that teaching in the same school for the past two years would enable me to be part of all his parties, but I never got to attend one. Having your own classroom means having your own parties, which means you can't escape to see your own children. So not only did I have yesterday off, I got to be watch the costume parade at his school, help set up for his party and be a participant. I loved every minute.

For the evening, we re-started up our tradition of dinner and trick-or-treating with the Kuitert family. We've been trick-or-treating with them since Luke was 10 months old. Our families have certainly grown and it's so fun to spend this holiday with them.

Luke & Drew were SWAT team members, Brayden was a Knight and Macy was Rapunzel. 

We both commented on how much more "dressed" we were this year vs. the last two! 

Cuties! 

Now onto the next holiday... THANKSGIVING! Feeling very thankful this year for sure and loving all of these FALL holidays in Oregon!