A few videos of my favorite little guy.

I've been playing with the time lapse feature on my phone. Since Mason moves around so much he's been a pretty good test subject!








And finally, Mason singing his favorite bedtime song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Not bad for an almost two year old!

Zoo Lights

Last night Mason and I joined our friends Lanae and Carmendy for a trip to Zoo Lights at the Oregon Zoo in Portland. We took the Max, the train in Portland, to get there so we didn't have to deal with parking. Mason was so excited to be on a train. He kept saying "Train! Train!" Over and over. 

Carmendy on the train. She's such a cutie. 

Hauling a heavy toddler across a big city is no easy task. I felt like I had lifted weights at the gym for a few hours. We finally made it to the zoo. There was a tiger walking around greeting people, and Mason was enthralled by him. He gave him at least 5 high fives and fist bumps. 

We walked around with our hot chocolates enjoying all of the lights. They do a great job. 

Mason kept yelling "Hippo!! Giraffe!! Alligator!!" At people as they walked by. Just in case they missed the animal lights right in front of them. He's very helpful. 😝

This crocodile opened and closed his mouth! 

We had a great time. Then it was back on the train for the long trip home (Mason didn't mind). 

This picture is of the huge Christmas tree in downtown Portland. Just as I was taking it our train pulled up across the street, 10 minutes early. As we ran across the street to catch it, tiny children in tow, the doors closed and pulled away. Dang it! Good thing there was a giant Christmas tree to distract the kids while we waited for the next one! 

 

Christmas shopping with mom...

Mason's Santa Experience

We took Mason to Macy's in downtown Portland to see Santa! We went with our friend Lanae and Jorge and their daughter Carmendy. Carmendy was very good for Santa, but Mason was not impressed!! He cried and cried and did not want to stay with Santa. Luckily there was a train that kids could play in after they visited Santa, that made up for the traumatic experience. We had a fun evening in downtown Portland, going out to dinner and seeing the giant Christmas tree in Pioneer Square. After dinner there was a man outside playing drums on 7 or 8 different buckets and Mason LOVED him. We stood by this guy for almost a half hour so Mason could dance to the drums! 

On a cold day...

...blankets out of the dryer are the best! 

Rainy weekend activities!

It was raining all weekend (like it does here) so we took Mason to the children's museum in Portland this weekend!! He had a blast! They had a Blue Man Group exhibit where the kids could play drums and learn about sounds, a pet hospital where they could practice using stethoscopes on stuffed animals and a construction zone where Mason loves pushing around rubber rocks. We will definitely by going back soon! 

Life changes

I recently decided to leave my job and stay home with Mason. This was an enormously difficult decision and came with a lot of heartache. This job was the reason we moved to Washington, I left a position that I really enjoyed in Utah, and I was hoping it would be a positive change. Unfortunately I found myself in an extremely negative environment. I hoped it would improve, but it got to the point where my unhappiness with my job was effecting every aspect of our lives. I decided to leave my position and enjoy being a mom for the time being. I'm hoping I can find something else that I enjoy soon. Trent has been so supportive during this tumultuous time and I am so grateful that I have him to lean on. I am sad to leave a field that I love, but I'm going to keep a positive attitude, look towards the future and choose to be happy! And spend a little more time with this adorable stinker.

Thanksgiving

We had a full house for Thanksgiving this year, and we loved it. My parents flew up Jerome, Kelly and Devon came from Boise, Lizzie flew over from Lewiston and Kathleen and Danny drove down from Canada to celebrate with us. It was so much fun to have everyone come see us! Mason loved having all of these people to play with him, and the dogs were happy to have all the extra attention. I had a lot of help cooking the meal and a lot of help tackling leftovers, which was much appreciated. I borrowed a few of your pictures Kathleen, I hope that's ok. :) 

Mason loved coloring, reading books and watching movies with his Grandma Kelly.

The puppies loved Danny!! 

Aunt Lizzie taught Mason a lot of important life lessons during her visit, like how delicious whipped cream is...

And the words to annoying pop culture songs.

We had a lot of fun with everyone. Now it's time to start getting ready for Christmas! 

Happy Sunday

Mason and I are sick, so we are having a pajama and movie day.  I hope everyone has a good week! 

Enjoying the beautiful PNW!

Trip to the Redwoods

We just got back from our second annual national park trip with the Garrisons! Last year we went to Bryce Canyon, this time we drove to Northern California to visit the Redwoods. We stayed in a cabin and did a few hikes, we even survived a six mile hike with three kids under the age of 5. 

Hiking makes Mason tired. 

On the way home we stopped in Crescent City, California and walked on the beach. 

When did my boy get so big? 

Happy hump day!

We love short work weeks. ❤️

Mom update

This summer, my mom told us that she has been having strange symptoms recently; she had been forgetting words and her memory seemed to be failing her. She was also experiencing neurological problems, her arms and legs felt like they weren't working together, her motor skills felt off. Over the 4th of July weekend, she went into the ER for these symptoms. They did a CT scan and a large mass in the posterior portion of her brain. Of course we were all devastated. The ER doctor made her an appointment with a radiation oncologist for the following week. At her appointment, the doctor told her that the tumor was able to be surgically removed, so that night they drove up to Boise to go to St. Alphonsus hospital. She had surgery the next day, and it went very well; it took less than an hour! The mass was 4 cm x 3 cm and the pathology showed it was a metastatic tumor from ovarian cancer. The oncologist thinks that the cells were in her brain at the time of diagnosis over eight years ago and the tumor has been growing slowly since. She recently finished 16 treatments of radiation to kill any possible remaining cells. According to the radiation oncologist, her prognosis is good and she will just have to have an MRI every couple of years to watch for any new growth. She is still healing but getting better every day. She even went back to work full time! We appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers from everyone. We love you all! 

Catching up on summer

Since I have been terrible about blogging this summer, I'll post a few pictures of different trips we took over the last few months. First Trent and I went to San Francisco so he could go to a conference. I just tagged along to play. :)

Chinatown.

Alcatraz Island

We got our exercise on those steep streets!

We also met Ernie and Jackie in San Diego for a quick trip to the beach! Mason and I visited my Uncle Hal and Aunt Ann for a day, then the Garrisons and Trent flew in to meet us. Mason saw the ocean for the first time. The first day all three kids loved the beach, they played in the water and the sand all day. The second day, we took them back to the same beach...and all three of them screamed and cried and ran away in terror. The adults stood there dumbfounded. Apparently the kids were done being on vacation.

Swimming in Hal and Ann's pool.

Balboa Park.