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| When a sweet friend offered to take some pictures of Eva I jumped at the offer. Thanks Kim! She captured some sweet moments of our little Eva after two days of trying to get her to stay asleep and cooperate. Kim was so patient and I am grateful for her willingness to photograph her! |
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| If all deliveries could be like this one I would never fear and be induced every time! I felt alert but without pain throughout the entire process. She came with very few pushes and cried her healthy cry confirming that she was alive and well. I felt an awareness of the beauty of it all that was more difficult to feel when Maren was born because I was so exhausted by then. What a miracle birth is. A time to celebrate. |
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| As usual a very proud and excited daddy. |
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| I will never forget Maren's face when she first held her sister. I know she felt the spirit of the situation and was excited to have her sister finally come to be with her. The first thing she said was: "She is Snow White" because of her dark hair. She then said: "She's not talking, I want her to talk." I think she was expecting a playmate to come and start playing with her. |
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| It was great to have my mom and dad in town for it all. They were a huge help. I loved having all the one on one time with them. I cried like a baby when they left. Love you guys! |
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| Grandpa and Eva. Classic. |
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| Eva always gives her Mamma a bright-eyed look when she talks to her. Its so sweet! |
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| Maren loves her sister |
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| The week after Christmas is a week when grey whales come down from the North to have their babies in Baja California. We hoped to capture a few but didnt have much success. There were multiple locations where volunteers would wait to help you site them and give any information you wanted to know. Spencer saw one but they are located so far out that it was not the most exciting thing in the world. We went to the Cape Meares lighthouse located west of the Tillamook Cheese factory. |
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| Maren was a brand new baby the last time we came here so we decided to come again. We also realized this will most likely be the last time we come out this direction before we move. A sad reality in lots of ways. |
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| If daddy kneels, so does Maren |
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| Maren spotted the car the minute we walked in the factory and threw a huge fit when we finally made her get out. You can see the pure excitement and joy she got out of driving the baby loaf . |
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| Doesn't this farmer look like Spencer? |
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| Maren saying "MOOOOO" |
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| Last, we drove up the coast to Canon beach to eat at Mo's a famous seafood spot on the beach. We always enjoy the time we spend out here even if it is cold! |
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| Mt. Hood is about 2 hours away and we had never been there. Thanks mom and dad for the free night's stay! We went directly up to the famous Timberline lodge and ski resort to check it out. It was disappointing as it was raining in the snow and very windy. We tried to make the most of it and found a place to build a snow man. Maren had a lot of fun. |
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| I love this look of joy on her face. |
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| Maren really doesn't mind being cold. Again, just like her daddy. |
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| Inside the lodge they had this really cool St Bernard that Maren was excited about. |
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| This is a view of the lodge from the back. |
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| Fell asleep reading "Goodnight Moon". I guess the book did its job. We ended up spending much of the evening in the hotel room relaxing. I had fun spending the time putting together a 500 piece puzzle by myself while Maren and Spencer watched football and Nemo. It was a relaxing trip. |
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| Maren right after church excited to open presents. |
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| She loved the classic train we all know and love from our childhoods. |
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| Last, we brought out the easel and water colors. She was more excited than we anticipated and went straight to work. We have a little artist in the family. |
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| After our big Danish meal with friends (sadly I got no pictures:( ) we let Maren open presents from Grandparents so she would remember who they came from. She enjoyed every gift and we were impressed with how much she wanted to play with each and every gift she was given. |
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| I wish I got more pictures but you got to watch her open them on skype so you will have to remember the moments that way. |
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| We had a great time a few days before Christmas with Annie and Dayton in Portland. They drove down from Seattle to spend the day with us. Maren instantly attached herself to Annie remembering she was the beautiful bride a month before. It was fun to spend some one on one time together. We saw many fun things in the city including Powell's Books, the outdoor Saturday market, and Finnegan's toy store. We then ate at a German restaurant called Gustavs. We parked in Beaverton and rode the train which was part of the fun adventure. That night we went to a light display near Forest Grove called Storybook Lane. This family had all kinds of storybook characters pained and lit up with movement throughout their backyard. You could date back the original display to the 1930s. One of those unique attractions you find only in small towns such as ours. |
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| You would think she would be happier to see her favorite characters. We woke her up minutes before and she wasn't happy about it. She stared at this display not wanting to move on so we knew she still loved it. |
