One More Day

Tomorrow evening, (January 23, 2012) at approximately 8 pm I will be heading to the hospital not in labor but to experience labor through an induction. The thought of that makes me nervous because as we know it is not the natural way and so it puts mom and baby a tiny bit more at risk of the unknown. I confess that pain frightens me and I do not want to experience it like the first time. I have heard a wide variety of experiences from others about being induced and it leaves me feeling a little more fearful of the unknown. This is where having more faith comes in. I have been so fortunate to have an easy pregnancy and healthy baby that I feel that Heavenly Father wants for me to be ready, excited and willing to make new sacrifices each day for our family. He probably knew that if it was too hard I wouldn't do it over and over again! It is amazing to think about how much more He knows us and our needs than we could ever know ourselves.

I am grateful for the knowledge I have of  Him as my Eternal Father, that he loves me, and has given me many angels to guide and comfort me in this mortal life. It is an overwhelming feeling! I am grateful for each and every one of my family members and friends that care about me! Sometimes it is hard to accept so much love not wanting to burden or inconvenience someone else on my behalf. This is something I need to get over and allow them to receive the blessings for it. If you are reading this (or if you are not reading this) I want to thank you for your wonderful influence in my life!

Maren, my little ball of personality, I can see that you will be a great example to your little sister and to the future children in our family. I love you and always will. Thank you for helping me love on a deeper level. You make mommy and daddy very happy to have you in our family. Thanks for choosing us! 

Spencer, you are my angel and you give me wings! Thank you being an amazing father that gives me comfort in bringing these choice spirits into the world and helping me realize that we can do it with each other! Thank you for the faithful love you devote to me. I couldn't ask for more. I love you!

As I read over this, I laugh a bit because it sounds like the end....of something. I guess milestones in life help us reflect on the things that we are grateful for and give is the need to express it. So once again, thank you.

I am a Child of God

Christmas Morning

Whale Watching and Tillamook Factory

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.

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.

If daddy kneels, so does Maren

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 .

Doesn't this farmer look like Spencer?

Maren saying "MOOOOO"

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!

Mt Hood Adventure

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.

I love this look of joy on her face.

Maren really doesn't mind being cold. Again, just like her daddy.

Inside the lodge they had this really cool St Bernard that Maren was excited about.

This is a view of the lodge from the back.

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.

Christmas Day

Maren right after church excited to open presents.

She loved the classic train we all know and love from our childhoods.

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.

Christmas Eve

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.

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.

Visit from Annie and Dayton

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.

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.

Zoolights

A really nice friend had season passes to the zoo which allowed her to take guests to see the zoo lights they have at Christmas time. Our family got in for just $7. They had awesome light displays of animals all over.

Maren and the kids of the couple we went with.

Love the peacock.

Spencer riding an elephant-sized tricycle. This was an actual tricycle they trained elephants to ride in the circus.

We had just read Hansel and Gretel to Maren so instantly she thought the evil witch lived there. Her face is showing exactly how she feels. Terrified.

Christmas Activities

Maren in one of her many dress-ups.

One of my favorite decorations.

A friend invited us over to decorate sugar cookies. Maren wanted to eat the frosting and the sprinkles without decorating the cookies.

I ended up having to strip her down so her white shirt would not be permanently stained red and green. She was getting quite hyper by this point.

Cute moment

And another princess outfit. Reading How the Grinch stole Christmas with daddy.

Maren loved this box. As I am typing this right now (three weeks later) she is crying for the box so she can play again. She watched an entire movie in it.

Holiday in the Grove

Early in December Forest Grove had an event called "Holiday in the Grove". They had a parade that night that Maren was really excited about. We had an unusually warm fall so many trees were still dropping their leaves. Maren loves throwing leaves in the air. Classic.

Watching the parade. Doesn't look to enthusiastic but she enjoyed it.

This was the best part of the parade because where else but in the NW would they have logging trucks as part of the local parade?

New Quotes

1. I popped a fruit-flavored tum in my mouth (becoming more and more of a frequent occurrence-the joys of being pregnant) and as I chewed it up Maren came and sat on my lap wanting what was in my mouth. I said: "This is mommy's medicine, you wont want any." She then said: "Well, I am sick."

2. A neighbor girl was sent over by her mom with 2 measuring cups needing some brown sugar. After she left Maren got out 2 measuring cups demanding that she have sugar in her cups. Of course I am not going to let her cart sugar around the house so I had to get creative. She was really upset that it was not sugar.

3. In our house, we do not say "poopy" when referring to a messy diaper. In nursery that is the term they use so naturally she is starting to say it at home. Spencer corrects her every time, and I laugh because he will inevitably not win the battle. For the first time, Maren went stinky in the toilet which was probably the first time she had ever really seen her mess. That night we had pizza with sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes. She looked at the toppings, held one up and said with her nose turned up: "This is poop." It came out under her breath and she was very serious about it. We looked at each other and said: " Did she just say what I think she said?" We asked her again and she repeated just the same. We laughed really hard.

4. Sometimes after we put Maren to bed we can hear her talk to herself. This was tonight's dialog:"I a girl, not a boy, and not a beast."

5. We are often amazed at Maren's attention to detail considering she is only 21/2. Today I was wearing a royal blue sweatshirt which must have made my eyes look more blue than normal. She got really close to my face and looked into my eyes and said: "Your eyes blue, like your shirt." We were pretty impressed.

6. I gave Maren a new cereal to eat for breakfast today and told her it was like Life cereal so she would eat it. When she was done I asked her if she liked it and she said: "Yeah its crazy." "Crazy? Why was it crazy?" She said: "Cause Life is crazy!" Little did she know what she was really saying.

Trip to Utah: Annie's Wedding and Thanksgiving

The wedding seemed to go just as planned. Maren loved that Annie looked like a princess.

We got the chance to go to a BYU basketball game. If you donated cans you could get free tickets. Many families filled the new broadcasting building where there were all kinds of fun activities including meeting Cosmo!

They had a green screen set up where you could appear to be in the Marriott Center. Spencer had on a green shirt so you could see right through him.

Maren had a blast shaking her pompoms and wearing her "YU" stickers. She leaves off the B for some reason.

The face doesn't tell you but she really did have fun.

The friday after thanksgiving we went to Temple Square to see the lights. This is taken inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was quite a cold night.

The beautiful Salt Lake Temple

You cant quite tell but the tree above us had gold lights with golden leaves. It was quite amazing in person.

Once we returned home to Oregon, we went to a Christmas tree farm to buy our very first live tree! It was a bit more expensive then we anticipated hearing you could get trees for $15, but the experience was worth it. We felt good helping out this elderly gentlemen that ran the farm. He was so kind and helpful.

This is our Noble fir tree. Pretty small but fills the space in our small apartment nicely.

Maren was so excited about the tree. She helped me decorate.

All the festivities made Maren want to dress up so here she is matching the red on the tree. A detail she probably noticed herself and why she chose this dress. This little girl sure knows how to pay attention to detail. Christmas is officially underway and we are excited for it. We hope you capture the season in your lives as well!