Fun with Sorensens and the Seattle Jolleys

Right after Black Butte, we were greeted back home by the Sorensens! Have you seen my babies lately?? THEY ARE NOT BABIES ANYMORE!!! They are all grown up. It really is so fun to get to know them at every stage of their lives, even though it would be ok with me if they all stopped growing right now. Bethany drives. That ought to blow your mind! Nick is this super handsome, ladies man, high schooler! Ben continues to be the comedy of the family. I've always loved that boy so much. Bella and I share a deep love for Justin Bieber. She's clearly a smart girl. But seriously, she is really smart. And Joshie is precious. I love every chance I get to play with him. It was so fun to see them even though it was quick. I don't get to see Mel enough and love every chance I get. I hope to be even half the mother she is.

Immediately after the Sorensens drove away, I got in the car with Jill & kids for a week in Seattle. I was really looking forward to this as well because I haven't had a chance to play with the boys in way too long, I have been totally ROBBED with my Erica time, and I see Darren occasionally, but never Jill! Well the trip did not disappoint. If you want to talk about imaginations, these boys have it DOWN. Not to mention they are little smarties! There were multiple times where I had to stop and think if I even know what they were talking about because it was so advanced! We did all kinds of fun things! Downtown Seattle, zoo,the boys came home from Knight Camp in awesome armor, played outside, and most fun for me... watched Erica learn how to walk!

I nearly stuck her in my bag and took her to Hawaii with me. I love this girl. She finally learned to love me too. That there was worth the trip! She was SOO adorable. She was so proud of herself for standing up and taking little steps. And for good reason! One night, Darren & Jill went to a movie. Erica stayed up until 10:30 just snuggling me and staring at me. She would NOT let me put her to bed. She just tolerated me until her mom got home. It was so cute! haha!

Thank you, thank you for a great week!It was long overdue and very fun. I miss you all already!

Black Butte

Marc and Connie were so awesome to share their favorite place with us. Black Butte is a ranch/resort dealy by Sisters, Or. It is beautiful! And there is so much fun stuff to do. 4 great swimming pools, bike riding, deer running all over the place, canoeing, and beautiful homes perfect for a family gathering. It was so wonderful to spend time with my parents, some of my siblings and their beautiful children. I truly could watch those kids play all day. They are HILARIOUS! I'm kind of obsessed with the little girls right now because they're the only ones who aren't getting all big on me. And then... then... there's Cameron. It was sooo fun to get to snuggle him all week!

Some of my favorite things of the week:

-Winning every single game of Scrabble. Thank you, thank you very much.

-The kids excitement over the awesome crafts mom planned for every day.

-Easton telling my mom EVERY detail of how to play is imaginary Mario game. This took about at hour.

-Snuggling Cameron.

-Staying up late catching up with family.

-My sweet husband driving 2 hours each way, 3 times throughout the week to see everyone.

-Bike Ride!

-Carly trying to steal food from Erica and Erica shewing her away.

-Watching the little boys play ping pong.

-Jill's amazing patience in working on swimming with the boys.

-I could go on & on

It was a wonderful week in a beautiful location. Thanks everyone for all the fun!!

Much Apologies

You can always know when someone is off having the time of their life. It's when they ditch their blog for a month. That's what I've been doing. Since my last post, I've spent a week at Black Butte, had a quick/fun visit with the Sorensen family, spent a week in Seattle, and then spent a week in Hawaii. There's so much to share and I can't wait to do it :)

We're safely back in Utah after the best summer ever imaginable. We were very sad to leave Oregon and all the fun at home with Mom & Dad. But, the good news is, we've missed all of our friends here SO much and we're so happy to see them again. I think Steph and I have been talking for like 2 days straight and I love it.

I promise I will share all of our fun adventures with you. But for now, I'm off to finish reading The Help until I fall asleep. I'll leave you with the image that I fall asleep to every night... our view in Maui. It feels like a dream.

Cameron Marcus Jolley

Most.Precious.EVER! Look at that face. I am telling you guys. He is beautiful. He was born Tuesday, July 19th and came in at 9lbs! He doesn't look that big though, he looks tiny with the perfect amount of cheeks :) Congratulations to Marc and Connie on another adorable and perfect baby boy! I love him so much.
Kellen and Caleb are adorable with him. They want to hold him and kiss him and they kept telling Grandma to make sure to take good care of him. They are proud big brothers and Cameron is in good hands. Marc and Connie were so happy and proud of their new boy and I just loved it. I could NOT get enough of Cameron. I was trying not to be a baby hog, but it's hard when he's that precious and I just want to snuggle him all day long! They were so nice to share with me.
I love you, Cameron. And can't wait for all the fun to come :)

Another Fun Weekend Away

Mom, Dad, Michael and I decided to pack up and hit the beach this last weekend. I love the Oregon Coast and had to get my fix at least once while we are here in Oregon. Yeah, it was cloudy and kinda misty, but would it really be the Oregon Coast if it wasn't?! Michael and I really enjoy doing all this fun stuff with Mom & Dad. It's always fun! Michael said the other day... "Bruce, you are the funniest person I know" haha :) We stayed at Driftwood Shores and had fun every minute! Fire on the beach, swimming in the hotel pool, playing cards, Mo's, hiking the light house, crab cocktails, and playing on the beach! We had a great time enjoying the beach, it's truly the most beautiful place.

The beach cleared up real quick when it started raining, but we stayed out and enjoyed our fire :) It reminded us of the Horseshoe Bend days when the campground would clear out if it rained, but we were still there warm & dry thanks to my prepared parents!

It was a wonderful weekend! I love looking forward to these fun getaways during the week. This has seriously been the greatest summer ever. Better than I could ever want! I'm pretty sure you're all sick of me saying that a million times... but I'm trying to live it up while I still can! We're not talking about going back to reality yet. I'm pretending that's never happening.

We love America & the Butte to Butte!

What a jam-packed and super fun 4th of July! We truly enjoyed every last second of this great day this year and hit up all the fun events. I love the 4th of July. I think most people do. Besides the great food and fireworks, we get to think about our country. We are so blessed. Most of the things we complain about, are things that most of the world we be so happy to have. It's also a day when we get to be thankful for those who are serving/have served our country. THANK YOU. I don't know why I'm so blessed to live in this great nation, but I truly am grateful.

We watched the fireworks from Island Park this year. Man, that is some quality people watching! We had a great time enjoying the atmosphere and the fireworks were awesome!
We also went to the Creswell Parade! It did not disappoint, as always. Mom & Dad looked so cute and patriotic and we loved the parade. It was kind of hilarious to see Dad & Michael out there fighting the little kids for candy.

And I think the hi-light of our day was the Butte to Butte! Michael and I ran the 10k while Mom and Dad walked the 4.5 mile walk. It was awesome! We all had such a great time. The weather was absolutely PERFECTION and it felt so good to jog through the city I love. Neither Michael or I had to walk and just enjoyed the whole run. I was nervous before, but I think we'd all do it again in a heart beat. My dad is the Butte to Butte champ! He's ran it for many years and had good times, so it was really fun for me to join him in this tradition.

Again, summer is great. The 4th of July was so fun. And I sure am proud to be an American.

Workin' it Out!

Check out my aerobics crew! THEY ARE AWESOME! Of course on the day that I brought my camera, we had 4-5 missing people. So I'm going to keep bringing my camera to make sure to get them in action too. This has been SO fun! Aerobics has been my favorite way to exercise since my first aerobics class my freshman year of college. That class was the reason I chose to study Exercise Science and what a blessing that turned out to be! I have always wanted to get certified and the opportunity has presented itself many times, but for some reason I never do! It's definitely what I want to do for work when I have kids and such. This time around though, I was inspired by my friend Shelby. She started teaching a class back in Utah and it is SO FUN! I knew I had to keep it going while here in Oregon for the summer! Notice how Michael is in the picture... he never misses. :) Love him!

Everyone keeps asking me who is going to take my place when I leave, I nominate Whitney :) She's a pro. So, if you are reading this and know me and live here in Springfield/Eugene, come to exercise with us!! If you're interested let me know and I'll give you the info. There's no class this week though, I'll be out of town.

PROPS TO MY EXERCISE PEEPS WHO ALWAYS KEEP UP AND WORK SO HARD! THANKS FOR MAKING THIS SO FUN FOR ME!