Oregon Visit - August 2011

Let's see... August 30th and I'm finally writing about things we did in August!! And what's sad, is that is actually pretty caught up for me! I will do my best to try and bust out posts about our August doings.

The first week of August, Ethan and I went down to Oregon to visit my family for a few days. I had not been down to Oregon since the end of May - a good 2 1/2 months and a far cry from my weekly visits for work last year.

Tuesday: Drove down and drove straight to my old hairdresser. I had not had an appointment with her since before we moved! I was desperate for a cut {read: my hair had not been cut since mid-February!} and due for a coloring. On a whim I called her the week before to see if she had any cancellations or a spare hour to do one or the other. What luck!! She had TWO cancellations. So I took the 2pm appointment on Tuesday and then Ethan and I barely made it out of WA by noon that day. Luckily, there was not major traffic hiccups so I made it to my appointment on time! My mom met us there and picked up Ethan and for the next two hours I sat back and let Terri work her magic. She colored it {adding back in some darker, golden blonde, as well as the usual platinum highlights} and chopped off a good 2-3 inches of dry, damaged ends. That night we went to Papa's Pizza for dinner and Ethan loved playing on the toys. Also, stayed up WAY too late playing the Indiana Jones game on the Wii.
Wednesday: Had lunch with Grandma Mary! I went and picked up stuff to make lunch and then we had chicken salad sandwiches, chips, grape tomatoes, lemonade and donuts. We ate our lunch leisurely (my mom, grandma and I) and then played Rummy. Yeah, Grandma beat us all!! It was really fun to get to spend the afternoon with her.

Thursday: Late in the afternoon I made the drive up to Girls Camp to visit my sister, Lizzy. This was her first year (excluding last year's Trek) that she was the solo Toftdahl sister there. It was also her 4th year. Anyway, I had had a request to help with some ideas for some of the stake adults and then got the ok to visit Thursday. I think my visit came with mixed reviews, but Lizzy loved having me there and that's what mattered the most to me! I was able to stay for flag ceremony and watched Lizzy help with 4th year news and it was also skit night, so that was fun.

Lizzy had something in lost and found and it was rumored she or a friend put it in there on purpose, just so she'd have to go up on stage. Her punishment? Butt-spelling her full name!

4th year news.

Skits. Lizzy's unit on the left and stake adults on the right.

Lizzy and I. You can see my new 'do here. Sorry for the bluriness - I had my camera set for a night portrait and then we took it under stage lights.

Friday: Packed up and went home - had to be sure to get home in time to pick Christine up from the airport! While I loaded everything up, my mom painted her toes so she could add some of my cute, new nail stickers. Then Ethan wanted in on the action, so he got one blue toenail with a yellow sun!
And this is Ethan getting ready to leave. He inherited some of Lizzy's old Build-a-Bears and ALL their accessories!
That night we picked Christine up from the airport and then headed to Klineline for a BBQ dinner with the Colemans. Told you we love that place!

Klineline Lake

I feel like we should sing the Cheers song while talking about Klineline. Seriously, we love that place. It's an old rock quarry filled with water and it's only about 10 minutes from our house. It's got everything... Nice, green grassy areas; picnic tables; BBQ grills; huge, sandy shore for the kids to play; shallow end that goes out a good 15 ft., deep end with a dock; fishing; playground and only $3 for a day-use. Way cheaper that taking our family to the pool. It's got everything and that's why we love it! Plus, we always meet up with friends which makes it even better! Most days we either go early and pack a picnic lunch and or go later in the afternoon and brings coals and something to BBQ for dinner. I have gathered LOTS of pictures from Klineline over the past two summers {though I never posted any from last summer... should still do that!} but this post will just be from Klineline trips in July.

July 6th

Ethan and Maddy playing in the sand.

Ethan playing in the water. Not sure where he got the net!

Coleman kiddos. Love Michael's face in the bottom right picture!

Brandon - reminds me of those Wooly Willy magnetic face toys!

See the comparison?!?

July 20th - Brian's birthday

Celebrated Brian Coleman being 1/2-way to 70!

July 22nd

Love watching the kids in the water. And the adults always love a swim from the dock on the opposite shore to the beach area.

More to come from August trips to Klineline!

July Recap

For not having a vacation planned for this summer, we sure have managed to keep busy and have fun! Here's a little glimpse into July...

* Date-night-movie-of-the-month: But, of course...After reading the books, finally reading the 7th book and watching the movies, this was a MUST-SEE!! And it did not disappoint!! A couple of differences from the book, but it was SO GOOD!!

* Swimming at the Dahls' pool. As previously mentioned, our friends sort of inherited an 18-feet across/4-feet deep pool and have been generous in sharing it! Ethan was very hesitant at first - the water comes up to his shoulders - but just yesterday (8/26) Ethan finally felt comfortable enough to swim without me in the pool, but still wearing a life-jacket. This is MUCH improved from July when he wouldn't hardly get in!!

This may be my favorite picture of the summer, or at least July. I LOVE the bright blue of the water and Ethan's big grin!!

* Fruit flies... Ugh.
Last summer we struggled with fruit flies in the kitchen - a lot. It was gross and we just couldn't seem to get rid of them. This summer, we've still had a lot of fruit flies, but with a little go green! trick we have kept them under control.Couple drops of dish soap and equal parts water and apple cider vinegar. Works like a charm!

* Pioneer DayThis year was fair theme w/ a BBQ lunch, bouncy slide, balloon animals, petting zoo, face painting, snow cones, magic show, handcart rides and dunk tank. The bouncy slide and handcart rides were Ethan's favorite.* Events already covered:
- Independence Day
- 6th Anniversary
- Piano Recital

* Misc. pictures

This was one day after Ethan got in trouble and sent to his room to clean it up. Seriously, best way to make him take a nap!

Transformers were the kids meal toy at Burger King, so we had to make a couple trips. Chicken nuggets, apple slices, milk and a Transformer toy. Yep, earned some mega mom points!

Sean and I were playing softball and apparently Ethan kept himself busy with the ladies! The girl on the right is in my Primary class and her sister is the one on the left.

Met one of Vicki's mission companions from England and played British Monopoly - complete with horrible attempts at a "proper" British accent!! :)

Fun Stuff Coming...

We have been so busy with fun little day outings and a few over-nighters this past month! I am trying to catch up and get everything posted, but there are a LOT of pictures to got
through. Not to mention, we are still busy trying to squeeze every last ounce of fun out of this summer - especially now that the weather has been so beautiful, sunny and hot!

Here's just a peak at what we've been up to:

* Clark County Fair


















* Ward Camp-out


















* Klineline Lake


















* Oregon Coast

Mani by Maddy

Alright, I've been working on the July Recap post {jam-packed w/ fun, new pictures!} but am also trying to savor the last few days we have Sean home before he heads back to the real world {i.e. work} and becomes crazy-busy. He is taking on SIX new piano students once school starts. Yeah, that will double his count from last year. So please forgive me for trying to squeeze in as much quality family time as I can during the last sunshiny days of August!

In the meantime, here's a fun one... We were at our friends, the Colemans, for dinner the other night and their youngest - five-year-old Maddy - painted my nails for me! I told her just one color, but apparently she took that to mean one color per nail! Here are the final results:Please ignore my chubby fingers! She started with my right hand - the nail painted blue. Then, on the left hand I pointed out that she had not used blue at all. She looked at me like I had never seen a bottle of nail polish before and just said, "I know." Oh, to be a carefree five-year-old w/ rainbow nails!

6 Years: Then & Now, plus date night!

Still catching up on July...

On the 9th Sean and I celebrated our sixth anniversary! For this post I thought I'd do a little Then & Now to look back at how our lives may have changed in the past six years. I also thought I'd share some of the photos from our Oregon reception because I don't think I've ever put any of those on the blog.

Southworth Family

These are some of my favorite silly pictures.... Sean being harassed by his groomsmen, Me showing off my wedding flip flops - complete w/ rhinestones, Me w/ a friend from my kick-boxing class at the gym, Me being harassed by Sean's groomsmen.

Toftdahl Family

Me w/ bridesmaids and my mom. LOVE that picture of me and my mom!!

Sean w/ me and his sister, Sean w/ his Dad, Sean playing piano and singing original song he wrote for me, Sean w/ Ruth {woman he used to care for at assisted living job}, Sean and groomsmen.

Cutting the cake.

And here's the Then & Now segment...

HOME
Then: Double-wide trailer in the back of Sean's grandma's property in OREGON. Total 70s decor!
Now: 2-bed/2-bath duplex w/ large backyard in WASHINGTON. Classic/updated decor.

FAMILY
Then (for me): 2 sisters, 4 sisters-in-law, 2 brothers-in-law and 1 nephewNow (for me): 2 sisters, 4 sisters-in-law, 3 brothers-in-law, 4 nephews and 3 nieces

KIDS
Then: None, but talk of having 3-5 eventually.
Now: One super-duper amazing little boy and prayers that we will have more.
LOOKS
Then: Sean was clean-shaven, then had a goatee for 5 years. I had long, blonde curly hair and usually wore blouses or a shirt/cardigan combo.
Now: Sean is back to being clean-shaven and if you catch his hair in the right light, you can spot a few strands of gray! I have short, blonde curly hair though it is often pulled back in a pony-tail and I still usually wear a shirt/cardigan combo. Let's not talk about weight fluctuations, though!

JOBS
Then: Sean working full-time in Salem and commuting over an hour each way every day and me working full-time in accounts payable.
Now: Sean working full-time plus teaching music lessons and me being a full-time wife/mom {though also looking for a part-time job}.

VEHICLES
Then: Sean had a 4-door Ford Escort and I had a 2-door Honda Accord
Now: Sean drives the Accord to work and we have a 4-door Ford Explorer for our family car.

DATE NIGHT (Typical)
Then: Dinner and a late-night movie. No sitter to worry about paying/getting home.
Now: Dinner (maybe) and a 7pm movie so we're not back too late - just a little adjustment from six years ago. :)

LOVE
Then: Young and in love and adjusting to life as newlyweds.
Now: Young and in love. Some things never change!
Our date night this year was similar to last year. Dinner was at the Black Angus steakhouse, where we shared the campfire special {i.e. a really good deal for dinner, which included an appetizer to share, our entree/sides and a dessert to share}. I ordered a blackberry ginger ale and it may just be the best thing I've ever had to drink at a restaurant! "Fresh blackberries muddled with lime juice, Torani ginger and blackberry syrups, and topped with club soda." So, so good! For dinner I had the house salad, a baked potato and steak while Sean had fries, corn on the cob and steak. We shared the chocolate cake, but didn't even get close to finishing - and that was after we had boxed up part of our dinner to take home!After dinner, we headed over to Keller Auditorium {definitely a perk of living in Vancouver - downtown Portland is only 15-20 minutes away!} to see Mary Poppins! We bought tickets last-minute and though it was not in the budget, it was a nice splurge and fun way to celebrate our anniversary.

We had a great anniversary! I'm so blessed to have the man I love beside me as we navigate the trials and triumphs of our life together. We have a wonderful family and I love it!

2011 Piano Recital

Still catching up on July events.... On the 10th we had a little piano recital for Sean's piano students. Currently, he has 5 students - though that may double with the new school year because word has got around. Not surprising, I hear nothing but good things from the parents of Sean's students! He is an excellent teacher.

They each played 2 songs, so the recital was about 10 minutes long! They all did a great job, though. This was actually the first time I had really heard any of them because Sean goes to their homes for the lessons {Win-win for both me and the parents - they don't have to get to our house and come right back after the 1/2 hour lesson and I don't have to try and keep Ethan quiet for each lesson. Plus, the parents are there for the lesson and can hear how their kids are doing/what they are learning.} each week. After the recital we had refreshments and mingled.

(Sorry the lighting isn't the greatest, but I was sitting pretty close and didn't want to distract them with a flash, so they all have very bright back lighting. Oh, well.)