Look at me Mom!!!

This first picture is looking down at my lap and I sat at the computer the other day. It's actually fairly normal for my lap to look like this and I almost never have an empty lap :) I'm so glad my kids love being near me though! I wouldn't trade it for anything :)


Today Kylie found her "pocket shirt" and put it on so that she could carry blocks around the house. She filled it with as many blocks as she could fit, then asked me to take a picture of her. Meg wanted in on the action as well :) If you look closely, you can see that one of her top teeth is just about to come out. It's so loose that it's crooked. She doesn't want us to pull it out though - she's decided we need to buy more apples so that she can eat one and have her tooth come out in it (that's how she lost her first tooth).

The other day I heard Jack complaining and so I went into the playroom to check on him. He was stuck on the bridge between the big slide and the climber. I didn't know if one of the girls had helped him get up there or if he had done it himself until this morning, when I caught him scooting up the slide on his own! He was so proud of himself!

Good-bye Oregon (Saturday)

We flew home from OR on Saturday afternoon, so Saturday morning Rob and I packed everything up and prepared for the flight home. Grandpa made pancakes for breakfast (and Grandpa makes great pancakes!) so that the kids would have something more solid than cereal to eat before we left. All the kids toys were packed, so I was afraid they might get bored, but Grandpa and Becca did a great job of entertaining them. Megan and Kylie hid in Becca's room and Grandpa would pretend to get them through the door. Becca's room has two doors and at one point Megs and Kylie were plotting with Becca at one door while Grandpa snuck in through the other door. Kylie turned and saw him and said "M-m-m-megan!" Meg screeched and they both took off :)

We looked at the clock and discovered that it was past time to go, so we loaded everyone in the car. Grandma made us a sack lunch so we didn't have to buy lunch at the airport. It was hard to say good-bye ~ it had been such a wonderful visit! We are so glad we had the chance to take the kids (and to go ourselves) out to OR and that they were able to get so close to Grandpa, Grandma and Becca (and Quincy and Cindy)! It had been so long since the last time we got to see them and although we really try to form bonds through pictures, webcams and phone calls, there just isn't anything like actually spending time with family! I wish we all lived within 50 miles of each other so that we could see each other more regularly! Hopefully we'll be able to make it back out to OR soon and we really hope that Grandma, Grandpa, Becca, Quincy and Cindy will be able to come visit often as well! We miss you guys!!! Thank you so much for everything!!!

Kisses for Jack

Ready to go!

A few extra pictures that we love . . .

Jack and Becca

Megs and Becca

Playing "cups" with Becca

Grandma and Beth

Grandma reading

Grandpa and Jack

Meg showing Great-Grandma her loose tooth

Rob and Becca

Watching Wallace and Gromit

Visiting family and friends (Friday - and a recap of Tues night, which I forgot)

I completely forgot about Tuesday night. Tuesday, Rob's best friend Wayne took the day off work and drove up to Vernonia. We got to spend some time with him that afternoon (I can't believe I didn't take pictures! I was pretty out of it though) and we drove around Vernonia reminiscing. We met up with another of Rob's friends from high school, Damien, and his wife, Serissa (sorry if I spelled that wrong!) for dinner at a local restaurant, then the kids and I went home to bed and Rob went out with Wayne, Damien, and two other friends, Deric and Justin, to shoot pool and talk.

Friday we loaded everyone into two cars and headed out for some visits. Our first stop was Stacy's house (Stacy is Rob's cousin). She was having a yard sale that day, so both her parents, Rob's Uncle Greg and Aunt Barbara, were there and so were all of her sisters. We were so excited to get to see everyone! It had been 5 years since we had seen most of them and Stacy we hadn't seen since our wedding reception! The kids played in the backyard with Stacy's and Kristy's (another of Rob's cousins) children and had a blast! Beth loved the little animal statues that Stacy had in her garden and went around petting each one. Megan still asks when we are going to go back and play with her cousins again.

The kids playing in the backyard

Kristy, Rob, Mandi, Becca, and Stacy

Uncle Greg, Rob, and Aunt Barbara

After visiting with the Lemmons, we grabbed lunch and then headed over to visit with Great Grandma and Grandpa Knowlton, who live in an assisted living facility nearby. Although we had seen them almost every month while we lived in ID, the last time we had seen them was when Megan was about Jack's age. They had never gotten to meet Kylie, Beth or Jack. One thing that made this visit really special as well is that since Rob's father is an only son, Jack is the first great-grandson with the last name of Knowlton. We had a wonderful visit! Grandpa was so excited to see us and to meet each of the kids! Grandma didn't remember us very well, but she told some old stories and listened to Megan tell her about her loose tooth. Megan, Kylie and Jack visited with an older lady in the next suite over for a bit too (with Grandma - as in Rob's mother, not Great Grandma) while the rest of us talked. We are so glad we got a chance to see them again and to introduce our children to them!

4 generations of Knowlton males

We tried to get a 4 generation shot with all the kids . . .

Great Grandpa playing with Jack

Becca, Rob, Great Grandpa, and Grandpa

4 generations of Knowltons

Following our visit with the great grandparents, Becca, Rob, the kids and I headed off to try and see if we could squeeze in a few more visits. Our first stop was Deric's house so that we could meet his wife, Jessica and their two children. We had seen pictures, but hadn't gotten to meet any of them. We lucked out and they were home and we had a wonderful time getting to talk to them! Deric's mother even was able to come by, which was great because Rob spent so much time over there during his high school years and then before he left for ID that he was really close to her. The girls loved playing in their backyard and were disappointed when we had to go.

Our next stop was the Aultmans. They lived next to the Knowltons years ago and remained close to them as the Knowlton kids grew up. Rob considers them surrogate parents. We lucked out there as well as both Randy and Nancy were home and we spent a wonderful hour visiting with them and catching up on what had been going on with them and their children. The girls ran around in their yard picking clover and looking for ants to squash (a favorite pastime since we moved to TX) and Jack tasted all their rocks (one of his favorite things to do). Becca's day was made when Beth plopped down on her lap (Beth tends to take a while to form attachments and hadn't let Becca hold her up to this point). It really made me wish that we lived closer or made more money or something so that we could visit much more often!

Becca and Beth

Randy, Nancy, and Rob

Nancy and Randy with Jack

We then headed back home to spend our last evening with Grandma, Grandpa and Becca. Grandpa and Rob got to spend some time talking and Grandma taught me how she makes spaghetti sauce from scratch (it turned out really well! We're going to have to start just making our own sauce!) and Beth and Grandma and I made dinner.

The Knowlton house

Beth making spaghetti sauce

Quincy and Cindy and Happy Birthday Grandpa! (Thursday)

This first picture I think was taken Thursday morning. It is Jack, but if it weren't for the pink nerf ball at the bottom, I'm not sure anyone would be able to tell the difference between this picture and one of Rob at the same age. The furniture is even the same! I think it's so neat to be able to take pictures of Jack in the same places Rob was!

Thursday morning we used to tidy up and I tried to catch up on getting everything organized, then we all packed up and headed for Quincy and Cindy's apartment about 90 mins away. (Quincy is Rob's brother and Cindy is his wife - we hadn't seen Q since Dec 2001 and we'd never gotten to meet Cindy). Q took the afternoon off work so we could spend more time together. It was so wonderful to get to see Q again and to meet Cindy! Cindy had cooked quite a few Chinese dishes the previous day and we got to try them. They were really good :) Beth especially liked the liquorice flavored Chinese candy. It was Grandpa's birthday that day and Q's birthday on Saturday, so Becca, Cindy and I ran to Fred Meyers and got a cake and some birthday paraphernalia. We took some family pictures outside of the apartment, then went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant with a wonderful buffet. Beth requested (and ate) kimchi. Megan loved the muscles and clams, Kylie tried a little bit of everything. Rob and I loved the sushi and got to try seaweed (not nearly as salty as I expected). Following dinner, we went back to the apartment to sing happy birthday. It was a wonderful visit and we really wish that we lived closer to everyone so that visits like that could happen more often!

Cindy and Jack

Quincy and Jack

The Knowlton siblings (except Kate - we missed you!)

The Knowltons (again, missing Kate)

Grandma and Grandpa with the grandkids

Our family with the grandparents

The Knowlton men

Q and Cindy with the grandparents

Becca with the grandparents

Blowing out their candles (Jack is helping)

The girls in their party hats

Cannon Beach (Wed evening)

After sleeping most of the day Wed, I got up that evening and decided we had wasted enough time with me being sick and we were going to go do something, so Becca, Grandma and I loaded the kids in the car and took them to Cannon Beach (Rob and Grandpa stayed home for some male bonding time - plus we couldn't fit everyone in one car).

Megan and Kylie hadn't been to a beach in years (the last time Kylie went, she had just turned one) and Beth and Jack had never been to the beach. Megan, Kylie and Jack LOVED it! Megs and Kylie found a big hole someone had dug and had a blast climbing in it, burying each other's legs, and pretending it was a restaurant (Kylie actually ate the sand pies, but hey, sand won't kill her!). Jack thought it was so much fun to crawl in the sand and he ate quite a bit of it too. Kylie made sand angels. Beth, on the other hand . . . we took off her shoes and put her down on the sand and she picked up one foot and dusted the sand off, then the other, and continued that pattern until I sat down with Jack and Beth gingerly walked over, climbed up on my leg, pulled her feet up, dusted them off, and stayed there. When we bring her to the beach again, we will make sure to put her in socks and sneakers :)










After playing, the kids were hungry, but it was late, so only the sit-down restaurants were open. The closest fast food place was a DQ about 45 mins away. I told the kids if they were still awake and hungry, we would get something there. They all stayed up, so we got hamburgers for the kids and ice cream for the adults (we even brought some home for Rob and Grandpa!). Beth fell asleep eating her hamburger shortly after we got home (look under her cheek).