Hey again

We started with a trip to Discount Tire. The low tire pressure light was on, and after inspection, they found a nail. They said it was a pretty big one—I’m assuming it had been in there the whole time (because the low tire pressure light was also on when I looked at the van and came on a few days after we had it). Either way, it’s fixed now.

We successfully watched 82 out of 82 regular-season games with the Blazers. Below is a photo capturing a moment of their last game of the season. It is very nice to have games aired for free so everyone can see them without a subscription. Disclaimer: We didn’t watch every quarter of every game. Sometimes we only caught a few minutes, but it was on and we were available, we made the effort to watch.

What else? Hmmm… I had another day with the kids as Sky spent some time hanging out with her cousin and her sisters. I took them to the park. That’s right. And yes, they seemed to enjoy it.

Believe it or not, the bottom photo is of the following day, where as a family we went to another park. This time to let the kids run wild and get some energy out. Ezra is a big fan of basketball (and can you blame him?!)

Finally, we were looking out the window on a trip to Costco. We noticed there was this park with all these pink fluffy trees. We looked it up, and it was a paid park. Boooo!

When we read a little more, it turns out they have one free day each month. The one for April is just upon us in a few short days. So instead of going randomly, we made the plan to go on the free day.

It didn’t disappoint. It’s a super nice park with everything seen above, 2 or 3 areas for kids to play on different playgrounds, a water play area, a beach, and another garden area. Well, with all of that said, we had only one thing to say:

I’ll be back.

just Pray.

Hey everyone

Is it April?! It’s crazy that this little marble seems to keep spinning faster and faster.

I was out in the backyard and Ara asked if she could mow. Why certainly. She did a pretty good job overall.

The next few days were rather warm and so we had a cookout.

Due to all of the warm weather – we had to mow our front lawn in what seems like only a few days later.

The bottom photo is an image of Luca picking flowers for his mama. He was talking to me and Ara when I was mowing the backyard and apparently got upset that I was running over all of the flowers he gives to mommy. So this time I made sure he had all the time he needed to pick them all out before we mowed.

That weekend I spent some time with Luca, Ara and Ezra while mommy was at a baby shower with Lijah. We went to a park, and a nature lookout while we waited.

Why is there a photo of Luca in boots, in a diaper, running down the hall? Well, we went to church, dropped all the kids off, and as we went to drop Luca off, we noticed he was soaked. Through his diaper and into his clothes. We took him into the bathroom and got him changed. Not all was fine, though, as we did not have a change of clothes for him. We ended up pulling the kids out and leaving. By the time we would get home and back, church would be over.

The next day, we were able to spend the latter part of the afternoon at the Woodburn Tulip Farm as part of the kids’ school. They considered this a field trip. Count me in. I didn’t think we would be able to do this at all this year, so I count it as a win.

The photos turned out pretty good, considering it was a muddy, windy, rainy day. NOT the day I’d pick to go, but you know what? It turned out alright. As always, more photos on Instagram.
Until next time

just Pray

Hey again,

If you couldn’t tell by now, our family enjoys seasonal changes. One such is the Japanese Cherry Blossoms. Each year, we try to make a trip to downtown Portland or Salem, and occasionally both.

This year, we were able to make a trip down to Salem and catch them on a warm Spring day.

They didn’t disappoint. We dressed the kids up and went down to try for some good family photos. I can’t say we didn’t have our moments of getting frustrated, but the end result wasn’t so bad.

We also got another year’s photo of the family lying in the grass, all smiles. Something that has somehow taken root in our normal routines.

Rounding out the month, we took possession of the Pachy and had some hot summer-like weather (for the PNW).

We had a tornado watch for all of the I-5 corridor (from Eugene to Seattle, including Portland) – and it isn’t nothing. Portland had its highest tornado threat ever. Washington had severe thunderstorm warnings (the first time since 1999). Hail potential up to egg size in the same region as well. Needless to say, we stayed at home that day.

It came and went with nothing more than a rainshower and temps falling from 82 down to the 60s. Not so bad.

The last photo was of our daughter in our bedroom. She made a heart made out of flowers, and used battery powered little candles everywhere. She said she wanted Mom and Dad to spend some time without being stressed. It was super sweet. She got the idea from the show we have seen a few episodes of ‘Married at First Sight’ – either way super cute. I like seeing this softer side to her.

This was done in the midst of her being grounded (as she is getting caught up with homework that she has fallen behind with). It seems to be working – she is getting her homework done pretty consistently each day now.

Love that girl. (Yes, I love my boys too.)

just Pray.