Thanksgiving 2011 and more visits

This has been a very busy month!  Just the way I like it.  The Grand White family came to visit us and celebrate Thanksgiving.  Steve and I realized this is the first Thanksgiving we've had with them since we've been married.  The last 2 Thanksgivings have been traveling either to California or New York!  It was nice to host Thanksgiving and enjoy all the leftovers. :)  
We had some fun with the good ol' White's by swimming at the hotel.  Ross enjoyed being pushed around in his floating duck...correction - he was...okay with it.  I think the water was a bit chilly for him, but he indulged us all by letting us push him around and dote over how cute he is.  I also got to take Megs and Claudia to Thrift City looking for good deals.  Not so lucky - but we got Megs a cute shirt she might wear. ;)  Hope she'll like the green sweater we got her she didn't like, for Christmas!
Thanksgiving dinner was quite the event.  I've never prepared one at my own place so it was quite monumental.  We managed to get everything ready in our little kitchen and it turned out quite nice!  I only woke up a few times during the night before anticipating when I was supposed to put the turkey in.  It turned out beautifully!  We also had roasted parsnips to pay tribute to Michael in England. :)  We ate ourselves silly and then fell into a turkey coma for the next while.  Steve took the crew to see Forest Grove and his school in the rain and the next day we spent touring...can you guess?  Yes - Tillamook!  That place never gets old - and this time it was a PERFECT day.  We enjoyed some cheese, got ourselves some tourist magnets and cheese curds and went to see the view at Cape Meares again.  Super fun.  That evening we went to the Temple and enjoyed our time there again.  Good ol' Auntie Meghan babysat Ross for us in the waiting room and did a great job entertaining him.  Ross did pretty well with his occasional naps and loved every second of attention everyone gave him.  He loves acting the part of cutest baby ever.  He does a great job at it. :)  We loved having the Grand White's with us and can't wait to see them again soon!

Round 3 of Tillamook!  A nice sunny day!

The Grand - Ma and Pa of the clan at their finest!

Cape Meares - Young, Megs, Thom, and Claudia are thrilled!  Gramps is just as happy to be holding his grandson. :)

Family pic!

Two Chump Stumps

There were a bunch of waterfalls from all the rainfall recently.  It added to the gorgeousness of it all!

Young pulling a Karate Kid...he was trying to get a mid-air picture - you can see how it turned out. :)

Megs wanted one too.... :) A duck trying to fly maybe?

The infamous lighthouse.

Cutest picture ever of Rosco and his Queen Mum.

Add caption

Monkeys

Always happy to pose for a picture.

Okay - THIS is GRAND Ma and Pa at their finest.... :)

A very much enjoyed temple trip.

I got my wish from the wishbone...Megs isn't too happy about it. :)

We got a classic children's songbook for my birthday from the Queen Mum.  She and Ross were very much enjoying it together.  Now I just need to learn the songs...

Putting Thomas to work

He didn't last long. ;)

Waiting for the feast

Uncle Young having the time of his life with Ross!

Getting all the turkey pieces possible after the carving!

Mmmmmmm....

This....

plus this...equals heaven!

Deliciousness!  We turned our coffee table into a Japanese style table.  They were good sports about it. :)

Only married people were allowed at the big kid table.

Of course this would put anyone in a turkey coma...

Megs didn't even finish before she fell into her turkey coma.

Braving the Oregonian rains to take a tour of Forest Grove.

Megs a regular rain woman.

Steve's real school!

Oh dear...

Trying to get out of our turkey comas...as you can see I'm having pie to help me...

Ross doesn't understand what's wrong with everyone...

Wake up dad!!

For all those concerned...we did come out of our turkey comas eventually with loosed belts and bigger bellies.  Now...onto Christmas!

Happy Holidays!!

 

A 2nd Haircut - already!

Ross is really getting his hair in now - we had to cut it.  This time with clippers.  I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself!  AND big announcement (yes this is a big deal for us!) Ross just cut his first tooth yesterday which may or may not explain his grumpiness.  It's his bottom right tooth.  He's happy to chomp on anything within reach with it.  Our little Sharptooth is now upon us!  He's growing up too fast!  I was attempting to get a picture, but Ross will just stick his tongue in the way whenever my finger goes in there or he tries to suck or chomp in it...for now you'll just have to believe me.  Our little toothless grin is soon to be gone! Boo :(

Ross got his haircut!  As Steve is so clearly showing. :)

The clippers?  Ross is not so sure about them.

Piece of cake!

Cut scrunchy smile of the boy who just got his haircut!

The finished product.

Not too shabby.

Still working on growing in the bald spot though. :)

11-11-11 11:11 and Visits :)

Well it was a terrific birthday - very momentous!  It was great because Steve and I got to go to the Temple and have a nice dinner together - on my dad!  Thanks dad!  At 11:11 I decided I would give Ross 11 kisses - very appropriate I think.  I tried for 11:11 that night to give Steve 11 kisses.  I quite enjoyed spending my first birthday as a mother on 11-11-11.  I wonder what I'll be doing for the next 11-11-11. :)  My dad and sister came and brought 11 presents which were so fun and Steve had given me 11 days of presents.  Spoiled or what!  I had 11 candles on my birthday cake in the shape of 28 which was chocolate from scratch with chocolate frosting...yum!  Everything a girl could ask for. :)

Making 11 wishes because I can do that.  (In my cheesy 5k fiesta shirt.  Yes I got in pjs before we did birthday cake.  I can do that too. ;) )

11-11-11 birthday!  Going to the Temple!  The Portland Temple was so beautiful.  Love it!  P.S. Steve did have a tie - in his pocket. Haha.

We scrunched my dad and sis into our little apartment and had a grand ol' time.  My dad went right to work fixing everything he could think of in our apartment.  I think my favorite was the creaky floors.  He's a miracle worker!  Because of him we now have a new plunger, a hide-a-key, a new air mattress, a fixed cigarette lighter (you know - for all the cigarettes we smoke...okay maybe it's to plug in our gps so we can find the airport!), and he even tried to buy us another shower curtain rod...except for the fact that we already have another one he bought us a couple years ago we just didn't bother to put up!  My dad sure has a thing for shower curtain rods. ;)  Love ya dad!  He spoiled us rotten and has truly attempted to fatten us up even more with all the ice cream and treats he bought.  Good thing Ross isn't allowed to have any or he'd be bouncing off the walls!  
Rach came and was so fun to hang out with too.  I miss that girl!  She's all grown up, but she's still my baby girl sis.  We had a great time taking pictures and playing with Ross (when my dad would let us).  We even played some Donkey Kong on the Wii.  Don't worry Rach - you'll pass the Barrel level someday.  She's a good sport too letting me trickle off all my advice and opinions on her life.  I just have a lot of high standards for her I believe.  And of course - if everyone just followed my advice they would all have better lives. ;)  
We took my dad and sis to Tillamook where we sampled cheese and their cuisine and braved the misting rainy winds at the lighthouse.  We skipped out on the beach due to the cold weather.  It was still pretty though - and the drive was breathtaking with all the colors of fall everywhere.  Sunday we chilled out after church and had some breakfast for dinner - so good.  On Monday I took them to Multonomah falls (are you noticing how we've taken them everywhere we've been...Steve and I need to find some more stuff to do so we can entertain visitors).  They were so beautiful and TWICE the size the were when Steve, Ross, and I went before!  My dad and sis were very impressed and snapped a million pics.  It was pretty fun.  
The time went by way too fast!  Though I'm sure they're happy to go home to their own beds and more than one bathroom...and not having an early rising baby wake them up.  They were good sports and entertained Ross the whole time.  He sure loves them.  Now it's back to getting this baby on his routine...wish me luck!

Starting the pictures off strong with a cute one of Ross.

Pulling and testing grandpa's hair to make sure it's him.

Yep - that's Grandpa Stan.

Okay now give me back your hair!

I told Rachel I would put her to work...here's the evidence. :)

I think I enjoyed putting everyone to work.  Who else agrees that a man in an apron cooking (or cleaning for that matter!) is the hottest thing since sizzling bacon?

My dad and Rach went out snapping pictures of the beautiful leaves.  These are courtesy of them.

Visiting Multonomah Falls.  It was misting like Niagra Falls!

Ross had his rain cover.  He wasn't too fond of it at the moment.

What do you want?

My dad wondered why I always have my Boppy behind him...

This is why...the prevention of permanently bonked heads.

Napping when he can in all the chaos. 

Showing his rough and tough side by wearing daddy's hat.

The Cape Meares lighthouse amidst the misting rain and wind.  Steve's trying to man it by saying no to the umbrella!

Cute sisters and Ross pic.

Giant leaves in a mossy stump.

I couldn't believe my dad AND sister had never played Jenga...it's a classic game!  They loved it...and of course because it was me who lost both games!

Dad strategically taking his turn...

Rachel kept calling Steve the blockhead from this picture.  Great pic of my dad's finger working the magic!

Auntie and Nephew!

Portland on the way to the airport...so pretty!

Dad specifically did NOT want to be seen with this umbrella...which I did not understand since it's red (his favorite color) and all it said on it was New York...well of course we had to get a picture of him with it.

Cheese!!! :)  Haha - get the pun?...haha...get it? :)

We're so romantic - yes - we've still got it after 4 years and a baby. ;)

Putting Rachel to work AGAIN...Ross thinks it's hilarious!

I'm going to make this as hard for you as possible!

Ready for a chilly walk in his winter 6-12 months coat that just barely fits him!

Basketcase - he's such a clown!

Thanks for a great visit!  We loved having family here!

Ross sure loved his grandpa...he got whatever he want...without reason!

See you soon Auntie Rach!