February 2019

In February this year we headed to Portland to celebrate some birthdays. Mum-z and Kay both had birthdays that needed some attention. We drove Kay and George to town. all 8 of us squeezed into our 7 passenger vehicle and headed over the pass. The party was supposed to start at 2pm, but once we got to town we got a call that it was not going to start until 6pm!
We were trying to think of places to go to kill time, and we ended up at my sister's house. We then went out to Jay's for the party and celebrated Kay and Mum-z. We stayed the night with Max and Becca at one of the empty rentals. I felt bad we showed up soo late after dropping our older boys off at their other cousins house. The kids were tired an we put them to bed then went and hung out and planned some things out with Max and Becca.

The next day we were invited over for some breakfast and some cousin time. We then headed back to my Jennifer's house to hang out some more.

Per usual, the images are all shuffled around.

Emmett eating an apple

Brent deflated the bed in an attempt to wake up August

If you look closely you can see a little/big spider crawling on the door. This kept Emmett occupied for quite awhile.

Getting dressed for the day

Helping cousin's with their chicken loving and egg gathering

Edwin, Emmett, and Miles.

 These boys on the stairs remind me of some other boys on the same stairs...

Mitchel, Brayden, and Jordan

On our way to Jennifer's house we got coffee and hot chocolate...

Random picture of a tired boy at Fred Meyer

 Some images of the snowy dusted hills around our house in early February...before snowmagedon.

Brent also got news that he was accepted as an electrical apprentice. So he started that adventure and left his position at Les Schwab.

Dropping August off in the AM at school.

 Later in February we got a little bit of snow...

Emmett is the only kid left that actually wanted to go play in the snow! I'll take it. We wandered around our yard and it was completely transformed into a new playground of possibility.

Love cooking stuff on the fire. Hot dogs and smores are a common occurrence in the winter months.

Meanwhile in the Valley...Jen, Josh, and Breanna went to Multnomah falls. I was so jealous. I wanted to go see the waterfalls iced over. They said people were sliding all around. So beautiful though.

At Jen's house we played Phase 10, Skip Bo, and Cribbage...

Then we had to drive home...

Then we had to come back a separate weekend to come pick up Brent's parents and bring them back home. This time the weather was getting a little worse. We got stuck in horrible traffic from all the accidents on Mt. Hood.

But we got more hang time with my family. My brother Josh had just completed a bar-tending class and decided to show some of his skills.

Then we took a magical trip to IKEA. Josh had never been there and Breanna wanted another bookshelf, so it was the perfect excuse. It really is the Disneyland of furniture shopping. We spent quite awhile there.

After IKEA we went to Gustav's for dinner. We enjoyed some fondue and other German cuisine.

On the way home with Brent's parents, we had to make quite a few stops...

Mt. Hood Government Camp parking lot/Rest Area

Madras Casino parking lot...potty break only

Charlie gave each of us a smile when we left

What we came home to. It had just started snowing an hour or so before we got there

August taking pics with my phone from inside the dog kennel at Jen's

Brent worked his behind off getting to Jay's and getting the cow ready to be picked up and slaughtered. This was his second attempt to make this happen because the cow was apparently still nursing on the pregnant mother. Because Jay is not set up, yet, for the cow to be separated it had to be done sooner than later. Our cow was slaughtered, but it wasn't as big as they usually get. I had the privilege of going and picking up the meat when it was ready.

Max cutting Brent's hair...

Randomness, but that's kind of how the month felt.