Be Home

across the willamette river

I'm an unashamed IKEA fan. Cheap swedish style, retailing in a unique blue and yellow box, with flags flying as if you've transported to a national landmark. Yep, my kind of fun. Apparently, a few of my family members find it intriguing as well! {Bonus: less then five minutes from our townhouse!}

kids camp

There isn't a better way to be apart of the church than to jump in with both feet! And when the opportunity comes 4 days after you move in well, you take it!

City Bible Church had its kids camp this week and let me tell you, it was amazing. It reminded me of my own camp experiences in grade school. I wasn't sure that even existed anymore. Real camp grounds with great services and fantastic adults pouring into every kid.

Nicholas started his adventures on Monday as an overnight camper. As a student entering 6th grade he was the seniority class but this was his first time staying away from home (except of course, Grammy's house). He did wonderfully.

On Tuesday, Peter got his chance to make some new friends. He had day camp on the same camp grounds as Nicholas. I didn't see much of him even though Andrew and I were also hanging out for the entire day. Peter had his team flag and followed the fun in the sun with much enthusiasm. {Peter even had a gluten-free meal option provided by the staff! Made this mom cry, literally.}

Finally, for Wednesday and Thursday CBC had Kiddo Camp for George and Annika. This included at least one parent's attendance, we had two. We loved all being in the same place as a family. And that we all got to meet a lot of other moms, dads, kids, and the pastoral team in one concentrated effort! But it wouldn't have happened if everyone we met had open arms and huge hearts to welcome us right into the fold. I love this place.

To see more go {here}

sweet home

We have arrived! Actually, we have moved in and we're getting situated pretty well. The drive from Boise into Portland was the most scenic yet, Oregon is quite the state. Hills grew into mountains which in turn went from snow-capped to snow-covered far down the peak.

{our parked traffic for an hour}

{almost home!}

It was a fantastic moment to finally pull up to our new front door. Ironically, it is another blue door and house but I don't think that they'll let me paint it bright green like my last one. Too bad.

The truck arrived right on time and when we opened the much anticipated back hatch...

everything was exactly as we had left it! Hallelujah!

After a day of chaos we couldn't stand to see all our stuff before us but incapable of making any sense of it. So we did a little work.

{a bit of a backyard common area}

Oh, and we did make a bit of a detour to an important stop here in town. Any guesses?

boise

I love Boise. Andrew and I lived here a few years into our marriage and it also welcomed parenthood into our vocabulary. My parents and my sister shared those days with us as well. To go back and see the ole stopping grounds today was pure delight. 

A few highlights.

~ Idaho Capitol Building - a short walk from our first home.

~ First Starbucks I ever laid eyes on! Of course, we all had to reminisce.

There it is! Our first house. I painted every inch of it and added that screen door. Actually, the lawn wouldn't even exist if we hadn't spread it with seeds by our very hands. And those light fixtures? Yep, I picked those out a decade ago. I still love that red door.

~ My parents gorgeous house that was just around the corner.

Between our two houses was Hyde Park. Every Saturday morning, newspaper in hand, we would map out the route for garage sales over a cup of local joe.

Up the road was Camel's Back Park. Today we just had to climb, whether we were prepared to or not...

For dinner we headed out to the best downtown I've ever had the privilege to know and dined with some good friends. Although I will say, we had in all a count of 7 more children since the last time we got together!

Ok...just a few more.

~ Ballet Idaho, where my sister utilized her beautiful talents.

I think Nicholas enjoyed viewing his city of birth. The strange mix of memories behind you and moments before you, creates a pleasant reality of truly loving the life you've led thus far.

driving, driving, driving

After an amazing time in the presence of the Lord at Pearl Church this morning, we headed out for another day of treading tires along vast expanses of pavement. Let's just say that leaving for a 9 hour drive at 1:00 in the afternoon produces a goofy kind of personality in kids and adults! Toys, movies, and music filled our day, all with frequent interruptions to the likes of "look at those mountains"!

hopscotch

Remember this little game? Hopping on one foot from number to number and then back again. Well, in a way we're going to play a bit of hopscotch here. 1,2,3,4, - we were hopping on "vacation squares" for a while, now we are skipping over the rock laying on #5 and move on to 6, 7, 8...

If I haven't totally confused you...

In other words, we are on our way to Portland!  Day one is complete. Yeah!

Currently we are sitting in our Denver hotel after dining unexpectedly with the Pearl Church pastors + friends. We can't wait for church in the morning! And get this, they meet two floors down! That's right, I have a 45 second walk to church. Its once in a lifetime. Of course, so is everything in our world about now.

the lighthouse

I love this evening. The evening when we venture to the ends of the shore and behold the landmark of this little beach city. The Michigan City Lighthouse is a moment to see the waves before they crash on the sand, to feel the mist saturate the air, and to enjoy the architecture of a beautiful structure.

the zoo

There is a little zoo around the corner from the beach that we have loved. The animals are so close to you, especially the actively enormous tiger! All along the walkways the stone walls remind you that the zoo originally opened in 1928. But the best part in the observatory tower. It too has stood the test of time and is well worth the climb to see the amazing views.

:: our old friend Mr. Tiger

:: Very restless bears!

:: Watching the otter "tickle" us as they swim

:: The Observation Tower

And this is the picture we went to the zoo to grab...

My how they've grown!

{2006}

poolside

the beach