Instead of carving pumpkins, we went the destructive (and thereby, more fun) route of smashing pumpkins at our fall party. My neighbor loves to gather the cul-de-sac families together for a party at least once a year. This year, I suggested a Pumpkin Smashing Party. A friend of mine has hosted one for years with… Read More Smash That Pumpkin!
It feels like we can start breathing again–now that we’re nearly half-way through October. These days are flying by! So many things begin in September that it’s perhaps more of a “new year” experience than January. School has been the easiest transition. We’re so proud of Cooper taking on the challenge of kindergarten, navigating… Read More The September Sprint
We began this new year with a new experience. Groupmuse has recently come to Portland. What started on the East Coast as a group of musician friends playing music together at each others’ homes, has now opened up as an invitation to the community to come listen to beautiful music in nearby homes. Here’s the… Read More Connecting Over Music
Cooper Andrew has had a season of birthday celebration this fall. It began when Grammy and Grampy threw him an early birthday party in Indiana this September. Then {since his November 27th birthday usually falls on or near Thanksgiving} we hosted his party on the 18th–before all our friends were partied-out! Finally, we gave him… Read More He’s Finally 5!
Summer vacation began with a bang as we hosted our housewarming party during a triple digit heat wave in late June. We enjoyed time with neighbors and friends from both church and school. Swim lessons were a staple nearly every weekday until mid-August. Silas finally advanced to Level 2. Hooray! Stephen attended weekly classes for… Read More Summer Recap
We love our house. We love our neighbors, friends, and church. And we love Oregon. A couple of weeks ago Silas had spring break. Honestly, it didn’t really occur to us to take a trip since we’re busy loving life and we had taken a major Christmas trip recently. As it turned out, taking a… Read More Spring Break Staycation
Any day feels like Christmas when you treat it like Christmas! We celebrated our family Christmas in Oregon on December 10th since we were planning a two week trip back east. We invited our new-found friends, Steve and Debbie over for breakfast and opening presents. I’m loving sharing Christmas with friends! Because of the early… Read More Our First Christmas in Oregon
Silas (Buzz Lightyear) and Cooper (Sheriff Woody) invited their friends over for a combined Toy Story birthday party on Saturday. We threw a big bash to celebrate Silas’s 3rd and Cooper’s 1st birthday. It was happy chaos! The family room was decorated with clouds to mimic the wallpaper in Andy’s Toy Story bedroom. Each cloud… Read More To Infinity & Beyond!
Everyday moments aren’t so ordinary when you live miles from family. Though we did visit some attractions in the Valley, most our time with my dad, mom and sisters was spent savoring ordinary life at home. My family played with the boys, read to them, sang to them, and cared for them–in between all the… Read More Making Manka Memories
Finally! My family arrived at our house for a two week visit on the morning of June 15th–Mom and Dad’s 34th wedding anniversary. We’ve been talking about their visit for months, and Silas has been learning all the names of his aunts. We celebrated right away with an anniversary dinner. It was fun to look… Read More Let’s Celebrate Family