Making memories!

Yesterday Nate had a dilemma: go to work or go tide pooling? There are two things we watch closely around here (and it's not the T.V.!) We watch for the days the lakes stock up with fish and low tides. Wednesday just happened to be an extra low tide--which means excellent tide pooling. The low tide happened to be in the morning and the weather looked decent, meaning it wasn't down pouring! Nate was torn between the two choices and I finally suggested doing both! "We'll go tide pooling until lunch and then you can go into work and take a half a day!" I said. So we did! As we drove however the weather began looking worse! The entire drive we kept asking ourselves if we were making the right decision! It started to drizzle and then pour! But as we neared our destination: Boiler Bay it began lightening up and actually when we got out of the car and headed to the tide pools it was sunny and clear! Yay! Well although it was sunny at the time it sure didn't last long! As I sat in the car caring for Caleb for a few minutes the other two kiddos went down with their daddy to begin looking for creatures in the tide pools. The rocks were incredibly slippery. In one experience while I was still up with Caleb Mara turned for a second and did a near head dive into one of the pools! When I caught up with Nate and the kids we saw some incredible sea stars and sea erchants. It was pretty cool to look at. However we had to take baby steps along the rocks or else we would slip on the moss. Just as we were heading to the other side to check out more tide pools it started again to sprinkle. We are Oregonians now, we are used to a little drizzle! But then it began to pour! Nate and I laughed at what bad parents we were! But hey we were giving our kids fun filled experiences and making memories in the meantime! We kept on going for a little while until the kids finally asked "Now can we go home?!" And so we climbed back up the rocky mountain to our car--drenched and dripping with water! But we made some memories today--good or bad I do not know but memories I will never foget!

Sidenote: Ty asked a profound question as we walked drenched in rain water: "Would it have been sunny today if we didn't see the tide pools?" You never know! But the next day: completely clear and sunny! Not a cloud in sight! Oh well!

Fishers of men

On Monday night we drove to Lorin's Pond to do a little fishing for Family Home Evening. As we drove we had a lesson on being 'fisher's of men' or in other words--missionary work. We discussed what Jesus was doing in this picture and talked about ways we could be better missionaries. But the real lesson for me came as we stood near the pond waiting to catch a fish. We kept throwing our bate out there hoping a fish would bite our line--but nothing! Not even a nibble! It made me think of the missionaries out there serving and trying so hard for someone to accept their message. I know how I felt after an unsuccessful night of fishing and thought that's how they must feel when they can't teach people the gospel. It made me want to be a better member missionary. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and the strength and hope it gives me. I then thought about the excitement that comes when we catch a fish! Yay! Last month our ward welcomed a new family into the church. What a wonderful experience it was to see a mother and her two daughters baptized. The joy I felt as I witnessed these individuals coming into the fold was so incredible. It was a different happiness than catching a fish on the end of a pole!
Despite the lack of fish that night I'm thankful for the feelings I had about missionary work, and I'm glad we could get out as a family and have a nice night together.

End of the season

Soccer has come to an end, what a fabulous experience it was for Ty and his daddy. Nate and Ty are both sad that it is over. I am so very proud of Nate for being such a great coach. He wasn't quite sure about it when it started but it turned out to be such a growing and learning experience. Ty is a super star! He really is a great little soccer player. He did have the advantage of being the biggest and the fastest on his team, but he is such the athlete! I was very impressed with his ball control and he makes scoring a goal look so easy! I think he scored four times last game! Way to go Ty!

My Family

I was really hoping for a cute family photo last Sunday since we had terrible weather on Easter and it was a beautiful sunny day--but it's hard to get Sunday pictures when Nate has early meetings before church and I had to stay after church for a meeting--so Nate ran home right before church for a quick shot and it really didn't turn out! Oh well! Look at those handsome boys though all dressed up in their white shirts and ties!

I must say how much I love this little family! I'm always astonished how much love I have for each one of my kids and my husband! They each have such different little personalities and they make me smile and laugh all the time. We watched some home videos last night from when Mara was a baby and we couldn't get over how dang cute Ty was when he was two and all the funny things he said and seeing what a beautiful baby Mara was and the darling little sweetie she turned out to be! I love Ty for being so determined and motivated. I love Mara for her sweetness and silliness! I love Caleb for being calm and cheerful all the time! I love Nate for his dedication to the family and his love for me and his kids. I just love my family!

I love this picture of the three musketeers in their red 'matchy-matchys'! I just love those cute little faces with the chubby cheeks! Doesn't it just make you want to kiss those little round cheeks? Grandma Lewis likes to call the cheeks 'marshmallow cheeks'!
Can you say chubby bunny?!

An almost empty home!

It feels rather lonely and quiet around here without company--I mean besides the sounds and noise of the three children it feels rather empty! Grandma & Grandpa Lewis went home yesterday and we sure enjoyed the time we had with them. They were a huge help around the house and with the kids. I especially missed the helping hands this morning as I was getting everyone ready for church by myself! Last week we had some fun time with the grandparents.

Cape Kiwanda
We visited Cape Kiwanda and enjoyed the tide pools and the sand dune. Although it was sunny it was rather windy and a bit chilly--but we didn't complain, we were just glad to see the sun!

Caleb wasn't a happy hiker--he wanted clean pants so we headed back to the car while the others hiked the dunes.

Mara did a total face plant in the sand!

The view from the top of the sand dune is quite exquisite! It's well worth the hike!

Forestry Center

We also visited the Forestry Center and learned about forest fires: Here's firefighter Ty


Ty swimming with the salmon


The bridge at the forestry center

Very Funny!

Two funny photos I thought I should share:

Okay, maybe this isn't very funny, it's pretty gross! Caleb is a spitter! I picked him up and with no warning he let me have it! Yuck!

I put together a box of dress up clothes for the kids! Ty thought this was great and this is what he came up with!

Cookout on the cape!

I know I am backtracking a bit--but I wanted to share our fun Friday night with Aunt Chelsie. We drove out to Cape Meares and had our first cookout on the beach for the year! It was absolutely beautiful weather in Tillamook! Sunny, nice temperature, perfect we thought for roasting hot dogs on the beach. As soon as we drove out to the cape we saw the fog bank rolling right in! There wasn't even one sun ray to be seen! It was pretty chilly--hense the winter coats and hats! But it was still a lot of fun sitting around the campfire roasting our hot dogs and marshmellos.

My Boyz!

How can my boys be growing so fast? Caleb just turned 3 months and Ty had his Kindergarten evaluation! Yikes my baby is going to be in Kindergarten? Good grief--that makes me want to shed a few tears!

Well, here they are! Ty on the left and Caleb on the right--same outfit same age--almost same look: definitely adorable!

Caleb had a wonderful report at the doctor! As soon as the doctor took one look at Caleb he said, "My, he is robustly healthy!" I guess I'll take that as a compliment! Caleb weights 14 lbs and 3 oz and is 24 in long. That puts him in the 50% for height and 75% for weight. He is doing great!

At Ty's kindergarten evaluation, well it didn't go very well! It was any parents worst nightmare! Everything that I had taught him and all that he learned at preschool went right out the window! Ty is so incredibly shy, the thought of speaking to a stranger made him cry! Poor Ty, not only did he hate talking to the strange people he had to get poked and pricked--two shots! Bummer. Ty does well when he warms up to people, but first or second meeting--no way he won't say a word!

Ty has always been a big boy, he came to earth that way! Today when he was weighed: 52 lbs and 46 in! That's right he is still off the charts (100%) and probably always will be!

Cape Kiwanda

One of our favorite spots along the coast is Cape Kiwanda. It has fun tide pools to explore and a huge sand hill to hike. As Chelsie, the kids, and I were checking out the tide pools and standing on a few rocks all of a sudden Nate comes running up to us trying to run away from the tide coming in! I grabbed Mara and stood on my tippy toes on one single rock. Ty had climbed up to higher rocks, but Nate and Chelsie had no luck! The water washed right over their feet completely soaking their shoes! We all just stood there and laughed so hard--except for Mara whose shoe fell off as I grabbed her and she started to cry! Oh well, shoes dry!

This is where the water came crashing in and got us soaked!

Ty was so tired when he got to the top of the dune he laid right down in the sand!

Ty and Mara giggled and laughed as they wrestled each other in the sand.

This is the sand dune we hiked! Quite the work out!

Let's go fishin'!!

Nate is really into fishing--well he wants to be! He has been excited to take his kids and try out his new fishing pole. Last week while Aunt Chelsie was here we packed a picnic and picked up Nate from work and went fishin' at Hebo Lake. Last year we tried fishing and we didn't even get a bite! But we had much better luck on this day and even caught two fish!
Two little trout is what we caught and the funny part was I put the bait on the line and even did a perfect cast out into the water. Then I sat and waited...and waited. I asked Nate what I needed to know about catching a fish once I got the hook in the water. He took the pole from me and not a minute later a fish caught the line! Oh man! I almost had it! But that's okay--it was all about team work!

Feng Shui

With the new addition to our little family I feel like we need a new addition to our house! Our family is growing and our house is shrinking! Since our house isn't going to grow I had to figure out a way to make things work in the house we have without going crazy! So when my sister-in-law Chelsie came to town she introduced me to Feng Shui! Oh boy we've been having fun! I've been cleaning out, packing up, and throwing away STUFF --mostly clutter, and making my house more orderly and organized! It's great! With all the cleaning out I was able to empty boxes and the kids had so much fun! Who knew a couple boxes could be so entertaining?

We made race car boxes with steering wheels and decorated them with pictures of Alex and Marty!

We played inside the boxes with auntie!

And we played hide and seek in them! Peek a boo Mara!

The Lewis Bed and Breakfast!

You probably didn't know there was a great hotel located in the heart of Tillamook Oregon with free breakfast (lunch & dinner), fun entertainment, and transportation to and from nearby attractions did you?! It's a great place for a fun get-away! We do feel like we are running a hotel--but it is so fun! Within the past month we have had Uncle Scott & Aunt Lorisa, Mimi & Papa, Uncle John, & Aunt Tracie, Aunt Chelsie, and Grandma & Grandpa Lewis! Each time we took someone to the airport we picked up someone else! We love having company, it makes us feel not only loved but like we are on a vacation as well!

When John and Tracie came we showed them the boat dock in Garabaldi, Cape Meares lighthouse and the Octapus Tree, the Bar View Jety, and not to mention the famous cheese factory!
One day we headed up to Cannon Beach, Ecola State Park, and Astoria. We had a picnic and went for a little hike in Ecola State Park. We headed North and went to the Maritime Museum in Astoria. It was fun touring the boat and learning about life on the sea. We even crossed the five mile bridge and went into Washington before we headed back home to Tillamook! Now that was a fun day!

Let's not forget about coloring Easter Eggs with John and Tracie--now that was great and very messy!

A wonderful, WONDERFUL week!

Oh what joy! It has been a week or so since I last blogged and that was because we were having so much FUN! Mimi and Papa (my parents) came to town to visit and we enjoyed every minute they were here! One of the best parts about their visit was seeing the SUNSHINE! That's right it was sunny in T-town and we took full advantage of the nice weather and play, play, played!

[Sorry for the play-by-play but I would hate to not write down these fun memories and forget them!]

Thursday...

I am very proud of myself for being so brave to go to Portland by myself with three kids and have an adventure! My folks flew in Thursday night so I decided we would play in the afternoon until they arrived. We went to a very fun place called Out of this World. It was a little crazy trying to chase two kids around and taking care of a baby--but hey it was fun and we did great! It was an incredible place of climbing, bouncing, jumping, sliding! Even Caleb got into the fun and took a ride:

We stayed in a hotel close to the airport so we wouldn't have to drive back late to Tillamook. What fun it was to all be together in the hotel and eat popcorn, and go swimming!

Friday...
We had a nice relaxing morning swimming and eating a fabulous breakfast--I love hotel life! No dishes, no beds to make! It's great! We went to the Children's Museum and talk about FUN and CRAZY! It was FREE that day which meant lots of people! But we braved the crowd and it was worth it, there were so many things to do and see. I love watching little minds at work while they play! The Children's Museum is a fun place to play and learn! Mara enjoyed the play grocery store and restaurant. Ty loved the water works and dig pit. Mara's favorite thing was the slide in Bob the Builder! She must have did it 100 times!

Saturday...
Well today was a little disappointing but we live and learn! We were all so excited to go to Ty's soccer game and watch him 'go, fight, win' but when coach told him he was on the blue team he was sad and didn't want to play. (There is only one 3 &4 year old team and so each week they just divide up and play each other.) We tried everything to get Ty to play on the blue team but he just didn't want to wear the blue jersey! He wanted to play on the yellow team! Ty is so determined and we tried everything to get him to get out there and hustle but he wouldn't. Poor Mimi and Papa come all this way to watch Ty play soccer and all he could do was cry! What is up with that?! Better luck on Saturday Ty (and coach!)

With a perfect day of sunshine we decided to hit the beach--the only problem: While driving ten minutes to the ocean everyone in the back seat fell asleep before we arrived! So we left them in the car to sleep and we went for a walk on the sand. It was sunny but very windy and chilly. By the time we arrived and started leaving the kids woke up and were ready to fill up their buckets and play in the sand! We had already had our beach experience and were ready to go home! So we decided to make it up to them and go to the Blue Heron Cheese Factory instead and feed the goats! This was a lot of fun!

Sunday...
In between conference sessions we went for a Sunday stroll along the jetty. The temperature was perfect and we loved feeling the sunshine on our faces!

We enjoyed games as a family that evening--Go Fish and Old Maid are among our favorites! When someone asks Mara for a fish and she has it she replies "oh man!"

Monday...

We had a heat wave, or at least the hottest day of the year--near 70! We played all day outside at the beach, the park, riding bikes! Oh it was wonderful!

Tuesday...
All good times have to come to an end sometime! We had a fun day at the park in Portland before we sent Mimi and Papa back to Utah. We sure enjoyed all the fun times we had with them and we already miss them like crazy!