The stars aligned and we are headed to Oregon at the end of this month. It’s been far too long. I’m opening my schedule for one, possibly two shoots while we’re there. Please email me for details. Sessions are full.

And PLEASE, if you have any brilliant ideas for entertaining my kids on a 13+ hr drive, leave a comment. I’m real, real scared.

Taken by my parent’s house the last time we were in OR.

One of the main reasons (besides getting eggs) for us getting chickies was to teach the kids some responsibility. Isaac’s job is to take care of them, check on their food and water, let them out in the morning (their totally free range (if you’re from Oregon like me, you’ll roll at this video)) and Lucy and him get them back in the coop at night. So far, we’re all loving our new pets.

Here’s a handful of pictures from our last couple of weeks:

Isaac thoroughly enjoying sitting through one of Lucy’s cheer practices.

Enjoying the swing set that daddy put up. It’s still in the works, but so far, the contraption in the back has been referred to as “The Thing” or “The Fortress”.

Chalk drawing at Lucy’s little get-together for her birthday.

Some trampoline fun.

Braided bread and fruit and meat “towers” for a Rapunzel party.

Officially FOUR!

At a Hometown Rodeo. This family loves a good rodeo…and cotton candy. Anyone else have a son who refuses to let his mom dress him and looks homeless most of the time now? Or have a daughter with a long torso whose shirts are all half shirts now?

Smores with friends. (with Reeces Peanut Butter Cups of course!)

New friends!

Looooving having grass this year.

Even with my massive telephoto lens, Lucy was hard to find at her Cheer Spectacular. She was darling of course even though she looked like a bit of a ragamuffin since I took her straight from soccer camp. I love a well rounded girl!

Thanks to all the research and papers that Geoff writes, he was invited to another conference on Oahu. I’m so proud of the work that he does…and maybe that that work takes us on vacation every once in a while. When we heard his paper was accepted, I immediately called Amy up and told her it was time to return to the Rock. Our friendship started there when we became roommates and the rest is history. Her husband had never been and she hadn’t been back since our freshman year at BYU Hawaii, so they worked things out and we were off for a week long vacation. We wanted to take the older kids as well, but good golly, tickets are pricey now.

We arrived in Laie at a cute beach house and spent the next couple days going to all our favorite North Shore beaches, seeing friends and eating all our favorite local food (Ted’s Bakery, Kua’aina avocado burgers, Kava Roots Acai bowl, Sharks Cove skewers, Waialua Bakery, Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck, pineapple Dole Whips from the plantation etc.) The babies did amazingly well considering it was gorgeous weather but super, super windy, and the ocean was too cold for them. They slept like champs at night though and that was a life saver. It was a real treat to have so much time with just Kate. I know I’ve said this before, but she’s really a perfect baby in every way.

We missed our kids and are thankful for those who watched them while we were away. We returned home to healthy and happy children, and even a clean house (thank you Danny and Stephanie)! It was such a treat to also spend so much time with Amy and her husband. We love them like family and are so grateful for the new memories we made there together. For more pictures from Amy’s camera, check out her blog. Ahem…Amy, start posting.

Geoff woke up at 5:30am every morning and took this fantastic shot of the sunrise.

We went running every morning and ended with a swim and breakfast out our back door.

This was at Waimea where we were trying to convince Kate that she did like the ocean. I think we lost that one. Sadly I do not have a picture of Geoff and I jumping off the rock there, one of my favorite things to do.

Please note the amount of sand in Kate’s hair. We brought a Sunbrella for the babies to lay under which theoretically was a good idea if there hadn’t been so much wind. Kate looks translucent in this picture, and I’m proud to say she returned home that way also.

Beautiful BYU Hawaii campus.

Reenacting a picture of us from 14 years prior. Our hair looks about as nasty as it did then, but we’ve upgraded from pajama pants and Birkenstocks.

We stayed in Laie in a cute little house, right on the beach. It was just perfect for what we needed. After dragging the babies around the first couple days, we decided to hang out at the house and let them have some normal naps. It was great because we could be out on the beach while they were inside snoozing.

Geoff and Dover went on a snorkeling expedition down the beach.

This picture is for my brother Matt.

Amy kept mocking us for all our kissy pictures. Hey, we still got it. Don’t be jealous.

Dover found this crab missing half of its legs. It was still alive though and latched onto Geoff’s finger with its claw and punctured the skin. I can only imagine the damage a large crab could do!

Almost four and full of spice, this little one packs a whole lot of personality into one teeny body. We love you Lucy!