Father's Day 2008

We also spent Father's day with our out of town friends. We had a great family BBQ and enjoyed playing in the backyard.


Tom and Jay-Jay posing for the camera.


Jackson and Daddy are stylin' with their shades on!


Jackson, Jay-Jay and Shaun making a Father's Day card for Papa.


Here is a close up of the artwork! Jackson picked out all of the design elements and Daddy helped him make the card.

A Day at the Zoo with Out of Town Friends!

We spent Monday at the zoo with our friends from out of town. They are from San Diego, so they know a good zoo when they see one. They really liked our zoo here in Portland. Grace particularly liked all of the marine animals and the Northwest section. It was a ton of fun!


We rented a cart for me because I am a pretty slow walker these days. Plus, my ankles swell like crazy if I am on my feet all the time. I felt pretty silly, but it saved me from a lot of suffering later that day when we got home! Here Shaun, Jackson, Alyssa, Grace, Jay-Jay and I are posing before we set out for the day.


Jackson and Jay-Jay decided to take a break and dance to some music while we were waiting by the bathroom for the rest of our group.


Jackson, Shaun and Jay-Jay heading out to find some animals.


The giraffe was out in full view and we got a great view!


After a full morning at the zoo we had three tired kiddos! They all sacked out in the car on the way home. We all realized they were asleep when it got silent in the car. They had so much fun!

A Visit With San Diego Friends!

This past weekend our dear friends from San Diego came to visit. This is the first time our kids met each other, so it was so much fun! We had a great time with great weather! It was the perfect visit before Braden is born and we spend the summer with a new baby.


Tom and Jay-Jay playing football in our backyard.


Jackson and Jay-Jay getting ready to race.


Tom and Alyssa


Alyssa and I.


A birthday present for Grace from the Sanders.



Jackson and Jay-Jay swinging at the park.


Movie time for Jackson, Jay-Jay, and Grace.


Grace swinging on our back deck.


Grace and Alyssa.


Jackson and Grace chasing Shaun in the backyard.


Jay-Jay on the slides at the park.

New Carpet in the Bedrooms!

With floors almost finished we had our good friend Dan come and lay the carpet in the bedrooms. We had to fill the rest of the house with all the bedroom furniture, but we got it done and now have wonderful new carpet.

Here is our house packed with all sorts of furniture that has been in the bedrooms throughout this project.

Jackson's room with new carpet.

Braden's room with new carpet.

Shaun's and my room with new carpet.

We had only one tiny problem during the carpet project. It turns out the carpet guy we ordered through did not use our measurements correctly and we were short carpet. This caused a bit of a panic attack, but we soon decided we would continue the hardwood into the bathroom and closet area of our bedroom to compensate. Here it is all finished, and we actually think it turned out for the best. The transition piece is in the mail and our friend Dan is coming back to finish the carpet transition. The end really is near.

Almost Done...

We are so close to being done here. Just a few more days of hard work and we will be finished!

Jackson and I are sorting boards into length and color piles to make it easier for us to pick out what comes next as we lay the floor.

From the place the floor ends to the slider on the far wall is all that is left to finish in this picture. We are getting so close!

Jackson and Daddy are making sure the floor doesn't creak by screwing down loose spots. Jackson is still fascinated by all of the work that is going on in our house.

Some of the final touches are cutting the holes for the vents. Shaun did this with great care since it was cutting into the wood he so carefully laid only days before.

It took us a while, but we found unfinished vent covers that we can stain to match the floor. It is a huge relief since we were going to have to pick something that really stood out otherwise.

This is the old dining room. It is almost finished here.


Only a few more feet to the right hand wall and we are done with getting the floor down. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

We have made it to the halfway point!

It was a long weekend, but we finally finished the living room, which gets us halfway through the house. We are so excited that we can likely finish between evenings this week and Memorial Day Weekend. Yahoo, the end is in sight!

This is looking down the hallway through the middle of the house. You can see we are almost through the living room at this point.

This is also a look at the living room. By the end of Sunday we made it to the wall on the left.

The entry is complete, even the closet is done!

Jackson was our big helper this weekend. He even enjoyed sweeping up dust and a few cars!

I am putting leveling compound in the transition between the raised living room and the old dining room. My contributions are fewer, but I still get to put my name on the list of helpers!

Here Shaun us carefully measuring to fit a piece into the closet.

Shaun with the nail gun and an evil looking face! They certainly have a love hate relationship!

We are into the old dining room now. Hopefully this will get finished up this week!

How to Beat the Heat...

This past weekend it was in the nineties and we did everything we could to stay cool. Luckily we have AC, but Jackson much prefers his methods!

Jackson in his swimming pool for the first time this year.

When we put in the fountain in the backyard we never thought it would be such a great playground...

...but clearly naked fountain time is all the rage this season!

Pants are also optional inside and out, as it is much cooler to play in just a t-shirt.

Even Gatsby tried to beat the heat. She loves the outside, but found a shady spot and made herself as flat as possible!

Tricycles and Piggy Banks are Great!

We have a very big boy now! He learned to ride his tricycle all by himself recently. He is very excited about being able to ride like a big boy!



Okay, he is riding like a big boy, but every now and then Daddy needs to give him a little help. Just a push to get him going!


Another love that Jackson has is his piggy bank collection. One of his favorites is his rocket ship bank. Whenever he finds money or is given money he runs right to his room and makes a deposit. It is priceless! His rocket bank is almost full!

Let the flooring begin!!!

This past weekend we started laying the new hardwood floors! We have finally begun and it feels so good.

Jackson and Mommy look like they are helping, but we all know that looks can be deceiving!

Our first pile of boards. There will be many more where this came from!

This was our first days work, which doesn't look like a lot, but feels huge because now we know what we are doing. Or at least Shaun knows what he is doing!

We have made even more progress day by day. Here Jackson is helping Daddy shoot staples into the floor to keep the wood down.

We had one more closet to empty and remove carpet from. I had to at least show that I was doing something useful in this project. I feel rather useless with this big belly of mine. Here I am pulling staples and tack strip so Shaun can start the floors!

Jackson got up from his nap and found me working in the hall closet. He just had to have a snuglle with Mommy right then! I couldn't resist!