Cape Kiwanda with Uncle Steve

My brother Steve from North Carolina came to visit our family for the weekend. He has been working in California for the past four months on a merger deal with Bank of America and Country Wide. It was good to have him come visit. I know the kids sure loved having him around.


We took the kids and Steve to movie night in the park on friday. We layed on blankets and watched Daddy Day Camp and ate popcorn. Saturday we took the kids to the same park for a fun run. The weather was so nice that me and the kids took Steve to Cape Kiwanda in Pacific City. It was my third time driving to the coast this week, however the other two times were for work. The marine layer never lifted but the kids don't care whether its sunny, rainy, or cold, just as long as they can get wet and fill their pockets with sand. The sand dune is huge. It takes forever to climb the sand dune for a mere 30 second thrill to run down. It's all about the kids. After dinner we drove further down the beach to a secluded spot to build a fire and roast mellows. The kids slept the entire way home; although he did leave the beach at 10 p.m.

Mark, Get Set, Go!

Saturday, the Kiwanas club here in Wilsonville along with other local businesses sponsored a fun run for kids of all ages. The event included breakfast, lunch, games and booths. Each one of our children ran in the race with their age group. There had to be over 500 kids in the various age groups.

Scott ran with Eden and Uncle Steve came into town this weekend and ran with Madison. Tate didn't want or need any help. It was fun to watch them run, especially Tate. He took off like a rocket and then proceeded to hit the every cluster of balloons that marked the path as he was running. It wasn't until the last quarter of his race that we yelled for him to pick up the pace. He did and then started passing kids again like he was in a real race. We have nicknamed him dash from the movie "The Incredibles." They received t-shirts and medals. The other funny thing is that Madison told Steve that she couldn't run any longer. He still encouraged her to finish strong. At the finish line she said she was too tired to move, but after she received her medal she sprinted to the blow up slippery slide 50 yards away.

Our Baby Announcement

evie jane devries
april 8, 2008
7 lbs. 6 oz.
19" long
evie at 2 1/2 months old
I finally got some professional pictures taken of Evie and picked them up yesterday. She is just so sweet and mild. We are grateful to have her in our crazy lives and very appreciative to her for wanting to come to be raised in our upbeat home. (AKA not so tame) Honestly she is a real joy to have and as my good friend Audra says "I think HF cuts you a break at 4"... that sure seems to be our case. Love it!... and her.

Camping Made Easy

The kids have a favorite camping spot they enjoy during the summer. It is called the backyard. Easy commute, easy set up and take down, and easy for dad to sneak into the house to sleep in his own bed when the kids are out. The kids jump up and down when they here the word camping. There are some good spots to camp in Oregon, but few compare to the one in the back yard.

Just the Boys

Michelle and the kids drove out to Seaside where I was working. Even though we live in Oregon it still seems like we are on vacaction every time we go to the coast. Tate ended up spending the day with me on Friday as I worked the remainder of the Coast. He sat in the doctors waiting rooms playing with toys or coloring.





We stopped along the 101 highway at a lookout over the ocean and ate lunch at the Cheese Factory in Tillamook. The best part of the day was spent at the Tillamook forest center. It sits on the Wilson river and is very kid friendly. There is a ranger lookout station that you can walk up into without a guide, exhibits inside to teach kids about the forest, movies, clothes for kids to try on, tons of trails to hike, and camping. Tate liked throwing rocks into the river more than anything else and would laugh as the droplets would come back to get me wet. This was because I was throwing rocks the size of small cars or so it seemed. He loved trying on the firefighter clothes. He said he is going to be a firefigther, Jet pilot, and Baby Doctor. He be great at whatever he does because of his determination. Tate had a great time or maybe it was the big kid with him that had the great time.

4th of July

We dressed up in red white & blue, decorated our bikes and kids and set off for our neighborhood parade. Jason and Amanda and family---does Jason have an itch? or just thinking?

This is mid- parade. Basically we walked around a certain area in the neighborhood and talked with lots friends and people.
Evie--and she's still so sweet--dressed up for the fun!
Eden with a homemade patriotic hat and spects!

The Portland Zoo

Did you know that there are cougars in Oregon? That's right, but just for a

brief vacation. This is Amanda, Jason and their children Autumn and Luke. They

will be leaving their home in Littleton, CO and are heading for the capital of Cougars in

Provo for Law School at the end of Aug. --Finally...after 3 yrs of deferring it we are a bit nervous

for Jason because

he's not that bright and has a hard time talking with people, letting us know how he feels, remembering what he reads and telling stories keeping all details straight. We don't know how he'll manage. It's too bad to not have those kinds of gifts going back to school like I had. haha~he's

just the perfect atty fit in a very sickening way.

Amanda, Eden and Madison 6/23/08
Cool FISH!
Scott, Michelle, Madison and Evie Jane
I do have a little person all snuggled up in this awesome wrap. It's Evie! Don't I look so lopsided? Scott was walking behind me and could hear 2 ladies say "Did you see her, she is so big on that one side? I wonder why?" Somehow they realized that it was a baby and her head and started to laugh. It's a MOBY--check out the website!

Family Fun!

My sister Amanda and family came into town very spontaneously on June 20th. We played at the water parks, partook of great food and even visited the Portland Zoo. Not as exciting as the first 7 times for me--but if you love animals and great company it's pretty darn alright. We watched Autumn my niece that just turned 2 on the 23rd of June for a week while Jason and Amanda took Luke to Hawaii. They supposedly delivered "medical" chairs and it was a business trip. Nah. It really was. I saw the power chair pictures to prove it. They had a good time and even brought me back some really nice mother of pearl shelled jewelry. Love it. We had a great time even when they came back into Portland. Lots of festivities to do on the 4th. I didn't do a fun run with Scott like I did last year, but we did have fun with a neighborhood parade, church independence day celebration picnic and a BBQ at our awesome friends house the Dyers that night. You know how there is a party house that you hang at and feel so comfortable that it's like family? That's them. We watched the big fireworks out their back window as they were displayed throughout the entire valley. Amanda and I took the kidos home and the boys did the sauna. They loved it. (Not Tate, he feel asleep to a movie on their bed).
I haven't blogged for oh, forever so I just keep on typing. Time for some pictures.