Welcome Home

I have the best husband. First off, he let me take our little man away to Oregon for a whole ten days. And then he welcomed us home like this!

I walked in to a completely clean house with this sweet little note, a welcome home sign, beautiful flowers, and take out from one of our favorite restaurants, Olive Garden.

He also told me that he wouldn't be able to pick us up from the airport because of a last minute schedule change at school. I arranged for a friend of mine to pick us up which was going to work out just great. While I was on the plane, it turned out that he finished his assignment early, worked it out with Lindsey to pick me up after all. But did he let me know? Of course not! Instead he totally surprised me when he pulled up in the Camry! It was such a fun surprise and although we had so much fun in Oregon, it was also sooo nice to be home.

Thank you Mom and Dad for the best 10 days at home! We loved every minute!

The Grilled Cheese Grill

To celebrate Paul's birthday we decided to pick him up from work and head over to the Grilled Cheese Grill a few blocks away in downtown Portland. Mom couldn't resist writing a little love note on the back of the van... I think Paul was a little embarrassed... I wonder why?! ;) It wasn't until later that we realized the word "birthay" was spelled wrong. It just added to the laughs for the day!

You place your order and your sandwich is made here in the trailer. Then you can find your seat in front of the trailer on the picnic tables, or you can head over to the...

... old double decker bus and take a seat while you wait for you order to be called over the intercom system. I love the crazy things you can find in Portland... there's always something new to experience! Of course we took our seat in the bus. Let me tell you... this thing is awesome. Wired with an intercom system that they call your order on when its ready to eat, including great music and hilarious decor to keep the experience great.

The floor matched my shoes :)

Where did this bus come from?? I mean, seriously... look at the decor. Hot air balloons in the sky and kids school pictures from the 80's covering the tables. It definitely keeps you wondering.

Totally awesome seats upstairs.

Almost all the tables were covered with these 80's school pics along with a box of trivial pursuit questions to keep you busy while you waited for your sandwich.

The tables that weren't covered by school pics looked a little something like this.

They even had a sandwich named after me!! I was going to order it, but I just couldn't resist the provolone, tomato, and basil on the Northsider.

And let me just say that it did not disappoint. Holy cow... SOO good!

Pumpkin Patch

Since I was in Oregon mid October, it only made sense to head to the patch to grab a few pumpkins. Lindsay, Mom, the babies and I headed out to an apple orchard/pumpkin patch on River Road and were able to bring home apples, and some delicious apple cider along with our perfect pumpkin. Oh, and we can't forget the antique chair we somehow fit in the car on our way home. It was so cute!

Miss Ellie

The gorgeous red trees thanks to the Fall season in Oregon

Oh I just love this little boy... he is so happy and smiley all the time!

Just Hanging Out

We had a long bucket list that needed to be completed while I was in Oregon, but we also had some down time at the house, which I loved! There's nothing better than just hanging out at home. It was so fun to see Ellie and Colby interact over the week and half that we were there. Ellie is getting ready to meet a new little brother in the next few months and Colby absolutely loves other kids so it was a fun time for both I'm sure. You can tell how excited Colby was in the pic below. :)

The little man met his Auntie Monica while we were there. I'm so glad she has been living in Oregon for the past few months so that we could see her! It was really fun to catch up as well as visit with her parents. Love them.

Grandma and Colby

Paul was really into the BYU game the Saturday I was there... so funny.

Love those baby blues... what a handsome little stud in his sunday best.

Lindsay decided to try putting Ellie's hair in a ponytail.... well out came the ponytail... and her hair stayed! It was hilarious!

Uncle Paul and Colby

Portland Bound

A few months back I saw a Southwest Ding headed to Portland for super cheap and couldn't resist buying a ticket for Colby and I to go visit Grandma and Grandpa. Spencer was the best for letting us go without him, (although all three of us really should have just waited to go for Thanksgiving break, but that didn't cross my mind until the morning we left) but we did miss him a lot!! Here's Spence and Colby around 5 am before we left for the airport. They were both still a little tired. :)

Colby did amazing on the way there. I planned an early flight to Portland hoping that he would sleep most of the way, and that he did! Here's the little cutie before we boarded. Don't mind all the pics... I just want every little face he makes for my sake and journal keeping. :)

One night Mom and Dad took Paul, Lindsay and I to John's Incredible Pizza which is a full pizza buffet/arcade - kind of like a Chuck-E-Cheese for grown ups, but way, way better. We ate some delicious food first, then headed into the arcade for some games. It was the middle of the week so it was a pretty slow night... we practically had the whole place to ourselves. Although it wasn't very busy, the place was huge! It had the capability to host the masses for sure. There were probably 5 or 6 very large rooms, all with different themes, for you to eat in. Of course Paul picked the sports room, which was actually pretty cool.

Grandpa and Colby

Grandpa, Colby, Paul and Ellie

One of the rides was a virtual roller coaster... SO FUN! Dad and I were the first to try it out, then everyone else had to give it go because it looked like we had so much fun. :) The thing was completely decked out with moving seats and fans to simulate wind. Totally my kind of ride!

Paul won Ellie this little stuffed animal and she could not get enough of it that night! What a little cutie.

The last ride for us that night was the bumper cars. Paul, Mom, Dad and I all rode while Lindsay stayed out with the littles since she is pregnant and couldn't take on the bumper cars with us. It was a great way to end the night with a lot of laughter.