Go Blazers!

Travis is busy watching game four of the basketball playoffs. The Blazers just scored. The score is 65 to 63 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Travis is VERY happy!

For some reason Sophie doesn't like basketball. She is trying to avoid the rowdy/noisy downstairs and is currently hanging out in our bedroom. Silly dog!

Now she is resting and taking a nap. What a good pooch!

Tulip Festival

Last Sunday we went to the Tulip Festival. The weather was really sunny and warm! We figured it could be crowded but we took the adventure anyways. We went on back roads most of the way and the drive was great, but then it took us about one hour to travel the last two miles. The next couple photos I got while we were inching along the road the last two miles.

I love this tall, green grass!

We were so excited to see flowers because we knew we must be getting closer to the tulip farm. However, these flowers were daffodils and they weren't in the greatest shape, but I liked them with the barn in the background. Can you see all the tiny dots? Each dot equals ten dollars the tulip farm made today. The tulip farm must of parked tons of cars today!
Beautiful flowers! Notice I am highlighting pink and organge, two of my favorite colors.Travis sitting on a tractor. What could be better?
A view of Mt. Hood and tulips.
My favorite flower picture that my dad took today!

Decorating Easter Eggs

We celebrated Easter by going to church at McMinnville Covenant Church, where my sister and brother-in-law attend. Dan helped lead worship and was in the Easter choir. Elise was in the Easter choir too and sang an amazing solo. After church we had Easter dinner at the Willis house. Then we got to decorate Easter eggs. Here are some pictures from our fun...

I am documenting my guess. My job was to decide which color tablet should go in each cup. I got 100% correct!

Mom bought a new egg holder tool for us to try while decorating eggs. I thought it worked pretty well to make multi-colored eggs.

What is Dan doing eat the egg without coloring it?

Campbell woke up from his afternoon nap in time for his first decorating Easter eggs experience. I think he might have more fun when he is a little older.

Our finished eggs! Aren't they beautiful?

Easter Basket

Our Easter basket was filled with lots of fun stuff! We got two movies... The Berenstain Bears Springtime Surprises and Madagascar 2, and we each got a pair of Korean cleaning gloves that are PINK!, and of course chocolate. It was a fun treat.

Classroom Conversation

Setting: Thursday afternoon at about 3:00 pm in Mrs. Morgan's 3rd grade classroom

Student: Mrs. Morgan I think tomorrow should be a holiday.

Mrs. Morgan: Oh, well what would you do on your holiday?

Student: Well, tomorrow is the day that Jesus died on the cross. Today when I get home from school I am going to make crosses and draw God on them and have my mom hang them around the house for our holiday.

Mrs. Morgan: Great idea.

The student that shared this conversation with me was not one that I would have suspected that went to church or knew about God. I am so glad she does know about how GOOD this FRIDAY was for each of us, and that Christ did died on the cross for us.

New Car

Travis and I bought a new car! We traded my 1999 Honda CR-V in for this beautiful new car. It is a 2005 Honda CR-V. This car only has 20,000 miles! I really like how it drives. A few features are different in this car, but I am starting to get more used to as I drive it more. I love the cargo space. It seems so much bigger than our previous car. Tomorrow Travis is taking the car in to get our free roof rack because that was part of our bargaining deal.

Sunday's Hike

On Sunday we had warm weather. It was a perfect day for a hike. We met up with two other couples (friends from college) to hike around Washington Park/Rose Garden area in downtown Portland. While on our exploration hike we found this beautiful patch of trillium flowers. These flowers are unique because they only bloom every seven years!

Suitcases!

This past weekend we found some suitcases at costco. We bought two suitcases so we would have good luggage when we get to travel to Korea. The pictures isn't the greatest because the suitcase isn't filled to its capacity. The side pockets on this bag are wonderful! We can't wait to use them to pick up our son or daughter someday soon.

Cool Fact From Newspaper!

This morning I was reading the newspaper and found a cool fact.

Today is 4-01-2009 which is a perfect square number. 2003x2003=4,012,009

The article said that this century has 24 perfect square days.

The first was September 1, 2004. 3,002 x 3,002=9,01,2004

The second was March, 5, 2009. 1,747 x 1,747= 3,052,009

Today is the third perfect square day. I guess we have to figure out the next 6 perfect square days in this century on our own because the article didn't mention them. It did say that the next perfect square April Fool's Day won't be until 6016.

Ah, the crazy facts that exist!

H-Mart

Saturday we went to H-Mart an Asian grocery store. It was such a neat experience. It makes us want to have a referral and travel to Korea. I didn't take any pictures in the store because I was trying to be culturally sensitive (I was not sure if it would have been considered rude), but if you visit http://www.hmart.com/ you might get a little bit more of a feel for our experience.

While at the store we bought some yummy pastries that we can't wait to go back and get again. We also bought some cookies that we had at one of our friends houses before. And I got a couple of wooden spoons that were made in Korea. After our explorations of the store we ordered food from a vendor in the front of the store. We are pretty sure we ordered something similar to the Korean meal we have made at home. It was yummy!

Playing with my Nephew

My sister and brother-in-law had Easter choir practice the last two Sunday's so I got to babysit and play with my nephew! He is 8 months old and able to do so much already. He is on the verge of crawling. Any day now I could get a call from my sister with the news that he is cruising all around her house.
Everything in the mouth= Fun!

Look at all the toy options. We had lots to keep us busy.

Travis got to go with me on the second Sunday. He and Campbell had fun dancing to music.

St. Patrick's Day

I made green chocolate chip pancakes and milk for Travis and I for breakfast on St. Patrick's Day. I can't wait to make this treat for our kids someday soon!
Travis looks a little sleepy in this picture, but he enjoyed his breakfast!

New Neighbor

My Aunt DeAnn just bought a house in our neighborhood. She has a little different floor plan than our house, but it is a very nice house.

All the boys were tired after a day of moving furniture! They are enjoying resting her big couches!

God of This City

In our search to find another home church we were introduced to a new song that I absolutely love. The song is called God of This City by Chris Tomlin. I asked Travis to play it on the guitar for me several nights ago. He tried, but he said he needed to hear the song more before he can play it well. I want to buy the CD, but listening to this video of the song will have to do until then. Since Travis tried to play God of This City that one evening for me the guitar has found a new home upstairs in our bedroom. He has played it a few times recently as I am falling asleep, which has been wonderful!



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Car Jams for Kalina

A few years ago, when I had a long commute to work, my sister-in-law made me a CD. I recently found it and have been playing it in my car as I drive my short, less than 10 minutes, commute to work. One of my favorite songs on the CD is Abba Father by Shaun Groves. These lyrics remind me how important it is to surrender to God and be reminded of his amazing protection and love for us. I yearn to hold my baby, but I know I must be patient and content that it will happen in God's wonderful timing.

Abba Father
My defender
You are holy
I surrender
For in my weakness
You protect me
When my heart strays
You correct me

I cry Abba Father
I love You, Daddy
Abba Father
I love You, I love You
Abba Father
I love You, Daddy
Abba Father
I love You, I love You, Daddy

Yummy Dinner!

A couple weeks ago when we went to Madras and my mother-in-law made a yummy lunch for us. We tried making it this evening for dinner and we were still impressed with the recipe. If need need a yummy, but quick dinner this is the meal! Cook chicken, dice zucchini, dice asparagus, dice pepperoni, and cook in spaghetti sauce. Serve in a pita bread pockets with a slice of provolone cheese.

Doesn't this look gourmet? It was actually really quick and easy to make, but super tasty!

Painting Our Bathroom

We have been talking about painting our bathroom for awhile, but this past weekend we got our act together and did the job. The project was cheap because we used the paint that was left over for our bedroom painting project last January. We painted one wall purple to match the purple decorative rectangle in our bedroom. I tried to show the comparision, but the angels and light just weren't working for me.
I was trying to take a picture of Travis painting, but get this boy around the camera and he turns into a goof ball! Dosen't he know you aren't supposed to eat paint? You can see the purple better in this picture though.

This is my attempt at taking a picture of both of us during the painting project. I guess I am not so talented at this since I cut my head off. Oops!

Here is the end product. I really like how it turned out!

Stan the Vacuum

When we got married one of the gifts we were given was a vacuum cleaner. It was probably a 50 dollar value, and has worked for the past few years. However, Travis has not been overly pleased with it ever since we got it. So this weekend we decided it was finally time to upgrade. We went to Sears and a nice man named Stan explained to us each of the different features on the vacuums. We picked one and in Stan's honor decided to name our vacuum after him. Here are some pictures of our new household toy!

Meet Stan the vacuum, and check out all the awesome features!
I was trying to take a family photo, but someone didn't think I was funny.
Opening the box!

Doesn't it feel a little like Christmas?

Our new vacuum!

This part Travis is holding is called a pet power mate. Stan recommended we use it on our stairs. We hope it works wonders because the stairs are one of the hardest things to vacuum in our house.

Travis is truly enjoying the new vacuum, but I am not sure he is showing it in these pictures.

Travis vacuumed the whole house and now it looks lovely! I have a wonderful husband.

We had a fun weekend in Madras. This is a picture Josh took for us while we were on a walk down by the creek. It was very peaceful... but I didn't have the best shoes on for exploring.
What is Sophie doing with her leg? We all got a good laugh after this pose!

We made our famous Korean meal for the family. These pictures show that everyone enjoyed the meal! We ate it all... yum!

We also went to celebrate a birthday! Look who loved his birthday present... The Invention of Hugo Cabret. I discovered this was a great book after reading it for one of my graduate classes. I read it in less than 24 hours and read it aloud to my third graders who loved it. We decided to would be the perfect gift for Trav's dad. He love the book too. I think he read it in less than 8 hours and to think it is a 500 plus pages. Amazing!