Flash Back Friday and Private Blog

Since we have been gone this summer I have been updating my blog on Stephen's laptop. I have found a lot of old pictures that he uploaded from when he had his first iphone. I wanted to post a handful of them that brought back good memories. 

I also said a while back that I was going to make my blog private but never ended up doing it. I am going to do it for real this time so once again leave a comment with your email if you want me to include you in the list. 

Here are some flash back friday pics:

You can't see this picture below very well but this is at the Atlanta Temple and that was the first day Stephen and I met doing baptisms. He is sitting on the ground and I am in back (third from the left) in a black dress. 

 Stephen took this when we were dating and he came to visit in Idaho. I wanted to include this because I look like a baby. Weird how young I look in this pic.

 Savannah's first Easter. I can't believe how little she looks. She was my teeny baby.

 She had the cutest cheeks with the fullest lips. 

 Almost every weekend we would go out with the Young's and our little ones would always tag along.

 Savannah gave the "stink eye" back then as well.

 Cute Savannah and Pregnant mom!

 A few hours after Tammy Lee joined our family. I remember this so well… so many emotions.

 My sweet girl in the nice trying to grow and be ready to come home.

 Sitting up and staring with those beautiful eyes.

 haha Sav looks so happy and Tammy Lee looks so concerned.

Those bring back good memories. Don't forget to leave your email address if you want to be invited to read this blog.

Sunday Fun!

We had a wonderful Sunday!

Our church is at 11:00 which is right when Tammy Lee usually goes down for a nap. We often try to get her to take a little nap earlier and then wake her up right before sacrament but lately she hasn't been tired before 11:00. She is the kind of kid who only sleeps in her crib and rarely falls asleep elsewhere. 

Getting an active 22 month old to fall asleep at church feels like you have just won the lottery. All you mom's know what I am talking about. I was so proud of myself. She slept for an hour and 15 minutes and I thought my arm was going to fall off but I didn't dare move in fear that she would wake up.

                                                 

After church we went to a ward members house for dinner (The Kunzler's home). Mhanitta is Tammy Lee's nursery teacher and is so cute with kids. Tammy Lee just loves her and I completely understand why because she is such a kind, loving, and patient person. She is from Thailand and spoiled us with some amazing Thai food. I had never had Thai food before and boy was I missing out. It was to die for!  

 She even painted the girls nails. That is the key to their hearts.

 Tammy Lee gave Mhanitta lots of hugs and kisses. We will miss them when we leave in a couple weeks!

 I can't forget to mention how kind and welcoming John was. Both Savannah and Tammy Lee climbed up on his lap and thought he was pretty great. He played blocks with them and played games with them. We had a great time chatting and getting to know so many kind and welcoming families here in Oregon.

Portland Children's Museum

We had so much fun exploring the Portland Children's Museum. We got free passes from the library. The girls loved exploring every station! I always enjoy watching their curious minds at work.

 Tammy Lee was my little chef. She could have played in that kitchen all day. She kept bringing me more and more food. Notice the corn on the cob she placed in cups for me and the sandwich she made with a tomato on top. She was quite the cook!

5 year anniversary! July 31, 2014

I have been married to this guy for 5 years now! I can't believe all that has happened in those 5 years. We bought our first home, have two beautiful girls, both graduated with our bachelors, and so much more. It has been the best 5 years of my life and I am so grateful for Stephen.

The best decision I ever made was marrying him. I feel blessed everyday to have such a wonderful, caring, funny, understanding, patient, loving, and can't forget to mention good looking ;) husband and father to our girls.

A friend from our ward in Oregon saw that it was our anniversary and volunteered to watch our girls so we could celebrate. We were so excited to go out. It is the second date we have been able to go on this summer. We had a blast shopping, eating dinner, and walking around the streets of Tanasbourne. It was perfect!

Love YOU Stephen!

I wanted to include the sweet post Stephen put on his Facebook on our anniversary:

Five years ago I married the most amazing girl in the world! She has exceeded my expectations in every way both as a wife and a mother. Although there are many adjectives that could describe how incredible Jenaca is, the one that has consistently echoed in my mind over the years is selfless. She spends so much time serving others that it seems like she has forgotten how to think of herself:) I feel like the luckiest man in the world. Hopefully over the next five years I'll learn to become a little bit more like her!

Trying to stay cool...

It has been SO hot in Oregon this week. We are desperately trying to stay cool with no air conditioning. We live on the 3rd floor and in the later afternoon our apt feels like a sauna. We try to get out of the house as much as possible because it feels 10 times better outside then it does inside. Crossing my fingers that the weather is under the 90's this coming week. 

This is going to be a jumbled post of random pictures from our week.

Savannah is 3 1/2 and is full of personality. She is my determined and independent child. She is very adventurous and loves to play. She is also very social and finds a new friend everywhere we go. She likes to tell Tammy Lee what to do and will tell her to go to time out if she does something bad. I have to remind Savannah that I am in charge and she doesn't need to do that. She loves to tell me stories and likes to have my undivided attention. I love hearing about the stories she musters up in that brain of hers. 

She doesn't quite understand the difference between saying she and he. She pretty much calls everyone he's whether its a boy or girl. She also calls grown men little boy's. Her L's sound more like Y's so she pronounces it more like "Yittle boy." The other day we were standing in line at Costco and an older man was smiling at her. She gave him a big smile back and turned to me and said, "Mom, that yittle boy is so nice, he smiled at me." We all got a good laugh.  I am loving watching her grow and learn… she is such a cute girl. 

 Have I mentioned how wonderful our ward is? If we end up moving back her we want to make sure we find a home in this ward. We have met so many wonderful people and done so many fun play dates. We have loved it!

 Isn't my husband handsome!!!? mmm mmm mmm

 We were mentally preparing ourself for an hour of trying every trick in the book to keep two active girls reverent during sacrament. ;)

 Almost every night we go on walks together. We have a little trail right behind our apt complex. Savannah and Tammy Lee have become the cutest friends. I don't know if there is anything better than watching your kids laugh and play together. The other morning I built the girls a fort to play in so I could get some laundry started. They were having so much bringing their toys inside the fort. As they were playing and laughing I heard Savannah say, "Tammy Lee I love you…do you love me?" After a little pause Tammy Lee said, "Yes! I love those moments!

 For Fhe on Monday it was Savannah's turn to pick the treat. She LOVES donuts so of course she picked donuts. Stephen and Savannah went to pick up Krispy Kreme's after our lesson. She brought them home and couldn't wait to show us all what she had got. 

 Behavior Charts work like magic at our house. 

Waking up from a nap can be hard. Sometimes all you need is a good snuggle from your big sis. 

 We enjoy going to the beaverton library each week and always rent some fun books to take home and enjoy.

 Dish duty…. my little helpers! It deff created more of a mess than anything else but they had so much fun washing the dishes.