Guess who turned 1!!! (Over a month and a 1/2 ago!)

It is very hard for me to believe that our precious baby, Nathanael Ian celebrated his first birthday already!  It seems like just yesterday and he was a tiny bundle of joy in my arms!  My how the time flies!  I must say that having the opportunity to be a full-time, stay-at-home mommy has been such a blessing to me and my family this year.  When Joci and Jacob were babies, I didn't work full-time but I did attend UNM part-time finishing up my Bachelor's degree in Teaching.  The bond that you share and enjoy with your baby when you are able to be the sole caregiver is such an incredible feeling and blessing.  On top of that I have had the privilege to home school Jocelyn and Jacob and spend so much quality time with the two of them as well.  They are such WONDERFUL big siblings to Nathanael and Love and care for him so much!  I cannot tell you how good God is to our family and how HE provides for our family each month.  I have always been a "worrier" when it came to finances especially when we decided to cut out my teacher salary which was upwards of 40K a year, but the Lord has been faithful to bless us and keep us day after day.  

Anyway...on to Nathanael's birthday...

I decided to have a bumble bee party and went all out!  I had him dressed up in bumble bee attire along with the rest of the family, made him a bee hive cake and passed out bumble bee party favors.  It was so much fun we had swimming for the little ones in the backyard, good food and lots of wonderful and thoughtful gifts.

Day 6 Astoria, Oregon & Long Beach Washington!!!

Today was SUCH an exciting day.  Our dear cousins were sweet enough to lend us their vehicle and we took off to check out where Lewis and Clark met up with the Pacific Ocean!  We had studies Lewis and Clark this past school year as part of our study of American History and here we had the opportunity to go where they were!  We took a beautiful drive over to Astoria, Oregon which is where Fort Clatsop is and where Lewis and Clark stayed for the winter.  Then we crossed over the Columbia river into Washington and went over to Cape Disappointment which was beautiful!  They had a wonderful and informative museum.  Joci and Jake received their Junior Ranger badges for all the hard work and sight seeing we were getting done!  Finally we went up to Long Beach, Washington, and stepped out on the LONNG beach!  It was very cold and windy but nice weather for kite flying!  It was a FABULOUS day!  

Day 5

Today we decided to take advantage of the local berry fields and go berry picking!  It was a very fun experience that none of us had ever done!   There were even berries that we had never even heard of!  Like Marionberries!  Anyway after that the family took us to an old school that had been renovated into a hotel/movie theatre/restaurant!  It was a totally awesome experience and we watched Night at the Museum II in the theatre sitting on couches!  It was sooo cool!  Then we went downtown to checkout the sandcastle show.  Good times!

Day 4 Portland

Today was another fabulous day in beautiful Oregon!  We started the day by having a fabulous breakfast at with everyone then Matthew and I decided to take the kids over to OMSI (The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry).  It was so incredible that we became members and wished we could have spent a whole 2 more days there!  The kids had so much fun playing with the exhibits and there was just so much to learn!  After OMSI we headed of The St. Clare Parish to baptize our goddaughter, Clairet Bernadine Lydia...

Day 3 Portland

Today we had a fabulous day at the beautiful Japanese gardens.  We actually went on a guided tour and learned so much about the gardens, the culture and all the beauty that surrounded us!  Did you know that the Koi fish are VERY collectible, can be VERY pricey and can live for MANY years!?

Day 2 Portland

Let me start by saying that we had the most wonderful host and hostess while in Portland.  Benita had several events arranged for us while on our stay.  She started out by taking us up to "Pill Hill" where all the hospitals are and dropped us off and the top of the hill and let us ride a tram down the hill and picked us up!  It was fun, NOTHING compared to our tram of course but still and experience!  Next stop was the Children's Museum where the kids had some fun and finally she took us to a Oregon local pizza shop called Pizza Schmiza!  It WAS AMAZING pizza, dare I say it...Better than Dion's!  

GOING TO FINISH PORTLAND!!!!

So yes, things have been a BIT Crazy!  But I am determined to finish our Portland trip! soo lets see if I can pull this off...