utah: aerospace museum

On Thursday, August 19th, we visited the Hill Aerospace Museum while Nana Lee stayed with a napping Cedar.

A photo for Papa: the Jolley Roger!

I liked the arrow pointing at my boys.

There was a kid's area with flight simulators & model cock pits.

Obviously not just for the kids. ;)

A museum volunteer offered to take our photo after explaining how very cool this particular jet is...it was all kind of lost on me, but the guys all loved it!

Cool teeth on that jet.

A model of an atomic bomb. Not to be insensitive, but I thought it was kind of cute.

Another model of the inside of the first atomic bomb.

It was pouring outside, so we didn't check out the outdoor planes. But Kenton & Finn went back on a different day, since it was free! :)

utah: thanksgiving point

After Cabela's & a quick picnic lunch, we went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. We had looked up this museum before leaving for Utah & were all very excited to see life size dinosaur bones!

Cedar liked the hands-on exhibits! :)

Giant dinosaurs!
We went on $2 Tuesday & it was packed! It didn't bother us much, but it was pretty remarkable how many people showed up for the deal! :)

Sweet stegosaurus!

Finn loved every bit. He tells people he wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up.

I like this one!

And these ones are just cute!

T-rex!

One of Kenton's favorites - a huge sea turtle!

utah: cabela's

We drove overnight on Sunday, August 15th, to Ogden, Utah to visit Kenton's grandparents. The kids did pretty well & slept for the majority of the drive. Kenton drove most of the way & I look a short turn right before sunrise Monday morning.

We didn't do much the day we arrived, but we were off & running on Tuesday. Our first stop was Cabela's, where they have amazing displays of real/no longer alive wild animals. :)


They also had a big aquarium filled with cool fish!

Checking out the African animals.

Papa Lew, Nana Lee, Cedar & Kenton walking through the North American animals display.

Finn's favorite part of Cabela's was the shooting gallery! Pretty fun stuff. :)

we have eggs!

On August 10th, we discovered our first egg! A wonderful anniversary gift. :)

We soon discovered that Dorothy was the one laying eggs. She has laid an egg everyday since! Black Australorps are excellent layers & Dorothy has definitely proven herself. :)

Unfortunately, we are pretty certain that Brunhilde is a rooster. We're bummed. We don't want a rooster but we really like Brunhilde...or, perhaps we should refer to him as Bruno. :\

Opal (the white one in the back) started laying 4 days later. We were excited to see what color her eggs would be because she's an Araucana & could potentially lay green, blue or pink eggs. Turns out her eggs are light brown or beige. Not as exciting as we hoped, but still fun. Fern (the black & white one) started laying while we were in Utah. We're still waiting for Hazel to lay...not sure what's taking her so long & really hoping we're not in for more bad news...

My little egg collector. I'm so thankful that Finn is excited about the eggs. Our chickens have not figured out how to use the nesting boxes yet & continue to lay eggs in the farthest corner of the coop. I can get back there but it's much easier to send Finn in instead. :)

eep graduation

On Wednesday, August 11th, we held a graduation ceremony for my 6th Early Education Program graduating class.

Due to confidentiality, I can't share photos of my adorable preschoolers. But trust me, they're super cute! :)

Kenton watched the boys during the event. I love that they come. I know they could just as easily stay home, but I love to show off my lovely family. :)

Our super awesome teaching team
Matthew, Becca, Tamy, Angie, Jacque, Stu, Katrina & Cliff
We don't all work in the same class at the same time, but we're all friends. It's pretty great. :)

Super Finn showing off his climbing skills. :)

eight years

On Tuesday, August 10th, Kenton & I celebrated 8 years of marriage!

Since we got married before digital cameras were the norm, I only have film photos of our wedding. So, I had Kenton scan some of our wedding photos to share with the internet world. :)

We should scan more, but this is it for now.

Eight years ago, we were 21. Kenton had just graduated from OSU & I had one year left. Neither of us had jobs. Not sure what made us think it would be a good time to get married, but I'm so glad we did. We found out the Kenton got a job while we were on our honeymoon on Maui! What a blessing. Since then, we've moved to Seattle, spent a year, then moved to Eugene where we've settled for the last 6 years. We added two kids to the mix & couldn't imagine anything differently. I'm so thankful to have married my best friend & that we remain best friends 8 years later. I love you, Kenton. Thanks for choosing me!

the finished wall

Long ago, before Cedar joined our family, I hung some photo art of our little family above our bed. I always had the intention of adding photos of Cedar once he arrived & had been with us for long enough for us to capture some great photos...

Last week, I finally finished up the project. I ended up replacing 3 of the original prints (because Finn has grown up a lot since then) & adding 3 more. So, 6 updated photos of the family.

I got the idea from here & a tutorial of the photo editing process was included (I believe the tutorial link is no longer working but was able to complete the process from memory this time around). I love the way it turned out. Thank you to Marylee & Lew for the craft store gift card that allowed me to pick up some more frames! :)

becca's birthday

On Friday, August 6th, we celebrated Becca's 35th birthday. And I believe that wraps up our Summer Birthday Extravaganza! ;) The Chases hosted a dessert in the birthday girl's honor.

Cedar figured out the sit 'n spin.

Ice cream cones for the kids - with sprinkles!

Even one for Cedar.

He took care of the cone on his own & devoured nearly the entire thing. I think it got a bit too squishy in the end, but otherwise, he seemed to enjoy himself. :)

Death by Chocolate Trifle
by Becca

The birthday girl!

Ready for presents!

An antique store find from us.

The oldest & youngest cousin
(for now...just until baby Tate Ruddick arrives in late November)

The parents & parents-in-law

Garden art from Aaron, while standing in front of a portion of our old front fence. We ripped it out earlier this summer & have used portions in our yard for decor. Becca now has a part for their yard. :)