Friday, October 02, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Our Bdays
Jack turned 3!
He had a fabulous day: pancakes in the morning, a bike ride around the neighborhood, playground fun, foam snakes, pizza for dinner and cupcakes for dessert!
Our sweet, but strong willed little guy, loves playing games, loves cars and singing along to the Cars soundtrack, loves to rhyme (even if it's not a real word), and loves his new subscription to the Friend magazine. He is our little buddy, always up for the next adventure.
Saturday, August 01, 2009

Goodbye Northwest...
Hello to the Southern life
We just made the long journey to North Carolina this week, so Derek could start grad school today. Or should I say, Derek and his dad made the long journey to NC while Jack and I flew! We've been in Pennsylvania this past month hanging out with the family and helping/nagging my dad while he is recovering from open heart surgery. Derek and his dad drove the moving truck to NC and put our stuff in storage for a month until we moved into an apartment this past week. We are excited, nervous, anxious for this next part of our lives together. Derek is excited for school and to utilize his brain again. I'm excited for when the going gets tough...the weak can now drive to her family. (6 hours to PA). So here we go! Let the student life begin again except this time with kids!

Thursday, June 04, 2009
and this will make four
I am 14 weeks along and due December 1st! Jack wants a baby sister and lets me know in his honest way whenever the baby (aka my protruding belly) is getting bigger. At least I can count on someone telling me the truth about my weight gain! We are ecstatic as can be. I was a lot sicker this time around and was worried that I wouldn't be better in time for our west coast vacation. But everything went awesome and the only person that threw up was Jack. Poor guy has a new found problem..car sickness. At one point we were driving on the 5 going 70 with the windows down. Those were some good times. Pictures to follow at some point! But here are a few of us crazy campers in the Redwood Forest before bed.
Friday, March 06, 2009
Been a while....
Jack In The Park from McKay Marshall on Vimeo.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
while dad's away
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
glass half full
Today I was having a, crappy weather-my child took a very short nap-kind of day. My sweet friend Diana reminded me that these are the days when you should list the things that you love. Today I love the pear tree in my backyard and the beautiful pears it produces. I also love the freshly cut roses sitting on my kitchen window sill that I cut from my backyard. And in actuality, this day isn't so bad. The dreary day and short nap helped me appreciate the bright sun more when it peeked out and the extra time it gave Jack and I to get in a game of baseball, or it might have been the phone call I just received saying, "honey, let's go out for dinner and have some family time." All in all my "bad days" are just days where I haven't seen the good in them just yet.
Monday, August 18, 2008
2+5+5+17= a little slice of heaven
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Gack Gack turns 2
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
I've debated over whether to write such personal things on our blog, but we haven't gotten around to telling too many dear friends and family about our recent sad event. This past Friday, I went to the doctors for my first routine pregnancy exam (I was 9 weeks along and definitely feeling all the "perks"). They did an ultrasound and found out the baby did not have a heart beat. It was measuring about 8-9 weeks, so they told me it must have just happened recently. After a stunned week, I still haven't actually miscarried the baby, so a D&C was scheduled for today. Even though this sad event has caused much gloom and sadness in our home, we are so so grateful for amazing friends and family, for our knowledge of eternal life, and for our sweet healthy boy we have been hugging extra close this week. Thank you to everyone for the flowers, the meals, the ice cream, and more importantly, your love, your listening ears and your prayers. This week has been a little depressing, but I know that our Heavenly Father has a plan for our family. We love you.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Silver Falls
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Happy May Day!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
it's yaining
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tools begone
This past weekend, our garage was broken into. Most of what they took happened to be Derek's coveted power tools, tool sets, tool boxes, tool chests; the main reason he convinced me that we needed to rent a garage in our aparment complex; basically they wiped him out. For those of you that know Derek, these tools meant a lot to him. Over half have been purchased, gifted or inherited from our fathers and his grandfather. A lot of them have sentimental value. Each time he goes to the garage, he discovers more of what they took. What I love about him, was he was pretty distraught about the whole situation on Sunday when he discovered what happened, but by the end of the night he just said, "...you know, it's just stuff." He can let it go so much easier than I can. I started thinking about everything that has been taken from us recently. Our Japanese Vespa knock off was stolen from our parking lot about a year ago, and recently my phone was stolen from a Noodles and Company where Jack and I had been eating and got up to clear our tray (I wanted to believe that the bus boy accidentally threw it away even though the manager said that it probably was stolen, and sure enough our phone bill had accumulated $55 in download charges from that same night.). I guess this is just all stuff like Derek said, but why is there so much evil and greed in this world that people really believe that they are entitled to things that are not theirs? As a side note, Jack has graciously offered Derek his tool set to borrow since he has but one screw driver left. What a boy!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Thank you J. Crew Thank you for finally believing that there are actually other tall people in the world besides your models. J. Crew finally extended their inseams to 36 inches. I know that doesn't sound exciting to most people, but there aren't too many stores out there that believe that there are taller people than 5'8.
Too Tall Hee Haw was the nickname my brother gave me at Aunt Laura's (our parents business). Every time I went to punch in, there was my name "too tall hee haw". But this is a brother that really did care. We were both working at the mall and it was right before prom. He knew that I was trying to find a pair of shoes that wouldn't make me taller than my date. I was in complete agony over trying to find a cute one inch heel shoe. He stopped what he was doing and told the other employees we were going on break. He took my hand and dragged me to one of the store's display windows. There in the window, were these huge pictures of beautiful models with 6 inch stiletto heels on. They looked amazing and confident. He told me that these girls were taller than me, wearing big heels and loving it. I told him I wasn't a model on display at Victoria Secrets, or I wouldn't care. But I have never forgotten this moment. I am tall and proud of it. My pants may always look like a floods coming, but I can reach the top shelf, see over crowds and reach my husbands lips without standing on my tip toes. Tall is beautiful and I embrace it.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Easter
I think we need more kids..Jack by the window, Jack with his basket, Jack with the bunny. He looks a little disheveled because this was after church and he's ready for his nap, but I had to quick take some shots.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Through a child's eyes
On this day down by the water, I saw life through the eyes of my son. It was raining and cold, but he could have cared less. At first glance all I saw was a cold and dirty fence and a brown river. I'm pretty sure he saw a perfect climb to a beautiful sea. I love these days.
Cupcake Mania
Last week while Angie was here we did a taste test of the two best cupcake joints in Portland to see who had the tastiest treats in town.
VS
Aunt Angie is the greatest
Some pics I took down by the water. I am in love with the bridges in Portland.
Beans, Beans
I haven't updated in a while, so just wanted to post a few picks of what we've been up to. We made a bean pool for Jack to play in (with the encouragement from Angie), which he LOVES. For those paranoid readers out there, he has been pretty good about not eating them! Lately though, he keeps bringing them to me in a cup and then dumping them out all over the floor! Luckily they clean up fast! This was such a cheap project and has kept Jack entertained for hours!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Reading Corner
With the rainy days, I found a lot of projects to work on in the house and a lot of time to play with Jack. He loves his books and would go behind the chair in his room to find the stragglers left on the floor. So to keep him busy, I made him his own little reading corner behind his chair, and he loves it! I'm not finished "decorating" it yet, but he loves his reading time. I find him sitting surrounded by all of his books picking up each one, totally enthralled by the pictures and words. I love it! One great piece of advice I received from my sisters when I was pregnant (they are so wise), was read, read, read to your child; even when they are a newborn, read to them. So that is what I did. I hope that he will always love to read.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
"You have such a lovely daughter"
I was starting to get comments about my pretty daughter, so I decided it was time for Jack to get a "real" haircut. Not just from me. I was really sad that she cut so much off because I asked her to keep it long, but she was just having a blast with Jack and got carried away. Derek keeps informing me that he's only 18 months and it will grow back.
BEFORE
This is what it looked like after his nap...seriously
Thursday, February 07, 2008
PA Farm Show
The famous butter sculpture. This year it was of a school bus and the children. Yes there is one child pulling his cow onto the bus. What, you guys didn't have cows on your bus?
NYC
Crossing the Picket Line
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Garbage Day
Have you ever had a funny experience that you just can't seem to explain to someone, and you just wish they could have been there? Well I have been trying to think of a funny way to write what happened today, but I just can't seem to grasp the true essence of the moment. So just picture me, in our objectionable apartment dumpster, in the rain, fishing out my house keys. It was not a pretty site. I'm thankful for glass bottle recycling bins that seem to make the perfect step stools, and for Jack, who was sleeping soundly in our locked apartment, and for a cell phone, which was sitting in my locked apartment with my sleeping baby, and for Derek, who is out of town and could not have helped at all.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Things I love about Fall...Apple Orchards
the conservatory
We were headed back from the pumpkin patch and found this awesome apple orchard. The land and architecture was amazing, so I had to take some shots. No apples were actually seen at the orchard, but we got to taste some amazing non pasturized apple juice, each one specific to the variety of apple used. It was so much better than store bought!
Things I love about Fall...Pumpkin Patches
We checked out the Roloff Farm pumpkin patch (TLC's Little People Big World) this year since it's a 5 min drive from our house. The cameras were there and it was packed full of people hoping to get their 3 seconds of fame. It was hilarious. I think I got mine though, so watch out for me in the pink coat!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
A McD's kind of day
So today was that kind of day. Gray outside, rainy as usual and I was still in my pjs at noon. Jack woke up from his nap ready for lunch and there was seriously nothing left to eat in the house (yesterday Jack ate a waffle with peanut butter on it for lunch). What kind of housewife am I? So I loaded Jack in the car and went looking for food. McD's drivethru was the lucky winner. I pulled into a parking spot with our assortment of nuggets, orange Hi-C and sundaes and Jack and I proceded to chow down in the back seat together. Just then a woman in a mini van pulled in next to me. I watched her hand out her food to her kids in the back seat, and then take a long swig of her biggie size Diet Coke (yes that was what she was drinking). As she let out a sigh, she looked over at me and for that one moment, I was more connected to this woman than the sweat pants I had been wearing since yesterday. We understood each other. It made me smile. Maybe not everyone has had those McD's kind of days, but for those moms out there that have, you're not alone. Shout out to Orange Hi-C. Amazing.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Sisters
Friday, October 19, 2007
16 minutes
I did it. I finally convinced myself to join a gym (thanks to the pushing from Maria). And more importantly to sign up for the kids care. I went to bed last night so giddy that I would magically wake up in a day or two with a toned, modelesque body. This morning came, I dug around for my exercise pants that were completely wrinkled and haven't seen the light of day since 1999, and headed for the gym with Jack. I got my picture taken with Jack and quickly shooed him into the kiddie care, so I could get to work on my vision. I hit the elliptical first, and started chatting with Maria. This was it. It was so surreal. The Hallelujah chorus was singing in the background. I could see my legs getting toned as I ran. But I knew it was too good to be true. My name was called over the loudspeaker and I entered back into the world of mommyland. Jack was screaming, he had thrown up twice from crying so hard, and the girls in charge were giving me a hard time for bringing my kid in with a runny nose and cough (which he didn't have until exactly 16 minutes prior from crying so hard). And that was it. It was over. My 16 minutes of total freedom.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Nothin' like a smoothie in the tub
Thursday, September 13, 2007
I Never Thought I Would
I never thought I would...
Warm my son's milk
Put chocolate in my son's warmed milk
Resort to doing airplanes with a spoon
Turn on Sesame Street for this picky, chocolate milk drinking son
Love a child as much as I do
Actually write something on my blog instead of posting pictures
I love being a mom...most days
Shout out to Missy Cochran from our ward for taking some awesome pictures!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
My Boys
Jack was pooped by the end of his party and just wanted his dad. I got some great shots of them enjoying a few moments with each other. I love them!!













