Keeping up with the Yates Family

Staycation

2009-09-07T19:17:00.000-07:00

I had some vacation time to use up, so I've been off work since August 27. It was nice to have some time off before and after Hood to Coast. Merrick went and stayed with Poppa and Grammy while Travis and I did Hood to Coast. Then on Sunday, August 31, I drove down to JC to hang out for a couple of days. We spent time picking blackberries, plums, apples and pears. I brought home lots of stuff to can and Becky and I made blackberry jam and plum jam.

I also knew that we were going to work on potty training Merrick. After a couple of days with just a few accidents, we've been accident free (when it comes to #1) since Wednesday. #2 is going to take a little more work. The good thing is it only happens once a day =)

During my time off we made a trip to the Zoo and had a picnic play date with the Zuckerman's. We made it to Sara Sitter's annual kickball party and were able to spend some time with the Alt family on Sunday. It's amazing how fast this summer has gone.

Showing off the big boy underwear

Superman!

Hood to Coast

2009-09-07T19:06:00.001-07:00

Van 1 - Mulvanny G2 Team

(L-R - Jim, Brian, Ruthie, Anna, Travis, Brannon)

The last time I did Hood to Coast I was 8 weeks pregnant with Merrick. I had forgotten about all the craziness surrounding H2C and how hard running is on only a couple of hours of sleep. Travis and I ran on the Mulvanny G2 team, Trav running leg 2 and I ran leg 3. For those of you not familiar with H2C, it is a 197 mile relay race from Mt. Hood to Seaside. There are 12 runners on a team and over the course of 28+ hours, you run anywhere from 15 - 20 miles. I personally think it's almost harder than doing a marathon because you have 6 -7 hours rest in-between your legs, but you are cramped in a van, have very little sleep and not eating regular meals. I would much rather run all my miles at once and get it done with, but that's not an option unless you're crazy like the guy who ran the whole thing by himself.

Decorating the rig. Almost all teams decorate their vans, some go with a theme, as you'll see the Top Gun teams rig below.

Start of H2C, teams start in 15 minute waves starting at around 7 am. We had a 10:30 am start time. The earliest I've ever had.

Trav getting ready to start his first leg.

A trip to Seattle for Quin's birthday

2009-09-07T18:56:00.000-07:00

Quin showing us how old he is

Merrick and I made a trip to Seattle with Poppa and Grammy to see Auntie Kira, Uncle Erik, and cousins Quin and Micah to celebrate Quin's 5th birthday. Merrick had a great time playing with his cousins and all of the boys wore Poppa out.

Merrick passing time in the car reading the yellow pages.

The boys hiding from Poppa
Pirates Quin & Merrick fighting off Poppa

Merrick & Poppa

Tillamook Burn

2009-08-02T20:32:00.000-07:00

A group of us headed to the beach this weekend to escape the heat and to run in the Tillamook Burn. We rented a house in Pacific City and were able to visit family, including a feast at Kathy & Skip's on Saturday night including fresh Tuna, Salmon and Crab... delicious!

This morning Bob, Rebecca, Travis and I set out to run our first adventure race. None of us knew what we were getting ourselves into. All we knew was that the course was about 6 miles long and that we would be running up hills and through creeks. We showed up and could tell we were rookies compared to the regular crowd who does these types of races. Knowing there were some hard core runners, we decided to start out at the back of the pack. I guess there's a reason they call this the Tillamook Burn, after the first hill, which there is no way you could run up it, and your lungs and legs are burning you realize what you've gotten yourself into. We climbed several hills (aka mountains), crossed the creek at least 4 times and manuvered around 3 bee hives with each of us getting stung at least once, but we all escaped the run without injury and smiles on our faces.

My New Obsession

2009-07-10T11:33:00.001-07:00

So I have to admit that I have a new obsession. It's coupon shopping. Travis and I have been trying to find new and creative ways to cut our monthly costs. My idea was to look at our grocery shopping and figure out where we could save some money. The first step was making a weekly menu, creating a grocery list and only buying what was on the list when I went to the store. This definitely helped with our spending, but I wanted to figure out what I could do to save even more. So I started doing some searching on coupons. It's amazing how much money you can save. I've added a few of the links of the blogs I follow. These women do all the work for me. They post links to coupons, they analyze the weekly ads from the stores and they tell you how to combine coupons and store specials to get the best deal.

Last week I was at Albertson's and bought $95 worth of groceries for $19. The women behind me in line were amazed at what I accomplished. I left the store a little giddy with the deals I had scored.

So, if you have any coupons that you aren't using, rather than putting them in the recycle bin, send them my way, or even better, maybe you'll join the crazy world of coupon shopping!

4th of July

2009-07-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

We headed to Waldport to escape the heat and celebrate the 4th. When we got into town on Thursday afternoon, we found sunny skies, but lots of wind. We spent some time on the beach playing and then headed to Aunt Melanie, Uncle Ian and Cousin Kieran's house for dinner. They filled our bellies and sent us up the hill to grandpa's house. Friday morning we woke up to grey skies and cold weather. We spent some time walking on the beach and then Travis, Uncle Ian and Uncle Dean headed to Newport to take advantage of the sale at the Rogue Brewery. Friday afternoon Nana and Papa T came into town and we all set off fireworks at grandpa's house. Unfortunately because of the cold weather, we didn't make it down to the bay to see the big fireworks. Which is probably fine since Merrick did not like the fireworks at all. After the first "whistling pete" he asked to go inside, so he and Travis watched the show from the window.

We decided to head home early, knowing that it was sunny and 90 plus degrees at home, compared to grey skies and 60 degrees at the coast. We went home through Lincoln City to say hi to Grandma Kathy and were able to have lunch with Grandpa Brad and Grandma Karen. Unfortunately, we got stuck between two accidents on hwy 18 about 10 miles outside of Lincoln City. By the time we got rerouted, we had already been in the car 1 1/2 hours. The entire trip home took about 4 plus hours. Not the way we envisioned spending the day, but we were happy to be home safely.

A trip to Seaside

2009-07-05T16:18:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks after we got back from Maui, we headed to Seaside for the weekend. Merrick quickly realized that we couldn't swim in the ocean like we had in Hawaii. We did find lots of other things to keep busy with, including a ride on the merry go round, bumper cars, arcade, a sand castle contest, a ride on the train and a visit from cousins. It was a busy fun weekend.

Summer Updates

2009-07-05T16:11:00.000-07:00

I know I've been really bad about posting what we've been up to. We've been busy since the marathon, with the highlight being a trip to Hawaii. This was Merrick's first trip on a plane and he did awesome. He was so excited to get to the airport and see the planes and then when we were getting ready to take off, he got a huge grin on his face. The trip to Maui was pretty uneventful, we did a lot of hanging out on the beach and playing in the ocean. The first thing Merrick asked each morning was "Are we going to the beach?". We didn't do much sight seeing, but we did take a day long catamaran trip, where we got to see dolphins. It was my first time seeing them in the wild and it was amazing. Especially when we had one jumping right in front of our boat.

Eugene Marathon - Race Report

2009-05-06T20:51:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I've been training for the Eugene Marathon since the beginning of the year. I have been trying a new training schedule that only has me running 3 days a week and cross training two days. I wasn't sure how that would work out when it came to race day. The good thing is that I was able to train injury free and I'm not burnt out on running, which has happened in the past.

We headed down to Eugene on Saturday morning. I have learned my lesson that I cannot tell Merrick what we are doing ahead of time. He came into our room at 5:45 am and started asking when we were going to see Poppa and Grammy. So we left for Eugene earlier than we had planned to. We headed to packet pickup which was pretty well organized and wandered through the exhibits. I have to admit, I stopped by the booth with the cookies twice, with the excuse that I was carb loading =) The weather on Saturday was pretty cruddy, raining and windy so I was pretty nervous about what the weather would be like for the race. Bec aka Grammy made a wonderful prerace dinner of lasagna, salad and bread, to be topped off with cake and ice cream for Merrick's birthday.

Travis and I got up early Sunday morning to head into the Eugene Hilton to catch the shuttle to the start. We arrived at 6:20 am thinking we would have plenty of time since the shuttles were running every 10 minutes. Well... when we got there we realized there was a LONG line! We didn't get on a shuttle until 6:45 am. When the race starts at 7 am, this can make you really nervous. We arrived with 5 minutes to spare and quickly separated ways to head to our pace groups. I don't know how I did it, but I was able to find Rebecca at the start, which was a life saver in many ways. Having forgotten my watch, I was nervous about how I was going to pace myself. I haven't had much luck with the pace leaders in the past and I didn't want run with one if I didn't have to. Rebecca and I quickly got into a groove and started ticking the miles off. We both agreed that it was nice to run a course that we didn't know so everything was new to us. Rebecca's husband Corey and her dad Dennis were there to cheer us on at several points during the race and Poppa, Grammy and Merrick were at mile 17 and 24. It was great to see familiar faces, especially late in the race.

The new training program worked! I ran a Personal Record (PR) of 4 hours 1 minute and 26 seconds. This is about 18 minutes faster than my previous PR. I'm feeling great and fully recovered, I'm thinking about lacing up the shoes for a run tomorrow and I'm even contemplating signing up for the Foot Traffic Marathon on July 4th weekend... I'll keep you posted if that happens.

I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to my amazing husband who has not only put up with my marathon training for 4 months, but on top of that my studying for the SPHR exam which is this Saturday. Thankfully we get to relax in Hawaii in about 10 days!

Easter & Birthdays

2009-05-06T20:44:00.001-07:00

So my girlfriends were harassing me a little about my lack of blogging lately. So here's a brief update on what we've been doing the last few weeks. Our lives have been extremely hectic and we're hoping that things will slow down after vacation.

Easter - We headed down South to JC to see Grammy and Poppa and Aunties and Cousins. Merrick had a wonderful time getting to play with Quin, Micah, Jaley and Genna. The weekend was full of craziness, which is typical when you get that many people together and kids hyped up on sugar and presents.

Merrick & Travis' birthdays - Because we have had such a crazy schedule, we ended up celebrating Merrick's birthday on Travis' birthday. Hey... he's 3... he'll never know the difference! Travis got to pick out the cake, while we got it decorated in Merrick's favorite things... signs! When I brought the cake home to show him, he said "Oh my gosh" and then started telling me which signs were on there. He then decided that he wanted to look at the cake even more, so he pushed his little stool over to the counter and stood for at least 30 minutes staring at his cake. I also made sign and train shaped cookies for his party. The things a mom does... 3 hours of decorating cookies and a numb hand from squeezing the icing container. I can only hope that one day he'll appreciate all my hard work =) His party was a huge success, he was so excited about the cones and signs I had brought from work to decorate the yard with. The weather cooperated and the kids were able to play outside. I still can't believe he's already 3 years old. Time sure does fly!

Ft. Stevens Yurting Trip

2009-03-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks to LaSandra Rodriguez for planning so far in advance, we had a group yurting trip planned for the past weekend to Ft. Stevens State Park. There were 4 families planning on going. Us and the Alt's arrived on Friday afternoon. We got unpacked and then went out exploring. Initially we thought we would walk all the way to the beach, but before we were even half way there, Merrick was asking to be carried, so we only made it to the lake. Once back at the yurts, we decided to start dinner. We had noticed the raccoons while unpacking, but didn't know how brave they were. We soon found out! As we were sitting around the fire, trying to keep warm and eat our dinner, one of them came right up to our picnic table and took an entire bag of hamburger buns. We quickly learned that once we were done with the food, we needed to put it in the yurt. It was pretty cold out, so we all decided to call it an early night and go back to our own yurts. Travis and I forgot our pillows, so it wasn't the most comfortable nights sleep.

The next morning, Travis, Merrick and I got up and headed to the beach. We checked out the shipwreck and followed some car tracks (one of Merrick's favorite things to do). It was still really cold out, so we decided to get in the car and drive into town to get a few things we had forgotten at the store, including pillows. While we were at the store, the Alt's called us. They had ventured into Astoria in search of the Goonies house. Being a huge fan of the movie, I told Travis that needed to be our next stop. So we headed that direction and successfully found the house, although we just drove by it. Next we headed to Ft. Columbia to check it out, which meant a drive over the huge bridge that takes you from Oregon to Washington. Merrick thought this was really cool. After exploring the fort, we headed back to the yurt to have some lunch and say goodbye to the Alts. Addie and Alyssa were sick and didn't feel up to staying another night. After lunch and naps for everyone, we headed out to the South Jetty. We got to see where the Columbia meets the ocean. Then we headed to the beach. Merrick thought it was cool to watch the cars drive on the beach and there were some people trying to do some sort of parasailing off of the dunes.

Following the tire tracks on the beach

Mmm... chocolate frosted donuts. Delicious!

Exploring Ft. Columbia

We headed back to the yurt to meet up with the Rodriguez family. We took all the boys to the park to burn off some energy and they played hard both at the park and when we returned to the yurt. I think they went non-stop until bed time. We enjoyed a nice dinner and then as I went to go grab marshmallows to roast, I discovered that the handle to our yurt was broken. Which meant we couldn't get in. As Travis tried to figure out a way to get it open, I headed to the ranger station to find help. A ranger came back to our site quickly and tried to pry the door open with a crow bar. He didn't have any luck, so then he and Travis decided to try and take the door off the hinges. This didn't work either, so he ended up having to break a piece of the door out to get the door open. Luckily we were still able to keep the door locked and the raccoons out! The Wujcik family arrive at around 8:30 pm, just in time for the rain, which caused all of us to have to retreat to our yurts.

Our broken yurt door.

Sunday morning we got up and we all met up to explore the park. We went to Russell Battery and then on to Fort Stevens. The kids had a blast exploring. We spent a few hours exploring and when it started raining, we decided it was time to head home. We had a great time and can't wait for our next trip!

Spring Fever

2009-03-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

Merrick and I got a touch of Spring fever on Friday. We had sunny skies and comfortable temperatures, so we spent most of the afternoon playing outside. We made cookies and then went for a walk and delivered some to the Cavanagh's, then we came home and played outside with Deacon. We had some dinner and then decided to take Deacon for a walk. It was great to spend time outside, especially knowing that it was going to rain all weekend. We are hoping for more sunny, warm days very soon!

Swim Lessons

2009-02-15T08:14:00.000-08:00

Merrick started swim lessons this week through Portland Parks & Rec. He and Travis are going to class on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Merrick loves it! He talks about going in the pool all the time. We're hoping to get him comfortable with the water in preparation for our trip to Hawaii in May.

Playhouse Disney Live

2009-02-01T07:41:00.000-08:00

We bought tickets back in October to take Merrick to Playhouse Disney Live. He loves all of the shows, Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny and the Super Sleuths.

Knowing that the show started at 6:30 pm, I knew that I needed to wear Merrick out so he would take a good nap and be well rested. For those of you who have babies and toddlers, you know the saying "the best laid plans often go awry" very well. I thought Merrick was taking a nap while I was catching up on some work, I came upstairs to grab something and heard him in his room talking. I spent over an hour trying to get him to nap, but had no luck. So we went to the show with no nap. We ran into our friends the Zuckerman's and Merrick and Zachary burned off some energy dancing to music before the show.

Merrick got excited when he saw Mickey and all his friends and Pooh and Tigger. He didn't care much for the characters that just looked like people. He did pretty good considering he didn't have a nap, but got antsy and wanted to leave during intermission. He spent the second half laying down in my lap. I don't think we'll be purchasing tickets to see Thomas & Friends next month.

Ready for the snow to go!

2008-12-24T18:49:00.001-08:00

A rare glimpse of sunlight on Monday

We had plans to travel to the coast to see Travis' mom and family, but the weather has thrown a wrench in our plans. Hopefully we can make the trip tomorrow. Here are some more photos from the past few days.

Sad day... Merrick is upset because Mom is outside shoveling snow while he's stuck inside. Little does he know one day that will be his job!

Who needs a fridge when you've got snow!

Even More Snow!

2008-12-22T07:48:00.000-08:00

Well we woke up to more snow this morning. I'm guessing we have close to a foot now and it's still snowing. This weather is crazy! Travis attempted to go to work today, he walked about a mile to catch the bus and then found out it was still 10 miles away, so he decided to walk home and work from home today. Here are some photos of the snow accumulation yesterday and what we woke up to today.

12/21 at 9:20 am

12/22 at 7 am

No cushions on the chairs, that's all snow. Taken on 12/21/08

12/22/08 at 7:00 am

More Snow!

2008-12-20T17:43:00.000-08:00

We got hit with more snow today, it's been snowing since at least 5:45 am this morning when I got up with Merrick and it has been going steady all day. I tried to measure the snow on our deck, we've got at least a solid 4 inches of snow.

We haven't ventured out to play in it yet, although I think we'll try tomorrow. We've been holed up in the house having fun with the Rock Band that Travis brought home from work. Merrick really likes to play the drums. He has also been enjoying the chocolate chip cookies that I made (what else is there to do when it's cold outside?).

Rock on!
Future Drummer?

Yum.. Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fun in the Snow

2008-12-15T12:43:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, we were hit with snow yesterday. Travis and I left the house early Sunday morning to get in a long run before the snow hit. We joined some friends up at Leif Erickson to run about 7 miles. There wasn't much snow on the ground when we started and it was fun to run while it was snowing out. By the time we got done and headed down the hill, the snow was starting to accumulate fast. Thinking there still weren't many people out on the roads, we took the normal route home, which includes I-5. Big mistake! The road was a mess and there were cars either wrecked or abandoned all along the side of the road and many people pulled over putting on chains. What is normally a 20 minute drive took us 1 1/2 hours. We spent the rest of the day inside where it was warm.

Today I stayed home with Merrick and we decided to brave the elements and go out and play in the snow with Merrick's friend Zachary. It was really cold out and I made the decision to come in well before Merrick was ready to. The snow is like powder and doesn't pack well, so no snowmen or snowball fights today. Maybe the snow that is expected on Wednesday will be better!

Zoo Lights

2008-11-30T20:54:00.001-08:00

Travis, Merrick and I decided to head out to Zoo Lights this evening. We figured since it was a nice evening, we would brave the crowds and head out to see the lights. It was the first time for all of us, and if you're not in the Christmas spirit after being there, you really must be a scrooge!

Bryan Adams Concert

2008-11-30T20:27:00.001-08:00

Travis and I headed out Saturday night with Mike and Leann to see Bryan Adams at the Aladdin Theater. He did an acoustic show and because the venue is so small, we were able to get good seats. I was actually really impressed with his show. He sang for about an hour and 45 minutes without a break with either just his guitar or sometimes accompanied by the piano. I wasn't able to get very good pictures, but I was able to get some video footage through my camera.

Christmas Tree

2008-11-30T20:24:00.001-08:00

Since we are hosting the annual Yates Holiday party this coming weekend, we had to get our tree earlier than we have in past years. We headed to Lee Family Farms in Tualatin to find the perfect tree. We spent some time walking around the property, getting to see turkeys and bunnies, before finding our tree. Merrick wasn't really in to finding a tree, so our trip was actually pretty short. Good thing Mom was able to find a tree quickly!

Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T20:17:00.000-08:00

Our Thanksgiving actually started last weekend with a visit from Grandpa Brad, Grandma Karen, Granny, Grandma Kathy and Grandma Sisco. We enjoyed a nice brunch and Merrick had fun entertaining and being the center of attention.

Merrick with all his grandmas and great-grandmas

Then on Wednesday we headed South to visit Poppa, Grammy and all the aunts, uncles and cousins. We had a busy couple of days, but also had lots of fun.

Bath time with cousins Micah and Quin

Visit from the Seattle cousins

2008-11-12T21:13:00.000-08:00

Kira, Erik and the boys came to visit this past weekend. The adults went to the Blazer game, while the boys stayed home and got to watch Kung Fu Panda. Sunday morning we went to the children's museum and burned off some energy.Quin and Merrick with Travis

Quin, Micah and Merrick check out the Bob the Builder exhibit

Quin and Merrick enjoying the water exhibit
Quin gives the Aligator chair a try

Trick or Treat

2008-11-12T21:07:00.001-08:00

Merrick really enjoyed Halloween this year and went trick or treating with his friend Megan. Megan knew exactly what to do and Merrick chased after her. After watching her get treats for saying "trick or treat" he would say "me trick or treat too" then he would run away saying "bye bye, see you later, have fun" it was quite entertaining.

Say Cheese!

2008-10-31T15:33:00.000-07:00

Merrick is now willing to "smile" for you when you take his picture. Let's just say, we don't always get the smiling face we'd like...

Isaiah's Birthday Party

2008-10-31T15:24:00.000-07:00

Birthday boy Isaiah!

Isaiah turned 2 and we celebrated his birthday with him last Saturday. The party was a costume party and Merrick loved putting on his Winnie the Pooh costume. I was even able to get him to say "Super Sleuths are on the case". The party was lots of fun and included pizza, cake and a parachute!

Super Sleuths are on the case!

Yummy cake!

Fun with the parachute

Marathon Babes

2008-10-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

Leslie, Coleen and I having fun in the photo booth at the Nike Marathon Expo

San Francisco Weekend

2008-10-22T22:41:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a weekend in San Francisco for the Nike Women's marathon.

Coleen and I arrived Friday night and got into the city at about 9. While going to get on the BART at the airport, I realized that I had left the directions to the hotel and all of our confirmations to pick up our race packets at the ticket counter in Portland. Luckily I remembered what stop to get off at and the address for the hotel and even luckier is that Coleen had a GPS on her phone and we were able to find our hotel relatively easily. We got checked in and then went to find some dinner. When we got back and I started unpacking my bag, I found a surprise from Travis. He had gotten me a new camera, which I've been talking about getting for months. I was so surprise and excited.

The next morning Leslie arrived and we went to find an internet cafe so we could print our confirmations to pick up our packets. We then headed down to Union Square to the expo. We got our packets, after a little hiccup and then went to experience all the expo had to offer. The three of us got our pictures taken in a photo booth and then got in line to try the oxygen bar. None of us felt like standing in line for a manicure or a massage, so we then headed over to Niketown to see what all was going on. They have a huge display that shows the name for every person in the race, so each of us had to find our name and get a picture. Then we decided to head back to the hotel and rest up a little before dinner. Susan had planned ahead and made reservations for all of us (there were 8 of us running in the race). It was great to see everyone, especially knowing that race morning was going to be hectic and that I might not see anyone.

Since I did the half-marathon last year, I knew a few things about the race start and what to expect. We were able to get our stuff in the bag check buses, use the porta-potties and make it to our start areas with no problems. There were over 20,000 people running in the race, so the start is very hectic. I had a hard time getting into a groove at the start and really wasn't able to break away from any part of the crowd until the marathoners split away from the half-marathoners. I ran a solid race and felt really good the entire way, the last two miles were probably the hardest part of the race for me. Mostly because you could see the finish almost the entire way and it felt like I would never get there. I didn't run my fastest marathon time, but I felt so good about the race, I'm already thinking about my next marathon.

The best part about the weekend was being able to celebrate finishing with my sister. She ran her first half-marathon and I am so proud of her. It is such a huge accomplishment. I also enjoyed being able to share the race with Susan, Bhavna, Sara, Gretchen, Leslie and Karen.

Beautiful October weekend

2008-10-12T20:05:00.000-07:00

We had beautiful weather here in Portland this weekend. Friday, I took Merrick to the Children's Museum to see Bob the Builder and his gang. I didn't realize that there was no school on Friday, so the museum was pretty busy. Merrick especially enjoyed being able to "drive" all of Bob's vehicles. He also enjoyed using the computer and phone in the "hospital area". I could not get him to go play in the water though. Maybe another day... I bought us a museum pass, so we will have plenty more opportunities to go back and play on yucky, rainy days.

Saturday morning I went for an 8 mile run with Sara and Gretchen from Sara's house. We did a couple of loops around Mt. Tabor. Unfortunately it was still pretty foggy when we were at the top, so we didn't get to enjoy the great view of the city. Afterwards, I met Travis and picked up Merrick, so Trav could play flag football. I was able to have lunch and go shopping with my mom and sister, which is always fun.

Travis had prepared me that he had a surprise planned for me that night. He ended up tying someone at work and they both raised $800 for the Race for the Cure. His prize was a gift certificate to www.livingroomtheaters.com We met Kris and Sara there for dinner and a movie. We watched Kabluey www.kabluey.com and we were all surprised at how funny it was. It was so nice to have a night out without Merrick and hang out with fun people.

We took Merrick to Lee Farms today to visit all the animals and pick out a pumpkin. We saw goats, llamas, cows, pigs and chickens, all of which we were able to pet (except the pigs... apparently they bite). Merrick really enjoyed seeing the animals, but what he liked best was the giant slide. He kept asking and asking to go on the slide, so we bought some tickets and let him go three times. I think he would have stayed there all night, but Travis and I cut him off after three rides since it cost $2 every time he went. We tried to talk him into picking out a pumpkin, but he wasn't into it. So we will have to make another trip to the farm (or the store) to get our pumpkins.

Pictures will be posted soon...

Busy days

2008-10-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks have been very hectic and busy. Travis travelled to Alabama to visit his brother and was home for a day before I had to leave for a three day work trip to Bozeman, Montana. I got home Friday evening and crashed. I was supposed to join Bhavna, Susan and Sara for a 12 mile run (our last double digit run before the race), but decided to sleep-in instead. I guess I needed it because I was in bed until 10 am. I haven't done that since before Merrick was born.

I got up and going just in time for Merrick to get sick. He had some kind of bug and was throwing up and had a fever for several hours. Thankfully it didn't last too long. Sunday morning we went to Corey & Rebecca's to cheer Bob on. It has been an annual tradition for the past 4 years to go to Corey and Rebecca's on the day of the Portland Marathon. They live right on the course between mile 19 and 20. We always know someone who's running and it is a great chance to cheer on all the runners.

Then Sunday afternoon I met Coleen at Leif Erickson for a run. I put in 12 miles and she did 9. I was incredibly proud of her. She has come a long way with her running and 9 miles is a huge accomplishment. She is going to do awesome at the half-marathon in SF. My 12 miles felt good, although I missed my running companions. I am really looking forward to my marathon next weekend and feel really good about the training I've been doing. Hopefully it all pays off and I feel good after the race.

Monday I headed off to Pullman, Washington for another work trip and got home around midnight on Tuesday. Only to jump in the car at 7 am Wednesday morning to drive to Centralia for a work conference. The good thing is I am home the week of October 13th, although I leave on the 17th for San Francisco, get home on the 20th and then will be in Corvallis for work on the 22nd and 23rd.

We just have to make it through fall recruiting... which ends towards the end of November.

Where have we been?

2008-08-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog, I had every intention of trying to post every few days to keep everyone up to date on what we are doing. This summer has been really busy and I haven't been as good about posting as I would have hoped. Here's a re-cap of what we've been up to so far this summer.

July 4th - We spent the 4th of July with the Gissel clan (my mom's family) in Waldport. It was fun times with almost all of the family getting together. I have fond memories of growing up and spending the 4th at my grandparents house in Waldport and going down to the bay to watch the fireworks, building a bonfire and having smores! We didn't make it to the fireworks, but all of us cousins did make it down to the beach for a bonfire.

July 12th - Ben and Gavin's birthday. We got to help the Secrest twins celebrate their 2nd birthday. Merrick always enjoys getting together with all of the boys and burning off some energy! The party was "Bob the Builder" themed and we even got to have dirt cake!

July 19-20th- Micah's Birthday. We made a trip to Seattle with Poppa and Grammy to see cousins Micah and Quin. Micah turned two! For Merrick's birthday, his cousins got him a Kitty Keyboard, which he loves, but Mama and Dada don't always care for. The keyboard has a "meow" key that has all different meows. Plus it purrs when you don't play with it. Needless to say... we had to find something good for Micah's birthday. Merrick and I went to Toys 'R Us and we picked out an inflatable Pirate Ship, that is big enough for the kids to climb into, plus it plays music! We decided to inflate the ship on Saturday night, thanks to Kira and Erik's neighbors air compressor, and the kids loved it! I haven't had a chance to check in with Kira and Erik and seeif they are enjoying it as much as Trav and I enjoy the Kitty Keyboard!

July 26th - WCC Picnic. My company does an amazing job with their company picnic and this year was no exception. I was really excited about it this year because Merrick was big enough to know what was going on. The picnic was carnival themed and they had a huge carousel bounce house, carnival games, a balloon artist, face painters, a magician and lots of food, ice cream and snow cones. We all had a blast and came home exhausted.

August 2 - 3 - Rafting/Camping Trip. Travis and I went on a rafting/camping trip with a group of his co-workers. We left Merrick at home with Nana and Papa T. Travis and I had fun getting away for the weekend and ended up having a gorgeous weather in Maupin, while it was raining in Portland.

August 9 - MG2 Picnic. Travis' company picnic was at a large park near Battle Ground,WA. Merrick's favorite part was getting to see the fire truck and seeing what the firemen carry in their truck. He discovered they carry a SLOW/STOP sign and I'm guessing he's probably the only kid who has gotten excited about a sign. Travis' luck at the MG2 events continued and he won a $100 gift certificate to Higgins Restaurant. For those of you who don't know, he won a flat screen TV at their Christmas party. I don't know if he'll ever be able to top that!

August 10 - Grandpa Dick's 80th Birthday party. We headed to Aumsville to help Grandpa Dick celebrate his 80th birthday. It was fun to get to see all of the family from my dad's side. Most of my cousins were there and Merrick enjoyed exploring.

Did I mention we've been busy? Here's what's coming up next...

August 22- 23 - Travis will be doing Hood to Coast
August 29 -30 - A trip to visit Grandpa Brad and Grandma Karen
August 31 -Sara Sitter's Annual Kick Ball Party
September 6 -Fagan Family Reunion
September 6-7 - Travis plays in a softball tournament
September 20 - Counting Crows/Maroon 5 Concert
September 25- 29- Travis goes to visit his brother Jeff in Alabama

Gut Check

2008-08-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know... I am training for a marathon in October. I've been very fortunate to have some great running partners to join me while I log some serious miles. This past weekend was no different. We knew that it was going to be a warm day, so we started out at 7 am for our 18 mile run. We had decided earlier in the week to run up Terwilliger all the way into Lake Oswego and back. For those of you who aren't familiar with Terwilliger... it's got some nice hills and once we got into Lake Oswego, I realized those hills were going to seem even bigger on the way back.

I've been running with Susan, Bhavna and Kevin for years and one of the things that I appreciate about them is that we have this unspoken agreement, that we can run our own pace. I was struggling a bit on my way back up Terwilliger heading out of LO and let the group get ahead of me. With about 6.5 miles left, they all decided to head off to a nature center to use the facilities. I was having a rough time and knew that if I got off course, even for a little bit, I wasn't going to make it, so I went ahead of them. This run was probably one of the hardest I have done, especially for a training run. It was a serious gut check for me. I was emotionally, mentally and physically drained by the time I finished. But the key thing is I finished.

It was a good practice run for what I will go through in October. Probably the hardest thing for me about doing that race is that I won't have the support of family and friends that I would have if I were running in Portland.

I am continuously grateful for my family and friends and all the support they give me! I owe a huge thank you to my running friends who have made those long runs a little easier!

London Slide Show!

2008-07-01T21:10:00.001-07:00

Strawberries!

2008-07-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

On Sunday morning, Nana and I decided to take Merrick to pick strawberries. We made our way out into the field and Merrick was in the row with Nana. He wasn't sure what was going on until he saw what Nana was putting in her bucket. He then exclaimed "MMM Strawberries!" and as quickly as Nana could pick them, he shoved them in his mouth. We cut him off after just a little while because I was afraid he would get a tummy ache.

Mmm Strawberries!

Nana... I promise I won't eat all of them!

Maybe I'll pick some leaves...

Are we done yet???

Keeping Cool

2008-07-01T20:01:00.001-07:00

We decided to head over to Nana and Papa T's house to play in the pool and cool off on Saturday afternoon. Merrick took to the pool like a champ and ended up staying in the longest out of everyone. He also did his first under water dunk and didn't get too upset by it. It was nice to be able to cool off and spend some time with Nana & Papa T.

A trip to the zoo

2008-07-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Friday with a visit from Poppa, Grammy, Auntie Kira and cousins Micah and Quin. We all met at the zoo and enjoyed seeing all of the animals. Micah really wanted to see the elephants and Quin was excited about seeing the dinosaurs. Merrick was more interested in running around and dancing to the music. We saw lots of animals and then had a picnic. The boys quickly became uninterested in eating and more interested in dancing and running around. I think all of them had a good nap that day.

Micah showing the elephant some love

Micah, Quin & Merrick busting a move

Merrick shaking his booty

Merrick getting hugs from Quin

Europe Pictures

2008-06-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

So after over a month of trying to get a slideshow of our trip pictures posted on the blog, I've officially given up. If you want to see pictures from our trip, which are now over 2 months old! You can go to this link.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=h52ztt1.15mbiaxx&Uy=mryef&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=145782962653_26802124513&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

Sorry I couldn't make it look any prettier, but I've determined that I.T. is not my calling!

Father's Day

2008-06-17T20:10:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty uneventful Father's Day weekend. On Saturday morning, Megan came over to play with Merrick for a little while and then Zachary our neighbor friend came to play also. The kids had a lot of fun and were able to burn off a lot of energy. Merrick and Zachary were more into the sticks and rocks, while Megan enjoyed cruising in Merrick's jeep.

I was able to sneak away for a few hours and go to Dana's birthday party. It was a nice get together and we were able to sit outside and soak up some sun. I even got to see and hold little Olivia. It always amazes me how much growing babies do! It seems like she's doubled in size since the last time I saw her.

When I got home, we decided to wash the car. Merrick thought that was great fun and even helped out a little. He and Deacon enjoyed playing in the water more than anything.

Sunday we ran some errands and then had Nana and Papa T over to join us for Father's Day Dinner. I grilled some Salmon on the bbq with the Parmesean Artichoke dip from Costco on top. I think that's the best way to have Salmon!!! Then we enjoyed fresh strawberry shortcake for dessert. Yummy! I am so excited that the Oregon strawberries have finally started arriving.

Is it almost June already?

2008-05-31T19:34:00.001-07:00

Wow... I can't believe the month of May is almost gone. We've been busy this month and I've been bad about posting updates. Here are some things we've been up to...

As most of you know, we had a little heat wave come through a couple of weeks ago. Since we don't have air conditioning, we spent a lot of time outside, trying to keep cool. Merrick had his own idea on how to cool off. On Saturday afternoon, he was out on the back deck, playing, while I was working in the kitchen (keeping an eye/ear on him). I soon hear him say "tubby" and so I decide to walk out there to see exactly what he's talking about. Well... he had decided that his little water table, would be better suited for cooling his entire body off. He had climbed into the water table, fully clothed with shoes on and was playing. Travis and I couldn't stop laughing. We decided to take all his clothes off and let him play in there. He loved it and we ended up going out and buying a plastic pool that is more his size.

Merrick showing us his muscles! Watch out he's one tough dude!

We went to visit Grandma Kathy & Grandpa Skip for Memorial Day weekend and were able to spend a little time at the beach on Saturday before all the rain came. Merrick had fun running on the beach and throwing rocks. Unfortunately we had to cut our trip short when Merrick woke up sick on Sunday morning. He's been fighting a bug for the past week and we're hoping that he's on the mend now.

We think Merrick might have a little OCD. He hates having his hands dirty and every time after he picked up something, he had to have them wiped off.

Merrick's Birthday

2008-05-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

Merrick turned two on Sunday and we spent the entire weekend celebrating! On Saturday we had a small party with friends, Grant, Megan, Althea and Joyce came and we had lots of fun driving the cars around and eating cupcakes and ice cream!

The crew gets ready for cupcakes & ice cream!

Megan & Althea enjoyed helping open presents!

Travis and I had decided a couple of months ago that we were going to get Merrick a play structure for his birthday. After a lot of searching, we found one and decided to start putting it together on Saturday afternoon. If you haven't assembled a play structure before, they come with LOTS of parts! We spent time organizing and making sure that we had everything. We got started on the assembly, but Merrick waking up from his nap and some rain, made us decide to hold off.

On Sunday morning, we had gorgeous weather thankfully and Merrick and Travis decided to start working on the play structure while I went for a run. Merrick's official title was Superintendent and he did a great job with quality control. After I got back, I helped Travis until Aunt Kira, Uncle Erik, and cousins Quin & Micah showed up. Then Uncle Erik got to help Travis, while Kira and I kept our eyes on the boys. Soon after, Grammy & Poppa showed up and were able to help out. We got the boys fed and down for naps and went to help Travis. By some kind of miracle, the play structure was finished by the time the rest of the family showed up and there were few, if any swear words said. The play structure got a lot of use out of it! We had a great time playing with grandparents and cousins and Merrick was wiped out by the end of the day.

Poppa & Travis working on the play structure

The boys enjoying the play structure

Merrick & Quin enjoying cake!

Merrick got lots of help from his cousins opening presents

After a long day of sun, fun & cake! Micah, Quin & Merrick get cleaned up!

Tip Toe Through the Tulips

2008-04-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

While we were on our trip, Coleen and I talked about making a trip down to Woodburn to the tulip farm when we got back. We just happened to luck out and have beautiful weather this weekend, so Coleen, Merrick and I packed up the car and headed South while Travis got ready for his NFL Draft Football Birthday party. These days any chance Merrick gets to go in the car or be outside, he is all for it. Although, after only a short time at the farm, he decided that he didn't want to walk and that either Auntie or Mama had to carry him. This made our trip to the tulip farm a little shorter than I would have liked. We heard that the fields were about half the size as in years past. This was our first time to the farm and it was a beautiful sight to see all the tulips in bloom. At $5 per vehicle, I would say this is worth the trip down to Woodburn, especially if you have beautiful weather.

We're Home!

2008-04-23T16:33:00.000-07:00

Travis and I arrived back in Portland at about 11:30 am this morning after a very long flight from Frankfurt to Portland. We were so happy to arrive home safely. Coleen and Merrick came to pick us up at the airport. I didn't realize how much I had missed Merrick while we were gone and how much he has grown and changed in the past 2 weeks. Now we all have to get back into the swing of our normal schedule. We hope to have pictures downloaded and posted very soon.

Amsterdam

2008-04-22T04:27:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Amsterdam on Sunday afternoon after a little mix up at the train station in Antwerp. Apparently the tickets we had bought online from Antwerp to Amsterdam had to be printed out in France =( So we had to buy new tickets. I'm hoping to be able to get a refund when we get home.

We arrived in Amsterdam to finally see a familiar face. It was so nice to get off the train and see Kristen. She had figured out what Tram to take to get us to our hotel and went with us to get us checked in. Then because it was so nice out, we decided to walk through Vondelpark to Kristen's apartment to do some laundry. After each of us living out of one suitcase apiece for 2 weeks, we wanted to have some clean clothes for our flight home. We then headed to a little cafe to have dinner. It has been so great to catch up with Kristen and learn about her experiences here in Amsterdam.

We have done a lot of sight seeing, visiting the Rijks Museum, The Van Gogh Museum, The Rembrandt House, The Anne Frank House, we tried to visit the Old & New Churches, but they are both closed while we are here, we also did a canal cruise and went to see the comedy show Boom Chicago.

As this is our last day in Amsterdam and on our trip, Travis and I have been taking a little slower pace and just enjoying our last day here. We have plans to meet up with Kristen for dinner and then to take a guided tour through the Red Light District, which should be very interesting!

Travis and I have both really enjoyed our trip and have missed Merrick so much. We are ready to head home and sleep in our own bed and see all of our family and friends (although we will miss Kristen!)

Chocolate, Beer, Bicycles and Waffles

2008-04-22T04:24:00.000-07:00

We didn't have access to internet while we were in Brugge. The city is gorgeous and it was a nice little pit stop between Paris and Amsterdam. We really just relaxed and didn't do much. We enjoyed lots of beer (well Travis did), lots of chocolate (well I did), several waffles (they don't make them like this in the states!) and a guided bike tour through Brugge and the countyside. We were really only in Brugge for about a day and a half, so we didn't do any sight seeing. It was a nice change from everything we had done in Paris and London. I would definitely recommend making a stop in this city if you are ever in Belgium!

Goodbye Paris

2008-04-17T10:21:00.000-07:00

We are wrapping up our last full day here in Paris and will be heading to Bruges, via Brussels tomorrow. I am going to miss this city. Travis and I have had so much fun exploring and we have covered a lot of ground! Last night after a walk from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe to Trocadero Square, we caught a cruise along the Seine River. Again we started just as it was turning dark and got to see everything come to life at night. One of the highlights of the trip was as we were coming back to dock, the light show started on the Eiffel Tower. Travis was teasing me about how many photos I took (we did have to buy another memory card). We walked quickly back to our hotel as it was very cold out. Today was full of sight seeing, although we only got to see half of the Orsay Museum as they were on strike. We are now just trying to figure out where we'd like to have our last meal in Paris.

I'm in Love!

2008-04-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

I have fallen in love with Paris! I am amazed with everything this city has to offer, including the stunning Eiffel Tower. The other night I mentioned that we would be heading there to have a picnic dinner and a glass of wine. Well things didn't work out exactly as we had planned. We got in line, which was surprisingly short, only to be told NO ALCOHOL! Travis decided to put the bottle of wine we had just bought in the garbage and hope that it would be there when we returned. After getting through security, we noticed that the top floor was closed. I told Travis that we would wait in line and if it was still closed when we got up to pay that we would come back another time. How could I go to the Eiffel Tower and not go all the way up? We were told once we got to pay that the top would open in about 30 minutes. So up we went! The view from the 2nd floor is amazing and we got to watch the sunset and then up to the very top to watch the lights come on in Paris. Absolutely stunning! I told Travis that I could stay up there all night. After soaking it all in, we decided to head down and see if our wine was still there. IT WAS! I don't know how that happened, but it was about 11 pm by then so we decided to head back to our room and have our picnic there.

Versailles

2008-04-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

We had a late night last night, including 2 frustrating hours of trying to call and talk to Merrick. I couldn't get the calling card we bought to work, so I ended up using the cell phone for a few minutes, only to find out he was taking a nap. I had my first breakdown in the 6 days we have been gone. Thankfully it didn't last long. Then the people that are on the same floor as us came back right after we had tried to go to sleep and pretty much had what sounded like a party in the hall way.

We got up late this morning and decided to take advantage of the nicer weather and head to Versailles. The train there was uneventful. We purchased our tickets in Paris so thankfully we did not have to wait in line to buy tickets there, but there was about a 45 minute wait to get into the building. We ended up spending about 4 hours there and still didn't see everything. If you ever make a trip to Paris, you definitely want to have this on your list of places to go. It is amazing! It's hard for me to believe that people actually lived in these buildings.

Travis and I made our way back to Paris and to our hotel. I had to call Merrick to hear his voice and I don't know what I did, but I actually got through this time. I just love hearing his little voice say "mama". He didn't say much else to me, but grandma Bec said he just sat there with a smile on his face the entire time I was talking. We've been lucky that both hotels so far have had free computer/internet access, although the keyboard here in France is taking some getting used to. It's been great to be able to read emails and keep up the blog.

We've decided to get a little rest and then go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower this evening. We bought a bottle of wine that we are hoping to enjoy at the top. Tomorrow and Thursday will be full of museums and sights.

Bonjour!

2008-04-14T12:37:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Paris today to cloudy skies and rain, although that didn't keep us from seeing some of the sights. First on the list was the Eiffel Tower, which is right by our hotel! Thankfully the rain let up and we were able to get in a general tour of the area. When we arrived at our hotel at about 3:00 I only had about 3500 steps on my pedometer. When we returned at about 6:30 I had almost 21,000! We enjoyed just wandering and getting aquainted with the city. I think I already love this city more than London and I've only been here a few hours. Tomorrow we'll hit the ground running and see a bunch of sites. Stay tuned!

Goodbye London, Hello Paris!

2008-04-13T08:52:00.000-07:00

We've spent the last three days being extremely busy and running ourselves ragged trying to see all the sights in London and stay dry. We've had nice weather until about 10:30 am each day and then we've gotten poured on. Luckily there are lots of things to do inside. Here's a breakdown of what we've done the past three days.

April 11
London Tower
Tower Bridge Exhibit
Winston Churchill's Britain at War Experience (a total waste of time)
London Bridge
St. Paul's Cathedral
Millenium Bridge
Shakespeare's Globe
Tate Modern
trip to Big Ben and the London Eye to see them at night

We bought a London Pass for one day and tried to see as many sights that were covered by it, so we were out for about 12 hours that day)

April 12
Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms
Rode the London Eye
British Museum
British Library
Went to Kensington Gardens to see Kensington Palace, the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain and the Prince Albert Fountain

April 13
Buckingham Palace to see the finish of the London Marathon (although is was pouring rain, so we decided not to wait to see the elite women finish)
Imperial War Museum - which has an amazing exhibit on the Holocaust
Picadilly Circus
Leicester Square
National Portrait Gallery
Because of the Marathon, we caught a bus back to the hotel that took us on a diverted route through London. It was kind of fun to see all the places we've visited over the past 4 days. We have plans to get some dinner tonight and possibly go on a night bus tour.

Tomorrow we catch the train to Paris!

We made it!

2008-04-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

After about 13 hours of traveling, Travis and I arrived in London today. We were supposed to leave Portland at 11:15 am, on April 9, but our flight was delayed about 30 minutes. Travis and I were stressing a little since we had to make a connecting flight in Chicago. Luckily when we landed in Chicago, they let those of us with less than 30 minutes to our flight deboard first. Then Travis and I lucked out and only had to go about 10 minutes through the airport to make our flight. For those of you who've gone through Chicago O'hare, you know that doesn't happen very often. We arrived in London at 8:00 am their time (which is 12 am on the west coast). Travis and I didn't sleep very well on the plane, despite my taking two extra strength sleeping pills. I think we each got about 2 hours of sleep. After going through customs, we figured out how to get on the underground and get to the neighborhood where our hotel was. We made one mistake though and didn't have a very good map, so we had to buy one and figure out where we were going. Since we had arrived so early, we couldn't check into our room, so we dropped off our luggage and decided to go see Buckingham Palace and watch the changing of the guard. Well... we found Buckingham Palace, we had gorgeous blue skies and sun, but they aren't changing the guard today. So... after about 25 minutes of standing around waiting, we found this out and decided to walk back to the hotel and get freshened up for the rest of the day.

Then we decided to take a self-guided walking tour of the Westminster area. We got on the tube and made it to Westminster Bridge. We got to see the London Eye up close (we're hoping for better weather before we go up, did I mention the blue skies went away and we had a dark, cloudy afternoon?) then we say Big Ben, the parliment building and took a tour of Westminster Abbey. By now it as about 3:30 pm and we hadn't eaten yet, so we decided we would head to find some food. Well... I made a little mistake and took us about 10 blocks in the wrong direction. Thankfully we bought a 3 day transit pass, so we were able to catch a bus and head to where we needed to go. We found some food and then decided to go check out the National Gallery. The one cool thing about London is most of their museums are free! So we spent about an hour there and decided it was time to head back and get some rest. We're not sure if we'll venture out again tonight, but we're already planning what we'll do tomorrow! Stay tuned...

Three Days and Counting

2008-04-06T07:35:00.000-07:00

Travis and I realized last night that we only have three days until we leave for our trip! For those of you who don't know, Travis and I are heading to Europe for 2 weeks. Merrick will be staying with Poppa and Grandma Bec while Travis and I head to London, Paris, Brugges and Amsterdam (to visit Kristen Pitstick). We've been planning this trip for a few months and are really excited, although I think we are both a little sad about leaving Merrick for so long.

Yesterday we started working on packing. Our goal is to each only take one piece of medium sized luggage. We each have a different packing method, I like to think that my "rolling" method will let me bring more clothes =) I'm not sure if that's the case, but it seems like I've got a lot of stuff in there!

We're hoping to be able to access email and our blog while we are gone, but we're not sure if we'll have access, so you may have to wait until we get back to hear about our travels.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

2008-04-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

Merrick and I were able to spend lots of time playing outside the past few days and enjoying the beautiful weather. On Wednesday evening all of the kids were out in the cul-de-sac playing and the hot topic was the newest addition to the neighborhood. Our neighbors Amy, Howard and Zachary welcomed the arrival of their little girl Zoey Rae on Wednesday afternoon. We are all looking forward to meeting her.

It always amazes me how quickly Merrick learns. He has started putting words together to create sentences. Some of the things he has said lately that have gotten all of us to chuckle are...

"I love Pooh" - In reference to his Pooh Bear (not what you use the toilet for)
"Ohh.... Mmm" - While watching a beer commercial. Neither Travis or I were quite sure about that one.
"your whining" - Said right after Mama had told him to "stop". Usually I'm the one telling him to "Stop your whining"

San Francisco Here We Come!

2008-04-01T14:46:00.001-07:00

At Christmas time my sisters and I made a New Years pact to run in the Nike Half/Full Marathon. This is an amazing event that focuses on women (they even have a chocolate station on the course). This year because of the popularity of the event, they did a random drawing to select entries. We just found out today that we all officially got in! I will be training for my 3rd full marathon this summer, while Meggan and Coleen will be training for their first half-marathon. Because of an injury, Kira won't be able to run with us, but we're hoping she'll be able to come to San Francisco to cheer us on. Gretchen Pedersen, Sara Sitter, Susan Kelley and Bhavna Kumar, a few of my "sole sisters" also got in. I'm looking forward to spending lots of time with all of them pounding the pavement this summer!

April Showers?

2008-03-31T20:14:00.000-07:00

We have been trying for months (maybe even years) to get Merrick to take a shower. Over the past few weeks he's been talking about the shower and will come open the door when you are taking a shower (let me tell you that it's not easy to take a shower with someone opening and shutting the door the entire time). So tonight I actually talked him into coming into the shower and he LOVED it! He actually didn't want to get out. Although I think he still prefers the bath. Here's a picture of where I found him the other morning...

Usually when we can't find Merrick he is "hiding" in his room. He loves to climb into the rocking chair, grab a book and "read"

Easter

2008-03-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

We headed to Seaside to celebrate Easter weekend with Poppa, Grandma Bec, Aunt Meg, Jasper and cousins Jaley and Genna. Thankfully the drive over to Seaside on Saturday morning was pretty uneventful, although about 20 minutes before we got into town Merrick started getting pretty antsy. When we pulled up to the Condo and I went to hand off Merrick to Poppa, I soon realized why he was being so antsy. He said to me as I pulled him out of his car seat "I pee pee" and sure enough, he had. The poor thing had leaked through his diaper. Poppa took him to get cleaned up and Travis and I went to park and unload the car. For those of you who have kids, you know that whether you are going for one night or two weeks, you still have to pack the same amount of stuff, which is a lot! We were getting settled in and had been there about 20 minutes and all of a sudden the fire alarm starts going off. So we stick our heads out the door to see if anyone else is leaving, no one really was so we thought we'd just wait it out, then we looked again and people were starting to be evacuated. So we got our coats and shoes and headed outside. Thankfully we were blessed with a nice day, so we didn't have to stand outside in the rain. We decided that since we were outside that we should take a walk on the beach. Merrick loves being outside, so it wasn't hard to convince him. We played on the beach for a while and then headed upstairs for lunch and a nap.

Unfortuately Merrick decided that he didn't want to take a long nap, so just as mom was getting to sleep, he woke up. We decided to head back out to the beach and play with our new sand toys. Well... that didn't last very long. I knew as soon as Merrick was telling us he wanted to go inside that he had not slept long enough.

So we headed back inside and Merrick played with Poppa while Mama and Dada went to check out the deals at the outlet mall. While shopping we called to check in with Poppa and learned that Merrick was laying on the window sill saying "night night" so we gave Poppa the okay to put him down for another nap. When we got back from shopping we all decided to go for a swim. Merrick was not really sure of the little wading pool, but loved being in the big pool with Mama and Dada. He even checked out the hot tub with all of us.

Sunday morning we got a disappointing call from Aunt Meg. Jasper wasn't feeling well, so they weren't going to be able to come over and join us for Easter Dinner. We were all bummed about not getting to spend the day with them. I think we were also a little bummed about the rain. Us Oregonians get tricked so easily by nice weather! We had a very quiet Easter dinner and after checking out Merrick's Easter basket, we headed back home.

Babies, Babies Everywhere!

2008-03-30T13:23:00.000-07:00

We have enjoyed lots of wonderful baby news over the past month. Our friends Jonathan and Karyn welcomed the arrival of their beautiful daughter Joyce Caroline on February 26th. Then on March 9th we heard that my cousin Julie and her husband Brian are expecting a baby in November. Merrick will have a second cousin to play with when we get together for the holidays! On March 16th our friend Rebecca and Corey welcomed the arrival of their beautiful baby girl Olivia Jean. Not to be outdone, our friend Kelly and Alyssa welcomed their beautiful daughter Addilyn Jean on March 18th. Did I mention we had lots of baby news? Merrick's day care provider Nazzy and her husband Tony welcomed the arrival of their sweet baby girl Shodya on March 21st. Merrick has quickly learned the word baby and thankfully he hasn't been jealous at all when we've gone to visit all of these precious little ones.

Joyce Caroline

Olivia Jean

Addilyn Jean

Keeping up with the Yates Family

2008-03-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

So we decided to start a blog for a few different reasons...

1. Everyone is doing it, so shouldn't we?
2. It's much easier to keep everyone up to date on what we are doing.
3. Not that we don't love emailing and seeing all of you and telling you what we're up to... but did we mention this is much easier???
4. It might actually allow you to see recent photos of our family... at least we're hoping that will happen!

So stay tuned for all the latest news from the Yates Family