Bigger pictures

Hummm... I am working on getting some bigger pictures on my blog but it is a little tricky (for me anyways) Here's one of AJ I love. May be more big pictures to come, we'll see!

Last Lazy Day.

So today is Aarons last day of freedom befor dedicating his life to chiropractics and anyone who knows aaron knows how he is spending the afternoon....GOLFING! What? we have been here just over a week and Aaron has already connected with fellow golfers and is out on the green. I think they just went to Par 3 somewhere but none of that matters toAaron as long as he's out golfing he's happy! So live it up Poy cuz' I see yor golf days coming to an abrupt end! (lol, as if he would ever let that happen!)

BIG BOY!

This morning AJ had his breakfast and then said "poop!" so we went to the potty and started reading his book. He was only a few pages in when he actually did it! He pooped in the potty. I know that to all of you who aren't parents this seems ridiculously gross and silly to be celebrating but we are SO excited! I hope he potty trains quite because it I am done with diapers!!! Yippie for Age!

P.S. I have recently noticed that I use and excessive amount of exclamation marks in my blog, I'll work on it.

Punch Bowl Falls

Growing up I was all about the outdoors. As soon as the summer hit I was barefoot and running wild until it was time to go back to school. We didn't camp, that would be my moms worst nightmare, but my Dad took us hiking and I always wanted a husband who love nature as much as I did. I remember seeing young couples hiking with their little baby in a carrier and thinking how cute that was, I would picture my husband doing the same thing. Well today that picture became a reality and although it might seem a little lame, I was loving every minute f these two hiking up to the falls.
As you can see we went for a hike today with 4 other couples and Dan. Dan was a lone wolf today because his wife wouldn't phone in sick, party pooper, but we were glad he still came anyways! We drove about 30 minutes out of Portland to the base of the hike and started in. Me and Aaron are a little out of shape but we didn't want to wuss out so we went anyways. The hike was about 4.5 miles round trip with an elevation of 500 feet. We went to check out the stream at the base of the hike and found these spawning Salmon, they swim up the stream to lay their eggs and spawn and then they die. This one still had some fight left in him!
We started out strong, visiting and getting to know everyone, but after about 30 minutes this quieted down a little. Here are some shots I took on the way up.

After 1 hour and 15 minutes we had made it!! I felt so proud of myself for not passing out, Hurray!!! Here are the falls, how do they look, familiar? These falls are in a church video so keep your eye out for them next time, and just think, "Lacey and Poy were there!" Anyways we stopped for lunch and to let the kids (and husbands) play for a while. It was Tom's 30th birthday today, whoo whoo, so he decide to celebrate by risking his life on this 60-70 Foot drop!!!!
It only took us 45 minutes to hike out since it was a lot more going down than up. We had a great time getting to know everyone and seeing a bit more of Portland. I know that I have put up way to many pictures for one post but here are a few more for our family's!

The Power of the Gospel

I feel so overwhelmed by the power of the Gospel, and the profound impact it has had on my life. After attending the Woman's broadcast last night I could not help but get exited about Relief Society and what it means to be a part of such an amazing organization. I have been so nervous about moving this far from my home and family that I almost forgot one of the great blessings that comes with belonging to the Lords church, Ward families. What a blessing it is to know that no matter where you go, there is already a support system waiting for you.

After meeting the Wagner's on our "Find a home" trip, they have become good friends and helped easy our transition in to Portland life. With in the first hour of arriving at our new apartment complex we had also meet the Gough's, not only did they introduce themselves and invite us for dinner the next day but they stayed around to help haul all our stuff into our new apartment. After only one day at church we have been invited to go on a hike with 5 other young families from the ward, and although I have not been hiking in a few years and will probably be eating their dust, I am looking forward to it! Our ward family has been taking such great care of us it is hard to believe we have only been here one week!

Last night the stake had a dinner before the broadcast, which I was a little nervous to attend since I hadn't even been to church yet! My nervousness vanished the moment I arrive. The women welcomed me with love and I soon felt apart of my new stake and was eagerly introducing myself to those around me. (Weird, I am usually so shy!?!) The General Relief Societies message was so beautiful, I felt inspired to throw myself into the RS program and take from it all that it can offer me. I may not be as close to home as I am use to but there are so many knowledgeable women right here that I can learn from, and I intend to do just that! I have a fire in my belly and look forward to getting my visiting teaching beats and a new calling in the Columbia River Ward, I will keep you posted with our ward life, until then here is my favorite quote from last night:

"Work will cure your grief. Immerse yourself in the service of the Lord!"
-President Gordan B. Hinkley

Portland Blues

Today was cloudy and a little rainy, I guess you could say that after just 5 days Portland has gotten to us. We stayed at home almost the whole day with the Portland Blues! lol, we didn't really have the blues but we had to stay home and wait for the washer and Dryer to show up, which didn't happen till around 3:00. I have been really worried about my Grandma who is in the hospital right now (I will give you the whole story later) and also for my family. I want to be there with them to get through this crisis as I always have been, but that just isn't a possibility. So we stayed home and had a family day. It was nice to be together and enjoy our new home. Here are the boys playing a little guitar.


Dad always hogs the guitars, this is AJ giving him the "I could do better" look.

Here is my Sexy rock star husband, he gave it all up to live the simple life with me! he he he. I love this face though!

Me and Age reading his Nap time story, sometimes I ask Aaron to take our picture so I am in a few of the shots, and then this is the face I make! Nice

Can't help myself!

So we moved here approximatly 3 days ago, we still have stuff in boxes, and our washer and dryer could be here anytime today but I just couldn't help myself, I had to have people over. Most of you know that I LOVE having get togethers at my house. Weather it's watching a show, hosting a party, or in this case making cookies. We wanted to get together and do something fun for the kids so we thought that we could decorate some sugar cookies. The Gough's and the Wagners came over around 10:30 this morning and boy did we have fun. The kids ate so much sugar, I am not sure any of them will ever sleep again!

This is Nicole, Megan, and AJ getting thing started by taste testing a few of the toppings. AJ just kept eating teh M&M's of his cookie and saying, "More!"

Here we have the Gough family. Ken has some real talent in the cookie decorating area, I think he was pracicing at home before he came over. Once we saw his first few cokies we all steped up our game, see if you can find Steve's Poccahantis.

Isn't she so cute? Breanna was liking all the iceing off he cookie but we got a shot while she was still clean!

And this is Erika, she is only 11 months old, a little young to help out, so she decide to lay under the Table in hopes of catchinga few snacks. (Which I am pretty sure she did! What a cutie)