Meet the newest member of our family!

I'm finally back from one crazy, fun, busy, hectic, trip! I have soooo many pictures to post I don't even know where to start. Does anyone know how to change the settings so that I can post more than 5 pics at a time? I guess I'll start at the end of our trip. When we got home Wednesday night, Daddy had a surprise waiting for us! Brandon called me a few days ago, saying that there was a lady he worked with that was giving a dog away. We have talked about getting a small dog for our boys, but didn't know when the time was right. At first when Brandon told me about this dog, I wasn't really considering it, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought maybe this was the right time to get a dog. Plus, she was free. You can't beat that, especially with all the other stuff we had to buy for her!

So, meet Penny. She is a 2 1/2 yr old miniature schnauzer (scottie dog). She has a wonderful personality. No barking, is patient with the boys, likes to snuggle, plus she is a female, which means I am not so outnumbered anymore!
Porter LOVES his Penny dog! It will be a good experience for him and Hudson to have a dog to take care of and play with.
Like I said, Penny is VERY patient with all of the pulling, poking, and tugging that the boys have done to her. That is a big relief to me!
Watch for more posts to come from our trip!

The Gathering Place

We got our dining room table! It came on Friday and we put it together that night! We have been in dire need of a decent and bigger dining room table. The one that we used when we were first married was a wooden card table that I made in shop class in Junior High! (It's now my craft table, and that is a much better use for it than a dining room table!) Then we inherited Brandon's brother's old (and little) table with a matching hutch. Both tables have served us well and we were greatful for them the time that we did have them, but the chairs have started breaking, and it is not big enough for even our family, let alone when we have people over. Now we WILL have the Gathering Place and have enough room to eat...

So when I get back from my trip, it's gonna be BBQ & game nights at our house!

*Fireworks*

Brandon and I decided we like being in small towns for holidays. Once again, for the fireworks, there was plenty of parking and we thought for sure we wouldn't make it into the park where the fireworks were happening. We drove by, though and saw that there was plenty of space!

I have to tell you about Porter. That morning, the first thing he said when he woke up was "go fireworks?" I told him not until it was dark and past his bed time. Well, everywhere we went that day, he would say "go fireworks?". He was sooooo excited to see the fireworks. We didn't see any fireworks last year because we were camping with friends, so this was the first time he would probably remember the fireworks.
Porter, Morgan, and Jordyn having fun and being silly before the fireworks.
This is Porter licking some cotton candy. He had never had cotton candy before and the first time he put it to his mouth, he didn't like the texture! So then he tried licking it, and he was able to taste it by licking it. When he realized how yummy it was (at least to him and other kids) he started eating it!
It was a loooooong time waiting for the fireworks for a two year old. After all, he had been waiting ALL DAY and then he had to wait some more after we got to the park. He was a champ!
This is how the cousins pasted most of the time... being silly!
Now that we are home, I am scrambling around to get a bunch of things done (I shouldn't be blogging, but I wanted to get caught up) because in a week from today, Porter, Hudson and I are going to visit my family in Utah for two weeks! Porter's excited to fly on a big airplane (he doesn't remember the past two times he's been on one) and see Grandma and Grandpa Perry! We will sure miss daddy, though. I wish he could take off as much work as he wanted so that he could do all the trips with us. Grandma and Grandpa Perry will keep us VERY busy and we will also be going to two family reunions; one in Vernal, Ut and one in Burlington, Wy. The summer rush is definitely here and things get hectic, but I love it! Posts from Utah will follow, but probablynot until I get back- I can't see G & G giving me enough time to sit at a computer and blog:)

4th of July Fun!

We weren't sure what to expect for 4th of July festivities in Klamath. We went to the parade and there was plenty of parking and we got a spot at the very beginning of the parade. The nice thing is, we didn't have to go early at all. We just showed up when the parade started. It sure beats Portland's parades where you have to sleep on the streets the night before just to get a spot!

Porter excited about all of his spoils.

In defense of Hudson, his nap time was right during the parade, so he was a little dazed with everything going on around him!

My Little Fishies

Most of the time we were at the ranch, we spent in the pool. It took Porter a couple of tries before he really got used to the pool, but by the time we went home, he was blowing bubbles, floating on his back, and going under to get his torpedo. I signed Porter and Hudson up for swim lessons in August, so I am excited to see how comfortable both of my little guys will be in the water after that!
I thought this was the CUTEST picture of Hudson! I rarely get a picture of him smiling, the sly bugger!
He loved the warm water and would just lay back in his floatie and enjoy the ride!
Porter's amazing back float. He was sooooo proud that he could do that by himself. He would run out of the pool to give me a high five every time he did one!
Goin' under!

Lake of the Woods

We spent one of our days at a lake. Porter liked riding in the raft.
The water was cold, but Porter finally got used to it, and got in.
Brandon liked taking out Tim's boat thing or what ever it is!
Hudson had a grumpy day. He was tired and I wouldn't let him loose to crawl where he wanted. Sorry Hudson!
Leave it to Porter to find an old camp fire and then get into it!

RUNNING Y RANCH

We had a fun time with Brandon's fam on vacation. We went down to Klamath Falls which is in Southern Oregon. We went to the Running Y Ranch last summer, also. We were there last week through the holiday weekend. It was a very much-needed relaxing break! Porter really enjoyed it this year because of all the fun activities they had on the ranch. Brandon got to go golfing with his brothers, brother-in-law, and cousins that came up from California. It was a lot of fun, but after a week, we were ready to go home!

I think this is the position Porter is most comfortable in! He does this upside down thing anywhere he can get enough of a grip!
Porter LOVED riding his four-wheeler around all the trails.
They had a birds of prey activity where a lady brought in different birds, including a red-tailed hawk and an owl. I didn't get a picture of this, but Porter sat for the whole hour without moving an inch! I was glad he was so interested!

They also brought in sled dogs that everyone could pet. The dogs were Alaskan Huskies, but I was surprised how much some of them reminded me of wolves! The lady said none of them had any wolf in them, though. ALL of the dogs were very nice and loved people. These dogs have done the Iditerod once. Porter, of course, loved the dogs, and even tried giving some of them kisses!

After a busy day, cousins Avery and Jordyn calmed Porter down by reading him some books. Porter loves his cousins!

Our HUG and KISS Nazi XOXO

I have a LOT of blogging to catch up on and I am going to try to get it all done today. Before I start on our vacation, I wanted to tell about our hug and kiss nazi. That would be Porter. From beginning of time, when Brandon would go to work, he ALWAYS would give me a kiss before he left. As our kids arrived, he started doing the same to them, also. Nothing extra special about that; I'm sure a lot of dads give hugs and kisses to his family before leaving. Well, probably starting a couple months ago, Porter would remind Brandon to give all of us hugs and kisses. He would start with me: "Mommy hugs, mommy kiss." Then Hudson: "Hudson hugs, Hudson kiss." Then himself: "Porter hugs, Porter kiss." It was so cute! Then we noticed that if he didn't SEE Brandon give us all hugs and kisses, Porter would make Brandon do it all again! So now the joke is that we are very obvious with the hugs and kisses and we make sure that Porter sees so he is satisfactory with Brandon leaving for the day! I love having a two year old in our house to make sure we get our daily quota of hugs and kisses! XOXO!

Birthday Parties Part I: Chuck E Cheese!

A couple of weekends ago, Porter had a blast going to not one, but two birthday parties! Hailey and Savannah (sisters) have their birthdays close together and their fam came into town, so it meant double birthday parties in a weekend. Hailey's party was at Chuck E Cheese. It was Porter's first time there, and he LOVED it!
He even sat down for a few minutes to eat some pizza *shocking*!
Hudson having fun spending time with Daddy.
Porter loved all the rides, but spent most of his time in the bumpy car! Hudson liked the ride, too. At least he didn't freak out. He didn't quite know what to think!
I told Jen I would make Hailey's cake. She wanted a Batman cake, but I couldn't find one, so she settled for Spider Man. I'm really enjoying making these cakes. They're fun! If anyone else wants me to make a cake for them, let me know!

Birthday Parties Part II: Swim fun!

What a busy, but fun weekend! I don't know how you did two birthday parties in one weekend, Jen! Hat's off to you! We went to the Woodburn Pool and had fun swimming. Porter and Hudson liked the kiddie pool because it was the warmest.


Porter and Peyton-two little boys that just can't sit! I'm glad Porter isn't the only one that does that! We have a booster seat for him, but Porter doesn't like to use it. He would much rather stand on the chair. Funny kid!

We have grass!!!

It's so nice to finally have grass! Brandon's even mowed it twice! Porter loves to play outside and run and run and run! And Hudson likes to try to eat the grass! hahaha! Now we just need to get rid of all the weeds...