Zoo with Grammie & Colby

My mom and 15 year old brother Colby got to come up for almost a week for Morgan's blessing, and my dad came from Friday night through Tuesday morning, and boy did we party hard! We did SO much! We were really excited to be able to show them some of our favorite places here in Oregon and wanted them to have a great time, so we did it all.  We were absolutely exhausted by the time they all left, but it was SO worth it!! We had a blast and took so.many. pictures!!  I want to try to break them into different posts, so we'll start with the zoo, the first day of our adventures.

 Riding the train!

 This cheetah kept coming right up to the glass and stalking Colby.  It was pretty cool to see

 Monkey see monkey do

 I bought a Moby Wrap for my birthday with the money my parents gave me and it has been worth every single penny... I LOVE it, mostly because Morgan loves it.  It has been a lifesaver with all her acid reflux and colic. She usually just goes right to sleep in it. Thanks mom and dad! 

 There's just no words to describe this picture.  Colby, you are the best!

The weather was perfect, most of the animals were out and about for us to see, we got to watch a cool bird show while eating lunch, we rode the train, ate Elephant Ears (like a delicious churro) stayed for hours, and had a BLAST!! We love having a pass to the zoo and can't wait to use it all year!

Oaks Park

C&R had their annual company picnic at Oaks Park again in August and the boys once again had a blast! John was a trooper and tagged along with us even though he was super sick and had to pull out of Hood to Coast last minute (turns out he was most likely having an allergic reaction to some of the meds he is on for Ulcerative Colitist... I've never seen him that sick before!)  He ended up sitting in the shade with Baby Mo most of the time while I took the boys on some rides. It was a beautiful day out too!

 Jackson and Baron are in the green car... they were the only kids with their hands up- they absolutely LOVED the roller coaster! 

Birthdays/ 7 Years

Even though our birthdays/Anniversary were surrounded by lots of stress this year, we were still able to have a fun day of celebration! John turned the big 3-0!  I turned a whopping 26 and we celebrated 7 years of marriage! We slept in, went to Slappy Cakes where you get to make your own pancakes (and they had a gluten free pancake mix!), got some delicious cupcakes and cake balls from Crave- an all gluten free Bake Shope in Lake Oswego, went out to eat at Red Robin for dinner, and I was able to get out babyless and go get a pedicure that felt amazing! I enjoyed every single cry-free minute of it too.  It was a much needed break, thanks to a super sweet hubbie, who sacrificed some of his bday time for me :) Thanks to all who called, sent presents, and watched our boys the weekend before so we could go out just the two of us. We really enjoyed it all!

Your better bet we filled those delicious cakes with chocolate chips and topped them with fresh berries! SO darn good!

 Morgan had a great day that day- the days leading up to our bdays were some of her longest colic crying days she's had.  Our birthday was the first day she didn't cry in her carseat, slept for more than an hour and didn't cry herself to sleep that night! She even had a few smiles for us! I just had to take a few pictures of her non- crying that day:

 I just love how tiny she is.  She is strong, but tiny, though she's getting bigger now!

Most people talk about "the 7 year itch" in their marriage, but I've got to say, I am not too worried. After everything we've been through these last few months, I've realized even more than I did before how much I need John in my life.  He is honestly my best friend and we hardly ever fight. I love creating and accomplishing goals with him and dreaming for the future. I think we make some pretty dang cute/good kids together too, even if they start out super gassy and fussy :).  We keep growing closer each year and through each trial and I want him by my side to the very end... and beyond. I'm not letting him go anywhere anytime soon, and I plan to stick around myself.  So take that 7 year itch!