Great Moments with Grandma and Grandpa

We so enjoyed our visit with my parents and as you can see from all the posts we did a lot and we were exhausted by the time they left. While we loved going, seeing and doing with them it was the little moments that we will cherish until we see them again.

Morning cuddles were a huge highlight of the trip for my kids; they would all go into Grandma and Grandpa before they even saw me in the morning. Talmage loved being walked and picked up from the bus by one of his Grandparents each day he went to school. He also had fun playing legos and Battle Ship with Grandpa. Audrey requested her Grandparents put her to bed each night; she loved all of the stories Grandma read to her. Audrey also loved having Grandma help her make her braclet for Adalyn's birthday and having her watch her at dance class. Then we all loved the hugs, kisses, and tickles. We love Grandma and Grandpa Jensen and are so happy they came to visit us.

Adalyn playing ponies with Grandma; it was so cute.

Talmage with Grandma.

He joined and read scripture with Grandma and Grandpa every morning.

Audrey and Grandma; look at the bliss on Audrey's face.

Adalyn cuddling with Grandpa.

Making Easter sugar cookies with Grandma.

No visit is complete unless you make cookies with Grandma

Fishing

For my Dad's birthday all his children gave him a fishing trip in Washington. Gordon was able to join my Dad for the day and they hit the lake. They fished for Kokanee and caught 20! As my Dad put it they were like the grandkids and anytime their was a bite they got handed the line to reel the fish in. They had a great time and we had fish for dinner and for breakfast the next morning; so yummy.

The fisherman with their fish.

My cute Dad and a nice fish.

Gordon on the boat.

Kite Flying at Cannon Beach

We had a wonderful time going to Cannon Beach with my parents. The kids had a great time playing in the sand and getting their feet wet. Adalyn repeated falling in the water within minutes of being there; but I came prepared. The kids of course wanted their swimsuits on even though it wasn't very warm; I don't know how they do it. We hoped to see the puffins on Haystack rock but they hadn't come yet because of the unusual cold spring weather; hopefully we'll get to see them this summer.

For Christmas the kids and I gave Gordon a nice kite and he has been dying to try it out. We had a hard time getting it to fly at the beginning of our trip but by the end the wind picked up and it was able to fly. The funny thing was our cheap kite from Walmart we got last time that didn't work worked fabulous this time. Audrey flew the kite for about a half hour; basically she just held it while she played in the waves. Well, Gordon was really happy that he was able to get his kite to fly.

Playing in the sand with Grandpa

Audrey and Grandma

Talmage with his Grandparents.

Adalyn jumping on the beach and covered in sand.

Me and my parents.

Gordon all covered up.

He got it to fly; you can barely see it.

Portland Temple with Grandma and Grandpa

Sunday evening we went to the Portland Temple grounds with Grandma and Grandpa. We have a beautiful drive through Portland and enjoyed the beautiful evening on the temple grounds. Here are a couple of our favorite pictures of the night.

The Temple and the beautiful spring flowers.

The kids by the doors.

The whole group.

Adalyn is Two

Adalyn is officially two! She had a really fun birthday and loved being the center of attention. We had a yummy birthday breakfast which she loved. She had a fun time opening her gifts and loved the handmade cards, braclet and necklace that Talmage and Audrey made for her.

We are so in love with Adalyn right now; everything she does is adorable. We love her chubby little body and her kissable cheeks. She loves to put skirts on and dance around the house. As she is dancing she is singing a little tune and she will pause periodically and lift one leg out to the side for an extra special dance move. She is following in the steps of her sister and is starting to love wearing her swim suit. Her hair is long enough for a pony tail now and it is so cute. She loves books and has to have several in her bed when she goes down for naps and to bed. She is becoming a really great talker and we adore her so much.

Birthday Breakfast

Excited to open her gifts.

Checking out her new toy.

Adalyn's puppy cake.

She loved it and new exactly what it was.

I know this picture is a little blurry but you can still see how excited she is; so cute.

Trying to blow out the candles.

The family

Fish Hatchery and Bonneville Dam

Our second excursion during Grandma and Grandpa's visit to Washington was the Bonneville Dam and Fish Hatchery. The Fish Hatchery was really fun and we had fun feeding the trout and seeing Herman the Sturgeon. Herman is 10 ft. long, 450 lbs. and over 70 years old; he was impressive to see.

Then we headed over the Bridge of the Gods (the bridge was really beautiful) to see Bonneville Dam. The Dam was really neat and had quite the bright rainbow 70's carpet inside. The exhibits were great and we learned a lot about dams and how they work. They have a fish viewing area where you can watch the fish going up the ladder but the water was too cold and high so barely any fish were going through that day. We are looking forward to going back in the summer when more fish are passing through.

Feeding the Trout; Adalyn loved it.

Herman

I don't know how I feel about swimming in the Columbia River now that I know how big some of the fish are.

This is how they directed you where to go at the Fish Hatchery; I thought it was really cute.

The fish ladder.

The fish swim up this to get past the dam; it's really cool.

Gordon with Bonneville Dam

Adalyn listening to the exhibit.

Gordon and Talmage

Grandma and Audrey learning about how to conserve energy.

The 9 turbines.

Rainy Ft. Vancouver

My parents came to visit us and we didn't let a VERY wet day slow us down. So, we headed to Ft. Vancouver for the day and had a wonderful time. We were able to see some new things that we didn't see last time so it was new even though some of us had already been there. Audrey had a fun experience in the Blacksmith shop where she got to pretend she was the Beaver setting off the trap. She jumped when the trap went off as did everyone else close by; she was cute.

Audrey and the Blacksmith

By the ovens that made the sea biscuits

Audrey trying on the bear skin.

Spring Break

We were stuck inside too much during spring break so one day we decided to treat ourselves to a fun day at Kids Club. We stayed for four hours and got our moneys worth. We had fun climbing through the play structures and the slides were so awesome. They also had a fun ball area where you could shoot the balls from an air gun and then the balls also fell from the ceiling; our kids has such a great time. We had a wonderful time and next time Mom and Dad will bring their knee pads so we can climb through the play structure more comfortably.

Also during spring break we did story time at the library and lego time at the library; we love the library!

Mommy and Adalyn

Talmage and the air guns.

He played in this area for about an hour and a half strait. He loved it!

Waiting for the balls to fall; I love that her tongue is sticking out.

On the slide with Daddy.

Audrey and the balls.

Audrey's creation.

Talmage's creation