Summer Cap Off- Porter's 5th Birthday

To end the summer with a bang, Porter turned 5!! I can hardly believe my baby is that old. Not to sound cliche, but seriously, how did that happen? He is the most amazing little boy. He's a total goof ball but amazes me and teaches inbetween the goofiness. For example, this morning, I was going to press snooze one more time on the alarm clock when Porter said, "Mom, I don't want to sleep anymore. We need to all get up so we're not late for Church."
He said what I was trying to push out of my mind for another ten minutes on the snooze button but he was right!
Our party was dinosaur themed. Poor guy wanted another Thomas the Tank Engine party but I didn't want to do another one. That would've made three in a row so I can him the option between dinosaur and pirate. He went back and forth between the two until he finally decided on dinosaur.

Pin the tail on the Dinosaur

Crawling through treacherous terrain to find their dinosaur prize

Yet again, more treacherous terrain!

Making dinosaur feet. I thought I was so smart killing two birds with one stone (metaphorically of course) by buying glitter glue instead of glitter and glue. Well, turns out that was a crappy idea to put it bluntly. Glitter glue takes hours, who knows, maybe even days to dry! I had all these imaginings of pictures with all the kids wearing their dinosaur feet and that little hope was thrashed.

My Mom started by telling the kids a bunch of stories. They were hooked! She had them wrapped around her storytelling finger!

Kids encircled about their entertainer.

She made a puppet out of a banana. Now Porter constantly wants his banana made into a puppet.

This cake, though it make look juvenile, was my pride and joy for that day. The hershey kiss spikes were the talk of the table.

Sugar much?

Each kid had an egg with the letter of their first name (this was to prevent one person picking up a bunch, etc.) and then they searched around the Church for their egg.

Little dino jube jubes. They also got a dinosaur balloon and dino water gun. Though trying to think of enough activities to keep kids busy can be tricky, I love planning my kid's birthday parties!

Summer Re-cap Part 3: Family Reunion & Vancouver

Lane's family planned their first family reunion. With 9 siblings, plus spouses, and more grandkids than I feel like counting right now, it's hard to get everyone together. We headed off to Portland area where one of Lane's sisters lives for our destination beach house. And may I say, though I've traveled to Portland a few times for reunions on my side of the family, my memory didn't do me justice. It is gorgeous there! Breathtaking! I'd like to go back and do some more touring. AND...AND! On top of that Portland is a hub for great diners (thank you drive-ins, diners, and dives). On the way back we went up through Vancouver where I met up with grandparents. The adventure continued until we made it back to home sweet home. May I say, though this may not be realistic at all, I would like to have this kind of adventuresome fun all the time! It's so much fun to have fun! That statement may not be quotable but it is true.

First stop on the holiday journey: Spokane!

On the way down to Oregon, we traveled down with Lane's best friend and bro, Kale and my buddy ol'pal (works out nice doesn't it?) Kenny AND Porter's fave/ Grady's toy rival, Brookey. Lane and I have never traveled with anyone else before and I loved it! It was so much fun! We shared snacks, pulled over for breaks, got lost together. It was so much fun to travel down with friends! We even got to swap war stories about which child had the best meltdown.


A personal highlight for me! I am all about food. I would travel the globe for the sights and FOOD. I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more...for food, yes I would. This was the Byways cafe. I caught a glimpse of it on Drive-ins, Diners and Dives. I don't know why but I love that show. Actually, I do know why, they show you hidden gems with amazing food and then I even think to myself, 'if I go to that obscure town in Kansas, I am definitely going there!' I narrowed my list down to three diners I wanted to try in Portland but sadly, I only made it to one. On the bright side, I made it to one! I felt like I was going to a celebrity diner. For the records, Lane got amaretto french toast and I got corned beef hash. Also, I couldn't speak about this experience without noting that Grady screamed the whole time, Porter then through a temper tantrum which is surprising for him, and in the end, after being embarassed (it's a diner! It's ten feet long!), Lane and I proceeded to eat in shifts while the other walked around the block. It was worth it.

The Portland Rose Gardens. It was dreamy. :)

The Portland Oregon Temple.

Teaching Grady the fun of smelling the flowers on temple grounds. I made sure to point out many flowers for my photo needs.


The Tillamook cheese factory. I hyped up my little family and those around me because I went here as a kid and loved it! There used to be a tour guide that took you around the massive factory with little samples along the way. Now there's not that. There's a viewing window with some helpful signage. Maybe there cheese became too popular for their own good. Who knows?!

Yes, we had to do tricks for our food. I made a funny, it was a family home evening activity. Lane is so tough he is on the bottom, holding up the masses of children. And bonus, no hernias or popped blood vessels while walking away with a little sugar to quench the carb need.


My niece offered to teach me how to hula dance. My, oh my, I'd be delighted! She was quite a pro. I paled in comparison to her shoulder shimmeys.

This was a sight to behold. They were both laughing hysterically together! Grady just loves her!

Seaside City, Oregon.


The Olympic Cauldron! I was so pumped to see this! I imagined all the excitement from months ago while standing in front of it. I am cheesy, always have been, it's innate but I just think it was so magical when the Olympics were here earlier this year. I wished I was an athlete, to be apart of something that wonderful. Unfortunately, I snow plow down the hill, the whole way! I have always been one for self preservation. It wasn't meant to be but I can say with conviction I truly admire and appreciate the talent and event as a whole.

Grady and Grandpa Seu. This was a really great experience. I don't know my dad's side of the family very well and after taking a family history class, I was more in tuned to ask questions about my heritage. It was really incredible listening to my Grandpa's stories about his past. He used to work for the UN! I'm really grateful for that experience of being able to listen to his story.

Looking over the water in Vancouver.

In fact, not the Orient but a cool area in a beauitful park in...you guessed it! Vancouver!

The Enchanted Forest. I went here a few times as a kid but may I say it is way better to watch your own kids enjoy it. The forest was beautiful and it's filled with sculptures from old nursery rhymes and fairy tales.

A spot of tea?

Wild ride on the log! Whooaa!

Summer Re-cap Part Deux: Erin's Wedding and the Burg

You know, I had several lovely people in my life tie the knot/get hitched/seal the deal, etc this year. I even had to miss a cherished wedding of my friend Erika because it fell on the weekend of my Anth. final exam. This wedding I attended in late July was for my sista from another mista, Erin Jean Walters.
Erin has been everything a great friend can be and helped me climb a lot of obstacles. I feel completely adopted in the Walters family which was an answer to many prayers when I moved to Calgary and was so lonely and needed a little lovin' from family... and that's what I got!
Erin gave so much service on my behalf but thankfully she followed the Savior's example and loved me even more after helping me. whew. hahah We have so many great memories together and she got my back, yo.
Why do I sink so low and complain about the weather when I have so much to be grateful for? Good question.

We drove down to Rexburg, a place that will always feel a bit like home for me and stayed at a hotel with frigid water. Lane and the boys made the most of it. Lane's trying to teach Grady how to blow bubbles in the water. Red cross education for infants, don't y'know?

Oh, man! was Lane a trooper during this hotel stay. I was a bridesmaid having fun while he stayed in the hotel for nap times or early bed times or wrestle times or meltdown times. I still feel like I owe him cookies for that because seriously, I had an awesome time being able to enjoy this beautiful wedding.

Craigo's! It has a pasta and pizza bar. End of story.

Here we are at Porter Park. It is actually called Porter park, which of course we played up that fact to Porter. "How special, a park just for you!" Unfortunately, neither one of the boys thought it was that great. They weren't that cool with getting splashed. Porter was freezing!

Grady is miffed and insulted with the water that reached his face. Here is Lane consoling the poor sir.

After a beautiful temple wedding we waited for the bride and groom to exit. Lane and mine's peaceful exit from the ceremony was cut- like with a samurai knife, because Grady had a meltdown (thank goodness for my bridesmaid status. I felt like I got to dodge that bullet for a day). Above: a picture of the two grumpy's waiting for the two pretty's.


I started to take pictures to pass the time for Porter.

This is Porter on the edge of losing it BUT with my magic camera we had some fun taking about a thousand face shots.

Here's my favorite one. Porter would contort his face and I would continue to snap photos. He would've played this game forever! It was hilarous!

Mr. and Mrs. Lowrie make a grand exit from the Rexburg Temple! They were so happy! They were so at peace and were just beautiful! It was an amazing day that I'm sure they'll always remember as perfect. Their shiny countenances were practically blinding! j.k. Porter loved being at the temple too. He loves temples and are a big topic of interest for the little guy.

These are some classic shots. Erin really is an Auntie to Porter, so of course he needed to be documented in pictures...but not every picture. Here he lays, waiting for his turn in front of the camera. He was such a good example of my excellent parenting that day. Perfect child! hahha He was such a good boy (that's my baby!).


This is the candy table with all candies coordinated to Erin's colors. She left no detail left unturned.

Erin's cake she made the night before. Delish. And might I add it was my recipe! Well, actually, it's Dorienne's recipe but I was the middleman at least. :)

Lovely Erin and I.