Thanksgiving is here again. It was quiet one for us here, but we enjoyed our time together as a family. We even skipped out the big food preparation and instead went to Marie Callendar's for their Holiday feast. we ate to much, and Devon had way to much Chocolate Satin pie but it was nice to come home to a clean house and just relax. We hope everyone else had a great day and time to relax and enjoy friends & family, and all of their blessings.

Well I know I am in trouble with my sister for not posting more this last month. It has been a crazy month and while I have had good intentions to post I just didn't ever feel like spend my limited free time posting. So what has happened in the last month, well lets see...

Trip to Mesquite: At the end of October we made the journey to Mesquite (2 hour plane ride & then 1 hour car ride after getting baggage & car rental - dvh3 was an angel!) My oldest nephew Jordan was speaking in church as he prepared to leave on his mission to The Baltic's (Estonia). My 10 year class reunion also happened to be the same weekend so we had lots to keep us busy. Really glad to have gotten to see a few of my old classmates but I must say I enjoyed the family time most of all. dvh3 got to play with his cousins and was following his new best friend Dayton everywhere.

Well for those that don't already know, Devon is going to be a big brother in May. Baby #2 is officially on the way. Mom & Dad are very excited and Devon is also excited to be a big brother. So far he is requesting a little sister so hopefully he won't be disappointed if it ends up being a little brother.

At 12 weeks I am stilling dealing with morning/all day sickness. But it does seem to be getting slightly better. I also find that I am exhausted nearly constantly. Big thanks to Darren for picking up so much of the slack. If anyone is interested you can see the 1st ultrasounds here: # 2.

The Portland Children's Museum is currently running a "Bob the Builder" exhibit. Devon was very excited to go and luckily got there in time to meet Bob (although once he got up close he wasn't quite as excited.) He had a great time playing with all the different exhibits, especially the water tank - pump blue "water" balls through the tank. He also liked getting to try out all the machines and guess what saying they'd repeat. There was also a "Machine petting" out side where the kids could climb on really construction equipment. Definitely something we need to go back for before it is gone.

Okay the weather is starting to turn so I thought I better finally get the blog about of summer. We had a very busy summer this year & relatively short (because the rain didn't stop until late June) but we enjoyed it. Devon took a Sports class through the local Rec. center and loved getting to go play with balls. Soccer balls, t-ball, balloons, basketballs, and one of his favorites bowling. He also took a swimming class which he enjoyed especially the finally day when he got to go down the slide. We also spent a lot of time visiting new parks this summer. You can see many pics from those excursions here: Parks.

We also enjoyed a few days at the coast with friends. We visited Pacific City, OR with our friends the Mauery's and we had a great time. We have known Vernon and Lauren for basic 10 years and 3 kids later we are enjoying getting back to the point where we can have adult conversation. Thanks to Nicole their 5 year old who puts of with Devon (I believe she is his favorite friends) and helped keep the parents informed when the boys started getting tired of each other (Nathan is only 6 months older then Devon but some days that is a BIG age difference!) Even though the beach was a bit windy we had a great time. More pictures posted here: Pacific City, OR. Oh and if your interested in a funny picture of me being attacked by a blanket check out Lauren's blog from our trip - she has some great pictures of the kids too!

Free-IQTest.net - Online IQ Test

So our Friend's the Mauery's posted their test scores so I had to try it. Not to bad considering I guessed on a few, I made it into the "Gifted" category. Lots of advertisements trying to get you to sign up for stuff at the end before they give you your score though. You can wade past it all but it takes a while.

The front yard landscape project continues on helped along by great friends who willing gave up an entire SUNNY Portland Saturday to work in our front yard last weekend. We were finally ready for plants so I took a trip to a recommended nursery, Farmington Gardens, and had a wonderful time picking out plants. We ended up with over 30 plants that need to planted and as quickly as possible. When the Mauery's offered their help we gladly to them up on the offer. We got to work at 10 am and other then a lunch break pretty much worked through until 5 that evening, but we got all the plants in. The kids were great and played together or watched tv most of the day so we could work. It was amazing how much we got done. Even more amazing was the transformation to the house, plants just add so much.

Darren's mom came out to visit 2 weeks ago and I have been very remiss in getting the pictures posted. Devon had a great time with Grandma Hope putting puzzles together, working in the yard, going on walks, riding his bike, and playing at the park. I think everyone had a great time and Devon was very sad to see her go. We just don't get to see family often enough. Oh well we enjoy the time we do get together. See a few more pictures in Devon's 3rd Year Album