Birthday Boys - three of them...make that 4 :)

We celebrated with Rylan on the 1st

As tradition dictates, the birthday kid got to choose where they were wanting to eat. They also had to determine which meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner, they wanted to have us treat them to.

Rylan chose lunch at Red Robin.

After lunch, Ry and I headed to one of his favorite Asian markets in Beaverton. This is a great place to get gift items for those anime fans.

In addition to the birthday watermelon we also offered a birthday pie. Rylan is getting to that age where clothes and gift cards to restaurants are the best options for presents. He did well in that regard.

 And with Cameron on the 7th

Cameron chose to have us take him for breakfast. We introduced him to Milo's in the Lloyd Center area. He liked the atmosphere there and the food was enjoyed as well.

After breakfast we went and picked up Joylynn and the kids and spent the afternoon at Oaks Park. I'm planning on doing a separate blog post on that visit.

Well here is one of the birthday boy with Wyatt and Genevieve on the Tilt-a-Whirl. Cam is our amusement park guy. He's been to Oaks Park more than any of the other kids. It is a great place to hang out with friends and family, for sure!

We had a pizza and pie party with the kids and then Har and I loaded them into the van and took them home.

I can hardly believe that Cam's FIFTEEN already.

And he's a sophomore!

And finally with Hayden on the 17th

I made breakfast at home as Hayden wanted to us to take him out to dinner for his outing.

We had a good time Saturday evening down at the Lake Oswego Stanford's.

Hayden may have my eyes but look at that pose with Har! Can you say mini-me when they are bigger than you?

Free b'day dessert of creme brûlée.

We couldn't pass it up! The people waiting at home could have something else for dessert.

 The gift bags said it all

 "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday, 

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday to you"

He got snacks and drinks and a bunch of new school clothes and a stereo for his room!

He also got a couple of fun things like this book from Cherise & Kiel, a poster from Cam and some DVDs from Krystle.

I had these candles and wanted to commemorate the occasion with them.

So they were stuck into my dessert brownie and it was official.

Hayden had turned NINETEEN!

Henry is officially FOUR

In far away Southern California, on the same day as Hayden, Henry was having a birthday too.

And as any four year old knows, you aren't a year older until a song is sung and candles are blown out.

He got an early start and had his cake after breakfast.

They packed up and went to Legoland for his birthday weekend and he was able to finally go on the ride that he had to be 4 to ride.

He looked to be a happy birthday boy!

All good things must...

Time to take off

Kelly came over to see us off. I wish I could get her to come out west soon. I may not be able to get her west of Spokane though since she's got a grandbaby there.  I think this is the only family picture I took of these 5 for the whole time we were there. I took a bunch of group shots but it was almost always with somebody else in the pic too. The kids were pretty excited about getting to go to the airport again. 

Back to Reagan

I wanted to get a photo of this 9ft tall statue of Ronald Reagan for our Rylan but drove by it only once and there wasn't exactly anywhere to pull over to get a photo op. I swiped this photo from a news story about the unveiling of the statue. It is pretty impressive and I think they need to have postcards with pictures of it or something available.

Patient farewell party

Airports are pretty fun even when you aren't the ones traveling. Everything is so shiny and there are so many things to look at! The kids visited with Grampa and the Uncles while I shopped for some last minute souvenirs to take back to Portland.

It's especially nice when Mom and Dad promise treats on the way home :)

We had such a great time with these guys that it was hard to leave. But we had to :_(

It was going to be a long day of traveling

We didn't have a nonstop flight to Portland this time. We had a layover in L.A. We landed at 10:20 p.m. eastern time. It was still early here on the west coast but some of us were up at 6 a.m. eastern to go bike riding with Logan.

We got to introduce the kids to airport shuttle buses between terminals. Adventures in travel.

Har and I were dressed alike again for the trip. I didn't realize we had so many matching outfits! But I guess white shirts are pretty much in everyone's wardrobes.

Picked up at PDX

Har's brother Howard was waiting in the cell phone lot for us to give him the signal to swing by to pick us up.

We got in about 11:45 p.m., kinda late but I found I was pretty perky for as long as we'd been awake. Harlan and Courtney were the ones that had to worry about getting to sleep. They both had to work the next day.

Looking back on July and all it contained

It still seems unreal that we were able to do and see all the things we did. While looking through the thousand plus pictures of our time away I am in awe. 

We truly are Blessed and I am very very Grateful

Beauty, the beholder, and all that

The most photographed hydrangeas ever

I think I took at least one picture of these hydrangeas per day. They were so pretty. They grow on an embankment near the little creek on the side of their driveway.

Alyssa should pick them to dry this fall.

Courtney bought Alyssa some white hydrangeas and roses. They graced the table in the formal dining room.

I love a nice planter arrangement

This new shopping development had very nice planters on every corner.

These cattails were growing along the freeway near the Cracker Barrel that we went to for dinner.

I found this solar powered welcome stake at the hardware store when I went with Har. It "looked like" Alyssa to me so I bought it and stuck it in the potted plant at the end of her sidewalk. It is a nice little addition to the decor.

Attic Treasures and Sew Easy

My sister, Kelly works at this little shop in Occoquan. It is an amazing place, full of inspirational sewing projects and fabrics and notions. I got to spend the afternoon there learning how to paint with thread.

They teach various classes there and this class was offered on a day that we couldn't make it. Kel arranged for me to have a private tutoring session. The example piece is on the left above and the beginnings of my tree is on the right. I'm looking forward to getting my project back out and working on it. 

This photo doesn't do this autumn creation justice. It is a very beautiful three dimensional piece of artwork done with a technique that was taught at Sew Easy as well. The women that work there are so talented! I appreciate them sharing their time and encouragement with me.

Thanks Kel! for all you did to make my afternoon with you so memorable.