Ten and the Fourth

I think we've found a temporary solutions to the computing issue that has kept me from blogging regularly in 2014.  We'll see at least.  There's still some weeks where we do absolutely nothing of note.  Enough of the behind the scenes...onto the goings on of May, June, and July.

Mason turned 10.  I can't believe a have a kid in double digits but it's true.  His actual birthday (May 24) fell on Memorial Day weekend and we learned early on not to plan his party then if we actually wanted anyone to show up so we deferred it until the following weekend.

We couldn't let the actual event go completely without notice though.  Mason got to choose where he wanted to go for dinner to celebrate his big day and he chose Red Robin.  I think he really wanted to wear the coffee filter hat while the staff sang to him.

Showing off the cash and birthday card from Yaya and Papa Ron while his little sister photobombs.

The loving siblings again...

This is the awesome jersey Mason got from Yaya and Papa Ron!

Yup, it's got his name on the back and it's #10 for both his age and because that's the number the best soccer players wear.  Mason LOVES this jersey!

Siena, taking a break from photobombing...

Yaya enjoying some birthday fun.

Mason's 4th grade class worked hard this spring on a play "Hotel Buenavista and the Dancing Cucarachas!"  Mason had one of the lead roles as the bell boy.  He's off to the right in this group shot.

The bell boy in action.

Some post performance festivities.

The following weekend was Mason's glow bowl birthday party.

Of course it's a soccer cake.  And tres leches - a family favorite.

These little girls waited sooooo long to be able to finally eat some cake.

Happy ladies!

Happy birthday to you...happy birthday to you...

Some one got him on the nose with frosting...had to have been one of his Tios...

I saw a number of blue haired old ladies in Vegas in much the same position as these two...

Roll that Skee ball!

Dude.  Scary.

Since Mason and Luis get to go to Timbers games regularly, when the opportunity arose for some Portland Thorns tickets, I figured it was the girls turn!

Course we couldn't go in until we took some requisite pictures at the face statues outside the park.

Siena's a booger!

Huh choo!

We got to see the great Abby Wambach, though I was probably more excited at this than Siena.  Unfortunately she didn't play due to injury but she wasn't really needed as her team creamed our Thorns.

The score didn't diminish our enthusiasm any.  We got souvenirs, ate pizza, hot dogs, and cotton candy, and cheered super loud!  I had a blast with my girl (and I think she enjoyed herself too).  We're definitely planning to do it again.

And that brings us to this weekend...the 4th of July.  After making our requisite annual appearance at the Torland family 4th of July picnic, we had some bbq with my parents for dinner and lit off a slew of overpriced, yet legal, fireworks.

Someone is channeling his inner Harry Potter.

Papa Ron and Yaya!

Getting some help from Daddy to light sparklers.

"Baby you're a firework..."

And more Potter poses...

I think she's trying to look tough...

2 kids with giant California candles.

Daddy trying to pull the string on the grenade.  Unfortunately it ultimately took Papa Ron yanking and yanking...

Whew, the grenade has been launched!

This particular firework was the "Rain Dance" so of course, they're rain dancing.

Last but not least, my personal favorite, the Golden Shower.

The boys all went off to see the big fireworks show downtown while the girls stayed home and listened to what can only be described as the invasion of Normandy in our neighborhood.  Loud booming aside, it was a perfect start to summer!

A Long Time Gone

There's no excuse for a three month delay.  I've been negligent in taking pictures at events and even worse at posting them to the blog in a timely manner.  Mid-year resolution is to do better.

Mason played spring soccer this year with Luis as one of his assistant coaches.

He was much improved over how he's ever played.  It was exciting to see the change and progress he's made.  He just seemed so much more confident out there and everything seems to be clicking for him.

It was a shortened season because it's spring but he scored 5 goals total, including two in one game which earned him (well, the whole family really) a trip to Baskin Robbins to celebrate.  The spring games brought a variety of spring weather though, with some games being sunny and warm and some with torrential rain and hail.  His team won every game though and were super excited.

Siena continues to be our girly girl.  Here's one of her attempts at curling her hair.  One day she twisted it around her finger so much in an effort to curl it that it ended up tangled in 3 tight knots and we had to just cut it.  She now has a side whisp of hair.

Lots of things happened over the last few months, including my parents moving from Battle Ground to within a mile of our house.  They are in the process of building a new house but in the meantime are renting a place.  It has been wonderful having them so close.  We get to see them a lot more and the kids get to have more fun experiences with them than they did before.

Easter also happened!  We celebrated Easter at my parent's rental house this year.  The weather was nice but we decided to have the egg hunt indoors since their rental house has no foliage in which to hide anything.  Our house isn't much better.

As you can see, we got creative both with the goodies and the hiding places.

Of course Mason had to go out and play with his purple bubbles...

And Papa Ron got to snuggle with Bunny Bun Bun.

Now that the kids are older, Yaya and I had fun making the hunt more challenging for them.  It took a while.  There may still be a hard boiled egg rotting in a plant...

Go Mason!

Mason's haul:

Siena's loot.  Course, she had to video the event.  It may be part of a future Mermaid movie.

Siena and Yaya!

We enjoyed a nice Mother's Day last weekend.  We had dinner at the Rhinelander with my folks which, other than Siena getting car sick on the way there and throwing up on the bathroom floor of the restaurant, was a nice dinner.  We went to dinner with Luis' family Sunday night at the Spaghetti Factory and also had a nice time together.

Mother's Day was a little bit bittersweet though because my Grandma Bessie passed away that morning.  We had a graveside memorial Friday night and the service itself yesterday at the Tualatin Seventh-Day Adventist Church.  Mason was asked to read a Bible verse at the service and did a wonderful job.  We were very proud of him.  The rest of the service as also very nice, including a lot of pictures and stories.  It was a good tribute.

After the service, we headed over to Auntie Jo's house for dinner and to visit.  The kids of course had to take advantage of the pool and hot tub.  Well, more the hot tub since the pool isn't heated yet.

Siena FINALLY had a chance to use her mermaid tail in water.  She has been very into mermaids and is working on a mermaid series for YouTube.  Yaya made her this tail.  Siena's hoping to be able to film some water scenes later this summer at Joanne's pool.  We had to inform her that a funeral wasn't the best occasion for mermaid movie making.  However, she was thrilled enough just to be able to use it in water.

Most of the kids at least braved the cold pool.  Mason took the quick approach of just jumping in quickly...and then making a beeline for the hot tub.

The silver lining to funeral services is getting to visit with family that we don't get to see often.  My cousin Shelley came out from Minneapolis and my cousin Travis was home for a week from college.  We also got to visit with more distant relatives that it seems we only see once in a while anymore.

Those are the highlights of the last few months.  More to come as the spring and summer continue to bring activities for us.

Snowpacolypse 2014

Snow in Oregon is a rare thing.  We may get a dusting once a year or so.  Every few years, we get several inches.  That's when the city shuts down.

This time those several inches came on Thursday.  For me, that's right in the middle of year end reporting at work.  For the kids, it meant school was let out 2 hours early.  We all made it home by the afternoon.  Luis and I worked from home Thursday afternoon and Friday.  With the addition of more snow and an ice treat yesterday, we stayed in like all good Oregonians do, aside from a couple walks and sledding outings.

Mason and Siena were initially unsure about sledding as they haven't done it much.  After one run though, this hill was determined to be too slow.  I however was tired after fighting with the fireplace (pictures to follow) and not up for hoofing it around the neighborhood to find a better hill.  Sorry kids, maybe next time.

The kids had a lot of fun playing regardless.  They spent time on the hill and in our yard over the last few days.

Since it was much warmer than Park City, they could actually spend some quality time out playing.

We spent a lot of quality time indoors too.  Siena painted an amazing picture of Elsa from Frozen!  She is proud.

The kids also made Olaf from Frozen.

And speaking of the fireplace, we are in the process of replacing our monstrosity.  Luis and I had the bright idea that we could save some cash by doing the demo ourselves.  We spent the better part of the morning removing the bricks.  Luis beat it with the ax and Mason and I lugged it out in the snow to the side of the house.  The hood was our undoing.  We hit it, and hit it, and pulled it, and pushed it.  We attacked it with a crowbar.  I climbed up inside the back and whacked it with the ax.  Unfortunately, it's bolted solidly to studs from the inside and we need to get a saw to cut off the brackets.  Due to the weather, that's not happening this weekend.

Must also acknowledge the amazing and incredible...my Seahawks won the Super Bowl last weekend!  Big woot!

Hark the Herald Cruzes Sing!

Another holiday season has come and gone, and it was a good one.  I took a week off of work to spend time with the kids during their Christmas break and after some OCD cleaning and sorting on my part, we mostly relaxed and enjoyed some time at home.

We spent Christmas Eve with the Cruzes.  Mason mohawked his hair in honor of the festive occasion.

Here's Gloria and Jose.

Favorite cousins by the tree.  Tristyn gave Siena a makeover upon arrival so both girls are decked out and ready to go.  Tristyn came to our house a couple nights later for a sleepover and the kids had a great time.  Plus, I got 2 night crawlers instead of 1!

Luis and Mandi!

Siena reading a story to Tristyn.

The cousins - Tristyn, Siena, Kendra, Andre, and Mason.

The cousins with the grandparents!!

Go Mason...Go Mason!!!

Another Santa kid!

The kids managed to sleep in until 6:40 this year before the excitement of presents under the tree became too much to bear.  Here's Mason with his big gift...the Millenium Falcon.  It took him the next 2 days to put it together.

Siena was excited for all her gifts.  She seems most into the video camera Santa brought her.  She's a little producer.

After a great brunch with my parents (and more presents), we went to Auntie Mary Lou's house to celebrate Christmas with the Torland clan.

Boys and their toys - Tyson, Travis, and Mason building stuff.

Mom chatting with my cousin Lindsay.

The kids (and second cousins)!!!  From left, Eddie, Ellia, Siena, Mason, Berren, and Calvin.

Grandma Bessie was feeling good and was an even better sport when she donned the Santa hat and beard.

Mary Lou and Bruce - Bruce was live from Afghanistan where he's stationed for a year serving as a military doctor.  Even though it was 3 AM his time, he called in and talked to everyone.

Mustaches, yeah, that's how we roll.  Even though my husband looks like a certain former dictator...

Johnson crew with 'staches...We were glad to see Shelley and Adam who were in town for just a few days to visit before departing on their honeymoon!

My mom found herself a baby.  That's my cousin Chelsey's son Eddie.  Did I mention my mother LOVES babies?

My awesome cousins - Travis, Amanda, and Shelley.

Picture of Ellia as taken my Siena.

The Cruzes with Grandma Bessie.

It was a wonderful Christmas and New Year and we're happy to ring in 2014.  I'm sure there will be changes afoot but we're happy and excited to see what will come!