To Live and to Love

The Dreaded Project

2011-09-25T21:14:00.000-07:00

Finally!!! The siding on the house is complete! Now we just have to pick a house color. Oh Boy!

Porter Wedding

2011-09-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

At the wedding Aaron and Tara had friends come and take fun photos of us. They had a "Photobooth" set up with all sorts of fun props for us to play with. I had no idea how much time my kids spent at the photobooth until I found these pictures today on the photographers website. How fun is this!?!?

Little Big Kicks with Kaden

2011-09-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

Kaden loves soccer. He likes to go out almost every day and kick the ball around. He is very upset if he doesn't get to go with me to Makayla's practice. We started off this season with Kaden doing SOOO much better than last year in Little Big Kicks. He went out and did everything the coach told him to do until the very end when he decided he was done. However, this last week he did not do well at all and I ended up playing soccer with him and all the little 4 year olds the whole time. Hopefully next week will bring us a new attitude.

Soccer 2011

2011-09-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

I had no idea I would LOVE the soccer season so much. I find myself anxiously awaiting the next practice or game. I think Makayla is having a good time too.

Makayla has blown away my expectations for her first year of playing soccer.

Her first goal kick.

Crazy Hat Day

2011-09-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

It was Crazy Hat Day in preschool today! Kaden wore his monkey hat that Aunt Corinna made him for his birthday. It looked so cute on him.

Kaden's friend Mckenzie. She got to wear her daddy's police hat to school.

This Summer

2011-09-15T11:06:00.001-07:00

A quick view of this summer's events. This last spring we found a great deal on a new-to-us trailer. As soon as we could we started making camping reservations anywhere that was still available.

We started off the camping season with a trip to Cape Lookout. It was typical Oregon Beach weather but we lucked out with only rain at night and pretty comfortable days for playing on the beach.

Our next trip was to Champoeg Park. It seems so silly to camp so close to home but it was really nice to just be away from the hosue and responsibilities and the kids sure had a blast with all the family who were there. We celebrated Mema's birthday and Chelsea's 1st birthday while we were there.

A couple weeks later we went to Winchester Bay and went camping with Sarah and Charlie (Michael's sister and brother-in-law). This was our first ever Sand Dune experience and we had a BLAST!!!! We took our little quads and just played for 4 days on the sand. Huge thanks to Sarah and Charlie for sharing their toys.

Even the little girls had a great time!!

We continued through the summer camping as much as we could. We went to Waterloo, Ft. Stevens, Timothy Lake and Silver Falls.

My "little" brother got married this summer!!! Aaron proposed to Tara in July and at the end of August they said I Do! We spent a good amount of time helping out with the wedding and helping Tara with a Groom's gift. The ceremony was beautiful and the recption was like a huge picnic. It was great and all the hard work was well worth it. I have a bunch of pictures posted on Facebook or photobucket, you should check them out!

We also had some out of town guests this summer which was really fun. We took some time and visited the nearby vineyards and went for some hikes and just enjoyed some time with friends and family we don't get to see very much.

School Web Pages

2011-09-14T18:40:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't blogged for a really long time, it appears that I took the summer off. While trying to help Makayla with her homework I came across these really cool websites. For you homeschooling Mama's out there this should be pretty helpful.

Webpage
www.adaptedmind.com
www.aplusmath.com
www.mathfactcafe.com
www.coolmath4kids.com

iphone Apps
math Puppy
Math02

one more project

2011-09-02T18:15:00.000-07:00

Although we probably should have finished the siding on the house first, Michael and I couldn't help but want to put in a garden this year. So we just started making random raised boxes out in the area we would like to have the garden. Once we would complete a box we would plant something in it.Finally we got some warm weather so that we could enjoy our veggies. Of course Michael and I have yet to taste the cherry tomatoes because the kids eat them too fast.

I have never had bell peppers grow so well! The kids actually like them too. Makayla has been taking sliced peppers in her lunch to school.

Fruits of our labor. Lemon cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, zuchini, hot peppers

Eggs!

2011-08-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Chickens earn their keep! On August 18th we found our first egg! It was an exciting moment. Soon after we were getting 2 a day and now we are getting 4 a day. Not always the same color or size so we really have no idea who is laying what but I am more than happy to have this endless supply of eggs in the fridg.

Makayla's 7

2011-07-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

Tea for a Princess.

Makayla was positive she wanted a Tea Party for her 7th birthday but she was also positive she wanted a Tangled party. So we gave her the best of both worlds. She had a Tea party with a Repunzal cake. We had some of the most well mannered little girls over for a great time.

Happy 1st Birthday Chelsea

2011-06-09T11:22:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to You!!

Let me help you with that cake Chelsea. . . .

Who me? What do you mean I am a mess?

Party's over! Time for clean up!

Bathing Beauties!

Butt Scootin`

2011-04-24T03:40:00.000-07:00

I can't say I have ever had this problem before! Usually a kid wears a hole in their knees during the crawling stage of life. . . . well Myla has been one to break the mold right from the start.

YES! This would be the BUTT of her pants!

Easter Garden

2011-04-20T21:53:00.000-07:00

Kaden tells the story.

I can't figure this thing out but I have been trying to link a youtube video to this post and can't seem to get it to work unless you click on the title of this post. . . . so, click on "Easter Garden" to hear Kaden tell the story of Easter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxkFl4caqNU

More Fun on the Farm

2011-04-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

As you will see by these next few pictures we have a lot of brush on our property. We were at a point where we weren't sure what to do but we knew we wanted/needed to get some of the property cleared out. This section below Kaden (in the following picture) needs to have some trees planted in it so we can stay in the Timber Tax Deferral and the rest of the property. . . ok, maybe not all of it, just needs some clearing and hopefully some field grass or something will pop up. Here's for wishful thinking. :o)

So we decided about a couple weeks ago that we are going to get some goats. We have been thinking about it for a while and the kids would LOVE some "farm animals" but we just weren't sure about adding more to the "farm" that would need care when we aren't home. After much research and talking with other goat owners we decided it was our best option to get the job done. We went last week and picked out 3 baby goats that will come to live with us the end of May. They don't have names yet but their pictures are below.

What should we call them? They are all boys. . . . .

Spring House Progress

2011-04-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

I love spring at our house. Flowers that I don't even know the names of are blooming. My kids bring me boquets almost every afternoon and Makayla has to give the bus driver a daffodil almost every morning.

It has been a long time since I have posted any house progress and that's because there doesn't seem to be much to see. The office/spare room is done accept for a built in cabinet we would like to do. The downstairs bath is complete, although we will probably add a built in vanity at some point just to allow for storage and more counter space. The deck is finished and we LOVE IT. It is so nice to have that extra space off the main floor. The view is nice and I can't wait for some warmer mornings to go out and have breakfast on the deck. The laundry/mudroom still needs be be finished although it is functional it just isn't pretty. I would like to have a built in bench coat rack area for the kids to hang their stuff and a place for their shoes. . . you know like Pottery Barn type I am sure you have seen them before. Michael is going to build this for me when he finally get's his wood shop set up. Then we need to do some new flooring and are going to do a full pantry in there with some cabinets over the washer and dryer and possibly upgrade the existing utility sink to a built in type. I am anxious for the finished product but we have so many projects around here that we just are trying to decide what needs to be done first. That being said, the master bath has been put on the back burner. As much as I would love to have it done and enjoy a nice soak in my tub that sits without a faucet hooked up to it. . . . . I guess it will have to wait. My poor husband can only do so much on his days off. He has been such a great husband and father and has been doing his best to balance his time between projects and family to make sure that the projects don't take over his life. When we bought our house we both said, "we have YEARS to do all these projects around here". Problem is that we both get such satisfaction out of it being done that we don't know how NOT to work on a project.

The backyard and looking up to the deck. The grass is coming in!!

We are so excited to have grass and not mud in our yard! It is still pretty thin but we didn't get it planted until the end of September and didn't have much warm weather left for it to really take off so we are pleased with the progress.

The Coop

2011-04-12T15:46:00.000-07:00

As if Michael had nothing better to do, his latest project is all for me and the kids. Because we wanted some chickens he is building us a chicken coop.

Daddy's Helper

Almost done, then the girls can move in! Of course they are still way too young to just be put outside but we will move them to the top part of the coop with the heat lamp and we will keep them in the garage until they are big enough to face the great outdoors.

More Chick Pics

2011-04-10T18:02:00.000-07:00

Chicky Babe

2011-04-10T16:01:00.000-07:00

First addition to the "Farm". We got some chicks the other day. The kids are having a blast with them. Hopefully they get as much love and affection when the go out to their coop. They are still so little that they are inside for now. .. . . but if you have ever been around chickens you know that it is not going to smell too great in the house for much longer so out they will go. They sure are cute!!

My Baby's 1!

2011-04-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

I know that mom's keep saying this but reality is we truely say this with complete disbelief that time can go by so fast. . . . so here it is, "Where has the time gone?!"

Sweet Myla "Smyla" turned 1 year old today. We had a great 1st birthday party yesterday surrounded with family and friends. She got some really cool stuff and did a great job opening her own gifts. She is a master at cake eating and knew just what to do with it!

Fabulous Family Fun

2011-03-26T23:00:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time on our family vacation! We took almost 2 weeks over Spring Break and headed to Florida. We spent a few days with Aunt Rosie in Naples and then headed to Orlando to enjoy a week of Disney fun. In Naples we spent most of our days going to different beaches. On our last day with Rosie we went to the Everglades and saw a lot of alligators "In the Wild". It was really cool and the kids were really good at spotting them along side the road on our drive home. We had Such a good time and took so many pictures that it was hard to pick our favorites but here is a taste of our trip.

A Break from the Rain

2011-01-18T17:23:00.000-08:00

We got a break from the rain yesterday and it happened to be 60 degrees too. . . .we had cousins, Zach, Madalyn and Quinn over for the day so we decided to take an afternoon hike around the property. Michael and Makayla had found a waterfall on the neighbors property last year so they wanted to show all of us where it was. On our way we found several interesting things. These were our finds. (BTW - the kids were VERY excited about ALL the finds)

We found a skull, we think it is an Elk. . . a cow. And we also found some coyote poop which was more exciting than you would think.

We have no idea what these bones are. They were not too far from the skull so it could be part of the same animal.

It's Booked!! Wahoo!

2011-01-18T16:57:00.000-08:00

After a long day on the computer and phone trying to get our timeshare to line up with our free air miles we FINALLY booked our next family vacation!! Now we are really excited! Kaden knows where we are going but Makayla has no idea yet. And it is just 2 short months away! It is going to be crazy and busy but we are still going to go have a great time. It's so hard when you kids are in school to take a vacation when the rest of the world isn't on vacation but I guess that's how it goes. So for Spring Break this year we are going to WALT DISNEYWORLD!!!

This is a picture of one of the pools at the Hotel/Condo

Shutterfly Promotion!

2010-11-29T09:53:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't like free stuff? My friend Becky has been on top of all the good deals this year and here is the latest. She stumbled upon a promotion that Shutterfly is offering bloggers right now. They have an amazing line of Christmas Cards and for telling you about them, I get 50 free cards! There are some really cute layouts and many that you can use more than one photo which I personally love! I can't wait to get started but first I have to find some good pictures to use! I keep trying to get that "perfect" family photo but it is really hard with 3 kids and self photography just doesn't cut it. But I will keep trying!

Here is where you can go for more information:

· Holiday photo cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery
· Christmas photo cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards
· Christmas cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

You can get your own free photo cards by going here: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Road to Home

2010-11-13T14:07:00.001-08:00

On the road again. We left Reno this morning after a day of fun in the pool and a night at Circus Circus. The kids had a great time and this may become our stop between Saline and home from now on. So we left about 10AM and hope to be home shortly after 7PM.
We'll post pictures once we are unpacked and settled.

Annual Saline Trip 2010

2010-11-11T15:46:00.000-08:00

Where to begin. . . .

We have a trip that we look forward to every year from the time we get back home we can't wait to go again. This year with everything going on we have really been looking forward to our escape from reality!!

So this is how it all started, we were going to head off on our annual trip to Saline Valley last Friday (Nov. 5) and that morning we discovered that our truck needed a new radiator, this after $11,000 worth of work we had just put into the truck last month, thankfully most of it being covered under warranty. This time it wasn't covered and cost just as much as we tend to spend on this trip. So after waiting most of the day for the truck to be fixed and wondering if we should still go, at 6:40PM we were finally off. We knew we wouldn't be able to get as far as we usually do but we wanted to at least be on the road. It only took about 500 miles for me to have faith in the truck to actually make it there, or maybe it was all to the springs. Getting such a late start made for a very long second day on the road but we managed. The kids did great traveling.
We came into Saline at night and it was windy and a little bit chilly so the kids and I hid in Josh and Jodi's Sportsmobile while the guys set up camp for us. The whole time I am thinking what in the world did we just do. We put 3 kids in the car and traveled 16 hours to camp in the middle of no where!!!! Now were here and it is colder than usual for this time of year and it was windy.

Day 2 ~ I got up in the morning (way too early) and after feeding Myla I headed down to the shower/tubs, it was then that I had that feeling of bliss! I just stood there looking at my surroundings and being so thankful that we had made it safely to this amazing place and that I am able to share this wonder with my kids.

Without giving ever detail of our trip I will just have to say that we had some great moments and the kids had a blast in the tubs and made sure that they got to "try" all of them. We got to do a little bit of hiking and of course some rock hunting but the weather did not cooperate this year. We had cold and windy weather pretty much every day of the trip. We actually had two nights where we couldn't do anything but hide in our tent from the wind. It was HORRIBLE! What do you do with 3 kids when you can't even sit around the campfire cause it is too windy to even have one??? On Wednesday the weather looked promising, the kids and I got in shorts and headed down to enjoy our time at the tubs and hang out on the grass playing games, etc. within the 1 1/2 -2 hours that we were away from camp the wind picked up, the clouds blew in and that was it. It was so windy that we couldn't even stand to be in the tent and again we invaded J&J's Sportsmobile. Michael and I were actually starting to pack the truck to leave that night. We had had enough!!! We didn't get to do anything we had promised the kids, no good hikes, no sand dunes. . . we felt horrible but really couldn't even fatham the thought of spending another night of no sleep in a tent blown by the wind. Makayla was in tears cause she didn't want to leave, Kaden was in tears cause he just wanted to be home. . . Mom is almost in tears because of the whole situation!! Dad is at a loss, not sure what to do. . . .

We ended up staying the night, we made beds in the back of the truck and all 5 of us slept in the truck, which was great until our air mattress popped in the middle of the night!!! Seriously!! When we got up the next morning and it was still windy we decided we were out of there. Actually, our whole group of people were on the same page in this decision. So we packed up and just as we were loading the final things I went to open the truck and realized that while trying to keep the kids happy while we were packing we allowed them to be in the truck, well, Kaden had locked the doors. . . . and the keys were inside. Now mom is seriously in tears. Thankfully, Jeff came to the rescue and the front passenger door wasn't all the way shut so he and Michael were able to stick a metal rod down and eventually hit the unlock button to get it unlocked. AAAHHHHH! I don't know if you understand the severity of this situation but we are seriously in the middle of nowhere and both sets of keys were locked in the truck. So what else could go wrong, well THEN we were all loaded up kids in their seats and . . . . the truck wouldn't start!!!!! Dead battery. My husband does pack/plan for every situation so we were able to swap out the battery and finally we were on our way home.

I am telling you this story as I sit in a hotel in Reno. We felt so bad ending our trip so short that we are going to stay here and do some fun things with the kids. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a hotel with a pool that is open this time of year?? We finally found one so we took the kids swimming and now I am just trying to relax while everyone else naps. Oh! and while Michael tries to find his cell phone that is somehow lost!!

Lord please get us home safe with no more hickups! May the next family VACATION have a better story to tell.

6 months

2010-10-19T13:31:00.000-07:00

Myla had her 6 month check up this morning. She is 15.5lbs, only 30% for weight and 45% for height. We however think she is pretty perfect.

At 6 months she is eating solids like rice cereal, carrots, peas, peaches, pears, sweet potatos, etc. I think she is pretty close to being ready to eat what we have for dinner, pureed of course. She has NO teeth. Can sit and play all by herself, and will do so for a very long time perfectly happy. She HATES to be on her tummy so I am not sure when she will ever crawl, but she doesn't care one bit about being mobile. If you put her on her tummy she immediately rolls to her back. She loves her big brother and sister and loves to just sit and watch them. She is SO happy! She smiles at everyone she meets.

Little Big Kicks

2010-09-26T22:45:00.000-07:00

Kaden has started his first year of soccer. Unfortunately, mom and dad want him to play more than he does. He is so shy and unsure of the unknown. He was so excited to go to soccer and talked about it for weeks but when it came time to leave mom on the sidelines he was ready to go home. So Makayla and I took turns helping him out on the field so that he would actually play. Week 2 went a little better and he says he likes to play soccer but this time he wouldn't let dad leave his sight. Any suggestions on how to get this little guy out of his "bubble", I'll take them!!

We couldn't even talk Makayla into playing this year which really stinks. She is afraid she wouldn't know anyone on the team. Yep! That's right she is miss social!! However, when she is out there with Kaden she really wants to play. I have to keep reminding her that she can't be on his team and that she needs to stay off the field. lol I am hoping that I can at least talk her into Softball..

Kids at Play

2010-09-21T23:17:00.000-07:00

The other day I was in Myla's room doing some laundry and all three kids were in Kaden's room playing. I didn't think I was gone that long, seriously how long can one basket of laundry take, but this is what I walked into when I came back. . . . and by that I mean I was seriously only 6 feet away. :o)

I have no idea how she got that out of the package, let alone on her leg. She sure was proud of herself though.

Little People have taken over!! The kids had a complete "village" set up, you are only looking at half of it. It stayed like this for several days and as soon as Makayla would get home from school they would go up and pick up right where they had left off.

Back to School

2010-09-08T22:36:00.000-07:00

Welcome to First Grade. Makayla is so grown up! She started 1st grade this year and is now in school all day. This hasn't just been an adjustment for her but for the whole family. The first week was so weird to not have her here all day. Kaden misses his big sister but does really well with it. I think he has realized he gets a bit more attention while she is away, but he can't wait to play with her when she gets home. He always wants to take her to the bus in the morning and meet her there in the afternoon to walk her down the driveway.

The First Tooth

2010-09-07T22:28:00.000-07:00

While Makayla was camping with her Mema and Papa at Silver Creek Falls over Labor Day weekend she lost her 1st tooth. I have to admit I was a little bummed that it happened while she was away. I would have loved to see her reaction, but she was just as excited to tell me all about it when she came home. The Tooth Fairy came to visit the campground and left her $5!!

Sunflower Days

2010-08-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

I was headed to the mall the other day on the back roads and noticed that "Grandmas" Sunflowers were in full bloom. If I didn't have somewhere to be I would have pulled over and taken pictures of the kids, I only had Kaden and Myla with me but it was so beautiful! Well as it turns out we ended up in that part of town at the end of the day and I had picked up Makayla from her Mema's house so I took them to the fields for some photos. The flowers were amazing!! I know I had more fun than the kids, but they were good sports for mom. However, when I got home I realized my pictures didn't all turn out as I had hoped, so I tortured my husband too and made him go again with us so I could get some more pics. Now I am perfectly pleased! :o) These are just a FEW. ha ha.

Sweet Myla. . . . . she is so stinkin cute!

Berry Pickers

2010-07-24T23:59:00.000-07:00

We went berry picking the other day! We really had a good time and hope to go back before the season is over. We made lots of jam and a really yummy pie.

Lets just say that Makayla will not make a career out of berry picking! Maybe as a manager. . . she was more worried about who had how much in their bucket than she was actually picking the berries.

Kaden was really good at it. He did a great job with only picking the ones that were ready, and really didn't eat too many which suprised us all. Now if they had been strawberries we may not have left with any in our bucket.

Myla has got to be the happiest baby ever. She is just along for the ride but cooing and talking the whole time with a smile on her face. She is so SWEET!!

A Day at the Beach

2010-07-24T18:25:00.000-07:00

A lot of pictures for one post I know, but we had a good time and wanted to share. :o)
On Saturday since it was going to be mid 90's at home we decided to head to the beach with the "Doty" family. Michael was at work so it was just the kids and I joining the group. Lets just say it was not too hot at the beach!! Sunny! But windy and about 60 degrees. . . . .

Isabella and Myla

Annika, Bria, Kaden and Makayla

Kaden, Makayla, Annika and Bria

Kaden hangin' with Papa Lynn

A boy and his dog. .. . .

What goes up, must also come down. . . . and this is how you do it.

Another House Update

2010-07-13T21:32:00.000-07:00

I know I have been promising to get new pictures on here but we have really been busy and I haven't spent much time on the computer. So rather than a post for each project we have been working on I am just going to post some pictures of the updates on the remodel.

I don't know if you remember what the front of the house used to look like but the backfill had never been done even after originally construction. Michael used this guys dump trailer and I think about 10 or 15 loads of dirt later we have finally brought up enough dirt from the backyard to create a yard in the front of the house. We are really excited to get the sprinklers in so that we can plant grass. We got a little anxious and already planted some flowers but they should be fine, Michael can work around them when he does the sprinklers and when we do the rest of the yard.

At this point it seems that when Michael finds a good deal on Craigslist that is what project gets done next. So last week that ended up being decking. So. . . now we have a deck out the back. It is SO nice!!! We have used it literally every day since he built it.

We are finally done with the living room, all the sheetrock work is done, lights have been put in, speakers, and now CARPET! Yeah!! We love it, the kids think it is now their "wrestling" room. The office/guest room is also done now. Well, construction finished anyway, I still have to figure out what I want to do in there.

And now we are working on finishing up the downstairs bathroom. Michael is almost done with the tile and then we can put it back together. Then his next project is the entry way, we are going to re-tile it too. He already has everything torn out we just need to lay the new flooring.

Frustrating Photo Shoot

2010-06-29T23:19:00.000-07:00

Why is it so hard to get a good picture?!?!? I wish you could just sit the kids where you wanted them and say ok, smile. . . snap 1 shot and you were done. Ha Ha Ha! I gave it my best to get a good picture of the kids today but left frustrated and without the picture I really wanted.

Front Porch

2010-06-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how things are finally coming together. It is chaos here but it is so nice to see things taking shape. We extended our front porch when we did the remodel. We had the whole roof line brought out and expanded it both length and width wise. We had the same crew that did the garage come out and do the porch. We decided to do exposed aggregate so they did most the work but then left the pressure washing, to expose the aggregate, to Michael. It was pretty neat to see how it all worked.

Sheetrock!!

2010-06-18T21:53:00.001-07:00

So this first picture is looking into our Master Bath from our bedroom. Straight ahead is our closet, turn left to go towards tub, shower, and toilete.

The sinks go here. . . next to the bath.

***Basement***
Here it is, Michael actually framed in a "little house" in the playroom in the basement. Complete with a window and seperate bedroom. Ha Ha!! Don't you love it. It will have a ladder which goes to the "upstairs" loft. Can't wait to see it all finished.

Cousins - Doty side

2010-06-17T17:35:00.000-07:00

Nap Time

2010-06-14T11:55:00.000-07:00

Usually it is a fight to put Kaden down for a nap . . . but this last week he has been falling asleep in the funniest places.

The Guts

2010-06-13T22:26:00.000-07:00

Michael has been working sun up to sun down to get this project done. We are finally to the point of sheetrock but there are so many little things he had to do first that I think he feels like a dog chasing his tail. He did all the framing, plumbing, electrical, duct work, . . . and everything else I am not thinking of right now! The sheetrockers showed up last Friday to get started on our job so Michael has been trying to stay one step ahead of them the whole way, they will be here again tomorrow so he is sure to come straight home from work and get going on making sure he is prepared for their next task.

Master bath, the big blank wall is where the vanity will go.

The corner of the tub, space where walk in tile shower will be and then on the other side of the wall will be the walk in closet.

The left wall is the walk in closet and the the space straight ahead will be a linen closet.

**Downstairs**

This is looking into the bathroom and office room. We bumped both out 5 feet so that we could use the office as a spare room if need be. . . but really it is going to be a nice craft room for ME and I guess I will share some office space with Michael. :o) We bumped out the bath too so that we could have a full bath downstairs. This would work nice when we have company so that they can have a room and bath all on the main level, but also will be nice to clean up kids at the end of the day.
The office.

-------------------

**Downstairs (The basement)**

The basement was completely unfinished when we bought the house, we plan to leave it that way for a while. . . . . but. . .. since contractors are needing the work, you can't really pass up having them do more than you originally anticipated. So we decided to at least have them finish the sheetrock down there and they will also prime and texture. . .. So, Michael went to town framing a "special room" for the kids.

Yeah! A garage floor

2010-06-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

Wasn't really in the plan but we now have a garage floor. I just have to laugh at the way things get done with this whole remodel project. We are full speed ahead with the inside stuff and then one day this guy comes out to bid for the garage floor and front porch. His price was unbeatable and then he calls that afternoon and says, "I'll be there tomorrow at 7 to do the garage". Yikes! We have to clean out the stuff that has accumulated over the last month or so and get ready for him, meanwhile Michael is trying to get the rest of the house ready for the sheetrock guys who were coming as well. Talk about putting the pressure on yourself.

The floor came out beautiful and we can't wait for them to come do the porch, but we had to put that off for just a bit longer while we finish the sheetrock project. ;o)

WOW 2 Months already?!

2010-06-03T19:51:00.000-07:00

How is it possible that my little red head is 2 months old already?? I know since the day we had Makayla I couldn't believe how fast time could go then along came Kaden and time just seemed to go faster, but somehow I am still in awe every day at how fast your kids can change and grow up. Myla is such a perfect fit into our family. She is such a happy baby and her smile can just melt your heart. I thought my life was pretty full with the two kids I already had, and to be quite honest the third was really not my idea. The love I have for this little girl is amazing. Every day I just look at her and can't believe how I can be so in love with this precious gift we have been given.

Myla Nicole Doty

2 months

10.5 lbs *** 22"

On Two Wheels

2010-06-01T19:14:00.000-07:00

Just in time for summer Makayla gets on two wheels. She decided one day that she was ready to take off the training wheels and so we did. She rode around our driveway for a while, on the gravel and then we took her down to the waterfront in Portland and away she went. She was so excited!! We can't get her to stop now. Anytime the sun is shining she wants to go somewhere to ride her bike.
Makayla is so confident in herself that on Monday afternoon she took her first big spill. We have a trail not too far from our house that I take her to. It has a couple big hills and she was having so much fun flying down the hill that she forgot to turn for the corner at the bottom of the hill. She flew off the side and landed in the creek. She scratched her face and chest but was otherwise ok.

Remodel Update

2010-05-12T14:25:00.001-07:00

I can't even remember the last time I did a post about our house remodel/addition. .. . .

Right now it feels like we are at a stand still but that's because you can't see any of the handywork being done. The outside is all framed, sheeted, the roof is on, windows are in and we are waiting for the framing inspection before we can go any further. Inside Michael has it all framed, plumbing was completed yesterday and he is wrapping up on the electrical. Once he is done with the electrical and we have our framing inspection things will start moving again. Or at least I hope they do. :o) The weather is turning more spring/summer like so it is going to be hard to keep Michael inside working on things. I would really like to get to a point where we are done accept painting and floor coverings before that happens. Problem is the biggest help I can be to him at this point is watching the kids.

2 week portriats

2010-04-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival

2010-04-12T16:28:00.000-07:00

Every year we try to make it down to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn. The flowers are so beautiful and there are many "Photo Ops". We were crazy enough to go with everyone else on the weekend but it was still a really good time. Sarah and Tim decided it was a good idea too so we meet up with them for a little bit and got some pictures.

Life With Myla

2010-04-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

Myla's first week at home.

Such a great big sister!! She loves her new sweet Myla.

Michael gets to help out with feedings right from the start. We ended up staying an extra day in the hospital cause Myla had lost too much weight to send us home. We had to start supplimenting, which means finger feeding time for dad. I think he actually enjoyed it even though it meant he had to just sit still on the couch for an extended amount of time. ~smile!~

Kaden gave Myla her first bath at home. She absolutely LOVES her bath time!

Grandma Jo and Grandpa Bob are here from New Mexico to help out with Mom and Dad's care. They haven't had a good chance to see Myla cause they have both been sick. Last Friday we stopped by my parents to say hi and Grandma was finally feeling well enough to meet and hold little Myla. Grandpa is still getting better, but hopefully soon he will be able to spend time with her too. This is Myla's Great-Grandma Jo.

Myla Nicole

2010-04-05T20:35:00.000-07:00

Our new little bundle.

What a little blessing. It has been a rough road the last couple days. Sunday I was so sick from the Magnesium that Myla suffered from it too. I wasn't able to keep anything down so we both had a diet of Mag and IV fluids for almost an entire day. I kept asking the nurses if that was going to be a problem for Myla and they didn't seem to think so, they though my milk should still come in and she would be fine. . . . . well today we found out different. When they went to do her checkup before releasing us today they found that she had lost too much weight to leave. So, long story (day) short, they decided to release me but keep her for one more night. I am able to stay with her so that I can keep nursing and working on my milk supply. We worked all day on nursing her EVERY time she wanted to suck and finally this evening we started to supplement with a tube while nursing. Finally after almost two days she got a good nap and was content!! Thank God! I think I have literally had 6 hours of sleep in the last two days so I am so thankful that they decided to keep her and to have help making her happy and giving her a full tummy. In the next 24 hours we should be in a lot better shape and then able to go home. It will be nice to finally be home as a family. Meanwhile I just continue to fall in love with this precious little girl.

Our Newest addition

2010-04-03T19:52:00.000-07:00

The day has finally come. After our Doctor's appointment yesterday, the Doctor decided that it was time to induce labor. My BP was a little high and I have been feeling uncomfortable for the past week. We had the option to have the baby last night, but thought it might be nice to have a good night sleep and give the kids a chance to dye Easter eggs. Michael's parents graciously offered to take the kids for the weekend. Our induction was scheduled for 0830 this morning, but I didn't actually get the pit until 10:00. The delivery experience was great and the staff a here at the hospital has been great......well so much for that post, it has been saved has a draft for almost a day. Last night I ended up with post eclampsia, basically pre eclampsia that happens after labor. I felt fine most of the day, but about 800 I started having a sharp pains in my side and felt like I was in labor again. The pain was worse then the labor I had with Kaden. I couldn't keep anything down and it was almost 600 in the morning before I finally got some sleep. They ended up putting me on Mag drip to lower my BP, but the side affects are horrible. I have double vision, nausea, vomiting, headache, jello legs, heart burn have to pee every hour and the list goes on. Sorry I have not been able to post any pictures or keep anyone informed, but I after what seemed to be like any easy delivery and a day full of visitors, everything went for the worse.

Mom Daughter Day

2010-04-01T17:36:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago I decided I needed a day of being pampered. Michael was working a double and Kaden went to the beach with Mema and Papa so Makayla and I just did girl stuff all day. We started off with meeting Aunt Sarah and Katrina to get our feet done.

Katrina wasn't sure what to think of this.

We ended the day with ice cream for dinner.

A Bittersweet Goodbye

2010-03-28T21:55:00.000-07:00

Saying goodbye to a long time friend is so hard to do. . . . .

Michael decided a couple weeks ago that it was finally time to part with the trusty ol' Toyota. It has taken him a while to get used to his new big truck and he has such a bond with the Tacoma that if he had his way he would have both. But truth is that it just doesn't meet the needs of the family, so on Saturday he sold his truck.

The Journey Continues

2010-03-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

Dad's appointment went really well yesterday. Dr. Neuwalt was all smiles and said it was the best outcome for a tumor like this!

A 30 person brain tumor panel, which included all his doctors, reviewed his case and all came to the same conclusion. The tumor is called an Anaplastic oligodendroglioma grade 3. It is a primary brain tumor which means it started in the brain and has not, nor will not, spread from nor to other parts of the body. Anaplastic means it is very aggressive and the possibility of reoccurrence is likely. In this type of aggresive tumor you can never get rid of it all. It is highly receptive to chemotherapy so he will be started in a couple of weeks on it, in the form of a pill. Side effects will be minimal if his body tolerates it as they antisipate. Follow up will be intensive with an MRI at the hospital followed by a clinic visit every 3 months. The study he is involved with has a follow up of at least 6 times this year starting on April 8th and 9th. The future is unknown at this point as the tumor will return, Dr. Neuwelt is hoping for 5 years. But at least we will be one step ahead of it the whole time.

This first picture is the Brain Tumor. The big white area on the top left side. . . . .

This is the brain after the tumor was removed. They said it was about the size of a tennis ball.

House Progress

2010-03-14T11:55:00.001-07:00

I sat here for a few minutes trying to think of the right way to start this post. . . I am not really sure what to say.

The funny thing is that I started to get a little nervous at this point. (picture above) Nick and Byron came over and helped Michael rip everything off the outside of the house down to the insulation, then they covered it up with this black plastic to keep the weather out. Here I was worried about what might happen if it rained, little did I know what was ahead on this adventure.

Then the next time Byron came over they ripped the roof off!!! I told him he wasn't allowed to come over anymore if he was going to keep tearing my house apart.

Literally camping in our house. A remodel in Feb/March may not have been the wisest thing we have done. We really wanted to get it done before the baby came and actually wanted to start in January but with one thing after another pushing it back. .. . . .well here we are. Michael had taken the day part of his shift off so that he could get demo done and be prepared for the framers to come the next day, unfortunately the part that needed to be done was more of the roof and the wall to our bathroom upstairs. And then the rain came!!! I had to go out every few hours of the night and make sure water wasn't pooling in the tarps cause it would have gone right down into the living room. At least I am up every few hours running to the bathroom anyway.

OOPS! That beam was not suppose to go through the ceiling!

Michael and Byron built these fake walls and put them up in the living room so that we could save the sheet rock while the ripped the roof off. . . . well the walls did a great job! The beam however . . . . .

Finally we start to see progress. We were hoping to get the office/bathroom area done first but the weather was not cooperating. We couldn't take the tarp off cause of the rain so they couldn't do a whole lot over on that side of the house. But the garage started to take shape.

Monday (3-15) we finally got some nice weather to be working in. It was partly sunny but it was 64 degrees which made it a good day to have your house torn apart. The framers, Byron and Michael got to work early and did as much as they possibly could to the office/bathroom part of this project. Which included knocking out two more walls to the outside of the house.

Here the entry closet has been torn out and you are looking through what used to be a bathroom and then into the office and right outside.

Jonah came up to help Michael on his day off on Friday and they sheeted the garage. It was COLD and wet but they did a great job!

Michael, Byron and the framers made some really good progress on Monday. We were (or shall I say, THEY were) trying to beat the rain again since it was suppose to rain Tuesday. They got the walls up and the trusses but ran out of time to sheet it so the tarp went right back over the top.

Where do I fit in?

2010-03-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

Babies are truely a miracle! And it's a good thing too cause with everything else that is going on right now this poor baby has been put on . . . well is it rude to say "the back burner". It is a good thing that it is so protected and safe on the inside at this point!!

Michael and I had started a remodel project on our house literally 1-2 weeks before dad had his siezures and it has been crazy around here! We are in the middle of having a room expanded, garage added on, deck put on the back and front porch extended. . . . we literally have not had a roof over our bathroom, office, or half of the living room for a week now. And did it mention it has been raining buckets! Nothing like feeling like you are "Oregon" camping in your own house!

Michael has been working around the clock between his real job and the house and I can't believe still has enough energy to come in at the end of the day and help clean up after dinner and put the kids to bed. It was our initial goal to have this project (at least the guestroom/office and downstairs bath) near completion before the baby came, but obvious things have altered our plan a bit.

There is just so much going on around here that I can't hardly even get myself to think about what the baby needs, or how I would like to decorate the nursery, or even to pick a baby name. . . Yep we have NO BABY NAME!!! The weirdest part is I am not stressed about it. I know as long as I can feed this baby and it has diapers and a place to sleep it will be just fine even with everything that is going on around us. It will be loved and cared for and what ever else we may think we need is just extra. Well, accept the name part! So we have just 2 weeks from today to D-Day, my highest hopes are to at least have a name picked out by then.

Ok, maybe I do look a little stressed. . . .

Raw Talent

2010-03-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

Kaden has discovered how talented he really is.

Neither Michael or I can roll our tongue so I am not sure where he came up with this, but it is pretty funny to watch him. I'll have to work on getting a better picture. . . .

Road to Recovery

2010-03-14T10:22:00.001-07:00

So much has happened in the last week it is hard to remember everything. But in short, Dad is on the road to recovery. We were told not to focus on what the next course of treatment is but to just focus on his healing at this point. However, a team of doctors met last Friday to discuss what his next course of treatment will be. He has 3 appointments here in the next 10 days so we are just waiting to see what's next.

Kaden helped Nana give Papa a bath.

The kids and I have been going over at least every other day just to hang out with mom and dad and to make sure they are doing ok. Helping with daycare, taking dad to the Dr., and making sure they have dinner. But mostly just being there for company and support. In the evenings we have been playing Dr./nurse. We make sure that he gets his meds before we leave in the evening and that the next 2-3 doses are set out and times noted so that mom doesn't have to think too much about it in the middle of the night. We set the alarm to wake her up and she already has everything ready to give to him. I think it has worked out pretty well. I have even been giving my dad shots in the evenings for the blood clot treatments. Never thought I had that in me. >smile<

Dad has really been in great spirits and loves having the kids around him. Last night I just hung out in the living room and the kids were in bed with Papa watching a movie. . . . really a nice break for me too. As long as we have been keeping up on his pain meds he seems to be doing ok. His hips and tailbone are very sore from being in bed for so many days so it will be nice when he can start getting up and around more, but he is doing a pretty good job of taking it easy.

Waiting

2010-03-06T11:27:00.001-08:00

We are sitting and waiting at the hospital. It has been a whirlwind of a few days here. At what we thought was just a Dr. appointment for dad on Thursday our lives were drastically changed. We were informed that what the Dr. at Meridian Park thought was swelling around the tumor, the oncologist at OHSU thinks is actually part of the tumor, and therefore, he thinks it may be malignant. Dad was admitted to OHSU with surgery to follow on Saturday. . . . .which is today. Because of the location of the tumor they feel it should be an easy surgery, all considered. It is scheduled to take about 6 hours. The tumor is on the front part of the brain and is on the outside, they said that the area of the brain that would be affected is the mood, comprenhension part. They feel they should be able to remove the whole tumor without any problems, but we are releaved to know that this will not affect motor skills etc.

We were all up bright and early to be here with dad and to say "I Love You's" before he headed into surgery. Surgery got bumped from 7:30AM to 10:00 which has turned into 11:00AM. The whole family is here in the Surgery waiting area. My grandparents Jim and Betty, Aunt Jo (Dad's sister), and Uncle Denny (Dad's brother) all came up from California to be here so we are visiting while we wait.

Dad's (Dave) Medical Journey

2010-03-02T12:46:00.000-08:00

Letter from Mom:

David woke me up at 3:00 am Saturday (2-20) morning with a grand mal seizure. I called 911, they arrived very quickly, and we were on our way to the hospital. After a CT scan and an MRI the neurosurgeon, Dr. Lupu, saw a tumor with a small cyst and quite a bit of mass around it. He determined that what they thought had been a stroke in 2000, that caused David to have 3 seizures then, was actually the beginning of this tumor growth. The mass around it was swelling that put pressure on the brain that caused the seizure. They put him on anti-inflammatory in the form of Prednisone and anti-seizure med Dilantin. He said there was no need for him to have to wait in the hospital so we were home that afternoon.

The neurologist said because of the slow growth (10 years) that he was pretty certain it is benign but a biopsy is needed to determine that and what course of action to take. It is on the frontal lobe and on the surface of the brain so he doesn't think it is invasive. We had a post hospital follow-up appointment on Thursday (2-25) with the neurosurgeon. They needed to take blood and make sure he is on the correct dose of meds, check mobility, etc. They called this morning and the meds are correct if not on the low side. He finishes the Prednisone today. He will see the neuro-oncologist up at OHSU next Thursday (3-4) at 1:00. They will set a date for the biopsy as a neurosurgeon needs to work with the oncologist to do that procedure which Dr. Lupu says is a major surgery in itself. David is not real fond of the thought of them drilling into his head. Resting on the outcome of the quick biopsy they may remove the tumor at that time. If not then he will be scheduled for whatever treatment is deemed necessary.

David is in good spirits trying to keep me in line. The meds make him dizzy, a bit slow, and very tired so he will stay home from work until at least after he sees the oncologist. What really bums him out is that he cannot drive, because of the seizure, for 6 months. :~( We are fortunate to have a co-worker of his that brings her daughter to me for childcare that will be able to give him rides to work when he does go back. His short-term disability will kick in on Monday so we are covered well in that area.

We are blessed to have our wonderful kids live close by and they are on top of our every need. Becca met the ambulance at the hospital with both of us in it ( I had a severe anxiety attack so they wouldn't let me drive) . . . Jason shortly after and Sarah came that afternoon. Aaron was on a fishing trip but his girlfriend Tara was there in his absence. They all came home with us and then Becca made dinner and she and the kids spent the night. Michael arrived from work the next morning and made a "healthy" breakfast. We then went to their house to watch him excavate their yard and enjoy the beautiful weather we were having. Aaron came home that evening and has been here every night after work. They are all rallying to help with the childcare kids and doctors appointments. God is so good in our every being and he knew what he was doing when he declared family!

We cherish all your love and prayers.
We will keep you informed as we proceed on this unexpected journey in our life!

Love,
Dave and Daryl

35 Weeks

2010-02-25T15:41:00.000-08:00

My Little Honeydew

Heaven Sent Contractor

2010-02-19T14:30:00.000-08:00

Have you ever hired someone to do a job for you that just continued to go so far above and beyond what you asked them to do that you aren't even sure how to truly thank them??
We have that guy working for us!! Richard showed up this morning to do the push out for the garage addition and decided that even though he knows there is no more money in the budget for his time, but that since he was already here for the day he would just continue working in the backyard and on the rest of the driveway. We weren't even planning on doing the driveway, and that being said, have already redone a good portion of it. . . but when he came today he decided that we needed to get more gravel and just finish the driveway. Michael informed him, we have shot the gravel budget and that he (Richard) has already exceeded our expectations of what we hired him to do so it would just have to wait. Well Richards response was, I'll just bring my dump truck over and haul the gravel myself from the quarry which will be a lot cheaper for you and you just pay me for fuel. . . .Michael says, that means you are working for free. . . . Richard, Ya I know but it would just be so nice to finish off the driveway and you really need more gravel in here. WOW! I don't even know the right words to express the way Richard has blessed us.
By the way, if anyone needs Excavation work done I would recommend Quality Excavation Systems, he is out of Salem and has been OUTSTANDING. 503-363-4323 ~ Richard http://www.qesinc.org/

Look What We Found

2010-02-17T22:43:00.000-08:00

The kids and I were playing in the front yard today and look what we found.

On Day 3

2010-02-17T20:39:00.000-08:00

I guess from afar the shed/garage building behind Michael's truck doesn't seem so bad, but once you open the door you would think twice. There was so much garbage in here and critters and oh the smell!! Actually the right side of it was open for goats at one point. . . . so, it had to go.
Michael removed the windows and siding that was salvageable and Richard (the excavator) got to work. . . or play I think. What guy doesn't enjoy demolition?

I will have to take another picture from this angle (above) the change is amazing. The little house that is left there is the well house, we aren't sure what to do with that yet.
The picture below shows the tractor sitting where the shed used to be.

View Other House Posts:

http://mbdoty.blogspot.com/2010/02/all-in-days-work.html

http://mbdoty.blogspot.com/2010/02/driveway-project.html

Front Yard Fun

2010-02-16T21:26:00.000-08:00

Mud is such a fun toy. We headed outside today to plant trees! What a beautiful sunny day! Michael went to Weyerhaeuser this last weekend with Byron and came home with 70 trees. So with their new gloves and shovels the kids headed out to work, however we didn't make it past the first mud puddle for about a half hour. Great day for rain boots and mud stomping.

Eventually we did make it to tree planting. The kids and I helped for a while, but Michael did end up doing most the work.
See my worm? We spent a good part of the afternoon finding worms and "Rolly Polly" bugs. Makayla probably had 50 rolly pollys in her bucket.

Driveway Project

2010-02-16T21:23:00.000-08:00

One project leads to another. . . .
We hired an excavator last week to do the push out for our garage addition. We also talked with him about removing all the concrete in the backyard and knocking down a "garage" building (a rotten shed). Well since he has been here he has completed the backyard, in a matter of hours, demolished the shed and took extra dirt from here and there and leveled out a spot that Michael can eventually put a shop, then decided that we could really use a driveway overhaul. His name is Richard and apparently he is having so much fun working around the property that he keeps doing little extra things . . . like collecting all the big rocks from around the property and building a rock retaining wall in the front. He has improved the look so much we are in awe. We know we will have to pay him more than we originally agreed upon but we are so pleased with his work it will be easy to do so. Here are pictures of the driveway project. He even brought us stuff to put in a drainage system to re-route the water that comes down the driveway. Maybe on Friday we will actually do the push out for the garage.

Digging out for the drainageMichael and Richard laying pipe in the HUGE hole.

First two loads of gravel show up at 2PM on Monday. . . I have 11 ladies coming to our house at 6:30 for Bunco!! Will we have a driveway?? Michael and Byron worked their back ends off to get the gravel spread.

I can not believe how much gravel had to be brought in to do just this bottom portion of the driveway, but we are so happy with the way things are turning out. We definitely shot the gravel budget.

View Other House Posts:

http://mbdoty.blogspot.com/2010/02/on-day-3.html

http://mbdoty.blogspot.com/2010/02/all-in-days-work.html

Baby Room Progress

2010-02-11T19:58:00.000-08:00

The kids have been helping me get the Nursery ready for baby. They LOVE to help paint. . . it's really a patience tester for me, but I try my best to let them be involved. We have the room painted and furniture moved in. Makayla and I have started going through boxes of clothes to see what we have the is neutral enough for boy or girl, so we are doing laundry and hanging some stuff in the closet. I have a few things to get up on the walls but am still not exactly sure how/what I want to do yet.

When we find out what baby is we will add the appropriate color to the room.

My big helper!

Big Boy Room

2010-02-11T16:24:00.000-08:00

Kaden's room got a complete overhaul. He had to wait the longest but I think it was worth the wait. Even though the carpet was only a couple years old it had a lot of "YUCK" in it so we started by ripping it out. In the same day the room was re-carpeted and painted. Michael gets all the credit for painting this room, besides a little help from Kayla and some touch up from me, he did it all.

Jonathan and Kaden helped me put together some storage systems for Kaden's room. They really turned out pretty neat and matched the room better than I could have hoped.

His room was suppose to be cars. . . .. but we have so much "fire" stuff that we ended up with a fire theme, with a touch of sports here and there.

I am not quite sure what to do on this wall but you really don't even notice how bare it is when you walk in cause the rest of the room is so busy. The picture sure makes it look empty though. Maybe we put (paint) a road with some vinyl cars on this blue wall??

The Pink Big Top

2010-02-11T13:51:00.000-08:00

Besides painting the bathrooms, Makayla's room was the first one to be done. She couldn't wait to have her room decorated! She picked out some crazy animal bedding and wanted the walls painted practically every color of the rainbow. So we settled for a circus bedroom, it is the PINK Big Top. We still need window treatments in everyone's rooms but she loves how her room looks now.

All in a days work.

2010-02-10T23:20:00.000-08:00

When we bought our house we were left with many "loose ends" to tie. One of them being clean up of the foundation/basement of the house which sat here before ours was built 3 years ago. As you can see in the first few pictures there is quite a pile of concrete here. Well, we hired an excavator to come out and help us with this process as well as do the push out for our garage addition project. He figures he will be here 3-4 days but this is what he did in just 4 hours of work.

Now you see it. .. . .

Now you don't. . . .

Brother or Sister??

2010-02-01T09:39:00.001-08:00

What will it be?? Will Makayla and Kaden have a baby brother or sister?? Take our poll, we would love to see what you think.

Good Memories

2010-01-30T09:41:00.000-08:00

Makayla didn't have any school on Friday so we decided to head to the Mt. and play in the snow. We ran into some rain on the way up which kind of dampered our moods, but by the time we got to where we wanted to play it was no longer rain THANKFULLY it was snow.

We headed up to Timberline to show the kids around and so they could see the view from the top and then we went down to our trusty sledding spot. We had a great day! It really snowed on us, but we'll take that any day over rain! Michael and I met 17 years ago (Jan. 29th) on Mt. Hood.

We'll have to take the kids back on a clear day to get a real appreciation of the view but Makayla was just so pleased to be as high as she could go on the Mt.

Sunshine and Blessings

2010-01-27T20:13:00.000-08:00

I am not sure who is having more fun, but Michael picked Makayla up from the bus today in style. The previous owners of our home/property left behind this kid size 4 wheeler for us. Michael spent many hours fixing it up but now it runs and when it is dry enough he and the kids get out and play.

Makayla is getting pretty good at riding by herself. . . but we are still nervous about the whole event. She does have a helmet and thankfully was wearing it when dad tried to flip her off this afternoon. He really is too big but I just can't seem to keep him off of the thing. :o)

Anxiously Waiting. . .

2010-01-13T12:20:00.000-08:00

When we bought our house we knew the one thing that was going to get done was the addition of a garage. Thankfully we have a huge unfinished basement to store all of Michael's toys for now along with our bikes, strollers and other "garage" stuff, but we are still very anxious to get this project completed.

We had a credit with Mascord Design Associates from the previous house plan we had drawn up so we went to them and asked that they draw up our garage addition. We have a very boring front to our house right now and so with the addition of the garage we asked that they add some character to the front of the house that will then tie the garage in better. Although the waiting was hard, we are very impressed with what Jon came up with. In addition, we would like to have more of a "master suite" and a larger office/guest room. So, this is what they came up with. We are still in the prelim. design phase, but hope to get this project kicked off in the next few weeks.

Baby Names??

2010-01-07T08:14:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it has come to my attention that we should probably start thinking about baby names. Since we don't know what we are having, we need to pick one for each sex. . . . . any suggestions?

Wow!

2009-12-20T00:10:00.001-08:00

The dust hasn't even settled yet but I have to say that my husband is truly amazing! We have been in our house for just 1 month and this is what he has already accomplished!! All that's left is the mantle which I think he has already designed in his head. I will take credit for the paint and childcare. . . . but really he did all the hard work. It looks amazing!

Lang's Christmas

2009-12-14T23:47:00.000-08:00

Thankfully Becky made us plan in advance a date that we would all get together to celebrate Christmas. This time of year is so crazy and I can not even think straight this year so we made a date, it was set on the calander and after Makayla got out of school on Thursday we headed to Lebanon. We got there early enough for the kids to play, then we let the kids decorate cookies and exchange the gifts they had for eachother. We had a wonderful prime rib dinner and then headed off to Storybook Land to finish off the evening.

Storybook Land

2009-12-13T23:20:00.000-08:00

Although it was only 20 degrees when we got there, we had promised the kids we were going to Storybook Land. It is held in Albany at the Fair Grounds and is in one of their buildings, but there is no heat in there so it was COLD. Despite the weather, we all had a good time.

I was not at all impressed with the Santa they had their this year! He looked like someone just slapped the outfit on him and stuck him in the chair!! I know this is a volunteer event but I am not even sure I should show Makayla these pictures until she is old enough to "know" the truth behind the red coat!

On the other hand, I was really impressed with Kaden! He went up and talked to Santa, he even told him he wanted cars and a train for Christmas. It was really cute, especially since last year he screamed.

Light the Fire

2009-12-12T23:02:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday we got the inspection done on the fireplace, even though we didn't have the hearth and surrounding stone work done the inspector said we could light a fire as long as there was a non combustible area infront of it. So, Michael brought in some blocks and when he finally got a chance (which ended up being at 10PM) he lit the first fire in his fireplace. It was in the teens that night and was very nice to have a wood stove going.

Is it hot yet??

Never a dull moment

2009-12-07T14:29:00.000-08:00

Well we have been in our house for 3 weeks now! We have so many things we would love to do with the house but with the cold "winter" weather in the air and the holidays approaching Michael and I were both really excited to get going on the fireplace. We already had one picked out and once we decided where it was going to go Michael got busy.

The fireplace is going on the 2nd level and I didn't want it to stick out into the room so Michael had a lot more work to do. . . . we are both happy now that we decided to frame it on the outside of the house, but it was really a lot of work for him to figure out how to reinforce this 600lb fireplace.

Kaden is always ready to help Daddy with his projects. It's time to knock out the wall!!
After the wall was cut out Michael had to do some "re-framing" inside the wall for support. Then! We are ready to put the fireplace into it's new home. Again family and friends came to our rescue when it came time to move this heavy thing. Nick, Aaron, Dad Porter and our friend Dean came over to help Michael. Don't worry, the insulation doesn't really go like that. >smile<>

The Most Amazing Family

2009-11-15T10:34:00.001-08:00

We have the most amazing family anyone could ever ask for. I can't believe how blessed Michael the kids and I are to be surrounded by so much love. We recently purchased a house and as luck would have it we closed 1 day before we were heading out on vacation. We have an annual trip we take with a group of friends to Saline Valley so we were already committed to the trip. We knew that it would be a little difficult when we got back to find help during the weekdays to move, but that is what we chose to do. We came back from vacation on Saturday and we were going to move as much as we could on Sunday (Today) with the help of those who could after church. Well!! Much to my surprise while we were hanging out in the desert soaking up some sun and trying to relax our family (both sides included) had arranged to move us while we were gone. Michael had something to do with getting things going on this but I am pretty sure that our families just took this opportunity and ran with it. So, literally the afternoon we left members of the family were over at our "new" house cleaning it and others at the "old" house loading up stuff to bring over. Through the cold and rain by 1:30 the day after we had left they had all of our stuff out of storage and our "old" house already over to the new house. They spent the rest of the week cleaning and decorating here and there, setting up our rooms, putting the kitchen stuff away. . etc. They even had some friends to come help, our extended family really.

We had arranged for family to clean up the "new" house while we were gone, so. . . Michael and I had decided on the way home that we were going to stop by the "new" house to see if it was move in ready. Again, much to MY surprise, when we walked in the door a flash went off and lights turned on and there was my (our) family with big smiles on their faces and as I walked around I saw all of our stuff.

I seriously don't know if anyone has as awesome of a family as we do!

We love you all!!

Oh and don't worry, I will eventually find where you put everything. LOL

Saline 2009

2009-11-14T12:08:00.000-08:00

Ok, we took way too many pictures!!! Guess that's what happens when you get a new camera and have too cute of kids! I am going to have to look through them and pick out my favorites before I upload too many. There are lots of pictures on my Facebook page.

We found a new site this year. It is called Blue Marble Bath. Someone (Wizard) actually hauled out an old bath tub and filled it with blue marbles!! It is quite a site out in the middle of nowhere. We had to check it out, the kids thought it was pretty cool. There are so many marbles that Michael never got to the bottom of the tub when he dug around. There are little yellow duckies "floating" in it too.

Getting Packed Up

2009-11-02T14:01:00.000-08:00

The kids are doing their best to help us pack up to move, but seem to get distracted from time to time. . . . .

Baby Isabella

2009-10-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

Well we had to wait a little bit to finally meet Isabella, but it was worth the wait. I knew the kids would love her, but had no idea just how much Kaden would adore this little baby. He wouldn't share!!! I had to wait for Mema to offer him food before he finally let me have a turn holding her. It was really very sweet!

Disney on Ice

2009-10-24T14:28:00.000-07:00

The Langs

How big is baby?

2009-10-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

I think this website is so funny! They try to give you a reference as to how big baby is. . . . well this week we have an onion.

Fall is in the air

2009-10-12T16:12:00.000-07:00

Oh So Sick

2009-10-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

I don't believe I have ever been so sick in my life as I have been these last couple weeks. I feel completely useless and like a horrible wife and mother. If having morning sickness every day for the last 9 weeks wasn't enough. . ..right when I should have been getting relief from that I caught some sort of Gastro.. bla. .bla . .flu, bronchitis and a severe sinus pressure headache (5 days and counting on the headache). I have literally been in bed for 2 weeks now. Missing soccer games, taking Makayla to school, birthday parties, get togethers with friends and family. Let me tell you I am SOOO sick of being sick!!
Thank God for my Husband, In-Laws and Parents who have each taken turns caring for me and the kids! I am not sure what I would do without them!

So Many Changes

2009-10-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

It is time to move on! Ok, I know I am not the best a writing, but I do have a lot to say. . . . . bare with me.

Michael and I have learned a lot about ourselves these last couple years. One thing is for sure, our timing is not God's timing. This we know! Patience, well that really isn't a strong suit for either of us! And, the stress of making decisions that affect the whole family have really hit us hard this year. We have always planned for the future and ALWAYS had our kids future in mind while doing so, but we are actually IN the future now. Makayla started kindergarten this year!! There are so many things to consider in all areas of our lives with just that one little change. Finding a permanent place to live has just been one of them.

After a year and a half of waiting on "RaNor Estates" and the hopes and dreams of building a house of our dreams on just a little bit of land we have turned a new direction. Just recently (since Julyish) Michael has been really watching a bunch of Short Sales (houses that are marked well below value to avoid foreclosure). We found one that we thought we wanted. It was a nice house set on 25 acres with literally a million dollar view. Again after much waiting and stress and all the fun of dealing with a short sale, we ended up back at square 1 after two months of time waisted. Long story Short, the house went back to the bank, they didn't think our offer was good enough and now the bank is going to have to list the house again and try to sell it. So!!

Funny thing, since we made an offer on a house Michael's dad (Lynn) had mentioned to a mutual friend that we were hoping to move and that we were going to rent out our house. Well this friend was more than interested and actually came over to see it the following Saturday and left with every intention to buy our house, not rent it!! WOW! That's awesome!! But. . . . where are we going to live???

While were actually still waiting for this house on the hill to go back on the Market so we could make another offer and hope they would accept, Michael found another house that he wanted to go look at. I tried to be excited but really am just fed up with the whole thing and want a HOME. I want to just find that "somewhere" that we are suppose to be for the next 25+ years. So after he got off work we went to take a look at it. This house had been listed for quite a while with a Realtor with no luck and now they were trying For Sale by Owner. Michael found their add on Craigslist. Well when we got there, we got out of the car and the couple standing in the doorway started laughing. . . . . why are they laughing at us. . . . The guy looks at Michael and says, "you don't know who I am do you?". "Well no, I don't", Michael says. Turns out the owner of the house grew up across the street from Michael for about 18 years of their lives. They hadn't seen eachother for about 15 or more! We eventually made it into the house and I started walking around checking everything out while Michael and Brian caught up on the last 20 years. I was sold before we even went up to look at the bedrooms. This was a house sitting on 4.5 acres (usable acres) that had the room to entertain and bedrooms for everyone, big kitchen and so much potential!! 3 hours later we finally left! Michael was still so excited about finding a lost friend that I actually had to take him home and show him all the pictures I took to get him to remember the house. LOL We decided that if he could give up the million dollar view of the other house that this was where we were suppose to be. We submitted an offer the next day which they accepted and on Wednesday of this week we opened escrow!! We are both very excited!!

While all of that was going on, the "friend" who wanted to buy our house was able to come up with the down payment and we also signed offer papers for that on Wednesday of this last week too. WOW!! So much going on! Now we sit and wait and hope that this wasn't all just too good to be true!

These are pictures of the house we just sold. You should go to my older post and see how much this has changed since we bought it just a year ago! (http://mbdoty.blogspot.com/2009/04/work-in-progress.html)

And here is the house we just bought!!!! Of course we have already made a list of first things to do. This house was built in 2007 but the owners ran out of money, so it was never landscaped, needs a deck, patio, driveway etc. We are making our priority list and the best thing is, we have the next many, many years to work on it.
Below: Looking out back, we call it the meadow. The first day we went to walk around we saw 3 deer, it was really cool.

Looking up towards the back of the house, you can see where the deck needs to go. The area to the right is fenced off as a goat area, no animals are there now.

Kid Portriats

2009-10-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

I suppose since I have had the kids portriats done since July, I should probably share them with all of you. The kids were NOT in the mood to cooperate! Although I still ended up with some pretty good pictures.

Spontaneous Beach Trip

2009-09-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

I woke up the other morning and decided it was the perfect day to go to the beach. . . . after taking Makayla to school I contacted Becky to see what she was doing for the afternoon. . . . well we went for it. We threw some stuff together, grabbed our kids after school and headed to the beach. We met in Newport since we were coming from different directions and had a wonderful afternoon! It was about 75 and sunny, such a perfect day at the beach!

The kids got such a great suprise. They had no idea when they headed off to school in the morning that they were going to be seeing their best friend at the beach that afternoon.

Due Date Countdown Widget

2009-09-21T14:52:00.001-07:00

Introducing Baby Doty #3

2009-09-18T19:52:00.000-07:00

1st Day of School

2009-09-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

Makayla went to her first day of Kindergarten today!! I can't believe she is so grown up. She was up and out of bed before Michael was even home this morning and ready to get going. I thought it would be more of a challenge but she moved quicker than I had ever seen to get ready to go anywhere. She even had time to make Kaden breakfast!

Look at her smile, she is so excited. Daddy got off work late so we waited for him to get home to head to school. I think Dad had a harder time letting her go then mom. I had to drag him out of the classroom. :o)

Once we got into the classroom you could tell Makayla got a little nervous. But we got her to find her cubby to put her stuff in, she checked herself in and then it was time to either color or read while waiting for class to get started.

All in all the first day was a success!

Oregon State Fair

2009-09-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

We went to the Oregon State Fair for Labor Day. We took the kids and our niece Katrina. They had $1.50 ride day so the kids got to have some extra fun!

Last year Makayla really wanted to go on the Farris Wheel but she was too little, this year there was no stopping her. She loved it!

Poor Kaden was too little to do any of the rides, our first time up to the carousel the worker let him go as long as I stood there even though he was too short to ride. . . . the second time we tried I really had to stretch him tall for the worker to let him on. He had so much fun! He is still telling me about the horsey. ("round and round and round")

Kittens

2009-09-09T12:40:00.000-07:00

The kittens will be 5 weeks old on Friday. They have just figured out how to walk and are really starting to play. We took them outside for the first time a couple days ago and they really liked it. They are so cute!

Trailer for Sale

2009-09-02T18:39:00.000-07:00

Just in time for hunting season or those great family get aways to the coast. With baby #3 on the way we have just outgrown this trailer. We currently own a Komfort Lite 23ft tailer. This trailer sleeps 4 with a queen bed in rear. If you know anyone who is interested in a great little trailer, new carpet, vinyl, newer fridge, new water pump, upholstry on couch like new. . . . .let us know.

Bella Has Kittens

2009-08-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

Fat Mama Cat

Aren't they cute!

Clear Lake

2009-07-28T21:19:00.000-07:00

Off to a rocky start. . . but ended just perfectly. This is not the way anyone would want to start out on a 5 day camping adventure, get to the place and they inform you that they have given away your site! Apparently it is a new rule that if you do not occupy your site in the first 24hours, even if you have paid the entire balance prior that they are allowed to give your site away. So we headed off on Friday to Timothy Lake for a camping trip we had been planning for 9 months to the day. This is one of our favorite trips of the year and we were REALLY excited to be finally going. Imagine our surprise, after a long drive and many unexpected stops (including an overheating car), with two grumpy children when we pulled up and then informed us that they had given away both sites we had reserved!! Well after a lot of, we'll just call it "huffing and puffing", we (Michael) finally decided we were just going home. I couldn't imagine canning the whole trip, after all, here we are with all of our stuff and we have 5 days off to camp. So on our way home I talked him into just at least stopping at one of the places along the road and "seeing" if they had any sites we could camp at. . . . . long story short, we were able to camp in the overflow camp at Clear Lake. It really turned out to be a wonderful camping experience, aside from the lack of fish in the lake. Nana and Papa, Nick and Corinna were able to join us there and we really had a great time, actually, we would really like to go back sometime soon.

Here are some pictures of our trip. My niece Quinn was able to come up with Nana and Papa to spend the weekend with us too.

Kaden LOVED the boat. He really didn't care to swim but could ride around all day in the boat.

That is our site behind Nick and Corinna. We were really close to the water, it was such a beautiful view.

Quinn and Makayla swam all the way across the lake!!! Of course they had their life jackets on and they were with Nana and Michael, but that was still a very long way!!

Oxbow Park

2009-07-15T18:36:00.000-07:00

We have done two camping trips in 1 week. I really like it, but at some point we have to come back to reality. Last weekend we met Josh and Jodi at the coast and then we came home for a 1 day break and then we were off to Oxbow Park. Oxbow is first come first serve campground so my sister Sarah and I went up early with the kids to save spots and the rest of the crew came up the next day. We had a big group and actually used 5 sites. We were able to get all of them right next to eachother which was really cool.

Visit from afar

2009-07-10T18:08:00.000-07:00

We were able to hook up with our close friends (ok, their like family), Josh and Jodi when they came through Oregon on their month long road trip/vacation. Since we have a full house we chose to meet up at the coast and do some camping.

We chose to go to Nehalem Bay, we had heard so many good things but had never gone ourselves. It was about 85 degrees in Newberg when we left, but typical Oregon Coast weather it was cold and windy at the coast.

We had already had one day of cold/windy weather so on the second day after it had rained on us for a while, we decided to head to Canon Beach to grab lunch. We retreated to Mo's so that Josh could have Clam Chowder in a bread bowl. :o)

After lunch the weather seemed to have cleared up a bit so we headed to Oswald State Park. It is so pretty there! We took a little hike into the cove and spent some time just playing on the beach. The tide was in to see the tide pools but we did see some sea life and found a couple hermit crabs.

I LOVE this picture (below)

The kids finally talked Jodi into a game of Don't Break the Ice.

Hawaii, Day 1

2009-05-18T22:10:00.000-07:00

We left PDX at 8:45am and 6 hours later we were in Oahu, Hawaii.
We chose to go here over the other islands for two reasons, it was cheaper for all four of us, and we wanted a big sandy beach for the kids to run and play on. Hawaii is 3 hours behind Oregon so we felt like the day had just started when we got there. We found our way through the airport, got all of our stuff, caught the shuttle to our hotel and then realized we were in heaven. Ok, not really, but it was pretty great. We checked into the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort and Spa, which was the best hotel we have ever stayed in as a family. They had 5 pools, 3 hot tubs, 22 acres of beach front property, their own little Lagoon on the beach. . . . . waterslides. . . . we really didn't have to leave the "village" if we didn't want to, they had EVERYTHING.

We started the trip off on a great note. Everyone at the airport was so helpful and friendly. Without even asking they offered an extra seat for Kaden since the flight wasn't full. They let us take drinks for the kids through security screening. . . little things like that. . . they were just so friendly, we were really suprised.

When we finally got settled into the hotel we went out to explore. While we were walking around the hotel we saw some animals we weren't expecting to see. Don't know if you can see what is behind Makayla but there were FLAMINGOS!! The kids were so excited. Ok, so were we. . . .

And Pinguins. .. .

I had no idea pinguins liked Hawaii. . . ..

We went down to the Lagoon and the kids played in the ocean water and sand.

Then of course we ended up at the pool.