Year of the bread

Some countries have animals to represent a new year.  This year or should I say this fall has been an awesome cooking year for me.  I have never had much luck making bread, I've even had friends help me make bread and it just hasn't turned out right.  However this year or more like this fall, I have hit a lucky streak.  My bread has actually turned out tasty and fluffy.  And to top if off I've discovered a love for making pies. This is going to be an awesome winter.  So let's celebrate the Year of the bread.  Or for as long as it lasts.  

Dreams

Last night I had a dream that I lost my cell phone and James lost his cell phone and I couldn't find him.  Then I realized because we had gotten married so young I would need to marry again.  I was so sad.  Finally I found James in a cave in our basement, which was really cool and he told me that we could stay married.  I was so happy.  I woke up on the right side of the bed this morning.  Thanks to James who got up with all three kids and let me sleep in.  Those extra 30 minutes made all the difference.  Have fun Mt. biking this morning James.  I love you.

From our younger days

General Conference Weekend and a trip to Portland.

We had a wonderful family and friend filled weekend in Portland.  We the trip down to show off baby Everett and enjoy the last weekend before Papa went back to work.

Thursday morning James went Mt. Biking with his friend Jeff while me plus 3 stayed at home cleaning, packing and getting ready for our weekend trip.  James came home around 2 in the afternoon.  He helped finish the cleaning and packed the car.  Then we drove down to Portland that night.  I thought Everett would need to stop and eat along the way but he slept the entire way.  Well, almost the entire way, he woke up about 5 minutes before to arrived at Grandma Sharolee's house.  So the poor kid cried the last 5 minutes of the trip but we made it.  Hooray.  When we got to Grandma's house she made us grilled cheese sandwiches and the girls played with their uncles until it was time for bed.

Friday morning we decided to go to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) with Auntie Rebecca and Cousin Charlie.  We had a blast.  I'll just let the pictures tell the story.

Gwenevere and Grace on their way to the moon

We almost did it.  It all came tumbling down when we tried to put the key stone in place.  I guess we were both a little short for this activity.

So many wonderful things to explore

Everett was not a happy Astronaut 

But Papa was

Sister snuggles at Lunch time

A very happy Astronaut

a somewhat distracted Astronaut

Wild hair

She gets her hair do tips from her Auntie

Everett enjoyed exploring OMSI just as much as his sisters did.

This little Scientist enjoyed the baby exhibit the most

After our trip to OMSI I asked Gwenevere what her favorite part was and she said 

"Moving the large blocks with the crain."

 And this handsome man enjoyed the cuddle time with Papa

We left OMSI around 2:30.  With time still left in the day we drove across town to visit Hayley's grave sight.  With mixed emotions we laid flowers on her sweet little tombstone.  Grateful for the health of our kids and tears of sorrow for the loss of our sweet niece.  The time spent at the cemetery was amazing.  The girls were reverent and we walked around reading the names of those who had passed.  Gwenevere had to stop at almost every gravestone and ask "who's this one?"  I think we need to do a lot more family walks around the cemeteries next summer.  Thank you Hayley for letting us come and visit your resting place.  We hope to visit again soon.

After the cemetery we drove back to Grandma's house

Saturday morning James went for a run while I bathed the kiddos.  Then Papa made a wonderful breakfast while we listened to general conference.  I had some time to work on Everett's birth announcements which was a lot of fun for me.

In between sessions we visited Great Green Grandma and Grandpa Roemhildt.  It's always fun to visit Green Grandma.  She loves to tell stories about growing up and she was especially happy to hear that we named baby brother Everett.  James was given a diamond from his Great Uncle Evert which became my wedding ring diamond.  Green Grandma said that Uncle Evert loved kids but was never able to have any,  she said he would be so proud to know Everett was named in remembrance of Uncle Evert and his love for family.

Later on we met up with The Price family and the Frantz family for a BBQ.  It was so much fun to visit with friends again.  Oh how I love these families so much.  Great friends, great memories, great times

Saturday didn't end there.  After dusk we went back to Grandma Sharolee's house and dropped the girls off.  Then James, Everett and I went to Spaghetti Factory to celebrate Grandpa Roemhildt's, Rebecca's and Max's birthdays.  Thank you Red Grandma for paying and letting us join in on the celebrations.  It was a lovely evening which I probably would have enjoyed more thoroughly if I wasn't so exhausted.  

Sunday morning we woke up to yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast and another wonderful session of Conference.  

After the morning session of conference we went and visited Tessha and Patrick.  They loved holding Everett and it was nice to visit with them for a while.  We then made it back to Grandma Sharolee's house for the afternoon session of conference.  After conference James packed up the car and we went to Red Grandma's house for a Wilcox get together.  The girls had fun playing with cousins and we enjoyed visiting with everyone.

I'm still trying to convince someone to make me a couple of cute pumpkin hats for the kids.

Wink wink 

Don't they look so cute?

After a fun day we headed home.  While driving home we had a car clip us.  The accident would have been a whole lot worse except James did a wonderful job minimizing the impact.  I'm so thankful for the protection from a loving Heavenly Father.  

We arrived home safe and sound.  Ready for bed and another adventurous week.  

Family Photo Shoot

Thanks to James' amazing co-worker we had a fun family photo shoot with lots of cute pictures of baby Everett.  I can't decide on a favorite so here's a whole bunch of my favorites.

I added numbers above a few of Everett's pictures.  The pictures with the numbers are the pictures I'm going to use for his birth announcements.  Let me know which ones are your favorites and I'll try to make sure you get one of your favorite photos in the card we give you.

Thanks again Star for your awesome work.

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