Well - it finally happened...we finally decided to grace Portland, Oregon with our magnificent presence once again by visiting my family. Our jubilant return took place on November 8th, but we could only stay for a few short days - due to Jason's crusty work schedule. It was the shortest vacation we've ever taken, so it was slightly disappointing to say the least, but it was still fun to see my family and breathe in that fresh Oregon air!! It had been almost 3 1/2 years since we had last visited and I'm amazed that I could have forgotten how beautiful it is there!! I've grown accustomed to the dry flat desert-like plains of San Antonio, TX, so when my parents picked us up from the airport, Jason and I couldn't stop drooling at the sight all of the rolling hills, green trees, green grass and mountainous skyline. Ahhhh...now I remember why I loved Oregon so much!
Nov 8th - Our first stop after my parents picked us up from the airport was my Grandma's apartment, so I could say hi to my cute little Grandma and visit with her for a little while. Then we were off to Beaches - one of my most favorite restaurants! It's a little restaurant by the Columbia River on the Washington side. Mmmm...yummy!! Of course, I ate too much and I left the restaurant with great pain and suffering (well not really - but it was more than I'm used to eating)! :) Afterwards, we finally headed over to my parents house where Jenny and Richard were unknowlingly awaiting our secret arrival. I decided to show up without telling her because she has done it to me a couple of times in the past! Take that Jenerator! ;) We ended up staying up 'til 3am talking and jabbering the night away (the first of our late night ramblings).
Kristin and Katie with their cousin Jonathan at Beaches
Mom and Dadroo (a.k.a. Mamoo and Nigel) ;)
Me and Jason at Beaches
Nov 9th - The next morning we got up, got ready and drove over to my Grandma's to pick her up for church at Crossroads (the church Jason and I used to go to when we were going to college). Since it was Veteran's Day weekend, Pastor Richie had an Army Lt. Col guest speak for the service. He had his uniform on, but surprisingly he didn't have too much to say about the military, but he was a really nice guy and it was still a good message. Afterwards, we all went out to a Chinese Buffet in Portland. Ugh...now I remember why Jason and I never go to buffets! It was good, but I have a hard time resisting seconds along with 2 or 3 desserts when it's all out in front of me, so it's best that I don't go at all! :) After we rolled ourselves out of the restaurant, we headed over to both the Lloyd Center (across the street from the Applebees I used to hostess at) and Clackamas Town Center to use my 30% off Gymboree coupons before they expired! Mamoo ended up yanking the 2 baby boy outfits I had picked up (for our little man's upcoming arrival), stole my coupon (well I gave it to her) and bought the stuff herself! That little schemer!! ;) We finally made it back home where we spent the rest of the night, gorging ourselves on little snacks while we talked and cackled. When my Dad, Jason and Richard finally finished up their pin ball tournament, they came downstairs and we watched Casino Royale (to prepare ourselves for our upcoming preview of 007 Quantam of Solace). Of course my Dad, Jason and I all fell asleep within the first 20 minutes from exhaustion.
Nov 10th - The next morning, Mamoo prepared a magnificent breakfast feast of pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs and bacon. Mmmm... She already had a really good pancake recipe and now she has somehow tweaked it and made it even yummier!!! After our glorious artery-clogging breakfast, we headed over to the Oregon Zoo - the best zoo ever! It ended up being so cold though, that we didn't stay for very long. That and all of the usual stands and such were closed!! :( I've never gone there this time of year - I'm used to going in the Spring and Summer (the most perfect seasons of the year to visit the zoo). After that, we headed over to Cheesecake Factory in Beaverton for yummy dinner and then back home later that night where we attempted yet again to watch Casino Royale. I fell asleep again... Am I getting old or what??!
Jonathan and Kristin "helping" Mamoo prepare breakfast
Katie spending some time with her Auntie-poo...
and then with her Grandpa Neil
There's always time for some fun-loving wrestling! (Jason, Jonathan and Kristin - yes she's biting Jason's hiney) :)
The most-used picture spot at the Oregon Zoo...I'm not really sure why - it just is!
Kristin and Katie
The new baby elephant and his Mommy-poo
Your everyday average Sun Bear...
Whoa! Why is he sitting upright and looking as if he's expecting something from us?? Could Jason have given him something?? Nooooo...Jason wouldn't do that...
Or would he??? ;)
A photo op for Nigel and I to see how we measure up to different bears
Another picture opportunity for me and my Daddy-poo. Uh...it may look a bit strange, but we were re-inacting a picture that me, my Dad and Kristin took a few years back - when Nigel honestly and unknowingly stood behind the goat...not the best place to pose for a picture... ;) We didn't realize it until after I had developed the film (back in the day when we didn't have a digital camera). We had a good laugh... This time of course, it appears as though he's overdoing it...just a little. ;)
Nov 11th - We headed over to this new bowling center called Big Al's to watch my Dad bowl in his bowling league. Jason and I probably embarrassed him and my Grandpa Yingling (who is on the same team as my Dad) with our cheering, hooting and hollering, but it didn't seem to mess up my Dad's concentration! Sheesh! Look at those scores! I know I've mentioned it before, but why didn't I inherit the apparent pro-bowler gene?! Frig' me! ;) Afterwards, we stopped by Fred Meyer to pick up Kristin's birthday cake (her birthday is on November 25th, but my Mom wanted to throw her a party while we were there because my parents have never celebrated a birthday with either of the girls). We came home and my Mom got to work on her little tea party finger foods. My Grandma and I tried to help, but my Mom always seems to do most of the work. When everything was ready, we had Kristin's tea party birthday complete with Disney princess castle cake! I cannot believe she's already 5!!! Well - she wasn't at the time, but she officially turned 5 two days ago!! My little girl is getting SO big!! It's both exciting and a little sad!!!! I don't want her to grow up too fast!!! :( After Kristin's birthday party, we drove over to my cousins - Neil and Shannon's house. Neil was out of town hunting with a couple of the boys, so we visited with Shannon for a little while and then also with Shakara (my cousin Dustin's wife) when she came by to see us.
Nigel going for another strike!
Sheesh! I think he only ended up with a 280... Pssh!
He's unstoppable!
Kristin and Jonathan playing during Grandpa Neil's game
Katie is unusually easy to handle today...
Kristin and her dream birthday cake (she's been eying this cake for over a year now)!
Me and my birthday girl
Me, Kristin, Katie and Jason
Mom, Grandma, Kristin, Dad and Jonathan (Jenny and Richard both had to work - they have such crappy schedules)!
Some of the spread (cucumber and cream cheese, chicken salad, peanut butter and jelly and egg salad tea sandwiches, crab-stuffed pea pods, cheese cubes, and veggies and dip, tea and hot chocolate)
Pot of tea anyone?
Kristin and her cup of hot chocolate
Kristin blowing our her candle
No spit please! :)
Time for presents! A Leapster 2 from Grandma Christie and Grandpa Neil
Princess game for her Leapster from Grandma Christie and Grandpa Neil
Pet Palz Leapster game from her Mommy and Daddy
Metallic Rose DS Lite with Hello Kitty cover from her Mommy and Daddy
Jonathan assisting Jason is his usual screaming rampage during present-opening
Nintendogs and Cooking Mama DS games from her Mommy and Daddy
Jason taking on a few of my cousin's kids, Jonathan and Kristin with a rug challenge. Who can stay standing when Jason pulls the rug out from under their feet?... :)
Nov 12th - The next morning we headed out to get our pictures taken as a family (on Jenny and Richard's only day off together). Me, Jason and the girls were getting ready to have our annual pictures taken for Christmas cards anyways, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to also have a picture taken with my family also - since we haven't taken one since 2002 - when neither of our girls even existed. After that, we went to the closest Chuck E Cheese for some pizza, tokens and prizes! Before heading home, we squeezed in a visit to my Dad's theater to watch a preview of the new 007 movie and then High School Musical 3 after that. The 007 movie was excellent, but we were a little disappointed in HS Musical 3. I was surprised - especially since we liked the first two so much (Jason mostly...). ;)
One of the many pictures taken. But that's all you're going to get! We'll be sending out our own family picture with our Christmas cards shortly...just as soon as I pick out some cards...
Chuck E Cheese time!
Of course, Katie chased after the big fuzzy mouse every time she caught a glimpse of him. He seemed to really like her...hopefully he wasn't getting annoyed and rolling his eyes under that mask everytime she came running up to him!! :)
Nov 13th - We took a quick trip over to University of Portland to take some pictures and eat some lunch in the Pilot House after a mini shopping spree in the campus bookstore. It's so weird. I went to school at Concordia University a couple miles down the road from University of Portland (where Jason went to school), but I feel as though I went to University of Portland too! I spent more time there than I did at my own school! As soon as my classes were over, I'd head over to Jason's school to meet up with him, eat dinner and spend the rest of the night studying in the library or computer lab until we'd drag ourselves back to our house in time for bed. It's too bad the library had to close at night, we could have saved a lot of money in rent by just living at the library! We could have used the showers in the gym and kept all our belongings in our little roller skate-sized car! It would have been great! :) After a fun-filled visit to Jason's school, we only had time to do a drive-by viewing of my school because we were running late for my Dad and Jason's tee time at the McMenamins Edgefield golf course. Needless to say, I was very disappointed that I didn't have a chance to stop by and say hi to some of my old co-workers (I worked at Concordia for a year after graduation) and I didn't have a chance to browse my old bookstore for some momentos. Sure my bookstore is teeny tiny compared to University of Portland's, but still! There was a lot of construction going on anyways - I'm really excited to see what they're going to do to update and expand the campus! So anyways - we headed out to the Edgefield McMenamins. Jason and my Dad started off on their 9 hole golf tournament while my Mom and I (and the kids) waited in the restaurant while we talked over appetizers. Dad and Jason met up with us when they were finished with their game, then we stopped by the Jerusalem Cafe for dinner on our way home. Mmmm...yummy!!
Me and my Daddy-poo by the bluff at University of Portland
Me and Jason
Strolling alongside the bluff
Apparently, you can never have to many pictures of me and my Dadroo! :)
Will Jason's crazy camera-clicking ever end??!! ;)
Me, Mamoo and Nigel at Edgefield McMenamins
Awww...how cute!! Jason scribbled this really fast on the chalkboard in one of the many bars at McMenamins
Edgefield McMenamins
Jason and Nigel after their golf tournament
Nov 14th - The guys all did some yardwork while my Mom got started on her early Thanksgiving dinner. She wanted to squeeze both a birthday party and a Thanksgiving celebration into our visit since we haven't celebrated anything together for a really long time! Poor Mamoo! So much work and so little time! I felt so bad because I ended up not helping as much as I had hoped to - because I was feeling kind of crappy the whole day. Of course - I was still up to gorging on the feast when it was all prepared! After we ate and I had recovered from my pain and agony (this little baby is taking up a lot of valuable food packing space in my tummy!), my Mom brought me a plate of dessert - a slice of her fabulous apple pie and a slice of her scrumptuous pecan pie! Mmmm... There's always room for dessert!!! :) And that was it for our last night in Portland. :(
Who else (besides Jason) would ever think to desecrate a turkey by stabbing it with it's own turkey wing??!! That Jason...always joking... :)
Kristin and her Great Grandma Jackson setting the table for Thanksgiving dinner
Kristin is ready to eat!
An exhausted Tricia, Jason and the girls ready to devour the table of Thanksgiving food.
Nov 15th - We packed up our things and headed over to the Steakburger (a tacky little family-owned restaurant/mini golf course that Jason re-named Capra Country Club 7 years ago) for a cheap (but good) breakfast with my parents before dropping my Dad off at a bowling league tournament and then off to the airport to catch our flight back to San Antonio.
Good bye Portland!! We'll miss you!!!! (I was surprised - it wasn't too overcast the day we were leaving and we were able to catch a glimpse of Mt. Hood - ahhh). Now it's back to the dry treeless, greenless, flat plains of San Antonio... Oh well. ;)
Didn't I say I wasn't going to write much???... :)
