Mother's Day Pedicures

Brenda and I enjoyed Mother's Day pedicures and did a little shopping. A big thank-you to our wonderful hubbies and kidlets.

Water Water Everywhere

Leah's very cute music program at school.

May 5/6

An unplanned pink and white day of shopping at the beach. A little running, a little food and a lot of talking made for a wonderful weekend away with friends.

Cole, Ian and Sam excited to go on a roller skating date with their moms. After the initial learning curve and eating a oddly blue colored Icy, the evening was deemed a success.

Canada and Back - AGAIN!

Out hiking

We had a busy week. David flew up from LA for a quick visit and to catch a ride with us to Canada for Grandpa's funeral. On Saturday afternoon, Darin headed to Eugene with Jim for the marathon, while Dave and I took the kids for a hike in Forest Park and then to the Great Chili Cook-Off at church - yum. Early, early Sunday morning Dave, the kids and I drove to Eugene to cheer Darin on. Yay babe, top 100! See Darin's blog for full details. A shout out to Carrie M who qualified for Boston. We're going to have a blast on the East Coast next April. More time in the car and we made it to Canada. Grandpa's funeral was nice and it was a beautiful sunny day ... what else can you say about a funeral? It was great to connect with the Swanson side of the family and Cole and Leah enjoyed playing with cousins Matthew and Rachael and Darin had some time with his dad and brother at the Canucks playoff game. As always, my cousins, Tim and Kim were wonderful hosts and we were able to have a quick dinner with aunt Verna and uncle Vic. On the trip back we stopped in Seattle at the Pike Place Market - flying fish are always fun to watch.

Welcome sign!

Leah's First Dance

Darin took Leah to the father/daughter dance at her school. Note the beautiful corsage. A brief glimpse into the future!

Goodbye Grandpa

We'll miss you.

1915 - April 25, 2007

Minnesota

Sue, Freinde and me

I flew out to Minnesota to speak at a conference at the university. Sue & Scott and their boys Cam and Luke were kind enough to have me hang out with them for four days. Cam and I spent some quality time playing pinball (me) and video games (him). The pinball picture is one that Cam took. I caught up with Freinde and Cyndi and went for a couple of runs with Sue. Sue and I also hit Ikea - let's just say it's a good thing I was already at my max weight for my airline luggage. It was interesting to note that even after four years of being gone, things still seemed the same. And of course the best part about being away is getting back home again!

Soccer Goal!

He shoots, he scores! A fun night playing indoor soccer.

20 Miles on Leif

Legs ...














Hmmmm .... I'm remembering an old ZZ Top song. I biked with Darin for his last training run before Eugene. Darin's legs after the 20 mile run (left) and my legs after the 20 mile bike (right). The mud was more impressive before it dried.

He's looking for a 2:59:59 marathon!

Saving the Kapok Tree

The theme of Cole's school music program was convincing a man/farmer in the rainforest not to cut down the Great Kapok Tree. Darin and I pondered the complexities of clear cutting, tree planting (memory lane), and the Prince George economy while Cole played the glockenspiel.

Eggs

How long do hard boiled eggs keep?

The Easter Bunny

The Easter bunny came to our house on Sunday and her name is Oreo (aka Shorty). A big thank-you to John and Vincent for letting Oreo come live with us. She is adjusting well, but I'm still getting used to the little brown 'surprises' she leaves on the carpet. Church was inspiring and very full. The focus was on the hope we have in Christ and a number of people shared their stories. In the afternoon, we did a 5 mile Swanson family run/bike (Darin and I ran, the kids biked) and enjoyed being outside in the pouring rain - well most of us enjoyed it. A quick stop at the Iranian deli for some sweets finished off our Easter 2007.

TrailBlazers Courtside Kid

TV Debut!

Leah won a Courtside Kids pass for the Portland Trailblazers, so we went to the game on Wednesday night. Leah got to high five the players as they came on the court, sit on the players' bench and of course have her face on the Jumbo Tron!

April Fools

A seven year old's dream - Sunday afternoon at the PDX Brickfest (Lego conference) with Dad.

Yesterday was April Fool's day and the kids and I couldn't come up with any good tricks. Darin on the other hand told me in the morning that the upstairs toilet was broken. This is a bummer, since Darin is really busy and I figured it probably wouldn't get fixed until next weekend. In addition, it meant that I had to use the kids' bathroom - how nice! April Fools! At least he told me it was a joke yesterday evening or I'd still arguing with the kids as to who gets to use the bathroom first.

Night Fire

It was so nice out last weekend, Darin made a fire for the kids. They loved it!

Canada and Back

Card Sharks

The kids and I enjoyed spring break with Grandma. We went swimming, played at Jungle Mania, went to the pet shop (very cute puppies) and played cards. I also was able to indulge in my favorite Tim Horton's mocha and honey crueller TimBits. Alas, even though it was once again Roll Up the Rim to Win, I didn't even win a doughnut! I did however get my work VISA renewed which was even better.

Getting to Canada

Crazy Cousins - Kim & Trisha

Noelle, Cole and Leah

The kids and I decided to take a spring break road trip to visit Mom in Salmon Arm. We stopped for the night at Kim and Tim's and the kids had fun with Noelle playing Dance Revolution - ok I think the Leah and Noelle were a bit more interested in the game than Cole. Playing Asteriods seemed to be his favorite. We enjoyed a yummy dinner of tacos and in the morning, Kim brought me a very tasty homemade cinnamon dolce latte - Starbucks beware! We arrived at mom's today and went for a walk up to the pond at the college campus. Cole fell in, but we managed to make it home for warm baths and hot chocolate. Hanging out after getting warm

Rockaway Beach Weekend

The Gang

We had a great weekend at Rockaway Beach with the Matt, Marnie, Kai, Piper and Eden. The kids had a great time playing together - complete with beach forts and bad guys. And the hot tub was great for swimming. Lots of conversation, general hanging out and of course a 'Where are we now?' run with Darin. We stopped at DQ and the Tillamook Cheese factory, also known as 'the giant snackbar,' on the way home.

High Flying Dragon Kite

Beach Walk

Can we spent the night out here in the fort?

Fire and microwave s'mores

Piano Performance Class

Friday, March 16 was a performance class for both Cole and Leah. Leah did her first 'public' performance with a piece called the Old Clock. Cole played Ode to Joy. The kids had to introduce their piece, play from memory and the take a bow at the end. Here Leah is playing some music for a game of 'hot potato'

In Memory

A life full of kindness, patience and love. Looking forward to seeing you again.

Random Photos

It really does snow in Portland!

Omsi Science

Crazy Cousins

Princess - March 11, 2007

Shamrock 5K - March 11, 2007

My first post on my brand new blog! I'm hoping this keeps us connected and in touch - post your comments below. Julie, Chris, Brenda (friends from church) and I headed downtown early, early this morning (remember it was the time change - spring ahead) to run the Shamrock 5K. It was Chris's first race (you rock, girl) and it all clicked - the weather was perfect, we found a free parking spot, the clam chowder after the race was still warm, Chris snagged a race shirt, we had a front row seat for the bagpipers - the only thing that could have been better is if we would have all had matching green Shamrock hats.