Last day in Portland

Our last day in Portland we just had the morning.   We needed to be at the airport early in the afternoon, but we made that last bit really count!  The girls enjoyed some play time at Nana's while I packed up the van.

Then we headed over to Slappy Cakes with Cousin A and Uncle T (and Nana, of course!).  At Slappy Cakes they bring you your pancake batter in a squeeze bottle, the griddle is at your table, and you make your own pancakes.  The wait is rather long to get into this place, but it was worth it! We had so much fun making fun designs and mixing the batter flavors.  The toppings were delicious as well.  Oh, and the chicken fried bacon?  Yea, YUM!

On our way home!  It was GREAT to visit friends and family, but we were ready to get home to our guys.

A picnic in the Seattle Airport. 

Our last flight was not fully booked, so Miss A got to have her own seat!  Since I suspected this would be the case I asked ahead and was able to bring her car seat on board.  She was happier traveling the last leg like this.

Home may be wherever the Air Force sends us, but Portland sure is a special place!

Nike and some dear friends....

Its just seemed wrong to be in Portland, have access to the Nike employee store, and NOT go.  So we headed in with Uncle C and Nana.  Uncle L was able to provided passes to more of the family so we met a few more people there.  We found a couple of things we needed and then we were off....

We headed over to my Dad's house.

I miss him.

Some dear friends met us there.  It was such a precious time to just be together and chat for a bit.  Even more precious?  That we all brought our daughters together and they loved getting to play together.

The only bad thing?  The tears at the end when it was time to go (from our little girls).  Oh yea, and it will likely be WAY too long before we get to do this again.

I'm so glad I was able to get a visit in with my sweet step-mom.  It is always a joy to see her.  I'm thankful for the blessing she was to my Dad.

A wedding!

Cousin G (AKA Purple Cat) was getting married.  Our family loves a good party and a wedding is a wonderful excuse to gather everyone.  I was so thankful to Rob for making it possible to get out for this special day.  For so many reasons this was a wedding I just could not miss.  What a joyful time as we all began to gather to celebrate the beginning of a new marriage and family....

Great Gram and her youngest (for the moment) great grandchild.  Such a joy to get to bring them together.

Uncle C bumming candy off of his niece 

Out of 10 cousins, 9 were able to be there (and the 10th sent his wife).  We've all grown and gone our own ways, but it's always nice to get together.

All that space to run and play....she was in heaven!

For Miss J getting to chase Miss A around and play babysitter was like a dream come true.  They both had a blast.

Baby girl decided not to show up until after everyone left town.  It was great to see the mama and daddy though. ;)

I didn't really get any pictures of the ceremony.  I was busy enjoying it and...well...keeping Miss A still and quiet.  Anyone that knows her well knows that is quite the job. ;)

Ah, now to PARTY!!!!  The bride and groom threw a great party and we all had so much fun!  

                                       

Miss C thought it was getting a bit loud.

Dancing with Uncle C is fun!

What a party!  A couple of my girls could have kept going in the the wee hours, but one was already out and the other looking pretty tired.  We headed back to Nana's while the party was still going, but not long before things wound down.  Tomorrow would be another busy day!

Girl's trip!

For months we had awaited the official news of a cousin's engagement and the wedding date.  While we waited the girls (knowing that _I_ would be going) wondered.... Who would get to go with Mom? .... Some even started saving to help pay for the plane tickets.  I ended up taking all of them.

We arrived at the airport BEFORE the crack of dawn only to find out that there was a 1 hour delay.  Then it became a 2 hour delay.  Then 3.  We had a good time while we waited and the airline provided meal vouchers for us.

Finally on the airplane both Miss A and Miss J fell asleep before we even left the gate; missing their first ever take off.

Once we got going all else went smoothly and we had a good time up in the air.

We arrived in town in time to pick up our rental car, settle in a bit at Nana's, run and quick errand and then.... On to the rehearsal dinner.  LET THE FUN BEGIN!

Just as we were heading out Auntie J and cousin J stopped by and Miss E took off with them to pick up the pizza for the dinner

It was so nice to reconnect with the family  (meet the bride!) and give the girls time to get comfortable before the big day.

Back at Nana's the little girls needed some time to unwind and settle in before going to sleep.  That worked out well since Miss E and Uncle C needed some time to blow up the air mattresses.  It seems that the pump was not working.  Oh bother.

Day 1 on a whirl wind trip was packed with fun.  Day 2 (wedding day) we managed to pack in a wedding errand or two, a Hanna Andersson Outlet shopping trip, a migraine for mom (me), Burgerville, and a quick visit with Great Gram.  Whew!  I was thankful to get to take a nap (and kick the migraine) before the wedding festivities got going.