Portland Trip 2012

After wrapping up my time in Utah I flew to PDX to spend some time with my parents.  Brett had been in Baker while I partied with the girls so he drove over and met me in Portland. It was great to see him again and great seeing my parents.

For those of you who don't know my mom is recovering from radiation treatment that she had after having some cancerous growths removed from her neck.  It was hard being so far away from her while she went through the whole ordeal so I was looking forward to being around and helping out.  My mom was great during our visit and really pushed herself so we could all go out and do some things.  She is still recovering and gets tired easily so we appreciate her willingness to use her limited energy on us!  My dad has been amazing at taking care of my mom and the house in addition to working so I was also glad we got to give him a little bit of a break (hopefully we didn't cause more mess....) and he was able to take some time away from his work and play with us too!

Our first full day there was the 4th of July.  We decided to venture out in the afternoon to a nearby town called North Plains.  They were have a little street fair and so we walked around and enjoyed the non-humid weather.

My parents also convinced Brett and I to sit down and get ourselves drawn by the caricature artist.  I was hesitant at first but love the finished product.  It is baby themed and so I am shown pregnant and we are headed to the hospital with our suitcase.  The plan is to put it up in the baby's room.

That evening we had a yummy BBQ (thanks to chef Brett) and went over to watch the firework show that a local neighborhood puts on.  The show they do is long and legit and we enjoyed hanging out in the park prior to the fireworks throwing a football, people watching and talking.  I didn't take any pictures, so you'll just have to take my word that we had fun.

The next day Brett agreed to get up early and help my dad lay some sod while my mom and I went shopping for a few last needed pieces of baby fabric to finish up some projects.  We checked in on the men at the end, just in time to admire their hard work.

My mom then used the fabric to finish up some baby stuff she made for our little girl.  She has been busy sewing and crocheting adorable things!  Here are some pictures of the loot I ended up with.  3 adorable baby booties she crocheted, a whole slew of flowers to make into headbands/hair clips, a diaper changing pad with a pocket to hold the diaper/wipes, a portable bag to hold diapers and wipes, a receiving blanket and a handful of burp cloths.  All of that in addition to the beautiful baby blanket she crocheted!  LOVE IT!

That night we went to the Street of Affordable Homes.  It was like a Street of Dreams where you walk through a whole bunch of houses, only they were supposedly more affordable.  Although they were still well out of our current budget it was fun to look at and day dream with Brett about what we hope to have sometime in the future.  The benefit of the homes being "affordable" was that many of the homes were realistic as opposed to most Street of Dreams.  Because, lets be honest, even if I had a million dollars, I wouldn't spend it on an outrageously huge home with all theupgrades. We really did have fun though! Its always fun to think about the future with Brett.... which hopefully includes a house full of kids and good memories.   Again, no pictures... sorry.

Friday my mom, Brett and I took it easy and went for a drive while my dad worked.  I love where my parents live because they live within a short drive of downtown as well as within a short drive of complete solitude/forest area/farm land/beach.  We ended up at a little park area with some picnic tables and a fun/easy little hike.  We ate our yummy fried chicken picnic and then played some games with my mom.  Growing up my mom and I played a lot of Cribbage (a card game with a board/pegs that you use to count points).  I had my mom re-teach me and we taught Brett.  Surprisingly Brett beat us both that afternoon (although it was in part because we helped him... a lot).  Brett and I then went for a walk around the area and found a little river with lots of caterpillars.  Brett liked playing with the little caterpillars and piled them all together at one point. I did not like the caterpillars and kept saying how gross they were.  We also found a cool bridge that we walked across before returning to the grassy area to lay around and read and enjoy the fresh air.

Saturday we all went to the St Paul Rodeo.  We walked around and saw the animals, booths and carnival games then indulged in some carnival food for dinner.  It was bull riding night so we got to watch as rider after rider attempted to stay on the bucking bulls for 8 whole seconds.  I'll admit I gasped and shrieked a few times as they were thrown off and then were hit by the Bulls.  All the riders walked away and seemed to be okay, but still... such a crazy sport!  There was also a college competition of calf milking that was fun to watch.  The show ended with some fireworks and then we indulged again and all split a funnel cake.

Brett also went golfing with my dad but I don't have pictures of that and wasn't there so I don't have much to say about it.  Sounded like that had fun though!

We had such a great time hanging out and relaxing in Portland!  Thanks for the fun times mom and dad!  Hope to see you again soon!