Visit from the Carters!

I was so excited when I got the phone call last week from my friend, Shannon, that she and her two sweet kiddos were coming to visit! She could only come the day after we returned from The Longest Road Trip Ever, and at the time I thought it a fabulous idea, but when the day actually arrived, I started rethinking how fabulous this may be. Trying to clean, do laundry and get settled into a regular routine while feeling way exhausted was pretty tough. But having Shannon come over was all worth it. We had a great time with her and Kaiden and Kalya!

The only two pics I got of their entire visit! Wish I would have gotten more - we had such a great time!

Memorial Road Trip

*Reader's Alert - this is a long post!*
My brother, Talia and I just got back from our road trip to North Dakota for our grandma's memorial. Although she passed away in March, close family chose August 26th as her memorial date since that would have been her 75th birthday. Even though I had some trepidation about going on this trip (finding childcare for Tristan, bringing a four month old on a 48 hour car ride!), I am so glad we were able to make it.

Night 1 - Spokane
We left last Wednesday after Trav got off of work and made the first trek to Spokane to stay with relatives. There have been many late night trips to visit the fam in Spokane, but I don't think we've ever been happier to see the city lights before! We rolled in around 2am and immediately went to bed. Or so I thought... Since Talia slept the entire car ride north, she woke up at my aunt's house, thinking it was morning time and loudly played for the next hour, waking everyone asleep in the basement with us, including those who had to get up at 6 for work. So sorry!! Luckily, we got to sleep in a little in the morning and also got to see my two of my aunts, uncle and cousin who went in late to work so that they could see us off.

There were many photos snapped this morning, but this was the only one I was able to get. My aunt had made this headband for Talia and I made Trav model it with her :)

Day 2 - Montana
After hitting up the first Starbucks, we were back on the road for seven hours to Brian's parents' house in Ennis, MT. I'm not sure how many Starbucks we visited on this day, but I'm pretty sure we each had at least three coffees and two sodas. We were just laying the foundation for the rest of the trip.
I could tell Trav was the most afraid of Talia crying the entire car trip, as he prepared himself with noise canceling headphones. But little did he know that she is actually a great car traveler and has been a pretty easy (knock on wood!) baby so far! This trip was pretty uneventful, excpet for the last 45 minutes where she wanted so desperately out of her carseat that we almost pulled over and walked the last 10 miles :)
Day 3 - Montana
The next day we decided that we were going to give ourselves an "off-day" in Montana and enjoy ourselves before driving to North Dakota. And I'm so glad we did! Trav got to experience what Brian and I have always done while visiting his parents. We went on an hour long ATV ride to an old mining town over the mountains from their house. And we got to relax while having all of our meals and laundry taken care of by Brian's very generous mother. Exactly what we needed!

Love this picture of Grandma George & Talia!

Trav super excited for the relaxation!

Papa George & Talia :)

Talia & I snuggling on the Georges' porch

Trav, Talia & I in front of an old stagecoach in Virginia City, MT

Day 4 - North Dakota - finally!
The next day, we got up bright and early and started our longest leg of the trip so far - close to 10 hours of traveling! After already gulping down a mocha at the Georges, we then found the nearest espresso place half hour into our drive. Staying caffienated was the key to our success on this trip!
I had been to North Dakota three other times to visit family and had my mind set on how flat and plain the state was. But for some reason, I had a different interpration of it this time. It was actually a pretty drive and surprisingly green! We also saw a lot of oil being mined (is that what you call it??) on the drive. Something I had never seen here before.
This section of the trip also went pretty well. We only had to pull over twice to console a tired baby and were able to pull into our Bismarck hotel around 5ish. We met up with my dad, dad's cousin and aunt (grandma's sister) for dinner as soon as everyone was checked in. Talia was SO excited to be out of her carseat (I wouldn't blame her!) that she couldn't stop smiling and laughing the entire time at dinner!

Big Grandpa and Talia!
Day 5 - North Dakota
The next day, we woke up early to travel the 45 minutes north to the small town, Bowdon, where my grandma had grown up and where her memorial would take place. This is also the place where I had gone for my great-great grandma's 100th birthday when I was 14. Also where my dad, brother and I had gone on a 10 day road trip to visit my great-grandma for the last time eight years ago. And had returned a few months later for her funeral. When I think of small-town America, or a place where people still have very conservative values, I always think of Bowdon, ND. This place hasn't aged in years. It still has only one gas station, one cafe, one hardware store (which my great-grandpa owned for many years), one school and one post office, all down one road. We always return to the same cafe to have a meal with the locals (who are now in their 70s and 80s) and who always seem to know my dad and all about my family's history. They know a lot about him even though after he was born here, he only stayed until he was five before moving to Seattle. I love coming here with him as he always has so many stories about getting into mischief in the farmlands of ND.

Going through Grami's photo albums at the local cafe with her sister and aunt while Trav and our cousin, Hannah, looks on.

Danner family photo

The Jones Hardware sign remains, even though it's been empty for years.

Lonely (and no longer working) single gas pump in town

Not kidding when I say small town... :)

It's hard to put into words how special my Grami was to me. She was a nurse by trade, but loved to sing and had once dreamed of becoming a Broadway star. She loved knowledge and spent so much of her time reading and exploring new ideas. Every few months I would get letters from her with magazine or newspaper (and then later internet) clippings of things she thought I may need to know or would find interesting. When I was growing up, she lived just 20 minutes away from us, so I was able to see her quite a bit. She and my aunt were the first ones to take me shopping and buy me my first designer piece of clothing - a Guess skirt! She loved being a Grami so much and in more recent years, loved being called GG (great-grandma) to Lincoln and Tristan (as she had never met Talia). I will always cherish our shared middle name and so grateful that Talia will also have that connection with her GG.

Day 6 - ND to MT
This trip back to Brian's parents' house took us almost 12 hours and was definitely the most exhausting of the trip, partly due to the fact that Talia was done with being in her carseat!! We had to stop more than ever to console a crying a baby and were never happier than when we went to bed soon after arriving at the Georges' house that evening!

Badlands in North Dakota - beautiful!

This is how Talia rolled most of the trip. Bottle in hand!

Day 7 - MT to home - finally!
Wow, this day was the longest by far at nearly 17 hours of driving. Yes, I said 17 hours of driving. We wished we had another day to split up the driving, but Trav needed to get back to work the next day. And so we had to drive the entire way in one day. Double yikes. Luckily for all of us, this was one of Talia's best driving days! And also luckily for us, we managed to find every single Starbuck's within a half mile off the highways. I'm not exactly sure how much caffiene Trav consumed on the last day, but let's just say that he may have had five shots in his last beverage. He started regretting that extra shot when the caffiene hit him soon after we got back on the freeway. Is there such a thing as being over-caffienated?? Not too sure when you have 17 hours of driving ahead of you!

And this is who I was most excited to see when I came home :) I couldn't believe how much I missed this little guy. Here is a pic that Aunt Michelle snapped of him during an art project that he and cousin Eli worked on:

*This trip ended up being one of the most memorable trips I have ever been on. Funny how I have been to some pretty incredible places, but a cross-country road trip ranks up there as one of the best. And when my dad, Trav and I took a similar 10 day trip eight years ago, it was equally as great then, too. There's something about taking a road trip with one of your favorite people in the world and being able to have uninterrupted discussions on everything from politics (of course!), technology, time travel (a new subject for us), all while finding the humor in everything around us. If there is one thing about my brother that I appreciate more than anything, it's the fact that we will always laugh at the same things and be able to turn any monotonous day of driving into a fun and adventurous trip. I am so glad we were able to spend this time together while also honoring a lady who is very near and dear to our hearts. A time I will always cherish!*

Portland

Yesterday, we drove back to Portland so that Talia and I could begin our LONG road trip with my brother for my grandma's memorial. Since Brian was able to turn it into a work trip, Tristan, Talia and I had to find something to do while he was working. We decided it was the perfect opportunity to visit my school as many teachers were already back-to-school prepping, as well as go on some pretty long walks around town. I'm not sure who was more exhausted after our two day Operation Find Things To Do and Wear Out a Toddler adventure. Four+ miles one day, five+ miles the next. Especially since I had to either carry a 30-pounder or find a way to put him on a stroller during most of those walks. Got my exercise in for the month!

Blurry pic of the huge fire we passed on the way to Portland. *Update - This was the beginning of the Pole Fire that ended up burning for over two months and destroyed many acres!*

These have always been a favorite of T's.

Gelato! A boy after his mom's heart :)

Talia snuggling with Stella at Trav & Bridg's.

It doesn't matter where we are, he always seems to find a guitar. Luckily, Big Grandpa left his guitar at Trav's last time he was there.

Naked Cowboy in the making.

First Rollover!

Talia rolled over for the first time over the weekend while my girlfriends were visiting. Although I didn't get any pictures, I do have some video of her to document it. Still having issues with uploading it here, but stay tuned!

More visitors!

We have been so lucky to have so many guests come and visit us this summer! This past weekend, we welcomed a few more who made their second trip over the mountains. This trip was more of a girls+kids trip as Falkie & her kids, and Lynds (sans kids) came and stayed with us. Such a great time with great friends!

Wow, didn't realize I'd made the same mistake with red popsicles three times this summer until now...you'd think I would have learned the first time?? At least Falkie had more parenting sense to take Leah's shirt off...

Tristan & Nick & their iPads. And Tristan's red popsicle face.

Us girls and our wine...aaaahhh :)

Enjoying the pool in the backyard. Please ignore the bare spots of grass - we're redoing parts of the backyard in bits and obviously we haven't gotten to this part yet. Yikes.

Out to coffee with the girls!

Out to dinner at Deschutes - of course we had to have dessert!

These two could not get enough of the Jeep. Although, apparently, Tristan couldn't get enough of his nose, either.

Still picking...

Silly faces! Oh wait, still picking...

Thanks for a great time, girls!!! Can't wait to do it again soon!!

Concerts at the Park

Even before we moved to Bend, we were checking out the ampitheater's concert schedule to see which concerts we could attend. When we saw Norah Jones was playing, we instantly thought that it would be a great show to go to with the kiddos in tow. As the show neared, we kept thinking about buying tickets but didn't make a move. Going to a show with two kids under the age of two seemed like such a great idea in theory, but in actuality...? Probably not as relaxing as Norah's tunes would have been. So when the concert day was upon us, we (the Goodys and Georges) decided instead to sit on the opposite side of the river, bring a picnic dinner (and wine!) and find a cozy spot all to ourselves as we reveled in our brilliant idea. Little did we know that all of Bend had the same fantastic idea that we had!

Talia enjoying the sunny tunes of Norah Jones

Michelle & Emma

Thought this was a cute pic of the boys sprawled out on the lawn :)

A rare family photo

Jacksons visit!

Last weekend, the Jacksons came into town for a visit! It was so good to see them and have QT with them. Especially for Tristan and Aubrey who have an inexplicable bond. They seem to find their way to each other, even when there are other little ones around. After they left, Tristan would not stop talking about, "Aubrey, Aubrey, Aubrey!" These two are the sweetest :)

Red popsicles with a white shirt again. You'd think I would have learned my lesson with the last BBQ :)

Ali & Talia

Aubrey, the new lead singer for The GGs

I think someone has baby fever!

These pictures don't even do justice to the amount of things we were able to fit into three days! BBQ, playing in a band, long walk, play at the park, lunch,etc. - anyting we could do to wear out two toddlers! Thanks again for the good times once again, Jacksons!

Happy 4 month!

I can hardly believe we already have a four month old! In some ways, I feel like she's been with us so much longer, but in other ways, it feels like only a few weeks ago we all met.
What a joy and blessing she is in our lives! She and Tristan are interacting more and more each day. Tristan has been so sweet to "my baby" since Day 1, but just recently she has been able to reciprocate the affection. She'll give him a huge smile or laugh and he'll try and repeat the expressions from her over and over again. They are really so sweet together!

I also have a cute video of bro & sis that I'm trying to upload - stay tuned!

Trip to Portland - Dresel's coming to town!

This past weekend, we traveled to Portland once again to see our dear friend, Dresel! You can pretty much bet on a good time had by all when Dretz comes into town. Too many crazy memories, not enough time :)

Our first night we met everyone at dinner. Always a great photo opp!

The next night, we all went over to Lawrence's for a BBQ. Tristan found his favorite "Uncle Daze" and wouldn't leave his side all night!

I soon figured out a white shirt at a BBQ is not a good idea for a two year old. As soon as I saw the dark red popsicles being handed out, I immediately hid the white shirt. Bad parenting move.

The next night, a few of us girls went out. Only my second outing since having Talia!!

Doggy cousins. This is what we found as we were packing to go home. Bella tried to convince us it was a good idea to take on one more dog. If we could have swapped two for one, we may have made a deal. But I don't think Trav & Bridg would have gone for that one.
All in all, a great weekend with family and good friends!