Silver Falls with the Birthday Boy

Travis' birthday was yesterday so we decided to have a fun day out with the kids. We went to Silver Falls State Park, which is about an hour away. There are 8 gorgeous waterfalls scattered throughout the park, with beautiful hiking/biking trails. We hiked all around the state park and had such a fun time, even though the kids were exhausted by the end. There were some pretty steep parts that made us a little nervous so we ended up hauling Sydney around on our shoulders through most of the hike. The weather was amazing and we had a great time just being together. To top it off, we had a baby sitter come so Travis and I could escape and celebrate his birthday with friends.

Little Painters

We switched Baylee and Jake's rooms this last week because Jake has a much bigger closet and Baylee is a girl which means she has a lot more "stuff". Jake's old room was blue so we had to repaint it to match the new brown and pink polka dot bedding Baylee just got. Baylee and her friend, Addison wanted to help paint. I think they had a great time. Sydney and Taylor had to be in on the fun as well but I made them stay on the bed. I will post pictures of Baylee's new room when it is all finished. We also repainted Baylee's old room for Jake blue, it was a light green and not boyish enough for Jake.

My husband is a Fantasy Football Nerd!

For all of you that really know Travis, you know he can be obsessed about a couple of things. Number 1, Sports! Do I need to say more? He eats, sleeps, breaths sports. I did not realize how obsessed he was until right after we were married he would watch ESPN Sports Center every night and every morning, they were exactly the same show. I asked him why he watched the same show more than once and he said that he might have missed something. Right then, I knew I was in trouble.

Number 2 obsession, Fantasy Sports! Arghhh! This can be a major point of contention in our marriage, especially during football season. He is usually in at least 3 football leagues a season (this year it is 4), 2 basketball and 2 baseball leagues. It is a year round obsession. I thought it was bad enough when he would escape into his office to check scores. It got even worse when he got his Blackberry.

Tonight was the start of the Fantasy Football Drafts. Nine of his buddies from around here got together at our house for a "Live Draft". I had to take a picture because they all had laptops, fantasy books, print offs of players and to top it off, Travis got out his projector and screen to show every ones picks in full color. They of course brought a plethora of food and had a grand time! Tonight was the start of the drafts, he has one more this week and then 2 next week, these ones are all online or with a conference call, good thing. I am happy Travis has a hobby, I know it makes him happy and a great escape from his crazy, busy life. Now I just have to prepare for football season, I hope he wins, it drives me nuts when he is getting beat by one of his friends because he can be a little grumpy. As Katie says, "Travis, you are the most competitive person I know!" Travis does not like to lose but he is always a winner in my eyes. (CHEESY but true!)

The "Live" Football Draft tonight.
This is of Travis and Jess last year in Boise doing a football draft. This was actually the night of my birthday, I was a little annoyed but it was supposedly the only night they could have done it. Good thing we went out the night before on Katie's birthday to celebrate for both of us. I think they look pretty cute, especially with their papers taped to the wall. They had a great time doing it together.

The Oregon Coast

Travis and his girls.

Last week it was very hot here in Portland (over 100 degrees) which is hot for the northwest. It was big news here, seriously, just like it is big news if it snows. We wanted to escape so we went to the Oregon Coast for the day which was at least 30 degrees cooler. We were going to do our usual day trip to Cannon Beach and then down to Tillamook for a stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory to get ice cream. When we got to the turn off to go to Cannon Beach or Tillamook, it was completely backed up for Cannon (I think a lot of people from Portland were thinking the same as us), so we thought we would head to get ice cream first. Tillamook is great ice cream, but not as good as Blue Bell. I am an ice cream connoisseur,I know what good ice cream is since it is my favorite thing to eat.


The beach house we stayed in for a family reunion.

After the stop in Tillamook we headed up to Cannon along Highway 101, it is a gorgeous drive along the coast. There was so much traffic heading up north so we decided to stop in Rockaway Beach and park in front of a beach house we stayed at 5 years ago for a family reunion. This house is right on the beach and is actually for sale right now for only 1.2 million if any of the Risenmay family is interested. We were 1 of 3 families on this beach, it was so quiet. I love the Oregon Coast, the water is not warm, only a few brave souls actually swim in the ocean. It was a little cloudy but absolutely beautiful and such a peaceful, relaxing place to just enjoy spending time with our little family. We played soccer, Frisbee, baseball, ran away from the cold waves, looked for shells, and dug in the sand.



Jake and Baylee love their baby sister, she has them wrapped around her little finger.


It was a perfect day and we all had so much fun being together as a family. I am truly blessed to have an amazing, loving husband and three happy, healthy children.

Last stop...Boise

After the reunion we headed up to Boise for the weekend to spend time with Jess, Katie and the boys. We went to the water park, went on a date, went to a couple open houses and just had a fun, relaxing time. We love being with the Meikles, we are so grateful for their friendship. We wish we still lived by each other but at least we live close enough to visit often.

It has been a crazy 10 days of traveling and driving over 2000 miles but we truely had a wonderful trip. We feel so fortunate to have such a wonderful family and friends. Next time we are in Utah, hopefully it will be more than a day so we can see all of you that live in Salt Lake or nearby. We miss you all and think of you often. I am so glad that I can know what is going on in everyone's lives by reading your blogs, what a great way to keep in touch!

Gilbert Family Reunion

Our whole purpose for coming to Utah was for a family reunion on Travis' side at a ranch in Eastern Utah. This reunion was with Travis' mom's family, (her 6 siblings, their kids and Grandma and Grandpa), I think there were around 70 of us. We went to this place called Reid Ranch in the middle of nowhere. We stayed in a huge lodge where individual families had their own rooms and a bathroom. We went to a cafeteria for our 3 meals a day and they had a ton of activities for us to do. We went horseback riding, paddle boats, our lodge had its own swimming pool, there was miniature golf, a playground, archery, hiking, volleyball, you name it. Travis and I came up with the Gilbert Family Olympics where we had speed races, the discus, marshmallow gun fights and many more events we did not have time to get to. All the young moms brought crafts for the kids to do. We had a fun jam packed 4 days. It was so nice getting to know some family members better and get reacquainted with others. Travis' mom put this whole reunion together and it was FANTASTIC! I only got a few pictures because I dropped my camera in dirt with the lens open and now it will not open and close. Roxanne took pictures for me so I am hoping she will email me some soon so I can post more. All of Travis' 5 siblings came with their kids so our kids had a blast with their cousins who are all pretty much around the same age. It was such an amazing reunion, I feel so blessed to have married into a loving family.

I miss my sisters...

We were only in Salt Lake for one day so I wanted to spend time with my sisters and their families. My sisters, Travis and I have birthdays all within a month so we decided to exchange our gifts and have a cake. I am always in the mood for cake. My kids loved seeing their cousins, everyone was there but Jeff who is on a mission in Canada and Tanner had a meeting. Riley and Kaleb just graduated from high school and are heading off to college and then their missions. Sydney kept on picking at the cake and my brother-in-law encouraged her to take a bite, that is exactly what she did. My other brother-in-law, Troy, joined her. The guys played their usual game of Around the World (basketball) and we just hung out and chatted. We had such a fun day with family, this is what makes me miss living in Utah.

Sydney and Uncle Troy taking a bite out of the cake.
Sydney and Jake helping my sisters blow out the candles.
Kaleb, Jake and Riley (Jake thinks the world of his "big" cousins)
Kaleb, Sydney and Riley (we are going to miss these boys when they are on their missions)
The Girls! Baylee, Madi, Sydney and Melia

I am so happy my girls have such great examples to look up to. These two are the sweetest, most loving girls (or young women I should say) and love my kids so much. I call them my nannies because I never have to worry about my kids when they are around.

Good Friends

Baylee and Abby (what happened to our baby girls)
Mindy and Caroline
Travis and Hillary

On our way to Utah we stopped in Jerome, Idaho to stay the night with my good friend from college, Caroline. They had just built a new house and had been there a week when we came. It was so fun to see her, we stayed up until after 1:30 am reminiscing about the good ol' days. Care and I got married within a couple months of each other, we had been through a few "bad relationships" together. I am so glad I had her to cry to back then. We both married amazing men, we do not know what we were thinking with the other guys we dated. I had woken up that day at 4:45 for the triathlon so I was so tired but we had so much fun catching up. Caroline has 3 girls and 1 boy. Her oldest, Abby, and my Baylee have always been good friends, we have pictures of them together since Baylee was first born. Her 4 year old, Hillary, fell in love with Travis and would not leave his side, she wanted a picture with him. Love you Care, thanks for having us.

When we left Caroline's house Sunday morning we headed to Utah and stopped off at another roommate's house in Syracuse, Utah. Cara and I were roommates in Salt Lake after we graduated from college. She just had her third baby, Diesel, and they were having a luncheon to celebrate his baby blessing. It was so fun to see her, Brandon and there 3 adorable kids. Her family was also there so it was great to catch up with them, I have not seen all of them since her wedding 7 years ago. (I forgot to bring my camera in so I did not get any pictures.)

A Tri Babe

I am almost at the finish line (I am in blue).

Travis and the kids were there cheering me on during each transition, it was so fun to hear Sydney yelling "Go Mommy Go! Go Mommy Go!" from far away, it brought tears to my eyes when I was going from the bike to running because I was so tired. Thanks Trav and kids for being there for me, it made this a lot easier.

This is my good friend, Stephanie, she has been my training buddy.

Last year I did my first triathlon with 5 of my neighbors and had a blast. I decided to do it again this year and talked 4 of my running friends into doing it with me. I trained a lot harder, especially in the swimming and had such a fun time getting ready for the triathlon. We did a lot of our training at the local lap pool but had one practice in Lake Oswego to get us ready. Let me tell you, it is so much different swimming in a lake then in a swimming pool. First, the water is a lot clearer in the swimming pool, you can see the black line at the bottom to help you go straight. I was afraid to look in the lake, you never know if there is a big fish around you. Another difference is that you are more buoyant in the pool you have a tendency of sinking a little bit more in the lake so you have to work harder to stay a float. I used a wetsuit so it helped a great deal, sorry I do not have pictures to show, it is a good thing because it is not a pretty sight with a wetsuit, swim cap and goggles.

I beat my overall time this year and my swimming by 3 minutes, which is all I wanted to do. I did freak out at the beginning of the swim, I could not get my breathing right, started to have a panic attack and there are a ton of people around you so it was really little scary. I wanted to give up but I rolled over onto my back floated for a second and said a little prayer and then off I went. It was a great experience and I look forward to doing it next year.

A major highlight of my whole experience is that I ran into my best friend from childhood at the race. We have not seen each other in 12 years. I was listening to this prerace meeting and was looking around and all of a sudden our eyes met. We both freaked out. We grew up together on the same street in Littleton, Colorado from the time we were 2 until I moved away when I was 14. Her parents were my second parents and we have so many great memories. She moved to Portland 1 year ago. After we caught up for a second it was time for the race. During the whole race I kept thinking to myself, I just saw Jenny McDonald. It was crazy. After the race she was able to meet my kids and Travis and I met her boyfriend. Travis was happy to finally put a face with all of the stories he has heard. We are planning on getting together in the next couple of weeks. We did not take any pictures together but will when we get together, I know my family would love to see how little Jenny has grown up.

As soon as the triathlon was over, the car was packed and we started heading out for our long drive to Utah with a stop in Idaho. I had to freshen up in the bathroom of a Jack in the Box and change clothes, I was not a pretty sight when we showed up at my friend's house in Jerome, ID.