Cousins' Visit

Matthew's sister and her family came to visit for 10 days in August and we had so much fun with them! We were essentially on vacation, but still at home, the best of both worlds. Our girls had so much fun playing together and they had lots of time to!

Two Ashley's-aren't they both beautiful?

Chloe had her birthday party while here, a princess party. We were instructed to come "fancy", so we spent a lot of time getting ready at home. All the girls wanted their hair curled and make up done.

The primping continued at Nana's! Chloe got her wish of pink hair for her birthday.

All the girls

Ashley is an amazing cake decorator! She spent 3 days on this cake. She taught me how to make marshmallow fondant which was really fun and pretty easy. Maybe I'll try it myself sometime.

Children's Museum: Looking at this picture makes me realize how old Emily is, she had a great time there, but compared to the rest of the kids in the kitchen, she looks old!

The weather didn't get hot while they were here, but we finally got in the pool anyway. It was freezing! But the kids didn't seem to mind.

Ashley is really good at hair too and my girls were more than happy to let her do their hair. This was a pretty crazy hairdo, but the girls loved it!

We had a fun day at the beach, but it was much warmer back in Portland, so we didn't stay too long.

Beach Trip

We went on an overnight trip to the beach in July and had a fun time together. We had great weather and played on the beach a lot.

It was so fun to have a campfire and roast marshmallows on the beach. We hadn't done that since Matthew and I were dating.

The next day was sunny and warm

I enjoyed some reading time!

Ashley wanted to eat at her own little table. I love her smile in this picture. It actually looks like my smile at that age.

Beach Day

We headed to Seaside for a ward beach day in July. It's always a fun activity playing with friends on the beach. It was cold and cloudy, but then the sun finally came out. Ashley enjoyed her first sand experience.

Spring Break Beach Trip

We spent a night at the beach during spring break. It was the worst weather of the week, but we had fun anyway. We enjoyed the beach, the arcade room, the indoor swimming pool, letting the kids stay up to watch a movie and being together without the distractions of home.

We headed out during breaks in the rain.

The view from our room.

Fortunately, it didn't rain as predicted in the morning. Emily, Angela, and I went for a walk on the beach before breakfast.

It was too cold to play in the sand or the water, but it was still fun to run away from the waves.

Chillin' on the deck.

And here is a picture of me so I don't get those "Where were you?"comments. I'm usually the one behind the camera, but I got Emily to take this one.

Family Reunion: Beach

We all went to the beach one day and were glad to trade the 107 degree weather for 85 degrees at the coast. The cold water felt good and the kids had a great time running around.

Phelps come to visit

Matthew's sister and her family came to visit for a week and we had so much fun with them. We love spending time with Ashley and Robby! The kids love Robby, he is always throwing them around or wrestling with them. We went to the beach, swam in the pool, and just hung out a lot. It was fun for our girls to play together. Trying to take pictures of the kids together made me laugh. It seemed like there was always someone looking away, putting fingers in the mouth, poking their neighbor, etc.

Naomi likes Emily's nose.
Nicole likes Chloe.

Getting to know each other. Nicole and Naomi are only 3 months apart in age.