o.c.

meet oren.  he belongs outside.

in hebrew, his name means tree and he was right at home amongst them.  that is until he thought we had left him alone...then he got a little ticked.

these are some of the most loving and tender parents.  i loved watching them interact with their little boy...jessica was so gentle and brian already has all sorts of endearing nicknames for him.  they are also incredibly relaxed for first time parents!  they were pumped to bring him outside and totally willing to try anything, including putting him in the forest and on the bare ground in a pile of leaves.  it sure made my job fun and made for some cute pictures!

i'm pretty sure when he grows up he's going to be a logger...or an environmentalist...or a gnome.

i can't choose

i seriously can't choose.  there are too many good ones.  these guys made it almost impossible to take bad pictures of them.  i tried, but alas...

this is love, if i've ever seen it.

i've heard people say "those two are so in love" and of course they are - they're engaged.  and then i did their pictures and i was saying "those two are ridiculously in love".  like uncomfortably so at times.  i felt like maybe i should just take a walk an come back in an hour.  i didn't really need to tell them what to do because they just looked at each other and the sparks flew.  i could seriously hardly get them to look at me.

now let's take a minute to highlight amber's hair.  amazing.

bonner's kinda cute too.

seen an incredible engagement ring lately?  BAM.  

now you have.  this belonged to bonner's mom...it was her engagement ring.  his parents recently got new rings for each other on their anniversary.  she came to visit and gave it to him and said "propose already, would you?" (that's my paraphrase).  and he did.  and she said yes.  

i guess amber's mom made her promise she wouldn't make a bunch of goofy faces in her engagement pictures because apparently she's "known for that".  sorry bev, she just couldn't help herself.

i made sure she smartened up...at least for a few.

bonner got a little old school and carved their initials in a tree.  aside from a few foul looks from passers-by, i think it was pretty romantic.

i seriously had so much fun with you two - i'm secretly hoping you're going to ask me to join your band after witnessing my wicked awesome finger-snapping techniques.  no?  i understand.  that's okay.  i'll just try to stick with what i know best.  see you at your wedding!!  

i told you i couldn't choose.

okay.  this is self indulgence at its best/worst?  amber messaged me to tell me how happy they were with the pictures i posted and asked if there were more to see.  oh honey, you have no idea.  there are SO MANY more.  and because you live far away and i actually have to mail you the disc which means you won't get to see them for awhile and because you are so freaking cute:

I WILL GIVE YOU MORE!  just because i can.  and i want to.

girls will be girls.

we just got to meet our niece, sierra, on her first birthday a few weeks ago and she is a character!  she and simon fed off of each other like you wouldn't believe.  she taught him how to clap and he taught her to headbang.  seeing as gwendy is a child of the eighties, I figured she's appreciate getting her daughter started early.

gwendy is cliff's older sister and when they get together, it's trouble.  i've never heard so much giggling in my life.  the stories of cliff's brattiness as a child and the epic beatings gwen doled out are classic.  it's so fun to see her as a mom now...she may have softened up through motherhood, but i think she's still one tough chic.

seeing these two ladies together is magic...nothing quite like the mama/baby love.

and on an even more personal note, my baby is one today!  happy birthday, little monkey.

day 29 = home

we figured the grand finale should include sisters.  and cousins.  we got to stay the night in portland, which the kids had been looking forward to for days.  "augie-manny's house!!!" allie would scream (she still hasn't figured out that they're two different people...or maybe she just thinks that both of their names are augie-manny).

my kids also LOVE auntie missa/untle paw cuddles.

it was so nice to be in the pacific northwest again.  the damp air, the ginormous trees and the mountains...oh, the mountains.  we have experienced a lot of natural beauty on this trip, but nothing beats home.

we got to see my crazy cute and prego sister leslie and her husband josh for an hour too.

one of the things i've learned from our time on the road is that i am NOT a landscape photographer.  or at least not a very good one.  i have so much to learn.  every time i saw something incredibly beautiful and tried to capture it, i failed.  all i could think about was how much fun it would be to photograph a person in front of it.  any models want to come along on our next road trip?

i have also been reminded how much i LOVE my family.  my kids were amazing.  so much fun.  and my husband is the best.  ever.

and as much fun as it is to be gone, it's so nice to be warmly welcomed back again.

a few stats from our trip:

5 walmart parking lots

12 states

5 provinces

3 pacifiers lost

10 boxes mac and cheese

1 bloody lip

10 medications/natural remedies tried

2 murderous thoughts toward a snowplower (well, it was one murderous thought from each cliff and i toward the same man)

11,000 kilometres traveled

4 great lakes seen (sorry erie...can we count the great salt lake?)

2 flipped semis and 1 semi-load of potato salad spilled all over the interstate

6 hot dogs consumed by a single person in one sitting (that was not me.  or the children)

3 ontarios driven through (the province and the towns in new york and idaho)

2 ridiculous church signs ("worry is like a rocking chair.  it keeps you busy, but gets you nowhere" and my personal favorite "the only ghost in here is holy".  seriously people, who thinks these things up?  and then who has the time to sit on their computer and look them up on-line?  and then actually have the audacity to use them?  bored senior pastors, that's who.)

INNUMERABLE incredible sights and friends visited.  thank you to everyone who hosted us, filled our bellies, played with our kids, made us coffee, prayed for us and opened your doors to these weary travellers.  it was so rich.  

now back to work - i have so much catching up to do!!