St Louis day 1

Hopping into the plane and flying to St. Louis where we spend one day before we drive to Monticello, IL for my cousin Michelles wedding where Norah would take on her most important job of her life: flower girl. 

  Norah hard at work coloring wwwwaaayyy outside the lines. She didn't quite get the idea of a maze yet. That's ok, there is time to learn. 

 Always time to stop coloring for a much needed nap. 

 We made it to St. Louis and we had to go visit "The Arch". The park was being remodeled and I'm sure it will be spectacular when finished. We had a good time anyway. 

This plaza in St. Louis under the arch is the most Russian looking place I have seen in USA since being back. All plazas and squares in Russia seemed to look just like this: big stair cases, and wide open space near a river. Just a random recollection I had 

After visiting the park we went and got Chicago style deep dish pizza that was recommended to us. It was so thick that I barely got 2 pieces down.  Day 1 in the books. Tomorrow it's off to the St. Louis zoo. 

January activities

After the holidays, the months of January and February seems to fly by. It is always sad and a relief to see the Christmas decorations be put away. We did a number of fun activities in January.

1. My nephew saved a cat from being homeless and we took it in.  It lived in his car for a few days before we decided to keep him. We named him Mishka. He adds some adventure to our home.

The men, practicing their baby figures. Brian and Abe. Oh and Norah also has a balloon in her shirt. 

Happy Birthday Brian!

We headed to Portland to celebrate Brian's birthday with his dad, Matt in town. 

It was a pretty nasty day but we enjoyed a ride on the "train" or Max line and then had to walk a bit in the rain to OMSI.

We all had a good time, especially Norah.

Two scientists. Ready for anything!

I had to put this picture in. We went to a great restaurant for dinner for Brian's birthday, Mother's Bistro. Norah got a little tired of sitting at the dinner table, so she just relaxed on the couch next to Grandpa Matt.

Brian's birthday dessert. YUM!

The Birth Day of Harper

Harper Ida Reichlin, Born to my sister and her husband, Abe. I've see all her babies come out! Lucky me. Born January 21, 2017. 

Norah is enjoying baby Harper too.

We visited the next few days and each time she gives lots of love to the baby. 

And this time, she wanted to be a shark. Who can blame her? She's cute.

What a fun birthday party for our friend Ezra (not pictured here). Here is Norah with Ezra's mommy, Lindsey and her new baby, Zadie. We sat in a firetruck! How cool is that!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Off to Christmas Eve Service

Then to my mom's for fun activities like opening new pajamas!!

What silly kids, Gwyn, Noah, Isaac and Norah

Can you believe Norah slept in until 9 on Christmas morning? It probably won't ever happen again. Ha. She had a good time opening gifts and handing gifts out to us. 

Spinning in the sun in her beautiful red dress. Isn't she cute?

Holiday Activites

Off to the Oregon Gardens for some Christmas lights in Silverton, Oregon. A tad disappointing, I think my expectations were set a bit high. But we had a fun group to go with at least.

Gingerbread Houses! Year #3.

We are continuing in this tradition. It is a fun one! And the kids like to eat their houses for a few days afterwards. UGH. Everyone worked very hard on their houses.

I think Isaac and Jeremiah had the goal to get as much candy in and on the houses as they possibly could. They had some pretty heavy houses!

Here is Sadie's house (Ben's girlfriend). She did a great job and spent a lot of time working on it. I especially like her snowman. 

Here is my mom's house. Complete with a pond in the front yard. 

Norah's house required some help, although I was busy working on my own house, so I'm not sure who helped her. Or how much candy she ate along the way... Whoops.

Seasons Greetings to Salemites! The lawyer's office is the best place to see Christmas lights!

Through the Airport

The trip back to Oregon was uneventful. We enjoyed our trip very much.

Grandma and Grandpa Lawfer. Grandpa Ron Lawfer went to be with Jesus on Sunday, December 18th, 2016. He was a wonderful man and will be greatly missed. We are glad we visited him one last time before he passed away.

Snow in a state where they don't shut the world down

Still in Illinois, visiting Brian's extended family. Another pool picture. Norah really learning how to say "cheese" and smile at the same time. Silly girl. 

At Great-grandma's birthday party! And one of Norah's favorite person's, Auntie Sarah!

There is a time to work, and a time to play! And we did both. Got to shovel snow and make a wonderful snowman for great-grandpa Ron to look at through the living room window.

And a little sledding!

Off to Illinois!

A few weeks ago, Brian, Norah and I headed to Illinois to visit Brian's extended family. 

Waiting at the airport was a lot of fun! We headed up to the airport on the day a "snow-storm" was headed to the Pacific NW, so lucky for us, NO TRAFFIC! Except then we had three hours to wait at the airport.

Feeding the many cats is one of the fun things to do while in Illinois. Here Norah is with Grandma Karen and Aunt Sarah.

A visit out to the dairy farm is also in order when we visit. It's the coolest, robotic milking barn we've ever been too!

Norah's first swimming lesson came while in Illinois. Our hotel had a great pool! And Norah had a great teacher, Aunt Sarah!