Gilbert's Baptism

Gilbert Evelyne and mom before we left for the church

In the pews with family

Gilbert running around at brunch!

After being baptized; he clapped for himself!

We finally had Gilbert baptized today! We decided to go back to our old church in NE Portland as we haven't yet found one around here to call home. We enjoyed going back and seeing old friends. The baptism went really well, Gilbert even smiled and clapped for himself at the end it was so funny it was like he was really proud of himself.

Afterwards we came over to Bruce and Joni's for a brunch with family, it was nice to visit and eat yummy brunch food!

Knights down

Things have been rough on the Knights this past week; Evelyne had bronchitis, gilbert is finally getting over his cold, I have a cold and Nathan broke his arm while mountain biking. Perfect timing for our anticipated move in a couple of weeks. Yikes.
Good news on the home front...our house should still be ready by the end of this month.

Organized Child

No, this is not an attempt at selling diapers on craigslist. This is Evelyne organizing diapers all in a row; first in one layer, then in two layers all facing the right direction and all in a line. I walked in her room thinking she was playing with toys and this is what I found...what does that say about mom and dad???!!!???

Happy Birthday Gilbert!

Gilbert as a skunk and mom as Medusa

Fun halloween treats: ghost marshmallows

Evelyne is a snake!

Gilbert eating his cupcake with "flower child" grandma gigi and "cowboy" grandpa larry

yummy cupcake!

We celebrated Gilbert's first birthday with his cousins, Brantley and Spencer who turned 7 and 4 one day before Gilbert's birthday! We partied at Lindsey's clubhouse in Lafayette with a costume party since it was just before Halloween. We gave a prize for the best adult costume which was won by Grandpa Bruce who came dressed as a Grandma.

The kids enjoyed playing traditional Fall games like bobbing for apples and a "prize walk" which was kind of like musical chairs.

Gilbert started walking about a week before his birthday and is now getting everywhere and getting into everything. He's starting to climb and hop like his sister and loves taking things out of the cupboards only to get himself in!

Adventures in Whitefish

So much fun and so good to see our friends again! We had a great time in Whitefish Montana visiting the Peppmeiers. The kids got to play, dads got to play, even mom's got a bit of a break and we all got to feel like adults again; if only for one evening. It was overcast for most of the trip and we had a bit of drizzle, rain, hail, and a few moments of sunlight now and again but all in all it the weather didn't matter, the town was so cute and felt really liveable. Doug and Kelly's house is adorable and their view from the front (to the mountain "Big Mountain") and from the back ("Whitefish River") is amazing.

The train ride was totally worth it with this age of kids and we loved eating our breakfast this morning riding through the Gorge. We can't wait to go back again, Nathan can't wait to ski. Here are some photos of the kids playing in the park near Doug & Kelly's house and of Gilbert bundled up on our chilly hike through Glacier.

On to Mon (tana)

Today we leave for our trip to see the Peppmeiers; we're all very excited! We leave this afternoon and get in tomorrow morning. A bit of a problem has come about with the train which we're really bummed about....

So we booked a sleeper car for us thinking that would be the easiest and best for the kids. Last night amtrak called and said the entire car with all the sleepers in it has mechanical problems and won't be there until Spokane, which is 1am in the morning when we arrive there....so we all have to sit in coach w/bags etc. until then..ugh.

We'll let you all know how it goes!

School field trip

The first school field trip for Evelyne was to the pumpkin patch. We went to Lee's Farms in Tualatin, rode the school bus with about 40 kids, teachers, and lots of parents. It was a hoot. We were assigned Kohl as a buddy so the three of us stompped through the mud together looking at pigs, chickens, cows, watched how apple cider was made (and had a sample) rode a hayride and got to pick out pumpkins.

Luckily, the rain stayed away for our time outside. Evelyne loved the beginning of the trip, honestly, I think riding the bus was the highlight. She started to get hungry and wanted a snack, of which I didn't pack any thinking they would have one there with the school as they usually do. So, a bit of whining happened about 1/2 way through the trip. But Kohl, Evelyne and I marched on.

Singing Lady

Evelyne loves to sing, thought i'd write an entry about it. We've been spending a lot of time in and out of the car lately and one thing that keeps the troops happy in the back seat is singing. We sing everything, christmas songs, hymns, nursery rhymes, and lately evelyne has been making up her own songs. They are so cute, always to the same tune, kind of like talking to herself, no real rhythm but boy is she proud of them. Gilbert and i clap when she's done. Here's an example of one of her favorites..."You better watch out you better not cry, i am playing outside and i like to eat lunch, when mom comes and it's time to go; a school day sometimes, rock a bye baby on the tree top and the baby falls and cries, sometimes babies cry and mommies come back...." etc. etc. they never end, its a stream of consciousness style of song.

Cousin sleep over

So, the great thing about living out here in Newberg is that we're closer to cousins for Evelyne and Gilbert. Evelyne loves to play with them and we had a sleep over with cousin Spencer last weekend. We had fun playing in home made forts, riding bikes to downtown for hot chocolate, and doing finger paints which Evelyne and Spencer aptly termed "hand paints"...you'll see from the photos.

News from the new house front; all is going along as planned, still scheduled to move in at the end of November. We're really getting close now. The outside looks like a real house and the inside is all painted, tiled, and waiting for flooring.

Gilbert's First Haircut

Gilbert got his first haircut this week. He did pretty well and was aptly distracted with toys and bubbles. We went to Little Clippers in Lake Oswego, he sat in a red car.









Sister Evelyne got her hair cut, too...it is picture day at school this week, so we had to get cleaned up!









Gilbert is now 11 months old and almost walking, he's standing on his own more and more and loves to walk with his walker toys. Both kids are adjusting fine to all the moving around, at least so far.
Here he is with his haircut!

Some events and family

Dianne's Birthday

Our house, getting closer

We've officially moved to Newberg

Hello from Newberg! Sorry it's taken so long to let you all know we've survived! my computer isn't up and running yet, so I don't have my contact information....but...you can call my cell 503-888-4119 or nathan 503-432-3081. we're staying with nathan's parents and their number is 503-625-7972. We have a new email dianneandnathan@gmail.com as our comcast account has ended.

hope you're all doing well, we'll talk soon!

Sale Pending

We are in sale pending on our house, I feel like it's just in the nick of time! The anticipated date of closing is Wednesday, September 12th but we'll probably move out the weekend before. As Nathan says "we're livin' the dream; moving back in with my parents" they have been gracious enough to let our crazy lives invade them. We'll most likely be staying there in Newberg until our house is done in November.

Let's all hope for the best on the inspections which are happening on our house soon. We don't anticipate any major problems but you never know in these old homes.

Here are is a recent photos of our new house...it's getting there!

Domicile Debrief

Update on our house...these photos were taken a week ago...but here's our house and the lonely lamp post next to it. Front of the house is where the sign is, back of the house is the last photo with the garage and our small compared to now back yard.
As for our current house, no offers yet, still a lot of lookers. As we've all understood, the market has taken a down turn. We've reduced the price a bit to see if it'll entice new blood. All for now...more to come.

Welcome Home Gabe!

Gabe is officially home from his stay in France. He is well and had a wonderful time. We had a summer feast to welcome him back in the states a couple of weekends ago and enjoyed hearing about all of his travels and experiences....I also got a chance to practice a bit of my French...how fun!

Mom and Sadie joined him at the end of his stay in France and they toured the south of France and some of Italy on vacation. They were tired of trains and had a rigorous schedule, but loved everything they did. Mom even got to meet up with one of her cousins in Turin and see where she used to live before moving here.


here we are enjoying our al fresco feast!

Dr. Visit

Today we took Evelyne and Gilbert to the Dr. for their check up. It was the first time they could actually go together and save a trip! It was Evelyne's 3 year and Gilbert's 9 month...give or take a few days on both of them. Anyway, all is well. Evelyne is still as petite as ever weighing in at 26.8 lbs. and just about 36" tall. Gilbert is 19 lbs. and 29 1 /2" tall. My hope is that by the time we go to Disneyland or somewhere like that Evelyne will at LEAST be tall enough to ride some rides. Gilbert is bigger than she was at nine months, however he's now slowing down on this weight gain, probably because he's crawling all over the place. So, who knows, maybe they'll end up on the same scale.
Evelyne is very good at reminding me she's not little, she's big. People are always commenting, in kind ways, how tiny she is, how small she is, how petite she is.....she doesn't forget those comments and later tells me..."but mommy I'm 3 and I'm big now" "yes, you are" I say "they were just being silly"

New house has broken ground!

It's finally official! Ourhouse has broken ground. The anticipated move-in date...which we're told is very accurate and we'll believe when we see it...is November 26th, right after Thanksgiving. Here are a few shots, one with our sign and new address, another with the forms for the foundation, and the other with our soon to be neighbor lamp post...

News on the old house front, it's now listed with my dad on the rmls. The number is 7061901 if any of you want to do a search and look it up! No offers yet, just put it on Monday and have had a handful of folks through. We're having an open house on Sunday so we'll see if we get any more interest after that.

Our girl is 3!

Happy Birthday, Evelyne!!! Our girl is now 3.."she's huge" as she describes it. She's loving crafts and especially loves to paint. I can't believe she's already 3 years old! She's a good big sister and has a very independent streak. She loves to dance and doesn't mind doing it in front of a crowd! A favorite hang out of hers is the Kennedy School where she regularly takes off her shoes and boogies the night away with the best of them!

Gilbert is moving!

Gilbert officially started crawling a couple of days ago. He is now 7 1/2 months old. I think his big motivation is keeping up with his sister and trying to get her toys! He is starting to babble a lot and "talks" over us sometimes it's funny. His upper tooth finally broke through about when he started crawling also, this kid does everything in pairs. Looks like it's time for me to move his mattress down in his crib as he's starting to pull himself up. Right now it's only to his knees but I have a feeling feet will soon follow.

baby sugar

Love the way kids morph names into other things. I've been giving Gilbert baths with baking soda for a myriad of reasons and since he and evelyne usually bathe together now they both get to use it. So the other night I forgot to put it in and big sister kindly reminded me..."mama where's the baby sugar?"