Cody's 14th Birthday Party.

On Wednesday I realized that Cody would be at his dad's next weekend, his birthday is this next Friday the 5th and I wouldn't have him back at the house with no school/work for a full week after his birthday, ugh! I called my family and asked them if they could make it down on Saturday for a BBQ/Birthday party for Cody. They said, great let's do it. Cody had his friend Austin stay the night and then had his friend ( ya okay ) Jewel come over for the party too. All in all it was a great party, and hey I think Dad and Lynn were here a record time.....2 + hours :) Gotta love that! Mom and Grandma made spinach dip ( yummy!) and made sure to bring crackers that were gluten free and I could eat - BONUS!!!! My family has always been supportive with anything that comes my way and they have proven to be with the celiac diagnosis and eating challenges as well, I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!! Happy Birthday Cody Boy!!!!!

First Day of School ~2008

Cody Michael: 8th Grade

Carissa J0: 10th Grade

The kids first day of school was today. Carissa has a zero hour class and has to catch her bus at 6:15 AM (Boooooo!) I was very sick this morning, so Bill was nice enough to run her to the bus stop when he got back from the airport. Since I was sick, I didn't get the normal pics I like to get, but Bill snapped these when they got home from school.

Grams last evening before she went back to PA

Carissa, Brianna, Great Gram, Brandon, & Cody

Brianna, Bill, Carissa, Brandon, Gram, & Cody

Bill & Gram

Gram flew home early this morning. Bill had to have her to the airport no later than 5:30 AM this morning. We hung out at home and played and visited and enjoyed our last night with her last night. Bill was suppose to work, but didn't feel very well, so he got to stay home and enjoy the evening too. Gram told Brandon and Brianna that when they woke up this morning and saw an airplane to know she is blowing them a kiss and they need to catch it and then send her a kiss too and she'll catch it. All day long and all evening they have been running to the window catching Gram's kisses and blowing one back to her. When Gram called to tell us she made it home safely, I told Brandon, Grammy made it home okay, he said she's at our home??? and ran to the door, he was so excited, it broke his little heart when I said oh no honey, she's at her home in Pennsylvania.....why? he wanted to know....then I remind him she'll see him again next year....he thinks that is toooooooo long!!!!!! and so do we.

Tricities Dust Devils Baseball Game!

Our last outing with Gram was an "Assistant Manager" BBQ for Shari's that took place at the Tricities Dust Devils baseball game on Monday night. Gram leaves very early on Wednesday morning :( We are all going to miss her greatly! We all enjoyed the baseball game and family time spent together.

Falling Behind

I wanted to apologize to everyone who gets an email every time I do a new post on my blog, yes I admit it I fell behind, only to "power blog" last Monday night and again tonight....I will in the future do my best to not "plug up" your email with multiple blogs in one night. It has been a little crazy around here, but I hope to be "back on track" and hope to never fall this far behind again with the blogging. Thank you for your understanding :) Colleen

Portland Zoo IIIII

The gang minus Brandon - Bill was aggravated because Brandon was not cooperating, he's trying to get Brandon to come here for the pic - to no avail I might add! :)

Sis, Gram, Cody, and Bri at the zoo.

Again, the gang minus Brandon and a frustrated Bill ;0)

Portland Zoo IIII

Gram at the Portland Zoo - showing us her "catch of the day"!

Brandon and Bri with the otter statue.

Brianna loved the otter!

Brandon wanted his picture taken next to this carving in the stone wall....he thought it was REALLY neat!

Portland Zoo III

Carissa and Gram with the dinosaur

Brianna with Gram, she was not getting close to the dinosaur!!!!

Cody thinking Brandon was silly for not looking at the dinosaur...AND not wanting his picture taken!

The 2008 Summer Theme at the Portland Zoo was Dinosaurs. They had dinosaurs all over the zoo this summer, they looked very "real" like in Jurassic Park. The little ones were having nothing to do with that!!!! Carissa was "brave" and took a pic with Gram next to the dinosaur. If you haven't had the privilege of knowing Carissa her whole life, I'll explain why she was so "brave". When she was a little girl and even a tween she was terrified of Jaws, Dinosaurs as in Jurassic Park, anything such as that scared the bejeebers out of her. Her dad would play the theme music and she would freak out and run to me and hide.....I secretly think she is still a little nervous around anything that resembles great white sharks and/or dinosaurs...poor girl was traumatized!!!! She was very brave and stood by the Dinosaur to take a picture with Gram of course proving that she is no longer traumatized and she is a "big girl" and that Brandon and Bri have nothing to worry about.....hey where was Cody???? maybe my intuition is wrong and he's secretly afraid of Dinosaurs???? NAH, not my brave Cody!

Portland Zoo II

Brianna watching the penguins.

Brandon and Brianna....just one of the penguins.

Gram and Brandon looking at a statue.

Brianna after looking at the statue.

We had the fortune of getting to the Penguin tank on time to view them during a feeding. It was wonderful because one of their keepers was there giving us information and answering questions. A fact I found very interesting, a penguin in the wild averages 10 years of life, they have penguins in their facility with cataracts and very old, they are up to 30 years old...talk about extending their lives! The keepers are nice enough to hand feed them, they can't "compete" like the young ones do for their food.

Portland Zoo I

Brandon liked the boat display by the "big fish" at the zoo.

Gram, Cody, and Brandon checking out the "Big Fish".

Brianna, Gram, Brandon, and Cody.

The female elephants are expecting babies and are very, very sensitive, so they cannot be viewed at the time. I did get this shot of the male though, he was eating and was definitely keeping his distance.

Portland Zoo

Brandon seeing how he "sizes up" to the many bears.

Daddy and Bri "sizing up"

Pretty Bird

Brianna getting tired, playing with Bamboo, waiting for the gang.

The Train Ride at the Portland Zoo

Cody and Bri on the train.

Daddy, Brandon and Bri waiting for the train to go.

Sis and Gram sitting next to me, waiting for the train ride.

Brianna smiling back at Daddy on the train ride!

Okay, so I have to admit, even I was getting a little worried about fulfilling the promise I made to Brandon about taking him on a train ride this summer. I make it a point to never, ever, break my promises to the kids, but after a more than a hectic spring which included me being off of work for 5 weeks due to a broken ankle, followed by an even more hectic/busy summer, plagued with the summer flu and other illnesses, our annual trip to the beach in July was even in question, let alone an extra trip....we had already had a very, very busy summer planned, how on earth was I going to fit another "out of town trip" into our very busy schedules????, and with only 5 days before school started, well I am proud to say WE DID IT!!!!

I am very, very glad we did too, we all had a wonderful time! This was Brianna's first trip to the zoo, Brandon's first that he can remember, as this is the first time we have been since he was 10 months old...and BONUS Gram was here to get to enjoy it with us!

The train ride was phenomenal for the little kids, especially Brandon and hey I got to keep my promise, whehhhhh was that a close one!!!!!!