Home Sweet Home

We have been home for two weeks.  We were gone for almost exactly 10 months.  It was really an exciting adventure and I feel really blessed that we were able to go on it.  Ten months really isn't that long to be gone and it has been really easy to just pick back up with friendships where we left off.  It is fun to see everyone's kids a little bit bigger and more developed.... but aside from that, things are more or less the same. 

It has been a lot of work to get re-settled.  It is much different to move back into a 30+ year old house that we own rather than moving into a furnished rental.  Turns out, we have to mow our own yard again.  And there are just lots of little things that we need to take care of.  Ahhh... home ownership.  :)

We have our wonderful dog, Kiley back in our family.  We weren't sure what Gavin would think of her, but he after a few days of shouting "DOG" as in "Don't you people realize there is a giant dog in our house?" he really likes her.  Unfortunately, we now know for certain that Kiley is the cause of Elijah's intense allergies/asthma..... so that has been an added source of stress.  :(  We're working on that.....

Sharing toys with Kiley.  I'm not sure she is too impressed.

It turns out, we have really enjoyed having a big backyard again.  I did not realize how much of a blessing a swing set, sandbox, and a lot of sticks could be for little boys.  Not to mention the crazy squirrels that are always backyard.... along with the occasional fox.  Our fancy pants house in Bend was great - but not very conducive to little boys.  I am no longer worried about the landscaping or the hardwood floors being ruined.  *Breathe sigh of relief - both for me and the boys!*

We weren't sure how it would feel to back, but we now definitely feel like it was the right choice for us.  Marty is enjoying his new/old job and we are enjoying reconnecting with our friends/family.  We love to bike, so the fact that we can easily bike around the neighborhood, to see Marty at work, and that Marty can bike to work is a big plus for us.

Now that everyone is sleeping again, the kids seem to be transitioning well too.  That first week was rough, but it is just feeling like home again.   

Happy boys

So, I guess that is the end of our family adventure 2011 blog!  Thanks for reading and following along.  Now I need to go do some research on how exactly to turn our adventure into a book.  :)

Moving, Part II: Disaster.

On September 21, 2011, we completed the final day of our road trip... from Salt Lake City to home.   YAY!  The first thing we commented on as we drove into town "WOW, there is a lot more traffic here."

Our amazing friends made us a welcome home banner (which is still up in our living room) and had dinner ready and waiting for us.  It was so nice to feel welcomed home to Colorado.

Marty's truck made it back to CO before we did, so we were able to go pick that up the following day (Thursday).  Thursday was basically the calm before the storm.  Up until that point, things with the move had really gone relatively okay.  We were back in our house with our furniture, etc.   YAY!

On Friday the movers arrived with the rest of our stuff.   Marty had the ever so important job of marking all the boxes off the inventory.  Gavin was napping at that point and Elijah had gone to play with a friend. 

He may have also been reading up on the latest in baseball.  Just maybe?

Moving van!  :)

 While Marty kept things under wraps with the inventorying, I worked on unpacking the most important room: the kitchen.  Remember that the packing guys had come late on a Friday afternoon?  Note to anyone using a moving company: MAKE SURE THAT DOES NOT HAPPEN.  It started off with a few small things.... like a bottle of agave nectar spilled in a kitchen box.... and a box of baking soda spilled.  Mildly annoying, but nothing a wet dishcloth couldn't fix.

Kitchen: mid-unpacking

From there it progressed to roughly 15 boxes labeled toys.  There was no way we moved that many toys, did we?!?  No, we did not.  So, all those boxes labeled toys ended up in the basement.... when they were really filled with things like clothing, pictures, etc, that belonged upstairs.  As in, all the way upstairs.  Annoying, but not the end of the world.

Gavin surveying the boxes after waking from nap time.

There were a couple boxes not labeled at all.... or boxes with numerous inventory numbers, or no inventory numbers.  Then there was the missing box of kitchen stuff that we later found in our bedroom, labeled "Master Bedroom" of course.  The extra clothes rod for Elijah's closet was missing - but in it's place we did receive some stuff that did not belong to us?!?  At this point we were still just entertained by the mishaps.... well, slightly annoyed about carrying heavy boxes up two flights of stairs, but just thankful that someone else did the moving and packing for us!

Then Marty went to put together the crib.  Uhmmm.... the box that should have contained the hardware to reassemble the crib was not there.  He called the driver to the moving truck and then the company which did the packing back in Bend.  No one had any idea.  When it is affecting our sleep, we were no longer entertained.  The small mishaps suddenly reached the disaster level.  Gavin had been sleeping in the pack-n-play, which is a fine temporary solution, but it means that he is up every few hours - probably just because it is small and likely not very comfortable.  We were SO looking forward to getting a good night of sleep.  UGH!  It was Friday evening.  No one was going to get back to us until Monday.  And we were back to being up every couple hours. 

Long story short, we have a crib from Marty's sister and brother-in-law.   Gavin spent a few days terrified of it, but is now sleeping relatively well in it.  It was much more of an ordeal that we had anticipated, but at least we are back home.  :)

Boise, ID to Salt Lake City, UT

On the second day of our road trip we drove from Boise to Salt Lake City. 

I should mention that I really like road trips.  For me, there is just something fun about having our little family in the car together.  Yes, there are the moments of whining and possibly screaming, but they generally don't bother me.  I figure the kids are strapped in their seats and they are safe, so I'm not too concerned if they aren't always too happy about it.  It is a great chance for Marty and I to have semi-uninterrupted conversations.  We were also able to listen to a couple interesting podcasts and a book.  Great use of time.  Oh, and on a road trip, I don't have to cook any meals, clean the kitchen OR do laundry.  Sign me up!

Marty tends to think of road trips with small children as a form of torture.  He has requested that the next time I have the urge to take a road trip, we can just eat out every meal for a few days and he'll clean up the house.   It is a nice gesture, but just not the same.  That said, I think that even he enjoyed the road trip (at least that is what he tells me.... maybe it was more like tolerated it well?). 

Anyways, the drive from Boise to Salt Lake City was rather unadventurous.  When we got to Salt Lake City we were able to stay with Marty's aunt Ginny.... who I should mention is the sweetest, spunkiest 80-year-old woman I have ever met.  She is just great! Unfortunately, I have zero pictures of her.  I am terrible at remembering to get photos.  :(  Trust me though, she is super cute and super fun.  Marty's dad was also there visiting, so we were able to hang out with him as well. 

We spent an extra day in Salt Lake and went to the amazing Children's Museum there. 

Gavin really enjoyed dropping balls in different places.  So much fun. 

Helicopter = Huge hit.

Add caption

Marty, Elijah & Poppy hard at work designing something or another. 

Bend OR to Boise ID

** From 9/18/2011**

Road trip day 1:

We started off the morning at one of our favorite Bend breakfast places - Jackson's Corner.  What a great way to start the day.  It was a bit chilly to sit outside, but we did anyway and the boys enjoyed getting to play on the outdoor equipment one last time.

Then it was off for the drive!  We headed out on Highway 20..... which previously I had only taken about 5 miles out of town.  It was all new scenery for us.  Eastern Oregon is somewhat like Eastern Colorado - not a whole lot going on out there.  However, even though it is very desolate, it is also very pretty.  There are valleys and gorges, rock formations, lots of randomly placed trees and the occasional passing vehicle.  At one point we played a scavenger hunt game.... and decided to come up with our own items.  Such as "fence post", "bird", and "rock".  Made the game much easier.  Turns out, there aren't any traffic lights out in that part of the state.

We made it to our destination of Boise, ID to the most amazing hotel ever (Oxford Suites)!  Being that it is a Sunday night in late September, I'm guessing there isn't a whole lot of demand of hotel rooms, and we scored a great room with 2 completely separate sleeping areas.  AMAZING  for traveling with little kids!!!!  I wish more hotels had this option.  The pool is also great.  There is even a tiny pool that is 1 foot deep - perfect for Gavin and just so much fun.  :)

Marty & Gavin in the one foot pool, with Elijah in the hot tub

The boys in the big pool

Gavin enjoying a snack after pool time.  He really likes to have things on his head (blankets, towels, you name it!)

We ventured downtown to pick up take out for dinner and then back to the hotel where we are about to crash.  So tired......

Moving, Part I

** NOTE:  This post was actually written the first night of our road trip back to Colorado.... I just didn't get it posted b/c I wanted to add some photos.  So, this is actually from 9/18/2011**

No matter how you slice it, moving is a lot of work.  Here is how things have gone down so far on our move back to Colorado.

- On Thursday Marty's truck got picked up from work and loaded onto the truck.  Yay!  It was a day earlier than we had planned, but it meant that the driver didn't need to navigate through the round-a-bouts to get to our neighborhood..... which after our moving in experience that seemed like a huge plus.

- Thursday night we sorted out the house and prepared for our road trip.  Since we have been in a furnished rental, we needed to sort out our belongings from the owners belongings.... and then get everything sorted out that we wanted to have with us prior to the moving truck making it to our house.

-  Friday.  We were given an estimated arrival time of 12:30-2:30 by the moving company.  I took the boys to a fun play area in the morning and we were back in time for lunch.  Then it was a matter of trying to keep them busy and out of the house until the packers arrived (since everything was sorted out and sitting around the house).  By 3p when the packers still weren't there I was getting a bit nervous.   They finally showed up around 3:30 and were there until about 7 getting everything packed and loaded.  Whew.  A long day!  One of the guys who packed up our stuff was actually there for the adventure when we moved in.  I thought he looked familiar and when I started to retell the details of the day he responded with something like "oh yeah, we were just talking about that the other day".  Which led to reminiscing and story telling with the guys packing.  It really was that much of an adventure when we moved in.

- Saturday was spent cleaning the house, doing the laundry, etc, etc and going out to dinner with some friends we will greatly miss.  :(  Oh - and Elijah and I took a little break to go check out a "Big Rig" event in town.  Totally worth it for everyone's sanity.

Elijah "driving" on the big rigs.  He made sure that we checked out EVERY one.  Of course, he also need to test out the horn, lights, and blinkers for each one.

However, then Marty and I were up late into the night doing the remaining deep cleaning that we weren't able to get done with our little helpers.

- Sunday!  Road trip day #1!  But first we had to get out of the house.  Those early morning hours were rough.  The kids decided that 5am was a good time to wake up.... which was not a part of our plan.  So, we spent the next couple hours trying to keep tiny fingerprints off all the glass that had been Windexed late Saturday night while we washed up sheets, remade beds and packed up the car.  To no avail.  We finally ended up strapping the boys in their carseats for about 15 minutes so we could tidy up the house without any helpers.

Exhausted.  Best way to describe preparing for the move.  AND that is with someone packing up the house for us!  Whew.   

Now for the roadtrip.  :)

Walking Infomercial.

K.  We are back in FC and we are slightly overwhelmed with everything we have to do.  I have some photos/stories from our road trip back, but I first need to write this one down before I forget it!

We are back to being a cable TV free household, but we do have Qubo.  Qubo is the over the air, free kids channel.... which comes equipped with mini infomercials in place of commercials.  Every time Elijah sees one of these things, he is SURE that he needs it, or that I need it.  This morning, the boys were downstairs watching some Qubo and playing with Daddy while I was cleaning up the kitchen.

Elijah comes running up the stairs.  He says with excitement in his voice "Mommy, do you want to spend more time with your kids?  You need to get *I-have-no-idea-what-the-product-name-is, but insert it here* because then you don't even have to mop the floor!  It just does it all by itself!"

ME:  "Awesome.  You need to go tell Daddy that I need that for Christmas."

Elijah (running down the stairs):  "Daddy, you need to buy that with your own money for Mommy for Christmas"

When Marty came upstairs a few minutes later I relayed the conversation to him.  Elijah is so easily convinced by these things - Marty said that is basically the exact sales pitch the infomercial had just given him over the TV.  Thus far in our few hours home, Elijah is sure that I need the mop-the-floor-itself gadget (which does sound nice) and a metal wallet that won't even be damaged if I drive over it with a truck. 

Farewell Bend

"Bend" was originally named "Farewell Bend".  The name "Farewell Bend" was the designation used by early pioneers to refer to the area where the river water was low enough to cross and where the town was eventually established.  The name was later shortened to "Bend" by the US Postal Service because the postmaster felt the name was too long.  Good random info to know, huh?  Thanks to the Bend website and Wikipedia for providing the info.

That said, it is now (very sadly) time for our family to say "Farewell Bend".  It is a bittersweet time.  We are excited to get back to our home in Colorado and we are also sad to leave behind our friends and all the fun times we have had in Bend.

Prior to this nutty opportunity popping up in our lives, I had never given much thought to the state of Oregon or really even entertained the possibility of wanting to live West of the Rockies.  I have to say, Central Oregon is absolutely beautiful.

Here is a short list of some of the things we are going to miss about Bend:

* RECREATION!  We LOVE being outside.  Within 30 minutes of our house there is access to downhill skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, camping, waterfalls, lakes & lake shores (read places to throw rocks and play in dirt for little boys), rivers to float, and probably more things I am forgetting.  We have taken advantage of all these opportunities over the past 10 months.  Since the population in the area is relatively low, we have really enjoyed that the areas generally are not completely packed and crazy.

* The round-a-bouts.  I love them.  It took some getting used to, but now I absolutely love them.  Sitting at red lights now seems pretty lame.  

* All the pine trees and  the smell of the pine trees - especially early in the morning or right after it rains.

* Fred Meyer.  I LOVE this place.  I do not like to shop, so the fact that I can go to one store and get virtually everything I need is great.  They have a great produce and natural food section, decent prices, a gas station, and I can even drop E off at the play area on occasion.

* Coffee.  There are drive through coffee places everywhere - really handy when you aren't sleeping through the night and have two small kids.  There are also so many good local coffee shops.  I love all the coffee options.

* Definitely going to miss our "fancy-pants house".  There is something to be said for renting - especially renting a place where the landlord takes care of all the yardwork.  YAY!  When the refrigerator broke all I had to do was call the property management company.  So easy.  Not to mention the fact that the house is new, it's a ranch-style (which I now know I really like), and it is just pretty.  Soon it is back to the reality of our 30 year old home that needs a little bit of attention....

* Friends.  It is always hard to leave friends and we have been lucky to establish some good friendships after only living here for 10 months.  Thankfully there is email and cheap phone calling plans.  Definitely a plus.

* The coast!  We are only 4 hours or so from the Pacific ocean and we have definitely taken advantage of that opportunity with our  trips there.

* No Sales Tax

* Summer in Bend.  It was just great.  It isn't too hot and it is just beautiful.  There are most festivals and places with bounce houses than I could have ever possibly imagined- not to mention all the lakes that are accessible in the summer.  Always something enjoyable to do.
There definitely are some things we are not going to miss about Bend.  The months of April & May stand out the most.  When most of the country was getting ready for summer, it was COLD and dreary here.  As a matter of fact, it was snowing here Memorial Day weekend. 

Now, for the final part of our adventure..... we are off on a road trip back home.  :)

Looking forward to seeing many fun Coloradoans soon.

Crater Lake & Floating the River

We're continuing on our fun adventures here in beautiful Central Oregon.  :)

On our list of things to do before the end of the summer was to float the Deschutes River through town.  So, a couple weeks ago on a beautiful near 90 degree day, we loaded up the boys, rented some tubes and did just that.  Since we were on/in the water, I don't have any photos, but a fun time was had by all.  Gavin wasn't so sure about it, but he did enjoy pointing out the ducks that were floating the river with us.

We also took a trip down to Crater Lake National Park a couple weeks ago.  Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the US and the 6th deepest lake in the world.  It is beautiful. 

A little historical information on the forming of the lake.

A look down towards the lake.  It is a little bit of an adventure to take small children there.  There is only one place where you can actually hike down to the lake (which we did not do) and every other spot is an overlook with very steep drop-offs.

We took a short little hike up to a neat look out.  Gavin fell fast asleep on the way back down, making for a very short nap day.  He is in the phase where even a 5 minute nap will count as his nap for the day.  Not a fun phase.

It is really impressive.

There is a lodge available to stay at right near the lake, numerous hikes, and a boat tour on the lake.  It would definitely be fun to go back again when the kids are a little bit older and might enjoy it more.

I also have to note, that while the pictures are absolutely beautiful, it was a bit of a trying day.  Gavin woke up that morning with a cold and was feeling somewhat miserable.  Elijah woke up with a bad attitude that he was not able to shake for the majority of the day.  Although, chocolate chip cookies did help improve the temperament of both children.  We are grateful that we were able to take the little day trip to see some of God's amazing creation.

Wacky Wednesday #18: Phone Booths

Whoops.  I wrote this early.... and then forgot to post it on Wednesday.  So, here is a be-lated Wacky Wednesday post. 

When is the last time you saw a phone booth?  I cannot even remember the last time I had seen one prior to moving here.  If you walk downtown here, you see roughly one per block.  It cracks me up.

I have yet to see someone actually using one of the phone booths (well, aside from my own small children, but I am pretty sure they do not count).  I have seen someone standing in a phone booth talking on their cell phone (I'm assuming for added privacy).  I have also seen vandalism done to the phone booths.

Wacky, huh?

Any other cities out there that still have phone booths?  Or maybe they exist more places than I realize and I just hadn't noticed.

The best times of our life?

I had a very brief conversation with a semi-truck driver back in December that obviously made an impact because I still remember it clearly.  He was the guy delivering our vehicles to our home here in Oregon (click here to see blog post if you're interested - it was an adventure).

The driver was very friendly- I would even go as far to say bubbly.  He asked how old the boys were and after I responded, he responded by saying that he remembered when he kids were that old - those were the best days of his life.

I clearly remember my response.  "REALLY?"  And then I believe I remember saying something about it being so much work!  I was clearly coming from a place of having just moved unexpectedly, not sleeping through the night, attempting to feed a baby a bottle while also navigating a driver through a neighborhood I am not familiar with, all while taking care of a 4 year old.  These are supposed to be the best days of my life?!?!  Seriously, at that moment, I am fairly certain I just wanted a nap.

I have reflected on that short conversation numerous times.... as I am washing out dirty diapers, picking up the kitchen towels from the floor, caring for kids in the middle of the night, and emptying random items from the cupboards, dishwasher, and washing machine (compliments of small children).

However,  there are so many fun things that are happening in this stage of life.  At this very moment, Marty and Elijah are drawing robots - and spending time with Daddy is about the best thing that Elijah could ask for.  Gavin is in such a fun phase.  He is learning new things all the time and will do just about anything to make us laugh.  When he sees something exciting (like an ant or an airplane) he will enthusiastically point and shout "WHOA!!!!".  So precious.

So, I was smiling and reflecting on this tonight as Gavin was playing in the bathtub - figuring out which toys would fit inside his cup.  And then.... he pooped.  In the bathtub.  Best times of my life?  Thankfully tonight I was able to continue to smile as I was cleaning all the bath toys and Marty was helping clean out the tub.  But there are times that it is much more difficult to smile.  Raising small kids is a lot of work.

That said, I probably will remember these as some of the best times of my life - possibly because I don't take pictures or regularly write about the times that one of the kids pooped in the tub or both kids stuffed all our shoes in the washing machine - and the ensuing time it takes to clean it all up.  We take pictures and write about the really fun times we have and all the silly things the kids do.  And there are a lot of those.

Reading to Elijah about Crater Lake.  He loves to learn and it is so fun to be able to watch him
and to be involved in his interests.  I am sure that I will remember these moments much more
than all the times that he tells me I am wrong or that I don't know what I'm talking about.  At least I hope so...

Gavin LOVES hats and thinks everything should be made into a hat.  Including
Elijah's underwear.  This makes us laugh - a lot.  I am going to fondly remember this
and likely forget that he also pooped in the tub.

Wacky Wednesday #17: Port-a-potties

First off, Elijah loves port-a-potties.  Isn't that random?  There is a lot of new construction in our neighborhood, so especially when we first moved in last November, he would point out the port-a-potties on the construction sites with excitement that should really be reserved for something like a UFO sighting.

The wacky thing here in Central Oregon is that if a park/playground here has a "restroom", it is equipped with a Port-A-Potty.  No standard bathrooms.  Just these little shelters containing the "bathroom".

Sometime this spring, we met a man whose company has done the design work for some of the newer parks.  If I am remembering the conversation accurately, when the parks are first built the maintenance is done by the neighborhood and then the park is eventually annexed by the city.  The city does not want to worry about maintaining the "restrooms" which is where the Port-A-Potty comes into play.  It does make sense from a cost saving measure.  However, it has been annoying when we get to a playground where the Port-A-Potty "shelter" is sitting empty without said Port-A-Potty.  Apparently those parks didn't make it into the city budget to have a "bathroom".

All that said, the playground Port-A-Potties are some of the cleanest and well maintained Port-A-Potties I have used in my lifetime.

Now you know.

Grandpa & Grandma's visit!

A couple weeks ago my parents made it out for a visit.  We were the last stop on their nearly 3 week road trip around the Pacific Northwest & Canada.... coming all the way out from Iowa! 

We started off by meeting them over at the coast for a couple of days.  Soon after we arrived, we took a 30 minute train ride to another little coast town.  We stayed at the town just long enough to get an ice cream cone (I think we had ice cream every day when they were here - it was great).  :)

Grandpa & Grandma with the boys

Gavin loved the train.  Elijah was quickly "unimpressed"

We started off the next day at the Tillamook cheese factory.  Honestly, it wasn't super impressive - there wasn't much going on at the factory on that morning (it was a Friday), so we just walked around a bit.  However, we did get some ice cream (before noon even) and I got some cheese curds (aka squeaky cheese - great stuff).

The Tillamook Cheese Factory.

Gavin communicating that he would really like a snack.

Gavin & Grandma went back to the hotel so Gavin could nap, so the rest of us took off on a little adventure.  We found this lighthouse and the Octopus tree.

After that adventure, we headed over to the beach.  Just to play.  We spent a couple of hours there and the boys just had a blast.  Elijah had some sort of imaginary game going on involving guys robbing our hotel and burying things in the sand.  Gavin enjoyed finding/throwing rocks, watching the dogs fetch, and just playing.  And I didn't bring my camera. 

On our way back home the next day we ventured over to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.  Gavin absolutely loves animals, so it was a lot of fun for him.  Elijah doesn't get too excited about animals, but I think he still enjoyed it. 

This is getting to be a long post, but they were here for almost a week!  We were busy!  That weekend we went for a drive up on the Cascade Lakes Highway and stopped at Elk Lake for lunch.  Just throwing rocks in the water and playing in the dirt can entertain the boys for hours.

On the way back home we stopped in the resort town of Sunriver and did some biking.  The town has bike paths everywhere and the resort pool looked really nice.  They are also in the process of building another pool.  But, I didn't bring my camera.  It was a lot of fun!





The last night Grandma & Grandpa were here we celebrated Elijah's 5th birthday (a little bit early). 

 Elijah designed the cake himself.  In between the candles are light sabers (insert creative imagination here).  He even picked out the colors himself.

Gavin continues not to like ice cream, but he has taken to enjoying cake and cookies. 

Elijah really likes to dress up.  He got a Yoda costume and a doctor costume for his birthday.  That adds to the collection he already has which includes a police officer and a fire fighter.  These costumes create hours of enjoyment for him and our family. :)




That concludes the summary of the visit with my parents.  So glad they were able to make the long drive out to Oregon and come see us!  :)

We have a 5 year old!

On Friday, August 19, 2011, we officially had a FIVE year old join our family!  Months back Elijah had asked if his birthday was on a "Daddy-work-day".  When we realized it was, he asked me to "please send Daddy a message to see if he can stay home that day so my party can start right away in the morning".  That is what we did.

We started the day off at McKay Park, down by the river.  It has a great muddy beach which makes for hours of fun.  Marty hadn't been there before, so it was a great way to start off the day.  We enjoyed a little picnic lunch there as well.

We came home to give Gavin a chance to nap and then went over to the Juniper outdoor pool and recreation area.  I didn't take any pictures there, but it was a ton of fun.  Elijah went down the water slide by himself and both the boys enjoyed playing in the activity area.

Elijah picked out his most favorite dinner of "noodles with sprinkle cheese".  We checked the mail and he got a card from Bob & Carol, some of our most favorite people back in Fort Collins.  They included $5!!!!  Perfect timing as he and Marty were about to go down to the neighborhood park for "Munch & Movie" night.... which of course involves all sorts of vendors and games.  We followed our typical "Dave Ramsey" style budget and he put $0.50 in his savings jar, $0.50 in his giving jar and got to take $4 along.

Elijah with his card & FIVE dollars.

The $4 lollipop he found to spend the $$$ just burning a hole in his pocket.

The guys stayed out until 10pm watching the movie "Gnomeo & Juliet".  It was a full day indeed and a great way for Elijah to start his 6th year of life.

FIVE YEAR STATS & OTHER INTERESTING NOTES:
* weight: 41.5 pounds (roughly 60th percentile)
+ height: 45.6 inches (roughly 90th-95th percentile)
* Health is great!  He hasn't had any asthma issues since moving to Oregon and his allergies have been much better here too.  We'll see what happens with a move back to Colorado and when we have a dog again.....
+ When he grows up, he wants to either be a police officer or maybe a spy. 
* He can read "easy reader" type books when he is in the right mood.  He much prefers to read books that he basically has memorized.
+ He really enjoys working on basic math.  He often will say things like "Mommy, did you know that 2+2+1=5?"  When he is bored we work on counting by 2's or 5's.... because he thinks that is fun.
* He loves all things Star Wars. 
+ He is great with Legos and can build even new Lego sets without wanting/needing help from us.  (Marty is currently playing with one and commented, "I think Elijah is better at this than I am.") 
* He continues to be very determined.  I've gotten to know his Sunday school teacher and she shared a recent story of how if Elijah isn't in the right mood, he just won't participate in the songs/dances that the class does and there is nothing that will change his mind. 
+ He loves to ride his bike and started riding without training wheels a month or two ago. 
* He is thinking all the time and continues to say the funniest stuff!

We are so proud of our big 5 year old!