Trick or Treat!

Our evening trick-or-treating began early at Lloyd Center - most of the stores offered trick-or-treating for children (and I guess desperate adults). It was WARM and fun. Norah loved seeing all the other kids costumes. Ryan met us after work and Grandma Peggy and Kodiak joined us as well. We have been practicing saying "Trick or Treat" but with the big crowds she wasn't really into that. However, she was good with her "thanks yous"!

After our trick or treats we headed home to answer the door for other children and to enjoy my mom's delicious dinner in a pumpkin. yum!


After the mall we stopped by our friends Michelle and Stephanie's place for our one outdoor trick or treating experience. Michelle has a cute new cat, Fifi, much to Norah's happiness. Fifi is about the size of my hand and fuzzy as can be. CUTE!

Halloween Lunch with the Greats

This morning Norah and I headed over to my grandparents place for visiting and lunch. Norah was quite a hit at the restaurant - she entertained the group and wasn't shy about speaking up. I usually feel like I have to translate what Norah is saying, but my grandma was really good about understanding everything she said. She gets super great-grandma points for that! She and Norah played together while I set up Grandpa's ne we-mail account. Grandpa was also a good sport and let Norah bonk him on the head with a balloon over and over again, because she thought his reaction was so funny.

Happy Halloween!!

Trip down memory lane

Misty has been scanning old family photos and negatives, to back up for our family history. We'll also all be able to have copies to pass along to our children. There are so many interesting ones that she has been going through that are b/w of relatives from several generations. Here are a few more recent ones!Dad, Mom, Misty, me, David and Lee - at the Seattle LDS temple
Grandpa, Dad and me at OSU Dad's Weekend TEN YEARS ago. Hard to believe its been that long!
My Grandma Robbins - this looks so similar to Norah's Easter picture this year.
I think this is my 1st grade photo. I would have been attending Hoover Elementary then, just a few blocks from where Ryan lived in Corvallis. Lucky fella...

Ryan's five o'clock shadow

Star Wars at OMSI

OMSI has a Star Wars exhibit showing now - so we took a quick trip there on Sunday. There were many interesting pieces of memorabilia for SW fans! My faves were the costumes, especially Han Solo. My SW crush...

Norah hated the Jawa displayed in a glass case and hid her head in Ryan's shoulder. However when they had actors running around in the costumes she thought they were the greatest thing every and followed them around the exhibit. I had to run after and keep pulling her out of other people's pictures. She saw a pic of Yoda and called him a kitty cat, but when we found the real thing she thought he was creepy too. :-) She warmed up to the robots, though - now she recognizes C3PO and R2D2.
It was so sunny and nice we wandered around outside. Norah enjoyed hiding - you can see her fancy belt that is 3 sizes too large and her monkey coin purse, which she insisted on wearing. Very sporty.
Ryan interacting with a robot display...or a robot display interacting with Ryan...

When we got home we had to watch a little of the first Star Wars!

Pumpkin Chase

The SCARY MONSTER MITTENS that Norah and Daddy like to play chase with. Watch out for the scary monster noise that goes along with the game!

Chasing Norah around the table, prior to pumpkin carving... everyone has to play

Pumpkin Carving

After a couple weeks of waiting, Norah finally had her first pumpkin carving extravaganza! Her favorite part was scooping out seeds - we'll have to wait a few years before she takes a knife to one. Grandma Peggy, Uncle Kodiak and Aunt Misty joined us for dinner and carving - Misty is moving to Utah in a few days, so this was Norah's last opportunity to play with Misty Rose for a while. When everyone arrived, Norah got them all up to chase her around and around the dining room table. She's easy to please!So THATS whats inside...
The littlest pumpkin is Norah's - she's prone to carrying it around the house. Thank goodness Halloween is only a few days away, I don't think it will last long with all that love and attention!
Scoop, Scoop, Scoop

Last football game of the season

Tonight was Kodiak's last football game of his freshman season. Ryan took off from work early so we could go see him play together. It was a great game! Kadiak played on teh defensive line and made some good blocks and an exciting tackle. They won as well, whiched ended things on a great note. Afterwards we met Mom and Kodiak for dinner at the Hazeldell Brewpub. Yep, Norah is barhopping already. Norah's fave game - CHASE
A beautiful, crisp evening for football
Great block!

Meeting Ryan at the airport

Ryan returned from a business trip today from the exotic location of Sacramento, CA. Norah and I went to pick him up, which was quite a treat considering Norah's fascination with airplanes and castle/towers (the air traffic control tower). She was absolutely gleeful when we drove within view of the tower. As I pulled her out of the car she started yelling "Daaaaddddy....are you???" at the top of her lungs - this lasted through the airport and until we saw Ryan come through security. In case anyone was confused about why we were there. :-) We stopped for dinner at the Stanfords inside and Norah gave me lots of ettiquette gold stars when she sat in her booster seat, unrolled her napkin and placed it on her lap. Some of those may have been taken away when she later became bored and shmeared handprints on the glass between booths.... Using her best manners
Looking for Daddy!

Eugene Friends

Norah and I made a quick trip down to Eugene for the day, to visit Amariah and Ian. We were up EARLY (had to drop Ryan off at the airport for a work trip), then made our way down the I5 corridor. We started with a quick stop at Amariah's mom's new home. She is all set for little visitors, plus has a cute King Charles Spaniel, "Tucker" to entertain the crowd. Then off for lunch and a 50's style diner (Norah managed to spill Ian's lunch on his lap), a quick shopping stop at the mall, and finally to Amariah's home to hang out and play. Ian and Norah hit it off and were hysterically happy to play together. After a delicious homemade dinner we packed up the car and headed home. Norah was not quite as excited about that part, but boy was Jonesy glad when we arrived! For about 40 minutes Ian was holding Norah's hand and running her all over the house. They thought this was the funniest game EVER and only stopped for dinner.
Hugs...
...and kisses!
watching Amariah plant bulbs in the yard
Wow - look at that tattoo!

Roloff Farms - The Playland Extravaganza

After picking our pumpkins, we headed out on the self-guided tour through the farm's playland. Wow, was there a lot to do! We visited a covered bridge, castle, pirate ship, treehouse (or as Norah says, a "treehome"), and an old west town. Norah's favorite part of the entire day? Lilly the dog! She was off playing in the old west town with Misty when I saw her running back, calling something out. I vainly thought she was looking for me, but she ran right past and was calling for "Baby Lilly". :-) She is a puppy fan! We also had the opportunity to meet Grandpa Roloff and Amy Roloff while we were there. Grandpa Roloff told us lots of interesting stories about his life and their family's exciting adventures with their farm. What a fun trip!

Misty is gross

Lilly the puppy and Grandpa Roloff

Sharing rocks with Amy Roloff

Who's the cutest sheriff in town?

Way up in the treehome (mama is having a heart attack at this point)
Climbing with Aunt Misty Rose
Ahoy Matey! Exploring inside the pirate ship
Watching the bank in Wild West town

Roloff Farms - The Pumpkin Patch

Today Misty, Grandma, Norah and I went to visit the pumpkin patch and playground extravaganza at Roloff Farms, featured in the TLC program Little People Big World. This is a neat family farm out in Hillsboro!Posing for Aunt Misty Rose
Biggest Pumpkin Norah has ever seen!
Checking out the goods with Grammy
Roosters crack us up...
Norah's own personal hayride!

First Snow - 2005

Norah's first snowfall - you can turn down the volume to avoid my insipid narration.

Its all about the shoes

My favorite activity...shoe shopping! Its equally fun to go shoe shopping for Norah as for me, especially now when my fave shoes are $2.99 flip flops from Target (ahhh, can't wait for Baby S to arrive and return to my slightly hipper shoe selection). Norah has grown out of her good walking shoes and it was past time to find a new pair, as she had been stuck in the 'cosmetic' shoes that we have picked up here and there. We met Ryan for lunch at Lloyd Center and after some chinese food, Mrs. Field's cookies and a trip to the Halloween store, we were off on our mission. Oh - lets not forget the stop in the restroom to scrape off pink piglet icing from every inch of Norah's body. That was a treat - thanks Ryan. :-) Thank goodness Nordy's has a non-crusty mall restroom. Norah is now a size 6! She is moving out of the baby/new walker section and into the bigger kids area. This means more choices, but made me a little sad as well. Ecco has turned into my favorite brand for her. The support and flexibility are great, plus they are incredibly durable. We found the cutest shoes - they even have a 'sparkle' for Norah's pleasure. Love it!

Watching the ice skaters and waiting for Daddy

Super cute shoes!

Number 1 - Sophie and Sara's big day!

It was a weekend of family time - Sophie and Sara celebrated their BIG first birthday today. As always, they were adorable and engaging. Norah has been fascinated by birthdays lately and this was about the best thing ever for her. After getting over her shyness (its about time she found a bit of that!) she enjoyed playing with her cousins. She managed to avoid stepping on Isabelle's head, but did keep trying to make off with her purple balloon. Thank goodness Aunt Marla was so prepared, there were plenty to go around!

Sara and Sophie had different tecniques for cake... Sara delicately picked with her fingers and Sophie ripped off the top and started munching. :-)

Norah was so excited to have a balloon to take along home. She clutched it our entire way back - plus she decided that the honey bear was hers as well. S&S's Grandpa Ellis shared a bottle of his home grown honey - delicious!!

Gramma and Norah - sporting the cute winter outfit that Gramma gave her!