Matthew's Birthday 2020

 

For Matthew's birthday this year we left the kids with my parents and did the entire Silver Falls loop trail. It's roughly 8 miles of nature walk and A LOT of waterfalls to walk past. The goal was to get a picture in front of all of them, but for the sake of the blog I opted to just post one.

This year, for the first time in at least a decade Matthew asked for something other than funfetti cupcakes. This year it was cherry-chocolate-chip blondies. And finally, this year he got his long hoped for Bugatti Lego Technic 1:8 model car. Just looking at the box brings him joy. So glad I finally pulled off a gift he loves but took him completely by surprise. Just sad it didn't get here on his birthday but a few days later. Stupid Lego and covid shipping delays.

I am so grateful for this man. Steadfastness is this man's defining trait and with my tendency to go big and then go home I am grateful for this man's diligence in creating a wonderful life dedicated to Heavenly Father and his family.

Chewkie Hikes with Grandpa

From my dad (Grandpa Booren):

Saturday afternoon Chewkie said she would like to go for a hike with me and specifically mentioned a small Audubon Society nature park down the hill from us. I think we hiked every inch of the trails at that park and then noticing we still had some time left, we drove over to the Orchard Hills Park and found more hiking and playing to do. We both very much enjoyed ourselves. She likes to hike and so do I. Unfortunately, my selfie lens on my phone seems to be blurred for some reason, but I still think these pictures tell a good story.

   

Mom edit. my favorite picture is this last one. 

The other day, Chewkie asked me to take her and the neighbor girl on a walk. True to her style, Chewkie wanted to "bless" every puddle she found with flower petals, hide in every patch of tall grass, and look for caterpillars every chance she got. Her little friend got a little frustrated with her style of walking. "Tell me about it kid," I told her. And yet as much as I would love for my daughter to move it along sometimes, I really love that she unabashedly forces everyone around her to slow down and find the simple joys in life. Keep being you little heart.

Beach House 2020

This year for spring break we decided to actually do something fun (normally we are super lame for SB). We rented a beach house big enough to fit us and my sister's family. Everyone was excited. And then Coronavirus shut down the Coast to outsiders and we were forced to stay home. Fast forward a few months to the middle of June. We rebooked the house and drove out. 

Sigh.We LOVE Pacific City. We love sand and the peace that comes with watching and listening to the waves and taking long walks along them. We love being together and not worrying about schedules or screen time. We love playing games, and eating mountains of sugar, and relishing in the joy of it all. We stayed from Wednesday to Saturday and loved just about every second (minus the sleep-deprived temper tantrum I threw Friday night). No one took that many pictures. Sorry, not sorry. But here's what I did capture.

Chewkie isn't much for games but still had no problem entertaining herself while in the beach house.

She also made an otter in the sand . . .

And got buried in the sand by her cousins.

They also made a awesome collection of holes they turned into tunnels. All four holes connected to each other. Sadly a few hours after we left they were turned into the Grand Canyon of the beach.

We also got the chance to tour the tide pools. Chewkie and Cousin A touched just about anything and everything they could, completely mesmerized by it all.

Not pictured are the countless hours we played games. I'm pretty sure Doodah was in heaven the entire time.

Doodah Is Baptized

Baptism day! I think it went just about as well as we had hoped. We ended it up doing it in Springfield with my brother's son C since he had pushed off his baptism because of Coronavirus and was going to be getting baptized on the same day. Salem is still under a pretty tight lock-down and baptisms are pretty limited guest wise compared to Springfield. For those who could make it, they could join the baptismal services in person. For those who couldn't there was a Facebook livestream.

Matthew wore a baptismal jumpsuit that was made for a man MUCH tubbier than him. Doodah looked like his suit was made in the 70's complete with chunky collar and over-sized pockets. They were both equally comical.

Charlotte's mother gave the baptismal talk and my mom gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. John and I stood as witnesses for Doodah and C's brothers A and J acting as witnesses for C. Doodah got to be baptized first of the two boys. He was SOOOO excited to be in the font with Matthew. He had a big grin on his face from beginning to end, even while he was being dunked. I thought it funny that even with all the practicing he and Matthew did this week he still forgot to plug his nose. He didn't seem phased by it. Matthew mentioned that he tried swimming out of the font when they were through. Oh that silly boy. 

Doodah said later that he was "happy happy" after his baptism. "Not spiritually happy, just happy happy." He also said of his confirmation that he felt like he was drifting into clouds and that it felt like a refreshing drink. I'm guessing that's a good thing.