The San Juan Islands and Cedric

I do not feel like I have posted much about little trips or things we have been doing lately, so let's delve into this San Juans trip!

I love the San Juan Islands and had been itching to go for awhile, so my sister and I decided to go there and make a trip of it for Cedric's birthday. It was fun to camp with all of our family (minus our brothers)!

We took a late ferry over to Orcas Island (9pm), but it was the most beautiful ferry ride I have ever been on, so it was worth it. It was sunset and the sky was all mauve and pink. There were also some double rainbows. It was one of those moments where one feels like all is right in the world because it was so incredibly beautiful. These pictures do not do it justice at all, and I forgot my camera, so these are just from my phone.

We spent time on Orcas Island hiking, early morning swimming, roasting marshmallows and playing on the beach. It was pretty lovely! I don't have many pictures as my phone died and we did not have cell service anyways.

 Elanor loves her Aunt Jessie.

There was this great tower at the top of Mount Constitution and Elanor had a Rapunzel moment.

Babies on the ferry ride back to the mainland.

With Nan.

We had Cedric's party at Jess and Ricky's house in Bellingham. Jess made this lovely Hummingbird cake by Jamie Oliver.

 Ced loved his cake!

I was so excited about this present! Cedric has these pajamas that have timelord type pocket watches on them and I call him a baby timelord every time he wears them. Ced often repeats words, though they are not in his everyday vocabulary. So, one of those times he repeated timelord and it was the cutest thing. So when I was trying to think of a gift for him, I had pinned a doll on my pinterest a year or more ago and went to the etsy shop where the doll was from. The doll maker will do custom dolls and they are not too expensive either, especially compared to other doll makers on etsy. So, she made this 11th Doctor doll and he turned out so adorable. I went with the 11th Doctor as his clothes would be the cutest on a doll. He also has red suspenders under his jacket. The doll shop is called Roving Ovine, if you're curious and I will probably buy from her again as these dolls are so cute and so well made!

It was a fun little trip and I am so glad we were able to go and celebrate Cedric (and Ricky, as he had a birthday too!).

The Weekly Photo

Should have been posted on Monday, January 22nd:

It was so nice to get outside after been cooped up so long with a sick baby!

Should have been posted yesterday:

 On a hike for Grandpa's birthday!

Thanksgiving

We went up to Spokane to spend Thanksgiving with my Grandpa and step-Grandma Vonnie. It was so much fun and I am glad we were able to go, as Elanor had not been to Spokane before and it had been at least six years since I was up there. I do not get to see all of my extended family very often, so it is means a lot to be able to see some of them!

There was some snow in Spokane!

Uncle Ian spent some time teaching Elanor how to "snowboard".

We helped Grandpa and Vonnie decorate their Christmas tree and tried to take some family pictures.

Ian is such a good uncle.

I love this one of Elanor and her Great Grandpa Roger.

Happiness.

 I love this picture so much, but why am I blurry?!?!

 Four generations.

 Grandpa and Vonnie with the girls.

(it is hard to get pictures where everyone is looking as there were multiple cameras going off)

On Saturday, we took Elanor on a mini Spokane tour.  First stop was the carousel in Riverfront Park (the very best one--it is beautiful and unique, moves quite fast, and you have to try and grab these rings as you go around--it makes sense, just go to Spokane sometime.)

How cute is this?!

My Uncle Scott, with the girls and his soon-to-be step daughter Marley.

I have a pretty mom!

Elanor and Marley got along so well and were fast friends in a matter of minutes.

We also stopped at the giant tree at the mall, walked around the very fancy and very cool Davenport Hotel and met my cousins, Marlana and Andrew there for desserts. If you ever happen to be in Spokane, go to the Davenport and explore. The ballrooms are beautiful, the main lobby area stunning, and the bathrooms are quite fancy.

 I am so glad we were able to travel up to Spokane. It is wonderful to see everyone and there are so many more family members we need to visit now that we live a little closer. I love spending time with family and hearing stories. It really is so important and our time here is short.

And to close, here is little Alice asleep on the car ride back home. 

And I stayed up way too late writing this.

Packing and packing and some photos!

Sorry, I have been getting so behind and hardly blogging! We went out of town and have also been packing up. Moving is a lot of work. We head for Portland on Saturday, so I don't expect you'll hear from me until sometime next week. 

Here are some photos from our short Oregon trip to see Ian (back from his mission!!), my sister and her husband and new baby, Cedric (I'm an aunt!) and of course my parents!

I am so happy my brother, Ian, is back. I missed him so much!

I have quite a bit more to blog about, but no time right now. So, in the future, look for a 4 month update (I will actually try and do this before we leave, she is already 4 1/2 months!), Harry Potter party, and a catch-up on Weekly photos!