If I could have lunch with anyone-past, present or future a lot of people come to mind. Spiritual leaders, (past and present prophets of our church, and even older ones, like Noah, Abraham and Moses-I mean how cool would that be to ask them questions about how they felt as they talked with God and angels?) passed on relatives,(my dad, my great grandma, my grandpa who I never met and probably most-Chad’s dad who passed away not long before we got married, I would LOVE to get to know him), celebrities (Ellen DeGeneres, Will Ferrell and of course the entire staff of The Office), scrapbooking guru’s, (Elsie, Becky, Jeanette, Kelli, Cathy, Stacey, Ali-I mean how cool would that be to know them all personally and not just through their highly amusing, thought provoking and most of all inspiring blogs and articles-awesome!).
I think though if I could have lunch with ANYONE it would have to be with some girls that I never thought I would have to wish to have lunch with again. Girls who I used to eat lunch with practically every day for years, girls who went to TGI Fridays for every birthday, girls that I thought would always be such a big part of my life. The girls I am referring to are a group of friends that I hung out with in high school, Melissa, Sara, Monica, Annie “Duke”, and Linds. In high school I had lots of friends I could turn to, lots of friends that I still keep in contact with today that mean a lot to me. There was something different about these girls though-we were all so opposite, but we shared so much.
Linds is on top---->
The dance picture-all the girls (except Linds), From top left; Duke and Monica. From bottom left; Melissa, me and Sara. Birthday pic of me on my 20th b-day at TGI Fridays with Melissa next to me, and the last one is Melissa, me and Duke. I have more dance pics-but other than Melissa, I found I was sadly lacking in pictures of these girls!!!
Melissa is one of those special people that people are just drawn to, it might be her beautiful, contagious grin, or her playful teasing and hitting, but I think it’s because she makes everyone feel important and everyone feels like they are her best friend. Melissa and I still keep in touch, she is married, has an adorable little boy and is living in Florida thousands of miles away from Portland-but it just doesn’t seem that far, because I know we will always be close.
Sara, ah Sara-I love this girl. Every time I get an email from her or a comment on my blog from her it just makes me ecstatic. She will give you a compliment, and for some reason it just means so much coming from her, maybe because she is just so sincere. She is one of the most beautiful people inside and out that you will ever meet. She is strong in her faith, stubborn as all get out and an amazing friend. Sara is in Arizona, married and has a cutie little boy too. Monica, just typing that name makes me smile. Monica always made me smile-she was always paranoid about something, very dramatic and very extreme. I always thought of her as the grown up in the group, she seemed to have an old soul. I haven’t talked to Monica in years; I don’t even know where to look for her. She married her high school sweetheart and last I talked to her, she had a little boy and a little girl that were simply beautiful. Annie, we called her “Duke”, she was younger than us, but still just as much a part of the group. She is hysterical, she is fun, she is athletic, (all these girls were by the way), she always had a great story to tell and this great laugh I can still hear. I haven’t talked to her in years either, but last I talked to her, she and her husband were buying their first home. Then there is Linds. Linds was a year older than us and so went off to college in Logan when we were seniors. This girl was a little granola, a little vintage, a little superman, a little funky and little. She was short (which we reminded her often) and full of adventure. Every time we hung out, we laughed till we cried. We lost touch about 5 years ago, and I really don’t know anything about what happened, if she got married or moved to China or what.
So if I could have lunch with anyone, it would be them. We would go to TGI Fridays and we would all eat breadsticks in Alfredo, share appetizers and meals and then all get Oreo Madness. I would make sure we got lots of pictures, because I don’t have any of all of us together, I’m sure some where taken, but I don’t have them. I would make them all promise to keep in touch. I would make sure all of them had blogs or at least working email addresses and we would sing Weezer’s “The good life”. We would give each other a high five before hugs and exclaim, “hi-five you’re in!” and we would be the only ones laughing. We wouldn’t need to bring a stick along, because we would all be there and at the end of the night we would say “Love your guts and rip your lips off” and everyone would wonder what that was all about-but we wouldn’t, because that’s what we do.
I could do a whole weeks worth of blogs on the inside stories from that last paragraph-and someday I might. If any of you girls read this-I love your guts!
We went for our annual trip to cut down the perfect tree! We found Martin's U-Cut last year-and LOVE it! They have lots and lots to choose from and the people who run it live there-and are so sweet. They have a wreath shop out of their garage and have free hot cocoa and cider and give candy canes to everyone. We found the perfect tree not long after getting there. Even though Bekah had her heart set on getting a small tree (translated: a twig) We did finally convince her that we had to get a big tree to put a star on top and put presents under-and I told her we would put a little tree on her side table by her bed. 
Bekah by one of the small trees she tried to convince us was "just right".
Topher LOVED this activity-he was having so much fun finding all the trees and trompin around in the mud and the rain.
Chad by his victim. So proud!
The kids enjoying their candy canes outside the wreath shop.
Such a fun tradition!
The place cards that Chad, Bekah and I made this year. A tradition I started last year-to make placecards for everyone who will be at dinner, and on the back or the inside a place to write what you have been thankful for this year and a goal for next year that you would like to be thankful for. Example: Next year I will be thankful to be living in my new house!!!
Bekah has turned into quite a flirt. Jim's 16 year old nephew Zach was there, and she never left his side-of course who doesn't love a guy who can play guitar this well! This kid can hear a song once and play it perfectly. We may have a little groupie on our hands! Yikes!
Here is my niece Mckayla-she was lots of fun to have around this week. 
Tab-o and Charlie in his sweater-poor dog!
Bekah's favorite part of Thanksgiving has always been the olives-this year was no different, this is pretty much all she ate for dinner-it was a holiday so I didn't fight it.
Topher's fave part was the pumpkin pie and the home-made whip cream, he didn't eat much else, but once again, a holiday so I just let it be.
After dinner Topher thought he would see if Grandma had any more room down there! For some reason he stuck his whole fist down her throat and I just happened to have my camera pointing at them to get this priceless shot. Ha Ha! Too funny.
See that heavenly glow around Chad as he's washing dishes? I love a man with dishpan hands! What a sweetie-he did the whole lot of them!
It's always changing, there is always something new to see, or they bring back something that they have put away for awhile-they switch it up and my kids ALWAYS have a good time. It's something we can all do together and all find something we want to do. It's not just good for the little kids like the Children's Musuem either-my older two can spend all day there and not want to leave. Chad loves all the puzzles they have and would spend the whole day doing them if I would let him, but I always want him to come see what cute thing the kids are discovering and watch as they learn and play. We 
This is in the live science room I believe-it's the one with all the yuckies! Rats, bugs, snakes, crabs-and Topher's personal favorite-the Gecko, I think it's because he could say it! He kept coming back to it with his little magnifying glass and saying "eko, eko, eko". Not my favorite things to look at, but the kids love this room! I loved how the kids put the magnifying glasses over thier faces-too cute!
These next ones are in the new exhibit The Ends of the Earth, this exhibit was pretty cool, and even though it had some fun things for the kids like this penguin slide, the penguin walk, and the polar bear den-I think it was more for adults-so much to see, learn and read about. It's a really cool one, and it's another one of those that is included in the entrance, you don't have to pay extra for it like you have to with some of these.
This picture of Topher will always make me smile, he could not take his eyes off this bear, when he wasn't saying "whoa", "wow" or "bear" he was roaring at it. I tell you this kid has no fear, Bekah-wouldn't go near it, she was hiding out in the den, the whole time we were looking at it!
Now this next thing-I don't know if it's new, or one of the old exhibits they brought back-but how cool is this? You stand in front of this green screen...
...and you see this! You do a whole weather forcast for Portland!
The kids loved this, they did it about 4 times, before Topher started to lose interest...because he saw the dinosaur bones, which is also new, or old but new again-whatever-I hadn't seen it and the paleontology (spelling?) lab was really cool, with a bunch of triceratop bones and fossils and stuff. I don't have any pictures, but I have a feeling we will be going again soon enough!
Seriously?!? I don't know how I got so lucky to get such a great guy! All I know is that I love him so much more than I ever thought I could love anyone! I mean he's sweet, patient, understanding, helpful, and sexy as all get out! He is more than any woman 
Some pics at the beach-we weren't expecting such a beautiful sunny day-but we got it! It was gorgeous! We barely needed to wear a sweatshirt! Perfect day for a long romantic walk, holding hands and just enjoying each others company.
The view from our rooms balcony. It just doesn't get much prettier!
Chad's favorite feature of the room was the lovely blue cabinets in the kitchen, he can't wait to have our own home, so he can incorporate some of the beautiful decorating ideas he got from this place! Don't you love the brown hood over the white stove? Us too.
I know you all wanted some good 
I love you 
