Happy Birthday To Our Baby Girl!

 I have really enjoyed staying home with Ila this year. She keeps me laughing all the time and never goes very long without comming and giving me a hug. Jonas and Cora just adore her and always include her. It was a very sad day for me to see her her turn 4. It seems so old.

My first homemade cake.  Strawberry! Good thing Ila was there to help me. 

Our Party Guests! Too many presents!

What we've been doing the last few months

 One day Cora decided to make herself a jungle girl. Ofcourse Ila wanted to play too.  They were so cute with all their imaginative play. 

 Oregon Coast

 Cassie and her kids came to see us during Easter Vacation.  We were a little frustrated with the weather but, it was so fun to see them.  We went to the coast, on hikes, and to the tulip festival.  Even in the rain.

I absolutely love Cora and Jonas' school here in Reno.  It is a Spanish Dual Immersion school and only has 180 kids!  They are learning so much Spanish it is amazing.  I always wanted to learn Spanish, I am so happy they have this great oppurtunity. 

Happy Halloween

This is my brother Dirk and my other brother Dirk.

The funny thing-I was not the only one at work that dressed up as another employee.

His wife and kids were speechless when they came for a tour.

The guard at the shack thought I was really this guy, and so did many other employees.

Looks like it was tricks again this year.

What Happened?

Long story short, I guess the grass is never really greener.  Prejudice and railroading in the workforce do exist and SADD is a real illness.  We are now living in Reno with Will's parents. I am absolutely loving the sun.  Do I have regrets? Yes of course, I loved our house in Utah and our future is uncertain.  But, I have learned a lot of humility and I have also gained a strong testimony of service.  I had the most amazing miracles happen to us in Oregon.  I cannot doubt that even though we had a stormy year, Heavenly Father sent angels to watch over us.  I am now more committed to my religion and have witnessed the true meaning of "magnifying your calling".  So, because I know that testimony must be shared, I will be adding all our amazing miracles to our blog.

IM BACK JACK!

Okay, so total confession....I am been so frustrated with our life that I have not blogged it. Now I am kicking myself for getting so behind. I have not blogged for almost a year. I will be working on updating over the next few weeks so stay tuned!

Last Days in Oregon

Jonas' last day of preschool.

Cora's Kindergarten Graduation.

Goodbye Middleton Elementary and Goodbye Mrs. Goodman. We loved this school so much.

Swimming Lessons and Build a Bear

Before we moved, we had a garage sale and let the kids keep their money from their toys. Cora went to Build a Bear and made her dream animal. Ila bought some more things for her Precious Places set and Jonas picked Legos. It was totally worth it, because we got rid of way more than we bought.

Last Day of Swim lessons. They loved swim lessons and I wish we could of stayed for round two because they were finally getting over their water fears.

Flag Day?

Here is a picture of Will's Flag ceremony.  He sure loves his flag!  The funny thing is that the kids actually participate.  I wonder how long this will last.

A Fantastic Haloween

Friday night, Will and I got a sitter and took off to a couples Halloween party. We went dressed as a Nurse and a H1N1 patient. We went on a challenging scavenger hunt through our local city grave yard, and all all over the place. Every stop had more clues and more challenges. We thought it was a really creative and had a ton fun with the other couple on our team.

We got up early on Halloween and witnessed an amazing race! Will's Fire Department entered in the Tualatin Pumpkin Regatta where he paddled a 1000 pound, hollowed out pumpkin. It was really amazing to see pumpkins that big. The kids loved all the booths, the therapy Lama, and mostly watching their dad floating around in a giant pumpkin.

Then we went trick or treating around our neighborhood. It was 56 degrees and my warmest Halloween in a long time. Our neighborhood was jam packed. I have never seen so many people out trick or treating. We took the kids trick or treating to a grave yard and Will took Cora and Jonas through someones Spook Alley. I love a having a neighborhood so full of Halloween Spirit. It made it so fun. We had a great Halloween this year and cannot wait till next year.

The brooms are ready...

...anyone want to go for a ride! No tricks. All witches treats.

Beware!

Banshees are screaching and ghouls are haunting!

Happy Halloween!

Reading to Grandpa

We drove out to Utah last week and I am mad I didnt take any more pictures then this. I will have to get some from my sister and add to this post later. However, I did get this priceless picture of Cora reading to Grandpa. Notice the title of the Book. Cora read about 2 stories and Grandpa was already asleep.

Seaside

We drove out to the coast and Tillamook Cheese Factory at the begining of the month. It was a much needed outing. I have to say, I am loving living close to the Ocean. The kids entertained themselves on the sand and I got to have some relax time with Will. It is always nice to enjoy some fresh ocean air. Ila and I found a sand dollar, the rat gulls got into our food, and we had some cheap Mexican food for dinner. It was a great day.

PS You can tell Cora was done taking that picture. She is definitely getting older.

The Best Vacation EVER!

OUR ADVENTURE TO CRESCENT CITY

What is the best vacation ever? Our vacation to the Redwoods and Crescent city. We stayed 4 nights in the KOA and loved it. We saw huge trees, did lots of hiking, played on the beach, discovered sea life in the tide pools, got close up to harbor seals and sea lions, visited my first lighthouse, drove through a giant tree, met a 1500 year old tree, played cards, had lots of s'mores, lots of bonding, and lots of Capri Suns. We loved this trip and think we need to camp more often. The best parts...we gathered free firewood on the beach, told ghost stories, did crafts, took a nap in our tents, ate yummy camp food, and just got away from it all. No computeres, no cell phones, nobody but us. This was great!

Sorry, I have been so slow. No excuses really, just lazy and enjoying my summer. We miss you all more then we thought and love to hear from everyone.

Love The Goodrich Family

OREGON

I guess I have kind of been on blog strike for last 2 months. Partly because I feel like our life has been turned upside down since about May. We went to California and had a very busy and fun and Disney and Sea World vacation. Then a week later we sold our house. So, me being me, got to work. I feverishly worked on finding placements for my girls, sold every large item I could, and spent days boxing and boxing and purging and purging. Did I mention, I rented our house online and picked the area we wanted to live by talking to a few people that I never even met?

Then away we went to Oregon on a very long drive and arrived in the middle of the trees at dusk. Day 1, I got so lost on my way to Costco that I was having a small panic attack. I couldn't find my way out of the woods and finally asked a utility truck to help me out. (For father's day I bought a Tom Tom) Luckily "Lori" now helps we with that problem and we seem to be getting around just fine. And if I don't hear Lori when she tells me to turn, I have 3 kids telling me "Lori said, turn right!"

What do I love about this place, the vegetation is amazing! I planted Romain lettuce on the 4th of July and can already put lettuce on my sandwiches. There are blackberry bushes EVERYWHERE and the people have been so nice. My neighborhood is quiet, but I don't mind because I still feel safe with my kids outside. There walking paths that lead you all over the city and we can even walk to the YMCA. We have never gone on so many walks as a family as we do now. We love all the produce stands and the local farmers market on Saturdays. I love all the little festivals. I took the kids to the Robin Hood festival and they loved the parade. I think it was their first. We had a good time going to watch fireworks on the River on the 4th of July and Will and I were more entertained by the crowd watching. We love going downtown to eat and have had a great time seeing Portland. The kids just love the bridges every time we go to visit their aunt in the city.

We brought a cute calico kitten with us and have named her Lily. The entire street just adores her and is always petting her and giving her attention. We also adopted a sweet dog a few days ago at the local shelter. (Family, we don't want to hear from the peanut gallery) They tell us she was aged by a vet at 2 years old, but Will and I just keep saying she must be drugged or really old because she is so quiet. She never barks and prefers to lay around all day on one of the kids beds while they play in their room. She hates being alone. I really think we lucked out this time. We went back to see her twice before we adopted her because we just kept thinking she was drugged or something. She definitely minds her manners and is more like a house ornament. The shelter named her Gwen. We kept it because the name really fits. Home never home to me without the animals. :) PS Ila calls her Quinn.

Mostly we are just enjoying our life here without a million jobs and a million kids. I think there has been some overall relaxing and winding down here. We are finally starting to enjoy life and do more family activities. I will not say I am not having a hard time here without all my familiars, but I think I can find happiness here with time.

We Sold Our House.

This is so sick we had to laugh!