More everyday adventures...

Moments I felt were worth capturing this last week...

How I found the girls sleeping the other night.

 Aubrey trying to climb onto her sisters bed.

 She has learned if she goes to the back side of the bed, she can pull herself up.

 The proud, "I did it!" moment.

 Maddie started a journal for herself. I love the things you can learn about her by reading this book.

 Part of the adventure is deciphering what some of her creative spelling is supposed to mean. :)

 More climbing...

Proof that I no longer have a lap for my baby girl to sit on.

 Yet another unusual sleep position for this little lady.

 Admiring a bottle of water?

And even more climbing.

 Hiding in the bushes.

 Enjoying our 49 cent Slurpee's on memorial day.

 No longer enjoying our 49 cent Slurpee on memorial day...

I know right? Our life if pretty exciting isn't it? 

What good is a holiday without a family BBQ?

We drove to Logan last Saturday so we could spend some time up the canyon with Karl's family and celebrated Grandma Nielsen's birthday. The girls all had a great time playing and climbing trees together. It was the perfect way to spend a holiday weekend!

The 3 oldest girls thought it was pretty cool they all showed up wearing orange shirts. Oh and they also thought it was pretty cool they could climb these trees.

 I had to include this picture showing Brooklyn's haircut. Her hair had been driving me crazy lately. I finally figured out it was because it needed some layers. So I got on YouTube and watched a video showing how to cut layers and decided to give it a go. (Not that I haven't watched my own hair be cut with layers for years and years already...) I was pretty excited about the fact that it actually worked! I love her hair now! Well... other than her bangs that I accidentally cut a bit too short a couple weeks ago. 

 Madison and Brooklyn have been a bit obsessed lately with this Australian TV show called H20: Just add water. The show is about 3 girls who turn into mermaids if they get wet. They all have a special power as well that help them out. My girls love to pretend that they are the girls from the show all the time! This is the reason you may have heard them tell you lately that their names are Emma and Cleo not Brooklyn and Madison. Although Ivy (also known as Rickie) isn't as big of a fan of the show, she loves to play along with her cousins anyway. This is the girls using their powers on the fire...

 We forgot to bring the graham crackers for our s'mores which resulted in some messy marshmallow eating. I don't think anyone really minded though...

 Haha. I just love this picture of miss Violet.

 Aubrey was content to sit in her stroller almost the entire time we were up the canyon. For this, I was quite grateful. I didn't mind not having to chase her away from the river and trees the whole time we were there. 

Thanks Grandma for having a birthday so we could celebrate. It sure was fun to get away. Even if it was just for the day.

Finally, some pictures from Portland...

After getting through all the stresses of Friday night, we were finally able to relax and have some fun.

 My sister Heidi and I bumping bellies... :)

 These next few pictures are all from Heidi's baby shower. It's not very often that I get to be with all 3 of my sisters and my mom at the same time. What a treat. 

 The whole group. Heidi's husband is from Romania. He only has one brother and their parents are currently still living in Romania (they are hoping to get them here as soon as possible though). Half of this group is Ovidiu's Romanian family- His aunt, 2 cousin's and their children. The other girls are some of Heidi's friends. She even had one of her best friends fly in from California for the shower.

The rest of these pictures are from our adventures in down town Portland. 

 Another belly bump picture. Apparently this pose was highly requested...

 A random guy pulled Heidi and I aside at the market and made us try out this... unique... back support contraption. I must admit I was sold as soon as that thing was strapped around my back. I have had terrible back pain this whole pregnancy and so a little relief for my back is well accepted by me.

Holy Cow did it actually work! It would have been worth every penny they were asking for it, unfortunately I didn't just have an extra $65 laying around... But I'm still trying to come up with a way to get that extra cash :). In case you were wondering, this contraption is called "Nada Chair" and can be purchased online. If I had more than 6 weeks left of pregnancy I might have fought a little harder to make it happen. I know it may look quite ridiculous, but it felt oh so wonderful.  

 Of course we had to make a stop at the famous Voodoo doughnut shop while we were there. 

You can read about our first visit to Voodoo doughnuts here...

Apparently this place has become even more popular since the last time we came.  The line wrapped all the way along the building and across the street. 

We waited an hour and 15 minutes for these doughnuts and they were oh so worth it. Yum!

This is the raspberry filled Voodoo man.

We sure had a lot of fun on our little vacation, but I must admit, I was ready for a vacation from our vacation by the end.

Traveling always wears me out. Add being 8 months pregnant on top of that and I'm sure you can imagine how ready to be home I was. So it was no surprise it took me 2 days of doing absolutely nothing to recover. :)

Thanks again Heidi for letting us come and for keeping us entertained. We sure do love you!