Blizzard in Portland?

We are in the middle of snowstorm in Portland. Because it doesn't happen very often, the city folds with just an inch or two of snow. There aren't enough snow plows to get around, people don't know how to drive in it, lots of accidents, etc. Church was even cancelled. It's been snowing pretty steadily since 8:00 a.m. and doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. In fact, it's coming down harder than ever. In most of the places we've lived (except Tucson) it wouldn't even be worth mentioning, but this much snow is pretty unusual here. It's been fun playing in it!

Love to all!

Wendy

William just in from the snow. He's saying, "Cheese!"

Photo from Olympic Mountains in Washington

One of our favorites. All the expressions are fun for us to stare at.

When William sees this photo, he yells, "Blue!" That is his word for his pacifiers (which he no longer uses).

Boy!

We just had our ultrasound and will be adding another boy to the ranks! Katie remains the princess. The baby looks perfectly healthy and we are thrilled!

Taylor Family Reunion Photos

Some fun pics from this summer. Great memories!

Expecting

So, as you probably all know, we are expecting baby number 5 soon. I went to the doctor a few days ago and everything is looking great. Our official due date is March 22. I am feeling yucky, but it won't last forever. Here's to a new adventure!

(Thank you Melanie for the funny comic.)

California

At the end of June we had a Bennion family reunion in Southern California. Here are a few of the 299 pictures we took.

This is at one of the beaches on the Balboa Peninsula.

Katie on the tea cups at Disneyland. I love the look of pure joy on her face.

Post- Disneyland. We arrived at 8:30 am and stayed until midnight when the park closed. Wow.

Gregory walking back from the beach. What a gorgeous face!

William, the Sand Man. At the beginning of the week he really disliked the sand. Obviously he got over his aversion. This is him playing dead. Notice the tongue sticking out.

Nathan looking awfully grown-up. He was pretty fearless in the waves.

The whole trip was a blast.

Love,

Wendy

Torture 2000

Yesterday Rob, Vaughn Hughes, Trevor Fisher, and I went for a 33 mi ride that we named Torture 2000 (2,000 for the total number of feet of climbing in the route). We came up with the name "Torture" midway through the route. We started at the Albertsons near our house and went over the hills north of our place to Rte 30 via Logie Trail, and then back over the hills via McNamee, Skyline, and Springville. The craziest parts of the ride were the first major descent, which had to be made with both brakes on, because of the wet and windy road. The other crazy part was the ascent back over the hills on the way home. It was so steep (I think over 20% gradient in some places), that I wound up riding switchbacks up some parts because I was so beat down. However, the final descent was spectacular (long straight stretches) and I was able to get up to 40 mph. The day was perfect for riding (cool and overcast). Below is the our route (with elevation) and above is a photo of the group (L-R, Vaughn, Trevor, me, Rob).

Haircuts!

So Katie and I got our hair cut today. Kate loves hers and I'm still getting used to mine. I think I'll love it when I stop having to do a double take every time I look in the mirror. :)


Before:


After: After a little taming:

Nathan's Baptism

Here is a photo of us at Nathan's baptism. (Finally!) :)

Quick update

So, John is back (Yeah!). Nathan got baptized over the weekend and we had a ton of fun with visiting-family. I'll post some photos of Nathan soon.
Love you all!

The Three "Grossest" Things...

The three "grossest" things I've done today are...

-disposing of a slug and its slimy trail in my family room
-taking care of a bed-wetting accident where the child (who shall remain nameless) was literally wet all the way down to their ankles
-reaching into the toilet to retrieve the toy car that had been dropped in


Tomorrow's worst job looks to be (because I didn't quite get to it today)...
-cleaning up the dog droppings left in my yard by someone else's dog. This is why I don't have a dog!!!

How about you? :)

Business Trips

I think business trips should be outlawed. John should be pleasantly surprised to come home on Friday and find all our kids still alive. I don't know how single parents do it (and I'm not trying to balance a job at the same time. Wow.) Keep me in your prayers!

Pinewood Derby

Nathan had his first cub scout pack meeting tonight- the pinewood derby! Our pack lets siblings race, too. A great idea, in my opinion. Katie had a pink car decorated with hearts, raspberries and lemons. It was named "Raspberry Lemonade" and it won the award for the "Loveliest Car". Gregory decorated his car, "Lightning" with a ton of stickers ranging from Goofy to Christmas trees and won the "Best use of decals award". We painted Nathan's car to look like the car from the new movie "Speed Racer". He named it "Mach 5" and it won the "Mach Speed" award. Each child won in at least one of their heats and Nathan placed third in the wolf den (hence the trophy). Katie's car was actually the 4th fastest of the whole night, but the 1,2, and 3 spots were also "siblings", so she didn't get a trophy for her category. Too bad. All in all it was a really fun night.

Here are some photos of the evening.

Spring Break

We are so excited to see you guys in a few days! Our kids are counting down the days!

Gregory's dilemna

So the other night Gregory said, "I don't know who to pick. I don't want a wife with short hair because I hate short hair. Will you choose for me? " I told him that I would. I hope he makes good on his word. :)

WOW!

Wow, Melanie! You are a computer genius! I love it!

Testing out the blog

Aren't these just the cutest faces you've seen? :)