It's funny, people keep telling us we won't see the sun for months now which is what makes Oregon winters so hard. But that sun keeps rearing its ugly face! We definitely take more advantage of it when it comes out and make sure to get the kids outside for walks and the park, etc. A few weeks ago, we found out that the Chinese Gardens had free admission for the day! We packed up the kids and headed out... to downtown Portland. The gardens are literally in the middle of downtown. We were trying to find a place to park and I was staring at all these tall skyscrapers and hotels and even said to Ryan, 'well, I don't get it... is it on top of one of the buildings?' We found it though and not on top of a building. It's surrounded by solid white walls but inside it's gorgeous! I want to go back in the spring because I can imagine the colors are beautiful. It was a small enough area that we could kind of let Cooper run around without losing him and we even sat down and had some lunch there!
The weekend after that, Bryce and Amanda (brother in law and girlfriend) came to visit. Bryce-y Bryce's birthday is right after Christmas, so Amanda got him tickets to come visit as a surprise! They love Portland and have talked about moving here. We would, of course, be elated if that happened! We spent the weekend walking around downtown and checking out the sites. We even got a chance to go out to dinner with them, without the kiddos!
Cooper is more and more of a little boy and less of a baby. Sometimes when I get home from work, it's like he's actually become more of a boy in just a day. He keeps us on our toes and laughing all the time. He can repeat lines from books to us and does so out of the blue. Last night, we were getting dinner ready and Ryan said, 'noses are good for making holes', and Cooper finished, 'in trees, and roofs, and barber poles'! He typically does it unprompted, and it's hilarious.
Olivia is crazy! She is really cute and quite smiley. She LOVES watching everything Cooper and every night when we put her to bed, we have him give her a kiss and hug and she actually reaches for him and nuzzles into his face. Someday they'll fight, but right now, it is beautiful to watch.
Here are some pictures!
~Ahna
