August 2008 Photos

Siena, Michael, and I enjoyed a concert at Millenium Park earlier in the month of August. What a beautiful evening to have a picnic in the park!

Siena and Misty snuggling up on a Saturday morning.

Our playgroup's 2nd Annual Picnic.

Here Siena and I are with all of our mommy and toddler friends.

We meet regularly for playgroup each Monday morning.

Our first camping trip for 2008...we stayed at Ll. Stubb Stewart State Park (Oregon's newest state campground). We enjoyed hiking the many miles of trails in this wooded area near Vernonia. We had a wonderful cabin reserved, which always makes camping easier and more pleasant for us.

Earlier in August we visited Grandma and Grandpa Braley in Florence, Oregon. We spent some time at the beach with Grandma. Siena enjoyed the sand!

Siena got a slide for our backyard this month, and she is quite good at climbing up and sliding down all by herself. (Next year we definitely need more things to keep her occupied in our backyard. Also, we're lucky to have a new city park with a toddler playground opening up just a few blocks away. We're excited for that!)

July 2008 Photos

4th of July in our neighborhood...

Siena with some friends watching fireworks on our street.

The Summit Ridge Neighborhood's 1st Annual 4th of July Parade

was held in the morning at the school at the top of our community. Cheryl helped

to organize it.

Several of our neighbors got together to have a bbq and share fireworks later that evening.

Waiting for the parade to start...
Cheryl's 35th birthday
Our friend (and photographer from our wedding), Keri, came over to our house for dinner. She taught Cheryl how to make salad rolls. Fun! Siena certainly enjoyed her company. Can you tell?! :)
Our friend, Tracy (& her dog), were in town so we had a nice visit with her. It was great having Jackie over, too! Siena loved having a dog around. (But we are perfectly happy with our cat...no dogs in our futures.)

Cheryl & Grandma Duvall at the Duvall Family Reunion. It was so good to see her again, and other family members, too. Grandma looks good for being 91. She's an amazing woman!!!

Our friends, the Woodburns, Jackie, and Steve, came over for a bbq. We're so fortunate to have such wonderful friends in our lives!
Siena likes to help Mommy bake. She's quite the helper! Here we're making a crumb cake for playgroup the next day.
We hosted playgroup at our house the last Monday of July. Each playgroup family generally hosts once every two months. This day we had 3 friends over and their mommies. Here the kids are enjoying the ceiling fan. (The simplest things fascinate them!)
Siena and Mommy met our friends at the Sherwood City Park for one of the concerts in the park. Big band music was playing that evening, and Siena REALLY got into it. Her feet were tapping, her hands were slapping against her legs, and then she found a dance partner in Keaton. So sweet! We had a fabulous time on a perfect summer evening.

What a fun-filled month, eh?!

Selected Photos, May 31-June 25, 2008

The 3 of us went on a hike at Latourelle Falls up the Columbia Gorge on May 31st.

The day started off rainy, but the clouds parted and the sun poured out of the sky by the time we left Vista Point. It turned out to be a lovely day for a hike!

We stopped at Multnomah Falls after our hike. What an expression on Siena's face, eh?!

Siena loves the towers that Daddy builds her. She's just now starting to "get into" the building of them, too. (Not just the destruction of the creations.)

Siena isn't a huge fan of coloring, but occasionally we put them out to explore with. This day she seemed to be enjoying the experience.

Tea with Grandma Braley.

Swinging at Miller Park on our trip down to Florence.

Siena loves to RUN!

Smelling Grandpa's flowers.

Father's Day 2008:

After breakfast, we went downtown Portland to Powell's Bookstore and to go to lunch.

(Daddy's wish for the day.) We had fun together and bought a few books, of course.

Siena and her friend in the pool with yummy popsicles on a warm day.

We went to Oaks Park with friends, Kirstin, Clara, & Ellis, on June 25th. Siena enjoyed the carousel ride!

Siena went on her first ride alone without Mommy or Daddy. Clara took good care of her though! :)

May: At home and our family trip

Michael, Siena, and I went on a week-long trip to Washington D.C. and Virginia (sightseeing and family visit) from May 14-21, 2008. Siena was an AMAZING traveler once again. We tried not to plan too much, and we were ready to part with any of the ideas we had, so maybe that helped! :) Anyways, these photos are in reverse order, going from the end of our trip to the beginning of May...

The last night of our trip - Siena kicks back in the hotel chair. Happy girl!

We visited Mount Vernon on our way back north from visiting family in Richmond, Virginia.



We went to a local mall with Siena's cousins, aunt, and uncle. Siena had a blast at the play area and learned how to go down the slide all by herself!

Climbing to the top of the slide...

Mirrors are so much fun!

We also went to a park and farm near to where Siena's cousins live. Siena enjoys looking at all of the different animals.

One of Siena's new favorite things: swinging!

Aunt Liz won Siena over immediately with one of her first popsicles ever. She really got into it!

Our first evening at Uncle James', Aunt Liz', Eva's, and Miranda's home.

Before leaving Washington D.C. to head to Richmond, VA, we went to the National Zoo. Here we are at the Giant Panda exhibit.

May 17, 2008

After a day of tours and museums, we arrived back at the Dupont Circle neighborhood, where we stayed. Siena was happy to see the ducks in the water fountain there.
May 16, 2008

The National Aquarium was not very big, but it was the perfect size for our little curious one. This was her favorite tank: the alligators and the turtles. She could see everything in it without assistance.

Siena and Daddy in front of the U.S. Capitol building after our tour through it.

On our first full day in D.C., we were pretty tired from getting in so late the night before, and so we got a late start. We took a hop-on, hop-off tour bus through part of the siteseeing area. We ended our day viewing the White House from afar.

We got off of the bus at the Lincoln Memorial and also saw the Korean War Memorial and Vietnam War Memorial.

Back at home on Mother's Day...Mommy with her little angel!