Wow its been a long time...Oops...3 kids has kept us busy.
Elliot started up again at ABC - going a full 4 days a week and taking the required front porch picture with a sign. Wes got a sign too as he was jealous! We spent early September enjoying the nice weather and new Fiona, playing in the backyard and running around in the sun. There was so much fun that Madison tore her other ACL and actually had to have surgery on her other leg to get back on it. She recovered well and a lot faster than from her first TPLO operation.
At the end of September we had a great trip planned to the coast with a rented house right on the beach! Unfortunately, almost as soon as we got there, Fiona spiked a temperature to 103 and we had to turn right back around to take her to the hospital. Crystal and Fiona got to spend an enjoyable 3 days at the children's hospital making sure it was just a virus while Mac, Elliot, Wes, Andrea and the dogs enjoyed the coast and the Tillamook cheese factory. We were all sad to see Fiona in the hospital but happy that she ended up ok. Tough weekend for Crystal as she put so much work into planning the trip and didn't get a chance to enjoy the coast.
In September Elliot really got into violin lessons with teacher Sophie. Starting just with "bow hands" she rapidly progressed to playing on an egg carton and was working hard toward earning her violin.
A highlight of early October was Dad purchasing an inflatable T-Rex costume and running around the neighborhood - kids in tow! We also got to visit a pumpkin farm with Leo and Ollie - including an awesome hay maze that the kids got to get lost in and go exploring. Fiona continued to grow and we discovered that she was our happiest baby! Wes continued to develop his gymnastics adn bike riding skills - highlighting his strength and balance. In October, our friends Philippe and Carolyn came to visit and thought it rained all weekend, it was great to see them!!
The highlight of October, however, was renting a trailer and camping as a family at Olympic national park. We got a prime campsite right by the ocean and were able to go out on the beach, enjoying the surprisingly sunny and warm weather. Beach explorations and a woods hike rounded out an awesome trip.
Halloween was our first whole family costume - with the kids dressing up as dragons, Dad as a taco and Crystal / Fiona as spicy salsa - from the book, Dragons love tacos! Crystal mad amazing costumes and the kids had an absolute BLAST trick or treating. Elliot really understood it this year and Wes was just happy to run around and shout! The weather was nice and it was a really fun day!
We left the next day to fly to New Jersey to celebrate Mac's cousin's wedding with the Rehfuss side of the family. While it was a quick trip, it included side trips to the Liberty Science Museum as well as Liberty island and the statue of liberty. We got a great family picture at the reception and enjoyed seeing everyone! As we left New Jersey, Mac, Wes, Crystal and Fiona all flew home - while Elliot traveled for a week of adventure at Disney world with Grandma Cook, cousing Abbey and Great Aunt Meg. It was an AMAZING trip for Elliot and she had a blast seeing the princesses, taking the rides, watching the animals and spending time with Grandma.
We continued the November travel excitement with an extending southwestern trip. Flying into Vegas, we spent some time lounging by the pool and splashing around as well as a a real life mideaval tournament show - complete with knights, chickens to eat with your hands and mugs for banging. A trip to the dancing fountain finished off enough Vegas for everyone. After stopping at an AMAZING playground in St. Georges, Utah, we then headed out to Bryce Canyon national park. It was definitely the slow season, but the geography was AMAZING and hoodoos were just amazing to look at and hike through. A really outstanding hike!! We hiked a slot canyon that nobody was in on our way out of Bryce and it was super cool!!! Fiona was a trooper through all of this - happily takin in the scenery! We next headed to Zion canyon national park and this was AMAZING!!! Oustanding hiking and relatively easy travel as most the park was accessed only by bus. We went on a family hike to a waterfall and pol that must have worn out the kids because Elliot ate 5 (FIVE) adult sized pieces of pizza after. The next day while Andrea took the big kids on an adventure, Crystal and Mac headed up to angels landing. An impressive tower of rock over looking the Zion canyon, the hike out was a little narrow and Mac lost his nerve - turning back abot halfway in. Crystal went all the way to the end of this beautiful and challenging hike! A hike up the river for a little bit capped off our last day in Zion and then we returned to Las Vegas - stopping at a super fund container park that included food, a place to play and a gigantic grass hopper costume that squirted fire! We mad t home with exhausted kids - a great trip!!!!!
Life slowly got back to normal in the end of November and Elliot earned her violin!!! Crystal made an amazingly creative and delicious lunch for Elliot at ABC. We ran the turkey trot on Thanksgiving day at the Zoo as a family and Weston even won a pie in a drawing!! The kids participated in the kids race and had a grand old time running around the elephant enclosure. Everyone got medals!!! Thanksgiving was a low key affair at the Lassiters and then into December!!
We started off December strong with a trip to the oregon Zoo - zoo lights event. It was beautiful (and dry) and the kids loved looking at all of the lights up in the zoo. As we decorated the house the kids "helped" and really got into the Christmas spirit - finding Cranberry the elf every morning! Crystal and the kids went to go meet Santa while Mac worked and there was face painting and balloons!!
We headed t to the Redland farms for our christmas tree selection trip - in addition to tree cutting, they also had S'more roasting, animal petting, warm cider, santa clause, a bounce house and a LOT of fun was had!! It was a blast to all head out together in the dry weather and pick a tree to get into the spirit. We also got to go cookie decorating at Evelyn's house - Elliot was really into this. A neat party idea, all the kids were having a blast building their own cookies and actually Wes stayed and focused more than we have ever seen him before!
Elliot and Crystal continued their tradition of going to the Nutcracker in the holiday season, and Elliot love it just as much (if not more) than last year.
We also took a trip to the Portland Rail Heritage Centers winder train ride. Although they were oversold and we didn't get a seat - we still got to look out the window, wonder at the size and noise of the steam engine and get into the holiday spirit!
Crystal took an excellent run at building a gingerbread house and the kids were excited to help. The frosting subcontractor, however, was a bit lax on their standards and there was some house sagging / collapsing. It was all ok, though, because gingerbread houses taste goo regardless of what they look like!
Christmas was at home this year and Santa was GENEROUS! Frozen toys, nail polish, an electric train. The kids minds EXPLODED!!!!! They totally understood christmas this year and it was fun to see and share their excitement. We were off the afternoon of Christmas day to Wisconsin to see family.
The time in Wisconsin was wonderful. We got to see all the cousins, Grandma weis and uncle patrick as well as uncle Eric and senior special friend samantha. The kids skated on the frozen lake an other than Crystal getting a terrible case of the flu and getting sicker than I have ever seen her before - the whole vacation was great! We got the chance to head up to the Wisconsin Dells and spend a day at a water park - it was SO MUCH FUN!!! The kids loved the waterslides and by the end Elliot was going to water slides all by herself. The lazy river was a huge hit and everyone was OUT on the drive home.
ONce we were safe back at home, we rang in 2020 in a low key way. Crystal was at work and Mac took the kids to a New Years party where they got to do singing and partying! Happy 2020 everyone!!!
Elliot started up again at ABC - going a full 4 days a week and taking the required front porch picture with a sign. Wes got a sign too as he was jealous! We spent early September enjoying the nice weather and new Fiona, playing in the backyard and running around in the sun. There was so much fun that Madison tore her other ACL and actually had to have surgery on her other leg to get back on it. She recovered well and a lot faster than from her first TPLO operation.
At the end of September we had a great trip planned to the coast with a rented house right on the beach! Unfortunately, almost as soon as we got there, Fiona spiked a temperature to 103 and we had to turn right back around to take her to the hospital. Crystal and Fiona got to spend an enjoyable 3 days at the children's hospital making sure it was just a virus while Mac, Elliot, Wes, Andrea and the dogs enjoyed the coast and the Tillamook cheese factory. We were all sad to see Fiona in the hospital but happy that she ended up ok. Tough weekend for Crystal as she put so much work into planning the trip and didn't get a chance to enjoy the coast.
In September Elliot really got into violin lessons with teacher Sophie. Starting just with "bow hands" she rapidly progressed to playing on an egg carton and was working hard toward earning her violin.
A highlight of early October was Dad purchasing an inflatable T-Rex costume and running around the neighborhood - kids in tow! We also got to visit a pumpkin farm with Leo and Ollie - including an awesome hay maze that the kids got to get lost in and go exploring. Fiona continued to grow and we discovered that she was our happiest baby! Wes continued to develop his gymnastics adn bike riding skills - highlighting his strength and balance. In October, our friends Philippe and Carolyn came to visit and thought it rained all weekend, it was great to see them!!
The highlight of October, however, was renting a trailer and camping as a family at Olympic national park. We got a prime campsite right by the ocean and were able to go out on the beach, enjoying the surprisingly sunny and warm weather. Beach explorations and a woods hike rounded out an awesome trip.
Halloween was our first whole family costume - with the kids dressing up as dragons, Dad as a taco and Crystal / Fiona as spicy salsa - from the book, Dragons love tacos! Crystal mad amazing costumes and the kids had an absolute BLAST trick or treating. Elliot really understood it this year and Wes was just happy to run around and shout! The weather was nice and it was a really fun day!
We left the next day to fly to New Jersey to celebrate Mac's cousin's wedding with the Rehfuss side of the family. While it was a quick trip, it included side trips to the Liberty Science Museum as well as Liberty island and the statue of liberty. We got a great family picture at the reception and enjoyed seeing everyone! As we left New Jersey, Mac, Wes, Crystal and Fiona all flew home - while Elliot traveled for a week of adventure at Disney world with Grandma Cook, cousing Abbey and Great Aunt Meg. It was an AMAZING trip for Elliot and she had a blast seeing the princesses, taking the rides, watching the animals and spending time with Grandma.
We continued the November travel excitement with an extending southwestern trip. Flying into Vegas, we spent some time lounging by the pool and splashing around as well as a a real life mideaval tournament show - complete with knights, chickens to eat with your hands and mugs for banging. A trip to the dancing fountain finished off enough Vegas for everyone. After stopping at an AMAZING playground in St. Georges, Utah, we then headed out to Bryce Canyon national park. It was definitely the slow season, but the geography was AMAZING and hoodoos were just amazing to look at and hike through. A really outstanding hike!! We hiked a slot canyon that nobody was in on our way out of Bryce and it was super cool!!! Fiona was a trooper through all of this - happily takin in the scenery! We next headed to Zion canyon national park and this was AMAZING!!! Oustanding hiking and relatively easy travel as most the park was accessed only by bus. We went on a family hike to a waterfall and pol that must have worn out the kids because Elliot ate 5 (FIVE) adult sized pieces of pizza after. The next day while Andrea took the big kids on an adventure, Crystal and Mac headed up to angels landing. An impressive tower of rock over looking the Zion canyon, the hike out was a little narrow and Mac lost his nerve - turning back abot halfway in. Crystal went all the way to the end of this beautiful and challenging hike! A hike up the river for a little bit capped off our last day in Zion and then we returned to Las Vegas - stopping at a super fund container park that included food, a place to play and a gigantic grass hopper costume that squirted fire! We mad t home with exhausted kids - a great trip!!!!!
Life slowly got back to normal in the end of November and Elliot earned her violin!!! Crystal made an amazingly creative and delicious lunch for Elliot at ABC. We ran the turkey trot on Thanksgiving day at the Zoo as a family and Weston even won a pie in a drawing!! The kids participated in the kids race and had a grand old time running around the elephant enclosure. Everyone got medals!!! Thanksgiving was a low key affair at the Lassiters and then into December!!
We started off December strong with a trip to the oregon Zoo - zoo lights event. It was beautiful (and dry) and the kids loved looking at all of the lights up in the zoo. As we decorated the house the kids "helped" and really got into the Christmas spirit - finding Cranberry the elf every morning! Crystal and the kids went to go meet Santa while Mac worked and there was face painting and balloons!!
We headed t to the Redland farms for our christmas tree selection trip - in addition to tree cutting, they also had S'more roasting, animal petting, warm cider, santa clause, a bounce house and a LOT of fun was had!! It was a blast to all head out together in the dry weather and pick a tree to get into the spirit. We also got to go cookie decorating at Evelyn's house - Elliot was really into this. A neat party idea, all the kids were having a blast building their own cookies and actually Wes stayed and focused more than we have ever seen him before!
Elliot and Crystal continued their tradition of going to the Nutcracker in the holiday season, and Elliot love it just as much (if not more) than last year.
We also took a trip to the Portland Rail Heritage Centers winder train ride. Although they were oversold and we didn't get a seat - we still got to look out the window, wonder at the size and noise of the steam engine and get into the holiday spirit!
Crystal took an excellent run at building a gingerbread house and the kids were excited to help. The frosting subcontractor, however, was a bit lax on their standards and there was some house sagging / collapsing. It was all ok, though, because gingerbread houses taste goo regardless of what they look like!
Christmas was at home this year and Santa was GENEROUS! Frozen toys, nail polish, an electric train. The kids minds EXPLODED!!!!! They totally understood christmas this year and it was fun to see and share their excitement. We were off the afternoon of Christmas day to Wisconsin to see family.
The time in Wisconsin was wonderful. We got to see all the cousins, Grandma weis and uncle patrick as well as uncle Eric and senior special friend samantha. The kids skated on the frozen lake an other than Crystal getting a terrible case of the flu and getting sicker than I have ever seen her before - the whole vacation was great! We got the chance to head up to the Wisconsin Dells and spend a day at a water park - it was SO MUCH FUN!!! The kids loved the waterslides and by the end Elliot was going to water slides all by herself. The lazy river was a huge hit and everyone was OUT on the drive home.
ONce we were safe back at home, we rang in 2020 in a low key way. Crystal was at work and Mac took the kids to a New Years party where they got to do singing and partying! Happy 2020 everyone!!!
