Seaside

We made a spur of the moment trip to the beach this weekend. Our neighbor, and dear friend, Penny owns a beach house at Seaside that she rents out. She told us that if she ever had a last minute cancellation, she would let us know. So, she brought the key by, and the next day we hopped in the car and took off. The weather was absolutely beautiful this weekend! Sunny and dry! The house was right on the beach with a beautiful view of the ocean. Oaklyn loved when the tide would chase her back to shore. We loved playing in the sand. Hopefully Michael got his seafood fix because we never make it at home since it stinks up the whole house. We ate lots of crazy flavors of saltwater taffy and enjoyed strolling down main street. Oaklyn must have been extra excited because she woke up especially early...which was a blessing in and of itself because we got to watch the sun rise over the mountains and reflect on the water. Early in the morning, when the tide is low, is the best time to be at the beach anyway because that's when you find the best seashells. I've never seen more whole sand dollars in my life!! We went to church with the local ward and it's so comforting to know that the Church is the same wherever you are in the world. Then, we enjoyed a wonderful afternoon walking along the shore, chasing seagulls. 

My Favorite!

Sometimes, you just need to stare in awe at the beauty of the ocean.




Life is good!


I told Michael we look like pioneers since the sea grass kind of looks like a prairie


View of the house from the ocean


The house was originally much smaller, then over the years, they have expanded it out and up.

Oaklyn helped us make a tower of "zen rocks" or in our case, zen sand dollars so that we could do some yoga.

Chi: Found it.





Early morning Hoodlums


Hi, my name is Oaklyn.


Sunset on the boardwalk


170 flavors of taffy, I kid you not.


Let's zoom in on this cute candy-lover's face!


I won a candy stick!

Coaching Special Olympics

For the past couple months, Michael has been a volunteer basketball coach for the Oregon Youth Special Olympics. They just had their first regional tournament and did awesome! Oaklyn got to be an honorary coach for the final game. The athletes loved it! 

#thebasketballlifechoseme

#OnlyRickyFariaswillunderstand

Sugar and Spice

Oaklyn is our sugar and our spice and everything nice. She is full of energy more than ever before. She talks and sings to herself all the time. A few of her commonly used words are, "yeah", "uh-oh", "stuck", and "Jesus", you know, the essentials. To the untrained ear, most of her animal sounds sound the exact same, however, when you spend 24/7 with her, it becomes quite obvious that a monkey does in fact make a different sounds than a tiger. She recently learned the word "no". My favorite is when she says "choo choo" while pumping her little fist like a train conductor pulling her horn. She still only ever wears one shoe if she can help it. She loves balancing on the arm of our couch. Her feet actually leave the ground now when she jumps. Her favorite thing to do is play with locks and keys. She loves to honk our noses and pluck our eyelashes when we close our eyes to pray.

We love you, Oaklyn.

 Happy Valentines Day!

Big Girl Swing

Hi, my name is Oaklyn and sometimes I like to be just like my Daddy and wear his beanie

Playing at OMSI

Our membership to the Oregon Zoo has exponentially paid for itself

This mime is stuck in a box

Too cool for school

One thing is for sure, this girl can do the can-can

I don't always wear two bows, but when I do, I have superpowers to eat raw brussel sprouts