June Photo Bomb

Here is the last post in my "photo bomb" blog series. Since I hadn't posted since January, the last 6 posts are "photo bombs" or explosions of photos to document each month I've missed. Theoretically I am all caught up and will be able to post more regularly (hahah yeah right). 

The first week of June was killer, as far as heat was concerned. The only way to stay cool was to spend the day at the river. We love having a river within walking distance from our house.

river hike 

A nice friend from the ward let us borrow this AC unit for the hot weekend. Thank goodness. You probably can't read the temperature, but it says 84 degrees. . . .and that's after the AC had been running for awhile. Better than the 100 degrees it used to be!

And of course, June means the last day of school! 

Good luck in sixth grade! 

 Just a few days after school got out, I hopped on a plane for Spokane. I spent 3 days attending a conference about personalizing learning for advanced students. 

first ever "business trip"! 

To end the month we hit up a vintage/antique barn sale. We weren't planning on buying a new table, but when you find the perfect piece of furniture, it's hard to say no. We've had a round table in our kitchen, which doesn't really make sense for the space. We found this adorable vintage cafe table that fits our tiny kitchen perfectly! 

old table

 new table

 Happy summer, everyone!! 

May Photo Bomb

May was filled with Mother's Day, marriage (see previous post), Norwegian Independence Day, and more hiking.

Mother's Day was a special treat because it was also Camden's baby blessing day. Another Fish boy has been added to the family! Congrats Ems & Cohan! 

Brodie spent 2 years living in Norway for his LDS mission. Part of Norwegian tradition is celebrating their independence on May 17th, also known as Syttende Mai. We met up with friends in downtown Portland to celebrate with other Norwegian natives at the Norse Hall.

Viking ship

polse og verden beste kake     aka     hot dog and "The Best Cake"

hahah don't ask me if I spelled that right. . . 

Warm May weather is perfect for hiking! This weekend's hike was near Eagle Creek with the Fish Fam.

And since "The Barn" is finished, we found a new project to start! We've been wanting a large table for our patio. We used free wood from an old fence and put together this farmhouse table. 

assembling the top

all done!

Derek & Faye Wedding

My baby brother got hitched in the Portland, OR temple in May (happy 2 months!!) I'm so happy he found his forever person and I loved being part of the big day. Even a little rain didn't stop the day from being perfect! 

photo cred: Lauren Alberts

Congratulations Derek and Faye! We love you!!

April Photo Bomb

April is one of my favorite months because of SPRING BREAK!! After the long month of March (5 weeks of no breaks) teachers are always excited and ready for spring break. Unfortunately Brodie's break doesn't match up with mine. booo. so we were unable to go on a trip, but we did have lots of fun hiking and working on the house together in the evenings. 

Luna hangin' on the porch and enjoying the sunshine

we took a quick visit to the beach house to help Brodie's parents tear our their deck, which used to be here. . . 

 For awhile we have been brainstorming about ways to store our bikes. They were sitting out on the back patio in the rain. After we demolished the beach house deck,we decided to take home all of the old wood to build a shed for the bikes. It turned out to be a lot of wood, and the shed slowly evolved into something much bigger! It now fits the grill, dog house, bikes, scooters, skateboards, and a few shelves. We affectionately call it "The Barn". 

getting a little creative trying to assemble the left wall on the other side of the neighbor's fence 

3 walls are up!

working on the roof

almost done! just need to add the shelves above the grill. stay tuned for a "finished product" photo 

Another exciting part of April was a weekend trip to Utah! Packed into 3 days was my dad's retirement party, a visit to Reagan Academy, my grandparents' 80th birthday celebration, my mom's birthday, and Davey's baby blessing.

Here are some of my sweet, adorable, hilarious, unforgettable 4th graders who are now sixth graders!! I popped in for a surprise visit  during their last class of the day. They were literally stunned and some happy tears were even shed. Man, I've missed these guys. 

birthday dinner with my beautiful mother

baby Davey's blessing day - isn't he adorable??

and of course, what would spring break be without hiking?? This hike was up the Columbia River Gorge with the Pratts.

can you find us?

panoramic views

March Photo Bomb

March was full of. . .

more hiking

Fish fam fun

but most importantly, KERI's WEDDING!!!! Keri and I have been besties since high school. I still remember when we first "clicked". Even though I saw Keri every day on the bus, we didn't talk much. She was a grade younger than I and so we didn't see much of each other in school or seminary. But one weekend, at a church youth conference, she and I ended up sitting near each other and we started passing notes ( . . .because that's what you do when you want to get to know someone, right??) Long story short, we became fast friends and I am forever grateful for her. She got me through high school piano class, break-ups, and bad hair cuts. I love you, Keri!! 

 and of course we celebrated with lots of dancing