Bring It On

Every few weeks I sit down to post our happenings on the blog but I'm unable to post pictures right now.  I was able to post a couple videos instead so that will have to do for now.  Hopefully I can post some pix soon....
...third and last try is a charm.  Finally I was able to upload some pictures.

Asher has an adorable way of saying "yeah!!!!".  It's how he says yes.  It's what he says when he's excited.  He can also say it really loud.  Not only does he do this when he makes a basket...he says "yeah" when he is just plain happy about something. ..which is pretty often.

 

Asher loves watching movies.  Not big kid movies but sign language movies.  Paul and I don't watch them but Asher will watch them with the big kids and he's learned some signs.  Sometimes he talks to us with his hands and we have no clue what he's telling us unless we've seen that part of the movie.

Just playing at the park.  It's so nice not needing a winter jacket.

Asher wants to join the big kids in whatever they do.  The boys were wrestling here and he jumped on them and wanted to play....bring it on!!!

 The kids love eating together at the big table.  They fight to have the little dude sit by them and then they fight with Asher to not take their food.

 

 This kid has loved this toy since about 5 months old.  We keep it in our rec room and when we go out there he still gets excited to play with it.

 With the weather getting warmer and drier we've been able to use our fire pit.  S'mores seem to be one of kids favorite desserts these days.  To teach them patience we've instilled a marshmallow burn ban.

 Look how tiny Asher is in our yard...and yet he'll run off exploring waving goodbye.  If you don't follow him who knows where he'd end up.  He certainly lives up to his name.  He immerses himself in things with such determination and is a brave and strong little boy.

 Asher wanted to tear apart the flowers this spring.  I had to teach him to give them a kiss, high five, or pet them like he pets our dog Clover.  For the most part it worked...there were few petal deaths after that.
 

I celebrated my 34th birthday this month.  Paul surprised me with a bouquet of cake pops.  Who says you can't have romance with four kids?  The entire weekend was a blast.  We had a movie and dessert night followed by a long day to the Oregon Coast to hike in Cannon Beach.  The sun came out and so did high temperatures.  It was almost 90 that day with crystal clear views of the coast.  I've been to over 30 countries and I think the Oregon coast is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

 

Sage, Haven and Xavier are such good hikers.  They've gotten much more confident and will go ahead of Paul and I on the trail and they've learned how to wait if we're far behind.  This was a steep climb with a number of switch backs and rocks to climb on the top.  The view was spectacular and I took one of the best pictures of my three older kids to date.  They're a good looking bunch!

It was heartwarming to sit at this peak and see my three enjoy the view, laugh, eat lunch, hang out, talk to other hikers...I have so many fond memories growing up and getting out into the wilderness.  I was reminded of those good warm feelings watching my kids and taking in the moments on that peak.  Those childhood moments sparked the adventure bug in me and took me around the world many times.  I couldn't help wondering if it would do the same for them.  I sure hope so.

Asher loves hiking.  We put him in our pack and for some reason it becomes the rare occasion where he's still.  We got to the peak and he was frustrated he couldn't climb on the rocks with everyone else because it was too hard for him.  He knew there was something special about the view because he pointed to things and talked his baby babble.

  After our warm and tiring hike, we headed to the ocean.  The water was FREEZING but the kids had fun regardless.  There were small pools of water trapped in indentions in the sand.  The kids called them the jacuzzi.  They'd run back and forth from the ocean to the small sand pools to warm up.