Some things we've been up to

Christopher specifically requested that I go get the camera and take a picture. He loves playing in the leaves! (We have to play outside everyday or our furniture becomes a playground).

He loves doing lightbrights. Daddy and Christopher made this beautiful picture.

For some reason he can play with just about anything...an upside down table and batteries, who knew? And he loves showing off how long his tongue is. He was trying to sing at church with his tongue sticking out.

Multiple times a day he wants to call uncles Taylor (my brother) or Thomas (Rob's brother). I like the excuse that they are at school and can't talk right then.

Today

Today 2 great things happened:
1. I found out about a free "garage sale" and found lots of toys and old Disney VHS movies.
2. I realized that I really really like chocolate pudding. Almost as much as I like ice cream. Almost. And there's a story behind it. I was babysitting a long time ago. 3 kids, Nickelodeon, and TV dinners. It was the highlife. Problem: Heating up TV dinners in microwave (including pudding). Result: nasty warm pudding. Effect: I couldn't stand pudding for a long time. The idea made me gag. So now I'm thrilled and want some in my stocking for Christmas (packaged well of course. I like my stocking). Someone tell R...Santa. He doesn't read our blog.

Oregon Trip 2008 - Wednesday- The Coast

This is my favorite picture of the whole trip. If I had a fair or contest to enter it into, I would.
We stopped by Depoe Bay. We thought about going on a boat to see some whales, but then we saw this whale watching center. We went inside a nice warm building and a professional showed us where the whales were. I only saw the whales blowing out water, but Rob saw one whale's back.
Classic....if only Christopher didn't have such a long name. "Leah" looked so much cuter in the sand.
Besides playing in the water, Christopher enjoyed making sand angels. We had a nice picnic on the beach.
Wednesday night, as we were driving to Florence to surprise some of Rob's relatives, we saw a sign for a lighthouse and a turn-off for a scenic view. It was windy and getting dark, so I was the only one that got out of the car. As I was taking a picture of the light house (it didn't really turn out), I heard sea lions barking. I couldn't see anything because it was so dark. We passed a sign for the sea lion caves, but could tell you could only go down there by paying money (locked staircase). When we talked to Rob's uncle in Florence (we surprised him by going to the gym he owns), he said that on nice days you can see the sea lions from that scenic view. The next morning, on our way back to my parents to do laundry and rest up before our long drive back to Utah, we looked down and saw the above picture. Hundreds of sea lions lying on the rocks and in the water. It was fun to watch them slither on rocks and over each other to get to the water. All in all it was a fun vacation. I'm glad we had a portable dvd player for the longer rides. And, we only went to McDonald's once, 2 1/2 hrs from home...Christopher needed a playland (and it was half time for the Utah State/BYU game we were listening to on the radio).

Oregon trip 2008- Tuesday (Part 4)

Tuesday we left camp around 11:30 am. Christopher wet his pillow the night before. Our plan was to drive to the coast. 15 miles away we saw a turn-off for a hike we wanted to do (Drift Creek falls.) We didn't know where it was exactly, so it was nice to see a sign! After a mile and a half we came to this suspension bridge. Christopher and I are about 1/2 way across.
Christopher called it the "Kung Fu Panda Bridge."
Here's the waterfall which you can see on the other side of the bridge.
Then we drove to Lincoln City and went to the outlet malls. I got these new running shoes at Reebok. $40 (then Rob got a pair for 1/2 off, so that makes them each $30, right?) They are soo light and comfortable!!! We also went to the beach (Christopher loved it!), but because it was overcast, just looked in some tide pools and ran around on the sand. The campground was right off the freeway, so around 8am the next morning we heard sirens. Christopher was disappointed we couldn't see them because of the trees.

Oregon trip 2008-Part 3 Silver Falls

Christopher's first experience at Silver Falls, with me and my mom, July 2005.

Every year my family came to Silver Falls for the Loftus family reunion. I was so excited to finally show Rob! The trail goes behind the waterfall, see the people there? (It's the same water fall (South Falls) in both pictures).
Rob and Christopher playing on the dead tree. Christopher just walked through it.
Lower South Falls. There are 10 waterfalls at Silver Falls state park. I thought there were 1 or 2. I had only seen one. So this trip we saw all 10. I'm not posting pics of all 10 of them here...maybe I will on facebook. Usually there is a ton more water coming down all the falls. Even the swimming hole was only ankle deep.
See, the trail goes behind the waterfall in 4 or 5 of the 10. You can walk the 10 mile trail and see all 10 of them, or jump in a certain parts and only walk 6-8 miles. That's what we did. 3 different sections. (2 beginning, 6 middle, 2 end.)

Oregon trip 2008- Part 3 Silver Falls (Monday)

We had a fruit snack stop here. I was carrying Christopher and the camera, walking on the logs (probably normally submerged in water). Rob warned me that they were slippery. Well...
Don't worry, this is an after picture. I couldn't stop laughing. Christopher is safely on shore. I slipped and managed to keep him and the camera dry. My right foot was not so lucky. Luckily I didn't get a blister from finishing the hike with a sopping foot.
Apparently blackberries are weeds in Oregon and line the freeway. I wouldn't let Rob stop, so he was excited when we found some in our campground. Christopher was a big helper and warned us to be careful to not get poked from the thorns. We ate blackberries on our oatmeal every morning of our trip. We brought home 2 powerade bottles full to freeze and put in smoothies.
All stumps and fallen trees along the trails were made into little seats.
This was the 2nd to the last waterfall that we hiked to. Christopher is on Rob's shoulders.

Oregon trip 2008- Part 2 Sunday

Christopher and his great-grandpa Jule.
Four generations. Man, it's bright.
Grandpa Jule, Rob, my dad, Christopher, me, my brother Taylor, and sisters Calais and Gabrielle. (Cambrai was at BYU and Danielle was on her mission in Texas.) My mom was taking the picture.

Oregon Trip 2008-Part 1 Multnomah Falls

We are so glad our trip to Oregon didn't end up like last year!! We saw so many waterfalls and enjoyed the beauty of Oregon. This picture is Christopher doing one of his favorite things, throwing rocks in the water.
We turned off the main trail (to the top of) Multnomah falls (off I-84) and followed another trail and found several other water falls, as pictured above.
Christopher climbing through tree roots.
Christopher in a cave.
Christopher walked half the time and Rob carried him on his shoulders half the time. Look how green!! Granola bars and fruit snacks made our hike fun!