The Holiday Trip of 2013: part II

vivs outside of grandpa and grandma case's

I have always loved being close to the mountains and ocean, though to be quite honest, I never played much in the ocean or hiked very much growing up. My family members and myself were not avid outdoors men- er people- but I always felt a little more at home if I had a mountain nearby or an ocean I could drive to and admire the beauty of nature.

Oregon was lovely because not only is there an ocean nearby, but the mountains are too. And then there's Carl's family- I swear everyone in the Willamette Valley is either a Leder, married to a Leder, or went to school/work with a Leder. It's pretty awesome. We had a fantastic two weeks there, despite the sleep issues with the kids. I love snuggling with my babies, but being brutally beaten by toddler appendages does not exactly equate to a good night's slumber in anyone's book. If you say it does, you're a liar and no good. Hahaha. But really.

'Nuff with the jibber jabber, here's them pictures:


carl being a monkey and fixing Christmas lights just in time.

these kids loved those chickens!

visiting grandparents and being serenaded

We bought our first Christmas Tree!

Christmas morning!!

i love that Bella looks like she's smiling too haha

aftermath

Case Family Christmas Party

 I kind of love us. and I think I nailed my crazy eye quite well.

 1: spraying the ground 2: minimal splatter 3: whoops.

And then a few more goodies, including beautiful little Evelyn!

learning a few moves from uncle cody

 this girl really needs a dog.

they tend to do this a lot on trips.

 I also had the chance to take a few "portraits" (in quotes because I have no idea what I'm doing half the time haha. the truth is out!) of the ladies and grandparents:

I couldn't decide which one I liked more- color or no color... I'm thinking no color as it hides the low light jaundice a bit more.

Ummmm, adorable grandparents?!

Four generations :)

and now my head is pounding from staring at the monitor too long. It's true, I watched a shameful amount of youtube videos while waiting for pictures to upload or save on my photo editing webpage... and then again on the blog. Until next time,

xoxo

Porter Allen

We were so incredibly lucky to have been in Oregon at the same time my newest nephew was born. One of the hardest parts of being alone in the middle of the country is missing out on seeing my nieces and nephews (family, we love you, but come on, BABIES!!). I have nephew I haven't met yet and a niece I only held when she was six weeks old. There is a hole in my heart waiting to be filled up with you guys, Noah and Ellie!! So to be able to snuggle a brand new nephew was like a dream! My sister in law was a champion in her long labor and the outcome was an adorable little boy, Porter:

We got to visit in the evening the day he was born:

Then again a day or two later:

And again the day before we left!

Catie and the nephew

It was so wonderful!!! Also, photographing without much natural light was a new photography challenge to me. It seems like no matter how high my ISO is and how steady my hand is, I can't capture a crisp photo. Thank goodness for photo editing, otherwise everyone would look jaundiced.