A YEAR in review

Wow, I knew I was behind on blogging, but a year? A WHOLE year? I guess I have some catching up to do. So, here goes, from August 6th of 2010 to present......

* The rest of Summer of 2010 was spent playing outdoors whenever possible. Fun weekend trip was down to Fall Creek in Eugene. I spent MANY summers at Fall Creek and it was fun to take the kids to our old stompin grounds.




* In mid August, the first EVER TAFRU (Toukoul Adoptive Family Reunion) was held in Portland. Sabah got to see a lot of kids from her ophanage....many who were with her when she was there.

We were especially excited to have our friends Mona and Janissa, and Char and Kwali stay with us for two days. So much fun having these kids together.






* In September, Sabah had to have another surgery on her finger. She did GREAT during the entire process, and was such a hit with all the on duty staff at the hospital.




* Her second ever trip to the pumpkin patch was fun, even though she had to put up with that darn bandage on her hand.




* For Halloween, Sabah was a witch. This year, she TOTALLY understood the concept of halloween...knock on door, say trick or treat, and someone gives you CANDY. RUN to the next house to do it all over again.



In October, Sabah took her first trip to Disney land. Needless to say, she LOVED it and we are looking forward to going back in February of 2012.




* In November we took our family pictures. It was a bit wet, but we got some great shots anyway. Next year (errr, I guess that would be THIS year) we won't wait till November to get some outdoor shots. Guess I better get on that.....




* In January, we got a couple of snow days. Sabah had fun playing in the snow and making a snow man.





* In February, we took a FANTASTIC trip to Roatan, Honduras. What an amazing time we had. Definitely someplace I would like to go back to.




* No sooner did we get back from Honduras, we turned right around and went on another big trip. In March we headed back to the Philippines. This was another WONDERFUL trip for many reasons. We were able to travel down to another island and spend 4 days in Puerto Galera. A trip to Taal Volcano was another highlight of the trip. My mom was also able to join us on this trip (she also went to Honduras with us) and it was fun to share with her this wonderful country that I love.




* Easter brought about the must do easter egg coloring, and Sabah LOVED it.




* Sabah had her first fishing trip on Easter Sunday.....We went to fish farm, so catching something was guaranteed. It literally took us 20 minutes to catch about 15 fish.




* In May, little miss Sabah turned three. She had a pizza party in Eugene with family and friends, and then had a princess party up here in Portland. It was so cute to see all her little friends dress up in princess dresses and dance.





* At her three year well baby check up, she weighed in at 31 pounds and was 39.5 inches tall, and on target for all developmental milestones.




* Once Sabah turned three, it was time to try out some organized classes. She tried out soccer and gymnastics. Both of which she loves immensley. We will be continuing gymnastics, but will hold off on soccer till she is a little older and can join a team.




* 4th of July weekend we rented a house on the beach. Again, we decided to go to our old "stompin grounds" and went all the way down to Florence. We spent many summers in Florence as my grandparents had a house there, and oh my, the fun memories we were able to share with all the kids. It was so much fun.




* Summer just wouldn't be summer without the county fairs. We headed out to the Washington County fair and Sabah was brave enough to try the trampoline/jumping ride. She had so much fun, but was a little leary on how high she wanted to go.






* Summer also brought about TAFRU 2011. This year it was held in Chicago. After hemming and hawing for quite a while on whether or not to go, we finally decided that yes, this is something that we want to make a family tradition of. So, for a short weekend, we flew off to Chicago. I'd never been before (except the airport), and I really really like the city. I hope to go back sometime and spend more time exploring.



* With Sabah turning three, she also "got" to go to the dentist. I was completely amazed at how well she did. It sure helps that she LOVES going to the doctor, so she was not apprehensive at all. She had no cavities (yeah), but she does have very thin (and in some places, non-existant) enamal, so we had to seal a couple of teeth, and we have to be very diligent in brushing on a regular basis (which we are).



* and finally, we end with summer of 2011. Play days at the park with her cousins, and weekends having fun with mommy. Here are a couple of pictues of her (and cousins) my sister took at one of the local parks.





And that takes us up to today. We've got some blog worthy things coming up in the near future, so hopefully I can keep up.

Summertime Fun

The weather in Portland has been absolutely perfect this year. We have not hit 100 degrees, and have only had a few days in the high 90's. Rest of the time it's been a perfect mid 80's! This has allowed us many opportunities to get out and about on the weekends to enjoy our great outdoors.

One of my favorite places to go in the summer while growing up was a place called Fall Creek. Fall Creek is a large creek that runs into Fall Creek Resevoir. When going to Fall Creek, you have the option of spending the day at the lake, or heading up the creak to one of many swimming/wading holes. A few weeks ago, we headed down to Eugene, and with our parents, we headed out to Fall Creek (the CREEK part) for the day. It was so special to share something that I grew up doing, with Sabah. To watch her experience playing in the creek and catching crawdads just like I did, was so fun. OK, SHE didn't actually catch the crawdads, but my nephews did. We actually cooked them on the campfire and Sabah got to taste them for the first time. No surprise....she liked them. My dad started a campfire, and cut wienni roasting sticks for all us kids and grandkids. After a couple of hours of swimming, we all sat around the fire, roasting our hotdogs, and enjoying a wonderful picnic that my parents put together for us. It once again, was just one of those perfect days that you don't want to end.

Excited that she stole the dog's ball....







Last Weekend, Sabah got to experience her first county fair. We decided to try out the Washington County Fair in Hillsboro. It's free to get in, and is a much smaller fair compared to other County Fairs around here, but it was PERFECT for her and for Elizabeth. It was not crowded at all, and so we got to stroll around at leisure and enjoy the exhibits and animals. We had a very greasy lunch of corndogs and curly fries, and of course had to let both Sabah and Elizabeth have their first Elephant Ear. And the highlight of the fair? Sabah's first Pony ride! She loved it, and all night long she couldn't stop talking about the horsey she rode. Elizabeth got to ride as well, and at first she loved it....she was giggling and laughing, and then all of a sudden, she decided she did NOT like it and just started crying and crying. What is hilarious though, is that as we walked the circle, every time we came past the parent section, you could hear all the other moms sigh "ohhhhhhhh" as Elizabeth rode by in tears. After about three laps, she did get off and was much happier to just watch Sabah from the sidelines.

Her first pony ride....


Despite her frown, she actually enjoyed it


Elizabeth's 1st Elephant Ear....



Sabah having her 1st Elephant Ear.....the sugar is already getting to her...silly girl













We live super duper close to Kelly Point park (10 minutes), but had yet to spend any time there exploring the area. Well, on Sunday, Sabah and I headed out by ourselves, early in the morning and enjoyed the river. There were only two other people on the beach. It was so calm and peaceful. We will definitely be back.




Losing her britches.....