Independence

Matt often encourages me to blog about certain things going on in life....this is one of those times. He asked me to blog about one of Kylie's "firsts"- putting on her shoes. He's so proud of his little girl learning how to dress herself! She's becoming very independent and doesn't like us to help unless absolutely neccessary.

She also likes to play dress up!

The finished product! She might not get too far running!

Half the Fun

I finished the Helvetia Half Marathon today! My buddy Jenn put up with me for 13.1 miles. We arrived to the Hillsboro stadium with only 5 minutes to spare, but it was perfect. The run went great... Lovely country roads, a few challenging hills, and some stinky cows along the way. Matt, Kylie, and Greg(Jenn's hubby) were waiting for us at the finish line!

It was fun running into friends along the way- Jamie and Rachel!

Erin- a mutual friend who met up with me the first time I did the Portland Marathon.

My running buddy Jenn! Thanks for reminding me of the Jamba juice waiting for us at the finish!

The Cutest Town

We recently visited a quaint little town outside of Medford, called Jacksonville. We had a nice evening going to dinner at a local Bed and Breakfast, then strollin' the streets of this old mining town. We walked in the neighborhood looking at homes built in the 1860's. We also found a fun hiking trail. Kylie was excited to see deer and smell the flowers!

Jacksonville is home of the famous Britt Music Festival held there each summer.

I didn't think I would be attempting potty training
this early...but Kylie seemed interested and I am tired
of battling diaper rash on this sensitive little girl.
She wanted to try it on for size once out of the package-
and still clean!



To my amazement, we've had great success thus far.
The first week down- she's still in diapers, but she's
also using the potty!

Bagel Makin'

Matt's a visionary, which I'm learning to love and
admire. His new adventure has been learning to
make bagels! On his third attempt, the bagels turned
out so yummy. Kylie tries to ask for the bagels, saying
"gul, gul" in her 17mo old voice. Maybe he'll have a shop
of his own someday!

Tis the Season for Celebration

Merry Christmas!!

Traditions

Thanksgiving was fun and somewhat non-traditional
this year. We enjoyed a yummy dinner at the Rheinlander-
thanks for the treat Anne and Mico!! Fun atmosphere
and lots of laughs at Kylie's ability to eat and eat. She
loved the accordion man in lederhosen- pretty hot!



Before dinner, we stopped at Anne's. Kylie demonstrates
her disappearing act for the dog...guess she didn't want to get licked.



Kylie exploring in her basket! It was a relaxing weekend
with our whole fam. The only bummer was the Beav's losing
in the Civil War- Matt and his Dad got to witness it first hand.

Happy Halloween

We were given a "Piglet" hand-me-down this year...

and it was perfect timing for Halloween. Kylie seemed

to love dressing up! She saw herself in a mirror this morning

and started babbling at herself. She wore the costume

almost all day!

As you can see she's perfecting her stride. She started walking

about a week before she turned 13 months old. She's

practically running now! And that means I get to run

after her :)

Seattle's Best...

We headed to Seattle for our first weekend away as parents-
just the two of us. Kylie loved her time with Nana & Opa!
We enjoyed lots of walking around the city, time to talk
uninterupted, and the highlight of the trip was Beaver football.
Matt's first city bus ride (that he can recall). It was
memorable standing amidst other Beaver and Husky fans.



Misty's first live Beaver's game. The Husky stadium
had a beautiful view of the Puget Sound. And even
better that the Beav's beat the Husky's!


We took a long stroll to the Space Needle. The
weather was perfect...cool, dry, sunny most of the way.
We headed through the famous Pike Place Market on our
was back.
Thanks Nana & Opa for making our trip possible!!

Happy First Birthday Kylie

She loved playing at the park with her family and friends...

probably loved the cupcake more!

New Cut...One Word...Short!

Here's the pic you requested T... had to take it myself

at 0'dark:thirty before work.

Hiking the PunchBowl

Happy Birthday Dad

Dad- What a legacy you've started! Thank you for

everything you've taught me and all the love you've

shown! On September 8- my Dad, brother, and niece

all share the same birthday.

We've always had fun celebrating 3 birthdays on the

same day over the years. Tonight my parents watched

Kylie while Matt and I went out to celebrate our 6 year

anniversary! Then we came back for a little cake and ice cream

to celebrate the birthdays. Hope they don't feel we stole the thunder

with our wedding the day before!

The Mother of All Relays

I had the pleasure; challenging, exhausting, fun pleasure
of running in the Hood to Coast this weekend! I joined a
team from Canada which included a few co-workers.


We spent some long, gruling hours in this lovely van!
Many of you know this relay is some of the best fun imaginable-
if you're into running. The lack of sleep is the hardest part for me.
Our team started at 10:15 friday morning and finished at Seaside
around 3:30 Saturday afternoon.


Each runner has three legs to run. Mine included two legs approximately
four miles long and one a little over seven miles. At the exchange you're
so excited to see your team member waiting for you to hand them the baton.
Don't worry, we didn't drop it!


We were all thrilled to be done and at the beach in the
beautiful, warm weather.

Picnic'n'Pictures

To all of our family who'd like to look at some cute photos...

here are a few of Kylie's little pals and some individual photos.

To view go to pureimagephotos.com, online ordering, and Yarborough

Party. Password "Jonas" Photos can be ordered from this site as well!

Camping Advice from Novice

To address BJ's question, here are a few things I might bring or

things that worked well while camping with our little one.

Tree swing: great way to keep the kiddos off the ground for a bit.

Jogging stroller: helpful when baby won't nap in the steaming hot tent midday

Some type of sleeping pad- a must!

Hiking pack

Pack'n'play for sleep/play

First Aid Kit and Baby's tylenol

Hi-Chair

Obviously I'm not an expert and would love any advice from other camping gurus.

Hope this helps a bit BJ

Camping with a baby?!

Yes, we made a trip out close to Maupin and met a
couple with a baby the same age as Kylie. Camping isn't
as appealing as I once thought it to be after this weekend.
There are a few reasons for these thoughts:
first of all I have it too good and "ruffing it" isn't as
comfy, second- it was the first time with Kylie, and
third- we forgot the inflator for the air mattress so we
slept right on the ground. Not to say we didn't have
any fun....


Molly and Luke camp much more often than us, and
seemed to be pro's! We thank them for putting up with
us. The girls (Eden and Kylie) enjoyed the make-shift
swing in the tree.


We thought hiking was a must. It was fun
walking next to the Deschutes.
That same day, Matt got to be adventurous and ride
down the river in a SEA kayak. We'll just say he came
back to camp drenched, but enjoying every minute of
his journey! I'm proud of him for getting out there.


Kylie and Eden bantering back and forth.


Our stop at White River Falls on the way back was a beauty.
I have to admit, on the way home I apologized to Matt
for my negativity about camping.

In hopes of going hiking at Punch Bowl Falls to entertain
Matt's cousin in town from Maryland...we ended up
at Wahclella Falls which was a beautiful little hike.
I think this was the same one BJ and Micah went on!


Here are the two lovebirds who got married this July.


So glad Anne had work off and we could all go.


Kylie enjoyed her ride in the borrowed ergo.