A much needed Vacation

Its true when you get married and people tell you to make your honeymoon a good one because its the last vacation you'll get for a LONG time.. yeah they are SO right..
Since we have been married we have been on a few camping trips and one weekend trip to Vegas to visit Logan's Dad and Step-mom while we lived in Utah, but nothing spectacular... Well We decided it was time for one.. and since Logan was starting his new job soon we go down to Portland.. Its not a spectacular destination full of beaches, hot weather, etc. etc. but it was something close, and we really have no extra money but really needed this.. so we booked our hotel (super great deal!!) and waited for MLK weekend to go on down..
Traffic there was perfect.. none really at all and as soon as we got to Vancouver it was BLUE SKIES and the sun felt warm through the windows of the car.. it wasnt warm.. but it was nice to look at instead of the rain we have been having here.See pretty skies! Those clouds were gone about Portland
He fell asleep about 30minutes after we got onto the freeway and lasted until we got there (almost 2 hours!)
Our first stop was this Diner called BYWAYS CAFE in the Pearl District.. if you live in Portland or are visiting anytime let me know and i will get you directions etc. its SO yummy! It was featured on Guy Fieri's show Diner's Drive-ins and Dives Logan and I LOVE this show and when i found out we were going to Portland for sure i looked up places in Portland he has been too, and this was the only one so we went ahead and went to it.. and it was YUMMY! We had their omlets and hashes but we really wanted their Biscuits and Gravy but they were already sold out by 11:30.. yeah guess they are THAT GOOD! this place was PACKED, its not that huge though, but i mean people waiting outside to get in! it was really good.
Logan At Byways."PLEASE NO PICTURES" Kason being a turkey at Byways
One of the walls at byways Cafe
A building that i LOVED you can see the old painting on it.. Hams and Bacon!
I love the Pearl District!
We then got Logan's Boots he needs for his new job at the Ship Yard. He started today and said orentation was boring but he is happy to be working there!
Then we got check into the Hotel.. We stayed at the Oxford Suites in Gladstone. Our room was big and we had a king! yay! Kason really loved the Hotel Life... i think he got used to it right away. We let him walk everywhere in the Hotel (the dining hall, Pool, Elevators etc. etc.) and he was so proud of himself for being a big boy.. He loved all the food we had for breakfast.. so many choices!
We went swiming too. Since Kason's surgery he has been a bit hesitant about water.. He still loves to swim, take bathes, etc. etc. but is not as energetic about it though.. He had fun though..
Here he is with a book waiting in his swimshorts to go swiming.
Kason Dragging his Floatie down the hall to the pool.
Kason Walking down the Hall...
He LOVED the elevators!! By the second day he knew which button to press when we lifted him out to help him.He had fun in the pool and got more and more used to it, especially the second time we went he was right at home and loved it.
His first look at the pool.. priceless
Kicking in the water... (the white things in his ears are wax and silicon plugs to keep the water from his ears since he has tubes.
He has this thing he does when he wants our attention he grabs our face and pulls it to his.. lol its funny but hopefully will stop soon lol
Portland has an Ariel Tram that i really wanted to go on.. its only 4 bucks round trip and we would get some awesome pictures well we didnt make it Saturday so when i got online to get the address to go on Sunday and then i saw that its closed on Sundays and Holidays.. so we didnt get to go :( oh well...
So we decided to go to forest Park in Portland.. its a 50,000 acre park for runners, walkers, etc. etc. and so we headed on off to that.. well there is no address for it because there are several trail heads.. so we got to the general direction and drove around and around... and then we found this...Twilight Fans does this look Familar??
ITS THE CULLEN HOUSE FROM THE MOVIE.. yeah we took a picture because as soon as we saw it we were like "twilight house" lol and so we drove off to find the park, then drove back for a picture and then i talked to my dad on the phone and he googled it and they film the house scence along with a few others in Portland and Cannon Beach Oregon and this is the house from the movie! :) The guy thats owns it works for Nike so the actors and movie set people called it the "nike house" lol :)
We then drove around some more and decided to drive around look at beautiful rich houses on the hill!
We found a park too :)
And some beautiful Views.. THis was a gap between two houses.. so that means this is their view from their homes! AMAZING
Another view!
I believe this is St. Helens. Not the best picture because i had to ZOOM in alot!
Last picture! we thought it was a funny sign! lol its for the rails in the street for the street cars
We did go to the temple Saturday but it was getting dark and it was SO COLD and the wind was whipping out there.. we decided not to go and we went on Monday knowing it was closed and i just took a few pictures outside by the reflection pond outside the fence.. still got great shots! :)
Overall it was FANTASTIC but good to be home.. we decided if we didnt have family here in the puget sound area we would move there! :) no worries no one is moving anywhere right now :)

want a GREAT recipe?

I had no idea what to make for dinner the other night and then i found a stuffed porkchop recipe on allrecipes and went ahead and made it... OH MY HECK it was SO YUMMY! i should have taken a picture but i didn't but it looks yummy too!

here is a picture from the website.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons chopped celery
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, divided
• 1/2 cup seasoned stuffing croutons
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 2 (1-inch thick) boneless pork loin chops
• 3/4 cup beef broth
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons cold water

DIRECTIONS

1. In a skillet, saute celery and onion in 1 tablespoon butter until tender. Transfer to a bowl. Add croutons, milk, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper. Cut a pocket in each pork chop; fill with stuffing.
2. In a skillet, brown chops in remaining butter. Transfer to a greased 9-in. square baking dish. pour broth into dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minute or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F. Remove chops and keep warm.
3. Pour the pan drippings into a saucepan; bring to a boil. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; gradually stir into drippings. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with the pork chops.

seriously try it.. its SO good :)
and CLICK HERE for the recipe on allrecipes
enjoy

little monkey

Kason is our monkey. He loves to climb on, in, over on things. He has already figured out how to get up on the couch and get things we put up on the back of the couch to keep from him, i.e. remotes. Well now he is totally into climbing INTO things. We were at the library one day and he got into the tub of legos and played with them in there instead of on the table like a normal kiddo. I also have found him in the drawers of the entertainment center, his toy tubs, and many other places which just crack us up.I dont think he is too thrilled about me taking pictures and laughing... so he first dumped out all the toys, then climbed in and tried to put the toys back in, while he was still in it... i LOVE this picture!! he is so happy to show off his toy car he got... He has totally gotten into cars lately.. loves to play with them.. he will lay on the floor on his belly and hold them in his hands and drag them back and forth across the floor making car sounds.. BIG smiles!! :)

haircut and Seattle

you would think that kason gets harigrowth in his milk or something.. Seriously... he just got a haircut about a month or so ago and it was short short short. well i let it get past his years and down his neck.. it was time to get a new hair cut.
This is before they started. We went to Jack and Jills.. they are expensive but my mom had a coupon in the mail that made it the same price as greatclips so we went here. they have firetrucks, tractors, jeeps, etc. etc. to sit on so it was alot more fun for Kason. They also have tvs on the wall at each station so the kids are distracted and they get their hair cut! Kason loved the tractor and played with the wheel the whole time..
Half way.. funny smile.. what is he doin?there is a happy face! and check out those robots! heck yea!
towards the end. she was cleaning up the hair around his ears.. i think it tickled because he kept scrunching up his neck on the side she was on.. it was funny
All done!! She even gave him a red mohawk! how cool?!
We then headed to Seattle...
So Logan needs to get boots for his new job starting soon! but anywho.. he wanted these really nice ones so they last him a while so we decided we would make the trip down to Portland to the outlet they have there. I was so excited because i found a few things that were free or cheap to do and i wanted to walk around the Temple with Logan and Kason, thought it would be cool since we were married there and now we have a little one. Anywho.. Well that morning my mom calls me and tells me there was tons of flooding down there. I was SO BUMMED! but we didnt want to risk it so we made the choice to go to Seattle instead and just walk around and enjoy being together, because well yeah we are home together alot these days but we dont go out much and have fun so its was nice, really nice!
We planned on parking by the seattle senter and then taking the monorail over to the westlake center, but then once we got into the city we went ahead and went over to the westlake center and found parking for ALL DAY for just 8bucks! thats cheap for seattle! it was at the Redlion hotel so it was underground, and had security! yay! We then walked two blocks to the westlake center and right accross the street they were having some rally for something back east.. tons of cops and people and yelling and signs.. we went right inside the mall and stayed there for a while walking around, checking out the shops and local artists, etc. etc. it was tons of fun.

We then walked down to Pikes Place Market.. I love it there.. sorry its a darker picture..
Last time we were here was last year (almost exactly) and i think we took this same picture.. Kason was 3 months old and bundled up and couldnt see him in the stroller! lol now look at him. mohawk n all!
This is logan trying to be a "thug" yeah i know... i live with him..
Us
Down by the market this is the view. It wasnt a nice day and it was horriable cold, but it was still alot of fun
more of the view
KISS! "seriously mom do you that to daddy?" lol kasons reaction to me givin logan a kiss.
We walked all round and enjoyed people watching. I love looking at all the produce and flowers so much color!I told logan that when we get a house and if its 2 stories (which i want) i will either use this picture or get a better one, cut out all the people and just use the sign and blow it up and hang it by our stairs!
There were alot of street performers out. This one was good and there was a really awesome band playing by starbucks. it was like blue grass and it sounded AWESOME!
We then watched them throw the fish and Kason was getting restless so we headed back up to the Westlake center to eat dinner at PF CHANGS.. we LOVE this place. They had it in SLC when we lived there and we only went once but we love love love it.. and they have great prices and amazing food!
Kason had a ton of fun with the Chopsticks! he also loved the food as well.
Hello there buddy!
Logan was teaching Kason the art of chopstick drumming. this kid LOVED it! lol
We got this deal were you get two soups, appitizer, two main dishes, and two desserts for 40 bucks.. tons and tons of food!
those are our desserts.. they came in shot glasses! it was awesome! i got Red Velet Cake and Logan got Cherry Cheese Cake.. so yummy!!
We then headed on home. It was SO much fun and we had a blast just being together and seeing Seattle. We dont make it up there too often but when we do we have fun.