January and a Trip to the Temple

Flying back into Eugene, it was so green! 

 Back at home, Brent went in first to "check on the presents that Santa had left under our tree." The kids were so excited to have a little bit more Christmas here.

 Ava was so excited to go straight to school from the airport. It always feels slightly strange to come back to your life after being gone for a while. We watched shows with popcorn the first night.

The first weekend back, we traded babysitting with our friends the Wilsons. We went to The Greatest Showman on Friday night and then our friends went to a movie on Saturday morning. My friend said that Ava was sitting at their keyboard typing away pretending to work like me :) 

 The Wilsons at our house

 Ava and Max were holding each other during a scary part of Toy Story.

One morning I couldn't find Coen and I was calling for him. I heard his little voice from the bathroom and found him like this:

 He is ready to potty train, if he would just fully commit to it!
Ava had withdrawals from having attention full-time in Utah and had some major melt-downs, behavior issues, and mood swings.

This quarter Brent has class every afternoon so I'm always the one to feed the kids lunch and then put Coen down for a nap. I am really loving my quiet time with him every afternoon, snuggled up on my bed reading books before his nap.

Coen's learning how to say Laura's name. He says "Larla." Here's a video:

And just for fun, here's a video of Coen with the giggles. Thank goodness we had his giggles to offset Ava's tantrums these weeks!

 A rare moment of the kids getting along :) Ava read Coen a book before bed.

 Library time was a special yoga class.

 I took the kids to the park for a picnic so Brent could get some homework done. It was nice and sunny, but so cold for a picnic! We ate and then got in our car and turned on the heater to get warmed up before going to play on the toys.

 We had two friends over from Brent's program. The kids basked in their attention and had so much fun. The one on the right is from Ethiopia and her husband and two sons, ages 7 and 9 I think, are still back home in Africa. She enjoyed seeing the kids but was also missing her own. So many of Brent's classmates left their spouses in their different countries because they couldn't get visas or they needed to continue working.

 We had the Wilsons over to dinner while Diana was out of town. Big hugs before going home.

 We had a sweet little girl over from our ward while her mom took her brother to the ER. She and Coen played so sweetly!

 I love the way Coen is looking at her.

 I've been working 20 hours from work (not more like I sometimes do) which means I've been having just a little more time to cook. I really enjoy finding recipes and cooking.

 One of of Brent's friends that came over gave me these pretty yellow roses. I put them in our front window and they have been happy there. Both Brent and I are surprised that I haven't killed them yet.

 One day when I went to pick up Ava from preschool, a mom had brought two little piglets. They were so tiny and could scream really loud! She asked if I wanted to hold one and I said "ummm no thank you, I just want to look." She had brought them for show and tell and Ava got to pet them but said she didn't like when they screamed.

 I thought this was sweet, what Ava brought home from MLK day.

 Ava said "mom, take my picture!"

 Poor Coen got a really bad cough. He was really sick for a few days and just wanted to be held.

 We had a ward temple day where the Bishop and his wife watched the kids in the cultural hall of a church by the temple for everyone. We were so excited to go, but when the kids got bad coughs, we didn't think we should go. But after thinking about it, I didn't want to miss out, so we went anyway and Brent stayed with the kids so I could go in.
Driving up to Portland was so pretty as we passed vineyards, hazelnut farms, cauliflower farms, and more.

 Brent took this outside the temple. Ava is the little speck in the center. Brent took the kids to hang out with the other kids and the Bishop and his wife at the church. The Bishop and his wife had brought a van full of toys and snacks for all the kids. It was so sweet.

After the temple, we went to the science museum with another family in our ward. The museum sits right on the river in downtown Portland. 

 Th kids loved exploring.

After the museum, we went to Chick Fil-A and then back to the temple where Brent did initiatories. We got home late, right in time for bed time. It was an all day event, but we were glad we went. 

Brent made this epic marble run with the kids. Still a favorite toy around here! 

That concludes the first couple weeks back in town!