Rednecks

Last Saturday, we drove down to the Woodburn Dragstrip for some high-class entertainment. The people watching was almost as exciting as the racing. I kept telling Scott that I felt like a redneck. But then again, the event most comparable to this that I've been to was a combine demolition derby... We met up with some friends, walked around to check out the pits, and saw some good racing. My favorites were the motorcycles (surprisingly), funny cars, and the jet engine dragsters (very impressive). It turned out to be a really fun day, and Maddox handled it all like a champ. I am glad I have such a cultured husband to help me experience the world's finest!

Labor Day Weekend

Scott's parents came up to visit us for the long weekend. We really enjoyed spending the time with them, and wish they were closer to hang with more often. We are very grateful though they made the long drive up and battled the highway closure to come see us. Scott worked Friday, so we met up with him for lunch at the new Venezuelan spot a block from Cinco. The food was yummy, but probably a little adventurous for some in our party.

Coincidence that we kept seeing this as
we walked around the SE... I think not!

Grandma and Grandpa brought this fun toy as an early birthday gift for Maddox. It is his new favorite; he loves pulling the string, playing with the blocks and chewing on them, and destroying the towers that mom and dad make.

We put Ron and Tammy's wealth of knowledge and skills to good use while they were here. They were gracious enough to teach us how to reupholster our dining room chairs, and they did their fair share of the work too on their vacation. It was fun to learn something new, and the chairs look so much better now. Thank you both!

Maddox was a real handyman too!

The weather was beautiful, so we took a break from working and showed them a favorite park of ours.

Saturday evening we hit up the car show in Hillsboro. So glad we didn't miss out on this action...

Grandma Layton was up in Olympia, WA with Scott's Aunt Linda and Uncle Fred, so we made the trip up on Sunday after church to visit with her and some of the cousins. It was a fun Sunday evening, and Maddox was glad to finally meet Great-Grandma in person.

Monday we had more of a "Portland" experience. We headed down to 23rd, and ate at Little Big Burger, then finished off with some Salt & Straw ice cream. They serve gourmet ice cream and some of the flavors are pretty interesting, but the four we chose were delicious -- sea salt with caramel, almond brittle with salted ganache, chocolate gooey brownie, and cinnamon snickerdoodle -- yum!

We loved our time with you two!

Summer Fun

We have had a fun Summer filled mostly with activities here in the area. Although Fall is beautiful in Portland, I am always a little sad to see the days shortening and the warm weather becoming more sporadic. Here is a taste though of what we've been up to the past few months.


Crater Lake is beautiful! It was even more impressive than I imagined, and we were really glad we made the detour on our way down to Nevada in May.

I wouldn't categorize this as "summer fun," but we haven't posted yet about Grandpa Huntzinger's funeral, and I feel we would be remiss if we didn't share the experience. We were extremely grateful to be able to drive down for his funeral and celebrate his life. Almost all of Scott's family were able to make it, and it was really good to spend the time together. Scott had fun reminiscing about the prairie dog legs Grandpa Huntzinger brought to the reunion (they were really just chicken wings), the wild turkey they ran over and then took home for Grandma to cook up, the hot peppers, the Easter eggs, and many other humorous memories. Grandpa was a prankster, and I think that he has passed that on to this grandson! We love him and miss him!

Maddox was finally able to meet Grandma
Huntzinger in person. She kept telling us
she never had a husky baby. Haha, we love
you Grandma!

And a pretty full diaper on the trip back...

Let's be honest, no Summer is complete without a couple car shows. We did a lot of "man stuff" Father's Day weekend, including eating some delicious ribs and checking out these two car shows.

I needed a refreshing 7-Eleven slurpee on this hot afternoon...

Mat and Jen came into town back in June, and we spent a fun day with them. We walked around the Saturday Market and the Pearl, and, of course, ate some tasty food at Screen Door and Tartberry. I am bummed we didn't get any pictures with them to document the day. It was really good to see them though as well as Ben and Sherry!

Not pictured, Mat has this same look of
satisfaction with the yummy treat...

The Columbia Gorge has beautiful hiking and about a million trails to choose from.

Ponytail Falls

View from the top of Multnomah Falls.

Maddox loves hiking...

Swimming! Maddox loves splashing and "swimming" around on his tummy. Not so keen about being on his back in the water or putting his head under...

We celebrated the fourth of July with some pool time, ice cream cones, burgers Scott grilled for us, and, of course, fireworks.

Maddox got his first haircut by mom the beginning of July. It was a two day process...

We have spent a lot of time at the park. We've tried a new one just about every week, and still have a ton to explore. Maddox and I have fun showing Scott our favorites on the weekend.

Cinco hosted a couple parties this Summer. The first one was a "rave" in an old building where they used to build ships. We found a sitter for Maddox, and invited some friends in the area to come celebrate Cinco's 15 with us. It was a fun space, they had a couple delicious food carts, and we had a lot of fun with the gif booth.

The second Cinco party was a picnic in the park for families. Another couple of yummy food carts and a fun group of co-workers. We are grateful that Scott works for such a great company!

And this Summer required some laceration drama. Warning: this may be too graphic for some...

Just so it is clear who the guilty
party is...

Yes, it got infected and extremely swollen.

For those who are concerned, Scott's finger made a full recovery and he has complete mobility in this important digit.