We're Back!

We just got back from a short trip to Oregon and we had so much fun. I drove up with my dad and the kiddos Wednesday-14 1/2 hr drive! We were able to spend Wednesday through Thursday with my dad and grandpa and then we drove to Portland to pick up Nick from the airport. We headed over to Lisa and Steve's house (Nick's sister and her husband) and we had so much fun! The kids spent the evening throwing balls to Pepper (their adorable dog) and we got to enjoy the sun laying in their hammock in the back. We also got to go to the Oregon Health and Science University (where Lisa work's) and ride the aerial tram over the city (http://www.portlandtram.org/?WT_featured=spotlight&WT_rank=spotlight). The kids LOVED it! We also got to play at some great parks while we were there. We took pictures at one of the parks but of course we forgot our camera when we were on the tram. The view of Portland was awesome and it was dark, which made it even better. Saturday afternoon we headed back to McMinnville and celebrated my Grandpa's 96th birthday with some family and friends. My Grandpa is an amazing man and I am so glad I was able to attend his special birthday. He kept telling us when he'd wake up that he thought he was a goner for sure, but then he was still around in the morning =). It's been almost a year since my Grandma (his wife) passed away and since they spent 75 years of their lives together (they were married when she was 15 and he was 20)-he really misses her!
After the party we headed back to Portland and enjoyed some Thai food with Lisa and Steve, went to another park, then watched "Aliens in the Attic" with the kids. We headed back to Utah, another fun 11 1/2 hour drive! I'm glad to be home, but I sure miss Oregon and our family already! I think I've convinced Nick to spend more time there =).
Nick is officially on spring break from school, so we'll get to spend some time this week doing home projects. One major project is starting a garden-we'll see how that goes!
I've lost a total of 62.2 pounds and am in another maintenance phase now. Only 37.8 pounds to go until I hit the 100 lb goal mark! My actual goal is to lose 120-130 lbs, but my reward of going on the cruise (which I've already paid for) is official after 100 lbs. are gone.
Andrew just has 2 more months of preschool and then he's out for the summer. He's already registered for kindergarten and is really excited for big boy school. He's reading words, spelling, and learning math right now. We're really proud of him!
Madelyn is talking a ton and learning to count, differentiate colors, and letters. She's really excited to start preschool. We keep telling her that she can't go until she is potty trained but she doesn't seem to get the connection yet. She loves to dance and we try and bribe her with dance lessons for potty training but she hasn't given in yet.
Luke is 10 months now and stands up and walks around everything. He's taken a couple steps on his own and stands without holding on to things, but doesn't quite feel confident enough to go further than that.
I'll post pictures soon.