rain...

It's raining, it's pouring!

Shannon is adoring..

the fact that it's NOT snowing!

I cannot remember the last time it rained here! Now, it'll probably turn into snow as the night cools off but for right now it's rain and I am LOVING IT! You can take a girl out of Portland, but you can't take Portland out of a girl!

A Few Photos from Hawaii

Here I am on Waikiki Beach.

My mom and I at a scenic overlook on the way to Diamond Head. That's Coco Head in the background.

This is my Dad and I on our Whale Watching Excursion.

Me on the boat.

This is a hammerhead shark fin. We saw it on our whale watching trip. It was pretty cool.

We all had a great time in Hawaii. I am glad my parents finally got to go. We did all the touristy things. We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center, which I think was the highlight. We went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. We sunbathed on Waikiki Beach. We saw Dolphins, Humpback whales, and our shark. I went snorkelling. We visited Pearl Harbor. My mom's celebrated her birthday in Hawaii. For her birthday, I researched the location of where Magnum P.I. was filmed. Magnum is her absolute favorite show. We tease her that it's not real. But Robin's Nest, the house where Robin and Magnum lived is real and it's on Oahu. We had to get there by the beach. It's run down but it's still there. Even the lagoon made of rocks where Magnum swam laps is there. I thought it was pretty cool to find. My parents took the majority of the pictures so when I get copies of theirs I may post more and I haven't developed my underwater camera yet, either. Anyways, it was a fun trip. I can't wait to go back and spend a week doing absolutely nothing but lying on the beach!

Where has a whole month gone?

I can hardly believe that a whole month has gone by since our last post. I have lots and lots of excuses though! Here's the list....

-I went home to Portland to see my family!
-I acted as tour guide for my parents on a winter holiday in Hawaii!
-My two lovely boys are both battling the lovely childhood illness of Chicken Pox! (Yes, they were vaccinated!)
-As my mom calls it, I am sick (sick!sick!sick!) with the Egyptian Flu. Meaning I am going to be a "mummy" again!

Yep, baby number 4 is on the way. Dustin tells everyone he talks to so I thought I may as well post it here, too. We are just 9 weeks along. It seems like it's been at least 30! The baby's due date is October 6th. This is it as far as I am concerned. In that light, Dustin is praying for twins. He agrees we're getting too old for this but still would like to get 5 kids in the process! :)

I hope everyone is doing great. I'll be sure to get some new photos posted soon. I just have to find the energy to get unpacked first!

A Lesson in Miscommunication

Here is Missy BEFORE the miscommunication.

Here is Missy AFTER the miscommunication.

Yeah, I think we messed this one up! So, to make a long story probably longer than it needs to be, I will tell you how my beautiful Missy turned into my kinda cute Missy. Last weekend Dustin escaped with a friend to go hiking overnight along Logging Creek. They both took their dogs and were not sticking to any trails. Missy came home FULL of nasty, and I mean ugly, burrs, briars, and thorns. Before Dustin even came home he called to tell me that Missy was a mess and that he had set up an appointment for her at the groomers. Dustin and I sat for a long time combing and sometimes cutting them out of her hair. Dustin mentioned to me something about shaving her but I didn't like that idea. This morning, through our friend Lacie, Dustin passed on the message to get Missy to the groomers today. He was off hiking again and I had totally forgotten. Just that same morning Lacie had heard Dustin mention to her husband, Jake, something about shaving Missy so I wasn't surprised when the groomer quoted me a price for a "cut". Well, I told her that whatever Dustin had told her, I didn't want Missy shaved and to compromise somewhere in between what Dustin had said and what I was saying. 4 hours later I picked up Missy looking just about hairless. I was shocked. I even questioned if she was my dog. Missy has always been sort of defined by her hair. I told my friend on the phone right after I got her home and was still in shock, "It's like cutting Crystal Gayle's hair" Anyways, when Dustin got home he told me he mentioned shaving her in the summer, not now. So the groomer didn't get what Dustin really wanted, I didn't know what Dustin wanted, I didn't know what Dustin had told the groomer, and I am really too cheap to be paying $35 for a dog's haircut! Too late for that now. So Missy looks a lot like a Yellow Lab these days. Her hair will grow and she does look kinda cute. She also looks a lot younger...maybe I need a new cut!

A Big Day at the Douberly House

HENRY LOST HIS FIRST TOOTH...

...AND IT HAPPENED AT SCHOOL!

Henry lost his tooth today at recess. It's been loose since Christmas Eve and has been getting more wiggly everyday. We are all so excited because lots of other kids have been losing teeth since LAST school year. His dentist, when looking at the x-rays, told us not to get him too excited because he might not lose any until he was 7. We're happy things started 6 months ahead of that- he has a lot of catching up to do!

JENNA MAE GOT HER CAST OFF!

Can you believe it's been five whole weeks?!

Here she is right before our appointment.

She was perfect for the nurse. The nurse used a tiny saw and Jenna giggled the whole time- not scared a bit! The cutest thing was when the cast finally came off she clapped her hands and said "Yeah!" without being prompted at all!

The nurse warned us that little ones try to walk right away and find that bending their knees hurts a bit but Jenna just jumped up right away and got to playing with the boys again. I even brought new shoes to mark the occasion. She is walking a little funny but she's as good as new. She even got to go "swimming" tonight in the bathtub- complete with a brand new swimming suit.

Inauguration Day

Here are my super-cute kids watching the inauguration today. I was glued to CNN for most of the morning and I didn't even vote for the guy! His speech held many promises and some lofty goals, that's for sure! The Republican in me kept seeing $$$$$$$ as the speech continued. Those all sound like nice things but nice things cost money, a lot of money. We'll have to wait and see. For his sake I hope he can follow through-Americans tend to be fair weather fans! I certainly wish him the best!

Welcome Home, Jake!

Our friend Jake made it home safely from Iraq this past Saturday! We are so happy to have him home!