Water baby!

Mateo just completed his first swim lesson course. We signed him up for a 4-week water babies class and he must be part fish because he loves the water. We had a lot of fun playing with him and getting him used to being in the pool and getting water in his face. On the last day they opened the water slide and daddy took him down a number of times. You'd think this little kiddo would have been frightened to go down a large twisting and turning slide, but he loved it and kept asking for more! Here are some pictures with daddy.

Mateo's 2nd 4th

It was a warm weekend this Fourth of July. We went to our friends Nick and Alicia's house for an afternoon bbq. My pal Jenn came down from Silverton which as a pleasant surprise. She brought her dog Lou and Mateo had a grand time trying to play horsey with him (the dog is 3 times as big as him). Lou didn't mind! Nick bbq'd pizzas, a specialty of his, and we had a very nice dinner. Mateo was totally preoccupied with climbing up and down their deck stairs, so I think I worked off all the calories chasing him around. Around 9pm we went home and Mateo was still awake so I kept him up to see the fireworks show that you can see from a few of our windows at home. At first he was interested in them, but after a while he just wanted to go play. Oh well, fireworks next year!

Welcome cousin Mia!

Mateo's newest cousin, Mia Rosaleen Duffy, was born on June 24th. As you can see, she is outrageously cute! We want to wish auntie Jennifer and uncle Rob all the best with their new bundle of joy. We can't wait to meet you, Mia!

Elise Claire Hudkins

As you all know, Matt and I were very excited for adding a baby girl to our family. Unfortunately we lost the baby 2 weeks ago when I was 7 months pregnant. There are times in life when you cannot make sense of what happened, and have to rely on faith to pull you through. We know that she is in a peaceful place and she will always be with us, and us with her. We are so thankful for Mateo, and the strength and happiness he brings us. Thank you to everyone for their support and kindness through our difficult time.

Last stop, Stockton, CA!

Our last stop on the Tour de California was northbound to Stockton. While visiting grandma Karen and Robert, Matt's good buddy Dax came to visit. We haven't seen him for a while so it was nice for them to catch up and play with Mateo for a bit.

We also headed to Burlingame to visit with the rest of the family. Mateo got to see all his cousins, aunts and uncles.

Daddy and auntie Jen

Cousin Lucy showing off her kitchen!

Bubbles with grandpa Robert

The next day we already had to go. Boy, we packed in a lot of sights and family in our 9-day trip. It was great to see everyone. Mateo was sure a trooper with all the car and airplane rides. By the end of the trip when we were driving home from the Portland airport we needed to get creative to keep Mateo occupied in the car. Below you see him destroying an old cassette tape!

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh, good to be home. We missed you, Bebe!

Grads and Moms

This Mother's Day was a special one as Matt and I were both going to see our moms. It rarely happens that we actually get to be with one mom on this day, so it was a nice treat. And, it was my cousin Brandon's graduation at Loyola Marymount where he was getting his M.B.A. As you could probably tell, it was a very busy day. We got up early, had breakfast, checked out of our hotel and headed to the campus which was just down the street. The campus was nice and quite festive. Once there we met up with my mom, brother, aunt and cousins and all were excited to see Mateo. He had fun running around the grassy area during the ceremony. Afterward we met up with Brandon for some family pictures. I'm really proud of him as it's the first MBA in the family, and I know he worked hard for it. Congrats, Bran! Here are some family photos...







Soon after we jumped in the car for a long car ride to Stockton which was the last leg of our family vacation. We had a lovely Mother's Day dinner with grandma Karen. It was a long, full day with lots of family!

Next Stop: LA

After saying so long to the O.C., we continued north to LA. Our first stop was the Huntington Library in San Marino. In addition to being a library, there is a wonderful botantical garden, with Japanese, Chinese, tropical, and desert settings. It is truly a beautiful place where you could hang out all day. We had lunch there and took a stroll along the gardens. It was a really hot day and we just enjoyed being outside and resting on the grass along the way.

After the gardens we visited with Matt's cousins, Jimmy and Craig. They lived not too far away in Pasadena. They have twin sons who we had not seen in about 2 years and were amazed at how big they got! We went out to dinner at the Yard House in Pasadena. I was so glad we got to fit in this visit with them, as it was unplanned.
From Pasadena we continued on to our hotel in L.A., near LAX, where we stayed a couple of nights. The following day we ventured to Griffith Park. We met Kim and Kelan again at Travel Town, which is a train museum. Mateo likes the Thomas the Train right now so he enjoyed playing among the real things. We took a ride on the little train that goes around the park and played for a while.




Soon after Kelan had a birthday party to go to, so Matt and I took Mateo to another little train area that was just down the road. It had another train ride that we went on and we also took a short hay ride.
We continued upward and visited the Griffith Park Observatory. Matt got some great pictures of the sights and we enjoyed the views from above.