Connected

New roots...new strength...new season...new year. 

Branching out. 

New look to the blog. New thoughts. And a desire to be connected. 

Initially when I started writing/journaling/sharing here it was to be connected to others. Being more intentional about writing here and finding ways to engage with others are really important to me. 

Dating my husband. Playing with my kids. Seeking Jesus. Getting beyond myself and my insecurities. Blogging. facebook. Asking people to coffee. Taking care of myself. More fun. Less worry. Thinking outside the box. Choosing relationship over task. Less guarded. More vulnerable. Trying new things. More hope. Less fear.


Connected. Intentional.

Fun times!

We've had some great adventures in the last couple of weeks. I'm a linear thinker and I can't shake my desire to keep documenting, writing, and catching up so that I don't forget what we've done. To fill you in, check out some recent posts:

The Pumpkin Patch 

Ryan's Final Day

The Fire Station

Vacation: Family and Birthdays

Vacation: Children's Museum

Vacation: Springfield

There is LarryBoy

Batman and a Bunny

November. I am thankful for a new season. Some new thoughts. Some new margins. Some new time without MBA classes and homework. I'm excited to share some of the "new". 

Batman and a Bunny

On Halloween Quinn dressed up as Batman and Sela was a sweet bunny. 

We had a good time visiting friends for trick or treating and seeing most of the kids from our previous small group...there were a LOT of kids!  

We finished the night at the church's fall festival where there were bouncy houses, games, and MORE trick or treating. After the kids went to bed, we did our best to "help" their candy bags...there were some good treats!

There is LarryBoy!

A pumpkin creation by Ryan and Quinn...

Vacation: Springfield

We enjoy going to Springfield to spend time with Doughertys but Quinn is always especially excited because there is always a new treasure to discover. This visit was no exception. Grandma Dougherty found the Dougherty's special Batman costume that was made YEARS ago for the many Dougherty boys to play with. 

Quinn got his turn. What a pose.

Two superheroes ready to help...

Grandma Dougherty found the old Spiderman ski mask to wear.

 

 Sela in a "frog" costume.

We went down to the U of O campus to check things out and visit the bookstore. As we were getting ready to leave, Puddles came walking by the store! Of course we had to get a picture. Quinn and the Duck made "O's" and gave each other the rock.

Do you notice Sela in the first picture...

and in the second picture. She did NOT want to be around Puddles!

Sela didn't want to miss out on wearing Batman's cape--so she became Super Sela!

We had a great time hanging out and even got to see Uncle Chad and Aunt Robyn as well as Uncle Kyler. Good times all round...so great to spend time together.

Vacation: Children's Museum

We decided Quinn should have some vacation days too so opted to take Quinn out of school on Thursday and Friday. 

Thursday we took Quinn and Sela to the Children's Museum's Lego Castle Adventure! I love our library's cultural passes--four people to the museum for $9. It was a great exhibit with lots to do and look at. Quinn and Sela had great fun trying things out with legos and in the other exhibit areas too.

For lunch we headed to New Cascadia Traditional, a gluten-fee bakery. We had some seriously amazing pizza, cupcakes, and brownies. It is good to watch Ryan enjoy food that tastes good! It was a great morning and we capped it off by heading to Springfield to spend time with Ryan's family.

Vacation: Family and Birthdays

The week after Ryan finished his MBA (hooray!) we took a week of vacation! 

Quinn and Sela always have something going (vacation or not)...here Sela is in her stage while Quinn and the rest of the audience watch the performance.

 

We totally enjoyed a visit from the Medford Doughertys with "big Elim" and the rest of the Newberg Doughertys.

It was a great start for celebrating Ryan's 34th birthday (October 24th). It was Ryan's first Monday night without a class! What a great gift!

Our little family on Daddy's birthday...happy birthday, Ryan!

The Fire Station

A day at the fire station is a treat so when one had an open house, we made sure to visit!

The kids got to try on uniforms and hats, crawl through "tunnels" to rescue the fire dog, color pictures, walk through fire trucks and an ambulance...all in all a great time!

Quinn got to practice using one of the fire hoses!

The firefighters did a demonstration of how to get out of a two-story house and helped the kids practice going out a window and down a ladder.

 

A big highlight of the time was riding in this fire engine around the neighborhood. The firefighters even turned on the siren. We waved at people who came out to watch. Quinn and Sela grinned. It was a great trip!

Ryan's Final Day!

The actual graduation won't take place until December but we celebrated Ryan's final day of class for his MBA program on October 17th. Our paper chain met its demise and we cheered as Ryan tore through the LAST ring! Now we get to have Ryan around on Monday nights, more Saturdays, and just...more. It is so WONDERFUL!