Far, Far Away, in the land of Oregon: grayson visits the midwest, twice.

after my dad and anne left portland, the past few weeks have been a whirlwind... now it's mid october and thankfully (sadly) we are home for good until our next travels (nothing planned, although a trip to mexico is in the works for alex and dayna's wedding next spring!)... it is so nice to know we're home now for awhile, but also sad in a way. we were lucky enough to spend lots of the past couple weeks with family, both mine and chad's, and it was fabulous. definitely makes me want to live closer...

mid/late september grayson and i flew to michigan to stay with (aunt) kath for a week! it was a great trip mixed in with a bit of stress... had some loose ends to tie up for Mom, that was really hard, and we still need to order a headstone. alex is thinking about designing one, how cool. we visited her grave and it was really difficult, having the babies there, oh how i miss my mom. it is so weird and crappy and sad and frustrating still... wishing she could be here for all of the "stuff", well life i guess, that we're going through and experiencing. big sad face.

anyhoo, G did amazing on the flights but to be honest did not sleep great almost the entire trip... makes for a tired mama who's in charge 24-7! now i can appreciate those single moms and thank the lord i'm not one of them! we got back home and had a fun, quick trip from gramma jo, she came into town for a whole 2 1/2 days! it was nice to have her here again (again....wishing she lived here!!!), and we got to see amanda & ben too, LOVE that they are now an hour and a half away. now if we can just get the rest of the fam to move here... hmmm... does anyone sense a pattern?

our last trip took us through chicago and driving to iowa... it was fabulous! grayson got to meet all of his living great grandparents, as well as some great aunts, uncles, and 2nd cousins. he attended his 2nd wedding since birth, man that kid is well traveled and so ahead of the game!! a fun armington family trip overall, and of course makes me look forward to the next, when they all get to come for christmas in portland. yay!

fall is here, and what a gorgeous time of year it has been here in portland. it is definitely my favorite season where ever i am... and in oregon it has been sunny and warm, with some chilly nights/mornings, perfect weather really. why do i love fall? well, between football (go MSU! ranked #7 in the BCS as of yesterday!), fantasy football (SO fun!), pumpkins, sipping hot coffee on a chilly morning, making chili, baking, evening strolls wearing a sweatshirt, celebrating our anniversary (#4 this year!), eating the best fresh veggies and fruits, especially apples and pears, squash, and kale... gosh i could go on and on! but i'll stop because if you are reading this you are probably bored. :) and if you are reading, thanks :)

more pics for you to enjoy. someday i'll figure out how to link my picasa albums... but for now here's a few favorites from grayson's 3rd month!