ELLE'S FIRST YEAR: A DIGITAL BABY BOOK
October 19, 2017
I had this idea of a creating a digital baby book shortly after Elle was born when I saw lots of digital Christmas cards people were making. As much as I love pictures, I’ve always said that videos are so much more tangible. You can literally watch your children grow up before your eyes. Having Elle join our family has been one of our greatest blessings. She is as sweet as they come, even with her sister always pestering her-but Elle has learned to dish it back some! I can’t believe how much she’s grown over the year-but to be honest, I still treat Elle like my little baby! Harper gave her the nickname “Elle-belle” early on and it’s stuck and she’s since become our little Elle-belle whenever we refer to her. I’m so glad I have this video diary of a few of her “firsts” and you bet I tear up watching it EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
I had this idea of a creating a digital baby book shortly after Elle was born when I saw lots of digital Christmas cards people were making. As much as I love pictures, I’ve always said that videos are so much more tangible. You can literally watch your children grow up before your eyes. Having Elle join our family has been one of our greatest blessings. She is as sweet as they come, even with her sister always pestering her-but Elle has learned to dish it back some! I can’t believe how much she’s grown over the year-but to be honest, I still treat Elle like my little baby! Harper gave her the nickname “Elle-belle” early on and it’s stuck and she’s since become our little Elle-belle whenever we refer to her. I’m so glad I have this video diary of a few of her “firsts” and you bet I tear up watching it EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
UP, UP & AWAY
September 17, 2017
One of our favorite end of the summer activities is the HERO UP Run helped sponsored by Marcus' law firm in Portland every year. The director's are the sweetest family that lost their young son to cancer, and after Kieth's passing, they wanted a positive way to remember their son every year. Keith loved super heroes, and the hero up race was originated. People come "decked" out in their favorite super hero costumes and it is such a fun and uplifting day. I love watching the Smart Family come together and put on this event and watch as they support and love each other. It's incredible! Elle ran her first 5k (in the stroller) as dad pushed her through the finish line.
After the race we hit up Salt & Straw for our favorite ice cream and went down to Cathedral Park for lunch-which consisted of doughnuts! We figured we'd earned it. Meanwhile, Harper got to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa at the fair. She was spoiled with rides, cotton candy, and seeing all the animals. It was so different just having one child for the weekend, and we laughed as we remember how hard we "thought" it was with one whenever we'd go out of town. Now we felt like pros since we only had Elle!
One of our favorite end of the summer activities is the HERO UP Run helped sponsored by Marcus' law firm in Portland every year. The director's are the sweetest family that lost their young son to cancer, and after Kieth's passing, they wanted a positive way to remember their son every year. Keith loved super heroes, and the hero up race was originated. People come "decked" out in their favorite super hero costumes and it is such a fun and uplifting day. I love watching the Smart Family come together and put on this event and watch as they support and love each other. It's incredible! Elle ran her first 5k (in the stroller) as dad pushed her through the finish line.
After the race we hit up Salt & Straw for our favorite ice cream and went down to Cathedral Park for lunch-which consisted of doughnuts! We figured we'd earned it. Meanwhile, Harper got to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa at the fair. She was spoiled with rides, cotton candy, and seeing all the animals. It was so different just having one child for the weekend, and we laughed as we remember how hard we "thought" it was with one whenever we'd go out of town. Now we felt like pros since we only had Elle!
QUICK AND SPONTANEOUS, UTAH BOUND
September 12, 2017
Right after Peru, we took a pretty spontaneous trip down to Utah so we could spend time together with Marcus' family. It was a quick weekend but we managed to eat our way through Utah starting with CHIP cookies in Provo and ending at our new favorite, Cubby's. Utah knooows how to do food! It was so nice seeing Marcus' parents again before they come home in a few weeks from their 22 month mission. We're counting down the days till we get to see them again. And we couldn't go to Provo without seeing the women's soccer team play. Harper was just dying wanting to go out onto the field. I love watching the two of these girls travel together, and Harper totally ask on a regular basis, "Are we going to a hotel?"
Right after Peru, we took a pretty spontaneous trip down to Utah so we could spend time together with Marcus' family. It was a quick weekend but we managed to eat our way through Utah starting with CHIP cookies in Provo and ending at our new favorite, Cubby's. Utah knooows how to do food! It was so nice seeing Marcus' parents again before they come home in a few weeks from their 22 month mission. We're counting down the days till we get to see them again. And we couldn't go to Provo without seeing the women's soccer team play. Harper was just dying wanting to go out onto the field. I love watching the two of these girls travel together, and Harper totally ask on a regular basis, "Are we going to a hotel?"
MACHU PICCHU
September 11, 2017
I have been waiting yeeeeears to visit Machu Picchu. At the end of Marcus’ two year mission in Peru, his family went to pick him up and they visited Machu Picchu while there. Ever since we’ve been married I’ve heard their stories about it. It’s very remote and difficult to get there and we joked how by the end of this trip we had been on planes, boats, mototaxis, trains, and buses just to get there. We knew we'd have to wake up at 3am to pack up our stuff and get in line by 4am, but I figured we'd be one of the first in line if we did. So imagine our shock as we walk out and the line is a half mile long! We quickly got in line and we felt AWESOME for what we had in store that morning. And then….it started to DOWNPOUR. We quickly bought ponchos and some umbrellas on a whim and we were so glad we did. It was cold, dark, rainy and the buses couldn’t come soon enough.
We were in line for two hours and 20 minutes before we got on a bus and our spirits just plummeted. I honestly didn’t want to get off the bus when we pulled up to Machu Picchu. Marcus pulled me off from my warm cocoon and we got in another line to enter. After we walked in and came around the bend it was BREATHTAKING! We had to just sit and stare for a few minutes as we watched the clouds roll in and out and there was a heavy mist in the air.
After awhile we started the hike up Huayna Picchu. When I saw how tall and steep it was I thought no way would I be able to hike it! Only 400 people out of thousands every day are allowed to hike, and we pre reserved our tickets. As we headed to the top we got this determination to be the first to the top for the day and passed everyone along these small rock stops that were SO steep! I was so nervous about the elevation and being able to hike that long and it pulled us both out of the funk we had earlier from the rain. We both couldn’t believe people come to Machu Picchu without hiking Huayna Picchu! The hike turned out to be both our favorite part and the view from the top was incredible. No picture can do it justice-even though we tried by taking a million! Ha!
After hiking back down our prayers were answered and the rain stopped. We were SO thankful. After getting yelled out by some more officials we started our tour through the ruins. I was laughing so hard at all the people taking pictures of the llamas when there are amazing ruins everywhere around. Too funny. I couldn't get enough of watching the clouds roll in and out and it added this special, almost mysterious, feeling while being there. Everyone kept commenting on how unique of a day it was and that we were fortunate enough to be there.
Our tour ended and we were so nervous we were going to miss our train back to Cusco because there was another TWO hour wait to get down off the mountain, when our guide gave us the best FastPass of our lives and we were able to skip the line que and get right on the next bus. We felt like royalty. We headed back to Aguas Calientes before our train left and both agreed it was the cutest little mountain town we’d ever seen!
I have been waiting yeeeeears to visit Machu Picchu. At the end of Marcus’ two year mission in Peru, his family went to pick him up and they visited Machu Picchu while there. Ever since we’ve been married I’ve heard their stories about it. It’s very remote and difficult to get there and we joked how by the end of this trip we had been on planes, boats, mototaxis, trains, and buses just to get there. We knew we'd have to wake up at 3am to pack up our stuff and get in line by 4am, but I figured we'd be one of the first in line if we did. So imagine our shock as we walk out and the line is a half mile long! We quickly got in line and we felt AWESOME for what we had in store that morning. And then….it started to DOWNPOUR. We quickly bought ponchos and some umbrellas on a whim and we were so glad we did. It was cold, dark, rainy and the buses couldn’t come soon enough.
We were in line for two hours and 20 minutes before we got on a bus and our spirits just plummeted. I honestly didn’t want to get off the bus when we pulled up to Machu Picchu. Marcus pulled me off from my warm cocoon and we got in another line to enter. After we walked in and came around the bend it was BREATHTAKING! We had to just sit and stare for a few minutes as we watched the clouds roll in and out and there was a heavy mist in the air.
After awhile we started the hike up Huayna Picchu. When I saw how tall and steep it was I thought no way would I be able to hike it! Only 400 people out of thousands every day are allowed to hike, and we pre reserved our tickets. As we headed to the top we got this determination to be the first to the top for the day and passed everyone along these small rock stops that were SO steep! I was so nervous about the elevation and being able to hike that long and it pulled us both out of the funk we had earlier from the rain. We both couldn’t believe people come to Machu Picchu without hiking Huayna Picchu! The hike turned out to be both our favorite part and the view from the top was incredible. No picture can do it justice-even though we tried by taking a million! Ha!
After hiking back down our prayers were answered and the rain stopped. We were SO thankful. After getting yelled out by some more officials we started our tour through the ruins. I was laughing so hard at all the people taking pictures of the llamas when there are amazing ruins everywhere around. Too funny. I couldn't get enough of watching the clouds roll in and out and it added this special, almost mysterious, feeling while being there. Everyone kept commenting on how unique of a day it was and that we were fortunate enough to be there.
Our tour ended and we were so nervous we were going to miss our train back to Cusco because there was another TWO hour wait to get down off the mountain, when our guide gave us the best FastPass of our lives and we were able to skip the line que and get right on the next bus. We felt like royalty. We headed back to Aguas Calientes before our train left and both agreed it was the cutest little mountain town we’d ever seen!
CUSCO, PERU: PART TWO
When we pulled up to our hotel in Cusco I knnnnnew we were in for a treat. We walked into our room and instantly fell in love with all the brightly colored decor and high beamed ceilings. We were just a few minutes walk from the San Pedro market so we headed down before it got too late and loved walking around to all of the shops and booths filled with brightly colored flowers, souvenirs, and pigs! A man would carry in these huge skinned pigs ready for sale and just kept bringing them in one after another, Marcus and I looked at each other and said, “Only in Peru!”
The next day we headed off to our ATV tour of Moray and the Salt Flats. After some quick instruction, and scolding of not doing enough “practice” we were on our way. We completely lucked out when our entire group went one way to see a lake and we had a private tour all to ourselves. When we got to Moray, our guide gave Marcus a “bro hug” and said “Nice riding brotha! We’ll catch up to the other group later, you drive fast!” Moray was amazing to see the different temperature climates that the Inca’s grew their vegetation on. Next our guide took us to this lookout overlooking the Sacred Valley and we twisted and turned around the streets of Maras. We felt like we were in a video game as we drove through these little streets and had to stop for "cow crossings!”
We met up with our group at the Salt Flats and it was one of my favorite things I’ve ever seen. Almost 2,500 pools filled with natural salt water from the mountain. When the water evaporates each family in Maras is in charge of 30 pools and they harvest the left over salt from them. I am a salt ADDICT so I couldn’t quit drinking and trying the stuff. Marcus was dyyyying because it was so salty!
That afternoon we visited a convent in Cusco, the Incan ruins of Quenco, Tambomachay, and ended with Sacsayhuaman. At this point our guide asked us if we wanted to see another church or stay at Sacsayhuaman and we both agreed, “Stay here!” Sacsayhuaman is made of huge boulders and each block was carefully shaped and molded. The joke is that the Incans invented Tetris-Ha! And…each boulder is hundreds of tons each! I couldn’t even believe how big they were until one of us was standing beside them. As the sun was setting it was one of those magical moments where everything felt so peaceful.
The next day we hopped on a bus and train to tour the Sacred Valley. We took the bus to Pisaq where we hiked to the top of the ruins and spent some time wandering Pisaq Market. We had an amazing lunch and then visited the ruins of Ollantaytambo. An hour after getting there, it started POURING and we found a cute little cafe with wifi and drank our hearts out of our favorite Inca Kola. After a little while the rain stopped and we explored the city, ate the best ice cream and empanadas (even thought Marcus was sure the ice cream wouldn’t be good-it was fantastic!), and picked up a few paintings and souvenirs for our girls. Then we hopped on the train to Aquas Calientes, the city that stands at the base of Machu Picchu.
We met up with our group at the Salt Flats and it was one of my favorite things I’ve ever seen. Almost 2,500 pools filled with natural salt water from the mountain. When the water evaporates each family in Maras is in charge of 30 pools and they harvest the left over salt from them. I am a salt ADDICT so I couldn’t quit drinking and trying the stuff. Marcus was dyyyying because it was so salty!
That afternoon we visited a convent in Cusco, the Incan ruins of Quenco, Tambomachay, and ended with Sacsayhuaman. At this point our guide asked us if we wanted to see another church or stay at Sacsayhuaman and we both agreed, “Stay here!” Sacsayhuaman is made of huge boulders and each block was carefully shaped and molded. The joke is that the Incans invented Tetris-Ha! And…each boulder is hundreds of tons each! I couldn’t even believe how big they were until one of us was standing beside them. As the sun was setting it was one of those magical moments where everything felt so peaceful.
The next day we hopped on a bus and train to tour the Sacred Valley. We took the bus to Pisaq where we hiked to the top of the ruins and spent some time wandering Pisaq Market. We had an amazing lunch and then visited the ruins of Ollantaytambo. An hour after getting there, it started POURING and we found a cute little cafe with wifi and drank our hearts out of our favorite Inca Kola. After a little while the rain stopped and we explored the city, ate the best ice cream and empanadas (even thought Marcus was sure the ice cream wouldn’t be good-it was fantastic!), and picked up a few paintings and souvenirs for our girls. Then we hopped on the train to Aquas Calientes, the city that stands at the base of Machu Picchu.
When we pulled up to our hotel in Cusco I knnnnnew we were in for a treat. We walked into our room and instantly fell in love with all the brightly colored decor and high beamed ceilings. We were just a few minutes walk from the San Pedro market so we headed down before it got too late and loved walking around to all of the shops and booths filled with brightly colored flowers, souvenirs, and pigs! A man would carry in these huge skinned pigs ready for sale and just kept bringing them in one after another, Marcus and I looked at each other and said, “Only in Peru!”
The next day we headed off to our ATV tour of Moray and the Salt Flats. After some quick instruction, and scolding of not doing enough “practice” we were on our way. We completely lucked out when our entire group went one way to see a lake and we had a private tour all to ourselves. When we got to Moray, our guide gave Marcus a “bro hug” and said “Nice riding brotha! We’ll catch up to the other group later, you drive fast!” Moray was amazing to see the different temperature climates that the Inca’s grew their vegetation on. Next our guide took us to this lookout overlooking the Sacred Valley and we twisted and turned around the streets of Maras. We felt like we were in a video game as we drove through these little streets and had to stop for "cow crossings!”
We met up with our group at the Salt Flats and it was one of my favorite things I’ve ever seen. Almost 2,500 pools filled with natural salt water from the mountain. When the water evaporates each family in Maras is in charge of 30 pools and they harvest the left over salt from them. I am a salt ADDICT so I couldn’t quit drinking and trying the stuff. Marcus was dyyyying because it was so salty!
That afternoon we visited a convent in Cusco, the Incan ruins of Quenco, Tambomachay, and ended with Sacsayhuaman. At this point our guide asked us if we wanted to see another church or stay at Sacsayhuaman and we both agreed, “Stay here!” Sacsayhuaman is made of huge boulders and each block was carefully shaped and molded. The joke is that the Incans invented Tetris-Ha! And…each boulder is hundreds of tons each! I couldn’t even believe how big they were until one of us was standing beside them. As the sun was setting it was one of those magical moments where everything felt so peaceful.
The next day we hopped on a bus and train to tour the Sacred Valley. We took the bus to Pisaq where we hiked to the top of the ruins and spent some time wandering Pisaq Market. We had an amazing lunch and then visited the ruins of Ollantaytambo. An hour after getting there, it started POURING and we found a cute little cafe with wifi and drank our hearts out of our favorite Inca Kola. After a little while the rain stopped and we explored the city, ate the best ice cream and empanadas (even thought Marcus was sure the ice cream wouldn’t be good-it was fantastic!), and picked up a few paintings and souvenirs for our girls. Then we hopped on the train to Aquas Calientes, the city that stands at the base of Machu Picchu.
We met up with our group at the Salt Flats and it was one of my favorite things I’ve ever seen. Almost 2,500 pools filled with natural salt water from the mountain. When the water evaporates each family in Maras is in charge of 30 pools and they harvest the left over salt from them. I am a salt ADDICT so I couldn’t quit drinking and trying the stuff. Marcus was dyyyying because it was so salty!
That afternoon we visited a convent in Cusco, the Incan ruins of Quenco, Tambomachay, and ended with Sacsayhuaman. At this point our guide asked us if we wanted to see another church or stay at Sacsayhuaman and we both agreed, “Stay here!” Sacsayhuaman is made of huge boulders and each block was carefully shaped and molded. The joke is that the Incans invented Tetris-Ha! And…each boulder is hundreds of tons each! I couldn’t even believe how big they were until one of us was standing beside them. As the sun was setting it was one of those magical moments where everything felt so peaceful.
The next day we hopped on a bus and train to tour the Sacred Valley. We took the bus to Pisaq where we hiked to the top of the ruins and spent some time wandering Pisaq Market. We had an amazing lunch and then visited the ruins of Ollantaytambo. An hour after getting there, it started POURING and we found a cute little cafe with wifi and drank our hearts out of our favorite Inca Kola. After a little while the rain stopped and we explored the city, ate the best ice cream and empanadas (even thought Marcus was sure the ice cream wouldn’t be good-it was fantastic!), and picked up a few paintings and souvenirs for our girls. Then we hopped on the train to Aquas Calientes, the city that stands at the base of Machu Picchu.
IQUITOS, PERU: PART ONE
August 28, 2017
Marcus served a two year church mission in Peru, so for years he has wanted to go back. We started off spending a few days in the jungle. Marcus couldn’t go up the river by boat as a missionary, so this time we found a place to stay that was two hours up the Amazon. We didn’t know what we were in for when we pulled up to the boat dock but we were so surprised! Mostly, because we had air conditioning in our room. Ha! We felt pretty spoiled by this when at home it’s something we just take for granted.
The next morning we came to a small town where people travel by moro-taxis. Similar to a tuktuk in Asia. Well, our grouped was whizzing around these small paths and we felt like we were in a video game of MarioKart or something! We were laughing so hard with our guide shoved between the two of us! We then went on a canopy tour of the jungle 100 ft up with bridges that connected one tree to the next. Some were even 60 ft in length! We had one of those “moments” when we were at the highest platform and two macaw birds went flying overhead. The jungle goes out for as far as you can see and it reminded me of being over the top of a bunch of broccoli stems. I think I said “This is sooo pretty” about a million times.
One of our favorite things was riding the boat up and down the river. Nobody uses cars and they have to access everything by boat or mototaxi. Having the chance to stop at a few villages and see their everyday life was an eye opening experience. I was gravitated to the groups of small children and they just wanted to see everything I had, my sunglasses, my necklace, my fan made from a leaf-Ha! They loved looking at themselves on my camera from the pictures I took. But it made me miss my own babies who were at home!
One night we went on a “jungle hike” and our guide, Segundo, had been our fearless leader through the jungle for a few days, so at this point I was feeling pretty confident I’d follow him anywhere! But that night when we went into the jungle every little noise had me on edge. With nothing but a flashlight we were looking for crocodiles, tarantulas, and seeing the biggest bugs I’d ever seen in my life! I nearly had a panic attack when a spider fell down from a tree riiiiiight between me and our guide. But looking up and seeing the stars was like non other! It was incredible.
Our last day we went fishing for piranhas and I couldn’t believe it when I caught one! We had it for dinner that night, and it was surprisingly really good. Leaving the jungle I got super sad and emotional. It was just everything and more that I expected, and I honestly didn’t know how the rest of the trip could compete with my newfound love for the jungle.
Marcus served a two year church mission in Peru, so for years he has wanted to go back. We started off spending a few days in the jungle. Marcus couldn’t go up the river by boat as a missionary, so this time we found a place to stay that was two hours up the Amazon. We didn’t know what we were in for when we pulled up to the boat dock but we were so surprised! Mostly, because we had air conditioning in our room. Ha! We felt pretty spoiled by this when at home it’s something we just take for granted.
The next morning we came to a small town where people travel by moro-taxis. Similar to a tuktuk in Asia. Well, our grouped was whizzing around these small paths and we felt like we were in a video game of MarioKart or something! We were laughing so hard with our guide shoved between the two of us! We then went on a canopy tour of the jungle 100 ft up with bridges that connected one tree to the next. Some were even 60 ft in length! We had one of those “moments” when we were at the highest platform and two macaw birds went flying overhead. The jungle goes out for as far as you can see and it reminded me of being over the top of a bunch of broccoli stems. I think I said “This is sooo pretty” about a million times.
One of our favorite things was riding the boat up and down the river. Nobody uses cars and they have to access everything by boat or mototaxi. Having the chance to stop at a few villages and see their everyday life was an eye opening experience. I was gravitated to the groups of small children and they just wanted to see everything I had, my sunglasses, my necklace, my fan made from a leaf-Ha! They loved looking at themselves on my camera from the pictures I took. But it made me miss my own babies who were at home!
One night we went on a “jungle hike” and our guide, Segundo, had been our fearless leader through the jungle for a few days, so at this point I was feeling pretty confident I’d follow him anywhere! But that night when we went into the jungle every little noise had me on edge. With nothing but a flashlight we were looking for crocodiles, tarantulas, and seeing the biggest bugs I’d ever seen in my life! I nearly had a panic attack when a spider fell down from a tree riiiiiight between me and our guide. But looking up and seeing the stars was like non other! It was incredible.
Our last day we went fishing for piranhas and I couldn’t believe it when I caught one! We had it for dinner that night, and it was surprisingly really good. Leaving the jungle I got super sad and emotional. It was just everything and more that I expected, and I honestly didn’t know how the rest of the trip could compete with my newfound love for the jungle.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
