Brandon has new wheels!

Brandon bought himself a new bike and helmet today with the money he has been saving from his allowance!

A family barbecue!

Matt's Dad and Stepmom were in town this weekend, so we had them over for a barbecue along with Matt's brother Justin's family!

My nephew Malachi in his fireman gear. He's going to be a fireman like his Daddy one day!
Malachi checking his gear
Tyler with his cousin Noah! Noah has grown a ton since we saw him a month ago!
Ryan playing firefighter with Malachi
Grandma Mary and Grandpa Tishendorf with Noah
Noah was talking up a storm and smiling non stop when Sarah and I were playing with him, but once I put a camera in front of him it all stopped.
Miss Sarah as a Firewoman!

Another new baby to love!!!!

Our extended family is growing again! My cousin Linda delivered her baby boy on Tori's birthday! His name is Brendan William and weighed 8 pounds 13 ounces.

Baby Brendan
My Grandma with Brendan ... her 16th great grandbaby!
My Aunt Patti with her first grandbaby!!!
My cousin Linda holding her sweet baby boy!

Fun in the sun!

Baseball season is over

It is official....baseball season is now over. Tonight was our teams' picnic and family baseball game (parents vs. kids). The kids had a great year. Fabulous coaches, wonderful parents and it one of those years that you are sad the sport has come to an end.

Ryley sporting his new shirt that his coaches gave him!
Sarah with her friend Mallory
Ryan recieving his "dog tag" from his coaches. They opted for dog tags this year, rather than trophies that do nothing but collect dust. The dog tags have the kids names, jersey numbers and notes that they went to the State Tournament. The coaches talked about the nicknames they gave the kids. Ryan's nickname is "Maverick". Coach Bret said Ryan reminds him of Tom Cruise in the movie Top Gun.
Ryley with the coaches after getting his dog tag. His nickname was Pete, after Pete Rose.
Ryan in the back right playing 2nd base in our game tonight with kids vs. parents. (yes, the kids won against all of us old folks)
Brandon playing 1st base (he was on the adult's team)Sarah waiting for a ball in right field!

Wicked, Crazy, Bubbles!

Several years ago the kids received a Klutz bubble making book for their birthday. Brandon was trying it out today and the size of the bubbles are HUGE!!!

Day 5 in New York

Day # 5 Matt and Tori relaxed in the hotel until it was time to head to the airport. The weather was unseasonably warm, and they had seen all they had hoped to the previous 4 days!

The hotel lobby!
Another view of the hotel lobby!
Tori with The Oregonian Newspaper and her Playbill from The Little Mermaid! The story behind this photo is that The Oregonian has a Travel section, that had an article about a girl's visit to New York City. It had a list of places to visit with a young girl and it included a section about the Broadway Play The Little Mermaid. The travel section of the Newspaper also notes, that if you take a photo of yourself, with the Travel Section, in the location they suggested,they will publish your photo in the Travel Section of an upcoming issue! Guess who is going to be in The Oregonian???????
The temperature was 97 degrees, before noon!
Tori on her first Taxi ride!

As luck would have it, Matt and Tori arrived at the airport around 2pm for their 7:30pm flight. A thunderstorm was rolling in, and the wind gusts were so strong they had reduce flights to one lane of incoming flights, and one lane of outgoing flights. After boarding the plane and waiting half an hour, the pilot came on to say that they were #66 in line awaiting take off. Their flight finally took off after 10:30pm. Instead of arriving in Portland at 11:20pm, they arrived just before 3am, and were really glad to be home!

Day 4 of Tori's New York Trip

Day 4 was a leisure day for Matt and Tori. They spent the day walking around Manhattan visiting sites they had missed the previous days.

This is a photo of a church, 1 block from Ground Zero that went unscathed. The Twin Towers were directly behind this building.
Another funky Statue of Liberty!
They visited Rockefeller Center. This is usually where ice rink is during the winter months.
Tori at the NBC Experience Store!
Tori with another Statue. This one is The Seattle Mariners, conveniently located in the Nintendo World Store!
A photo of all of Tori's purchases from the American Girl Place, the Toad she bought at FAO Schwartz and the T-shirt she won at the Nintendo World Store!

Day 3 of Tori's New York Trip

On day 3 Tori and Matt started their day off at The American Girl Place!

One of the display cases in the store!

They started off their visit in the cafe` where they had a reservation for lunch in the cafe`!

Their reserved table!
Having lunch with her doll Nikki!
Making memories to last a lifetime!
Surprise, a birthday cake!!!

Happy Birthday Tori!!!

After lunch they went to the theater to watch a performance of the musical "Circle of Friends". They wouldn't allow any photos to be taken in the theater! After the theater performance Tori went for a photo shoot where they put her on the cover of American Girl Magazine and then it was off to do some shopping for her doll Nikki!

After returning to the hotel to drop off Tori's many bags of goodies, they headed to Central Park!

Tori at one of the Central Park Zoo exhibits!
Some of the seals at the park!

The Apple Store at Central park. The actual store is underground, and there as a HUGE line to get inside.
Tori with the doorman at FAO Schwartz New York!
Inside FAO Schwartz
The big piano that you can play by walking across! Do you want one?

Here's the price tag!!!!
Harry Potter life size Lego statues
Chewbacca and Tori!
Spiderman in FAO Schwartz

After leaving Central Park, Matt and Tori went to Sony Wonders Technology Lab. Unfortunately 2 of the 3 floors were closed for renovation.

Musical instruments in the Sony Wonders Technology Lab
They took a stroll through Trump World Tower
Then went to the World of Disney Store in Manhattan
Inside the Disney Store!

After a long day and sightseeing and shopping, they went back to the hotel, where Tori said they stayed up until midnight and snacked on her left over birthday cake!