Our weekend didn't really involve that much and I kind of loved it.

Our paint colors got approved (!) so Chris got back to scraping the house...this prep work seems neverending!

Thursday and Friday were grocery shopping days. 
(I've had to split my shopping into two days now. Three stores and two little ones in one day would be impossible right now!) 
While we were out, I stopped for gas and Bennett chimed in just as I was saying "fill it with regular"...
Thursday night was date night.
We decided to keep it simple, we grabbed Chipolte downtown and ate it in this awesome little area across the street:
Then we walked around the corner onto the park blocks so we could just chill on a blanket under a tree.
It was so nice to do nothing for a change!
On our way home, we stopped at good ol' Dairy Queen for some cones:
(I think I managed to get more chocolate shell on my shirt than I got in my belly.)
I had bought a giant box of huge/perfect/juicy peaches at Costco, so
Saturday morning Chris made us Peaches and Cream Stuffed French Toast.
It was bliss:
And Sunday morning he got up and made our favorite blueberry muffins to go along with some granola, TJ's hashbrowns (you must try these if you haven't!), eggs and of course a peach.
(we take breakfast seriously.)
We went on a nice little walk before bedtime (I'm loving these summer nights) and I spotted this little lady:
I also was able to make a small test batch of strawberry jam sweetened with honey:
(it was my first canning experience which turned out pretty well. We go through strawberry jam like crazy which means lots of sugar. I usually buy a great 'reduced sugar' jam at TJ's but I wanted to try making it myself with honey and the result was tasty! It's even still too sweet, but I put the maximum amount of honey. Note to self: reduce honey next time.)
And a random picture:
This was Bennett one year ago...crazy how much they grow in a year! 
He is turning 3 (three?!) in a month so 
I guess I better get on the party planning!

Happy Tuesday Friends!
Chris and I celebrated our 6th anniversary on Saturday.
Friday night Bennett had a sleepover with his cousins and Buck had a sleepover with his grandma.
We decided to grab dinner at our favorite mexican place Porque No
Here is an awesome picture of us standing in line:
 We got our usual Bryan's Bowls:
 Afterwards we stood in line for 45 minutes at our beloved Salt and Straw.
Chris got vanilla as always.
I got pear and blue cheese:
 While our ice cream digested, we booked it to the Fox Tower 
so we could go watch Moonrise Kingdom.
It pretty much started at our normal bed time, though we wanted to make the most of our kid-free night. 
I amazingly didn't feel tired the whole movie, but ended up falling asleep the last five minutes.
I hate it when that happens.

Saturday morning we woke up at the glorious hour of 9:00.
We knew that we'd have at least an hour wait for breakfast at Screen Door, so we decided to get some pre-breakfast at Coava and eat it while we waited.
Such a good idea, because I'm pretty sure our stomachs would have eaten themselves.
 Once we were finally seated at Screen Door, 
I ordered the red velvet pancakes with cream cheese whipped cream: 
 Chris got ham, eggs and potatoes and we split a giant bowl for fruit:
 When we were done eating our waitress let us know that a couple who just left had paid for our breakfast. It was the sweet couple that we were talking to while we were waitng, and it was her birthday.
We were speechless at the kindness of these strangers, and I'm pretty sure we kept saying "oh my gosh" and "that it so nice" and "I can't believe they did that for us" the entire time we were eating!
This is us happy and full:
 After breakfast, we walked around Schoolhouse Electric:

 and got some more coffee at Ristretto while we browsed:
 I'll take one of each:


 And then of course we went to the photobooth:
 we then picked up our sweet boys who were completely exhausted:
(he fell asleep as soon as soon as we pulled away!)
We missed their sweet faces:
 On Sunday we went to our giant church picnic.
It's the one time of year that everyone is in one place at the same time.
It's crazy to watch it grow, even just over the last three years:
There were a lot of fun games for the kids.
Bennett had fun in the bounce house and playing a life-sized version of Angry Birds:
 In the evening, Chris played key bass for the concert:
(You can barely see him in the back/right)
(The guys played through the new Synthesis cd, 
which is Solid Rock's new/awesome/funky worship album...check it out here)
This picture is from earlier in the week but I had to post it because Buck is so darn cute:
(who doesn't love a freshly washed baby?!) 
This is random but I must share...all you girls that like to wear your hair in a bun, 
go get yourself some Spin Pins!
I know it seems super cheesy (remember the topsy tail?) but they are so much easier than messing with bobby pins!

That is all.
Happy Wednesday Friends!
grilled pineapple teriyaki turkey burgers
original recipe here

You guys.
This burger is amazing!
We've always thought that ground turkey was pretty tasteless, but we could eat these everyday.
In fact we made twice last week and I've been thinking about them ever since.
The best part is that they are super easy to make and I'm pretty sure it's impossible to dry them out on the grill since they are SO juicy!
(literally...there's pineapple juice in the burger itself)


*If you love carmelized onions, they are perfect on these burgers, we never make them without!

Here's what you need:
1 can pineapple slices + 1/2 cup of the juice
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce (I use TJ's Soyaki)
2 lbs. gound turkey (I usually use less than that and they turn out great)
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tsp. fresh ginger
(sidenote: did you know that you can keep peeled ginger pieces in a bag in the freezer and just grate it frozen when you need a little ginger?!)
Sweet Hawaiian buns (I usually use the bigger "sandwich" buns but sliders are fun too)
Cheese (we love pepperjack on these but swiss would be great/melty as well)

Combine the pineapple juice with the teriyaki sauce in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl mix together the turkey, ginger, panko, and 1/3 cup of the teriyaki mixture (the mixture should stick to your hands).
Shape into 8ish patties. Grill, brushing the remaining sauce over both sides of the burger while they cook. Grill pineapples and buns if you'd like. Add cheese. I also like to mix up my own "teriyaki mayo"for these burgers (I just add some of the sauce to the mayo)...no one likes dry buns!

...

We had a simple little date night last week...

we went to our favorite coffee spot:
and we were so excited to try out The Picnic House
and it certainly didn't disappoint. The food and atmosphere were amazing, but I think I'll do a seperate post next week...I certainly looked like a crazy person taking a buttload of pictures. So many awesome details!

...and that's that.
Now I'm off to snuggle with my sweet Buck.

Happy Thursday Friends!
Summer has finally arrived in Oregon!

We spent our weekend and most of this week appreciating our much-loved back yard!

Bennett had a pool party with Rody:
 The Hartmann's came over and we grabbed Chipolte and ate it on our deck.
The Buck and Auntie Lauren:
 Speaking of Buckley, he's starting to get some thigh rolls:
(love me some baby chub)
 and he's still smiling up a storm, making lots of sounds and attempting to laugh:
 we cooled off at a local pool:
(B took possesion of all the toys)
 I hosted a playdate with a bunch of mama friends.
I really am supported by some great ladies!

 and this was the baby parking:
(Buckley looks super relaxed!)
 oh and yesterday Buckley turned two months old!
(how can that be?!)

Happy Wednesday Friends!
Last weekend was super relaxed, yet we did quite a bit.

Buckley recently started smiling like crazy and I can't help but to take a million pictures a day because baby smiles are the cutest.
morning smiles:
we took a nice long walk around the neighborhood:
we had an awesome evening in the backyard complete with artwork on the easel, new flip flops and grilled bbq chicken pizza on naan.
(it's finally starting to feel like summer around here. Also, if you've never made pizza on naan it's pretty much amazing! )
bro time on mommy and daddy's bed:
Chris made a bunch of coldbrew:
(did you know that he roasts his own beans? He's a man of many talents)
we got some delicious wok bowls at New Seasons with my mom:
Right after Bennett woke up from nap, he got to eat the sucker he got from Trader Joes.
(hence the weird look, I think he was still half asleep. It also looks like he has a lazy eye, but he totally doesn't)
Before he ate the sucker he said "we should take a picture".
I guess he probably thinks it's normal to take pictures of food before you eat it since I always am!
Chris and I had Banh Mi sandwiches at Double Dragon for date night.
So good:
This actually happens quite often, but the cats decided to have a snuggle fest on the couch while completely ignoring their beds:
(Thank the Lord for lint rollers and vcacuums)
Chris preparing some coldbrew for his parent's birthday gifts:
(he even stamped the tags himself!)
I made fruit pizza for the birthday festivities:
B got to try out "big boy underwear."
It didn't last long but he was so excited while it lasted:
And again, I took lots of pictures of Mr. Smiley:
Buckley at one month:
(monthly progress pictures are much more doable than the weekly ones I did with B. Oh the the time I used to have.)
(Also, he is now 8 weeks...I guess I need to get on it a little earlier next time!)
(this picture makes me realize the progress I've made of getting back in shape over the past 4 weeks. I originally didn't want to post this picture because of the way I looked, but I think it will be nice to see my progress over the months!)

Happy Thursday Friends!