16th Birthday Bash at Cannon Beach

We had a crazy fun girls weekend for Bailey's 16th birthday. We loaded up five of her friends into our van and drove two hours to the ocean where I had booked a suite at a little hotel in Cannon Beach. We enjoyed a fun Friday night/Saturday in charming Cannon Beach (first time I had been there). 

The car was positively rockin' with teenage tunes the entire way there and back. There was definitely a preponderance of Taylor Swift and One Direction songs. It was really fun!

Aubrey - Spring 2013

Still catching up, but getting much closer . . . .

Theater

Last January Aubrey tried out for the play Little Women and was cast as Clarissa. She attended many rehearsals and classes for the next several months, and then the play was performed at the Brunish Theater in Portland on two weekends in mid-May.  She loved the experience of being in the play. She finds a lot of joy being involved in theater and doesn't mind at all the many hours required for practice.

Here are a few pictures from the play. We were never able to get a picture of her in her beautiful costume because they were required to change out of it before they came out to greet family. Take our word for it - she looked beautiful and very grown up.

This was her jewelry.

After the play, with her bestest friend Kate.

Porter Family Theme 2014

Last year we selected a theme for the year and posted it in our kitchen.  This post talked about our theme: "Beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see?" Throughout the year we tried to talk about the types of things that hold us back from trying new things and the ways we can try to overcome our barricades or obstacles.  

I wouldn't say that we completely mastered this concept as a family, but we have made some incremental progress. This year we chose a new theme, somewhat related to the same idea.

"For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."  

2 Timothy 1:6-7

When we introduced the theme to the kids we talked about how God wants us to be powerful and has tools available to help us be powerful. We will all have struggles and challenges and they will slow us down or impede our progress sometimes.  But these weaknesses can remind us we need to turn to our Heavenly Father and use the gift of the atonement of Jesus Christ to receive the help and strength and power that we need. We talked about "drawing on the power of the atonement" and then Aubrey asked an amazing question.  She said, "I know that phrase, but but what does is actually mean to draw on the powers of the atonement? How do we do that?"

We decided that we will especially study this point this year as a family. We know that God wants us to be powerful and we know that He has power to give us if we draw upon it. But how do we do that? I feel like I know how better now than I did in the past, but I know I have much more to learn. 

Here's to a 2014 filled with power, love, and sound mind!

Happy birthday Dan!

Dan is the big 48 today!  Sadly, we don't get to hang out with him all day because he started the day at 5:50 a.m. teaching Seminary, went straight to Crossfit, and has been at work ever since. I offered to make him breakfast in bed as is the family tradition, but thankfully he declined since he gets up at 4:40 a.m. (ouch).  So while he got ready I made him his requested spinach pancakes (yum, right?) and we visited for a few minutes in the kitchen before he had to run out the door.

I don't think I've ever written a "tribute" to my husband on my blog. I think all the time about things I would like to say, but then I just tell him those things directly and don't bother to post it for the rest of the world to see.  (Well, "the rest of the world" meaning the three or so family members who have an interest in following our blog).  But, today I think I will attempt to document my appreciation for this amazing man.

It's hard to know what to write. I know I won't begin to cover everything, and I'll probably ramble. Dan is amazing in so many ways. I hit the jackpot when I married him. Here are just a few things I love and appreciate:

• Dan was raised to be a kind, thoughtful, and generous man and he has embraced this way of being. He puts the needs of our family before his own - always. 
• Dan has a strong testimony of the Savior and the restored gospel and will serve in any capacity at any time. He is one of the Primary organization's favorite sub teachers because he is always willing and is a great teacher of any age group. Right now he teaches high school seniors in early morning Seminary and willingly gives essentially all his spare time to lesson preparation. It's hard, but he feels like it's been a blessing. 
• He would do anything for me, support me in anything. I have always known this to be true, and it gives me a great deal of comfort and security. I am able to focus on the things that I decide are the most important and I know that he always has my back. 
• Along the same thought, he has always made it clear that the work I do mothering the kids and running the home is far more important than anything he does at work. One recent evening we were comparing notes about our days. He had spent the day dealing with huge sums of money and had been in important meetings where critical decisions were made about business acquisitions. I joked something like "all I did today is clean things that are already messed up again and deal with tantrums and homework and driving kids to 20 different places. Nothing all that exciting."  He stopped and got serious and said, "Tiff, what I do at work is just a game. It doesn't really mean anything. What happens at home and the work you are doing with the kids will have infinitely more impact than any corporate meeting."  And he means that to the core of his being. We share this perspective about the importance of parenting, and it helps us guide our decisions.
• Dan is crazy smart, especially in regards to math. This is a good thing because my kids have inherited his math brain rather than my non-math brain. He does "black-belt level" Sudoku and Kakuro puzzles for fun.  My non-math brain has a hard time understanding why that is fun, but whatever.
• Dan is the best Dad ever. He values each of our kids for their individual strengths and helps them see that they can work through their challenges. 
• Of course, everyone who knows Dan is aware that he has a great sense of humor. He gets that from his Dad and has passed it along to our kids. He is also one of the coolest Dads around because he is very aware of the latest popular music. He effectively sifts through the current music and finds gems. This has been especially useful in his calling as deejay for the stake dances. And yes, there really is such a calling in the church.
• Dan doesn't love traveling as much as I do, but he happily goes with me because he knows it is important to me. And we have so much fun when we have a chance to get away somewhere together.

Is Dan perfect? No, but I'm not either. He is an amazing man and I feel lucky to have been his partner for 24 years and counting.  Happy birthday, Dan!

Bailey's 16th birthday

Oh what an exciting day we had last June when Bailey turned 16 years old!

The day began with breakfast in bed. Bailey had actually been up for over an hour getting ready for school, but she obliged us and climbed back into bed for the official presentation of her food, flowers, and gifts.

Bailey's requested breakfast: homemade biscuits and gravy, milk, and strawberries.

I would just like to comment that these pictures are clearer and just generally better than the pictures I normally take. Why?  Brandon was home from his mission and able to take the pictures! I have a good camera but I'm really not a great photographer. I'm a point and shoot girl but Brandon understands how to really utilize the features of the camera.

Joseph's 8th birthday

Joseph turned 8 years old . . . last year.  But it was very exciting and wonderful!

Aubrey's 13th birthday

Quick, before she turns 14. . . . this is a rundown of Aubrey's awesome 13th birthday last March!

Aubrey's birthday started with a trip to Olive Garden the day before her birthday. Aubrey asks us to take her to Olive Garden at least once a week. We actually go to Olive Garden once or twice a year.  She wishes she could eat the fettucine alfredo and breadsticks and salad every single day of her life.

 I brought a birthday hat for her to wear in the restaurant but both she and Bailey though my idea was embarrassing and hokey.  I think it's cute!

 The next day started with a fabulous breakfast in bed for the birthday girl. Lucky for her, it was a Saturday so everyone was home to participate in the revelry!

Wrapup of December

Okay, I've got my work cut out for me. The kids remind me frequently that I never blogged about any of their birthdays from the spring/summer of last year. And some other cool stuff from those months. Well, we are only about a month away from "birthday season" beginning again so I better hurry and catch up! Of course, then life is going to get so busy again (wedding preparations) that I'm sure I'll fall behind again. . . .

But first I'm going to finish up a few random things in December.

First, helping at the reception for our friend Zach McDonnell. Bailey helped at the guestbook, but I was so busy in the kitchen that I forgot to get a picture of her.

Next, Brandon and Aubrey demonstrate how to properly eat a Tim Tam Slam, brought to us by our friends from New Zealand. The trick to this traditional cookie is to dip the chocolate covered wafer cookie in hot cocoa and then pop it in your mouth quickly, before it has a chance to explode. Brandon ate similar cookies dipped in hot cocoa on his mission in Ukraine.

Christmas 2013

 Christmas morning - Dan and I woke up to giggling in the hallway. There was some serious excitement going on, especially with the two youngest!  After posing for the obligatory picture they were off . . .

Brandon and Bailey sauntered down after Joseph and Aubrey darted by. Too cool to run down the stairs now?

Christmas Eve 2013

Christmas Eve at the Porter's house starts with the exchange of sibling gifts, followed by a special Christmas devotional/play. After that each child opens one gift (new pjs) and the new Christmas book for the family. We read the new book and then all the kids set up camp in the bonus room for a Christmas Eve sleepover. They watch as many Christmas movies as they can fit into the hours between bedtime and wake-up time (or until they fall asleep). This year they were allowed to wake us to go downstairs at 7 a.m.

Joseph never changed out of pjs on the day of Christmas Eve. He was fully decked out with his fuzzy socks, Santa hat, and robe over his pajamas. Now that's living, I tell ya.

 Joseph spent the bulk of his limited Christmas shopping money on this very special present for Aubrey. Joseph and Aubrey  have become devoted Dr. Who fans, and Joseph REALLY wanted to get Aubrey a certain Sonic Screwdriver. I still don't quite understand what that is, but he was just thrilled to give it to her!

  

 Bailey put together all thoughtful homemade gifts this year.  She knows that I love to hang inspirational quotes all around the house so she made me a set of beautifully artistic quotes.

 Aubrey gave Dan a hat to keep his head warm.

Welcome 2014!

Welcoming 2014 in the cold of Sunriver, Oregon . . .
(Warning - quite a few pictures ahead. I want to document the fun things we did for our family history)

We decided to spend a few days away from home during the Christmas break, savoring the chance to have Brandon here with us. We chose to book a house in Sunriver in the High Desert of Oregon, which is known for nice snowy winters. We wanted to play in the snow and hang out.

It was pretty cold, but there was very little snow. We found a little bit between some trees near the house.  Shortly after we arrived, Bailey and Joseph danced in the snow.

Brandon and Angela -the story

When Brandon got off his mission last May he was home for seven weeks before heading back to BYU. During that time he and I had lots of time to have long talks about life. Some of our discussions were about dating, and Brandon said he didn't want to rush into a relationship once he was back at school.  He wanted to learn from past relationships and start dating slowly, but mostly focus on school.

And then, within the first week of summer term, he met Angela.

When I helped him move into his apartment in Provo, Brandon told me that he didn't want to give in to his instinct to be an introvert and had set a goal to ask a girl out on a date to play tennis by the end of his first week. A few days later he identified two young women he wanted to ask out eventually - Angela (who was in his housing complex) and "Rachel" (I actually don't remember her name) who was in one of his classes. He was planning to first ask out Rachel because he thought it might get awkward if he asked out someone who lived near him and it didn't work out.

But, fate stepped in and Rachel didn't show up to class on Wednesday, so he decided to ask out Angela instead.

We were still in Utah during this time (waiting for Bailey to finish her week at EFY) so we can attest to the fact that it was blistering hot on that Friday. I believe that the date was set for 3 p.m. because Angela had another date that evening, and at 3 p.m. it was about 102 degrees.  And, don't forget, their plan was to play tennis. After Angela assured him that she was okay with playing even though it was blistering hot, Brandon bought water and Gatorade and then picked her up.

Later he called to tell us about the date. "It was really fun," he said. "She was such a good sport about everything and had a great attitude."

About a week later I asked him if he had ever asked out Rachel.  "No," he said, "I am just really enjoying hanging out with Angela.  We get along so well. We have a lot of things in common."

And thus began his relationship with Angela. Within a few weeks they drove to Salt Lake to meet up with ALL the rest of my family at Deseret Village (I'm still sad that our trip to Utah didn't coincide with the visits of all three of my siblings at the same time). So, my entire family met Angela before we did. They all reported that she was wonderful and instantly renamed them "Brangela".

By mid-July Brangela were "in a relationship", official on facebook.  Brandon told me over the phone several times that he never wanted to be That Guy- the guy who gets off a mission and immediately finds a steady girlfriend. But, he said it felt right and when he prayed about it, he felt like he should continue nurturing the relationship.


When things were still going well a few weeks later we started brainstorming ways we could meet this young woman. Our family was going to a beach house in Oregon the end of August, so we invited Angela to come with Brandon on that vacation.  She happily accepted, and we were lucky to spend 10 days getting to know her better.

By November Brandon told us that they were thinking marriage and he planned to propose sometime in the next few months.

And, right before Christmas, Brandon popped the question in a carefully orchestrated romantic way, with a saxophonist playing "their song" while they looked at the lights from the base of Y Mountain with snow falling, and lots of other fun details.
Wedding date: July 5th, which is a year and a day since they decided to start dating.

We are so excited!

P.S.  When we were in Oregon in August I could tell Brandon had found someone who makes him very happy when I was taking pictures by the ocean.  First I took the picture below of Brandon. He hates getting pictures taken and is always slightly tense. Then I took a picture of the couple together (scroll to the top of the post to see the picture), and  Brandon visibly relaxed and exuded calm and confidence. Yep, I knew he was smitten.