Visit From Katelynn!!! and other fun stuff!

Hello again! It has been another break from posting and we are sorry about it! Being so far from family we want to keep in better contact with you all and update more often. We'll try to be better...especially me! (Karen) Any way, this weekend Katelynn came to visit!! We loved having her here enjoyed every day she spent with us! Thanks Kindred!! Here is a little overview of what we did this weekend and some pics too!

Katelynn flew in on Thursday night. I took the train and fetched her from the airport! It was great to be together after so long and to finally spend some time together! Friday morning Elli was pretty skeptical of our sofa bed pulled out in the living room. She was even more surprised once she realized there was a person under the covers! It took around 20 minutes for Elli to finally warm up to Katelynn, but once she did there was no going back! Elli just loves her Aunt Katie and misses her already! Friday we all went to IKEA and looked around. That night we left Elli with a sitter (whom I feel really bad for since Elli was behind on naps and very clingy to me) then headed off to the temple to do a session all together. Traffic was CRAZY getting there which we knew would happen....but we made it and had dinner at the temple, then did a session! It was great! Love being with family in the house of the Lord! On our way home we stopped at an ice cream place called Salt & Straw http://saltandstraw.com Two words... SO GOOD! We were so blown away by how crazy good the ice cream was and we picked up a pint for you sitters for their service.

Saturday was a day in the city! We drove a little way to a train stop and rode in to the city. It was cloudy but still dry. We first headed to Voodoo Doughnuts, a beloved Portland institution. They have super crazy doughnut flavors and designs. It is a major tourist attraction also. We stood in line for 10 to 15 min to get some fun doughnuts and then headed to the shop Andrew uses to work on school projects. It is part of the school, just not in the same building. We got to see where he works a lot of the time and we also ate out doughnuts there where it was warm and cozy!

Next we headed to the food carts to pick up some lunch! Portland is also famous for its food carts and the variety they offer! Sadly on Saturday many are closed, but we found a couple that we liked. I got grilled cheese for Elli, a BLT grilled cheese for me, and Andrew got Chicken Tikka Masala while Katelynn got Chicken Curry! The rain started to fall at this point and we booked it to Andrew's school to eat in the student commons area. It was yummy! After eating we wanted to get some documentation of some of Andrew's class work getting put up on display in the halls. These are seen by classmates, faculty and tours for prospective students and their families! This is a great achievement for students to have their work selected for display. Andrew had artwork displayed from 3 of his 4 classes! The 4th class was an English class so we were pretty stoked about it and very proud of Andrew! Way to go Andrew!!!

Here are some pics of Aunt Katie and Elli and Andrew and I with her also. It was a fun day!

After a long day in the city, we headed back home for a gourmet meal from Katelynn. She made us Pasta alla Carbonara! Delicious! Can you say Leftovers? Yum! It was so great great great to have Katelynn here with us and we LOVED it! 

I'll be trying to post more often. Can't make any promises but I will try! Lots of heartfelt love to ALL our family and we look forward to seeing many of you over the Christmas and New Year holiday!