Neeley Family Blog

OK I just have to brag a little because my guys are some serious runners.  Seriously!!! The boys just had their annual Jog-A-Thon at school.  It is a large fundraiser for the school each year to help those of us who need financial assistance with the tuition.  Brayden and Brock were scheduled to run at the same time.  The school uses the neighboring High School's track.  This is a regular track people.  4 laps equals a mile.  Brylee and I joined in again this year.  She did not want to be in the stroller, so it was either being carried or running along with us.  The boys were scheduled to run for 1 hour.  They could walk if need be.  There were not any breaks, just a couple quick fly by's to grab water or a piece of bagel.  My mom, John and Brad all showed up for support as well.  John came prepared to run with them.  My mom and Brad took a quick break from work to come watch.  My mom actually ended up runn...

One of Brad's birthday presents were tickets to see the Counting Crows. He was super excited not only to go see them (which happen to be a smaller venue) but also to get a date night with his wifey! I made dinner reservations at Portland Prime. It is a steakhouse in Downtown Portland. It use to be called the Portland Chophouse, but went through several buyouts and changes until it became Portland Prime.  Yum! The venue only had maybe 1000 people. It was a great show!!! Here are a couple pictures and clips: We had such a great time. Dinner was fabulous, we had a little time to grab VooDoo donuts (AMAZING), and then watched a great show! Thank you to my mom and John for the gift and for watching the kiddos while we were out! A shot of VooDoo! And a shot of a bike peddler with the Pendleton logo on it (a little shout out for my mom).

It is that time of the year again, another birthday to be had. This time it was Brad's turn. I will leave out his age, though I think most of you already know it ;). It fell during the middle of the week and on our second t-ball practice of the season, so our celebration was low key but grand none the less. The only picture I got was of his cake that the boys and I made for him....not too shabby! And it was super yummy!!! And a video of us singing to the Birthday Boy!   The kids each picked out gifts for him, ranging from shorts to shirts to car goodies.  His BIG present this year was the iPad he has been wanting for several years! He loves it!! So do I!!! I am using it now to get caught up on all these blog posts :). So fun and cheers to another great year!

We had a lovely Easter day together as a family. We started our morning with Easter mass, followed by brunch. When we got back home we snapped a quick family photo.  This has been a tradition for us for many years. The kids were soooo ready to outside and play but we managed to snap this one: Test, test, test...  Now for the real deal...  And 8 shots later this is as good as it gets. :) As Brylee was napping and the boys were inside occupied with games the Easter bunny went to work ;). They had gotten their baskets first thing when they woke up but had been waiting patiently for the bunny to make his appearance and drop off some eggs. Well that he did. All 90 eggs were left outside in the yard! Getting the eggs ready ahead of time...  A few Easter cupcakes :)  Easter Baskets and presents. Oh so fun to watch them go crazy running to and fro hunting down eggs. They all did so well and the boys were kind enough to let Bryl...

Brad told me a few months ago that his boss had told him not to plan anything at the end of March/early April.  He said there was a Document Security Conference and they would be going.  Then it came around that it would be in Disneyland!!!  Immediately the jealousy flowed in as he told me.  I could not help it, it didn't sound like a lot of "work" more like "fun" time.  After a bit more time, he gained more information about the conference.  He spoke to his boss more about it, and the option came for me and the kids to join him. After much discussion between Brad and I, we opted for a more relaxing break and just have the two of us go.  We left the kids with my parents (which is still a bit of a vacation for the kids).  Brad had conferences at different times on Friday, Saturday and early Sunday.  We managed to squeeze in some park time Saturday evening, Sunday for about half the day and most of Monday.  We visited the pool as well....

The boys love, and I mean L-O-V-E going to JJ Jump.  I know I have written about play dates and times we have visited there for fun.  It is one of the most convenient, fun-filled places we have found. As Spring Break approached, I asked the boys what they would like to do.  If they could pick one place to go where would it be? Their response, yep JJ Jump. We spent 3 hours there that day.  I will just let you review the photos. :)

The kids are ready for some nice weather.  Two weekends ago they tagged along with Brad to pick up the T-Ball gear.  They then had to run outside once they got home and "test" it out!  I am ready for them to be able to spend some hours outdoors as well.  They novelty of the Christmas gifts are starting to wear off and they want to be entertained in other ways.  We had a pretty mild winter here in Oregon.  Not much snow or ice.  We even had a few really nice days lately.  I know the East Coast has already seen summer like weather, but we are still waiting for it.  We even got snow a few days before Spring Break!  Really late snowfall this year has lead to an extended snow season on Mt. Hood.  I am hoping we get up there and get to enjoy it before too long. So the first few weeks on March we have had some of this: Hail  Spring Snowfall...notice my flowers blooming on my tree :)  The doggies loving it. And s...