Spring Break 2011

Here are photos from our spring break trip to the Oregon Coast April 2-4. We had a great time staying in a condo on the beach. We flew our kites, played in the sand, and tried to stay warm. The weather was party sunny -- a little windy, and pretty cold. But it was a lot of fun, anyway.

Family photo shoot

After Christmas, we took the time for a new family photo shoot while in California. Here are the pictures.

Merry Christmas!

December 2010

Dear family and friends,

It has been a busy year for us, as usual, but 2010 has brought us many blessings. We are so thankful for our three beautiful children and extended family who support and encourage us along the way.

As the year comes to a close, let us share with you some of our highlights from this past year. One of our favorite trips included a 4-day visit to Vancouver, B.C., Canada (just Juliette and Toby) to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary in June. As a family, we went on several camping trips to the Oregon Coast this summer and had so much fun – visiting the Newport Aquarium for our first time. We also traveled to California to see family in July – and were even able to visit San Luis Obispo and spend time camping near there. The kids can hardly wait to go back to California and see their cousins again for Christmas.

Toby has continued teaching orchestra this year and is enjoying the challenges it brings. This summer he had the opportunity to be trained in teaching strings at the nearby Suzuki summer institute. He used that training to start up an after-school strings program in his district for students grades 1-4. He has really loving teaching this group.

Juliette has kept busy trying to keep up with three young children. She has also continued working part time, both working as a teaching assistant for Ashford University and teaching for Portland State University and Marylhurst University. She has kept up with her running – having run a half-marathon in June, the Hood-to-Coast relay in August, and several other smaller races. She is even thinking about running a full-marathon next summer. We will see.

Benjamin, who is 4½, is attending a Pre-K preschool class in Oregon City this year. He has made many friends at his new school and is very enthusiastic about going. He is coming along well in his academics. Each day he spends time with mommy working on letter writing, math, and reading. Benjamin is making great strides in all of these areas. He is also learning violin from his dad. Ben’s other interests include Transformers, action figures, art projects, and gymnastics. Both Ben and Nate have been attending a gymnastics class this fall and they love it.

Nathan, now 3½, is full of energy and wants to do everything that Ben does. Nathan will begin attending preschool in Oregon City in January and can hardly wait. He also loves his gymnastics class. And Mary, who is 19 months old, is talking up a storm. She is very strong willed and likes to take turns bossing her brothers around. However, she also loves dressing up in her pretty dresses, carrying around her baby dolls, and having her hair done. She is also a great helper and lately even likes to help wash dishes.

We feel blessed to be able to live and work in such a beautiful place as Oregon. We look forward to the coming year and are excited for the change it will bring. Our prayers are with you that you and your family will enjoy a Merry Christmas and a very happy new year.

Love,


The Westons
Toby, Juliette, Benjamin, Nathan, and Mary

Halloween 2010

This year we had fun at several Halloween venues. On Thursday, Ben's preschool had a Halloween Party and Ben dressed as a Transformer while Nate dressed as a knight. It was a fun party. On Friday night, Nate and Mary came along to the downtown Oregon City trick or treating (Ben was home sick). They had fun riding around in a wagon and collecting lots of candy. On Saturday, we attended our ward Trunk or Treat. This time Ben dressed as a pirate and Nate as a dragon. It was a lot of fun.

Fun at the pumpkin patch

Today we took the kids to the pumpkin patch in Tualatin as part of a field trip for Ben's preschool. Nate and Mary got to come along and had a fun time checking out the farm animals, going on a hay ride, picking out pumpkins, seeing all the animals, and eating delicious pumpkin doughnuts.

Camping at the coast

For our second camping trip of the year, we headed to the central Oregon coast and camped at Beachside State Park, which is just south of Newport. The weather was a mix between overcast and part sun, but we did see a sunset one night. The kids had so much fun at the beach -- flying our kite, building sandcastles, jumping in the waves. Mary thoroughly enjoyed herself, and was covered in sand and water much of the time. We visited the Newport Aquarium while we were there and got to see all sorts of cool ocean life, including an incredibly long Anaconda Snake, a crocodile, sharks, seals, and jellyfish. At the end of our trip Ben asked if we could move to the coast so that way we could walk to the beach every day. I told him maybe some day.

Nate turned 3

Our little Nate is not so little any more ... we celebrated his third birthday with a small party at our house ... When I had asked him what he wanted for his birthday previously, he said "a rocketship." So a rocketship is what he got ... a rocketship tent, rocketship stickers, and even a rocketship cake (made from rice krispie treats). The cake was a lot of work to make (and didn't even taste that great). But it sure did look cool.