Oden Adventures

Our usual summer trip to Oregon included some scouting in Sacramento this time.  Needing to be relocated up there by September, we needed to find housing so we spent part of a day looking on the way up.  First we stopped at the Fuller Sacramento campus (where Patrick will be working for at least the next three years), which we hadn't yet been to, and it was a pleasure to see it and meet everyone who works there.

We grabbed lunch at the In-N-Out near campus.  I think this may have been Oliver's first time there.  In any case, I regret to say, this In-N-Out is now referred to as "The In-N-Out Where Oliver Pooped All Over You" by Vianne due to a very unfortunate and messy incident while I was ordering at the counter. 

After ruling out several neighborhoods in north Sacramento and trying to find our way to & around Plumas Lake which seemed like a foreign planet to our GPS, with Vianne screaming in the back seat because she wanted to be at Grandma's house already, we pressed on towards Red Bluff for the night.  Regardless of previous attitudes, the kids - thank goodness - always love a hotel!

 Off and away in the morning - by Mt. Shasta (always my favorite part of the drive)...

 A pit stop at our usual nighttime stop in Weed, where Oliver offered to take the wheel...

 ...finally at Grandma's, we quickly got to our summertime business, playing with cousins and picking raspberries & blueberries!

 "Hey, lady, I'm not sure you should be taking my picture..."

'Uncle' Thom brought the Parisian ambiance to our dinner gathering with his newly-acquired accordion

 "Grandma gave me a waffle!"

 Attempting a family photo...Patrick & I hope that if we smile really hard & look directly at the camera, the kids will, too.

 Oliver's first summer-of-wonderful-Oregon-berries.  He's a fan!

 Backyard pool time!  The boys got one...

 ...the girls got the other.

 Oliver & Grant

 Story time with Grandma

 Making cookies with Grandma

 Showing off the finished product

 Climbing monkey boy

 Old enough now to ascend the stairs

Doing our trip in July meant lots of birthday parties, since the Gustafson side has five birthdays in July!  First up was Grant's party, and since he was turning 10, he got to have a party at the Lego store in Canby.  Looking through the Legos with cousin Molly...

 Love this guy, even though he had the nerve to turn TEN on me...

 Showing off her car creation to Grandma...

 ...then racing it down the track...

 Sisters with boys :-D

 Adorable cupcakes by Jenny, as usual!

 The morning after an overnight with Bea & Margot - matching nightgowns!

Now, the pool all to herself!

 A trip to Hubbard to see the Terwilligers & play at the water park

 A dinner gathering at the Storeys, including some pool time

 The next day, a beach trip to Seaside with the Storeys & Grandma

 Riding the "carous-well"

 Bumper cars!

 And ice cream to finish the day!

 Little Maestro

 Oliver got such a kick out of climbing into this baby swing and making it rock, and we all got a kick out of watching him.

 Next birthday, Vera's 30th!

cousin Rachael & Oliver

 Eating cake is hard work

 Oliver & cousin Matt

 The boys, back at Grandma's

 Some pool time with cousin David

 A quick visit with Christy & Pastor Jim on our last day in town...

 ...and one more pool party at Aunt Jenny's!

 Sisters with boys born in the last year!

And this week brings the first year of sweet Oliver's life to a happy end (and also ends my obsessive need to chronicle his life week by week because that's what I did for Vianne and I don't want him to have 2nd-child-complex...)  

Our cutie pie spent the week trying out this new thing where his feet move forward and he's not holding onto anything.  He also invented a new game which I call Ring Around The Ottoman, in which he makes circles around the ottoman and giggles uproariously.  He also really likes to pick up articles of clothing and put them on his head and pull them down as if he is putting them on, but they always end up around the back of his neck, so he repeats it again and again, laughing all the while, and I tell ya, folks, ADORABLE.

Mama's feeling pretty mopey letting her baby coast on into one year like this and is taking all the snuggles he (happily often) gives to soak up every minute.  This, as I like to say, has been a short year with a lot of long nights.  But worth every one of them, as, even though the last week or so, we've gotten a hefty glimpse of his own personal strong will, he's every bit as sweet as the pictures make him look.

Back home from Oregon this week, Oliver had a bunch of teeth (four now, all on top) to show off, and the pictures from this week were all my attempts to get them on film...

 "Mama, I'll smile but I won't show you my teeth!"

 "Hey, no fair!!" #gotthematlast

Week 50 was also spent in Oregon, where he continued to charm relatives & friends, and work on his standing, grew three top teeth, and enjoyed the various birthday & pool parties!

 It was at this pool party at Aunt Jenny's, the last day of our time there, that he took (what Mama is calling) his first official step!

O's 49th week was spent traveling to & in Oregon for the first part of July!

Taking his turn at the wheel (kidding, kidding!)

 "Grandma gave me a waffle!"

His introduction to the wonder that is fresh summer Oregon berries!

 "Silly Grandma, these rubber bands won't stop me from getting into your cupboards!"

 Learning to climb off things...

 ...and to climb up stairs!

Oliver joined the world of the teethed people for his eleven monthiversary, but still isn't so sure about the world of the walking upright on two legs.  This doesn't stop him from getting wherever he wants, though; he's a speedy crawler and couch surfer and is starting to climb over things (like boxes on the floor).  He loves to laugh and clap and play with his big sister (which has reached a new level of interactivity) and stick out his tongue and snuggle with Mama and water the lawn with Daddy and mostly just be too darn cute for his own good.

It's apparent that Oliver has inherited his mama's watermelon-loving genes as his sister before him, so we're all reveling in the wonder that is watermelon in the summer!  He even protests if he sees me give Vianne some but he doesn't have any!  That's my boy!!

 Our little explorer lets no obstacle stand in his way!

Change is afoot for our little family! Friends, this is our story, this is our song:

God has parted the sea of what-seemed-like impossibility (read: a very difficult time to find a job in academia) and made a path for us to walk through it. 

Patrick has signed a contract for a three-year Visiting Professor position to teach all of his favorite subjects at Fuller Theological Seminary, specifically, the Sacramento campus, which means we'll be moving northward by the end of summer.

We have enjoyed living (and becoming a family of four) in San Dimas and it will be so hard to leave family & friends down here, though we'll visit often.

But I can hardly even find the words to say how amazed we are by this opportunity, by God's provision in our time of need, being mindful of us in so many particulars, so we are very excited to take hold of what He has in store.