martushevs come for a visit...

our dear friends, charity and artyom, came up from utah to visit us and some family here in oregon. we hate having them down there
(let's be honest, they would rather be up here as well)
so we really look forward to the times when we get together. and we packed in as much as we could while they were in portland!!
here, we went to the oregon coast. sofia, their 3 year old, has been to the beach before. but, this was the first time she truly got into being in the sun, in the waves, and exploring tide pools.

not just the kids got into playing in the sand. here, my niece, caysen, ella (chair & artyoms youngest) and jenn enjoyed building sand castles.
i adore the martushev girls. i, truly, fell in love with these kids the moment i first held them. they feel like they are my own babies!
little ella loves to feel the vibrations on her cheek from someone humming. it makes her very sleepy to push her cheek on someones mouth and enjoy the motion...
...she was fast asleep soon after this picture was taken.


my niece, amaya, is not a fan of getting her picture taken by herself. but, i couldn't help getting shot after shot of her silliness.
i love this girl!
we also were able to hit up my dads company picnic. if you have never heard about it, it is amazing!!
rides, carnival foods, games...and did i mention it is all for free?
yeah, good times!
both the girls were really looking forward to the pony rides. we stood in line for 45 minutes, but it was worth it to see how much they loved it. they were on a horse high, i swear!

heather & geoff kahl came out for the picnic as well. as us girls were talking, the boys took off somewhere. a few minutes later, i look across the field and busted up laughing. here come our tough, strong men eating pink cotton candy. sexy.
sofia is not a big eater. but, she wasn't interested in her lunch at all, knowing there were rides to be ridden. we told her,
"sofe, you must eat your lunch or else no more rides!"
within 3 seconds, she had half her burger shoved into her mouth. i guess we should've been more specific with HOW to eat her lunch!
her younger sister, on the other hand, adores food. we had no problem getting her to eat. in fact, we couldn't shove it in fast enough for her...that's my girl!



i was amazed i was able to get a shot of jenn and amaya on "the hammer". if you look close enough, you can, literally, see the fear on their faces!!

finally, we visited multnomah falls in the columbia river gorge. this is a favorite spot of illya and i's so we were very happy when the matushevs asked if we wanted to go with them.

while we were there, we shared some frozen yogurt cones and one giant ice cream sandwich. ella had her eye on the cookie, so i indulged her and let her go to town on it. she was very happy with my gift until i had to take it away...

...yes, not so happy at all!

like i said, we love when our friends come up for a visit. and, we look forward to the time when they are able to move back to their true home...
can that be soon, please??
my baby girls need me!