Stromboli, a trip to Portland, and Quilts

We had a wonderful visit with Nick and Karla's family.  It all started the night I made stromboli for dinner and the visit was so fun that I somehow don't have any photos of the entire week.  Ah well....

I did remember to snap a few shots of my boys when we went to Portland for their Lego Robotics competition.  The submarine at the OMSI was definitely their favorite.  Of course, I neglected to actually take a single photo of the competition itself.

Not that there was much to photograph.  One of their six team members puked on her way into the building and the competition went downhill from there.  They had to make major adjustments to their various competitions which threw them off.  They didn't do nearly as well as they had done in practice.  It was a bummer, but they were happy to make it to state.

Portland is an interesting city.  Connor, who is my big architecture buff, loved all the bridges.  They were stunning as we came into the city.  Especially considering the entire drive on I-5 was in the fog.

We had dinner our first night at the Stepping Stone Cafe where Connor enjoyed their Mancake featured in Man vs. Food and Diner's, Drive-ins and Dives; while I had the best Chicken Fried Steak I have tasted for many years.

 We happened to drive past Deseret Book and were so excited we had to stop and buy the family souvenirs.  After a little shopping we discovered that we were close to the Portland temple.  Word and pictures do no justice to the magnitude of the Portland temple.  It is massive and has the same impact as the Salt Lake temple when you get to see it in person.  It was simply spectacular!

During Christmas break I had a little extra time to work on quilts.  This is the one I pinned to start quilting for Brandon.  I may actually get to it by Spring Break.

I did manage to get Danielle's quilted, so she has a matching one with Nicole's.

I finished Nicole's last Spring Break.

I also finished Connor's quilt which is my personal favorite so far.  I love the orange and dark blue squares!

Truthfully though, I don't know why I bother making them quilts.  This is what their beds really look like 99% of the time.  I imagine a day when they are all moved away and beds will stay made and the house will be clean much more of the time.  Hopefully, I do a better job taking pictures, because I know I will miss these times and long to have them back.