Sights from the great north

A bridge.

A jolly ride in ye olde waggon.

Scouting for girls.

Woodland animals unrivaled in nature.

Breakfast of champions.

All Hallows Eve

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, such frightful sights as these.

Arggh!!! Local buccaneers join in celebration of birthday

Fearsome and swarthy, the pirates did gather to Captain Benjamin's pirate ship in search of booty.

And they were a motley crew...

And they did pillage and burn the local populace...

And their fierce cries did rend the earth...

And the spoils were great...

The Christmas Tree that Wasn't

The good king awoke and exclaimed to himself: "The time draweth near for the mighty Christmas tree foretold by our forefathers."

And the king feared in his heart lest the prophecy might be undone, and so he devised divers plans by which he might obtain the tree. And so that day the good king exclaimed to the queen: "Forsooth! The children join with me on a mighty adventure 'ere the day is o'er to scour the land for trees suitable for our castle. And lo! We shall return anon bereft of trees, but bearing glad tidings of good merchants which may suit our purposes."

And so the good queen was glad in her heart, for said she, the children do weary me with their teasings, and I shall find rest. And thus the king, though harmless, did fool the queen with guile.

And thereupon the children and the king did go questing for the tree which would fulfill the prophecy, every whit. And they searched far and wide and lo, they did find the very tree which should fulfill the prophecy.  And the king rejoiced, saying, "Even this day hath we found this tree, which shall be an heirloom unto my house forevermore!" 

And the king did dance and make merry with the children, for they were all of them joyful at the sight of so fine and mighty a tree, whereupon the tree was felled to the earth.  And so terrible was the fall that the earth did shake and tremble as if it were to divide asunder. And yet the good king did rejoice all the more, for the tree was indeed great and terrible.

The king, alighting to his steed, in one swift motion hefted the tree and children upon the steed. And the steed groaned within himself at so great a load, and would that he might shirk his duties.  But the king urged his steed onward, and the steed received strength, that his burden was made light. And thus the tree of prophesy was fetched unto the castle.

Whereupon when the queen saw the tree she did laugh out loud in a most hearty manner. However, in spite of her jeering, the tree was indeed pleasing to the eye, and beautiful to behold. And all who saw it did remark upon its greatness and glory. And the king pronounced that the prophecy had been fulfilled, and did rest from his labors.

And yet the queen was not convinced of the fulfillment of the prophecy, for, said she, "The tree stinketh, and suffocateth me nigh unto death, for behold, it stoppeth my breath in my nostrils, that I can scarce draw breath."

And behold, the king feared in his heart, lest he should lose his tree, and he wist not what to do. For, said he, "What more could I have done for my tree?" And he was loath to lose his tree. To wit, it pained the king that he must lose his tree, even the tree of prophecy, even for one so lovely as the queen.  And yet the king loved the queen, even more than he loved the tree, whereupon the king did banish the tree, and all its ilk, from the castle forevermore.

It seems but a fortnight...

O.K. So, I know we have been totally lame by not posting for the last four months. A lot has transpired, and so here is a quick version of the goings on in the Pinoli Family. By the way, Nicolo made me do this blog all by myself (yes, I've become increasingly computer illiterate as the years tick by since leaving college), and so I feel a little more confident now about doing updates myself. My next goal is to try and figure out how to leave comments on people's blogs... anyway...

One of our last hurrahs in San Francisco at the Golden Gate Bridge. Ben was screaming and hiding his face during this picture, which is why the bald guy on the left is staring at us. :-)
Rebekah turned 8 in June! She wanted an ice skating party, so we held it at the rink in Dublin, which (this is totally useless trivia) is where Kristy Yamaguchi (sp?) trained. Rebekah made all of the blue scarves for her friends. Yes, she's much more crafty than I am.

#1
We were able to visit Nannie and Papa one last time before leaving Concord. We'll miss visiting them, and the kids will miss the rootbeer floats!

Rebekah was baptized in June. It was so wonderful to have the Gunters and the Pinolis support us and participate and make it such a special day for Rebekah.

We moved to Portland, Oregon at the end of June. Here are the kids enjoying the aftermath of unpacking.

Changing to Oregon plates felt a little strange, but I guess now all the native Oregonians (if there are any--everyone we meet is from California) can't blame any bad driving on the "Crazy Californians."
My beautiful sister Elizabeth got married in July! Lizard and Keawe were sealed in the San Diego temple. It was such a wonderful and fun-filled day that I'll never forget. Welcome to the family Keawe!


Oh, what do you do in the summer time, when all the world is green?

Pick blackberries and raspberries...
Find ant colonies in the backyard with new neighborhood friends...
Make a birthday cake for your baby sister (yes, Bekah made this cake) for her 1st birthday...


Soak each other on the bumper boats at the Family Fun Center...
Take swimming lessons...

Play house (poor Ben; he's sandwiched in between two girls--but he's a good sport)...
Go exploring at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science & Industry), which is the most awesome hands-on museum ever..
Bekah and Ben learning about the inner ear
In the dinosaur exhibit
Bianca in the toddler section
Rebekah started 3rd grade and declared (as you can see if you look closely) that she wants to fix her own hair from now on.
Ben started preschool and Miriam has only had one phone call home from the teacher. :-)
Bianca is just excited to have mom to herself for a few hours a week.
We're enjoying the last bit of sunshine here before the rain begins.
I don't know why I included this picture--I just think it's bizarre that my kids find it so amusing to hide in the kitchen cupboards.

We miss all of our family and friends in California, but we absolutely love it here! In fact, we highly recommend moving here, so please feel free to visit whenever you'd like, and maybe we'll be able to convince you. No pressure. :-)

What have we been up to lately?

Enjoying Bianca's cuteness

Having fun during Easter Exploring Marine World with Grandma Pinoli
Visiting the Lindsey Wildlife Museum with friends

Hanging out at our old stomping grounds in Provo

for Aunt Elizabeth's BYU Graduation