Photos from Portland trip

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Triangle Breakfast

One perk of taking the gang up to PDX is we get treated very well.  This trip is no exception, with dates, visits with friends, and lots of shenanigans.

Today we were treated to brunch at the Condo.  Everything was triangle shaped and delicious.  And there was a fish.  And Erin and Hen were thick as thieves.  Nice to know some things don't change.







* Though  I brought our fancy SLR I took disappointingly few pictures.  Seriously.  There were a couple of pictures on the plane there, the first nap in the car, and these.  Quite lame. 

Babysitters!

Just to report: the girls have had their first official non-family, non-friend babysitter experience.  Twice.  In two nights.  Both nights went well, with the first night resulting in two sleeping children, and the second night a little sadness just before Mom and Dad returned.  Thank you to the Smithstanzas and the Brinkley's for setting it up!!  We had fun as adults two nights in a row.

Drew and Marta get Married

Last weekend, McMillers drove all night to get to PDX to attend the wedding of Marta and Drew.

Somehow, we got no actual pictures of the bride and groom.

But, there were plenty of pictures of the kids. And there were a LOT of kids.

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Congrats to Marta and Drew!!  Thanks for having us. 

PDX dancing

While visiting PDX last week, Erin had the opportunity to go to a dance class with three of her friends.  She took full advantage of it.  The neat part about this class was the set up: right after preschool and lunch.  The class is 1 hour of running/moving/jumping.  It was so active that most of the kids were flopped on the floor by 45 minutes.  What a great set-up for naps!

PDX Domination

Finally getting to post this: McMillers were back in PDX! It was a long weekend trip, capped by Brian's company party (a holiday party in January on a Tuesday, but who is complaining?)

We packed much adventure into 4 days including:

Girls night out (where we learned that 4 month old babies are not always welcome at bars)

Guys and Kids night of Wii

Sledding on Mt. Hood - snow included

Pizza dinner followed by ice cream cones

Ladies' brunch

Viewing of our old house

A scrumptious dinner at the Condo

The Children's museum

annnnd.... the company party.

There were pictures, but not nearly enough to tell the whole tale. Maybe that's for the best.

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Moving

McMillerPDX is moving.

Sometime after the beginning of July, we'll be heading down to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is heartbreaking to think about the friends we'll move away from and the life we'll leave behind. We love Portland.

However, we couldn't ignore the reality that there is no prospect of a fulfilling career for Ms. A here, being the Future Leader in Cancer Research that she is. Ms. A is a great scientist, and deserves to reach out as far as her abilities will take her.

Also, living here in Portland away from our families is difficult for just the two of us, but we don't feel like it is a choice we can make for Erin. One on hand, staying in Portland Erin would grow up amongst wonderful, loving friends, in an incredible city. This city is just great for kids. But she would miss out on the kind of extended family environment that Ms. A and I felt so lucky to have grown up with, the grandparents, the aunts, the uncles, the cousins.

We're trying to be brave and think positively, but it's pretty terrifying, honestly. We've been here for eleven years, minus a year vacation in San Diego. I seriously thought I would live the rest of my life here.


So, now, given all this, my analogy for our situation is that it's like we're standing on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, and we know, we've analyzed, we've debated, we understand in our gut, that we need to be on the south rim. And all I can see is the giant canyon between these two lives -- the known, great life that we have to leave and the new, unknown, probably great life we'll start. I can't get my mind around the new life, or imagine what it will be like. All I can see is the cost, the effort -- logistically, mentally, emotionally -- that it will take to get to the other side.

So that's that.

On a good note the house is finally done. And I mean done done. Pimpin', actually. You can see pictures of the place by Googling for our address, or just email us for the MLS number.


We're here a few more months, but we already miss you, Portland.