She WILL love Disneyland

Two months ago, I took Briz to visit my sister and her husband in San Diego, California. It was a fun packed few days. And I can't wait to go back again. These pictures are so delayed because my sister McKenna is a procrastinator and took forever to post them to an online storage site. But nevertheless, there are a lot of pictures (you can't tell me you're surprised). Here are pictures of Day 1, Disneyland!!!

We're getting ready to go into the park. She's excited, probably just because mom and aunt mac are. Let's be honest, she has no clue what's happening. But I'm just exposing her early so we can share this common bond of Disneyland.
Classic pictures in front of the flowers. Love her gut sticking out.

First ride, the rocket ship, was a success. She looks concerned, but I think she's really focusing.

We both looked extremely cool with our 3-D glasses over our regular glasses. Captain EO was awesome! Hillarious, but awesome. Brought back so many memories. Briz, however, hated it. Who knew it was so loud?

I love him. He was in his prime for Captain EO.

Finding Nemo ride. One word. Lame. I have never gone on it 'cause the line is always ridiculously long. I still have no clue why. This was Briz' least favorite ride because again, it was really loud. But she liked it before the audio came on. Here she is, staring at fake star fish and bubbles. Fascinating!

A girl after my own heart, she loved It's a Small World. Not for maybe the same reasons I did as a child. I loved it because I was obsessed with dolls, and I loved learning about different countries. Briz loved it because she could stand up in the boat and because the music was great to dance to. She is a little overwhelmed in this picture with everything to see. Look at those cheeks!

She loved TeaCups because again, she could stand up on it, and she loved the music. Mac and I when waiting in line, pick out our very favorite and sprint to try to get it, but it was no luck. We got stuck with the stupid pink cup.

No, I'm not high, but perhaps a little tired at this point. Brizzy is signing "more" for more Dumbo ride!

Her eyes are getting droopy. Definitely tired. But she did SO good for basically no naps and extreme overstimulation. It's just so hard to stop kissing her cheeks.

Mmmm, this metal tastes good. Carousel was a success.

This is probably my favorite moment at Disneyland. Brizzy never cuddles with me and never falls asleep in my arms, particularly now that she's a maniac on the loose and is constantly moving. I loved her falling asleep in my arms :)

If you can see it, her face is funny. "What the! That Winnie the Pooh ride was freaky!" It really is if you've ever been on it.

On the Tarzan thingy.

Last ride of the day, the jungle ride. She didn't appreciate the guide's humor. Geez.

Overall, it was a fun day. I felt a little bad for not giving her any naps, but she'll thank me some day. It was fun for me to go and go on all of the kiddy rides with her. Disneyland, we will see you soon.

Seattle Trip

I have been trying to post pictures for a while. Ideally, I would have done a slideshow, but I am a little bit retarded and couldn't figure it out. So here are a ton of pictures.

About a month ago, Nick and I decided to take a weekend away just us two in Seattle. It was so great to spend time together after a couple years of mayhem (a.k.a. graduate school). And since I had never been to Seattle, it was exciting to spend some time in the city.

A homeless guy had this sign. "Kissing Lessons." He was crazy, but hillarious.

Of course we visited Pike's Place, and I loved it.

They had a ton of gorgeous flowers!!!

A view of the city from waterfront,

Space Needle.

I was too cheap to pay to go up it. It was ridiculously expensive. So I figured a picture by it was almost as good.

We went to a Mariner's game. And there was such a cool view of the city from where we were sitting.

We were up pretty high, but I didn't care. I've wanted to go to a Mariner's game for a very long time.

The theme for the weekend. Nick taking way too many pictures. He thought he was funny.

Here Nick's doing it again.

We took a ferry out to Bainbridge Island which was so beautiful. It made me want to bring my bike and ride around the island.

View of the Space Needle from the ferry.

View of the city.

It was pretty, but cold. Come on weather!!! It's still crappy here, and now I'm getting angry.

I don't know.

Very windy on the ferry.

There were so many sailboats out. I loved them!

Another view.
I didn't take this picture on purpose, but I think it looks kind of cool.

Graduation Part 2 - The Ceremony

Nick graduated from Willamette University on Sunday, May 16th. It was a gorgeous, sunny day (haven't seen one since!). The ceremony was pretty formal, but short and sweet. My favorite part was when they had the students say hello in their native languages. There were about 70 students that graduated, and they represented something like 17 countries. It was really cool. Okay, but no, really, my favorite part was the brunch afterward. It was AMAZING. Thank you Nick for graduating from Willamette so I could eat that meal. I'm still salivating over it.

All the diplomas laid out.
Nick recieving his degree from the Dean of Willamette.

Nick getting hooded by two of his professors. No fair, I don't think I got hooded! (I say, think, because to be honest, I can't really remember. It already seems so long ago).

Standing up when he was announced as winning the school's Dean's award. It's a very special thing; only one girl and one guy from the program gets it. It's why Nick is wearing the little yellow rope thing around his neck. He definitely worked his hiney off to get that. Well deserved Nick!

Shaking the hands of his professors. Graduated and still kissing up!

Nick with the in-laws.

Nick with his folks.

With Rob, his favorite teacher and mentor.

President and Vice President of the Student Association. Natalie has been busy spoiling Brizzy the last year.

Nick with his MBA BFF, David. I'm going to miss offering all of my words of advice concerning dating. Let's be honest, I have no idea what I was talking about.

Nick with the Dean.

Briz was fading fast. As proud as she was of her Dad, she was boo-ooored.

Grammie with Brizzy completely wiped out.

Before she passed out, she was enjoying walking around, sporting the cute dress she got from her aunt Brittany.

All in all, it was a wonderful day. It's been a big sacrifice for our family to have Nick attend graduate school, but it's been a great decision. We feel lucky to be able to be healthy, happy, and educated! Now, Nick just needs a job :)

This Week

These are some things that Brizzy likes this week:

Reading books, on her own! She hardly will let me hold the book. She grabs it from me and wants to read it on her own. However, sometimes she struggles being able to turn the pages, and she generally ends up reading the book upside down.

Holding things in her hands while she walks around. More often than not it's a diaper or two. When she has poopy pants, she will walk with a diaper and bring it to Nick and I.

Bending over to pick things up off the ground.

Getting into everything! If its on the ground and/or she can touch it, she will get into it. Here she is just about to tear her book basket apart.

Waving to everyone and everything.

Wearing big tee-shirt and yes, also, cheerios. When in doubt, cheerios are the answer.

Other things she likes to do: saying "Dada", "Mama", "ba" (for ball), "aw duh" (all done), "dog", "cack"(for cat), talking in a high pitch, squeaky baby voice to herself all the time (I'm not kidding, she talks nonstop), playing tag, giggling, keys, balls, big kids, dancing in a way that makes her look like she has terrets, gasping for air when she gets excited, and following Mom or Dad around all day long.

Graduation Part 1- Cottle Get Together

I am a little bit behind on posting pictures from Nick's graduation. He officially graduated on Sunday, May 16th. It was a fun weekend. His parents flew in from Utah and it was great hanging out with them. We went out to eat, played a little tennis, and spent some quality family time together. Not to mention it was sunny and in the high 70's, thus further proof that the universe wants them to move back to Oregon :) (The rest of the month has been extremely crappy weather).
The Saturday night before graduation, we went out to eat with family, and then went over to Grandpa Cottle's for dessert. I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful family that lives close by and is so supportive of our family.

Nate and Maddie were so nice to entertain Brizzy. She loved the attention.

A little sweaty and tired from playing so hard.

Nick getting some advise from Gramps.

Little Ruby is so adorable. Her and Briz had fun playing.

It's amazing how much she's improved in her walking since this picture was taken. But at the time, she had her frankenstein walk going.

All the fam at dinner.

Grammie spoils Brizzy way too much when she's here. Mom is not quite as fun, so Brizzy goes through withdrawals when Grammie leaves.

Getting ready to poke each other. It was a very messy end of the table.

Her Papa and Pa. It was a battle of favorites.