Gummi Bear

     Here we go!  Today we are 9 weeks and 5 days pregnant, due March 24, 2014.  I haven't posted for awhile because I've known for nearly 6 weeks and wasn't ready to let the cat out of the bag.  (Plus, I have been thinking of little else).  But here it is.  We've decided this little picture looks like a gummi bear.  We could see him/her kicking in the ultrasound, see the heart beating, the umbilical cord, and yolk sac.  It was amazing!  We are not finding out the sex.  It's a Kahn tradition that I just can't break, and besides I think the surprise will be exciting.
     I still have a week and a half before school starts, and I'm hoping that the morning sickness subsides before then.  I'm going back as a substitute and have decided to put my teaching credential on hold for now.  Right now we are planning on me staying home with the baby and possibly continuing to substitute on Daniel's days off, if he continues to have his two days off on weekdays.
     Daniel is loving his job right now and we are so grateful we made the move to the desert.  I'm hoping that next summer brings us another move.  Daniel will be promotion-eligible and we both love the thrill of experiencing new places.
     This baby will be grandbaby #8 for my parents and grandbaby #10 for Daniel's parents.  It's awesome that he/she will have so many cousins including one just 3 months older!

Going buggy

     Today, as I went in my bedroom after breakfast to make my bed, I found the nastiest, crawliest bug on the floor.  It was belly up and I couldn't tell if it was dying or just sunning itself.  I couldn't bear the thought of going near it, so I vacuumed it up.  Then I got all crawly and began to wonder if any of the furniture was hatching.  After all, we rescued it from a barn, and it's old.  Who knows what crawled up in the nooks and crevices.  So I've deep cleaned through my morning, and deep cleaning makes one think.
     I didn't expect marriage to come with this awkward phase.  I feel somehow cheated by women before me, by those that "have it all".  Their ambition glares down at me and my sorry lack of ambition.  Nowadays, when I think about working, it's like trying to do a jigsaw puzzle.  Does this piece go here?  Will I be able to afford a nanny?  Will Daniel continue to have weekdays off?  When will I be at the "right place" in my career to have children?  Will we ever be able to live off of one income?  What happens if I become the only breadwinner?
     There are many voices on the subject of women at home vs. women at work.  The more formal arguments come from women at work...naturally.  They get paid to write an article for the New York Times, or they are a top player at facebook who would make for a profitable book deal.  The informal arguments (including possibly this one) are coming from women at home in the form of mommy blogs. For this reason, I wish mommy blogs weren't so nauseating.  I wish stay-at-home motherhood wasn't associated with upcycling every piece of furniture (i.e. painting it teal blue), making gourmet meals for toddlers, etc.  Nauseating as many of them are, they are making a great point.  Many women are finding the working mother model hard to swallow.  For some, it's so great in theory, and so miserable in practice.
     As a babysitter, I have seen many versions of the working mother, from those that work nights or two days a week, to those that work a 9-5 with lots of nanny/hubby help.  Sometimes I noticed a balance had been achieved.  Other times, I witnessed heaps of stress on mothers, children and husbands as everyone tried to share the load.   Don't believe me?  Ask your nanny how many snide remarks she's heard your hubby make, or how many inconsolable "I want my mommy" crying fits she has had to deal with.  I'm not trying to add to the working mother guilt, but I begin to wonder if we as women have more choice than we think.
     As I'm not being paid for writing this, I will keep my argument short.  I think it's ironic that we talk about stay-at-home-motherhood as though it's something new and novel.  It's an old spin on an old classic.  Why the war?  Why the push to get an equal number of women in the CEO spots?  Why does a 26-year-old woman feel like a mooching she-devil when she thinks about the stay-at-home life?  Is there a happy medium?  I hope I find it.

Summer and Family Matters

Summer is here!  Today was the last day of school for most of my district and yesterday was my last day of subbing for the year.  Yesterday I watched the first 45 minutes of A Bug's Life 5 times.  I don't recommend it!  Now that summer is on, I can get to work on completing my teaching credential.  I love working on school from home.  I have a schedule for my day and it's so amazing to get chores and errands done and transition right into writing a paper, without having to work out bus schedules or deadlines.  Loving WGU.

We spent the weekend visiting family in Salt Lake City and sending Taylor off on his mission.  I spent the 10.5 hour drive home thinking on the weekend and reflecting on family.  So often we hear the phrase "Life is too short" but when it comes to family, life is long, especially when you have a big family like I do.

What does that mean and what are the implications?  Think back on the history of your family.  It stretches further than you can think about and someday we'll all be great-great-grandma/pa who did such-and-such. Think about your aunts, uncles, grandparents and how much they have affected your personality, well-being, and experiences.  That's what I mean.  Family life is long, and its effect is far-reaching.  Too often, families can lose perspective and get caught up in short-term situations, losing sight of the long-term effects.

I write the next part of my post, not placing any blame, or making judgments.  Truthfully, it's hard seeing my family these days.  Several factors contribute to this fact, including that several of us live out of state.  I would like to propose some solutions that might remedy our future family relationships.

1. Once in awhile, at least every year or two, we all need to be at the same place at the same time.  We need to set a date in the future that we can all commit to being there. (Taylor's Homecoming? Palm Desert resort weekend?)  Being in the same city doesn't count.  I mean everyone is off-work and attending at least most of the time.

2.  We need to have an itinerary.  If we could all spend all of the meals of only one weekend together, that would be amazing, inexpensive, and doable for everyone's schedule.  Meals need to be planned and everyone contributes.

I was a little heart broken after this weekend.  We spent a lot of time in our hotel room, or walking the downtown streets because we didn't have enough of an itinerary.  We heard about people being here or there, but often two parties invited us at the same times and we felt conflicted turning someone down to see another family member.

I almost didn't write this post.  I am so nervous about offending, but this comes from a place that misses my family so much.  Hopefully we can find a way to get over past issues and create a together family again.

On a much, much lighter note, here are some of my favorite pictures from this weekend.

Adam taking care of sippy cups.

Sweet Adeline

Flashback!  Love this picture that my mom found.  1991?

Daniel's turn at taking care of sippy cups.

Tea Party Crashers

About Cars

Not many people know this about me but I have a fear of riding or driving a car on the freeway.  I used to drive everyday on the freeway in SLC, but then I rarely drove in Portland and sort of got out of the habit.  I am trying to be proactive with dealing with it.  My drive to work has been on 55 mph roads and I try to remind myself that it's not much different from the freeway.  Our new location makes Hanford a more logistical 5 hour car ride so we will find ourselves on that road more often.  I am looking forward to the drive to Salt Lake because it gives me a chance to stare my fear right in the face.  I also have a few tests to take that require me to drive an hour on the I-10 to Redlands.  I know that many people have similar fears or fears of flying, etc.  I'm only human in the end.

Anyway, I took this picture on our way to Hanford last week and I'm planing on taking my camera for the SLC car ride.  I tell Daniel, "A life where you can't drive to see family is not worth living."  Even if the thoughts linger, every time I get in the car, I have conquered.

Mom in Portland

My mom was in Portland for graduation and it was so much fun to have her here.  She is a very good traveler and so fun to be around.  We did a good job of balancing going out and relaxing.  I have to say that I didn't realize just how great it was until the emptiness set in as I walked through the airport terminal after dropping her off. :(  Thank you for coming to Portland Mom!  Can't wait to see you in September!

Isn't she just so stylish?

It's almost here!

I can't believe it but today I had my Final Piano Recital and last night I sat through my last undergraduate class!  It's over people.  On Tuesday, I have 3 final exams (all on the same day!!...scary right?) and then I am done!  I have to admit, I have already allowed myself that big sigh of relief because my psyche just can't handle being freaked out about finals.  I am studying this weekend but I refuse to overdo it.  I've earned it right?  Can't wait for my mom to get here so we can play for five days!

Corrections

After the last post, my mom talked to my grandma and there are some revisions to be made.  I am actually 63% English, 31% Danish, 3% Scottish and 3% Welsh.  My mom is 37.5% Danish, 50% English, 6.25% Scottish and 6.25% Welsh.

Apparently one of the couples in my 64 names came from Scotland and settled in Canada.  

Who Do I Think I Am?

I have been watching Who Do You Think You Are lately and it has reignited my interest in my own family history.  I am fortunate that my family has already filled in most of the names on my family tree, almost to the point that it's overwhelming to look at!  Just for fun, (and after all I'm a math major), I went back 5 generations and looked at the 64 great-great-great-great grandparents of mine.  Can you believe we have most of those names?!!  These individuals were born between the years 1769 and 1826.  24 of them were born in the Eastern USA, 3 were born in Eastern Canada, 15 were born in England, 2 were born in Wales? (maybe), and 20 were born in Denmark.  If we say that those born in Canada and England were of English descent (and they most likely were), then I am 66% English, 31% Danish and 3% Welsh.  In other words...everyone back-off about my pale skin-tone.  As my mom says..I come by it honestly!

These 64 people are actually very near to my heart since my church and family stressed their significance as I grew up.  I feel that if you go back any further, you get lost and the names get so far back and so numerous that they lose their differentiation.  Someday I would like to gather stories/pictures about these 64 individuals + their progeny that is connected to me and my siblings.  So many movers and shakers in that bunch!  Here's another statistic:  Out of the 64 and their 62 children that eventually converged into me, 10 moved across the country either to move out West for religion or opportunity, and 23 emigrated to the US from other countries.  I feel connected to them in a way because I understand the pull to move to a new place.

Also just for fun, my mom is 37.5% Danish, 56.25% English and 6.25% Welsh.  My Dad is exactly 25% Danish and 75% English (his maternal grandmother is Danish).  My mom has Danish ancestors on both her father's and mother's sides.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

A little post about my Mom...

She's fabulous.  My mom has seven children and five grandchildren and loves each one of us so much.  Even if you live as many miles away as I do, her love reaches out to make sure you know it's always there and always growing. 

A few memories...I remember my Mom being pregnant (sorry for this one Mom, it's just one of my most vivid), standing at the kitchen sink doing the dishes.  She wore a white and teal (maybe polka-dot print?) outfit and she was so beautiful.  My mom was always the radiant life force that managed to keep our home clean and us active and happy.

I remember she got me into a Barbie-tryout program.  Every month or so I would get a new Barbie to play with and then I would send it back for a new one, sort of like Barbie Netflix, and the last one I got to keep.  That one was always my very favorite Barbie.  I know my Mom couldn't afford to get me all those dolls but she is so creative and finds ways to make things happen.  

My mom is so encouraging.  I wanted to learn so badly from a young age and she made sure my mind could grow.  She encouraged my piano playing, paid for me to take violin lessons and made sure I had books to read and opportunities to learn.  She even asked my kindergarten teacher to give me homework when I was home sick with chicken pox because she knew I would be happiest when doing homework.  I still remember my Dad bringing that homework packet back from school and me running straight to my room to start in on it.

There are many, many more memories that I have about my Mom, and even our phone conversations now are things I hold on to as I go about my week.  I know my nieces and nephews are so lucky to grow up with her as such a presence in their lives.  I love you Mom!  Happy Mother's Day!

An Update on Our Life

Today is a big deal.  The grocery store behind our apartment that has been under construction for 10 months is having their grand opening.  It is fabulous, and big, and I am so happy that I finally get to stop fighting for a parking spot at the grocery store a mile away.  I heard the construction noise all the way up until 10pm last night, but now it's finally over.

This week is finals week and I am in my usual avoidance stage.  It is so daunting to try to remember everything you read or heard in the last 10 weeks.  I'm giving myself another hour before I dive into my books.

We have started up our crazy travel weekends again, but it is such a blessing to get to be with our family.  Last weekend was spent getting our hopes up that Daniel's brother's team would take the National title for college basketball.  They came in second in a devastating loss by only 3 points, but we had the time of our lives in Virginia.  (Plus, it was 80 degrees there!)  Next weekend we'll go to Hanford to spend time with family.

These are my nieces in their sweet flower dresses and the wedding shoes I bought yesterday.  Don't the girls look so precious!?  Next week I take my dress in for alterations and soon we'll start shopping for groomsman ties and Daniel's suit.

Happy Spring!  It's not here in Portland yet but I know it's coming!  Last year I remember a lot of rainy days during spring quarter but we'll make it through.  

Best of 2011

I am stealing this idea from a friend's blog...but I really wanted to reflect on the extra-awesome moments of 2011.

1. January: Officially becomeing a nerdy math major.  I have never questioned this choice from that moment.  It has been the most exciting and challenging academic year of my life!  I have way too many textbooks and calculators but lately I have been craving reviewing calculus concepts in my spare time.  Weird, I know, but it will pay off.

2. Summer: Buying a piano from craigslist and November: getting to play at my best friend's wedding!  That was truly awesome and I forgot how much good stress it is preparing and the adrenalin rush when suddenly that many people are listening.  It was such an honor.  Congratulations Jess and Steve!

3. August: Daniel proposing and the ensuing wedding plans.  It really is the most magical time of my life so far.  My aunt would tell us that when you meet the right person it really feels like a fairy tale.  Let's just say I am so happy I moved to Portland.  (Sorry for the mushiness...but it's true.)

4. Family Time: In 2011, we spent most of our time off together with family and made some great memories.  We took four trips to Salt Lake City to throw my sister a wedding shower, see her get married (Congrats Whit and Ben!), our parent's getting to meet each other, and the wedding of my best friend.  We also got to spend Labor Day in Hanford.  These are some of my favorite moments...

5. December: Learning the importance of friends.  Daniel and I had the opportunity to spend Christmas with some new found friends this year and it made all the difference for us.  Very rarely do we get to relate with people our own age and in a similar life-stage as us and when we do it really lifts our spirits and is a reminder that it's ok to act our age.  We also got to go to California to see his friend's wedding which was so beautiful and fun to get to meet his college friends. 

There is so much to look forward to in 2012!  Graduation, wedding, my mom visiting Portland, a new job.  It's going to be awesome.  I hope everyone is looking forward to a great year!

Merry Christmas Adam!

We are missing our families a lot this holiday, but we are so grateful to get to take care of some wedding details.  For the next six months, I will have full-time school, extra nanny shifts and the actuary preliminary exams are finally upon me.  Daniel will be his usual busy self working overtime.  There is no wiggle room for wedding plans but we are getting to do so much in these two weeks.  But we truly do miss you family!!

That said, we are also getting to thoroughly enjoy this Christmas weekend.  Tonight we tried "chocolate shots" at the Heathman, and saw "The Descendents".  Tomorrow we'll have friends over for dinner and drinks.  Remember how I wanted to start entertaining?  My first go at it is tomorrow night and I couldn't be more excited or more jittery.  I've checked my grocery list so many times!

Oh, and Merry Christmas Adam everyone!  (Although I find the whole Adam before Eve thing a bummer).

A Grateful Post

I have seen these "grateful" posts floating around on other people's blogs ('tis the season), and today I am feeling overwhelmed with gratitude so here's my version.

I am grateful to nanny for the sweetest family in the world.  I wasn't "on duty" today but due to some randomness, I got to see them, and even though seeing them culminated in a minor fender-bender, I cherish the time I get to hang out with those boys.

I am grateful for Daniel.  I guarantee my life would be 100% different without him.  I don't know that I would have had the courage to get back into school or even to stay in Portland.  He really is my best friend.

I am grateful for my family.  I was so lucky to grow up the way I did, and to get to be born to my parents, to have six incredible siblings, to go to my grandparent's school and be so close with extended family.  Now I am blessed with the most adorable, sweet nieces and nephews.

I am grateful for school.  I complain about studying sometimes when I feel stressed, but I really miss it when I go on break.  I can't believe Christmas break starts Friday!...but I'm grateful for that too.

Pushing the Reset Button

Hello from Seattle!  I am spending the day glued to this desk working on a paper about Maria W. Stewart, (America's First Black Woman Political Writer according to my textbook), but my view could be worse so no real complaints.

Lately I have felt caught up in a storm of trying to carve out my life until it settles like a puzzle piece into the complexity of extended family relationships, complicated ideologies and life as a woman.  But today I am pushing the reset button.  I have spent a lot of effort, time, and money trying to be the "good girlfriend", the "good sister", the "good future in-law", but I am ready to be a little selfish for awhile.  I'm just ready to spend money on clothes instead of plane tickets, and to enjoy this time in my life.  I have felt so rushed, but there is no real rush.  Today there is just a view of Seattle, a conversation with a magnificent historical character, and some room service.

P.S> This is not to say my recent efforts to spend time with family was not well spent...it's just good to recognize when it's time to slow it down.

Gender Mobility

I find myself thinking about motherhood a lot.  Slow down....thinking, not actualizing.  It makes me tired.  I am tired now, as I have been struggling to balance going to school and earning money, so I can't imagine trying to juggle family and a career.  It's hard to be patient, especially when there are so many girls younger than me that have started their families.  But children are expensive and I'm not ready for that bill yet.

Thinking of motherhood also make me think about mobility, about who belongs where, and who can move about without restraint.  Women are still in a bind.  All of the 'social' constraints may be gone that kept women out of the workforce, but its not really fair yet. (I mean the decent wage-earning workforce.  It should be clarified that women have a history of being medial wage-earners.)  This is not an academic research paper on gender equality.  I have a real knot-in-my-stomach about my future as a woman.  Here are some of the scenarios that run through my head.

1) My future as an actuary...Trying to study for the qualifying exams will make my bachelor's degree look like learning phonics.  It will take me years of ladder-climbing, competing with men who don't have to take maternity leave or have a human being grow inside them and then become completely dependent on their bodies, but still get to enjoy having a family.

2) Yesterday I saw a story on the need for dentists in this country.  This is a career I have seriously considered before.  I would have the flexibility to work 3 days a week and the income to pay for childcare.  Plus, I could run my own office instead of dealing with dopey male-chauvinists as colleagues.  But it means 1 yr.+ of prerequisites, then 4 more years of school.  No problem!  I would do it in a heartbeat if I was a man.  But I am 25, and waaayyy past my family-starting age already (by my upbringing's standards), and waiting 5 years to have a baby seems crazy.

There...I have spilled my maternal guts to you.  I'm sure I will make good decisions as I start my life.  My biggest concern is that I remember that while babies are cute, eventually they become people, and I want them to have the best start possible.  I just hope I can find a career that facilitates my dualism, that both my career will make me a more fit mother, and that my motherhood will make me more fit for the workforce.

A few book reccomendations...

My Women's American history class has been very illuminating, and has especially made me grateful for the position of equality with men I hold in modern society.  Some of the books that we have read include Charlotte Temple, by Susanna Rowson.  This book has been around since the 1790's so you feel like you're getting right to the source of women's 18th century thoughts.  I also have been reading No Small Courage, by Nancy Cott, which has essentially "caught me up" on women's American history.  (Many of my classmates are History majors so I was feeling a little behind.)  Cott is extremely thorough and explores the lives of all groups: European, African and Native American.

I will say though, that I have thought about women's "progress" and I have found pieces of it to be damaging to both sexes.  Women now have the burden of child-bearing and have lost the option to stay at home and take care of their children without risking poverty.  Men tread a fine line between being expected to provide for a wife an family and being accused of male-chauvinism and patriarchy.  It seems as though a new kind of partnership with equally shared roles of providing financial stability and childcare is the only way for a modern couple to survive today's demands on family happiness.

Catching Up

Realizing I am at risk for losing my entire readership (which is probably three at most!), I am postponing my sleepy eyelids for an overdue blog post.

Since I have had the pleasure of writing, I turned 25!  And with that big quarter-century birthday, I decided it was time to grow up and wear makeup.  Daniel got me the Bare Escentuals starter kit that I have been wanting, and I wore it all weekend to my numerous birthday/engagement celebrations in Salt Lake City (Thank you all for such a good time!)  So far, I love it.  I had no makeup lines and it just brightened up my look like it's supposed to.  I especially love that the shade of eyeshadow I got is called "cupcake".  During the week while I'm at school or nannying, I still only throw on mascara and a little blush.

Speaking of my fabulous weekend in SLC!...Not to overshadow how amazing it was to see every member of my family, and enjoy D's parents meeting my fam, I still have to say I get so tickled about seeing my nieces and nephews.  I got my nieces a new book to celebrate their new twin brothers, and made the mistake of giving a 3-year-old and a 2-year-old lip gloss.  I'm pretty sure they have eaten all of it by now.



Daniel and I also took our parents on another visit to our wedding venue (His parents' first time, our second).  Here are a few pictures I took of the house and the surrounding yard.  It's getting harder and harder not to think about the wedding!

In other news, this is the dress I am thinking of wearing to my best friend's wedding. (I love saying that!  You only get to say it once.)  I am so excited for her.  I got to spend a little time with her and her fiancee over the weekend and I can't wait until her wedding.



Lastly...drumroll please, I got an iphone4!!  I left my phone charger in SLC, and needed one in a pinch as I was on nanny duty.  As is always the case, it was a better deal to renew my plan and get the discounted upgrade, then it was to spend any more money on my ghetto phone.  I also couldn't resist decking it out in faux burberry.

My Pioneer Roots

Since we are having a wedding at such a historical spot, Daniel and I think it would be awesome to do sort of a heritage table to honor pioneer ancestors that walked to Salt Lake.  I still have all my pedigree charts that I made when I was younger, and since I have nothing else to do today, I have been researching their stories on the internet and have dug up some really awesome stuff!  For example I had no idea my ancestor William Hood Hill had a twin sister, or that Maren Kirstine Jacobsen came across the plains with another family when she was twelve.

I found out I have 40 direct pioneer ancestors!  I've listed them below along with how old they were when they crossed the plains and the year of their crossing.  If you decide you have the family history bug, click on the links below to see what I found.

Dad's Side:
Arba Lorenzo Lambson (42) 1861
Appolos Boaz Lambson (17) 1861
Moses Clawson (47) 1849 and then again in 1853 (where he met a much younger Sarah Ann Inkley (19))
Marshall Hunt (18) 1847 Mormon Battalion
Jefferson Hunt (46) 1847 Mormon Battalion
Arthur Benjamin Clark (10) 1864
Elizabeth Gower Clark (45) 1864
Daniel Clark (48) 1864 - died en route
Niels Rasmussen (12) 1866 (click the Trail Excerpt on the bottom of the page)
Rebecca Hansen Rasmussen (43) 1866 - died en route
Christine Veronica Thorup
Herman August Thorup
Marie Catherine Thorup

Mom's Side:
Martinus Nielsen
Niels Peter Nielsen
Mariane Larsen Nielsen
Caroline Jensen
Thomas Tew, Jr. 1855
Thomas Tew (51) 1855
Hannah Smith Tew (44) 1855
Rebecca Bird (16) 1855
Ann Russon Bird (47) 1855
Newman Bulkley (30) 1847-Mormon Battalion (read trail excerpt)
Nancy Ann Newman Bulkley (73)!! 1852
Jane Draper Bulkley (27) 1852
Mary Mosier Draper (66) 1852
James William Greaves
Mary Florence Lloyd
William Hood Hill (9) 1849
Alexander Hill (38) 1849
Agnes Hood Hill (38) 1849
Elizabeth Ann Hamilton (2) 1852
James Lang Hamilton (34) 1852
Mary Ann Campbell Hamilton (26) 1852
Sarah Lang Hamilton (62) 1852
Frederik Isaak Sorensen (17) 1857 (read trail excerpt)
Nicolai Sorensen (57) 1857
Magdalena Olsen Sorensen (50) 1857
Maren Kirstine Jacobsen (12) 1862

Just looking at the dates I noticed that Thomas Tew, Jr. and Rebecca Bird came out the same year but in different wagon trains, and were married in Utah a year later.

The Bulkley's and the Hamilton's were in the same wagon company!  Who knew their great-grandchildren Frank and Lois would end up together?!


Some cool photos:

Christine Veronica Thorup, Niels Rasmussen, Herman August Thorup, Marie Christensen Thorup

Arba Lorenzo Lambson and Elizabeth Bonner

Moses Clawson

The Hunts

Arthur Benjamin Clark --with another family!! scandalous

Newman Bulkley

William Hood Hill

An older William Hood Hill with his sons

I didn't expect to find so much!  It will be quite a project deciding who to feature on the heritage display, so if anyone knows any good pioneer stories about these people let me know.

Labor Day Weekend in Hanford

We are back from another memorable trip to Hanford, California!  The whole family was there except one sister-in-law who had to stay back to take care of a loved one, and all-in-all it was a wonderful weekend.  We surprised Daniel's family since he didn't get the time off from work until the last minute.  We were glad that we didn't miss it because it was a good time for me to get to know the new additions to my family better especially my soon-to-be sisters-in-law.

Here are a few pictures from the Portland-Fresno plane ride.  We were able to see some of the wildfires which were creating a haze around Mt. Hood.

                         

Here are some of the donkos playing in Grandma's backyard...

Some of the highlights were taking engagement and family photos, a much needed return trip to superior dairy for chocolate chip ice cream, and more silliness than one girl can handle.  I love being a part of the Kahn family.

I know this post is already overwhelmed with airplane photos, but I couldn't resist some aerial views of Portland on our return flight today.