Liz & Baby Olivia Visit Portland!

I cannot even tell you how excited I was as I drove to the airport two weeks ago to pick up Liz and sweet little Olivia!  I was finally getting to meet my ridiculously adorable little niece for the first time!  And WOW is she just simply precious!!!  And this was just the first of many trips in the years to come.  She is going to grow up so fast...in fact, I think she grew even the week she was here! 

We had a great time doing "everyday" type of things....hanging out, shopping, coffee, going for a walk around the Nike World Headquarters, etc.  It was nice to just have down time to catch up and enjoy each other.  And it was so fun to see Uncle Caleb fall in love with Olivia.  He would get home from work, and as we babied his feet (he flared up again that week), he just wanted to hold her. 

And, of course, Liz and I had to take Olivia on her first trip to Vivace!  Unfortunately, I think during that trip we somehow caught the flu and eventually every member of our families caught it...including Mike when they got back to California.  And lets just say it was named the "Portland Flu" by the Ditty's and it was a violent, awful case of a stomach bug. 

It was so fun having them here.  It was fun to see Liz be a mom...she is incredible at it, a total and complete natural.  And Olivia is a truly loved little baby...but she makes it so easy cause she is so sweet and pleasant.

The week before they came, Liz and Mike had Olivia dedicated at their church.  Liz framed one of Olivia's baby pictures and had family members chose a verse to give to Olivia, which she wrote out all around the picture.  I was honored that she would ask me, Auntie Julie, to give her one as well.  My verse to Olivia was Zephaniah 3:17.

"The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior.  He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy." 

Our hike around the Nike Campus

A rat of unusual size we saw on our walk...which we RAN when we saw it!

We got Olivia all dressed up cute to visit Uncle Caleb at work :)

Future basketball player....she is sooo tall!

Auntie Julie loves you, Olivia!



All I can say is "Olivia come back and play with me again!" :)  I just love my friend Liz, and am so excited for her and Mike...they are blessed.  And Caleb and I are blessed they are in our life! :)