PDX Party

May 01, 2016

I'm typing on Logan's new laptop - it's a bitty little thing and my giant man hands look extra clumsy against the mini keyboard. We're in Portland with his family, who flew in to celebrate with us on Friday at our PDX reception. It was beautiful, set in a forest wonderland. The food was delicious (as far as I was told...I was on my dairy fast, so I didn't eat what was on the menu). Brisket, salad, rolls, cheesecake, and beans were served. My little pinky collided with a dairy-coated fork of Logan's, and I'm not sure if that ruined the dairy thing, but after gorging myself with ice cream, cheesecake, and clam chowder yesterday with no sign of a migraine...I think it's safe to say it's ok.

The venu was a circular wood barn, decorated with fairy lights, sheets of butcher paper painted with sayings, candles, votives, flowers, and garlands of greenery. It had a warm glow, and we loved it. Our guests filed in to meet us in a steady stream for over an hour. It was such a treat to get to meet and talk with people who love Logan and the Wilkes so much. They spoke so highly of them - even his first grade teacher came. The longevity with which they maintain relationships blows my mind. Grandma Best was there, as was Rich's family (Spencer flew all the way in from school!). My parents, grandpa, Aunt LaRene, and Pat were there as well. I loved seeing them. Cam and Kristin had tried to drive in, but got stuck in hours of traffic without making much progress.

Saturday we woke up to a breakfast of Blue Star donuts, which were spectacularly delicious. I ate mine in the car during our ride to Manzanita. The drive was beautiful, and we had a really fun conversation with Leigh Anne and Jessica. When we got there, it was straight to work in true Wilkes family fashion ;) The boys moved the old red couch out to the garage and into the truck, then brought the new gray couch in. Cali hung a few photos, and Jim worked literally the entire day. We enjoyed the usual Manzanita activities - eating marionberry pie, clam chowder, and pizza, going to the t shirt shop Logan loves, the grocery store, and for a walk on the beach, watching the sunset, and playing games. It was a perfect day, and we were so happy we went down.

As for the rest of the week, it was fairly normal - went to the derm (cancer free and nothing cut out of me...yayyy), saw Cali's play for the second time (seriously so good. I wish we could have gone a third time), and I CHANGED MY NAME OFFICIALLY TO ASHLEY MASTERS WILKES. That's kind of a big deal.

We're headed to California next weekend to be with my family for Andrew's farewell. It will be our first time meeting Ella, and I am beyond excited to kiss those girls' chubby cheeks. We're staying in an AirBnb with Craig and Anna, and we made sure to dibs the only queen sized bed in the house.