Hey - Oregon is not so bad!

Don't get me wrong, I (Alina) still have moments that I tear up when I think about how much I miss Texas and everyone back there...BUT so far, the Northwest has treated us pretty well.  Here's what we've been up too:

So after living in Vancouver, WA for 6 weeks (thank you, THANK YOU Teresa!!), we bought our first home in Beaverton - just 4 miles from Jordan's work.  It's in a great neighborhood and an awesome ward.  There are tons of young families and everyone has been extremely warm and welcoming.  We're learning that home-owning comes with a seemingly never-ending "to-do" list and a lot of added expenses (furnishings and what not...), but we're enjoying the extra space and a backyard.  And we now have a guest room with a REAL bed, so visitors are very welcome!

We hosted Thanksgiving in our new house and we were so happy to have my mom, my brother Sean visiting, as well as Jordan's mom, brother Justin, and sister Emily.  Plus, we got our ping pong table set up just in time!

Jordan and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary!  Wahoo!

For Christmas we travelled Miami, Florida (loooong flight, but Roy did awesome) for a big ol' Cuban Christmas with most of the Pando side of the family.  We had a blast chillin' with the family, stuffing ourselves with Cuban food, and taking advantage of the warm weather.

We no longer refer to Roy as "baby Roy" - it just doesn't fit.  He is full blown "toddler Roy" or "little man Roy".  When we left Houston he had some bottom teeth, then he grew fangs (not kidding), and now he has a whole mouth full!  He can say "ball", "buh-ball" (basketball), "touchdown", "dada", "mama", "cheese" and perform an array of animal sounds.  Still a feather-weight (at 16 months he still hadn't broken 20 lbs), but he is a super healthy, happy, busy, and fun little boy!

In January, I started as a part-time/on-call PT at a hospital just up the street (Providence, St. Vincent) where I'll be working 2 days a week.  Roy goes to his friend Dieter's house on those days and he loves playing with another little guy.  Jordan's job was rough at first - especially since he was having a terrible commute and he had pneumonia for 4 weeks - but any new job comes with a learning curve.  We've both found things are done very different around here.  We feel blessed to have these good jobs, but we miss a lot about our old ones.

And since we sold my car before we left Houston, we finally got another one to replace it - a 2004 Camry.  Now we have 2 silver Toyotas in our driveway :)

Yes, it is cold and rainy here, but not too bad!  There have been some beautiful days and we've been able to enjoy some outdoor adventures already.

My dad was also able to come out for a visit in January.  We showed him VooDoo donuts, Multnomah Falls, and the Bonneville Dam and Fish Hatchery.  

Jordan's teams are really having a great year!  Of course, the Seahawks were AMAZING in the Superbowl, but the Blazers are doing well also!  We've been able to enjoy a few games at the Moda Center.

So, so far so good!  We love being closer to some of Jordan's family, love the area, and feel super blessed to have found these jobs and this home.  We hope that we will continue to have many more visitors that can help us explore this cool and beautiful city!