girls weekend in Portland

Mom and Grandma came to Portland for a girls weekend.  We got lucky and had decent weather the whole weekend!  Grandma grew up in Portland and that's where her whole family was.  We spent most of the weekend driving around her old neighborhoods, looking at her old houses and she told us where all of her family used to live.  She just has one cousin left in Portland now, but I could tell it was a lot of fun for her to remember the good ol' days in the city.  I took some pictures while we were out and about and just downloaded a new editing program, so this is the first time working with it.  I like it, it's called Photoscape.  Can give a nice vintage feel to the photos which is my favorite look.  I am certainly looking forward to taking some photography classes this summer and see where that takes me.

Grandma standing next to her old Presbyterian Church

Downtown Presbyterian Church

Uncle Robert and Uncle Bill's house

My favorite sculpture in Uncle Robert's house

who can shake??!!

mmmmmm, coffee!  we had PLENTY of delicious Portland coffee and yummy food over the weekend

I like the way this photo turned out with the vintage wallpapaer

Family & Friends Lovin' Grandpa Bob

It's hard to lose someone you love.  We all know that.  But when times are tough and you come to that place where you must say goodbye, there is no better way to celebrate someone's life than by getting together with everyone who is going to miss that special soul and sharing the love.  .....and that's just what Merrill did... We told stories about Grandpa, talked about his silly habits, the Plum Pretties had a singing reunion, we gave hugs, shed a few tears, and most importantly we all got the chance to smile and laugh a little after a long tough couple of weeks.  Oh, and my nephew Kayden held nothin' back while sharing his special talent with us all~posing for the camera!  And these are just half of the pictures I have of him from my roll that night.  It's actually quite good to know that at least one person with Trotman genes is photogenic!

Everyone Celebrate (cause some of us are Irish!)

St. Patrick's Day 2011.  Celebrated on 21st Ave. in Portland.  Started at this fun little Irish pub called O'Brien's and made our way up and down, and up and down, the street! ;D  Had such a good time visiting, meeting new people, listening to Irish bands, and of course I danced my best Irish jig, and even tried my darndest to sing along to some Irish ballads I didn't actually know the words to.