My Cousins!

August 2, 2008--

A big thank you to my cousin Chelyn & her husband Tim who hosted my brief stay in Portland this weekend. They have a wonderful place near downtown Portland with a fabulous view of the city. What a privilege it was to stay at such a great place and be so close to everything.

While there I also got to see one of my other cousins, Holly (one of Chelyn's sisters). It was great to re-connect with all of them since I haven't seen them in a couple of years. [Pictured above are Tim & Holly (L) and Chelyn and I (R).]

We all went to breakfast before Holly, Chelyn and I hit the farmers market and then the market down by the waterfront.~

Anna's Bridal Shower

July 31, 2008--

Mel and I held a bridal shower in honor of Anna's upcoming wedding! As you can see, we had a great time!

The ribbons and bubble gum were related to a game that involved questions we asked Anna about Daniel, showcasing how well she knew her future husband. (This game was courtesy of Toni who made me play this game at MY bridal shower eleven years ago! Thank you, Toni! I have used it at several showers over the years and it's always a fun one!)

We held the shower at a fantastic location (great idea Mel!) at this little restaurant here in town on a little lake (see slideshow). Anna was "showered" with a lot of nice gifts and Daniel (pictured with Anna in one of the photos) arrived after the shower was over to help Anna get all of the gifts home.

Thank you to all who attended and made it so much fun!~

In Celebration of Jeremy's Birthday!

July 27, 2008--

Happy Birthday, Dale!

July 25-27, 2008--

Dale and Cheryl visited for the weekend while Jeremy was out of town at the customer appreciation golf tournament. We informally celebrated his upcoming birthday (on Tuesday!) throughout the weekend and while they were here we floated the river. What a great time! There were several be-careful-or-you're-tube-is-gonna-flip-and-you'll-get-dunked-in-the-river moments but it was so much fun!~

Baseball!

July 24, 2008--

Another fun evening watching baseball at the stadium with friends and family...as you can see, for us it's as much (or more) about the social interaction as it is about the baseball game! We hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we did the company and the game!~

Camping!

July 18-20, 2008--

We had planned to go camping this weekend (July 18-20) with Gary and Melissa until Jeremy was called to work out of town. However, I decided to go anyway since we had already made arrangements for the pets. We had a great time and hopefully he’ll be able to join us next time!

This camping spot was new to me and I was amazed at its beauty! The reservoir was surrounded by mountains and the view from our camp was fantastic. I hope you enjoy the pictures, despite the fact that I broke the unwritten rule not to take pictures (of humans) while camping (in other words, it’s not so glamorous without running water, make-up, etc.)! View at your own risk!

Look closely in the slide show for pictures of a female mallard with her nine ducklings, they were such a treat to watch while we were out on the boat fishing on Saturday evening. Also, the purpose of including the picture of the vehicles is to show that it froze overnight on Friday night! We were definitely in the mountains!~

Happy (Early) Birthday, Rick!

July 13, 2008--

My nephew and I went to see my Dad ("Grandpa Uncle Ricky") before I had to head home today. His birthday is coming up this week so we had an early birthday visit. I couldn't help but reflect on the fact that while Ethan and I were there, we did all the things that my siblings, cousins and I did at his Mom's (my Grandma Tilly's) house when we were little. We ate sandwiches, played in the dirt, played in the irrigation ditch (but unlike when we were kids, we hosed off afterwards), toured the gardens, looked for wildlife (see the wild rabbit in the pics), climbed trees and ate popsicles. What a great time!~

Happy Birthday to you!

July 12, 2008--

Here are a few pictures from the annual "Happy Birthday" get-together with Patti, Joan, Jill and Stacey. (We try to get together at least once a year to celebrate all of our birthdays...even though our birthdays are in January, May & June.) Good friends, good times.~

Dave & Toni's Barbeque!

July 5, 2008--

Day 5, Act 2

Everyone enjoyed themselves at Dave and Toni's barbeque! Check it out!~

Krista's Peru Presentation

July 5, 2008--

Day 5, Act 1

We all attended a special event at Dale and Cheryl's church where Krista shared about her recent mission trip to Peru. What an amazing adventure!~

4th of July Fireworks!

July 4, 2008--

Day 4, Act 2

We had a great time playing and watching the fireworks display!

Days of the Old West Parade!

July 4, 2008--

Day 4, Act 1

Our 4th of July celebration wouldn't have been complete without the classic "Days of the Old West" parade!~

Days of the Old West Rodeo - Thursday

July 3, 2008--

Day 3, Act 2

We met up with the rest of the group on Thursday night at the "Days of the Old West" rodeo where we enjoyed classic rodeo events like bull riding, bareback, saddle bronc, team roping, barrells and calf-roping. There's nothing like a good ol' rodeo in the Wood River Valley, the venue is small and there isn't a bad seat in the house!~

Warhawk Air Museum

July 3, 2008--

Day 3, Act 1

Before heading out to the Wood River Valley to spend the holiday weekend with the rest of the group, we made a quick stop at the Warhawk Air Museum. The museum featured an amazing array of aircraft, vehicles, machinery, military instrumentation, uniforms, medals, pictures and various other memorabilia (too many to name or describe) primarily from the World War II era. However, there were other items and memorabilia throughout the museum, too, because "the mission of the museum is to teach and preserve World War II history from the home front to the war front and aviation history from the advent of flight through the space age. The Warhawk Air Museum encourages an educational experience about the technology, culture, and social changes that have occurred in North America since World War II."

While there we were pleasantly surprised to learn that two of the planes in the museum (pictured below) were celebrities in the 2001 movie Pearl Harbor (the movie starring Ben Affleck, among others). One of them (the planes) was also very recently used in the soon-to-be-released movie "Valkyrie" starring Tom Cruise. It is a movie, based on actual events, about a plot to assassinate Hitler during the height of WWII. While the planes couldn't sign autographs it was fun to get our picture taken with such a well-traveled celebrity!

An interesting side note--our brother-in-law Adam, who is in the Coast Guard, was thrilled to see an entire display case dedicated to Coast Guard memorabilia. He was also honored to meet the Veteran who contributed most of the items on display as he happened to be working in the museum that day.~

Roaring Springs Water Park

July 2, 2008--

Day 2, Act 2

Wow! What a fabulous time we had at Roaring Springs! There was something for everyone...even the little kids! Because we were in the water so much we didn't even notice the 102 degree heat! It was still that hot when the park closed at 8 pm! Here are a few snapshots!~