Bogus Creek Ranch!

September 27, 2008--

Gary, Melissa, Jeremy and I met at Bogus Creek Ranch for their Fall Brew Fest and a good time was had by all! The property was beautiful (Jeremy and I had never been there before this event), the entertainment was fun (in addition to the music they had "team" events like roping, mechanical bull riding and last, but certainly not least, stick horse racing!), and the food and beverages were fantastic (an authentic "Oktoberfest" dinner was served)! The night began and ended with a covered wagon ride to and from to the old Western town of "Coolwater." Here are a few snapshots of our adventure!~

5K Run!

September 20, 2008--

I participated in the St. Luke's Women's Fitness Celebration 5K, despite standing in the starting line for over an hour in the rain. (I later learned that the event officials considered cancelling the event because of so much rain, thunder and lightning.) The rain continued for the duration of the 5K (3.1 miles) but I wasn't deterred! I was surprised when I learned my "official" time was 36 minutes and 24.5 seconds since I had only trained for about three weeks before the run. Now I am motivated to continue training and running in future 5K events. Here is a not-so-glorious picture of me after I arrived home, still drenched from head to toe, proudly displaying my bib number.~

Another Fun WWF (Weekend With Family)

September 12-14, 2008

I finally got to meet our newest niece, Addyson, this weekend (see picture below with proud Dad, Andy) when we hosted her family (Andy, Sarah, Hailey & Hanna) for the weekend! She’s still such a tiny girl (she was a preemie) but is as healthy as ever and cute as a button.

They were in town for the company picnic (Andy works for the same company that Jeremy works for) and we thoroughly enjoyed their stay.

Our other nieces (Addyson’s older sisters) Hailey and Hanna really had a good time with Holly and Stanley (our dogs). We were happy to have someone else entertain the dogs for a change.~

Company Picnic

September 13, 2008—

Jeremy’s company picnic was held at a park here in town and was well-attended by local employees as well as several employees from branches as far as 2+ hours away. The weather was beautiful, not too hot and not too cold.

Although the preparation for the picnic appeared to be a joint effort by several in the management team (great job everyone!) it is certainly worth mentioning how much energy was put into the game preparation by Kristina & Devry. (Most company picnics I have attended over the years have not only had poor game planning, but the games have had little or no participation.) Kristina & Devry did a great job engaging most of the attendees in the games (kids and grown-ups alike) with classics such as the potato sack race and the egg toss as well as a few new ones (one involved shaving cream and as you can see in the pictures, the adults got a little out of hand—not the kids!)

Check out the slide show for pictures of some of the picnic-goers as well as the games.~

Grandpa's Visit

September 6-8, 2008--

Grandpa came to visit for a couple of days and along with some fabulous corn on the cob (thanks, Big Joe*!), he brought some great stories! And believe me, there are a lot of stories to tell when you're 75! For those of you who know him, you might find it interesting to know that he has a Coast Guard tattoo but never served in the Coast Guard. (Some of you may know that he served in the Army during the Korean War). Even more interesting, he got the tattoo in Alaska. Try to figure THAT one out! You'll have to ask him about it!

*The nickname "Big Joe" started about 10-11 years ago when we used to live next door to Grandpa and Grandma on the family farm and when he would phone our house we would occasionally (obviously jokingly) answer "Joe's Bar and Grill!" So he took to saying "oh, yeah? Well this is Big Joe!" (meaning that the boss was calling) so we started calling him Big Joe. I don't know if the rest of the Ihlers even know that's where it came from but it started to catch on and several of our family members call him that today, too.~

More Optimist Football!

September 6, 2008--

We had a great time watching Tristan's football team play their first regular-season football game. Tristan scored the first touchdown of the game and his team played really well (they won the game by a significant amount). Way to go guys!

(Tristan is number 82 and he has dark green socks on...he's not too hard to spot, he's the small guy in the middle of each of the photos.)~

Let the (NFL) games begin!

September 4, 2008--


What a great night! My friend, Olivia, is in town for a work function tomorrow and as if that isn't cool enough, tonight is the first regular-season NFL game!

Happy Birthday, Gary!

September 3, 2008--

Thanks for letting us celebrate your birthday with you, Gary!

Fun Center!

August 31 & September 1, 2008--

We spent some time at the local fun center this weekend with the kids. We only had time for a few games and mini-golfing on Sunday night so we came back for a little while on Monday. The guys hit a lucky ticket jackpot that day and we ended up with over 3000 tickets! The kids got to pick out several of the (cheesy but fun) prizes and everyone went home happy.~

Discovery Center

August 31, 2008--

We had a great time with Tristan, Ethan & Madison at the Discovery Center! They had exhibits for all ages and there were plenty of opportunities to learn something new!~

Who doesn't love a trip to Cabela's?

August 31, 2008--

We took Tristan, Ethan and Madison on a quick trip to Cabela's on our way to the Discovery Center. Although it was impressive (Madison LOVED the fish!), it pales in comparison to the visit that Ethan got to take with us to the Cabela's in Lehi, Utah, a couple summers ago.~

Labor Day Weekend Project Finished!

August 30, 2008--

We tackled staining our fence today and we were excited that it only took us about four hours. Now we can play the rest of the Labor Day Weekend!~

Sheryl Crow!

August 27, 2008--

I had the pleasure of joining my friend Laurel at the Sheryl Crow concert since she had an extra ticket. (Thanks, Laurel!) Brandy Carlile opened the concert and she played for about an hour and Sheryl Crow played for an additional two hours. (Brandy joined Sheryl for a song during Sheryl's set--see picture below.) It was a late night but the concert was fabulous and we had a fantastic time!

WWF (Weekend With Family) & Football Jamboree

August 22-24, 2008--

Doug, Tristan, Ethan, Madison and Tristan's friend, River, stayed the weekend with us. Tristan (#82) and River (#80) and their football team competed in a season-opening football jamboree at BSU. Jeremy, Ethan, Madison and I were running a little late to the game and were disappointed to learn that we missed the whole game since they only played two 8-minute halves but we were pleased to learn they won the game and their team played well. Apparently their practices every day of the (work) week paid it's dividend. Way to go, boys!

While Doug, Jeremy, Tristan and River went shopping for school clothes, Ethan, Madison and I went to the park and played in the fountain and played at the playground for a couple of hours. I was terribly disappointed when my camera battery died shortly after we arrived as the kids had so much fun playing in the fountain. It was a hot day and Ethan and Madison both enjoyed splashing in the water. We all had a great time.~

Baby Fisher and Fam'

August 23, 2008--

Dave, Tony, Sarah and baby Fisher came by for a quick visit on their way to the water park. Fisher has a dog at home but was enamored with Holly and Stanley...presumably because they are not the same color as their dog Jager (black lab) and there were two of them. There's something about our female lab Holly that makes it impossible for her to resist licking babies...(see picture below)...actually, honestly, truth be told, she can't resist licking humans in general. (I once saw a doormat in a catalog that accurately described Holly, it said "Caution: Dog can't hold it's licker." Yes, that's our Holly, but what can we say, we love her anyway. She's one of the family.) Fisher had a good time with the dogs and we enjoyed their visit.~

Introducing: Our Niece Addyson!

August 17, 2008--

Jeremy had the privilege of finally getting to see the newest edition to Andy and Sarah's family, sweet baby Addyson. When conveying his experience to me via phone he said "I just can't believe how TINY she is!" She was born just a couple days after Jeremy's birthday and spent some time in the N.I.C.U. but Mom Sarah reports that you'd never know it now because she's doing very well and is already on a pretty good schedule.~

Back on the Buell!

August 16, 2008-

It was great to be back on the Buell (motorcycle) again. We took a ride to Marsing with Gary and Melissa and had a fantastic dinner at a little restaurant called Caba's (we would highly recommend it!) and got to see Janine while we were there.

The ride was great and on our way home we were treated to a beautiful full moon. Here's a picture in front of Caba's in Marsing with the Snake River in the background.~

Splash Dogs Competition

August 16, 2008--

I thought it would be fun to enter our dog, Holly, into the Splash Dogs competition at the Western Idaho Fair and she sure did make a splash! This is the first time they have ever had a dock jumping competition in our State and I figured it might be a while before they come back. So on Thursday I prepared by taking her to the Park Center Pond to practice dock jumping and she was fantastic, as usual, leaping enthusiastically into the water to retrieve. So I took her on Friday to the open dock practice at the splash dogs arena and they warned me that it’s a whole different game because the water is clear and the dock is much higher off the water than the dock at the pond. They explained that the dogs can’t tell where the water begins and ends (because it’s a pool) so it’s confusing and somewhat frightening. So after taking her in the pool the first time via the exit ramp (we did this per the Splash Dogs Trainer’s suggestion so Holly would know how to get out of the pool if she made a successful jump), Holly and I (and a trainer) ventured up on to the big dock. I was sadly disappointed when she refused to “leap” off the dock like I saw other dogs do on TV! But she wasn’t the only one, I saw several other dogs perform the same way. Some wouldn’t even jump off the dock so I was impressed that Holly at least did that. Dale went with me on Friday to help me set up our shade tent for Saturday and while we were there he shot a video clip of Holly’s last jump (thanks, Dale!). Unfortunately, of the three jumps she did, this was her worst one! But I’m going to put it on the blog anyway for entertainment value. She totally “submarined” as Jeremy described it when he saw the video clip. I felt bad for her but couldn’t help but laugh because it was so out of character for her to tank like that. As you can see in the clip, everyone around there was very helpful (the voices you can hear are spectators and some are the trainers calling her to the exit ramp after she retrieved her ball). It was fun to give it a try though and I’m glad we did it.

I decided to see if our male lab, Stanley, would do any better than Holly so we took him on Saturday to give it a try during open dock practice and he was even more apprehensive than Holly! Check it out! Chris filmed this clip for us (thanks, Chris!).

In all fairness to the competition I thought I should include a video clip of what dock jumping is supposed to look like so here is a clip of one of the trainers with her dog.

All in all we enjoyed our experience and had a great time watching a couple of waves of competition on Saturday afternoon when the “real” competitors performed. Most of them were local dogs who happened to take to the sport faster than ours. Only a few of the dogs had competed in dock jumping elsewhere before. During one of the competition waves we watched one of the dogs jumped 23 feet 7 inches (which, of course, I didn’t get on video, sorry). If you are interested in the sport, or are just curious, check out the website: www.splashdogs.com.~

Food, Family, Friends & Fun!

August 9, 2008--

Josh and Kandice's neighborhood hosted a local band at the park that is literally a half a block from their house so we joined them for a fantastic meal of carne asada tacos followed by some good music and games in the park.~

A dog's life!

August 9, 2008--

I took Stanley to the dog park and pond this Saturday morning. I couldn't help but notice how happy he was hanging his head out the window of the "Hound Hauler" (our 1993 Chevy Suburban that has a gazillion miles on it) so I took a picture of him in the mirror.

He was exhausted but happy on our way back to load up in the 'Burb and drive home.

Oh, to have a dog's life!~

Kari & Brian's Wedding

August 3, 2008--

Kari and Brian's wedding was so beautiful (as were they!). The reception (and amazing dinner!) was outstanding as well! Thank you Kari & Brian for letting me be part of your special day. It was truly an honor.~

Morning Hike to the top of Multnomah Falls!

August 3, 2008--

I made the quick drive to Multnomah Falls this particular morning (while in the Portland area) and hiked to the top. The sign near the bottom says "1 mile" to the look-out and although I've hiked it twice before in the last 15 years, I forgot how long (and steep) that "1 mile" is. It's a mountain full of switchbacks and once you get to the top you have to come back down the other side a little bit to make your way to the actual look-out. Here's a picture of me (looking red-faced and winded) on the look-out deck at the top.

I've also included a video clip (I'll warn you, it's very amateur!) that shows the pool at the top and follows the water to where it drops over the edge and you can see the parking lot and the beautiful Columbia River. It was a cloudy drizzly morning so it appears kind of dark but the river is right by the freeway.~