Nehalem Bay Camping Trip

Family camping trips are always fun, and we were especially looking forward to this one because Ryan was bringing his new fiance with him.  And not only were we graced with Ashlynn's presence, but our nephew, Travis, came too.  Everyone loves Nehalem Bay because it offers surf on one side of the park and a crab filled river on the other.  Fun for everyone!  The guys were successful in their crabbing and Spencer had a fabulous idea to create a Mongolian Grill type dinner, which was so good!      

Children's Museum Field Trip

Preschool is so much fun! Here we are at the traditional end of the year field trip to the Children's Museum. Every kid's wish, every parents worst nightmare. Okay maybe that's just me! I personally find it stressful, but we wouldn't miss it for the world.

Memorial Weekend

We spent our Memorial Weekend this year in Spokane, WA visiting Spencer's brother and his family. Uncle Dan's house is always so much fun! They boys get to reunite with their cousins and have crazy fun. The highlights of our trip are:

Watching the boys shoot a pellet gun out of the kitchen window at the annoying starlings in the yard.

Spending the afternoon at the YMCA pool and having a blast.

Laughing at these three crazy kids playing with bubbles in Aunt Artie's tub.

And the most entertaining moment for me was standing back and watching Spencer and Dan compete against each other on the Wii fishing game. They were pretty into it.

Series Completed

Today I finished reading the Harry Potter series for the first time! Yes, I know I am a little behind the times, like 10 years, but I did it...whoo hoo! Reading, and finishing, a series is a big accomplishment for me. It all started about 10 months ago when I decided to give the books a try. I honestly didn't think I would be into them but I was captivated right from the start. I was also motivated to finish the series because I didn't know how it ended. Back when Deathly Hallows came out, I wasn't into the whole "Harry Potter frenzy" so nothing people shared stuck with me. So in the end I can honestly say that I loved the series! I loved the story! And in my opinion J.K. Rowling is the most creative and entertaining writer I have ever read. 5 stars from me.

Caught in the Act

This is a boy who was caught in the act! Luckily, he was caught by Grandma who was tickled more by his mischievous deed then anything else. I really can't blame him though, Peppermint Patties are one of my all time favorites too :) For just a tad bit of history, Andrew tries to pull this little chair in front of Grandma's pantry and help himself. He had never gotten away with it, until this day.

A Cousin ... A Best Friend!

Oh how my boys LOVE their cousins!! They are truly their best friends! Growing up I wasn't as fortunate as my boys are to have cousins around to play with and really get to know. But not my boys, they really lucked out. Not only are their cousins fun to be with, but they are some of the best role models around. They truly look up to and admire each one of them.

A Friendly Competition

Fundraising, fundraising, fundraising ... can I just say I'm not a fan of fundraising! I desperately hate asking people for money, in fact I cringe every time I even hear the word. Well Austin has almost reached the age of Cub Scouts and I am so excited for him. He is fortunate enough to enter the Scouting program right before their week long day camp. To help with the cost of day camp the Scouts put together a dessert silent auction last night and Austin was invited to participate.

I really didn't know what to make for the auction. I wanted people to feel that the dessert they were buying was worth the money they spent on it, so I decided to make a Turtle Cheesecake and an Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. Both which were pretty to look at.Spencer on the other hand laughed at me and said why don't you just make a cake from the box? My pride got the better of me and I told him no, I needed to make something better than that. He just laughed again and told me that he was going to make his own cakes from the box. I totally underestimated his ability to pull it off so I went ahead (my pride getting the better of me again) and made a little bet with him. I told him that I just knew I'd earn more money with my two desserts than he would with his and if I was right he would have to give me a really nice back rub. The bet was on.

Well needless to say, Spencer won. Like I said earlier I totally underestimated him! He is such a creative and talented person and totally pulled off two completely cool cakes. One was a lemon cake decorated with gummy butterflies. The other a chocolate cake that he tactfully mangled and frosted then strategically placed gummy army men as if they were in a battle against each other. It was really cool! So in the end I lost the bet by $4. The good news is we helped raise a lot of money for the Cub Scouts and it was actually a really enjoyable fundraiser ... and I am humble enough to admit defeat.

10 Year Anniversary Getaway

Reaching 10 years of happy marriage is definitely a call for a celebration! Or, in our case, a fiesta ... an 8 day long fiesta in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It was heaven! The Resort: Oh my goodness the resort! It was breathtaking. Our Junior suite was 435 sq. ft. with a full ocean view and private balcony. One of my favorite things about the room, other than the view, was the shampoo and lotion bottles they brought me each day; Bath & Body Works, coconut lime verbena. It was fabulous.

The resort itself sat right on the beach and offered 5 different swimming pools throughout the complex to swim in. All of the pools were what they call Aqua bars. They were all fully equipped to serve food and beverages. When we arrived Spencer and I were given a $300 credit for food and beverages at our resort for attending a timeshare presentation. That 90 minutes of our time turned our stay into an all-inclusive gift. You can't beat that! The restaurants ranged from fancy to 5 diamond fancy so needless to say, we ate good! Here is a link to our resort: http://www.pueblobonitosunsetbeach.com/

Another fabulous perk to this resort is that they have sister resorts all over Cabo and every hour a shuttle bus will transport you from one resort to the other free of charge. You are then welcome to utilize their beachfront, pool and amenities.

The Beach: It really doesn't get a whole lot better than relaxing in 88 degree weather in April; shopping from the comfort of your own lounge chair; or sipping 'virgin' pina coladas while watching the waves crash against the beach. And when you feel the need to jump into the pool or ocean to cool off it's all within reach of each other. That was life everyday, and I miss it already! We did do some fun activities like renting wave runners and paddle boards. Both Spencer and I got 40 minute massages on the beach for $20 each, and we took a ride in a glass bottom boat over to the the famous "Lands End" rock formation. Another treat each day was finding "the Mango Lady" as Spencer calls her. For $5 she peels fresh mangos and serves them with chili sauce. Believe it or not, they are good. We also got peeled cucumbers doused in lime juice and a touch of salt.

Cabo Wabo: The most well known night club in Cabo is a cantina called Cabo Wabo owned by former Van Halen musician Sammy Hagar. Each night a house band performs and it's just a really fun place to be. So Thursday night we decided to go there. After our taxi driver dropped us off we walked up to the entrance, showed our ID's and walked right on in. We were there for about 15 minutes and then the crowd started chanting and going crazy. Spencer turned to the waitress and asked who's performing and she said, "Sammy's here". What!?? For real? How could we be so lucky! Not only was Sammy performing but his latest band called Chickenfoot was with him, minus their drummer. Chickenfoot's band members include, former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar & Michael Anthony and one of the best rock guitarists, Joe Satriani. It was awesome! After the concert I then turned to the bouncer by the door and asked him how often Sammy performs here at the club and he said 3 times a year. We are still in awe at how we were able to just walk right in, 15 minutes before it started, with not even a cover charge to enter. What an experience to say the least!

The Food: Coconut Shrimp, Fillet Mignon, Shrimp Pad Thai, Skirt Steak Nachos, Seafood Enchiladas, Shrimp Tacos, Chicken Tamales, Coconut Cake, Key Lime Pie, and lots of 'virgin' Pina Coladas are just a few of the wonderful, calorie rich foods that I ate, and boy were they good! Oh, and I can't forget to mention the homemade guacamole and Caesar salads too. So good! Even right now I could still go for some good Mexican food.

The entire trip was amazing. I am sad to see it end but very excited to see my sweet little boys again, all of which did fabulous while we were away. I am grateful to have such a wonderful husband! Spencer is a man who spoils me rotten, loves me despite my flaws, and a man I just dearly love. Thank you Spencer for being the wonderful man you are! Cheers to another 10 years!

I added a slideshow but it drives me nuts how grainy the pictures look :(

A Reality All Too Real

It's not very often when you wish a doctor of medicine to be wrong in his diagnosis. But that is exactly what I was wishing for when it came to my Mom and her health. After undergoing a biopsy for enlarged lymph nodes, good news came back saying she was negative for Lymphoma Cancer. Unfortunately, her doctor didn't seem to agree with the results, calling it a "False Negative". He said in his experience it's not uncommon to find false negatives and he was convinced she did in fact have Lymphoma. I know cancer is real and effects a lot of people but it has never hit this close to home. Shortly afterwords my Mom underwent surgery where they removed 2 lymph nodes under her arm and did an extensive biopsy on them both. The final result ... NO CANCER!! I can hardly express the relief that this news brought. During her recovery I was able to spend the weekend at her house. I am so grateful to Spencer for supporting me and bending over backwards making it possible for me to be with her.

Family Hike

Spring weather in the north west can be a little too depressing sometimes if you ask me! But every now and then Mother Nature will bless us with a nice, dry day and when that happens you best take advantage of it. Such a day came a few weeks ago. After a short deliberation of figuring out what we wanted to do we packed a picnic lunch, drove to Multnomah Falls, and hiked to the top. You really can't beat the beauty of this hike. The Gorge is such a beautiful sight to see, especially on a nice, clear day. I find it refreshing when granted these nice breaks in the weather. All it takes is one beautiful day to remind me of why I live (and love) the NW.