Grandma and Aunt and Cousins.....OH MY!

Dan's Mom, his sister Kristi, and her kids Ashley and Terry came from eastern Oregon to stay with us for a whole week. We had a great time. The kids really enjoyed jumping on the trampoline and even the adults got in on the fun!

Gabe "jumping" with Aunt Kris

Roasting marshmallows for Smores. We did this a couple nights during their visit. We could roast a pretty mean marshmallow by the end.

We took the whole bunch to Alsea Falls for a day of exploring.

Furn Ridge Reservoir

We all took turns going for a spin in the boat with Dan. The lake isn't much for fishing, but it has lots of native birds nesting along its shores and happens to be close to our house so it is a good place for us to try out the boat motor each year before we take it to the Cascades.

Gabe got a Train Set from his Grandma for his Birthday. He is absolutely obsessed with it! We have relocated it to the coffee table so he can have all his new cars up on the tracks too. He calls the train "KeeKee" ( I guess that is what we sound like when we make train sounds.)

Dan's Grandparents sent Gabe a "real" John Deer wheel barrow for his Birthday! He loves filling it with toys and pushig it around the yard. As I have said before, it is all great practice to get him ready for the teenage years. There is always work to be done on the property :)

Nana & Grampa Visit

My folks came for a visit in July and took Gabe to all of his favorite places (and spoiled him just a little bit too.)

At the Pizza Place
At Gathering Together Farm

At Safeway (believe it or not, this makes the list of "favorite places" because of the ride in cars on the front of the grocery carts)

Putting together Gabe's new Motorcycle
My little Biker! (Tattoo pending :)

We had a great time with Nana and Grampa! At least once a day Gabe says "Nana,Umpa...Carby?" And I say "yes, they did go carby, but they will be back soon."

Alicia & Tom's Wedding

Dan's Cousin Alicia was married to her fiance Tom on July 3rd. The ceremony and reception took place at a beautiful hill-top vineyard south of Portland. Dan, Gabe, and I spent 4 days in St. Helen's with his family to attend the rehearsal dinner and wedding.

The Rehearsal "picnic" was at Rosa Parks Park in Portland. I have never seen that many roses in my whole life! It is worth checking out if you are ever in the area.

Ceremony and Reception

Congratulations Tom and Alicia!

Enjoying the vineyard setting

Gabe B-day.....Part 1

Hi all! Well, my computer finally died and took a bunch of my pictures and videos with it! I am having all my files transferred to my new computer, but in the mean time I will be blogging out of order. So, we'll start with our west coast family reunion - B-day party and work our way backwards. My folks stayed with us for a week, hung out with Gabe, and helped us put on a very successful party! Gabe loves anything that has to do with transportation, so my mom and dad picked out the perfect cake for him!

We had a great turn out and hope to get even more family involved in the years to come. It was so much fun to see everybody and have them all meet Gabe too!

Cousins!

(photos courtesy of Erin Mills)

Our First Camping Trip

We went on our first Camping Trip of the summer to the Metolious River. It was also our first time out with our new camper and Gabe's first time camping as well. Lots of Firsts! We got a good spot in a very crowded campground. We used to be tent people before the kiddo came along, but I must admit, it was very nice having hot water, and a warm place to sleep. My last camping experience was particularly memorable....and not in a good way! I was 6 months pregnant and did not get one minute of sleep the entire three days! I swore off camping until Gabe was old enough to toddle around.... and getting the camper didn't hurt either. Now we are ready to get back to our old routine of visiting all the beautiful places in Oregon...and beyond in the years to come. Dan and I both camped all the time when we were young, and we want that for our son as well!

Gabe had a blast! There was so much exploring to do, it was rare to find him seated like this.

Sitting creek side

Helping Andrew build a camp fire

Dan fishing on the Metolious.