Our Deer

This past week Steve was hunting just outside of Enterprise Oregon and got his first deer, it’s a mule deer (you will see oversized ears). Once he shot the deer he says it was a long fatiguing process to get the deer back to camp due to the location (down a very steep hill side) and the heat (high 70’s in October in the mountains). Today we got all the meat back from the butcher and now have a deep freeze filled with meat. Steve still has his elk and doe tag that he will go out for the in the new few weeks.

The Lake

This past week Steve and I got to enjoy some time away at Wallowa Lake with family; my parents, Chris and Amanda were there along with some family friends and their family. The weather was mild, mid to high 70’s with a few days in the low 80’s but not hot enough to swim. The fishing was lousy this year; no one was able to get anything.

The new and exciting thing at the lake was a very nice brand new mini golf course; it opened 4 days before we got there. The Matterhorn had been sold and the new owners moved a cabin and put in the mini golf that includes some water features and the 18th hole talks to you.





The second day we were all together, we rented some 2 man kayaks and mom and I shared a paddle boat, what a good work out for the hour we had them.



Steve, the boys, my Dad and I went for a hike up to a waterfall and we were able to get a few nice pictures to share.





Both the boys enjoyed all the hiking and swimming, Chads favorite thing to do was roll at the campsite in the dirt after a swimming trip. He looked like a Christmas tree with all this dirt decorations.



All and all it was a good trip and we love to get away.

Mt. Hood Rail Road

Few weeks back, before we went to the lake, my parents, Steve and I went on the Mt. Hood Rail Road. Steve has gotten some tickets on daily deals online for 55% off so it was a great deal. It was an enjoyable four hour train ride up and back though Hood River and the county side. We got to stop and have lunch, Mom was very happy because she got some fresh local cherries when we stopped.

Mariners Game

This past weekend Mom and Dad took Chris, Steve and I to watch a Seattle Mariners baseball game (Amanda was attending a wedding so she was unable to make it). This was my first live major league baseball game and the Mariners won. It was a rather quick game, three up and three down. Here are a few pictures of use from the game.

Growth Update

Here is a peak into our growing produce. We are now down to just peppers and tomatoes.

Memaloose State Park

Here are a few pictures from our last camping trip out to Memaloose State Park in Hood River.


We got to enjoy the rain each day and Saturday we explored the fruit loop, many stands did not have the fresh fruit we wanted since we were told this year they are behind about 3 weeks.

Staying Busy

Steve and I have been rather busy the past month or so. A lot of the busyness is from being out of town. Back in the end of May we went to Beverly Beach with my parents for a long weekend. We had ok weather, it was not warm but at least it only rained part of one day. We got to enjoy a long walk on the beach with the boys and they were very tired once we got back.



The following weekend I did a yard sale at our house, the weather was great but I did not plan it to well since we were gone Monday for the holiday and had to clean up after the trip. I was just glad to get rid of stuff that had been stacking up in our house.

Now comes the two wedding weekends which were both in Washington. First was Steve’s best friend, Roy’s wedding which was on Whidbey Island (have to take a ferry to get there). We drove up Saturday for the dress rehearsal and the wedding was 6pm Sunday night, June 12tht. Prices are very high to stay on the island so we went over to Port Townsend (by ferry) were Steve grew up, to stay with his grandparents. It was good to catch up with them since the last time we saw them was our wedding. Steve showed me all around Port Townsend; it’s a very cute port town that has become very much a tourist stop. I enjoying hearing about how much has changed since he last lived there about 10 years ago. We got our fair share of ferry rides that weekend as well, 4 total in two days. It was one late night, got home around 2:30 am Monday morning and off to work at 8am that Monday. We forgot to take our camera (like we do a lot) so I don’t have any pictures to show.

The second wedding was my brothers, Chris and his new bride Amanda’s wedding in Seattle on June 18th. Worked half a day Friday and then drove up to the rehearsal and stayed in a cheap, smoke smelling hotel room. Saturday was all day busy wedding stuff; getting ready with the girls and pictures in down town Seattle in the rain. Then to the church we went for more pictures with family and lunch. The wedding was great; it was so nice to be part of my brother’s wedding. I’m blessed to have Amanda as a sister-in-law. This weekend we did take the camera but from where Steve and the rest of the family was sitting, no one could see me on the stage since Chris blocked me. We had a great time at the reception, got to talk to all my cousins and relatives that came up for the wedding. It’s hard now a day for all of us to get together. Our drive home was shorted and faster than the week before.

Green House

Here is a quick update on our green house. First off we had to make it larger; Steve added 3 extra feet for me. So far we have 4 potato plants growing out side of the green house, inside we have 10 onions, 9 tomatoes of 2 different kinds, 18 pepper (bell pepper and jalapeños) and 15 heads of lettuces. All but the lettuces we started on our own from seed, a patient of mine is a local produce farmer and he gave me the lettuces starts and we should be getting strawberries from him as well. I also have a few pots with annuals in them I want to get a good strong start so they are staying warm in the green house as well.

Sunny Day Projects

This past Saturday with the really nice weather, I was determined to get as much out side and yard projects done. With the boys (Chad and Lambeau) I got up at 6:20am and started my day off with our normal trip to the off leash park which has a swimming hole. Got home and needed to mow and water the grass before my hair appointment so did all that by 8am. After my hair appointment and before Mom came over to help plant my new ground cover in the front yard I thought I should mow the back yard and paint the front of the shed.
Once Mom came over, we spend about 4 hours tilling the soil, cutting out large roots from the tree we cut down and final planted the ground cover. I’m so glad we spend the extra time getting all the roots out of the soil so my plants will have a better chance to grow. We wanted to make sure every one saw the size of the roots and the amount we got out in such a small area.

Nothing like getting all your weekend projects done in one day (Steve was out of town so I had to do something to keep myself busy.)

Yard Projects

Over the last month or so Steve and I have been doing a lot of work around the yard. Our first big project was building our green house. At the same time we started some peppers and tomatoes inside, we just transitioned them out side in the green house this past weekend. I have gotten to plan some flowers from seeds and they are starting to come up in the green house as well.



The second big project was planting new grass in the strip between the sidewalk and street out front. This was took us about 3 weekends to get it done. We cut all the dead sod and weeds up and now have buckets of that waiting to be disposed of. Steve tilled in more sand and this last weekend we got all the new sod down. It looks so much better then our brown dead grass.


In between all of this I have been trying to weed every thing, the front yard is about 90% done and some with the back yard. Just want the yard to look good for spring time.
Not sure what our next project will be since we will be out of town 2 out of the next 3 weekends. Maybe we can finish our rain barrels and pain the front of the shed.

Winter Hawks Play Off Game

Last weekend Steve and I got to watch the to first round of the Winter Hawks playoffs, it was a combine celebrate for all the March birthdays on his side of the family. Both Steve and I has talked about wanting to go watch a Winter Hawks game but just never did, so we jumped at this chance. This was my first live hockey game.
The Winter Hawks won, with a final score of 4 to 0; the Winter Hawks are seed number 1 for the playoffs.
Over all I had a blast to watch hockey live, I would love to watch another game.

Goodbye Ugly White Birch Tree!

Today we got a massive project done! The project was to cut down our nasty overgrown, ugly white birch tree that’s in the front west corner of our house. With a little help from a friend and our neighbor we got it cut down within about 2 hours. Steve and I cut up the smaller branches and stacked every thing in the back. Dad’s utility trailer is over flowing with small branches that I personally cut off the larger branches, hauled and jumped in many of times to get it all to fit. I’m very trilled to see the tree gone, it was an eye sore that created a large mess and would not allow our grass to grow. All we have left to do if grind the stump and then come spring I can plant my little heart out. The plan is to add a lot of color and to cover up most of the dirt. Here are some pictures of our process.

Cross County Skiing

I never remember cross county skiing to be so hard, the last time I went I don’t remember sweating so much or so fearful of breaking a bone. This past weekend Steve, my parents and I went cross country skiing. This was Steve’s first time and the rest of us just had not gone for many years. The conditions we against us all day, between 45 and 50 degrees once we pulled in to the parking lot, bad snow with a thin ice layers over it and chewed up trails because of hundreds of snow shores (we only say one other cross country skier all day), with that all against we still had fun. We tried to go back down the easy way (open space and no trees) but the river cut us off so after sliding down a very steep hill side we had to climb back up. Further down the trail we were able to drop back down to the treeless open area, off went Steve and my Dad flying back down to the truck while Mom and I snow plowed, fell over and walked down with skis in our hands. While Mom and I walked, we were talking about wanting to try snow shoeing and to bring our dogs with us. So that’s our plan, try out shoe shoeing (Dad says he will still ski) next month.

Multnomah Falls

Steve and I like to avoid the falls on nice days since we all know that everybody and their brother goes out for a “hike”. So with that in mind, yesterday we set out for a morning outing in the rain, we wanted to check out how much ice had built up on the falls. We load up the boys and get all of our layers on and headed out, when we got there, there was just a light mist and like true Oregonians it’s not a big deal. We had not even made it to the first main viewing area and the rain just starts to come down. There was a lot less ice on the falls then expected. Due to the poor weatehr we only saw about 10 other person entire time, thankgoodness there was one other couple that come up to the bridge behind us, they took the pitcure for us. Here are some pictures of our wet day at the falls.