Dozer, Deck & Apples (Not necessarily in that particular order)

~ Look ma, I'm DOMESTIC, can you believe it?! ~
Today, I decided to make an atrocious mess in the kitchen... I baked 2 apple pies, and 2 apple crisps. Mmm. My wonderful, sweet hubby peeled & cut all the apples!!!

Apple pie Mmm, look at all that carmely yumminess! (Apparently carmely & yumminess are not real words, but I think I'll use them anyway)

Apple crisp

Peter re-finished the deck on Saturday. He bought a cool new high-volume, low-pressure sprayer (aka: HVLP) that made the job a little bit easier than last year... hopefully this coat will stick better than the last! Ah, the joys of owning a home... :)Half-way done! It looks SO much better!Dozer - he likes shoes. At least he has good taste! :)And playing Tug-of-War with his mouse... He's pretty cute!

Our little Critter!

Meet DOZER... (short for Bulldozer)Here's his not-so-condensed story...
Dozer showed up on our doorstep on Thursday evening - meowing at the top of his little lungs. He was skinny and scared, but he quickly warmed up to us after Peter brought some food out...
We put a box out on the porch with his food & went to bed.
Next morning, no Dozer. :-(
However, later Peter heard a meow... then louder, Louder, LOUDER. After some investigation we found the rascal had wedged himself up inside the engine of Peter's '79 Ford. When Peter popped the hood, he darted out, and we spent the next 30 minutes trying to coax him back. After transferring him into the garage & lots of calming down & sweet talking I think he has decided to adopt us!
He's a sweet little kitty - maybe 4 months (?) old - but definitely has some security issues. He doesn't like to be left alone in a room yet, and has some terrible mood swings! (Great, another mood swinger in the house besides me - Just what Peter needs!)
Anyway - I'll think he'll fit in nicely - he's already won both our hearts!
He's beginning to relax with us...
Oh, and his belly is filling out quite rapidly! :-)

It's a BOY!

2.6 lbs
16 inches long
Thick Black Hair
Getting healthier by the hour!

We're EXCITED!

...Pictures to come soon!

Weekend Warriors!

This weekend, Harold & Opal Hurn stopped in for the night! They were on their way home to Boise from Boring Convention, and graced us with their sweet presence! We enjoyed a nice evening, and even sweeter morning with them.
Come back soon!!!

Jeff & Marissa's Wedding (the other Marissa)

This weekend, we watched Jeff McCormick & Marissa Kinman promise their forever to each other. It was a beautiful wedding!! They were married at Bethany's Vineyard in Vancouver, WA... Gorgeous setting.
There was a beautiful pond there... Table Decorations... Marissa had a Nautical ThemeAisle DecorationsMr. & Mrs. Peter Brown (it was sunny, believe me...)
Oh, and Dad, that's the dress...
Harpist
Cool get-away rig...
I shouldn't have tilted this picture, but I LOVE the sun reflecting off the lake...
Mr. & Mrs. Jeff McCormick
And they're off to their undisclosed location honeymoon!
Then to make their home in Texas...
Goodbye good friends!!! Come back soon!

Demolition Derby - 3 weeks late

I'm a little behind on my blogging - but I will attempt to use my "day off" to catch up. I love my priorities! Blog first, then work. :-)
Three weekends ago, we threw on our cowboy boots & hats, and bumbled on down to our very own Wasco County Rodeo - YeeHaw! Or rather, maybe a more accurate picture of what happened is, we dressed up in our city slickers, and rolled on over in our 4.0 to the rodeo. Actually, neither of those scenarios is very accurate -- none-the-less, I digress because what really happened isn't all that exciting.
This pink Caddy had by far the best driver out there. I also think that his back end was full of concrete... when the other cars would hit him, they'd just bounce right off. :) He placed #2 - only because there was a jerk... nevermind - long story. And, in my humble opinion, this driver was the second best out there. By the 7th round (3 heats that ran twice, then the final derby w/all the cars that were running) his little car didn't even look big enough for a person to fit in!
Lined up for the final demo!
The man standing closest to the camera (in the black) is the driver of the Pink Caddy - which ironically is on fire (actually, it wasn't ironic, but the word sounded good there). They halted the derby, the fire dept. came out and examined the car, and decided it wasn't bad enough to ruin the derby, so they continued.

Some footage of the excitement...

First Haircut!

Our grass got it's first haircut today! There are a few spots that we may have to seed, as the hydro-seed didn't take, but for the most part, it looks great!
We're in the process of re-finishing the deck. Last weekend we sanded the entire thing, and soon it should be re-finished... Then we'll have to go to work on the downstairs deck!

Property Search

In our efforts to find nice, level, scenic, water-sewer-power hooked up, not-too-far-from-town, acerage (we're not too picky are we?!), we made the trek out to look at another piece of property last week...
I must say, it's BEAUTIFUL land, and has a fantastic view of Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood from the bottom up, but unfortunately it has too many drawbacks to make it worth our money... However, we are recruiting for our area, so if anyone needs some gorgeous property, and has some extra money, come on out!!!

Flying 101

Here's proof of our latest and greatest adventure! :)
Last Saturday we decided to log our first hours towards getting our pilots license... And we're 39.3 hours closer!
I don't even know where to begin to describe it! Peter and I flew separately - we both flew Cessna 152's. They're a small 2-seater airplane. The picture below is of Peter checking out his plane. (I was so excited - and nervous - to fly that I forgot to take more pictures...)
Anyway, we were both surprised at how much trust they put into pilot trainees! They mentioned that you learn by doing it, but we weren't expecting to do so much on our first flight!
My trainer had me taxi down the runway - and let me tell you, I have a newfound respect for the pilots who can do it in a straight line! Then we stopped, turned the corner, and he had me take off! Wow. Amazing.
I flew for about 45 minutes. It's just SO BEAUTIFUL flying over the Columbia Gorge! (that would have been a good time to take a picture, but I was too busy trying to figure out which instrument was the altimeter so I could keep it at the altitude that he recommended!)
Then he described to me the specific flight pattern to fly back to the airport... and at about 1000 feet he took over and landed it for us. I taxied it down the runway again, and he told me to turn around, take it back up and this time I would land it! HA. Actually, by this time, I was getting sick to my stomach, as the descent back to reality was a little bumpy... so he said we'd do that next time.
What an experience though!

Sunset...

We have pretty sunsets here... you should come see! :)

Groeneveld Wedding...

We spent a good part of Saturday at Kevin & Laurena's wedding. It was a beautiful day - perfect weather and a beautiful setting!
Kevin and Laurena Groeneveld
Aisle flowers... prettyTable flowers... pretty also!
Cheesecake!
East side of the pondWest side of the pond - if you click on the picture, there are daisy's floating in the water...
Two brides, and One bride-to-be! Marissa, Sherrie & Amy
Our newest engaged couple! Chantry & Amy :-)
My sweet, sweet hubby!
And the CUTEST lil' smiley girl in town - Neena!!!

GUESS WHAT?!

GRASS! That's what!
The long awaited day has come... we were hydroseeded today!
They say in our hot weather that it will need to be watered 6-8 times a day for the first little while... (almost as much responsibility as a child, huh!) so cross your fingers with us that we'll see some sprouts soon!!!The dirt area will be paved - so there will be a road from the top of the property down to the shed and the lower deck.

Lucky ME!!

I just thought I'd remind the world that I've married the MOST wonderful man ever!
Peter stayed home today from work, feeling crummy, and when I got home the laundry was washed & folded, dishes done, kitchen CLEAN and the plants were watered and fed (their plant food).
I'm the luckiest girl EVER!

Marissa Kinman's Bridal Shower

Marissa's sister Tara Johnson and her Maid of Honor Niki Williams hosted a bridal shower for Marissa today... Their theme was a "flat shower." Marissa has already shipped all of her things to Texas (her new home w/soon-to-be-hubby Jeff McCormick) so any gifts that were given needed to be relatively flat so they could be packed in a suitcase...
The Bride-to-be!
I was thoroughly embarrassed at my bridal shower, so I sure wasn't going to let her get off with just cookbooks and recipes! I think she can compact this down pretty flat, don't you?!
Finger, flat-food! :-)Jeff's bachelor party was today also (Peter was the Coordinator). But the poor guy (Peter) is fighting a bad cold, and didn't feel up to going. :-( It's always fun to plan a party and then not be able to go!
Well, that's all folks... We have company this weekend, so I best get to being a good hostess!

I LOVE Ross!

I found these vases today at Ross when I was in Vancouver - Now we just need something on the wall... And maybe some tall grass for the floor vase. :-)

Fire... :-(

The HOT summer is setting in. There was a house fire about 3 blocks away from us this afternoon...
Smoke: this is what we could see from our deck - Bad news... Canon hose...
Gone... :-(Totally gone...
Rough day for a family...

Water Skiing!

Some of the friends that were in our meeting this morning kindly invited us to enjoy the sunshine with them this afternoon on their jet-ski! It was a beautiful day for it, sunny and LOTS of fun!
I LOVE this picture!
And, they're off!
It's been fun having Dellas! He leaves for home (Boise) tomorrow... (Monday)