GOODBYE JEFF!!!

We'll sure miss him, but we wish happy trails and good luck to Jeff with his new job in Texas!
Jeff was one of our partners in crime in Cancun, and one of Peter's partners in crime in Aruba... Needless to say, he knows far too many stories about us!
Some pics of the party...
Lots of eating (as always)
Lots of visiting...
It was SO good to catch up with some of our Vancouver friends!
L-R: Marissa K., Cody, AlyssaPeter & Tim talking Google talk... Justin & Jeff
Lots of cute kids...
Haakkin being shy - This is NOT normal! I asked if I could take his picture, and he defiantly said "NO!" and made this face. He smiled a perfect smile immediately after the camera flashed. Go figure!:-)Farewell Jeff!

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

And we had one! It snowed on Saturday... and stuck until today. Most has melted by tonight, but it was sure fun to have my first white Christmas!
We didn't have a "traditional" Christmas... that is, if there is such a thing! I just made a small Spaghetti meal, and Daniel joined us!
Daniel...Peter... xoxoxSpaghetti...Rolls...Salad & Banana Bread...Gram's olive dish!!! :-)
Finished product...Hope everyone had a Happy Holiday!!! Hugs!!

Weekend baking...

I baked yesterday and today!
Menu:
Butterscotch & Chocolate Sugar CookiesMini Pumpkin Bread Loaves - These turned out really cute!
Lemon & Lime Bars - Lemon is better... the Lime isn't a very strong flavor
Also, Peanut Butter Cups and White & Dark Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats (no pics)
The finished product... 5 baskets for our neighbors + lots of leftovers for visitors! :-)Something about the holiday season puts me in the baking mood! And it always makes the house smell so good! :)
Oh, and Happy Birthday, #49 to my pops!

Gram's Anniversary Gift :-)

We got yet another package in the mail the other day! This one was from G&G Clark. :-)
The past few weeks have been full of suprises!

Matching Olive ApronsOlive dish! This matches the dishes that mom bought us really well! It's darling!

Thank you Grams & Gramps!!!
Peter comes back from Seattle tomorrow, and I'm SOOOO missing him! He's been on a business trip...
I hear the coast is supposed to get 100 mph winds tonight and tomorrow... It's sure whipping around here - sounds like I'm in a wind tunnel right now! Our lights keep flickering... it's a little bit eerie!
Ok, I best get to bed before the power goes out! :-)

Anniversary #1 @ the Oregon Coast

We took Friday off work and headed out Thursday night for our weekend away. Spent Thursday night with Tom & Audrey, then headed out Friday afternoon for Lincoln City. Peter had rented a house on the beach for us to kick back in for a few days. Friday was beautiful... Saturday was a bit overcast, but we made the best of it by shopping! :-) And Sunday the sun broke through for a little bit. Typical coastal weather, but it was SO nice, and SO relaxing to have a long weekend together!!!

Mmmm... Beautiful sunset, Friday evening - Taken off our deck.
This is probably the closest he will ever come to being a cowboy! :-PMe - Same log, obviously this provided us with some entertainment for a few minutes. I love this picture! It's going to hang above the fireplace!!!Oh yes, and...

Hope everybody else had a great weekend too!!!

Ummm, I (the husband) had to add this since she (the wife)
didn't add the picture of my expression of love for her.

Happy Birthday to my Honey!!!

I made some Creme Brulee tonight for Peter's birthday. T'was my first time making it... and he ate it!! :-)
Look at that STUD!
Peter got flowers at work today from some mysterious girl, who claims to be "totally in love" with him... Hmmm...
Happy Birthday to you, my love!
And, out! Here's to another fantastic year!

Saturday Wanderings...

We decided to drive into Gresham today and shop a bit... (actually it was more of my suggestion and Peter was a good sport!) On our way back home, we stopped at Multnomah Falls... it's so beautiful right now. With all the snow we've had, there's A LOT of water falling!
It was 5:00ish when we stopped, so I apologize for the pictures being dark... the flash doesn't work so well from far away!

I edited this one to be black & white, b/c it makes the falls and bridge stand out a bit better...

It was REALLY cold... 36ish, with lots of wind...Brr...
Here's my hot hunny! The spots on this one are from the spray coming off the falls...

Tomorrow's our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!! It's most definitely been the BEST year I've ever had. I love sharing my life with my best friend.
Hugs to all who read this!

Birthday Presents!!!

From my Mom & Pops... (the plates)
I LOVE THEM!!!From Gram & Gramps Clark
TH Purse (can't ever have too many of these, right?!), Green Bean Casserole Dish w/recipes & Pic Frame!
Thank you!!!

I must get the next blog post ready... I'm getting behind! :-)

Presents from Russia!!!

We were hand-delivered (thank you Sherrie!) our birthday gifts today... all the way from Belarus!

The "Package..."

What was inside... Newspaper...

Thank you Tama!!! Pictures are my favorite and these books are full of them! :-)

SNOW!!!

We woke up this Sunday morning to about 5 inches of fresh snow! It 's SO pretty...

I like how the window silhouetted this picture

Down by the shed...

This one was taken after meeting, and the snow had stopped so some has melted, but it's kinda a neat picture of our little town.

Old woman

That's me. Officially old. I made the big two-zero today, and let me tell you, the aches and pains have begun. Or maybe that's just my food settling from Thanksgiving meal #2...? *Grin*
Here's a quick run-down of our weekend...

Thursday:
9:00am - Preheat oven
9:30am - Insert turkey
11:00am - Ongoing process of our VIP guest arrival begins...
12:30pm - Turkey's done (ack! a bit early)
1:00pm - 2:00pm - Chaotic kitchen frenzy
2:15pm (ish) - Eat... yum2:45pm - 7:30pm - Food settles, games, people talking all at the same time, dessert...
7:30pm - 8:30pm - All waddle to Sherrie and Loren's to see the progress of their home
9:00pm - 11:00pm - Back to our place, chat w/Geoff & Nat, hold baby Jacquie, play w/Kat
11:00pm - Happy to be in bed...

Friday:
Marissa - Worked (banker's hours aren't all they're cracked-up to be)
Peter - Well, here's proof that I married the most wonderful man in the world! You can only imagine the state our house was in after all the festivities on Thursday, w/much dishes to still be done, and tables to be cleaned, floors, chairs, etc etc. I came home from work Friday night to find: Dishes - clean. Floors - mopped. Tables - cleaned and put away. Chairs - cleaned and put away. Kitchen - spotless. And on top of all that... 7 loads of laundry washed and folded. Wow. How did I ever get so lucky??!!!!!!!!!!
5:30pm (ish) - Headed down to Wilsonville to stay with Mara and Steve for the night.

Saturday:
8:30am (ish) - Breakfast at Steve and Mara's... Happy birthday singing and yummy pudding pastries with fruit...9:30am - Head off to Dave and Sandra's for Thanksgiving #2
*copy 11:00-2:15 of Thursday's schedule*...more Happy Birthday singing, presents, dessert... and we're off to make the trek back home.

T'was a fantastic weekend, and sorry, this blog has become much longer than I intended... hope y'all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!

Check out our webpage for all the pics!

Thanksgiving Preps...

Tables set up for Turkey day... I think last count we were at 22-ish. The "ish" leaves this an open invitation, so if you can come, please do!
I was cordially informed this week that I will be the black sheep of my family... as they will all be in Yuma for Turkey, all except for me. :-( I do have a notion however, that as much as I will miss every one of them... that I will have a great time with my newest family!

More tables...

Gram, these leaves are from the dollar store..., you'd be so proud! Oh, and there are dried apricots from Tom and Audrey in the colander... snacks for Thursday!

Also, I made cupcakes tonight for the kids to decorate... mmm
I think that about sums up this Sunday evening!
Happy Thanksgiving to you all that I can't spend it with!

BIG NEWS!!!

Our grass is growing!!! And I am SOOO excited! They're SO cute right now... just little tiny green grasses... maybe 1/2" long... I can't wait until they grow up!!