Summer Highlights

Here's an update of our summer so far (not necessarily in chronological order):















Our house isn't pink anymore! It's a nice green color that we are very pleased with. This makes us very happy. Even better, we paid someone else to do the painting and didn't spend a week of our vacation time doing it ourselves. Totally worth it.





















Karl and Mucho Gusto (the Tucson women's ultimate team) came to stay with us for the Solstice tourney in Eugene. The ladies let me play with their team, which was awesome.














Then we went to Potlatch and Arthur and Liz played with us. It's super fun playing with old and new friends. It was also the first tourney Paul was able to play in for over a year! The 3 day Potlatch was great, but about killed me.
















We went to see our friends Lee and Enrique get hitched on the McKenzie River. Super fun wedding.















All weddings should have costume boxes.
















We also played in our first beach ultimate tourney. We rented a beach house with our team, cooked gourmet meals all weekend, and played on the sand. Ahhh...the life.















Jake had a blast on the beach and was amazingly cute chilling in his camp chair while we played.
















I went to Tennessee to see my newest nephew Riley and party with his brother Hayden. They are such cuties.















Paul's mom came to Oregon too, so we got to chill with her at Michael and Wendy's in Portland.















For my birthday back in June, Paul gave me a hemp engagement ring that he made himself. It is awesome. So now we are officially getting married someday. Where, when, and how is still to be determined...

Hiking in the dunes

It's been a gloomy Memorial Day weekend, but here are some pictures of our nice sunny hike out at the coast last weekend.















It was really warm that day, but the ocean is still really, really cold.















Hiking through the dunes is harder than it looks.




















Paul turns another year older today, so Happy Birthday Paul! Also congratulations to Karl and Wieke who got married in Tucson on Saturday.

Puplatch

Jake loves frisbees and is very good at catching them. But since he will be around a lot of frisbees that he's not allowed to chase, he doesn't get to play with them (although he does have a frisbee-like "flying squirrel" that he is allowed to play with and absolutely loves.)















But we broke the rules last weekend to take some pictures for our Potlatch bid.















Check out Puplatch 2008

Dream Shows

New Kids on the Block are getting back together for a reunion tour this summer! I became a NKOTB fan after riding a roller coaster with Jon Knight at Six Flags over Georgia. Technically I didn't ride the roller coaster with him, but I waiting in line for the very front car on the Mindbender when a group of people got to break in line right in front of us. It turns out it was Jon Knight and his crew of bodyguards and staff. Since Jon got the front car as well and we were the next people to get on, I was about 3 feet away from him and said hi and chatted about the coaster. My closest brush with a celebrity. Kind of sad, but it made me a fan. Since I became a NKOTB fan late in the game, I never actually got to see them live, so maybe this summer is my chance?

Indigo Girls are another group I've almost seen several times but keep missing for one reason or another. They are playing at the Secret House Vineyards outside of Eugene...on my birthday! Last time they played here (while we were at Potlatch), Danielle Howle was the opener. That would be awesome.

So now we get to see how deep Paul's love for me goes. Will he accompany me to the NKOTB reunion tour or Indigo Girls on my birthday? He will do almost anything for me, but these will probably be on his list of exceptions. I don't blame him either. If only I'd gone along to see Rush or System of a Down with him a few years ago, maybe I could convince him that he owes me.

If anyone wants to come along to help a girl fulfill two lifelong dreams this summer, let me know.

Enjoying the daylight

This weekend was one of the better ones I've had in a long time.















Paul's mom was in Oregon, so his family came down on Saturday night - prompting us to clean our house on Thursday and Friday. Starting the weekend out with a clean house is awesome.




















After a great visit with the family, we spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon outside. Instead of doing the yard work we'd been planning to do, we threw the frisbee at the park with Jake and then fired up the grill for the first time this season. Dinner was followed by a few dart games, a soak in the hot tub, and lots of hanging with the pets.




















Jake and Olive are getting along really well. She actually seems comfortable around him and is friendlier than I've ever seen her. Jake is a total sweetheart and so well behaved. We are so glad we found him. They are doing so well that we even got a picture of all 4 of us together yesterday!















This is what our summer is going to be like. Lots of hanging out in the backyard with these guys. I am so excited.

The fools were nestled all snug in their beds

A nice relaxing Saturday night at our house.

Jake and Team Church

This weekend we got a new friend. He is a sweet, 2-year-old blue heeler mystery dog mix named Jake.

















He was on Craigslist looking for a new home. I saw his picture on there and couldn't stop thinking about him.




















Olive does not consider him a friend yet. He has been very good with her, but as you may know, Olive is not always the most friendly kitty. She has at least stopped growling at him all of the time and will hang out in the same room with him seeming somewhat relaxed. Check out her huge eyes in the background.

The other exciting event of the weekend was getting to see Team Church. Rob, Jana, Jackson, Jonathan, and Ella (aka Marge) were in Oregon this weekend on their way to Boise. We met up with them and Lisa and Ken at Rob's parents' house in Newberg.















Jackson is super cute and so grown up















Ella and Jonathan are precious and such good babies















Taryn and Lisa love the babies!















Rob's parents were kind enough to babysit for a little while so we could all go out for dinner.















It was wonderful to see them again and catch up. They are such positive and down to earth people that they make having twins and a 2-year-old seem like a piece of cake.