The Oregon Coast

We loaded up and headed to the Oregon Coast yesterday.  Ty and I haven't been to the coast for 8 years.  The last time we went there, he proposed to me on the beach.  It was a little chilly down on the beach, so we didn't spend too much time there, just enough to get some pictures.  We drove down the coast and stopped in Garibaldi where Alex saw some trains.  She is fascinated by trains, so we let her climb on them and took some pictures.  It was a beautiful trip and we can't wait to go back.

Oh how life changes....

Ty and I have always wanted to live in Oregon.  We have sacrificed the last 3 and half years living in places like Missouri and Illinois so our dream could come true.  We recently moved to Oregon  on New Years Eve.  We arrived to very wet weather, but were excited to finally be here.  We are in a small 900 square foot apartment with very minimal furnishings, anxiously awaiting the call from our realtor that we have an offer on our house in Illinois.

The journey here has been an interesting one.  We loaded up two adults, two kids, two cats, a boat and a truck and headed out  at 3 a.m. a few days before Thanksgiving.  We made it to Idaho where we spent Thanksgiving with family.  From there Ty travelled during the week and the kids and I were living with my parents.  I know all the grandparents were glad to have the kids around so much (even though it meant they lost some sleep!).  The cats are having a grand time exploring the acres of land owned by Ty's dad.  Christmas came early in Idaho and we went over to my parent's house and had tamales and rice and beans for dinner.  Oh and there was Marie Callendar pies for dessert, YUM!!  The kids opened lots of presents.   For Christmas we drove down to Utah.  We made a snap decision to leave earlier than planned due to storms and it proved to be a good decision...it snowed the whole next day-the day we were going to travel.  We spent the next week with Ty's family.  Alex was very excited for Santa to come and set out cookies and milk for him.  She was so excited to open more presents.  We then drove back up to Idaho for a couple of days.  We made another snap decision to leave on New Years Eve due to snow storms and since we couldn't find one of our cats (she showed up 30 minutes after we left) we left them in Idaho.

So that's how our life has played out for the last couple of months.  Below are some pictures from the holidays.

Voting

I was reading a friend's Blog last night and it inspired me to write this post (thanks Colleen).  A week ago Tyson said something to me almost in passing and it took me by surprise and made my heart swell with pride.  Our life lately has been one of chaos and I haven't had the time to tell him how much his comment meant to me.

As you know, last Tuesday was election day.  Tyson confessed to me that this was his first time voting.  He had an off-site meeting and cast his ballot during a break.  He came home to spend the rest of his break with the kids and I.  We talked about how each of us voted and then as Ty was walking up the stairs to go check his email he said  "you inspired me to vote."  It really took me off guard, I never thought that something I could say or do would inspire someone.  It really meant the world to me that he shared that with me.  It has changed the way I see myself.

Thank you sweetheart!

This election really brought out my passion for voting.  I don't care who you vote for, just go out and vote.  It honestly bothers me when people say they aren't going to vote because they don't like either candidate.  There is a line on the ballot that says "WRITE IN", you do have the choice to write in whom you want to vote for.  They may not win, but that's the  point of Democracy.  I took Alex and Logan with me to vote last week, firstly because I had to, but secondly so they know the importance of taking advantage of the wonderful right we have in this country to choose our laws and leaders.  As a woman, I find it hard to be apathetic about voting since 100 years ago, women didn't have the right to vote.  There were women who were willing to risk everything to fight for the right to vote.  Every woman owes them a huge debt of gratitude for their sacrifices.

I voted for Barack Obama.  He is the first presidential candidate that I have ever listened to that I truly believed he will do what he says.  I stayed up late to see if he had won, and I cried when they announced it.  The next day Oprah had a show about the election and there was a quote that I love.  U.S. Rep. John Lewis said "I felt that Barack Obama had been tracked down by the spirit of history and was aligning himself to be used for the common good."  For the first time in a long time, I have hope and I am excited to see what he will do for this country as President.  I hope that others will see what he has accomplished and be inspired to work hard and achieve their dreams.

I know that some people who will read this voted differently and don't share my enthusiasm about our new President elect.  I ask that you keep your negative comments to yourself.  I respect the fact you disagree with me and I would never say anything negative about you because of that fact.  Please show me that same respect.  

Halloween

This was the first year I took Alex trick-or-treating. Since Ty was out of town I went with a friend that lives down the road from us. Alex had a great time getting candy and Logan had fun riding in the stroller and watching the geese fly overhead. It was a beautiful night for walking around the neighborhood, a lot of our neighbors brought their fire pits out on their driveways and sat there handing out candy. Alex was a Notre Dame cheerleader and Logan ended up just wearing a festive shirt. You will see why in the pictures below.

I think she looks really good, maybe she'll be a cheerleader for them in 2023.

As much as Logan loves dogs, he didn't want to be one for Halloween.

So he wore a bat shirt instead.

There's a new Snaggletooth in town

For those of you who don't know, my nickname as a baby was Snaggletooth. This is because my first tooth was one of my top front teeth and it was the only one for awhile.

Well yesterday Logan had an accident. He is really starting to walk now and unfortunately missed the chair with his hands and got it with his mouth. He knocked out one of his front teeth...root and all. So I called the pediatrician on call and talked to a nurse at a dentist's office and basically he won't have a front tooth until he gets his adult teeth. We have to watch the other front tooth and make sure it doesn't change color and also watch for infection and swelling. He is doing just fine and is eating and playing and walking. Here is a picture of his new smile and the marks in the chair where his teeth hit...yes, that's how hard he hit the chair.

An Unexpected Harvest and More...

It's been a long time since we have posted to our blog.  So there are several different pictures of life events starting with the most recent.  Let me explain the title a little...we didn't see any blossoms on our trees this spring, nor any honeybees.  But low and behold in July we saw apples and pears on two of our trees.  We recently harvested our fruit, Logan loves the apples and we have yet to try the pears, they are still a little green.  But we thought we should pick them since it's been getting rather cold at night (much to the kitties dismay).  The cats have had a good hunting season as well.  They became outdoor cats when we moved here and have since killed 3 birds, 2 ground squirrels and 6 small moles.  We were surprised since they have been indoor cats since the fall of 2003.

This is a picture of the largest pear from our tree compared to what I think is a normal sized pear:

These next few pictures are some weather related pictures we have taken.  The first one is of a storm that came through in July.  It was so odd to see the bands in the clouds.  The storm proceeded to dump lots of rain and lightning and thunder on us.  The next is of the fog that started to rise off the fields this fall, it was pretty cool.  The "thing" you see in the backgound is a lovely water tower they were building in our view.  It's now finished and stands there in it's bright blue glory (growls under her breath).

We recently buzzed Logan's hair and he looks so cute...  Some additional summer pics are included as well...

Look at that Farmer's Tan!!!!

St. Louis Rams Training Camp

On Saturday we were trying to figure out what to do for the day.  I remembered that Ty had mentioned that the Rams had their training camp in Wisconsin.  So I ran upstairs and checked online.  Sure enough they had a scrimmage planned for Saturday.  So we hopped in the car and drove up to Concordia University where the Rams were holding training camp.  They had started earlier than what was posted online, so we didn't get to see a lot of the scrimmage, but we got to see enough.  Ty had a great time and took some really good pictures.