Staycations Rock

The weekend after we came home from Utah Jake surprised me with an awesome staycation. Thursday I was told that the next day after work I would need to be dressed in business attire and ready to leave by 4:30. He also said I would need to pack a bag to stay overnight away from home. I was totally caught off guard and had no idea what to expect.

I spent the whole night trying to figure out what we were doing, or where we were going and I came up with nothing! I love and hate surprises. Love because it is fun, but hate because I get all worked up and anxious about not knowing what it going on. So the next day I finished work at 3 and got ready in a hurry. I was so proud of myself that I was even ready before 4:30, then he tells me we can't leave yet. UGH! I just want to know what is happening.

A little after 4:30 our doorbell rings and a man in a suit is standing at our door. Jake gives him our bag and he takes it out to the towncar that was waiting for us. At this point I am totally and utterly confused. Jake tells the driver that I am being surprised so he decides to take the scenic route. I still had no idea what was in store. We drove around downtown Portland a little and came to a stop and the beautiful Hotel deLuxe. Even after we stopped I still didn't beieve what was going on.

The bellmen took our stuff up to the fabulous room. I was still taking it all in when Jake suggested going down to get a drink before our dinner reservations. The bar at the hotel was very nice and I enjoyed a nice glass of wine. Then we were off to the hotel restaurant Gracies for dinner. Oh my goodness, was it delicious!!! I was sad that I got full because it was just too good to stop eating. It was such a wonderful night.

The next morning we got room service and enjoyed an awesome breakfast in bed. After we checked out we walked around downtown for a little bit before heading back home.

It was a great surprise and a great way to spend the weekend before he had to go back to work again.

Bottom line... I have the best husband ever. Love you Jacob!

Thanksgiving 2009

I figured I better get this post up since we are now only a week and a half away from Christmas!

This was a Thanksgiving in Utah year for us. The last thing Jake wanted to do the day we left was get on a plane. He had just come home from NY a day and a half earlier after 9 hours of flight delays. But none-the-less, we made it to the airport and through security in record time. We got on the plane and thought perhaps our bad flying karma was finished. Not to worry though, about 1 minute later they announced that fuel had been spilled all over the wing and we were now getting back off the plane. Of course we were. An hour and a half later we were finally getting on a plane and pushing back from the gate. We were on our way!

After arriving in Utah (with our bags, yippy!!) we headed to the Leystra house to visit and play with the kids. It is always amazing to see how much they have grown each time we see them. Hard to believe they are already 3 and 4 years old.

My side of the family draws names for Christmas, so while we were there we decided to get those presents taken care of so we would not have to package them up and ship them later. This worked out great because the last place I want to be this time of year is at the post office!

Thanksgiving day came fast and as always there was tons of food to eat all day. Somehow we still had a full house for dinner even though the Leystra's and Jess were not there. It was a great meal and nice to share it with family. Another bonus - we actually got to eat turkey instead of chicken!! After the meal Sis and I pretty much lost our minds. While we did have a few glasses of wine, I don't think that can be blamed. I think we are just a little bit crazy. There was rolling around on the floor and about a million ridiculous pictures taken. It is no wonder we are still sitting at the kid's table!



On Black Friday, Jake and Mike went out fishing while mom and I headed out shopping. We decided to wait out the crowd and didn't go out until about noon, but I was still surprised at how few people were out compared to what I thought it would be. I got the rest of our Utah presents purchased and was happy to cross that off the list.

Saturday we met up for lunch with Brandon and Tab, who are friends from school. It was nice to see them and catch up. That night we were off to Sara and Michelle's new apartment for a little get together. It was a lot of fun to see friends, a few that we had not seen since we moved away from Utah 3+ years ago. Thanks girls for hosting and even letting us sleep over.

















Sunday we went to visit dad and Margie and enjoyed some delicious left overs. Sis, Bry and the kids came over as well to hang out. Xavier and Maizey continued the Leystra kid tradition of being bucket heads, though Maizey took it to a whole new level.
















It was a fun trip and we enjoyed seeing family and friends. Thankfully getting home was much less eventful.

Back to Blogging

This post is long overdue. Not a lot has been going on, but still a few things to report.

Last month I went to Utah for Mike's birthday. It was a quick trip as usual but it almost didn't happen. The joy of flying stand-by struck again. The first flight I tried was full and the second was a very close call. They opened and closed the boarding door a few times before they finally called my name! But I made it and it was fun to see family. I even got to have lunch with a few girls from KD. It was great to see you girls - Michelle, Lysh and Jami! Of course the main reason for the trip was the big family dinner for Mike's birthday. We invaded one of their favorite restaurants - Fratelli's. Here are a few pics from the event:


The first weekend in October we were invited to the Parker's house in Sutherlin, OR for a BBQ. Jake was not home yet so I rode down with Sandy and Wes. It was fun to hangout and have a good time with friends. We even had a blast from the past when Jonas found pictures from freshman year at USU when he, Jake and Wes lived together. Their new house is cute and made me want to buy a house; but alas, we will remain renters for now since we have a tendancy to move quite often!

Jake came home on Oct. 8th and that weekend we made another attempt to go to CA, since our last try was a bust. This time we actaully made it all the way there. Jake had fun duck hunting with his brother Zeke and they got a few birds along the way. The hunting pictures were the only ones we took, but it was a fun trip. Ethan even came up from Susanville to hangout with us. It was nice to relax and play games with family.


Jake was home for a couple weeks this month which was nice because I ended up having to go to Cincinnati for work for a few days. It was fun to be back in the office, but I was looking forward to coming home agian for Jake's last few days. He is back to island again now so I am counting down to Thanksgiving when he returns.

Well that is all the excitement from Beaverton for now.

Always an Adventure With Us

So another trip home for Jake has come and gone. For the most part we just relaxed and enjoyed getting to spend a couple weeks together. We had a fun night out with Wes and Sandy to celebrate Jake's fake birthday, since he will be on island for his actual birthday. We had fun at the Portland Zoo. Jake and his co-worker Rory went fishing. We went to see District 9. Our big excitement was going to be a trip to CA to see Jake's family over Labor Day weekend. In typical fashion it proved to be more of an adventure than anticipated.

We got packed and headed out on Friday. The car was full because we were taking many boxes of kitchen things for Jake's brother Ethan to have now that he has moved out to start college. Chugging along, and pleased that the traffic was not too horrible, we made it just north of the tiny town of Curtin, OR (3 hours from home) before it all went downhill. The car made a little jerky motion that felt like a tire had gone flat, so I pulled over and Jake took a look. None of the tires looked flat, so we decided to give it another go. A few miles later, it was still not feeling right so we took the next exit and found that what the road sign claimed to be a gas station, was actually just an abandoned building that used to be a gas station. We pulled over anyway and when Jake got out of the car he noticed smoke coming out of the wheel well in the back right side. Now I am not a car expert by any stretch but I do know that smoke is a bad sign! Out came the road side assistance card cause there was no way we could drive it again and had to get a tow. I am quite familiar with this process now, as I had to get a tow just a couple weeks before when my starter died!

By the time the tow truck arrived and took us back to Eugene (30 miles away) it was past closing time for most places and it was not looking promising for us to make it to CA. Amazingly there was a shop open so we stopped to see what they could tell us. There was nothing they could do for us that night, but proved that the owner operated stores care so much more than the chains. The owner said they would come in the next morning (even though they were supposed to be closed) to see if they could fix it and get us back on the road. As if this was not enough, he then called local hotels to find us a deal since we were stuck there for the night. To top it all off, the tow truck driver then drove us to the hotel so we didn't have to drag our stuff around town. The next day we got the sad news that the problem was worse than expected (broken wheel bearings and leaking brake system) and would not be fixed until after the holiday. Luckily our friends Jonas and Dohnele who live in Sutherlin were planning to go to Portland and they kindly stopped in Eugene to pick us up and take us home.

So the weekend did not turn out quite like we had planned, but that seems to be par for the course with us! I now have my car back and hope that it has got all the bugs out and will stop hating me now. I don't want to see it like this anymore.....

1 Week Down, 12 Weeks To Go

So I have started the P90X workout program and have successfully survived the first week. Well I am really only half doing the program because I am not following the diet part. I am too picky of an eater and really just don't like to cook for myself all that much. So I figured, why start a diet I will only fail at? That would just make me feel bad. So I am trying to eat a little better and doing the workout program. So far, so good, though it was questionable at first. These are serious workouts!! Tony (the leader on the videos) is kind of a tool, but it is inspiring me to get in shape so I can find him and punch him! Only 12 more (very long!) weeks to go.

Really not much else going on here in lovely Beaverton these days. Our friends Sandy and Wes moved here at the beginning of the month. Wes is working with Jake, so Sandy and I have been hanging out while the boys are out on island. We went to see Julie and Julia last weekend. It was a cute movie, but we learned a valuable lesson... when the ticket guy tells you it is getting kind or full, always opt for the next showing. We learned this lesson the hard way. We bought the tickets and figured it would not be all that bad. Wrong. We ended up on the second row! Movies look very different from that angle, and not in a good way! It was still a good movie though.

Jake will be home in a few day. Hooray! He will be home for 2 weeks this time, which will be wonderful. As usual, I have my list of honey do's for when he is home, but it is short this time, so there will be more time to get out and do fun things, including heading to CA to visit his family for a few days.

Well that is about all the news I have. I am sure there will be more exciting things to blog about when Jake gets back.

Sisterly Fun

A couple weeks ago Sissy and I went on an adventure to NYC to see our baby sister. She is living in Rye and working as a nanny for 4 totally cute kids (a 5 year old boy and 2 year old triplet boys!). Our plan was to take the all-nighter on Thursday so we could maximize our vacation time. It would be a novel, that I am sure no one wants to read, if I wrote all the details of the trip. So I will just give the highlights from each day.

Day 1, Thursday
- The first challenge of the trip was actually getting on the planes since we were going standby. I made it to SLC, step one complete. We enjoyed a wonderful parade of about 50 kids in full Scottish kilt attire while we waited for our flight! We both made it on the flight to JFK, even ended up in first class, step two complete! We didn't sleep too much, but that didn't matter.

Day 2, Friday
- Sis and I successfully navigate the train and subway and get to our hotel. It was too early to actually check in, so we left our bags there and wandered around the city
- Seeing Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, Garmet District
- We caused a scene when we had a celebrity sighting. "Oh my God!! It's him!!" I yelled like a total tourist when Matt Lauer was heading to his car.
- Finally checked into the hotel, changed clothes and headed for the train to go out and meet Jess in Rye. Along the way we had to transfer at Grand Central, and it was as huge as I had imagined.
- We had fun meeting Tanya (the mom) and the kids Jess watches. It is a cute little town with a claim to fame. The dock where they filmed Big is not far from the house Jess lives in!
- After playing in Rye we headed back to the city. We were staying on the 34th floor, and noticed that there was a "balcony" outside the window. Really it was probably just decorative as there was no door, but that did not stop us. Out the window we climbed. We enjoyed the awesome view, however, it turned out to be much more difficult to get back in without the heat vent to climb on. We made it back in after a lot of laughter, and I somehow was the only one injured. I am happy to report that my 3+ inch dark ugly bruise is almost healed now!
- Later we took the Staten Island Ferry out and back. It was awesome to see the city from the water and of course the great view of the Statue of Liberty.




















Day 3, Saturday
- Taking in the craziness of Times Square.
- A homeless man called me a lesbian! WHAT!
- Central Park! The park was huge and sadly there was no time to see everything.
- American Museum of Natural History. Again I was overwhelmed by the size of this place. Everything was awesome though. The two best parts were the Hayden Sphere (It totally blew our minds!) and the pterodactyl.
- Walking around after the museum we had our first real scare in NYC. Mugger? Nope. Car wreck? Not even close. It was a SQUIRREL and it fell out of a tree and just about hit Sissy in the head! We all almost had to change our pant cause we were laughing too hard. In retaliation, Jess later tried to kick a pigeon.
- We enjoyed a sweet treat at Tasti D Lite. As I had never seen it, I was informed that this is where the girls from Sex in the City go in the show.
- St. Patrick's Cathedral was amazing!!
























Day 4, Sunday
- Ground Zero. It was totally surreal to be there and think about how long it has been since 9-11. We walked around the whole construction site where they are building the memorial. They also have a memorial museum set up with video about building the WTC towers, items that were recovered from the wreckage, pictures and stories of those who lost their lives and letters of sympathy from people all around the world. It was very touching and I could not even begin to imagine what it was like to be there on that day.
- Many sights to see close by - New York Stock Exchange building, Federal Hall and Canal Street.
- Empire State Building. The view was awesome and we got there right before sunset so it got better by the minute.
- Back to Times Square at night to see all the lights.

























Day 5, Monday
- Guggenheim Museum. It was cool, but I discovered that I don't have nearly as much appreciation for art as Jess and Sis do. Go figure!
- Crumbs! Holy moly, this was the most delicious cupcake ever.
- Lots of souvenir shopping.
- Very long subway ride back to the airport.

It was such a great trip and I loved getting to spend time with the sisters. Sadly it doesn't happen too often anymore now that we live in 3 states across the country from eachother. I love you both! Thanks Jessie for letting us come visit. I took tons of pictures, so see more of New York City.

On Vacation at Home

Since most of my time in the last few months (and for the rest of the year) has been spent on an island off the coast of California, it does seem like I am on vacation when I return "home" to Portland. So, I am now half way through my 6 days off and decided to share a few photos from my last trip.

Although summer has set in on island and most of the vegetation is withering in the heat, the cactus are in bloom adding some great color to the landscape.

About the size of a small lap dog, the California state threatened Island Fox enjoys a nice foot rub first thing in the morning.

Our project is expected to continue through the remainder of the year, more fox pictures to follow. I am back out on Thursday, not to return until the end of August. Also, I will continue to add additional pictures to this gallery.

Florence on the 4th

Last weekend I headed down to Florence, OR to spend the 4th with my aunt and uncle. Jake was out of town and sitting at home on a holiday did not sound like fun. Since I had Friday off work I packed up and made it to Florence by about 2. We had some lunch and it was time for Uncle Larry's nap. So Nana took me on a tour of town, down to the beach and to Old Town to see many of her favorite shops. It was a cute little coast town with all the mom and pop shops along the river. We went back home just in time for cocktail hour. Their friend Rick came over and had a drink with us. At this point I noticed that my aunt and uncle are officially more "with it" than I am. Indeed they own a Wii, and I was one of the few people in the world that had not yet played. So we decided that it was time for me to give it a shot. As it turns out, the Wii is quite fun!! This was only the first of many times that we played. After a couple drinks and a bit of bowling action, it was time to go to dinner. We went to Waterfront Depot down on the river. It was delicious!

We were beyond full and it was almost bed time, but not before a little more Wii. Seriously, I think I might need to purchase one now!

The morning of the 4th was quiet, just breakfast and Uncle Larry washing the cars. We went down to the river to watch the duck race and check out the street fair. We enjoyed some lunch and it was back to home before the rest of the excitement. In the afternoon the Elk's Club was having a car show and dinner. There were a bunch of really neat old cars. After checking out the cars we headed in to the bar for a couple drinks. Sadly, we lounged around too long and they sold out of the dinners. So it was on to plan B, the restaraunt/bar in the same parking lot. Turns out they were closed for the holiday. Plan C was finally the winner - Jerry's Place. This place did not see us coming! Little did they know that Nana and Larry (in their 60's/70's) could be such a wild bunch. A few drinks later it was Keno time, and Larry won big, so he had to ring the bell and buy a round for the bar!

We met quite a few friends that night. There was Jimbo the Chef and former mayor of Cold Bay, AK. Kimmy, who told Rick he was not her type, but who took quite a liking to Nana, and a couple fishermen who enjoyed a shot that was on fire! Needless to say we had a good time. After all the fun could be had at the bar, we headed home. Even though it was getting late, we decided to bust out the dominoes. Turns out that I also quite enjoy dominoes!

We did not bother trying to see the fireworks that night because it was going to be very crowded and the fog had rolled in so you would not be able to see much anyway. Overall it was a great 4th.

Sunday it was time to go back to the real world. I hit the road around noon and was taking the coast highway home to see the sights. I stopped a few times to take some pics of the view, and then was on the road. Unfortunately, everyone else and their brother were also heading home and had decided to take the coast highway. It was stop and go through all of the little towns, but I figured it would pick up when we turned inland. Wrong. It slowed all the way to a stop instead. This provided a lot of time to take pics of the mountain we were driving up. It also settled it that my next car would be an automatic. Stop and go traffic all the way up and then back down a mountain sure does wear out your leg! What was supposed to be a 3.5 hour drive turned into a 5.5 hour trek! But I made it.

It was a great weekend and I enjoyed spending time with Nana and Uncle Larry. From now on I will take I-5!

Here are more pictures from the weekend.

More Pictures

Nothing too exciting, but I finally posted more pictures from our trip.

I also added a few from our camping trip a few weekends ago.

Enjoy!

A Year Already!?

Hard to believe that it has been a year since we were in Tahoe for this. It has been a great year full of changes. To celebrate, my wonderful husband planned an Oregon coast get-a-way for us. We left Friday and headed west, stopping in Cannon Beach for lunch. It was such a cute little town with lots of shops and eateries along the main road. It was just a pit stop though as we had to get to Manzanita before 4 to check-in. This was an even cuter and smaller town (actually called a village). We checked-in and headed to our rental house. Isn't it so cute!!


It was a two bedroom with a great kitchen and a hot tub! A wonderful place to get away from everything and not worry about kids being loud in hotel halls or splashing in the pool. We got unpacked and headed to the beach. It was definitely not laying out weather, but it was still the beach.The next day we headed out to Nehalem Bay State Park, just south of Manzanita. It was a very cool park. Not every day you can see the ocean, a river, beach grass and a forest all in one place. We had fun walking around on the ocean side and then decided to head to the bay side of the park. Wandering down the beach on the bay we saw a bunch of elk, deer and racoon tracks but sadly no animals. We thought we would walk all the way around the bay and get back to the ocean. But after quite a while walking we decided it was farther than anticipated and turned around. After a quick picture by the bay we got back in the car and headed to another state park nearby.
Oswald West State Park was another great adventure. This time we got to hike around in a forest and see a waterfall going down to the ocean. I could not believe the size of some of the trees there, they were huge! This beach turned out to be a major surfing spot and there were a ton of people. We walked around a little more and went back to the house to get ready and head to dinner at the Terra Cotta Cafe. It was delicious and the homemade cake was amazing!

Sunday we made our way down to Tillamook. The first stop had to be the cheese factory. The building was massive and I could watch them make that cheese all day. After Jake peeled me away from the viewing window we went back down to the sampling table to try out the cheeses. I love cheese and this did not fail to please. Of course we could not leave without grabbing some ice cream too. Wow! That is all that can be said about it. If you have the option to eat Tillamook ice cream, don't pass it up.

Our next stop was the air museum. This was a really great find. It is on an old Navy base and the whole museum is in an old WWII blimp hangar. The building is massive and makes the planes inside seem miniature in comparison. There was a little theater where they showed a movie about the building and how it was built. They had TONS of war time items, everything from uniforms, radios, service awards, and pictures. And of course planes, some of which are still in flying condition and others are just for display. It was awesome to see all of the planes and read the stories about where they were used.

























After the museum we ventured back to Manzanitza for our last night of vacation. Nothing too exciting, just relaxed and enjoyed our time away from home. Monday we got up, packed up the car and headed back to Beaverton. Again we stopped in Cannon Beach, but this time it was to see Haystack rock. The name may not sound familiar but I am sure most people have seen it before. If you have seen the movie The Goonies, you have seen it! It turned out to be pretty good weathter too, so we walked along the beach and watched all the Puffins who nest on the rock fly around.


One last stop at the candy store in town for some salt water taffy (yum!) and it was on the road again. Our anniversary celebration was rapidly coming to an end. It was a fantastic weekend and I was very sad for it to be over. I have an amazing husband! Love you Jacob! Here's to another new adventurous year.

The deepest lake and a not so little brother

Once again we have failed to update the blog in a timely manner, perhaps I should write myself a note as a reminder..... Anyway, way back at the beginning of the month (June 3) we journeyed south across the state of Oregon and back to my home turf of Northern California. On our way I decided we should stop in and see Crater Lake National Park, as Kari had never seen this beautiful landmark. I had not been there myself in years and never this early in the season, so it was a treat for us both. We also came in the north entrance, which was new to me as well, and got to see a little different view of the park.

The lake was gorgeous, as always, and the views breathtaking. One thing had slightly slipped my mind however.....high elevation mountains in early June still have PLENTY of snow (only slightly because I did call ahead about road closures/conditions). Not that this was a bad thing, but WOW, there was lots of snow up at the lake. The snow added a unique aspect to the panorama and gave us an experience most people do not get when visiting the park. Due to the abundance of snow, the entire east side of the park and the hiking trails were all closed. So we just enjoyed the views from the rim, checked out the lodge and its small educational display and then continued on our way.

We made it my parents place that evening and enjoyed a nice visit. The next day Kari and I went with my Dad to work. I wanted to show Kari some of the remote areas of Northern Nevada and possibly get her first sighting of a free roaming wild horse. We were not disappointed, as we saw many wild horses. It was a nice day spent with family enjoying the sights and returning to an area where I had spent so much time.

The entire reason for this trip was my youngest brothers graduation from high school. Ethan graduated that Friday night at a ceremony moved indoors do to the threat of rain, which turned into a nice lengthy shower. Now all the boys have graduated and soon the parents will have an empty nest.

We had a great time visiting family and exploring new places. Next stop....the Oregon Coast.

We Heart Visitors!

It's true. I love when people come to visit. Our latest visitor was my mother. She was on vacation and I had a week off of work thanks to our lovely economy and the required furlough each employee is taking this summer. So the obvious solution was a trip to Portland. It was off to a rough start when mom called and said the flight was delayed. Thankfully it was only about an hour before she called again and they were on their way. It was going to be a short visit so we started in on the fun right from the airport. We headed downtown for lunch at Baja Fresh and then a little wandering around, where we found an elephant in a park!


Then we wound our way up the hill to the Japanese Gardens. We had never been there before so it was a new adventure for all. The drive to the garden was beautiful and we had only made it to the parking lot. The grounds were even better and it was a beautiful day to be outside. The view from the first stop in the garden was of dowtown Portland with Mt. Hood in the back.


There were many statues, sculpted plants, sand gardens, ponds and tea houses throughout the 5.5 acres on the Portland hillside. It is a great find and I am glad we went to check it out. More pictures here.


The next day we were off on a self guided wine tour. I know, I know, it seems like all we have done here is drink wine, but there is just so much of it around that you can't avoid it!! We made stops at many wineries - August Cellars, Rex Hill, Duck Pond, The Four Graces, Dobbes Family/ Wine by Joe and Argyle. As the driver I was only tasting the ones that Jake thought I would like. But mom and Jake found many that were good and a few that were not so great, but it all depends on your taste. The last stop at Argyle was a little different because they took the "bubbly tour" of sparkling wines. After a long day of touring we headed home to relax a little before going to dinner downtown at Henry's.



The last day was pretty low key. Mom and I went shopping and out to lunch, just hanging out. It was a quick trip, but we had fun. Thanks for coming to visit, mom!!

Seals and Sandstone

Back again! Yes indeed, I am back from my latest travels and home now for a few weeks. Our current project is located about 60 miles off the coast of Southern California, on one of the Channel Islands. This trip was a short two weeks, spent preparing our living quarters and getting the details worked out for our project to get underway. This island seems like five-star accommodations compared to others as we have a bunk house, kitchen and shop. The terrain reminds me of the southwest, with lots of exposed sandstone and a semi-arid environment. It makes for some great photo opportunities and some challenging hiking.


Once again I had some pretty good National Geographic moments, this time with Northern Elephant seals and California Sea Lions. What characters they are! I have added my latest pictures to the slide show, enjoy. Our work there will continue through the rest of the summer, so more pictures and stories to come!

Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day and a time to remember those who have served our country. On my way to the outlet mall this weekend I noticed a sign for the Oregon Korean War Memorial and decided to stop and check it out. The memorial was very neat. It is outside at a park in Wilsonville, just south of Beaverton. There was a wall with names of Oregonians who lost there lives in the Korean War, as well as stories and other facts about the war. There was a man there also looking at the memorial and came over to talk to me. He told me about how he had served 10 months in Korea and it brought me to tears just listening to him talk about it. Every time I hear a story about a soldier I feel truly grateful for those who have and are currently serving in the armed forces. I can not even imagine how the families feel who loose someone they love and I am lucky to have never lost someone. We live in a truly great country and take many things for granted everyday. I am appreciative to those who are defending our freedom and realize that I do not think of them enough. Thank you to all soldiers all over the world. This day is for you.

Pictures of the Memorial.

Birthday Celebration and a Trip to St. Louis

Last weekend I was invited to join a birthday celebration for Scott (husband to Erin who works for UPG). He was turning 30 and Erin was planning a surprise for him. Another friend, Hailegh, is a member if Willakenzie Estate and they were having a members only event. So Erin arranged for a limo to take us to the tasting event. Scott thought they were just meeting Jaime and Doug for breakfast and was very surprised when a limo was out in front of their house and Hailegh, Brad and I were inside waiting. We all enjoyed champagne and mamosas on the way to the tasting. It was a gorgeous day in the 80's, perfect for enjoying a winery. After we went through the tasting stations we headed out to the deck and set out all of the snacks that we had brought, as well as a bunch of wine that we purchased. A few hours later the limo came back to pick us up and take us back to Erin and Scott's house. We had some delicious cake and then decided to walk to the Mexican restaraunt down the street for some dinner. Overall it was a great day of celebrating.

The next week I was off to St. Louis for an HR meeting with work. All of the managers from the different UPG locations came together to discuss benefits, policies and other HR issues happening at the locations. Lots of HR fun to be had by all! There were a few exciting highlights to the trip:
- being on a full fare ticket - no standby!
- seeing the manufacturing of our products
- going to a Cardinal's game
- seeing the Arch

One of my favorite parts of the trip was seeing the manufacturing plant in St. Louis and the distribution warehouse in Edwardsville, IL. It was so cool to see how the machines work to make the products from start to finish. I could watch it all day. The warehouse was massive (660,000 square feet) and full of pallets of product. It amazes me the processes and machines that people come up with to make things run more efficiently.

After a day of meetings we headed out to see the Cardinal's. Getting to the baseball game was an adventure in itself. As a cost saving measure we rented a 15 passenger van rather than a bunch of rental cars to get everyone around. The biggest challenge we found was parking it in a garage! We cleared the limit by just a few inches and made our way to a parking spot as close as possible. As we started piling out of the van we discovered that we had been weighing it down quite a bit and our clearance was much less now that the van was empty!! We headed to the game and had a typical baseball dinner at the park. Even thought we did not stay for the full game, much to my dismay, it was a lot of fun. We headed back to the garage and found that getting the van in was the easy part. Now we had to go up a couple levels to get back out on the curving ramp! With 9 girls in the car, thus 9 backseat drivers, I am sure we will be renting seperate cars next time!

The next day we went to the arch before our dinner reservation in hopes of taking the ride to the top. Sadly, when we arrived we found that it was sold out for the rest of the day. This is really something they should tell you before you enter the parking garage. But we got to see it from the outside and took a picture in a replica of the cart you ride up in, so that was enough. I would love to go back though to see the view from the top. It was a good trip - productive business stuff and a little bit of playing tourist.

See winery pictures here. St. Louis pictures here.

All Caught Up

I think this will finally catch us up on the blog. A couple weekends ago Lindi came to the great state of Oregon for a psychology convention in Portland and had the pleasure of being the first to sleep on our couch. Since Jake and I were working during the day and Lin was at the convention (aka shopping downtown!), there was not a whole lot of excitement during her trip. We tried out a Mexican restaurant nearby and then just enjoyed a few adult beverages at home one night. Watching Step-Brothers was the activity the next night. Then came Sunday and the real fun happened. Lindi had never been to a vineyard, and since there are a few (dozen) close by we thought we would share the wealth. We headed to David Hill first and enjoyed a few samples. We each bought a bottle of the house white to enjoy later. There was another vineyard not too far away, so we headed down the road and found Shafer's. This was not a typical vineyard. In addition to the wine samples, they also had a large variety of jams to taste on crackers. There was also a room filled with Christmas decorations to look at. Mostly ornaments and things to set on tables, but there was every size shape and design you could think of, and more. It was a little too much Christmas for me (since I am a scrooge and all), so I wandered for a bit and then returned to the wine. We bought another bottle here and then headed back home.

The next weekend I headed to Utah for Jess's graduation ceremony. I still can't believe my baby sister is graduated from college!! I am so proud. Due to a little miracle I made it on the first flight. I greatly enjoyed the very short flight now that we are back on the west coast, it is no longer an all day excursion to visit family. Everyone was together at Bry and Leisl's house for a combo birthday (Xavier and Mom) and graduation party. Upon arriving at the house I was greeted by a crowd of mask wearers afraid of the pig flu. Sadly this was not documented on film. We enjoyed dinner, cupcakes, and just hanging out. After the crowd started thinning out we looked around and realized that it was just Jess, Sis, Bry and I in the room. Seeing as how this does not happen often, we decided it must be documented. Our first attempt was with Sis's camera in the cupboard on self timer. It was not too bad, but we tried the self portait style as well and it turned out pretty good.

Can you tell we are related at all?

There are no words!

The next day Mom and I headed to Logan to keep Nana and Uncle Larry company. Jess and Lindi joined us for dinner at Cafe Sabor. I also went to visit Jenny and Rob, and Amanda came by too. It was fun to see them again and catch up. Saturday was the big day, and of course it was raining. Everyone else arrived in Logan that morning and met at Kappa Delta. I then started the shuttle service getting the graduating girls, then the parents, aunt and uncle to the Spectrum so they didn't have to walk in the rain. The ceremony was good, and Jess and Lauren sat in back so the Leystra's would make it before she had to walk (Xavier had a soccer game that morning too). Lin and I headed down to the floor and played papparatzi during their walk.

Before the ceremony. Good job girls, it's official!

We went back to KD to take pics with the fam since it was raining. There are none here because really we just took too many. We had lunch, watched the Derby and then it was time to head back to SLC. Don't worry Lin, we will do this all again next year with you! Somehow I was convinced to go out to Liquid Joe's on my last night in town. I had never been before, and all I can say is it was interesting. I had some fun and the people watching was excellent, but I am glad that is not an every weekend experience. It was great to see the fam and friends that I had not seen in a while. Congrats again Jessie, we are all very proud!!

Playing Catch-up

We have fallen behind on our blogging, so this is my attempt to abbreviate the last few weeks and catch-up to the now.

My first weekend home, Jonas (my college roommate), Dohnele and Emma Parker came up from Sutherlin, OR to visit. We hoped to do some shopping with them and then go to the Portland Zoo, however the rain prevented us from making it to the Zoo. Instead, after shopping at IKEA, we went to Multnomah Falls in the rain....go figure. Even with the rain it was still a great time and very pretty. Afterwards we decided to check out Powell's Books downtown, which is a ginormous (yeah that is officially a word now) book store. This place was impressive! So large even after we all split up for an hour we did not cover the entire store! We were happy to have the Parkers and hope they will come visit again.

Jonas and Dohnele with their daughter Emma

The next weekend Kari and I made the drive south to visit my parents in Alturas. My brother Zeke came up from the valley as well, so the parents had a full house for the weekend, with all their boys back at once. It was very nice to see the family and visit with everyone, even though it was a short weekend trip.

Kari and I decided to explore a little this past week and take a hike. I picked a rather easy hike in the gorge that leads to a nice overview, however before we left I realized the storm moving in would obstruct the views. Instead, we went to a nearby state park called Molalla River and walked the trail system there. It was nice to get outside and we practically had the trails to ourselves. The trails mostly paralleled the Willamette and then the Molalla Rivers, where we saw some waterfowl and plenty of deer tracks. This park is supposed to be home to the Willamette Valley's largest blue heron rookery, so we will have to return when the birds are there. All in all, a nice easy walk through the woods and along the rivers.

I told her we were lost in the woods and this is what I got.