Pub Crawl III

Well we have both turned 30 now with great success. Here is our birthday invitation with memories captured from the evening. Good times!

It is that time of year... dust off your bike, hammer out those dents in your helmet, and bring an appetite for beer & slow-cooked brisket!

Please join us as we turn another year older & celebrate for the third year by biking around some of our favorite spots downtown Portland.

The tour de Portland will begin at New Old Lompoc at 3:00 to catch happy hour drinks. At 4:00, the party will travel 4 miles across the river (hopefully not by boat or car, but by bike) to Apex (1216 SE Division St. Portland, Oregon 97202).

At this local neighborhood bar we will enjoy their house made beers and outside seating. Next we will ride down the path to Hair of the Dog Brewing Company, 61 SE Yamhill Street. Meet us here at 5:30 for some more beer and delicious grub.

When everyone is full, we will move back to the Northwest to hit up Lucky Lab Beer Hall (Quimby and 19th) for some more beer and cupcakes. If you are meeting us here, we will arrive by 7. We will continue the night at a nearby hot spot or wherever our bikes may go. Look forward to seeing you at New Old Lompoc for the whole crawl or join us later at one of the other spots.

The family even came along! So fun to have Lindsay, Ford, Heather and Brian join us. How many bunny hops can Brian do?!?! Next year we will have to get our parents on the bikes. However, they did show up for the tasty beer and good food. Lastly, we hit up the Marathon. Oh boys, you are sooo strong! I hope someday I can see how strong your thighs are too!

Elementary friends..."Lake Grove is moving along, we sing our praises and songs..."

And yes, we are thirty and still having fun! Never thought I could still stay up to 3:30 in the morning. How does that saying go, "time flies when you are having fun."

4th of July

We had a great weekend celebrating our country's independence and Darcy's birthday up at Lost Lake. Of course, Grandma Dolores was missed but it is hard to not feel her presence in every part of the day; sunshine, delicious meals, sharing memories, giving thanks, waterskiing, playing cards, and even Ellie watching fireworks from grandma's bed. What a blessing to have a place that our family can come together to enjoy each other and get away from the day to day distractions. So thankful for a wonderful weekend. It's hard to find anything more exciting to take photos of besides these adorable kids.Uncle John Mark was exhausted after all his hard work in the yard. Papa Jack was still out working but his 'workers' needed a rest.Who wants to risk a burned thumb when you can use the microwave! Ha! Right Linds?!?
This moment only lasted 30 seconds but it was much enjoyed by EVERYONE! Grant is one busy-fast boy. Good thing he is just so dog-gone cute!

First for Everything

We had a great day up at Meadows trying out a new and cheaper sport...cross country skiing. I had to "train" for Pull, Pedal, Paddle. Let's just say, thank goodness I'm doing the cross country leg and not John Mark.

Grandma Dolores 1927-2011

Throughout our Grandma's sickness and exhaustive treatments, never did her memory falter. Even in her last few weeks we were able to reminisce about past memories. Right now, I can imagine us all being down at the lake house, sitting around our triangular table, eating a favorite salmon meal and listening to stories. Grandpa loved to tell stories and grandma of course loved correcting them. Some of my favorite stories involve a common interest my grandparents and I have…ADVENTURE! Grandma was an adventure seeker. I believe she lived by the motto: "there is no time, for down time." Her life was filled with many tennis matches, rounds of golf, skiing circles around the lake, carving turns down the mountain, traveling to numerous places, summitting Mt. Eleanor, and keeping a rapid walking pace that very few could keep up with... but don’t worry, even amongst all that recreation, there was always time for happy hour!

I wanted to share some advice I received that has helped me through my grieving process. A friend told me to reflect on an admired characteristic or trait of my grandma's. And to then incorporate that loved trait into my own life. I know there are so many people here today because my grandma exemplified many wonderful characteristics, so really finding that special trait can be a daunting task. However, after some time of pondering it was evident to me that I want to keep alive my grandparents love for adventure and my grandma's energy that always kept going...Although, I do remember when I tried out my adventurous side and died my hair brown. My grandmother, leaned over, asked me why, and told me that blonde's have more fun!

I'd like to think my husband and I are similar to my grandparents; we love to do the same activities, travel the world, and of course drink cheap wine…but we can only aspire to do those things with as much finesse and vigor as they did. Grandma, I will miss your bright colors, cinnamon rolls, and love for life…and like you said we blonde's do have more fun!

Never Been so Proud!

Who's more proud the wife or the handy man himself?

After John Mark's unfortunate idea of putting vegetable skins down the garbage disposal he was forced to pull out the instruction manual. After a laborious hour of tinkering around under there...the garbage disposal was fixed! I have never in my life seen him so proud of himself. Eureka!

Some Hawaiian Fun

This November, John Mark and I had a great trip to Hawaii with my family. Waikiki has done some great renovations in the past few years. I would recommend it. Wish we had more pictures to show the fun but the highlights include:

Sunshine, the beach, reading at the pool, hanging out with nieces, morning runs (minus JM not able to walk the last two days), Kona coffee, an island drive, the huskies winning their football game, shopping, yummy fish, and...
Of course the Mai Tai cruise! Here is proof the Mai Tai drinks were good.

Autumn

It's fall time in the Northwest with winter biting fiercely. Fall is a favorite season with it's cool mornings, dampness, color changes, and seasonal treats. It's not really those things I mentioned I like most about the fall, it's more the items you can use to battle those elements. Also, the tastes of those seasonal treats. Seasonal treat numero uno are these:

Pumpkin Pancakes. Kelsey and I made them one saturday morning. Then, when she went out of town, I was bored and made them for lunch. We just made them for family the day after Thanksgiving too. So good. Other seasonal treats, sticking with baked goods and pumpkin. Pumpkin scones. Pumpkin lattes are Kelsey's favorite this time of year. Butternut squash (Kelsey really loves these). Me...pumpkin cookies from Cougar Mountain...I love baked goods.

So, fall right. It's cold, wet, darker than summer. I love this time of the year to break out my beanies for my orange hair. I love wearing my ski jackets for the first

time, smartwool socks, and my boots. But, in all honesty I really just like racing cyclocross! From October to December...cyclocross unleashes it's 45 minutes (for me) of painful cycling pleasure. Once your done, you wash it down (your bike) with a garden hose and your pride (because you crash) with an IPA.

After doing this for 45 minutes it makes you want to do this:

Anyway, cross is wrapping up (kelsey is probably glad). So were getting ready for the Holidays. Their baked goods. Ginger bread lattes (I love these ones). Ginger bread cookies. Still wearing those ski jackets. Snow days. Ski days.

After a few of these:

I like to go to the car for beer and soup. Winter. Right around the corner.