Eric admiring the herb garden and drinking lavender lemonade.

Last weekend was AMAZING! Saturday was a beautiful day in Portland. It being a great day means you HAVE to enjoy the day outside. I mean it’s not often that good days come to Portland. After thinking about our options we decide to go out to Sauvie Island and just “check things out”. We’ve been out there before but never just cruzed around, checking out all the places there. So we decided to hit the road.

We drove all over the place and just explored. Of the many great places one that really caught my attention was the Blue Heron Herbary. I’ve never been to a Herbary so I wasn’t sure what to expect besides.. well herbs.There were a TON of them and the gardens were beautiful. I was blown aways by the hundreds and hundreds of herbs. There were several varieties of the same herb too. I think there were like 20 types of lavender. We bought a couple mint plants, just for mojitos, as well as lavender tea, pepper, and whole mess of other food items.

Kruger Farms for lunch!

After traveling over much of the island, we decided to stop at Kruger’s farm for a picnic. Eric had packed one before we left. It was so yummy. Eric made this great salad of jicima, tomatoes, cucumber, roasted corn, black beans, and I don’t know what else. Maybe he’ll post it on his website Grub n Glug. In any case it was terrific. The best was the avocados on it. After lunch we walked around the farm and checked out the place. I think we’ll go back when the berries are ready and go picking.

If you haven’t done so you should go to Sauvie Island! It’s super fun!

Hey there,

Just loked at my blog today and realized it’s been almost a month since I posted last. I bet you thought I dropped off the face of the earth. Well, no dice. I’ve been super busy… having fun. I spent the first week of April in Florida with Israel, Penny, Erica, and all their kids (Alex, Cade, Drake, Garbriella, and DJ).  In any case, Eric and I had a blast. We went to several of the Disney World parks. Rather than tell you about it here are just a few of the pictures.

Disney World Animal Kingdom Eric and I riding the rapids with the rest of the family in Animal Kingdom. Let me just say we rode twice and the second time I got SOAKED! Tons of fun! We took a safari ride and came across this rhino. Such beautiful animals out there. I love that they have tons of room to roam. This photo is a bit blurry but I have to say it was SO COOL to see a giraffe up close.

Medieval Times Eric and I posing by a Knight before the show started. Here's most of the group sitting in the green knight area ready to cheer him on in hopes that he wins. FYI, he was the evil knight. The green knight sitting tall and waiting to strike.

Disney World Magic Kingdom What a great start to the day. This is the entrance to Disney World Magic Kingdom. Riding the tea cups is one of my favorite things to do. This is a shot of Israel, Penny, and Alex. I'm in another cup with Gabriella. We were lucky enough to catch the parade and see Cinderella, Prince Charming, and the Fairy Godmother.

Sea World Erica, Israel, and Eric off to ride the Kracken roller coaster. I decided to pass and just watch them. I have to say this was one of my favorite things to do at Sea World. I could have stood there and fed the dolphins all day. I loved the Shamu show. Watching the whales was amazing. Interesting too that the trainers don't get in the water with the whales anymore either.

Pirates Much like Medieval Times but way WAY better. The pirates dinner was a blast. Eric sporting his pirate hat for the show. Israel got sucked in again, he's in the white shirt. He had to go on the pirate ship and walk the plank. Poor guy!

Disney World Hollywood Studios What could be better than a picture with "the man" Mickey mouse. Eric and I standing outside the Rockin' Roller Coaster. He was dying to go on this ride and got to go with Erica and Israel. Did I tell you I HATE roller coasters. Loved this. They had a whole section that was a faux New York city with a skyline and everything.

The trip was a TOTAL blast and one I’ll remember for a long time. I had such a good time with the whole family. Can’t wait for the next adventure.

As if my last post wasn’t long enough.. here’s the rest of the story.. er… summer. Can you say busy?

The middle of July Eric and I headed up to Deer Lake, near Spokane, Washington for a wedding.  It’s a long story but Israel and Penny are pretty much like family to us. Israel and Penny have triplets and a onelet all 6 or under. My mom has been there for them and their kids, since the kids were born. The kids even call my mom “grandma Crosier”. Gavin is Penny’s son and it was Gav

in’s wedding that we were going to attend. Israel and Penny have a cabin on Deer Lake that Gavin and Heather, his wife, decided they wanted to get married at. I don’t think I’ve even gone to a wedding on a lake before. I have to say this one was beautiful. Israel, Penny and Israel’s family did such an outstanding job getting it all looking beautiful. When Mom, Eric and I got there they were wrapping the trees with white lights. It looked gorgeous at night with all those lights. I have to say it was a lot of fun being there. I got to meet more of Israel’s family and get to know them better. I think the best was seeing everyone all dressed up. The boys in their tuxes and the girls in their dresses looked beautiful. I can’t wait for the next time we all go up to the cabin for another visit.

Helping Steph move and trip to Saturday market

Stephanie, a friend of mine and Eric’s has lived in downtown Portland since February. She lives in this great new apartment building, Cyan with her two black labs, Frodo and Kelly. I helped Steph move in and even helped build the many Ikea cabinets she used in the place. Early this summer, when the weather was nice, Steph, Eric and I hit the Portland Saturday market. I haven’t been down there in ages. In some ways the place hasn’t changed at all and in others, it’s not even the same place. In any case… we all had a great day there. Later on in the summer, we helped Stephanie pack up a pod with all of her things. She was moving to Austin, Texas. I have to say I was really bummed that she was moving, Steph and I get along great, but I was happy for her too. It’s always nice to turn the page in life and start a new chapter. Now she’s in Austin, loving it and enjoying her new job!

July Relay for Life

Driving to Othello today we passed this section of windmills. When I see these in the Columbia river Gorge it makes me sad. I can appreciate the need for clean wind energy but at the same time I find it man’s invasion into nature. I love the natural beauty of the Gorge and I feel that’s being lost. Make me remember that with every innovation comes consequences. The windmills as far as the eye can see is ours.

For the last three years I’ve been taking about a week off the end of July and heading to Othello, Washington (my home town). I go and hang out with my mom, visit with friends, and just enjoy being there for a time. This time was no exception.

I got to visit my friend Cyndee and her family. She and I had a great girls day in Tri-Cities while Ryan and Daniel went to the Puz’s so Daniel could play with his friend. Cyndee and I went to Tri-Cities and got a pedicures. It was so much fun. It’s not often that I get pedicures so it was a nice treat.

I think after that we ran around to a few other places and then headed back to Connell to work on dinner. Once we got back to Connell Cyndee and I chilled and chatted about everything from what’s she’s doing now, to old teachers we’ve worked with, and more. I miss being closer and visiting her more. I’m so glad she’s lovig her job and working in Connell. It’s great too that Ryan is working there iin town too, so much better than the trips to Walla Walla.

We ended up  BBQing for the night. It was so much fun! Cyndee was running the grill while Daniel and I were playing on his swing set, trampoline and soccer. Daniel is such a cutie pie and so full of energy. After dinner we headed to the pool so Daniel could go swimming. I decided I wasn’t going to goo swimming so no suit for me. I was so  surprised with Dainel. He’s walk up the four flights of stairs to the top of the slide. He’d then slide down. I couldn’t believe it. he’s only 5 years old and he just does it by himself. I would be totally freaked out if that were me. He’s just fearless! It was an awesome visit! Now I just need to convince Cyndee to bring Daniel down here for a visit. I think he’d love the Children’s Museum, the Zoo, and OMSI.

Friday July 24th was the annual American Cancer Society Relay for Life. I’ve been going every year for the last three years. Our team is a bunch of  teachers, friends, and family. I love the relay it’s such a great community event. Othello is a small town, about 6K, with a lot of heart. There are so many people that come out for this event every year. I’m always surprised at how many come out. I think we started out about 7pm with a few words from people that have survived cancer. One of those that talked this year was my mom’s friend, Kristi Spohr. She was actually my French teacher in high school. She did such a great job talking about her experience in finding out she had cancer. I stood there listening to her tearing up and thinking I should really go and get my mammogram done soon. After the talks those that have survived cancer did the survivor walk. It’s the first round around the track and done  by those that have survived cancer. It’s really cool because you see a sea of purple shirts walk the track. It’s neat, and yet bitter-sweet to see all those survivors. I know so many of them too. Some are even people I’ve gone to high school with. I’m so glad they’re survivors.

Every year we raise money and every year we try to do better than the last year. This year we raised $1,700 from our team, the Studs and Duds. I was so happy we’d done so well. I’m always happy if we make more than 1K, maybe next year we’ll make 2K. This year was a ton of fun too because “the kids” (Alex, Cade, Drake, and Gabriella) got to spend the night with us. I think they had a great time! I was proud of myself too because I walked 13 miles straight in the relay. I could have walked farther but I got a blister on my foot so the last 3 miles were hard.

Once the relay was over mom and I headed home. Saturday was a day of sleeping and relaxing since we’d not slept the night before. It was so nice not to do anything. Saturday night we went out to Penny and Israel’s place to have dinner and visit with the kids. I love hanging out there with them. The kids are so full of energy and just fun to play with. Cade had recently gotten a new goat so we went out to the pasture to see his new goat and everyone else’s goat too. We also got to see the new chickens.

Monday I headed to Ellensburg to visit with Eric’s parents.  I think it’s so great that we have such a great relationship. I love my in-laws, they’re the best. Tuesday I got to go with Julie to her book club luncheon. It was so much fun. I love Julie’s friends. We all enjoyed a great potluck luncheon and chatted about all things from books, to movies, to computers, to potatoes. I can’t remember everyone’s names but here’s a picture of everyone in attendance at the lunch. A bunch of great ladies.

Later Tuesday night Greg, Hollie, Miles, and Beth came over to Bob and Jullie’s to visit and play for a while  before we headed to dinner. I can’t believe Mile’s is going into 2nd grade this year. I think Beth has one more year before she starts school. I just can’t believe how much time has flown by. It seems like just a bit ago when they lived up the street from us and we saw them more often. I really wish we saw everyone more often but that darn work just gets in the way of it all.

I had an amazing vacation! I actually extended it to include Thursday and Friday so I could spend time with Eric. I was go glad I took the time off.