Lots O' Pictures!

So, here are a bunch....and I mean a bunch of pic's from early Aug. when Dave's brother's family came out to visit us. I took a bunch but here are the one's I liked the best. Enjoy!!!

Where Have I Been!!!!

Well folks....I'mmmm Baaaack! I can't believe how long it has been since I posted last. Since the middle of July we seem to have had one thing after another....A trip to Astoria, Or., Dave's brother's family came to visit us from the Midwest, Sarah's bday, A trip to Seaside, Or., Camping trip, Amanda started school...and I'm sure there was more I just can't think of it right now. I just hope I can get it together to post more often.

Our weekly schedule has left me breathless for the past month...but now that we are getting into the routine, I'm beginning to catch up on things....as least that was the case until Thurs. :0) We have a fridge in the garage that decided to crap out on us. So, on Thurs. Dave picked up a "new" one for us for $25. Well, it turns out that that fridge is now going to cost us well over $100. You see, I was trying to help Dave unload it from the truck and it kinda landed on my foot, Badly. So, we took a trip to the ER for X-Rays and I may have a bone chipped off. They aren't sure, so I have to have x-rays taken again on Wed. So, in the mean time, I have to stay in a splint and off of it for a week. I don't think it's broken, because it just doesn't hurt enough. It does ache REALLY bad but I would think that it would hurt more if it was truly broken. I guess we'll know more on Wed. It's ooh so fun going up and down the stairs on crutches. Sometimes it's just easier to crawl. :0)

Another thing I've been trying to do is get a photography business started up. I have been practicing like crazy and will post those here as they happen. I practice mainly on my own kids and they are sooooo over me asking them to help me. But, I plan to take some family photo's of some friends and this past week I took some pregnancy photo's of a friend whose due in Nov. So, it's been very eventful around here.

I mentioned that Sarah had her bday....No. 2! Where has my baby gone?!? She is the cutest little thing and I would like to share some of her bday pic's. Enjoy!

Happy 40th Babe!

I am such a bad wife...or just a very late one...all the time. :0) Sorry it's taken so long to post this...but....Happy Belated Birthday Dave.

We celebrated Dave's 40th Birthday this year and here are some pictures from that party. Boy what a lead up to the party, too. Let me tell you this party was very close to being a no-go. For starters...I hate planning parties...I'm just not good at it. Another problem was that Dave didn't really want one....but some friends...and you know who you are...pressured me into throwing a surprise party for him. Well, as you will see, it turned out great and we had a wonderful time.

But it wasn't easy getting there....One of the hardest things was keeping it a secret. I spent the weeks leading up to the big event secretly getting invites out while Dave was out of town. Then, the weekend before, we were going to have a family dinner to celebrate his birthday. I felt this would throw him off a bit and that he wouldn't suspect the real party to follow. Well, that got blown to pieces when our youngest daughter got a terrible stomach virus and ended up not only giving it to the rest of us, but put herself in the ER as well. Poor kid was throwing up for a week and couldn't hold anything down. So, we had to cancel the family party...I thought we were going to end up canceling the whole thing....but I avoided that until the last minute.

The next part of my plan was to get Kevin and Angi to "invite" us over for dinner on Sat. evening. The only prob. was that Sarah was still throwing up. So, I told Dave that we should have Mom watch Sarah so that Amanda could get out of the house and play with Erin. I have a feeling that was a huge give away to Dave. I would not normally suggest something like that, but I was desperate to get him to go. He says he had a few suspicions, but wasn't sure until we started driving up the street to where the party was being held. We could see the back of the house we were going to, as it has a wonderful upper deck with a view of the entire valley. So, naturally everybody was out standing on the deck looking at the view when we started driving up the street. You would think that when an invitation says "Surprise Party" on it, you wouldn't be standing out, visible to the only street we could drive up to get there. Oh, well....Dave looks at the house and says..."So, are there going to be a lot of people at the party?" Gotcha or should I say Got-me!

I was sweating bullets the entire week before the party, thinking I was going to be able to keep it a surprise, but it didn't quite work out as I had planned. But, as you will see, it turned out to be a fun time.

We were eating out on the drive way....

and in the garage....which was perfect, by the way. It is huge and out of the wind, and the kids can spill on the floor and nobody cares. :0)

There's the birthday boy with my brother and dad and a friend of ours...Mike.

Here are some really good friends of Dave's, Terry, and Sue. Terry went to school with Dave and Sue "adopted" Dave when he came to work in her office.

Dave and Amanda blowing out the candle.

I'm so glad I caught his expresstion here. What could be causing such a look on his face? You wonder.....

....two bottles of Western Salad Dressing. Yes, you read that right. We can't get that kind out here, so when his friends went back to the mid-west to visit family, they brought it back for him.

I don't think you're over the hill Honey!

Oh, wait...with those glasses on...you look over the hill. Tee-Hee!

You may be wondering about the Red Sox t-shirt...well, when Dave worked in the same office as Sue, they would bet each other that their favorite team (Dave's-The Twins & Sue's-The Red Sox) would win...then whoever lost would have to wear the t-shirt of the others favorite team. So, she got him a Red Sox shirt.

After a bit of beer they broke out the dice table and the bets were on.

Some won quite a bit. Yay, Sue!

Even the kids got in on the action....we are such good role models. :0)

We had so much fun and Dave really enjoyed himself with everybody. We have such a wonderful group of friends and can't thank them enough for making this such a special day for my special man.

Baby Beauty Shop

I snapped a few shots of Sarah doing Big Sissy's hair. She didn't quite figure out how to get the barret to stay in but she sure tried. I'm so glad I caught this, because I just know someday they may not be as cooperative with each other as they are now. I'm amazed everyday at how well these two play together. I hope it lasts.

Bubbles, Bubbles everywhere!

I took the girls with their new bubble blowing guns up to a friends house to play. As you will see they had a great time chasing and shooting each other with bubbles. Boy, I wish they had these when I was kid, I might not have hyperventilated so much. :0)