"part 2................Strawberry Parade!"

So we made it back into town to watch the Strawberry Parade in Lebanon. After all, most of our family was in it at some point.
I only had to move 2 baracades (good spot Donna!) to get us into a parking spot.
We decided to leave our numbers on and Nicole should wear her metal.............all day....... We found all kinds of random family members! (I guess my brother-in-law isn't too random of a person!)

We were tired and hot and hungry and finally kicked some kids off the curb so we could sit down...and wait...........and wait...........and wait. Are you sure we are at the right parade? We haven't seen any of our family!!!!!!

Still waiting...........but I love these old guys in the crazy cars..............

Oh.....................finally!!!!!!! We spotted the pink tractor (my aunt Sherri is driving.......and it really is HER tractor.........really...............)

And there is my Aunt Michelle! Oh......and my mom.......(carrying a baby??) Who's freakin' baby is that? (later we asked her if it was a real baby or a fake baby................Baby was real.)

And there is my son Tyler!!!! He "heely-ed" the entire parade route. Passed out candy and had a blast.

Really........who owns a pink tractor????? (who owns a tractor?) Only someone in my family. Sherri looked cute up there!

And my cousin Angela.........she looks like she is at a rock concert! (actually the float /tractor etc was thru the Lebanon Hospital Birthing center where she works....). ROCK ON!

More waiting and we finally see my nephew Gunner!!! Yay Gunner!!!!! He had quite the fan club when his float went by (us of coarse!)..........and I noticed something when I looked back at this picture.....There are only 2 guys on this entire float (FFA) with a bunch of girls? Yay Gunner!!!

I'm going to blame his fashion sense on his father........

The hat came in handy later at the mexican restaurant...........and the shinannighans continue...

We were so hot and tired and thirsty...................we all went out to eat (and have margaritas)..................

And I really don't even know what to say about this picture...........................

I will just leave it at that..............

We had a fabulous day. Saw so much of our family and whooped it up. And got to spend time with the kids..........good times.

"a mis-calculated bike ride!"

My friend is training for a half marathon. So I'm kind of the support/search-and rescue team. So I suggested if she wanted to run, I would ride............................
I sent her a text. "Ok........let's meet at 5:00 and we will go." I get to her house and she said "I need to run 8 miles today.".........I say...."ok, great........let's ride out in the country so their is less traffic." We ended up going 10 miles...............hahahahaah.............these are real cows. This looks like a fake background. Trust me........it wasn't. That was about mile 7....................

The road to nowhere. We may have taken a wrong turn...........all the country looks the same. I finally got my bearing and we found the car again. My butt is a little sore! But we had fun! And I did a 5k yesterday.........what is wrong with me???????

"Memorial day remembrance..............."

Today is Memorial Day.
A day of remembrance for all that have passed.
Yesterday we decided to decorate the graves of our relatives. We went as a family and Grandma and Grandpa Mary went too. I wanted to explain to the kids that it was out of respect and remembering those that we miss so much and have passed..........We headed up to Scotts Mills where LeRoy's grandma Maxine is buried. We cleaned up her headstone and put flowers on her grave........Grandma Maxine. (Scott's Mills Cemetery).

We headed back to Lebanon. Grandma Mary (LeRoy' mom) had twin boys that died at birth. Richard and Richey. LeRoy's twin brothers. We had grandma and grandpa give our kids all the history of their family that were buried there. Alot of family on boths sides buried in IOOF in Lebanon. I know my Grandpa Mac is buried in Buena Vista, but not sure where. I need to find out so we can honor him as well.

Grandpa Stenberg in IOOF cemetery in Lebanon.

My grandma Brant and Grandad's grave. IOOF in Lebanon.

(Nicole looks all little morbid with the hood, but it started raining so I will give her a break!)

My mom and I am assuming her sisters where their earlier in the week. In true Grandma Millie style her grave was all decked out complete with twirlies!

Grandma Marge. (LeRoy's grandma). Riverside Dr.

Was a good day to reflect. About what's important, and what's not. That people come into your life but can leave someday when you're not ready.

"where's Donna?......."

Like an episode of Where's Waldo? hahahaha.........
My sister and I have become quite close in the last year. Which makes me extremely happy! And being sisters, we are WAY more alike then we would like to admit!
We think alike. Like the same foods. Have most of the same hobbies. Love a good bargain! (sometimes will buy the same greeting card in a totally different store!)
So Saturday morning goes like this............(we text each other alot....it doesn't really matter who the text is from because we both think the same!)............"Good morning"................"have you walked yet?"..........."yes, just finishing up" (this one is actually my sister cause I have rebelled and taken a week off)........."can't wait to have my coffee"........."what are your plans today?"..........."we could sort thru pictures"..........."or read".........."or go to St. Vinney's and the Goodwill."..............."and the fruit stand"................"ok, I'm easy" (that could be either one of us, lol).........."well I need to shower still"............."me too".........."but I don't want to do my hair or makeup"..............."me either, so we will get "semi" ready.".............ok, see you soon...."
And in the mean time we had a 5 hour power outage so why not go shopping!
Another weird quirk we have in common.............the way we try on clothes at Vinney's and the Goodwill.............right in the middle of the store...........over our existing clothes..........She did end up buying this shirt.......but at this moment she was trying it on!
Got some great bargain! All clothes and books were 50% at Vinneys! Between the Goodwill and Vinney's she got 4 shirts and 3 skirts for $28.................love a good bargain! *(and the next day Nicole and I went back to Vinney's and she got a pair of designer jeans, designer capris, a skirt, Under Armor workout pants, an American eagle dress, and shorts all for $31) I got a pair of Nike workout pants for $5 and we bought 7 books for $7.23)* And I thought it was funny (I think she was laughing too?) that I took pictures of her everywhere we went (weird quirk)...........Now we are at the fruit stand! That's and enjoyable place.

Made it to the Goodwill........

And I found her wandering around the Goodwill in this shirt to show me....hahahhaaa. We are weird!

More shinanigans at work last week................I'm not sure what possesses us to be so silly............it was Friday and we were all tired. And it was the afternoon........and we were just plain silly. I laugh at this pic because we do this crazy stuff when we have clients! (see Becky's client sitting patiently in her station)..........hahahhahaahhaaaa

And last night I stayed up until 2:00 am finishing my book! Have lots of new ones to read so wanted to finish it and move on to the next. It's nice to have Nicole as a reading buddy. Today she said "Mom, let's get all our chores and cleaning done so we can lay out in the back yard and read!" Now we need to get it done and the sun needs to come out........

"oh........what a day!"

Work today was so fun..................
It was like a day at school when you had a substitute teacher..............and the principle was on vacation.
All the "authority figures" and debbie downers, "answer-the-phone-on-the-first-ring, don't open the front door, it's too cold-turn off the air conditioner, who didn't fold the towels or start the washer"..........was lifted from the atmosphere today! It was just the 4 of us.
The fun girls!
We listened to loud music. Ate candy. Opened the front door. Let the answering machine pick up phone calls and took pictures of each other.........hahahaaaa.......(oh, we did a little work/hair today too........our clients just joined in the fun!) My co-workers are FUNNY! And I chopped off all of my hair again.............I was bored with it. Was a the salon from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm yesterday............(latter part of the evening I got MY hair done! was much needed! Thanks Teresa for staying late and doing it! ) {this was straightened last night, curly today............}

And my favorite girl Sophia got all her hair chopped off today! (about 7 inches). And today was her birthday!

Happy Birthday Sophia!!!!!! (I had balloons and candy in my station waiting for her, so when she got to the salon it was time to celebrate!!)

And after I worked all day.......................why not go on a 4 mile bike ride? hahahaaaa

The girls ran, I biked. We had fun!!!

(I wore my cute shoes.....) and prayed I wouldn't get hit by a car. I finally got up on the sidewalk.....the bike lane is scary!

I told the girls next time I will get a cool, bedazzeled water-bottle holder and strap that on my bike and be the water girl! hahahaa

(Teresa, Serina, Debbie)

"busy week.....with a little fun sprinkled in..."

Believe it or not........I did some fun things this week.
(after working of coarse, and trying to fit in exercise, and a visit to the chiropractor, teenage drama (Nicole and the boy broke up! you get so attatched to these kids and treat them like your own! and they are out of your life in an instant), replacing cell phones, attending softball playoffs, farmers market, trip to Salem, trip to Eugene, cooking/eating healthy (that one slipped a little this week!), finishing planting flowers, dog sitting, trip to Corvallis for supplies, all the normal daily stuff...and sometimes I try to fit sleep in there.)
So anyhoo...................Yesterday (I think that was Friday?) I did my lovely friend Erin's hair. So being the smart, intelligent, fun girls that we are..............we decided...............after hair why not go shopping in Salem? Yay!! We left town around 12:30 and the sun was shining and skies were blue! She suggested we go to lunch at a place in Salem called the French Press.
OMG..............the cutest, quaintest, yummiest place ever!!!
We sat outside on the patio. And had awesome savory crepes...........and enjoyed the sunshine and our time to visit. The food was so good! So was the sweet crepe we had for dessert! Strawberries and cream................(we split it!!!!!!! we aren't that greedy......even tho we probably could have both polished off our own desserts!) Don't judge...............

(And I need MY hair done really badly!!! Can't seem to find time to get it done, and I noticed in all pics of me recently it's pulled up (but you know I'm wearing some cute flower or accessory!) My hairstylist has been too busy too! I need to beg and plead. Or just make her look at my hair and feel sorry for me!)

I really should have taken a picture of our lovely crepes before we devoured them! But they smelled and tasted so yummy.................(I hope you can't tell that we licked the plates?) haha!

Can't wait to go back! (Donna, let me know when you are ready to try it too!)

So after we had a very lovely lunch................I could see a cute little gift type store from where I was sitting on the patio. So we strolled over to check it out. Such great stuff! Lots of bling. Pretty decor. I just wanted to move right in.

(my camera phone isn't the best.........but my new phone is sitting in the other room waiting to be activated.....I will put that on my to-do list today!)

I didn't end up purchasing anything (surprise!). Especially since everything in the store was 50% off. Erin did get a fab, sparkly braclet! And then we made our way to the mall to see what bargains we could find. Not great sales, or much to chose from. But we had fun anyways. And had frozen yogurt :)

Earlier in the week, Nicole had playoff games for softball. Monday they had a stellar game and won by a landslide, so that put them in the running. Thursday night they had a game at Churchill (they were ranked #1 in their league!). We lost but they put up a good fight and played great and only lost by 4 runs. Not to bad considering the other team was ranked so high.(since they lost....the season is now officially over!) The weather was gorgeous and I enjoyed sitting out in the sun watching the girls play. And I'm a sucker for the National Anthem before the game.......

I love the new farmers market/fruit stand we have in town! I've been there several times now and they are starting to recognize me. ha! And I love Saturday market and all..................but I don't always make it down there on a Saturday before noon (don't they know I'm busy!)......and sometimes need fruit on a Tuesday evening!

I wanted to buy every single thing on this wall.........but refrained....

I even got my man to go with me! (he carried my basket. hahahahaaa).

Everything is so pretty. And each time I go back there is different produce there. Love it!

And this morning I got up and walked 3.4 miles. Went out on my back patio and drank a cup of coffee and ate a banana. Planted the rest of my flowers (last weekend I ran out of soil and pots!)

Picked up the house. Nicole started laundry. I think the girls (Nicole and Raelynn) are finally showered and I think they are going to the mall. Weird they can just jump in her car and go. She has had a rough week so I'm giving her some time to do her own thing.

I may grab my pile of magazines and go in my backyard and read (or nap!)............(the idea is good, but probably won't happen......I see too much that needs to be done!)