"Happy 13th Birthday Tyler!!"

 My son is officially a teenager!!!! Happy 13th birthday Tyler!!

 Our 21st wedding anniversary fell this Friday and Tylers 13th birthday fell this Sunday. So we decided to combine both celebrations since they were within the same weekend. We traveled to the Oregon Coast. We all love to visit there. Friday night we got there early evening and got to watch the beautiful sun set into the Pacific Ocean........

 We couldn't have asked for better weather this weekend. Beautiful blue skies and it was warm.

 We got up Saturday morning and after breakfast decided to go on a walk. We decided to walk from our hotel over the Newport Bridge overlooking the bay and the mouth of the ocean.

 What a gorgeous view from the top!!!!! Total the walk was only 2.4 miles so it was wonderful and the blue skies were amazing.

 We decided to go to Beverley Beach.

 Coffee in the afternoon sounded great. My sweet hubs got me a latte from Starbucks for us to share.

 And Tyler's favorite past time is the metal detector! He is determined he is going to find some treasures or a diamond ring someday! He decided Beverly Beach was a spot we haven't tried yet and it has lots of foot traffic.

 We even saw beach patrol today driving on the beach! The coast guard helecopter flew over many times and we saw 2 Blackhawk helecopters today too. Lots of people and a very busy weekend.

 My son is always digging..............digging..............digging! Our only treasure was a penny. Oh well. We spent a few hours together on the beach so I was loving it.

 Grandma and Grandpa Mary were staying in their motorhome at South Beach for the weekend. Nicole had to work Friday night so her and Zack came over Saturday and we all went to dinner for our anniversary and Tylers birthday. Drove down to Yachats and went to the Adobe to eat and visit. Good times.

 Today was another beautiful day! And Tyler's birthday!

 Today he wanted to try Agate Beach for treasures. We attempted to sleep in, but were up early. Ate breakfast. Headed down to Agate Beach with the metal detector. Found a penny on that beach too! But like I said..............time spent with my family (especially on the beach) is a perfect day for me. We had a late lunch at the Rogue with grandma and grandpa and headed home late evening.

 Can't believe my dear sweet little boy is 13.

 Love you so much..........

"Happy 21st Wedding Anniversary"

Happy 21st Wedding Anniversary today love!
I love you so much and appreciate you being the love of my life. I love you more today than the day we got married. I'm so lucky to have you as my husband.
I can't wait to see you tonight and give you loves and kisses.
Love you always..............your wife.

"Summer is over!"

 Summer is officially over. The kids are back in school. Time to regroup! We made our annual Yachats trip for LeRoy's birthday and the car show. I only got these 2 pics. Weekend went by so fast and I didn't really get to relax so it was kind of a blur............but as always I enjoyed my kids (Raelynn counts as a daughter).  Happy Birthday LeRoy!

 Sweet and sassy Emma got a new do! She loves coming into the salon. She was so excited to get her hair cut and knows I'm the ONLY person that can cut it! (she has given herself haircuts before that weren't such a good idea.) She reminds me of Nicole when she was little. Has her own ideas and ain't afraid to tell ya!

 We had a great time with her hair day.

 And she is going to be a big sister in about 5 months!

 Made another trip over to the Oregon Coast before the seasons and weather changes. My sis and her family were there with their boat. My Uncle Ray and his family were there with their boat cousin Jeff and his family and lots of other people camping with them. Reminded me of back in the day when we were little and it was a big ole' party at the coast. They caught tons of crab and cooked it up and we ate until we couldn't eat any more. Was a fun visit with the family. Beautiful day/evening at the coast!

 1st day of school. Tyler is 7th grade this year. Halfway thru middle school already!

 Nicole is a senior. 12th grade. Can't believe how fast time has flown by. Just yesterday she was starting 1st grade.

Back to schedules. Getting up early. Routine. Summer is over and fall is coming. Senior pictures. Graduation. College (and scholarship) hunting! So much going on. I hope I can enjoy this time and slow down and take it all in.................

"Puget Sound, Washington........my birthday weekend"

 Happy 41st birthday to me!
What????!!! I just had a birthday! How did that get here so soon? Again?! We traveled up to Puget Sound (Harstine Island), Washington which happened to fall on my birthday. Our friends from the Seattle area have a "cabin" up there and invited us to come visit. I say cabin and it was pretty much camping (which I was prepared for!) Very rustic and......................rustic......

 We headed out on Thursday which was actually my birthday. Was hot! This was the temp in Portland on our way thru! Oh boy. Hope it's not that hot when we get there.

 It was about a 4 1/2 hour drive. Tyler hadn't been feeling well and we had some (puking) issues before we left town. We debated about staying home.........but decided to go anyways. (ended up coming home a day early due to puking issues.....) (and the heat and the car ride did NOT help those issues!)

 Puget Sound is a gorgeous place. We stayed on Harstine Island. It's nestled in the trees and we checked out the surrounding area and drove all over the island. There was an amazing swimming pool (didn't get any pics cause Tyler was puking in the bushes). we hung out there most of the day.

 This is NOT the place we stayed, but I found my vacation home. It's right on the water.

 I got a pic or two of Tyler when we was feeling "kind of ok"...........

 We stopped at a beautiful place on the sound and let Tyler just chill a little. Get some fresh air and hopefully feel better (there was puking involved all weekend. and it was hot. I felt so bad for him.)

 Mount Rainier in the faint background.

 Beautiful sunset over the mountains. We were wishing we were here when all of the meteor showers where going on last week. (me and LeRoy and Tyler layed out in our front yard on a blanket 2 nights in a row watching them last week.)

 We had some visitors at our cabin. Mamma raccoon with 5 babies! They got pretty close but we stayed our distance since I'm sure she would be vicious protecting her young if she felt threatened.

 Why can't my kids be normal?

 That's what I love about them. Always being silly.........

Overall the weekend was good. Except the heat and Tyler not feeling well. Oh and I didn't sleep at all in 48 hours. We had extra people that we weren't expecting that obviously don't sleep either. ha! And I didn't get a birthday cake............but as long as I was with my family that's all the matters. The kids and LeRoy got me a gift cert for a massage for my birthday. I need it badly!

"Sisters/Girls weekend.......in Sisters"

 Girls weekend in Sisters! (for my birthday). My sistas Donna and KayDee. Sista in law Brandi. Friend Erin. Headed up after work on Friday. (Nicole and her boyfriend Zack drove up on Saturday after work.) Erin found us a fabulous condo in Sisters to stay. I have driven thru that town a hundred times but never actually stayed there.

 My sister Donna needed a ride (as did I since we are down to a 1 car family!) so we stopped and picked her up in Lebanon on our way thru. We pull up to her house and she is outside, on the curb, with all her stuff and a cold beer. I think she was ready to get out of town!

 We finally got to try the Lime-a-rita we have been talking about all summer! Was good, but I won't probably be buying any. We walked/rode bikes around the little town of Sisters. Great way to see the neighborhoods and beautiful scenery and mountains.
Goofed around like we do best. Went into Bend and did a little shopping. Did our nails. Went to a great dinner. Stayed up late and talked (well, Brandi and I did. Everyone else was sleeping!)

 The red solo cup has surfaced all summer. We are a classy group..............ha!

These are the only pics I have because my camera didn't make it out of my bag and the girls haven't gotten me any from their cameras yet (like they promised!!). So I know there are lots of silly pics out there. I just don't have them! Maybe that's a good thing!!

"Jamboree weekend......and a wrecked car..."

 Nicole went to the Jamboree with her friends and stayed at my sisters house for the weekend. Sounds like the weekend was great and they had fun and went to the lake and all the concerts. Sunday night her and Hannah were headed home and they got into an accident. It wasn't her fault and luckily everyone was ok and just minor bruises. The poor kid that hit her was only 16 and had only had his license a month and had his little brother with him! And everyone was wearing seatbelts and airbags deployed. It was about 2 miles from our house and we got there in about 2 minutes after she called me.

 Her car is totalled.........

 I just thank God that everyone walked away from it. Scary call to get from your teenager that she was in a car accident.

And what are the chances of 2 cars of ours being totalled within a month of each other?????? And neither was our fault. So now we are down 2 cars. And have 3 drivers and we all have jobs that are different hours.............I'm hoping good things are to come our way! (But still so grateful that all the teenagers walked away without serious injuries.)