I just love this pic and had to share.

For months now I have had the thought going around in my head that we needed to get a kitten. If you know me you know how crazy that sounds. It’s not that I hate cats it just that I grew up with cats that were strictly outside cats and great for catching mice, but that was about it. When I married Steve I had a really hard time with how the cats seemed to have the run of the house. They clawed everything, jumped up on the countertops, and from time to timed peed outside of their litter box. Being the control freak I am I felt frustrated and grew to hate everything about those cats which in turn caused fights between me and Steve. In the end the girl cat went to live with Steve’s parents and the boy cat was kicked outside and eventually ran away breaking Steve’s heart and making me feel horrible. I may have felt hatred toward that cat but I never wanted it to end that way. The months that the cat had been gone I have watched Steve around other cats, the way he lights up, the way he smiles and have decided I love him too much to keep my feelings I had developed for cats. So I started to look at the Humane Society from time to time at the cats. If we went over to friends that had a cat I tried to relax by watching Steve’s face and started to see all the things he liked about them. Last week I came across this kitten on the Humane Society page.

Everything just felt right, so I talked to Steve about it. We both agreed on what the house rules would be for the cat and next thing you know we are picking her up to bring her home.

We named her Sadie with the nickname Mittens.

She is so sweet and just LOVES people. We have been slowly introducing her to the house and while she is still sore from being spayed she is coming out of her shell more and more.

She has also been introduced to the dogs and it went better than I could have ever hoped for.

She didn’t hiss once and instead ran up to them and wanted to play. Molly wants to play but doesn’t seem to know what to do with her.

Bosco is just Bosco, he is so big and doesn’t know it so we have to watch him a little. He sees her jumping around and so he starts to jump around and we don’t want him to land on her.

All in all it has been really fun having her in the house and yes I am in love with the little girl!

As a kid I remember how much I LOVED the zoo so when my sister asked me what we should do this week I jumped at the chance to take the boys there. We ended up picking the hottest day of the week (it got up to 104!) but it was still a lot of fun. Right before we went in we took the boys over to see a new statue of good old Abe Lincoln. Holy cow he is huge!!!

Brayden didn’t want to go near him but Brennan climbed right on up and even showed Abe how to “hang loose”, too cute!

Next stop the Zoo! It’s funny how different the twins are. Brayden could sit there and watch an animal for hours,

Brennan will look at them for 30 or so seconds and then he is ready for the next one.

Emma, she did really well. She just sat back in her stroller and chilled.

The zoo has also changed a lot since the last time I was there and they have made a lot of good improvements that were needed.

It looked good and was a lot of fun to see some of the new (and old) animals they have in there now.

By the end everyone was hot, tired and hungry but I think everyone had a good time!

This Sunday was my dad’s birthday. A couple of days later (because I had to work on his birthday) we celebrated by getting the family together for dinner at his house.

We all tried to bring something and it ended up being a really good dinner!

Everyone had steaks while the twins and I had hot dogs (ya ya I know, kind of sad). Steve made his first ever German Chocolate cake (my dad’s favorite) and it turned out SOOO good!

I think just about everyone went back for seconds, even Steve who isn’t a fan of nuts or coconut.

Happy Birthday Dad! Love ya!

With all the talk about football and back to school everywhere I go I feel like my summer is slipping away. While I love Fall I’m not sure if I am ready to let summer go just yet. Today I wanted to make sure we went outside and enjoyed the nice hot weather and we did just that! We meet Steph and the clan and went swimming, the perfect summer activity. It was really fun to watch the twins faces light up when they got in the pool!

I loved hearing them giggle and scream when you swam after them and how proud they were of themselves that they could blow bubbles and get in and out of the pool by themselves.

It was also fun to relax and enjoy the afternoon with my sister!

It was a really fun afternoon and I am so glad they live close enough now to play!

Happy Anniversary!!!!!!

It’s crazy how ten years can feel like just yesterday and yet feel like a lifetime ago. When I graduated high school I thought I had a great idea of how my life would turn out. I was going to be a paramedic, marry my high school sweetheart and have 2-4 kids by now. All I can say is while it has been a completely different road that I ending up taking, I am so happy with the way my life has turned out. I have a great job and work with officers that I just love. My husband has been my rock and there is no one else I would rather be with. And while the kid thing has been heartbreaking at every turn, it has brought me closer to my husband, taught me who my real friends are and made me appreciate the miracle of life even more. When I first heard my high school reunion was in August I was really excited. I may be one of the few who really loved high school; I had great friends, good teachers and just a lot of happy memories. However as it got closer I started to get stressed. I had not talked to most of my high school friends since the summer we graduated, and wasn’t sure if I even fit in with them anymore. I also have gained a ton of weight and I didn’t want to deal with the double takes. My high school friends Mel and Jen put together a BBQ just for our old group of friends and I knew I had to at least go to that. As we pulled up to Mel’s old house my stomach was in knots. I took a deep breath, took Steve’s hand and walked into the backyard. I’m so glad I did. It was a lot of fun to see everyone,

meet spouses

and see all the kids that everyone has had!

It was an evening full of laughs, stories and good food. That night I decided I had to give the reunion a chance. Saturday Jessica, Mel, Jen and I all went.

It was fun to see how people turned out. It was also fun to get to hang out with the girls a little bit.

In the end the food wasn’t bad but wasn’t great either, I spent more money then I should have and some of the people I wanted to see did not show up but I would still call it a good night. Makes me wonder what the next ten years will bring…..

This weekend was full of BBQ’s! One of them was our 2nd annual dispatch BBQ for work. It was a little hot out but for the most part the weather was great for a BBQ. It was fun to hang out with everyone a little outside of work and see how big everyone’s kids are getting! Here are a few pictures, enjoy!

Day 8 was really was all about driving home. We woke up nice and early and loaded up. The hardest part was saying good-bye to the house and the ocean.

The week flew by and most of us didn’t want it to end. We only had one planned stop on the way home and that was Multnomah Falls!

We arrived there at 10 and it was crazy how many cars were already there! It was a zoo! It was really nice to get out and stretch our legs already. It was crazy how in just the 2 hours we had been driving the weather had shot up 20 degrees. You could tell as soon as you stepped out of the car that we were no longer next to the cool breezes of the coast which made us all a little sad. The falls were amazing and breathtaking as always and were a great spot for one last photo.

As we were heading back to the car I picked up some homemade fudge for the drive home; it was mouthwatering!

The rest of the drive for the most part was uneventful and slow. We did however see this…

I am not sure what happened but it looked like a mess!!! One of the best sites to see was this.

There is just something about being home after a long vacation. Thanks again to my Mom and Lynn who put a lot of time and energy into this vacation, we loved it and can no thank you enough! Thanks!

Day 7 was called the “free day” where everyone was on their own to go where they wanted, when they wanted. First on our list was to sleep in! Once we got up and moving Steve and I decided to head back to Astoria to explore a little and to try to find a beach that was supposedly full of Sea Lions.

We were able to find the general location to park our truck and then we started walking along the river.

We found a couple of really cool deserted buildings and old posts sticking up out of the water, making your mind wander back in time and wonder what it was like years and years ago.

After looking we finally heard a Sea Lion barking. We got really excited and headed that way hoping to find TONS of Seal Lions but this is what we found, really?!?!

Ok it was still a few and they were fun to watch. After that we were driving around and I really wanted to stop at the Columbia River Maritime Museum.

At first we just walked around it looking at the boat that was outside and enjoying the view of the ocean.

Being on the outside of it though really made me want to go in so I was able to sway Steve into going inside. It was a lot of fun! There were a lot of really cool boats and history of the Columbia River that I was just in awe.

I had no idea how deadly it was for boats to try and make it into the Columbia River from the ocean!

We were also able to go outside and get on the Lightship Columbia.

It was a boat that served as a lighthouse where the Pacific Ocean and the Columbia River came together, because it was impossible to build a light house in that area.

They were able to save a lot of lives because of it. It was amazing to be able to stand on a piece of history like that.

After that we headed back to Seaside for lunch, a nap and some relaxation. That night Steve and I watch the sunset one last time over the ocean.

It was really a perfect way to end our vacation at the coast.