Off and running....

One day this picture caption will read: "Friends forever"
Maddie and Gabrielle have been friends since birth. Some even say they look like sisters... We had a wonderful park play date with you guys! We miss you already.

Taylor (and Maddie) spent almost the entire 3 hours at the park IN the water, even though it was COLD! This is his new picture face... "What, you want to take a picture of me? OH, let me get as close to the camera as possible!" His cheesy smile gives a new meaning to "say cheese."

On a completely different note, we leave tomorrow for Arizona - hiking the Grand Canyon, then some rest and relaxation in Phoenix. Well, I should preface that by saying Rick will NOT be hiking, he will be in an air conditioned house with soft beds and cable! While I should be thrilled about going (and I am), there is so much pending at home that is tugging at me: anxiously awaiting my acceptance letter (or not) for nursing school, also awaiting notification of scholarships (or not), surgery five days after we get back, work, deciding whether or not we going to sign a new lease for our house or move when the current one is up, etc.... When I read that list, I realize that vacation is EXACTLY what we need, but it is hard to leave life behind.

I know our trip will be wonderful, especially if Rick can relax enough with the good drugs to actually enjoy himself. I am looking forward to creating memories with Rick's family. We all love hanging out, and we don't get to do it often enough. I will post pictures of the GC when we get back to Phoenix. Until then, my goal is to try and leave life behind! Here goes nothing...

Cannon Beach

We are so blessed to have a wonderful family that helps us get time away together. Rick's mom and dad took the kids this weekend so we could get away for Rick's birthday. We left for Cannon Beach on Friday morning (Rick's drive consisted of him on drugs laying down in the backseat since he couldn't sit - see BLOG on May 17). The drive was beautiful going down, and about 30 minutes before CB, it began to rain; just a little though.


Our hotel, Surfsand Resort, was amazing. The hotel sits right on the beach, and has an outstanding view of Haystack Rock. It was so beautiful in real life. Pictures just don't do it justice! The room was incredible. There was even a little baggie of saltwater taffies for us :-)

The beach was so nice. Even though it was windy and chilly, it was still so nice to walk on the beach together. We were in desperate need of time away...

We ate a lot of good food at some great restaurants including Wayfarer, Lumberjack Grill, Bill's Brew, and my favorite, Lazy Susan's Grill and Scoop. We had our friends, Nate and Laura, from Portland drive over and meet us for lunch on Saturday! What a blast. They brought their adorable boxer puppy, Cassie, with them. We had more fun watching her play with another dog on the beach. Good food and good friends make for a great day!! Thanks guys.

All in all, it was a relaxing and refreshing weekend. We all need time to get away with our spouse to remember what it's like to be a couple and what it's like to just be with your best friend. I am so blessed that I have such an amazing husband that I LOVE spending time with. I look forward to another getaway...

Weekend at Grandpa's

Maddie and Taylor spent the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa. They had a blast getting to play in the hot tub, go to Grandpa's softball practice, and the highlight (according to Maddie) - DAIRY QUEEN! Thanks Mom and Dad for the wonderful weekend away!!

This was Taylor's first try at being a photographer. He needed a little assistance from me!

Pray for the injured

So, about five years ago, Rick hurt his back. From time to time, he has flare ups that last about a week, then go away. He has done really well for the last year and a half until about a month ago. Simply picking up a dumb bell at the gym caused his disc in his lower lumbar spine to herniate. This is how my husband has looked for the last three weeks:

After strong narcotics and muscle relaxers, he can finally get comfortable on the couch cushions in the living room. He is unable to sit, he has a difficult time walking or standing still, and laying down in any other position by this is next to impossible.

Maddie is the perfect little nurse. She is very attentive to him. She always checks to make sure he is ok...

All this to say - we would covet your prayers. We met with a neurosurgeon yesterday who wants to operate on June 11 to do a microdiscectomy (remove the bulge of disc from his spine). Pray for comfort and pain relief until then, and of course for the surgeon's hands as he delicately operates. He will stay overnight, and home to recover for 3-4 weeks. We appreciate any prayers you can offer! Praise God his back will be fixed finally!

Lunchtime

Maddie chose this bucket as her fashion attire for lunch outside today - people must think we are so weird!

Boys will be boys

Taylor's new cuisine : Shovel full of dirt..... tasty!

Garage Sale

Last weekend I had my garage sale. Goal: make some extra $$ for vacation. Goal accomplished. We has disgusting weather all week, even up until Friday night. But by Saturday morning, the clouds and rain had departed, and we had a glorious weekend of sunshine and blue skies. The previous week's bad weather created a lot of cabin fever in people, so they were all out garage saling thing on Saturday! It was fun. I had a few bargainers, but mostly just people happy to outside in the sun. I have to say I just LOVE the fact that we can sell our "junk" to someone else! What a great invention this garage sale thing!


Maddie went shopping at her own garage sale. Here is what she found:

A Sarafina Kitty from her cousin Emily (who also made a killing in sales)
Bubbles (that weren't supposed to be for sale)
some toys and her beloved fishing pole
Someone actually tried to buy her fishing pole - she was mortified!

Maddie spent most of her time at the garage sale practicing on her bike. She is starting to get a little more confident!