What happened to Dave?

Well as most people who read my blog know, it was a very interesting Christmas season for our little family this year.
Sam and I left for Utah on the 18th of December, and Dave was supposed to follow us on Saturday the 20th. But, due to the insanely crazy, worst timing ever weather, he was unable to get a flight out of Portland from the Saturday before Christmas! That's 5 days!! And nothing!! He couldn't get a flight because everything was cancelled or booked. People were camped out for days at the airport. His flight had been rescheduled from Saturday to one on Monday. So I thought "well that kinda stinks, but at least he'll still be here." So on Sunday, Dave spent at least 3 hours digging the car out of the snow and trying to get the thick ice that was layered around it off as well, just so he could get up early on Monday and head to the airport. This he all did without a shovel, but a plate because no one has shovels in Portand. So the next morning he got up, went outside, and it had snowed again with another thick layer of ice surrounding the car and on the ground which prevented him from even moving it. And to top that off, the popular mode of transportation in Portland, the Max line, wasn't running, there were no buses, and there were no taxis to get him to the airport. So he was stuck again, but he did find out a little while later that all the flights were cancelled that day anyway. So he was stuck again with little hope of finding a plane ride dwindling. The only possibility of any plane ride would have cost $550, and he would have arrived the night of Christmas, assumming his flight would have been on time.
After that realization we explored every single option: drive to Utah? No rental cars, roads froze n with ice, freeways closed down going north to south, and east to west, towns declaring state of emergency. Train? no tickets, and nothing going out of Portland. Bus? no buses coming in or going out. Ya know, at least on the movie "planes, trains, and automobiles, he eventually makes it home." But that wasn't the case for Dave this year. His dad ended up driving from Salem to Portland in what usually takes 1 hour, ended up taking 4 hours to pick Dave up and bring him down to at least be with his family. After the 4 hour trip back to Salem, and after 5 days of being alone, he at least was with his family.

Yes, it was weird and sad waking up on Christmas Day with no Dave to watch Sam open up presents. Hopefully this crazy situation won't ever happen again. I was sad we didn't get to see many of the people we'd hoped and planned to, but hopefully next time!

But in spite of all that, I was still happy to be with my family. We had a great time with everyone! Sam loved playing with all her cousins and spending time with Grandma and Grandpa. We miss everyone already. Thanks Mom and Dad and Al for taking such good care of us at home while we were there. And to the rest of my family. I love you all!

just a couple of pictures from Christmas!

Celebrating with/without family

Well it's Christmas night and it has been a very enjoyable fun-filled day....with one, BIG, exception!!!

NO DAVE!!!
I still can't believe I didn't get to spend Christmas with my husband this year! Stupid weather. The bad weather could not have happened at a worse time.
It's hard to see how much fun your child is having opening presents from family and playing with cousins on Christmas, and her daddy isn't there to see it.
It's been hard, but the one comforting thing is that he at least was able to get down to Salem (barely) to spend Christmas with his family.

So we will just have to have our own post-Christmas celebration when we go back home on Sunday.

Miss you Dave...a lot! Sammy and I love you!

What the?....are we in Utah?

We woke up this morning to this:



So apparently the State of Oregon shuts down when it snows. Although it does only snow like twice a year here, so they are not as prepared for snow as what I am used to in Utah. Not a ton of snow plows that are working hard at 4 in the morning to keep the roads clear up here.
I was so excited to see the snow though! It is good preparation for me getting ready to come to Utah this week! But even though there is only a couple of inches, the freeways are shut down, church was cancelled, and you are not allowed to drive unless you have chains on your tires! It's like people in Utah drive in the rain there, just like people drive in the snow up here....not well.
So even when the snow does stop, (it's almost 2 and it's still going) it's only going to get worse because everything is going to freeze and there will be black ice all over the roads and freeways. So.....it is a good thing we went grocery shopping last night, and I have my shopping done before going to Utah, and Dave will not be driving to work this week, it's either the bus or stay home. They keep saying on the news "Do Not Go Out and Drive Unless You Absolutely Have To!!"
The only thing I am a little worried about though is what the weather will be like on Thursday when I leave for Utah...hopefully no flight delays!



Also I have to add a couple of pictures of Sammy's curly hair. It's just long enough to put curlers in, but when you take them out she kind of looks like she stuck her finger in a socket. It looks cute for a few minutes before going crazy!

Hold me closer tiny dancer...

So lately Samantha has really been into dancing. I think she really started getting into in after we took her to nursery a couple of weeks ago and she was dancing to the fun music with the other kids. But she also loves dancing to the music we listen to at home. Her favorite song to dance to is Doris Day's "Perhaps" song. The way she dances involves turning around in circles, waving her hands around, and stomping her feet a little bit. But then again, isn't that how we all dance? I decided to take a video of it because it's funny to watch!

p.s. if you watch the video, make sure to pause the music on the sidebar before doing it! :)



Funny kid!

Al says I'm a frugal nerd!

Something to be proud of I think! But then again, aren't we all becoming this way??

So I think if I didn't have Samantha with me at the store today, I would have done that much better, but I was pretty happy with how my shopping trip went anyway.
Between going to Walgreens and Target, I got a lot of free stuff today that was awesome! At Walgreens I saved $39.74 and only spent $23.17! I got the two maybelline lipsticks for free, the reynolds foil free, the Johnson's soap for free, the Intuition razor for $1, the electric toothbrush for $1.99, the two Colgate toothpaste tubes for $2, the Huggies for $7.50, the juice for $2.50, and the two flameless airwick candles at Target for free! I had to buy some other things while I was there, but if I had only purchased those items, I probably would have only spent $5!!
The funny thing is, I am totally still kind of a newbie at this couponing thing and there are some ladies I know that have 4 kids and only spend $40 a week on groceries for their whole family!! Yeah....I have no idea.
Anyhoo, I have to keep myself busy finding new things to do or to learn like saving money, or learning crafty things since I don't have Family Christmas parties to go to, and none of my family is around. But speaking of crafty, my sister in law taught me last week how to make ornaments, because she is the queen of crafty, so I learned how to fold strips of paper in an intricate way to make it come out looking like this!

yee haw!

Black is the new **tch!

I was one of those people that went out shopping today.
At first I wasn't going to do it because Dave had to work, and that meant I'd have Samantha with me. But I thought since I'd be driving Dave to work early enough, that she would still be in a good mood to last through a couple of stores. So I planned it all out. Where I would go first, what I would get, and the fastest route in between stores.
Surprisingly we did pretty well! Fred Meyer, Joanns, Target.....and then......Macys!!!
I wasn't going to go but I didn't find the cutest clothes for Samantha that I wanted at Fred Meyer and I knew they were having a huge sale on kids clothing. And, it's at Washington Square that has about a million stores, so I would have to fight for parking, and I didn't have a stroller. But I did it anyway.
Well of course it was crazy. Luckily though, I got a parking spot quickly. I carried Samantha through the store and found the kids dept. At this point after the previous stores, she was a little ansy so I let her walk a little bit. And when I found what I wanted, I looked at the check out line in the kids area and it was forever, so I thought "hmm...maybe if I go to the men's section I can get out faster!" So we trodded over there and the line was considerably shorter, and I thought "great! I got in, and I can get out real quick!" Well the line went pretty fast....until it was the guy in front of me's turn. He was this short, bald, greek guy that was dressed all nice and kept turning his nose up at me because Samantha and I hadn't gotten all dressed up that early in the morning to go shopping like he did.
After the 5 minutes it took to ring up all his stuff, the lovely old woman ringing him up said, "and would you like to open up a Macy's credit card with us today and save 10%?" And I thought, "oh no, he wouldn't. On Black Friday, with a million people trying to get in and out quickly, he wouldn't do that." Well of course, the guy said yes and from that moment to the time when it was my turn took 20 minutes!!! Literally, I am not exaggerating! One by one people in the line behind me started leaving and I tried to keep patient and keep Samantha happy by singing her Christmas songs over and over, I kept saying to myself "it's not worth it to leave and get in line somewhere else!" And the guy, didn't even flinch. When it was about finished 10 minutes into the credit card application, he wanted to add his discount to a previous purchase he made on shoes a few minutes before! So they had to get back on the phone, call the company, the employee talked to them, then the guy got on the phone, I mean it was ridiculous!! And I'm sorry but after 17 minutes in, I'd had enough, and I looked at the lady and was like, "uh, can you give me a time limit to how much longer this is going to take??"
Old crochety: "It should only take a few more minutes. Our customers reserve the right to participate in store offers such as credit cards."
Angry mother who has lost her patience (that's me): "Well that's fine I understand that! But there is something called common decency!" At that point I didn't feel bad that Samantha was crying. I just moved her closer to the guys head!
He never apologized, the woman never apologized. It was pretty ridiculous........*sigh*.........I love the Holidays!!! :)

The Trailblazers!

The other week Dave and I went to a Portland Trailblazers basketball game against the Houston Rockets. I have never sat so close to the floor before! We were on the 5th row! Those tickets were pretty pricey! But it was really fun sitting so close. I was a little nervous though. For those of you who know Dave really well, he likes to yell at players during the game. Well one of the players on the Rockets is Ron Artest, ya know the guy that got in trouble for assaulting a fan last year??? Well needless to say I was sure he would hear anything that Dave had to say at him since we were so close, but luckily Dave toned it down......a little. He would get close, and you would hear Dave go "Ronnie!!.....Ronnie!!" ugh..embarrassing. Just don't throw a cup of water at him! But besides that, the game was really good. It was the game where we won in overtime with .08 seconds left with a three pointer! But during half time they had this awesome entertainer guy that played a floor piano instrument with tennis balls. It was cool!

A night with great flight, that's right, with 'Twilight'

Last night Tracee, Lacey and I had a fun girls night out, which is I am sure what a lot of women, girls, ladies did last night, or the night before at midnight.
We left the kiddies at home with the boys, went to dinner, did some shopping, and went to see the movie!
We had so much fun! It's great to have things in common with your family, and you can have fun doing things together. And of course we enjoyed the movie too! Thanks for the great time ladies!




Also this last week, I was excited because I finally finished my Christmas Quilt! I've always wanted to make one, and I got this really cute Moda fabric. I didn't have a pattern so I just randomly put squares together, and I think it ended up turning out pretty cute. It was my first quilt that I quilted on a sewing machine as well, and so I was a little nervous, but it worked out okay too, and was pretty fun to make!

This last weekend we went and took some family pictures since it has been a really long time from the last time we did it when Sammy was 5 months. We thought it would be a good time right before Christmas and we didn't have to pay anything. No session fees, and we got a copy of all the pictures, it was great. I thought some of them were pretty cute.

I am a Money Saving Mom!...Or least I try to Be

There is something so satisfying about saving money! I love saving money especially now of course we all know about our awful economy, and since we can't get into a house until we save more money and pay off more debt, we are working harder to try and save a bit more.
Lately I have been trying a lot harder about clipping coupons, and I love it! It's dorky I know but I get really excited when I get Sunday mornings paper, where I get to go through and clip all the good coupons. In my shopping today I thought I did pretty awesome.




I bought all these products for the grand total of about $3.50! Between the clearance of the shampoo, and the manufacturers coupon I had for it, and the free after rebates, and my other coupons, I think I did pretty awesome. I just hate spending full price on anything and to me it's worth the extra effort!

I also just found a link to a website called Swagbucks--an online search engine that rewards you for searching online. You can earn enough in Swagbucks points to receive hundreds of dollars in gift cards!! I'm all about that.
Swagbucks is very simple to sign up for so if you are interested please click on the link! It's worth taking a look, and doesn't everyone love free stuff??\
Click here

Happy Birthday!

Today is my Big Sister Natalie's Birthday!!! Happy Birthday Nat! The big 27 today right?
Natalie has always been the older, "cooler" sister that had all the boy friends in High School! I remember thinking when she was in 9th grade and had all these boys over at the house all the time, I thought "wow, I hope someday I can have as many boyfriends as Natalie does!" :) Natalie always seemed to draw the attention of more guys than girls throughout her 9-12th grade years, and well after that. But of course now, there is only one that really matters, which is Ryan!!! Out of all the boys she brought over, he was the coolest! And now they're married and have two awesome kids that are just like their parents, and who I miss a ton!!
And of course anyone who knows Natalie, knows she has the most personality in the family...her and dad are pretty close. That's why we'd call her PersonNatalie! When she was little mom and dad would give her the phone to talk to telemarketers for hours, she caught a fly with her bar hands, she was the only one who would have ever been able to handle what we refer to as the 'snaggle tooth'...her teeth are quite pretty now..okay even with that she was still cute, and I loved the big bangs!
I was always jealous of Natalie's long, thick, flowing hair, and still am to this day. I wish I had her courage. I loved being able to play soccer with her in High School, even if I was referred to sometimes as "Natalie's little sister" but actually even back then I was still taller than her. Everyone on the soccer team all thought she was awesome and I was proud to be the sister of the coolest and best player on the team, (even if our coach didn't acknowledge that....he doesn't like people standing up to him....and Natalie stood up to him, as she should have..long story)
She of course was also an SBO officer and was in every AP class. So she has the smarts, the looks, the talent, and many more fabulous qualities. I mean she makes her kids Halloween costumes from scratch with no pattern! So she is very creative as well!
I looked up to her back when we were in school together, and I look up to her today at how wonderful a mother, nurse, wife, and sister she is! I love you Natalie and hope you have a very Happy Birthday!!


This was Natalie at our cabin this last summer. Hee Hee Of course I had to put an incriminating picture!




These are some of my favorite pictures of Natalie!

Happy Anniversary!

Another day of celebration! This time 4 fabulous years of marriage! Woo hoo. I remember thinking when we first got married, "I wonder what it's going to be like in a year" and now it's 4 years later, and here we are in Portland with a little girl!

I also remember talking to some of my friends after getting married telling them how awesome it is and how "everyone should get married and be as happy as me!" and 4 years later, I still feel the same way! And I'm sure 40 years from now I will have those same feelings.

I also remember the night before our wedding we had a dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in SLC and I was so nervous I could only eat a couple bites of the delicious chocolate cake we had for Dave's birthday, but mostly that was because I had to get up and speak. Speaking of cake....I also remember (and everyone in my family remembers this too and still makes fun of me for it) I made the smart decision of wearing my corset thingy that sucks everything in all day, and when it was time to cut the cake, I mustered up as much strength and smiles I could, ate a piece, and then went running out of the room and threw up in the garbage can in the back room! The cake lady was offended...she thought I just didn't like her cake. And..it wasn't because I was "nervous" either, it was because one, that thing was too tight around my waist and chest, and two I ate coconut shrimp for lunch! Yep, that all came up! My wonderful mother was there making sure I didn't get any on my dress. After my....evacuation...and after taking my corset off and wiping the mascara off from under my eyes (ya know how throwing up makes your eyes water) I went back out a little red faced but feeling a bit better. My mom suggested taking some medicine but said "it makes you a bit sleepy." Well, I didn't want to get that rush of nausea coming on again after we left for the evening, (and make Dave feel bad), so I decided to take that pill and by the time we got to the hotel I was so drowsy that I pretty much fell asleep right there, while Dave watched some sports games....for the most part....

After saying all that, it kinda sounds bad but really it was the greatest and most fabulous day of my life that I will never forget! The humorous parts just add the greatness of the day! The ceremony was beautiful, the reception was beautiful, even the weather was beautiful in November! We got lucky!

So Happy Anniversary Dave, I love you and look forward to many happy fun years together!

Happy Birthday Dave!

Happy Birthday Dave!!

Yes today is Dave's 29th Birthday! One day I will never forget because it preceeds the day that is our Anniversary on the 13th! A couple of fun days to celebrate. Actually this whole week has been nice so far because Dave didn't work Monday or Tuesday and then we get to celebrate today and tomorrow as well!

Anyway Dave, Happy Birthday!! I love you very much and am grateful everyday for the wonderful husband and father you are to Sammy and me. We both love you, and how could you ever doubt Sam's love for you especially! I try to give you a kiss, and she freaks out! Yes, a huge daddy's girl. And I know you love it!

The other day we were getting in the car to go somewhere and I was in the car with Sammy and Dave was outside doing some stuff and Samantha kept watching him saying "I u! I u!" (I love you in her language) becuase she thought he was going to leave her, so she thought if she could be cute enough he wouldn't!

HAPPY 29TH BIRTHDAY DAVE!!!


(this is an older pic :)

Thank You

Thank you to all those super smart lenders that gave way too much money to all those really smart people (ya know, the ones who know everything) so they could buy their big ginormous houses. Thank you for thinking so big, that a modest 1300 square foot or even a 2000 square foot house just isn't good enough for you and your pet dog. Yes, you do deserve as big a house as your parents have. You deserve more, like 5000 square feet right? Is that enough for you? Thank you so much that because you had to have your big expensive house so you'll have more friends and they'll think you are so cool, is making it so the rest of us who actually want a modest house, need to find a house, even a fixer, can't even get a loan from the banks because they, who are so smart, and you who are even smarter decided to spend all the money so they don't have any more to give to anyone else! Thank you so much. Actually I do want to live in an apartment for the rest of my life! And I guess that's where you'll end up too.

I'm not bitter or anything :)

something funny!

Yesterday morning I was doing laundry trying to fold clothes. Lately Samantha has been trying to mimmick everything I do including trying to help me fold clothes, and, putting them on! Although I'm not sure she got this one right. She grabbed my bra and put it over her head while talking to herself as if she was giving herself instructions on how to do it. She then went parading around the house with it on very proud of herself. I thought it was too hilarious not to post a picture!

Halloween Fun!!!

Well of course I have to post pictures of Halloween this year especially since my family doesn't get to see Samantha all dressed up.
I thought that maybe this year I would try to make a costume but I couldn't think of something creative enough and I got lazy so I just bought a princess dress for Sammy. And she made a very cute princess!
We decided to go down by Salem to Dave's sister's house and go trick-or-treating with her kids. They have a nice small little town where all the houses are right in a row making it easy going from one house to the next. We weren't sure how Sam would enjoy the outing but we thought it would be fun to at least try and see how she liked it. She made it around one neighborhood. For the first few houses we carried her, and then she got really excited and wanted to walk the rest of the way. She loved walking with the kids but after a while she couldn't keep up and kept falling down and tripping over her dress, which made her frustrated. And she wouldn't let her pail of candy go either. She would trip and then all her candy would fall out, so we'd pick her up, pick her candy up, and 5 seconds later it would happen again. So we finally gave up and went back to the house, which she wasn't too happy about. But the time that we were out there was fun. It's fun to celebrate Halloween with kids (especially when they are too young to eat their candy, so you have to eat it for them!:)







Pretty much the whole weekend was spent down in the Salem area. After Halloween on Friday, we went back down on Saturday because Dave and I went to an Oregon State football game against Arizona State with our brother in law and his son Adam. It was an hour south of Salem and the game didn't start until 7:30, so instead of driving back home after the game and getting there aroud 2:00 a.m. we slept over at Dave's parents. Which was good anyway because we had to get up and go to church at 8:30 to be there for Dave's dad George to become the new Bishop of the ward. So it was a fun-filled family weekend. Byetheway, OSU beat ASU in a nail-biter finish, and we sat at the top of the stadium next to some drunken fans. It was great! But I do still know where my loyalties lie in regards to football teams. Utah will always be my number one team, and I will go for OSU when they are not playing them. But seriously, I don't have any orange clothes to wear...red is much easier. :)

More Pumpkins please!

So last week Dave was sad he missed out on going to the pumpkin patch with us so we decided to go again yesterday since it was another beautiful day to one that was up here by Portland. We went to a place called Sauvie Island (which byetheway is in the area where they filmed "Twilight"-which byetheway, I saw a posting on Craigslist and on the night the movie opens the place where they filmed the 'dance' scene and the 'fight scene' at the end is having a sleepover party and it's close by! I think I might have to go...okay I'm not that big of a dork...maybe)

Anyway, so we went to this huge pumpkin patch outside of Portland and they had all sorts of fun things to do. We hung out for a couple of hours and Samantha had a blast petting the animals, eating caramel apples, taking pictures, riding on tractors, etc.. It's been nice being able to enjoy some nice weather still. It's been amazing the last couple weeks and I'm not ready for the winter yet.





I love this picture of her! She loves the dogs!



I thought this was a funny picture of Dave while he was doing the pumpkin slingshot!

Pumpkins!

On Saturday Sam and I went to the Jefferson Pumpkin patch south of Salem to pick out pumpkins. Dave went golfing with one of his friends so we went with my sister in law Kristin and her kids.

We had a good time and the weather was very nice. Oregon in the Fall is very pretty. Since there are so many trees you see a lot of different colors. Poor Samantha had a bit of a rough time. Within the first few minutes we were there, she fell on her face and was bleeding everywhere and got a huge fat lip. Poor kid. She's tough though. After like 2 minutes she stopped crying and was fine. I would try to take her picture and she would smile and there would be blood all over her lips and in her mouth! And earlier on this week she fell and hit her lower lip on the edge of a table and was bleeding so she was just evening things up I guess with hitting her upper lip. Now she just has a couple of scraps on her upper lip.

All the pumpkins were only a dollar so we got one for each of us. We were hoping they might have some white pumpkins but if they did they were all snatched up. So now we have pumpkins I just have to figure out what to dress Sam up for Halloween!

A Woman's Touch!

So anyone who knows me knows that I love musicals and movies with music and dancing, etc...Most of my family is like that, enjoying singing and sometimes dancing to the songs...ok maybe not Ben....but maybe.....:) Anyway, I grew up loving the movie "Calamity Jane" and I remember watching it with my family a lot among the many other musically-inclined movies. I haven't seen it forever and saw a clip of it on youtube and thought, "ya know, that song 'a woman's touch' is so like my life. Most days I prance around my apartment singing and cleaning, wearing corsets, and painting my front door a pretty yellow that says, 'Dave and Katie's little cottage' (or I guess apartment)" ahhhhh...........I love musicals. So like real life. But wouldn't it be fun if our lives were musicals? I think you could make a perfectly good song out of the words, "I just changed Sammy's diaper and now have to go buy groceries!! la la la!"...maybe that would be the chorus....ha ha. Anyway, it's a good movie, and a good song, you should watch it, and then watch the whole movie!

Winner!

Well it's nice to know when you are right, especially when it concerns a football game when your team wins against your husbands team...barely! Yes Utah beat Oregon State last night in a nail-biter finish. Yeah it was pretty much awesome. I especially loved the part where my sister Allison almost got run over by a couple of the players towards the end of the game. (she was on the sideline for some journaling thing, and I was watching them go out of bounds and was like, "Hey that's Allison they almost ran into!") Pretty funny....anyway Go Utes! (And sorry Dave :)

Also, I have been Tagged and these are my answers!

One word answers to the following questions:
1. Where is your cell phone? kitchen
2. Your significant other? Upset (football)
3. Your hair? Change?
4. Your mother? busy
5. Your father? cabin
6. Your favorite thing? couch
7. Your dream last night? scary
8. Your favorite drink? Dr. pepper
9. Your dream/goal? happiness
10.The room you’re in? living
11. Your ex? Um…
12. Your fear? failure
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? house
14 Where were you last night? couch
15. What you’re not? black
16. Muffins? donuts
17. One of your wish list items? cricut
18. Where you grew up? Bountiful
19. The last thing you did? sew
20. What are you wearing? clothes
21. Your favorite TV? flatscreen
22. Your pets? someday
23. Your computer? broken
24. Your life? Fab
25. Your mood? tired
26. Missing someone? duh
27. Your car? blue
28. Something you’re not wearing? ring
29. Favorite Store? cheap
30 . Your summer? family
31. Like someone? Yes
32 . Your favorite color? Purple
33.When is the last time you laughed? morning
34. Last time you cried? sunday
35. Who will/would re-post this? someone
37. Bath or shower? bath
38. Holiday? Christmas
39. Writing utensil? pen
40. Vacation activity? swimming
41. Bedding preference? cuddling
42. Pet peeves? tons
43. Cookies? chocolate
4. Eggs? sometimes
45. Favorite thing to do on a rainy day? dance
46. Your biggest strength? friendly
47. Favorite thing about school? P.E.
48. Most awesome gift received? motherhood
49. Neighbors? nice
50. What do you collect? scrapbooking
51. Oldest kept item from childhood? books
52. Greatest indulgence? chocolate
53. Your house? sold
54. Fruits or vegetables? both
55. Quiet or loud? loud

I tag Al, Savannah, Sarah, and Hilary

The past couple of weeks or so I feel like I have been living in the dark ages. No tv, and no internet make Katie go something something....(get the reference??):)

Yes, two and a half weeks ago we moved up here to Portland to be close to Dave's work. It's great because instead of driving an hour to work, he rides his bike in about 15 minutes! And it's a nice area. Probably too expensive to buy a house in, but for renting it's perfect. I hadn't even seen the place until the day we moved in and I was pleasantly surprised. Two big rooms, big living room, and new carpet, all for just under $700 a month. For the area, it's a great deal. We were able to find it through one of Dave's friends sister's who manages the apartments, so it worked out for the both of us. Hopefully house prices will come down more so we can afford something in the area. That would be nice.
So, since we moved up here we haven't had any television or internet hook up at all until today! We tried to get it hooked up the first few days we moved in, but I guess it's a busy time of year, because they couldn't squeeze us in until today, but at least we have it now so I'm happy. Poor Dave has been suffering probably the most, missing out on all his football games! And from what I hear he missed out on quite a few upsets over the weekend! And Oregon State beating USC! He was bummed about that one. But at least he'll get to watch Utah beat up on Oregon State this weekend! :) snap.

So in the past couple of weeks a few things have happened. Right before we moved one of my best friends Savannah came to visit me! It was so nice! And she told me about some wonderful news! (Hope you are feeling better!) We had a nice visit, and it was good to see someone from Utah!

And then last weekend, I finally after only 4 years of marriage, finally got to meet Dave's grandparents from California and one of his uncles! It was great being able to visit with them for a couple of days. They are wonderful, nice people and hopefully it won't be 4 more years until we see them again. We spent Saturday at George and Nancy's house visiting all day, and then on Sunday we met them up in Portland.


George's parents George Sr. and Betty, and his brother Frances


A Futile effort trying to get a picture with the grandkids


listening to Mark play


walking all over!



So now life up here in Portland is different, but good. I am a little frustrated with trying to navigate the area. I don't know where anything is and couldn't possibly try to follow directions at this point. Downtown is full of one way streets, so you try to get somewhere across the street but have to drive around the block a few times till you find a street that will go down that way. So it's a bit difficult if you've never driven downtown before, and I fall into that category. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon. But really....it's hard. I'm not just stupid. And you can't park anywhere in the city for free. You have to pay, everywhere! And if you try, they'll give you a ticket, even if you are in visitor parking at your sister in laws apartment that is supposed to be free but they give you a $70 parking ticket instead! Yep, even then. So although it's a very pretty city, I'm not entirely in love with it yet. I just hope I don't get distracted trying to find my way around driving that I plow over a biker, because they are also everywhere in the city. Portland's the most bike-friendly place! And they sure love their dogs too! If you walk a mile from our apartment you will see at least 5 businesses related to dogs, whether it's for grooming, doggy-sitting, doggy-walking, doggy restaurants, etc etc.....I don't mind so much because I love dogs myself, but it seems people in Portland love dogs more than children. That's alright by me, just not what I'm used to coming from Utah where, well, you know, there's just a lot of kids!

So anyway a lot to get used to. I like it, and I'm sure I'll like it better when I can drive somewhere without getting lost!

more video

So here is another video of Samantha. She was being really funny today and was dancing to the music I was listening to while painting in the garage. Her favorite place to sit is on the step outside of the garage door, so she was sitting there jabbering to herself. I caught a couple funny moments.

some of my first steps!

I finally got a video of Samantha taking a few steps! She was having a ball walking back and forth between the couch and Dave, and I got her to do a couple of her animal sounds, although you can't hear it very well. She was doing the lion and the fish! So Grandma and Grandpa Brewster this is for you!

Carousels, Birthdays, and Anniversaries!

The other day Tracee and I took Samantha downtown Salem to the Waterfront park to ride the carousel. I figured that instead of paying $20 at the fair, I would spend $1.50 to ride on these beautiful hand-crafted, hand-painted horses. It was definitely worth it. I wasn't allowed to sit on the horse with Sammy so I strapped her in good and tight, and of course she loved it, right up until the very end when she decided she'd had enough.

I didn't do a very good job of taking a picture of myself! :)


She was happier than she looked in these pictures!

Also I have to give a couple of shout outs today. First of all to my sister Angie who's birthday was yesterday, Happy to You! I should have done this yesterday but I am grateful to have a sister as wonderful as you are to me, and I miss seeing you every week! I think of all my sisters, Angie and I are probably the most alike. We look the most alike, we both like shopping a lot (although I think Al and maybe Natalie are coming around) and for the time being, our hair is the same color, blonde! (but I guess Al's is too now :)
Angie has always inspired me, and she has accomplished a lot especially in the last eight years with being a single mom, going back to school RIGHT after having a baby and getting her degree, buying her own house, knows everything about everything, and knows that family is #1. I love her, my family loves her, Caden loves her, and some guy that I've heard a lot about but never met and spends a lot of time with her who is lucky enough to even be around her.. and Caden for that matter....I'm pretty sure he loves her too...what a lucky guy I should say. All in all she's pretty special to all of us, and is one of the hardest working people I know juggling a busy life. I get tired just reading her blog about what she has to do everyday!
Anyway I love you Angie and hope you had a fabulous birthday....shaved legs and all!!:)

now what kind of sister would I be if I didn't put a funny picture of Angie up??

me and Angie



And to my parents....whose Anniversary is today! Happy 34th Anniversary!! I'm pretty sure my math is right. 1974.....yep. My parents are awesome and complement each other so well. My dad has crazy humor and outspoken, and my mom reels it in a bit more conservative and is very sweet! I love them both. And I can't imagine a better way to celebrate your anniversary than going on a long cruise with the Harris's!! But I guess that's still what a month away?? Fun stuff. It must be nice to be old(er), and get to go on cruises all the time! :) Love you guys and Happy Anniversary again!

I believe that this is their engagement picture back in 1974!!