Reunited

After puppy sitting Jake last weekend, Max was a little sad to see him go earlier this week. Luckily, they were reunited last night as Auntie and Peter take on the role of puppy sitters! We are off to the lovely wedding of Court and Chris in Leavenworth.

Happy Wedding weekend! Enjoy!

Missing

Tonight for whatever reason, I am missing my sweet home town of Walla Walla.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the life and home that Nicholas and I have made for ourselves in the city, but my roots are from a small town. I grew up in that small town, went to college in another sweet small town...and at times a pang hits my heart, and I miss.

I'm already looking forward to a weekend there in October! (yes, with the craziness of our schedules we can't really get back there until October. eeks. One of these days hopefully things will slow down...)

There are so many pictures that we have from over the years on that tree in Pioneer Park. One of my favorites is a picture of all my cousins, lined up from oldest to youngest on that tree branch, with my grandparents and all my aunts and uncles from my dad's side.
So many people take pictures there now, that they've had to put that post up to hold the old oak tree's branch up.

I hope that tree holds up so that one day we can take pictures of our kids on it...

Love you Walla Walla, thank you for all the memories, see you soon.

*all images via Google Images

Number 2

It's easy to remember what the important things in life are while celebrating a sweet little 2 year old's birthday...listening to her squeels of laughter as she chases after a balloon.
Thank you Miss Adelaide.

Dinosaur Egg

Ever had one??

I'll admit, I'm not normally a fan of the hybrid fruits that are concocted out there. But Nicholas introduced me last week to the Pluot, or Dinosaur Egg, as they are so affectionately referred to, and I must say... I can't get enough! I have had one in my lunch every day this week.

Apparently they have engineered and taken the best qualities of the plum and the apricot and...voila! The pluot is born.

All I know is, it is delicious. Get you hands on one today before they become extinct. At least for the season.
*bad joke I realize. I'm guilty of lame humor sometimes.

Happy Birthday to my love!

Nicholas:

Happy, happy, happy 30th birthday! I hope that today, and every day really, but especially today...you know how very much you are loved by so many people. You are unique, and original, and special. You are loyal, caring, and brilliant. You are the funniest person I've ever met, and I am so lucky that I get to share that laughter with you each and every day. You are an amazing cook, a hard worker, and you enjoy celebrations. You have an incredible heart and you aren't afraid to show your emotions. You know my quirks and love me because of them. You are a wealth of knowledge. You support me, compliment me, and make me feel beautiful. You get me.

Because of these things, and millions more, THANK YOU! My days with you have been the happiest times of my life, and I can't wait to see what this next decade brings for us.

I love you.


And also a huge thank you to all our friends and family who came out to celebrate Nick's birthday on Saturday! Such a fun night!

Bachelorette Weekend in Victoria

Saturday morning bright and early, 9 girls boarded the Victoria Clipper (which I was under the impression was a plane for some odd reason?) and headed up to Canada to celebrate Miss Courty's upcoming nuptials.



You know I couldn't resist a picture of the beautiful giant..


Nor could I resist a picture of a street named Courtney, love it!


I was especially excited because I have never been to Victoria but have heard such lovely things about it. What a charming, fun, flower-filled town...we had such fun walking around all the shops, sipping on delicious concoctions, enjoying the wonderful dinner Laura prepared for us all, and getting Court all "bachelorette'd up" for a night out!

And as much as she wasn't quite sure about all the glittery paraphernalia...


She was just about the cutest little bridey ever!

"Take a look, it's in a book..."

Just like Reading Rainbow taught us when we were children, it is amazing the things you learn when reading!

Take for example last night, Nicholas started reading a new book "The Widow Cliquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It" (he really loves biographies and historical novels). As we were laying reading, he pointed out a fact that neither of were aware of...even though Veuve champagne, with it's iconic yellow/orange label is an absolute FAVORITE of both of ours.

Did you know...Veuve means Widow?

It all makes sense now!! The book is a biography of a visionary young widow who essentially built a champagne empire...the champagne is called Veuve. Brilliant.

I especially loved this paragraph from the prologue:

"No wine in the world brings to mind so many immediate associations as champagne. The pop of a cork and the bright sparkle of bubbles mean celebration and glamour and, more often than not, the distinct possibility of romance. It is the wine of weddings and New Year's kisses. It is beautiful and delicate, and above all, it is a wine associated with women."

Maybe I especially loved it because Nick read it out loud to me, knowing that would be a paragraph I would adore...