Oh the joy of not being parents yet!

Randy and Danielle are at camp for the week (and so is Ellie Mae), so Hannah is spending the week at Grandma Donna's house. Yesterday we picked Hannah up for the afternoon/evening. We had many great adventures together! She is adorable and so full of energy!











A day with Hannah Joy...a blast, but exhausting! Props to all the parents out there!

Birthday Weekend Number Two

For those of you who are tired of seeing my birthday photos, do not look at this post. My parents were in town last Friday through Sunday, so we celebrated my birthday once again.


My parents got me some great gifts, as you'll see below. Thanks mommy and daddy!The ever-so-wanted Target gift card!
The pleasant surprise of a hat to keep my head from getting burnt while I am kayaking!
The dry sack for kayaking....do I like it....?
Do I like it! It's even my favorite color!

We had lunch at the Creektown Cafe...so yummy! We had cheesecake too!
We went kayaking at Jubilee Lake. One of the most beautiful lakes I have ever been to! Now we need to go camping there!
My dad sporting the hang-loose. I love this picture!
Me and my mom! Do you see Josh in the background?

Twenty-three years old...seriously!

My amazing husband got out of bed at 4:00 a.m. this morning to create a birthday scavenger hunt for me. I love thoughtful surprises!

I got some great birthday wishes from friends and family via phone calls, texts and Facebook. My dad, my mom and Nico all tie for greatness in their own renditions of the happy birthday song! Hannah sang the cutest version of happy birthday while she was getting ready to brush her teeth...hers was even on video (wish I could share it with y'all)!

When Josh got home from work at 2:00 he took me on a walk to an unknown destination. We ended up at Luscious for my two favorite birthday desserts...cheesecake and chocolate mousse...yummy yummy in my tummy (and in his tummy too...we shared)!

Later on he took me out to dinner at the Depot...incredible pizza! After dinner we went to Pioneer Park and walked around...the temperature outside was perfect and I wanted some photos of my 23rd birthday, so we took some self-pics. We do it so well!
Below we are laughing hysterically.
Scared? Crazy? Angry? You decide.
Shocked? Excited? Taken back?
And these are the gifts that my parents sent in the mail...I am waiting until Friday to open them so that my parents can be here to see me open them. I get a birthday celebration next weekend too!

Friday night about 9:30 two of our wonderful friends showed up at our house! Craig has visited us twice before but this was Walla Walla initiation for Tara Jean. I am so thankful that they were willing to look past gas prices and come to visit, making my birthday weekend one of the best ever!

What did we spend our weekend doing?

Well, Saturday morning Josh and Craig got up early and went four-wheeler and dirt bike riding up in the mountains. Tara Jean and I rode bikes downtown and spent some time at coffee shop doing devotions.
We met the guys back at the house for lunch, then went back downtown where some music festival was going on. We weren't really concerned with the festival; we were just there to have some Bright's ice cream. Yum!



(note: Josh is not pretending to kiss the man on the cheek...that's his Zoolander face)

We mozied on down to the Walla Walla River, in Oregon, where we bushwhacked our way to Josh's favorite fishing spot. It was well worth all of the mosquito bites [a total of 21 bites, Josh with the most (12 bites)] and the scrapes on the legs!
I lost my right flip flop a total of 3 times, but Josh came to my rescue and chased it down river, retrieving it each time! He's amazing!Tara watched my back (literally) as we walked upstream...in the above photo she is smashing a mosquito on my shoulder as it is sucking my blood. I reached back and rubbed my shoulder...blood on my fingers...my own blood...I hope...nasty is really the only word for it! If you think it is gross that I am writing this, I assure you it is grosser that it happened to me.

Don't be fooled the water in front of us is a good three feet deep...got the shorts a little wet getting back in.
Josh is a self-pic pro! He even got the fishing pole in the picture.
One of the many fish Craig caught...bet you can't see his eyes through those awesome camouflage sunglasses.
Isn't my friend Tara Jean a beauty! Please observe the two fishing lines in the photo as well...don't worry they didn't hook her!

It was a great weekend! Thank you friends for visiting! It is so much fun sharing our lives with the people we love! Thanks for the birthday gift too Tara Jean! We'll be in Bend soon!

Weekend in Walla Walla

On Saturday we paddled around Bennington Lake, just 1.5 miles from town. It was beautiful and there was only one other boat on the lake!


On Sunday we went out to Harris Park to fish in the Walla Walla River. It's beautiful out there, but I am a little apprehensive about going back because we saw about 5 million bees...Josh wanted me to walk through a swarm (yeah...right!). We also saw two, not just one but two, snakes, which was my greatest fear going out there. You should have seen me when I almost stepped on the water snake...you'd have thought I'd been bit by a rattler. Did I mention that I hate snakes...I really hope I never see another snake in my entire life! However, I would like to see Harris Park again if I have the guts.

4th of July Weekend Blitz!

On Thursday night (July 3rd) Josh and I joined some of our friends for a camping trip at Lake Billy-Chinook. On the 4th we spent the day on the lake.

Josh was the first one in the water around 8 am...it was less than 70 degrees outside at this point...what a brave man!

He caught some good air!
Eric was the second rider of the day.
Then came Tara Jean, who didn't appear to be too excited about this pre-riding photo opp.
Happy to be riding the wake.
Terrified? Holding on for dear life?
Mekenzie was next.
Jenna (our new friend...FYI: we were at PLNU at the same time) holding the flag, and Lindsay.
Dane on the water.
Katie (our other new friend) and Dane.
Lindsay and I...this may have been when my left shoulder got scorched!
Beautiful clouds on our trip home from the lake.
Jenna made a gorgeous, and very yummy, patriotic cake!
Josh's firework-watching fashion!
Gotta love the pictures when you are so tired you shouldn't be in pictures!
On Saturday we went to Elk Lake and had some fun in our kayaks. My parents were there in the drift boat...no pictures of them once again, but not because we don't love them!
After church on Saturday at Red Robin...so much fun!

What can we say? We had a blast!