One Year of Bliss!...75ish more to come!

Yesterday we celebrated one year of marriage! The past year has been quite an adventure! We have already shared so many great moments and we are more than super excited about all of the wonderful times to come!

On Friday afternoon we left Walla Walla planning on traveling through Portland to Cannon Beach for a weekend of camping. It wasn't until a few hours into our trip that Josh's aunt called and let us know that the Hood to Coast run was happening (90,000 people in the Seaside/Cannon Beach area). We had a quick change of plans because we didn't have a chance of snagging a campsite anywhere near Cannon Beach. We had no idea that the whole coast would be overpopulated for the weekend, so we headed to Newport. Not long after we made this decision we realized we'd forgot to pack our sleeping bags...good news, right? Well, we decided to purchase a cheap sleeping bag and blanket at Freddy's in Salem. After that we were good to go! We arrived in Newport just after midnight. Then, we proceeded to drive around to every campground in the area finding nothing other than "Campground Full" signs. Oh poop, right? Well at 1:00 we were exhausted and without a campsite. We didn't want to pay for a hotel room because our actual anniversary trip is next weekend and we wanted to save our money, so we parked in the Agate Beach parking lot and slept in Edwin, our faithful Pathfinder (the only lodging that we could rely on for the evening).

On Saturday morning we woke up early because people started arriving at Agate Beach. We went down to the Bay Front for coffee and our wonderful day at the beach began!
Then, back to Agate Beach where we spent a good chunk of our day!





Then, to Devil's Punch Bowl for a picnic lunch and stunning views!
Then, to Pacific City, the closest place we could find a campsite for Saturday evening. I made a reservation over the phone, not knowing what the grounds would be like. When we arrived at a huge open ghetto lot with no quiet hours we decided we'd be better off staying with Josh's aunt Diane in Salem. We stayed in Pacific City for dinner and a beautiful sunset!

On Saturday we went to Portland before heading home. We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory then we went to the Oregon Zoo! It had been so long since either one of us had been there...we had a fabulous time!
I know what you are thinking...Dinosaurs? I don't remember dinosaurs at the Portland zoo...well they are a temporary addition, and one that Josh was ecstatic about!


So, our anniversary weekend was spontaneous and fantastic! We will never forget it! And we love being over a year into our marriage! It only gets better!

A weekend out of the ordinary

Ordinarily when we go to Bend, Marlowe is not there...this time he was!

Ordinarily we don't eat at the Pine Tavern when we are in town, but this time we did.Ordinarily I do get to see Nico, but rarely one-on-one...we had "coffee" and it was wonderful!

Ordinarily we don't get the opportunity to take family pictures, but check this out!

Ordinarily Corey is not part of our family, but on Friday he was.Ordinarily we don't get to spend time with Brad and Alex, but we got to have way too much fun mini-golfing it up with them!



Ordinarily there aren't a gripload of people at Elk Lake, but on Saturday...holy cow!
We were fortunate to be out on the water away from the madness...it was delightful!
Ordinarily I don't put pictures of pets on our blog, but I decided that Milo was worthy of being in at least one picture on the blog.
Ordinarily we don't go out for breakfast, but, when we are in Bend, The Crepe Place calls out to us! Yummy!
That's all!

I'm married to a 24-year-old

And loving him more today than ever before (not just because he's 24)...does that rhyme?





Even though Josh did have to work today...we decided to have some fun because what's a birthday without a little fun?!

Relax

On Saturday we decided to go to Wallowa Lake for the day. We didn't take the kayaks or bikes or much of anything...the idea was just to relax and enjoy the beauty of God's creation.

When we were arrived I noticed that there were bucks wandering through the campground and lounging by the parking lot. The girls below were astonished by the tame deer, and so were many others with cameras in hand. Now, in Bend you see deer just chillin' in yards and such, but honestly, these deer were beyond tame...we could have sat down beside them and petted them. We didn't though...who knows what diseases they could have, plus they are still none-the-less wild animals with antlers.

Below you will see Josh and I doing nothing more than relaxing on the shore of the beautiful Wallowa Lake!


Joseph is the town nearest the lake. It is kind of like the Sisters of eastern Oregon. We discovered a new love in this little town of Joseph: Mad Mary, this fun little 50s-style soda shop with incredible chocolate chip cookies and ice cream sundaes!
To top of a grand day we went to see WALL-E at the M-F Drive-In Theater. It was a first for me...so great!

Sandra's Birthday Festivities

Past the wheat fields and by the orchards, to the Lane's log house we go...
Josh and his mom, Laura. This is a great picture...well done Sally!
Hannah was supposed to be in the above picture, but I believe she was a little too excited about brownies and homemade ice cream to comply.
She was rightfully excited...the brownies and ice cream were incredible! Thanks Terri!Hannah couldn't get enough four-wheeler riding in. Let's just say she went out about five times with five different people!

Happy Birthday Sandra!

Ellie Mae

We had a little photo shoot with Ellie Mae just before her bedtime on Saturday night. Oh what fun! In most of these pictures you can clearly see Ellie's fascination with the orange light on the camera.
See the fascination?

The next two photos were candid so I was able to get her focus off of the orange light...plus her unkie was capturing her attention!

Cry face:(

The balloon came to the rescue once Ellie was fed up with our photo shoot...I even snuck in one last picture.