Backyard

Okay, here are pictures of our backyard. We had a friend of a friend do our irrigation, other than that we did all of our backyard and garden. We also had a lot of help with building the fence (still need to stain it).

This is our first time having a garden, so hopefully one or both of us have a green thumb! Gardens don't really seem as cost effective at the first go of it, so hopefully it will have a big payoff in the end. We also consider this a learning experience for years to come :) It is super fun to have our own garden and actually watch it grow! It has already grown so much and it has been only a couple of weeks.

This is the back of our home (of course) from the bike path. Dave was kind enough to weed wack a path to the paved bike path :).

So we only have two fruit trees in our yard, this is our cherry tree. Notice the thieving birds perched, waiting to snatch the remaining un-stolen and unripened cherries. Punk birds. Dave was told reflective ribbon was a good deterrent, anyone else have suggestions? I had Bono go after these two after the picture was taken.

Memorial Weekend

Memorial weekend BBQ at our home. Our good friends Craig and Stephanie Sasser came down from Seattle for the weekend.

Bella's first time swimming! I don't think she knew what to think of it.

Bella definately looked adorable in her swimsuit! :)

Bella also had her six month doctor appointment today. She got four shots, it was horrible. Thankfully she got over it fairly quickly. She is such a great little baby! She is still "petite" according to the doctor.

Bark in the Park

Dave and Bono ran a 5K this last weekend. It was both Dave and Bono's first 5K run! Bark in the Park is a fun raiser for Greenhill Humane Society here in Eugene. There were over 500 dogs and their owners that ran, it was quite the spectical! It was a lot of fun, both Dave and Bono did GREAT! We were worried that Bono would be too excitable and all over the place during the run. We worried for nothing! He ran beautifully, stayed with Dave (if not pulling him) and didn't try to bother any other dogs! WE ARE PROUD OF YOU GUYS!!

Dave and Bono approaching the finish line :)

Don't they look great?!

We found two other puggles at the run! Bono is the cutest though ;).

Yurt camping/Mother's day

This is a deluxe yurt at the Umpqua Lighthouse on the Oregon Coast. It is by Winchester Bay. This is our third year in a row for going with some friends. We lucked out and had GORGEOUS weather. It was quite different this year as several of us had babies, but we made it work and had a blast! There was game playing, talking/hanging out, fire building, singing around the fire, etc. We are already planning on year #4 with the idea of going clamming and/or crabbing and hopefully it will be warm enough to go swimming in a nearby lake or even actually getting wet in the good old Pacific Ocean.

We went on a hike with everybody, Luke is trying to feed a slug to his baby girl, Siena. It was a really big, slimy slug too.

Us at the dunes.

On our hike around the lake. It was a great little hike! Jake and Annie jumped out of the bushes and scared the bajonkas out of me though.

This is at the lighthouse lookout. Bella likes to stick her tongue out in the wind, it is pretty funny. She got really tired after this and pretty much had a melt down outside the museum.

She finally went to sleep, that is what her meltdown was about (why is it that babies and kids know they are tired and that is why they are so cranky, but they don't go to sleep and fix the problem??!!). Thanks to Dan and Carina for letting us use their all-terrain stroller to bring her back in!

My first tin foil dinner!! Yes, I know, I am 28 and I've never had a foil dinner. When I camped with my family we would cook over a stove or mostly use the dutch oven. The foil dinner was so much fun for me! And it was SO good!! :)

We came back on Mother's Day. We took our time driving back as Bella was being very cooperative in the car for once. We checked out a couple of other lakes and campgrounds that looked incredibly inviting!

For Mother's Day Dave got me a great present, A LAPTOP!! A laptop for my very own, I've never had one before. Dave had one at BYUH however it was stolen (that was a rough day - had all of his term papers on it). Dave also made lunch and dinner which were yummy, he even made homemade bread. He let me take a nap too!

It was super special to have my very first Mother's Day. Bella is such a doll and a lot of fun (lots and lots of work too, don't get me wrong). I usually hate Mother's Day and avoid it as it would typically make me cry bringing up the realization that my mother is not here on earth. But it was very different and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed celebrating it with others too, Motherhood is such a wonderful blessing and all Moms, Moms to be and those trying to be Moms should always be celebrated.

Jammin'

We went to visit my sister in Vancouver WA. On Saturday we decided to go to the local farmer's market. There was a bruddah from the Islands there jammin' away. This is a picture of Bella and I dancin' to the music. Our 16 year old neice, Erika was making Bella laugh and smile too, she was able to catch this way fun moment! Bella really likes music! The market was fun and I was able to get the much desired Gyro and elephant ear!! :)

Catch up :)

Alright, alright, I know . . . it's been almost a month. We just get so busy!! I guess sometimes we also don't think our lives are all that exciting or anything so we don't really post anything. So I guess I will just update everyone on what has been going on the last month.

We have been getting our home together. Dave built a fence with lots of help from a neighbor and help from friends! Building a fence is a heck of a lot of work, let me tell ya! Dave put in our garage door opener (not as easy as we thought it would be). Dave extended our patio last weekend he ended up lifting over 2 tons three different times (and of course, not all at once!), needless to say he is still recovering from all that cement work. We completed our backyard, minus our garden which we will plant in a couple of weeks, when we are sure to be out of the freezing nights. Dave had to break up the clay that was our backyard and we brought in all sorts of new soil, layed sod, planted shrubs, flowers, and fruit trees. We are tired. And of course, it is raining now so we cannot enjoy the fruits of our labors yet.

I have to say that we are truly blessed with wonderful family and friends who are always willing to help! They will be blessed for their service. It is a great thing to serve and I hope I will be able to serve others as well!

So I am silly and didn't take in before/after photos of the backyard. I will take some updated photos when it stops raining and looking so bleak outside, so any who are interested in the final product are just going to have to wait ;)

Here are some other photos over the past month, enjoy!

We went to the coast for the first time with Bella. It was sunny, but windy :)

Bella kept trying to stick her tongue out to tast the wind, it was pretty cute. We just can't stop kissing our little baby girl!

Bella met her cousins, Dennis and Fran. She sure did like looking at them, especially Fran! (They were down for the knife show, we missed having Scotty and Robin from Hawaii this year, they are expecting their first baby)

I LOVE this little dress on Bella, SUPER CUTE! It is from Momma Jackson (Stephanie Sasser's mom).

Daddy was playing with Bella and making her laugh, I got the picture taken at the tail end of the laughter. We LOVE making her laugh, it just swells our hearts with joy!!

Views

So these are views from the back of our new home :)

This is our completed new home. We are still moving in, which will take a while to fully complete. We absolutely love it and there is PLENTY of room to grow into :)

PS have we already mentioned that we LOVE OREGON??!!

Of course we have to post some pictures of our perfect baby! My happy baby playing as I clean. Amazing that yesterday she got three shots!! She is SO cute!!

I LOVE Bella's baby feet, they are adorable and so soft! She had daddy's pinki toe.

Don't Mess with my Wife!

For all you guys out there who have a problem with tough fearless women... get a clue! Tough women are AWESOME! So, last night, my hero Teresa, scared the crap out of some punk teenage kids that had too much time on their hands this Spring Break. At about 10:45 last night, we are settling down in bed, when all of the suddent BAM!!!, a crazy loud explosion happens just outside our window! It sounded like a shotgun. We look out the window to find about 10 teenagers laughing and scrambling back to their cars. Before I know it, Teresa is up, dressed, and running out the front door after them! The kids jump in their cars and Teresa in her car and the pursuit begins. She follows them across town, the kids making obvious turn after turn trying to lose her. She follows them until finally they pull into a gas station where she pulls in right next to them. She tells them, "don't get out, the police are on their way... what are your names and birthdates!" She, of course, tells the police dispatcher that there was an explosion outside our house and that she has followed the kids that set it off to the gas station. 3 police vehicles arrive in about 3 minutes with hands glued to their weapons thinking that somebody has explosive devices. Anyway, the police get her report and she comes home to tell me the tale... GOSH... I love my wife :) (btw... it was just a dry ice bomb).

Baby Bella

Alright, you wanted them, now you've got them! A BUNCH more pictures of Bella! We'll write more later (we are moving this weekend, kinda busy preparing and YAY for us, we closed on our house :)! We LOVE and ADORE our sweet baby Bella, enjoy! We think these are fun and cute :)

A couple of Limericks for you! :)

Limerick to the Non-Commenter
There once were visitors of our blog
Whose visit was not very long
They took a quick glance
Their hearts we made dance,
But no comment was left, that’s wrong!

Limerick of Hope for your Comments
Our postings we publish with joy
Our blog our fun little toy
Your visit we cherish
Your comments won’t perish,
We anxiously wait to enjoy!

Teresa and I are very much enjoying the blogosphere! We login in everyday with great anticipation to see what all our loved ones have been up to. We love to read your blogs, AND, we love to read your comments about ours. If you can spare a moment to say hi, we'd love to hear from you. Our little tracker tells us that about 25 unique people visit our blog everyday, but we only get 4 to 6 comments :( We miss you guys and would love to hear from you via comment!