Pinball Wizard

Shannon's Pac-Man dominated

That Gene guy is all right!

Mr. Shannon green lite the chocolate cake.

Elvis is in the Building!

Dancing

At Uncle Ed and Aunt Diane's Party

At the Beach!

Awaiting Garrison

Kellie for Father's Day got me tickets for Prarie Home Companion. They
are on tour and are at the Oregon State Fair. Should be awesome. It's
been a quiet week in Salem, my hometown.

No posts for awhile

The laptop is broken, somehow the LCD screen broke and after a few phone calls to Dell it appears that the only choice we have is to mail the laptop in to be fixed which means that I'll be without computer access for a week or two. I'll try and post a few updates from David's work computer but for the most part the blog will be silent for awhile. Terrible timing since our fall schedule is starting up and in the next two weeks we'll be starting Indoor Park, MOPS, and ballet classes which I'm sure you'll all want to hear about.

Oh, and obviously I won't be updating Snapfish until the laptop is fixed either. I'll make up for it by adding a ton of pictures when the laptop is fixed!

Daddy's Little Cowgirl

Grace really wanted to wear her pink cowgirl boots this afternoon so of course she needed to wear her cowgirl shirt too! Since she was looking so cute and was in a good mood after her nap I suggested we go outside and take pictures with her horse. I was surprised when she enthusiastically agreed so I worked quick to capture a few rare (on camera) smiles!

End of Summer Movie Bash

We had a lovely evening last night mourning the end of summer by having a big End of Summer Movie Bash with our neighbors and some friends. David brought the projector home from work again and we set up to watch a movie on our own big screen in our neighbor's backyard. We pin up a king sized white sheet to our neighbor's gazebo, wire up some speakers, and hook up the laptop/projector and we're good to go. Everyone brought a huge amount of junk food so we all pigged out on popcorn, a dozen different kinds of candy, two tubs of licorice, ice cream, chips & guacamole, and a cooler of drinks. Nobody went hungry that's for sure! We watched Transformers which was the first time I'd seen it and I have to say I was rather confused about the plot line. I just couldn't follow it half the time. I don't think getting up a couple of times to help Grace stay in her bed helped any. We let her watch the beginning and eat candy with all the other kids and when she grew too restless (and started complaining her tummy hurt....) I hauled her to her bedroom under great protest. I found I could watch the movie from our bedroom window and still keep an eye on the kids' room door at the same time which worked for about 45 minutes until Grace fell asleep for good. It was a lot of fun and I'm sure we'll have several more outdoor movies next summer!

Standing Tall

So Ethan is really taking off now that he's worked up the courage to take steps away from me, the furniture, and whatever else he can find to pull himself up to standing on. Yesterday he kept walking back and forth between the Xbox and the couch ottoman, a distance of about six feet. He absolutely loves to stand holding on to the television stand and push any and all buttons he can before getting scolded. In fact I just caught him trying to push the buttons on the satellite box (and now he's headed for the PS2...) as I wrote that last sentence. He's definitely David's son. Anything with a cord or buttons attracts him like a moth to a flame.



Anyways, back to the discussion about Ethan and his new skill. It's interesting to watch him learn to walk because he's doing so earlier and differently then Grace did. Grace started walking by standing up in the middle of the floor, taking a few steps, and falling down again. She didn't let go of the couch and walk away from it like Ethan does. No she was way too independent for "help" of any kind. She also learned to walk fairly early a month before her first birthday. It didn't seem to take her very long to master walking either. She was running by her first birthday. Heck, she's STILL running! I think it's safe to say that Ethan will be following in his big sister's footsteps in that regard.





And finally a soon to be outdated photo of Ethan crawling. I don't have very many crawling photos of Grace because we were in the middle of moving to our new house and unpacking when she was in that phase.

A staredown for the Ages

Check out this cocker spaniel go to work on staring down this deer. I know it's a crappy picture from my iPhone, but the moment couldn't be missed.

It's in the bag

Who needs toys when you have bags to play with? For the record, I do not shop at Nordstroms very often. In fact, this bag originally held David's new black dress shoes he bought for the wedding last weekend. He'll probably own those black dress shoes forever which is why I didn't give him too hard of a time for wanting a nice pair. I mean, I bought my white wedding shoes at Payless because I didn't want to pay over $20 for them. But I digress. Back to the bag and the fun it contains.

Offical Walking Proof

As requested here is some video proof of Ethan walking.

This video is from Saturday afternoon when I couldn't get him to walk for the camera but he would stand.



And here he is just an hour ago playing in his room. He's only been walking a few days but he can already make it pretty far!

Enjoying Jim and Amy

Our good friends Jim and Amy made the drive from Nampa to Dallas yesterday to visit for a bit while they're in the states on hiatus from China. Amy just finished up an Americorps stint there and Jim has been teaching English to 5-17 year olds in the same town. They'll be heading back to finish up teaching another term before doing who knows what. Working in Antartica has been mentioned, and with these two we wouldn't be surprised!

Grace has been loving every minute of their visit so far and has found both Jim and Amy to be willing to play. Poor David is in the middle of a very busy/stressful time at work so he's not been able to take off time to spend with them like he would very much love to do. Luckily he's been able to work from home though.

Jim said that it's interesting to hear how verbal a three year old is since he doesn't understand the Chinese kids when they spend time with them.


Grace wore everyone out with her lay down, stand up, lay back down again game.


Amy taught Grace how to be a flying ballerina!

Wedding Weekend

As David posted previously, we had a good time celebrating Pat and Katie's wedding this past weekend. Friday night I got to have a girls night for Katie's bachelorette party which was pretty fun. I think watching Father of the Bride is mandatory right before any wedding! Saturday we went to the wedding rehearsal and Grace met the ring bearer and they held hands walking down the aisle. After the short rehearsal we shared a yummy mexican food meal and got to meet more of Pat and Katie's family. We enjoyed talking to Katie's Dad and hearing all about how he caught their garage on fire. Quite the story! My parents came down Saturday to help us with the kids which was really helpful. It was nice not to have to bring them to the rehearsal dinner and to not have to worry about them before/during/after the wedding. My parents stayed in our guest room and Pat sacked out on our couch. Somehow or another we all made it to the Gentle House in Monmouth by 11am to get dressed for the wedding. My Mom curled Grace's hair and it looked absolutely adorable! I haven't had a haircut since last spring so mine was kind of so so. I tried. We did wedding photos and then had a lot of down time before the wedding which was when I really appreciated having my parents watch the kids. I nursed Ethan when he needed to nurse (thank goodness the bridesmaid dresses were easy to nurse in!) and handed him back to my Mom to avoid getting baby puke or drool on my dress. Grace had one accident before the wedding and another one during the reception, but managed to not ruin her dress so that was good. She also walked down the aisle holding hands with the cute little ring bearer with only a few nudges when they got off course. Once she was down the aisle she sat with Grandma while Grandpa strolled Ethan in the stroller in circles in the back of the lawn. My Dad managed to make sure Ethan got two naps that day which was awesome!

The wedding was short and sweet. I love to watch the groom's face when the he first sees the bride and Pat's face was no exception. I loved the wording of the vows they exchanged, and the music was great! My shoes were super uncomfortable so I took them off as soon as I could after the group photos. Then we enjoyed some good food and toasted the newlyweds with great cheer. By the time we got home we were all pretty wiped, Grace took a long nap and we all went to bed early. I hope Pat and Katie are enjoying their honeymoon at the beach, I kind of wish I could go on another honeymoon. That precious time away from everyone and everything and concentrating just on each other is so rare. At least it is these days, so maybe I'm looking at it from a different perspective. One that is 7 years and 2 kids down the road!

Katie eating a hamburger and fries in her wedding dress


Katie helping her Dad clean himself up


The Matron of Honor and myself


Katie waiting out the last few minutes before the wedding

Wedding of the Waughs

Today- Kellie, Grace, and I were in Pat and Katie's wedding. It was a lovely outdoor wedding that even had a nice little breeze. They are a great couple and were honored to be in apart of their wedding. We love them both and look forward to hanging out with after the honeymoon.

First Steps

Ethan has officially taken his first steps now. The past two days he's gotten really brave in letting go and standing independently and has started taking one or two steps before plopping back to the ground. He looks so pleased with himself that it's impossible not to cheer for him! Of course in the back of my mind I'm a little sad because my baby is growing so big so fast. I wish I could just freeze him in this moment because he is such a happy baby! I'm sure he'll be a happy toddler as well, but I'm going to miss having a little baby.

I'll try to get video of his walking attempts soon!

Blackberry Morning

I love blackberry cobbler. It might be the most perfect late summer dessert, second only to pie of course! This morning the kids and I were lucky enough to pick blackberries at a friend's place and had a good time. Grace loves to pick berries so was excited to be given free reign to pick all she wanted. She got less purple this year then last year! As luck would have it I was just at Costco yesterday and the box they gave me to put my purchases in was a berry box. Perfect for picking berries since it was good sized and shallow. As soon as we got home I washed our berries and made a cobbler with half our berries. The other half I washed and put in the freezer to enjoy later this fall. Or maybe next week. You know I really like blackberry cobbler so I might not be able to wait until fall to eat another one.

Picking berries with a big group of "helpers"


Grace ate her fair share of berries


Our berry stash


The end result of our hard work

Grace's 3 Year Photos...better late then never!

I've been working on getting some good photos of Grace for her 3rd Birthday and it's been a challenge. Grace has been a challenge to photograph ever since she became mobile, hardly ever wanting to face the camera unless she's two inches away from it and doesn't cooperate with me when I try to stage a shot. She also rarely smiles for the camera. Over time I have learned to become inventive in our photo sessions. For these I plucked a hydrangea flower off the bush so she'd have something to focus on. That worked pretty well. We went to a wedding last Saturday and will be in one this Sunday so we've been talking about weddings a lot lately and when I handed her the hydrangea she said it was wedding flowers. I went with it and had Grace "practice" walking down the aisle for her flower girl role by walking down our gravel pathway on the side of the house. We'll need to do some more practice on that since I'm pretty sure Katie doesn't want her to run down the aisle. I'm pretty happy with the photos though! I love the golden sunset glow.













And here is what Ethan was doing while I was taking Grace's pictures. He ate rocks.

Countdown to Walking

Let the countdown begin, this morning Ethan got up the nerve to start letting go of the furniture while he was cruising. He'd cruise along, pause, let go, and continue his couch cruising. He's also figured out not only how to make his walker go but how to steer it to where he wants to go. This boy wants to be mobile something fierce! I've seen him take one step last week but nothing since.

I think Grace will like having him steady on his feet since she's been wanting to dance with him for awhile now. Last week they danced their first dance together while the three of us were rocking out in the kitchen making dinner. I thought it was so sweet of her to want to dance with her brother. Almost makes up for her hitting/kicking/ramming/and otherwise harming her brother throughout the day. Almost.

Lovely Anniversary

Kellie and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary, lucky number
7. We went to see Mamma Mia! and had a great dinner in Salem. I am a
pretty lucky man.

Lucky #7

Today marks the seventh year that David has made me the happiest woman on earth. It's our anniversary today (and David's grandparents...Happy 62nd Anniversary to you!) and that always inspires me to look back on our years together. Sorry for the long post to follow, but I just felt the need to share our love story!

The two of us as a dating couple.




We've come a long ways from when we first started dating two weeks into my freshman year in college. He totally impressed me when he asked if he could pursue a relationship with me rather then ask me out right off the bat. Of course it didn't take very long for me to be very open to that idea and by September 3rd, 1999 we began our dating adventure right after watching The Godfather (his favorite movie of all time by the way). At the time we were both living in The Scholars Residence at the University of Idaho which was a co-ed residence hall housed in an old fraternity building. I think our relationship progressed as quickly as it did because we were living in such close proximity to each other. That and we just couldn't get enough of each other!

The two of us as an engaged couple




David asked my father for permission to marry me that next summer on a sweltering hot night after a cigar. Needless to say he felt a little sick to his stomach that night! All those nerves and the humidity just didn't agree with him. He told my parents he was planning to propose on our one year dating anniversary or on Thanksgiving. If you know David at all you know that patience is not generally one of his virtues. He was acting completely weird the first few weeks of school and on September 2nd it became apparent as to the why. He took me to the nearby baseball field to go star gazing and got down on one knee to propose in the dark.

Wedding Photos




We debated between waiting one year or two before getting married and in the end David won out and we decided to get married in August 2001. As luck would have it we were able to get married on David's grandparent's 55th wedding anniversary which was really special. Neither of us cried during the wedding, mostly because we were goading each other not to! After our wedding we took a short honeymoon down to Ashland, Oregon for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and up to Cannon Beach before we headed to Nampa, Idaho for a second reception and up to Moscow to start school.

Early Days of Marriage


Our first two years of marriage were spent in Moscow, Idaho where we finished up our bachelors degrees. David graduated in December of 2002 and I finished in May of 2003. While it was difficult to be so far from our families it was good to have those first few years to be on our own and establish ourselves as a couple. It was in our tiny 450 sq ft married student housing apartment that we sorted out who does what chores and I tried my hand at cooking for the first time.

Fifth Wedding Anniversary


We moved to Salem, Oregon for David to attend Willamette University's MBA program in May 2003. We knew nobody in town, had no internet, and no jobs. It was a long three months. We did discover that we will make an excellent retired couple someday. We learned to play Bocce and Jeopardy was part of our daily routine. The best part of the move to Salem was that the 2 bedroom apartment we lived in came with a Marriage Saving Device we like to call the dishwasher. It was a long two years in Idaho without one! By the time school started for David in August I found a fantastically rewarding job at The Bon that paid barely enough to make ends meet. Before David graduated in May 2005 I had worked three jobs in order to pay the bills, one of which was the quintessential Office Space job where I didn't really seem to be doing anything. I also worked for the State of Oregon for about a year in a clerical job which was definitely the best of the three despite the 6:30am start time.

Super Hero Family of Three


Our daughter Grace was born July 30, 2005 right after David graduated and thankfully found full time employment! It was a big adjustment in our lives but has added even more love to our marriage as we started the parenting journey together. Grace was 8 months old when we bought and moved in to our first home in Dallas in April 2006. My brother Brian lived with us for a year from June 2006 through June 2007. It was a challenge but wound up being a blessing since I became pregnant with our second child during that time frame and couldn't grocery shop or cook and Brian was able to help out in that department. Our son Ethan was born October 7, 2007 and completed our family. I'm pretty sure that David is glad he won't need to deal with a pregnant wife again!

Family of Four


Fun David & Kellie Trivia:

We can share some shoes since our feet are the same length. David's feet are wide and mine are narrow so only shoes like flip flops or Crocs are good for sharing.

We have attended the Oregon Shakespeare every year we have been married. Even the years we were dirt poor students, twice when I was hugely pregnant, and once (and soon to be twice!) with a nursing baby.

Our first "date" was to walk down to the video store to rent Shakespeare In Love. We've watched a bazillion movies together ever since.

We've held an Oscar Party every year we've been married...next year will be the 8th Annual!

We're both 5'8" tall.