7 Year Anniversary

Jason and I spent this weekend on the coast at our favorite little B&B Sandlake Country Inn. We settled on celebrating our anniversary a little early so that we could get our favorite room there. We were trying to figure out how many times we've been there now. This is what we came up with:

1. Engagement - December 2005

2. Babymoon - November 2008

3. 1st Anniversary - June 2008

4. 5th Anniversary - June 2012

5. 7th Anniversary - June 2014

(We clearly love it there and would recommend it to anyone looking for a very quiet and secluded grown up place.)

On this trip, we ate at our favorite restaurant in Lincoln City (about 35 minutes from the B&B) and did a very quick round of shopping at the Outlet Mall. On Saturday, we did a 5 mile hike on the Cape Lookout Trail. It was a gorgeous day! You can't ask for much better weather on the Oregon coast. Then we went to the Cape Meares Lighthouse and had a picnic lunch. Later that evening we went to the Pelican Pub & Brewery to enjoy some beers. 

A bit of history - When Jason proposed on the beach 8.5 years ago on Christmas Eve there was no other place to go that day except the Pelican. Everything else was closed. So here we were, this giddy, newly engaged couple sitting at the bar, drinking beer, chatting with the locals and watching the football game. So funny :-)

We slept in, napped, ate, ate some more, and then ate. On the way home on Sunday we stopped at our favorite winery, Erath, to pick up our summer wine club wines. 

It was an absolutely perfect weekend with just a little bit of everything that we needed. It has been seven amazing years and looking forward to many more!

Dance Recital 2014

Another recital has come and gone. Alia's class was entertaining to say the very least, but absolutely adorable. I was so proud of her. Things got a little hairy up there for a minute but she stuck right to her choreography and just kept on going. I think my favorite part of the show was watching her come out for the finale. Next time I see you, I'll give you a little reenactment. Adorable! She has now been given the ok to go on to the next level which is where they can do whole classes of one format. That means no more 45 minute ballet/tap combo and Alia's is thrilled. She is so excited to have an entire class of just ballet ... weird, how are we related?! She's not interested in doing tap even a little, but I think I have talked her into doing one trial jazz class. We shall see. 

Dress Rehearsal "Happy"

Alia had her dress rehearsal for her dance recital this weekend. Her class is doing a ballet dance to the song "Happy". They were an adorable, hot mess at the rehearsal and Alia informed me that "that's why they have rehearsals!" So true! 

Family Pictures

My mom celebrated a milestone birthday last week and her two requests were to have Jamie and me in the same state and to have some family pictures taken. So, a big shout out and thank you to our friend Tom for coming over on a Saturday morning to make this happen!

Rose Festival City Fair

Memorial Weekend means the start of the Rose Festival here in Portland. We had a nice (not rainy) day Saturday, and since my brother was in town we decided to head downtown to check out the City Fair. Probably the neatest thing we did was go into the butterfly house. It was pretty cool! We also enjoyed a few rides.

Daddy and Max in the butterfly house

The butterflies really liked Max!

Silliness with Uncle Jamie

If it looks like it can be driven Max has to be a part of it.

Daddy's favorite ... the big slide

Check out those smiles!

Alia's favorite ride is always the carousel. She and Daddy were making silly faces every time they went around. Pretty funny :-)

Bussey, Radloff-Snyder and a few Douglas's all together in the same place at the same time!

Vets 4 Vets

Hey family and friends! I just wanted to share this with all of you in case you didn't know about this fabulous organization that I am involved with. Last weekend we went to The Dalles, OR to visit the soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry. Below are a few of the MANY pics from that event. 

Please check out our website or our Facebook page!

www.vets4vetsnw.com

"Vets 4 Vets (V4V) is a volunteer-led non-profit organization consisting of Veteran NBA/NFL Cheerleaders and Dancers.

Founded by Retired Navy Veteran John Curry and former NBA Dancer Wisa Opton in 2011, they wanted to provide veteran professional dancers and cheerleaders, an opportunity to continue their support for the troops. Vets 4 Vets members continually give back to those who fight for their country on a daily basis and to those who have served in our nation's military.
Vets 4 Vets participate in military and veterans events throughout the year and visit VA Medical Centers and Community Living Centers. They sign posters, provide entertainment, and boost morale to military personnel and veterans organizations.

Chatting with a soldier ... probably about basketball

Fun photo shoots!

Van ride on the way there

Group photo

Bradley tank simulator!

Last Day of Pre-K

I am so proud (and a little sad) to announce that Alia is officially a Kindergartner. Her last day of Pre-K was on Thursday. She was lucky enough to have 4 amazing teachers this year. Her two current teachers did an amazing job taking over when the first two left to work full time gigs with the Beaverton School District. She had a wonderful little class of 10 girls and 3 boys and has made lots of friends that she will see again at Oak Hills Elementary next fall. Alia will be in the half day PM Kinder class. 

I love this excited little face with that message on the white board behind her. 

Always the well-mannered little lady

Alia's class (plus one little sister)