All about Ashlyn: September 2012

We have had a busy busy summer! What have been doing since I last posted almost two months ago?

We rode the Columbia Gorge Sternwheeler. It was a lot of fun! We went in the afternoon and had a great time. Ashlyn loved watched the stern wheel. Mommy and Daddy loved sitting back with a glass of wine :)

Ashlyn and I went to Key West, FL with some of my cousins and my mom at the end of July. It was a dual graduation trip for my cousins Melody and Kourtney. We had a great time, but boy did Ashlyn miss her Daddy! She's never been as naughty as she was when we were in KW. We still had a great time though. We went to the Aquarium and saw a shark feeding and turtle feeding. No the turtles weren't being fed to the sharks! We went to a Butterfly Conservatory, which was amazing! There were thousands of butterflies, everywhere! It was really cool. We went to the beach and the pool everyday. Ashlyn liked the pool best because she had this floaty thing that she could buzz around the pool all her own. We went on a snorkel trip. We got some local Hogfish one night from a seafood store to bbq and it was delicious! We only went out one night and of course we went to Jimmy Buffett's original Margaritaville! We drank a lot of yummy tropical drinks, we didn't eat much because it was too darn hot! We met some people one day at the pool that were from Florida and they told us KW is its own kind of humidity. More humid and more hot than any other place in Florida. Mom, myself and Ashlyn flew directly to KW from Portland so we had two layovers. One in Denver and one in Ft Lauderdale. When we landed in KW, Ashlyn asked me, "Mommy, are we in Key West now???" I said yep, we're finally here! She said, "Yay! we're in Key West!!" then, "Mommy, we took the wrong plane those first two times!!"

We had a garage sale at my mom's house (please God, never again!). Jered went camping with his cousin Cole at Linton Lake the weekend of the garage sale and had a lot of fun. I got the opportunity to spend some time with my cousin Traci, just the two of us, which rarely happens. We went out to Benton Lane winery and had a few glasses of wine and enjoyed the view. The weekend of the garage sale was also the Scandi Fest weekend. We went on the last day, Sunday and ate Swedish meat pies and ableskivers...YUM!!!

The next weekend we went to Bend for my cousin Kyle's wedding. We had such a good time! We loaded up the Mini with our kiddo, our two dogs and ourselves and headed out! Yes all of us in the Mini! We probably make a funny picture but I tell ya, that Mini gets such good gas mileage we love driving on long trips. Since we got the wagon version there's enough room for the dogs. We stayed at cousin Cole's house even though he was out of town. It worked out perfectly though because he left his dog home and we were able to bring ours. We were able to feed his dog for him and our dogs had someone to keep them company while we went to the wedding.

Bend Brew Fest was happening when we were in town so we of course had to check it out! We got there just after it opened and it wasn't busy at all. We stayed just a couple of hours, tasted a lot of different ciders and then just as it was starting to get busier we knew it was time for us to head out. We had enough time for a nap before had to get ready for the wedding. We were late leaving for the wedding because Ashlyn is bear when you have to wake her up from her nap. The wedding was at the bride's family ranch about 20 minutes east of Bend. We were driving really fast when we heard a loud pop and then the alarms started going off in the Mini. We had a flat tire!!! Ugh!!! We had 10 minutes till the wedding was supposed to start. Jered jumped and changed the fastest tire of his life! Seriously, he must have been part of a NASCAR pit crew in a previous life. I had just finished texting some of my family members and had gotten a text back when he was finished! Phwew! We made it to the wedding exactly at 6pm! Things got a started about 10 minutes after we arrived. I was so glad we weren't late and we weren't even the last ones there!

The wedding was really a lot of fun, Ashlyn found a few kids to play with and they danced their little butts off. Everybody kept commenting on how she was the only kid with any rhythm! Her mommy and daddy have been known to bust a move now and then so we know where she gets it!! :)

On our way home the next day we stopped at a winery we had noticed on our way down. Of course, Jered and I had to stop! Who knew there was a winery in the middle of Central Oregon? Well they are the only one! Maragas Winery, really some yummy red wines. We may have come home with a bottle or two! :)

Jered and I celebrated our 7th anniversary on Aug 20! SEVEN years!! Wow, some days it feels like 7 days, some days 70 years! <3 p="p">

The weekend after our anniversary we had another wedding. This one for Jered's cousin Leslie and Ashlyn was her flower girl. Needless to say I was pretty nervous! She is so shy most of the time I wasn't sure she would actually do it. We had rehearsal the night before thank goodness and the ring bearer was her cousin Nolan. Nolan and Ashlyn always have a lot of fun together. The wedding was in Silverton at the groom's parents house along the river. A beautiful site for a wedding. The day of the wedding we were to be there a few hours early for pictures. We were on time, the pictures were not. I don't think I've ever said "No, be still, don't sit down, don't pull on your hair, don't touch your face, be careful with your drink, don't run, don't sit in the grass, don't do this, don't do that" so many times in my life. Poor kid just stopped listening after the thousandth time she heard me. Sheesh! She had on this cute linen flower girl dress....white, yes white. We had to wait two hours from the time we arrived till the wedding started. So for her big walk down the aisle with Nolan, they walked across a patio, down a few steps, across a little landing, down some more steps, across the grass and then in front of the people sitting in the front row. Laurie (Nolan's mom who was 8 months pregnant) and I pushed them out the door of the house and then had to run really fast out the side of the house and down a dirt path and sneak up to the front row along the outside of all the chairs. By the time I got down there the kids were already down all the steps. So I motioned for them to keep walking (there was a little hesitation when they saw all the people) and they came out the side. Poor Laurie finally made it down after I already had them. The first thing they said to us was, "can we have our fruit snacks now?" Yes, I am not ashamed, we totally bribed them with fruit snacks!! :) Thank goodness Leslie did not expect them to stand up with them, she just wanted them to walk down the aisle. After it was all over the kids were just so happy to be able let off all the energy we had been making them hold in. Laurie and I were finally able to breath! I think we were both more nervous than either of the kids :)

The Thurs after the wedding we left for Kitimat, British Columbia for 10 days to visit Jered's parents! More to come on that, I'm sifting through quite a few pictures.

But for now, enjoy some pics from the last couple of months: