christmas cheer.

in case you cant read it...it says "husband and dog missing...reward for dog" thank you grandma pat!

our tree kept trying to steal the presents...

thank you for all the gifts, pictures and cards! we hope you all had a great christmas!

pop culture!

 on a very very rainy afternoon mike and i ventured over to vancouver washington for a date. we had heard about soda shops in the portland area that sold specialty flavors...we just had to check it out for ourselves! we arrived at pop culture and were amazing by all the different and exciting soda flavors they had (BANANA!).

i ended up with a mango lemonade...with real lemon bits in it! mike had black cherry cream soda that was sooo smooth and yummy.

if you ever get the chance and are in the vancouver area, take the time to go up the pop culture and have a soda. it was definatly worth the trip!

pop culture.

its the best time of the year!

have a holly jolly christmas...

from mike,

ellen

and the animals.

give thanks.

the target two-day ad. a must read :)



larissa, my master pastry chef sister, and me!



this is larissa's boyfriend, scott. if he really wanted to, he could crush that kitty with one hand. dont worry, he's a lover not a crusher :)



would any gathering with any family be complete without a funny face picture? no. it would not.

this thanksgiving was such a treat. with me working at gap and prepping for the busiest day of the year and mike actually working on thanksgiving we thought we would have to be on our own for the holiday. lucky us, there was a very mueller thanksgiving happening just 100 miles away in springfield :) we drove down when mike got off work and drove back up a few hours later...but it was soooo worth the drive. Here are a few of my favorite things from Thanksgiving this year.

• larissa's pies and her bread that was supposed to be some rolls. she is currently enrolled in a culinary program on the oregon coast and she is an amazing baker. oh my goodness.  
• all the hugs. i stinking love how many hugs this family gives. it really makes me feel like i fit right in!
• gary and chubbs. they are cats. i don't like cats. but i might change my mind after these two!
• catchphrase. boy that game gets loud!
• when larissa and i found winston. he ran away for the first time EVER. but we found him. it was a happy occasion.
• realizing how much chelsie and i have in common. i think that she and i have the same heart. cant wait to see her really grow up over the next few years!
• the fact that we were with family. the time went by so fast but i'm so thankful that we were able the make that drive.
• confirming that just because your a brunette doesn't mean your not blonde. even more than me. but i'm sure nicole will grown into her common sense soon :)
• did i already mention the pie?
• seeing how happy erik + beth were to have all the kids under the same roof for the holiday for the first time in YEARS.

i hope you were all stuffed with good food and good company. we love everyone and wish we could have been to all our family thanksgivings. maybe next year :)

thankful for...

this week, i am very thankful for pippin. i can always count on him to keep my lap warm, eat my leftovers, give me kisses, steal my covers and pose perfectly for heart warming pictures like this one.

"animals are such agreeable friends. they ask no quetions, they pass no criticisms."

halloween with the robinsons!

our amazing friends megan + kent robinson joined us in portland from spokane on halloween weekend. and what do friends do for halloween? went out for mexican food then carved pumkpins! can you guess which one is mine? :)
[silly, silly boys.]
[ewwww look at that goop! at least we used the goop for something good...baked pumkin seeds!]

[ the finished products and the awesome artists behind them.]

best eyebrows: megan's

best eyes: kent's

best gunshot wound to the head: mike's

we had so much fun...this might just have to become a halloween tradition!

together again.

it wasn't even three days after moving that we made our way over to cannon beach. the beach in october has always meant drizzling rain and hot cocoa...i'm not sure what was going on but it was 70 degrees, breezy and clear. amazing fall day on the coast.

pippin and winston love, and i mean L-O-V-E, the beach! pippin fetched tennis balls from the water and winston chased the waves.

we are super happy that we are just an hour or so away from one of the most amazing places we've ever been. and i'm super excited that, after 6 weeks, mike was there to share it with me!