I LOVE Surprises.

My husband knows this about me.
He also knows that when he says he has a surprise
I will do anything and everything to find out what it is.
I can't help it. I've always been this way.
Ask my mom.
Before every Christmas and birthday,
I would search the house from top to bottom.
Maybe it was the feeling of "the find".
Maybe it was fear of the unknown.
Either way, finding out is always anti-climactic.
Yet I try my hardest to be in the know.
Bless Eric for still planning surprises for me.
Bless him.

Anyway....all that to say
Eric planned a surprise for me Sunday afternoon.
He drove me to Sunriver.
Rented a canoe.
We spent three blissful, relaxing hours
on a river.
He packed us a picnic.
It was wonderful.

Here he his. So proud of his surprise.

Who knew this place even existed?

Amazing, picnic that consisted of:
raspberries, dried mangoes, pepper crackers, and spinach artichoke dip.
Yummy!


This was the position I chose the majority of the time.

Apparently rowing takes lots of concentration.

It appears it's pretty difficult too.
These ducks followed us for a long time. They could smell the food.



I think I might take up canoing. You know as a hobby....
What dya think?

Boat Day!

Fact: We love boating.
Fact: Eric loves wakeboarding. I do not. (I'm supportive don't worry)

We have been so thankful for the beautiful warm weather.
It means we get to take the boat out.
It seems we have waited months and months, hope would shine through
the clouds, only to retreat again, forcing more months to pass us by.
But now, I believe summer is here to stay.
Here is the first official summer boating excursion!

Kirk, you daredevil!


This is what we call the "casserole" face. It's a long story.
Jenna's first time. She got up on her first try!

See, it wasn't so bad...
No matter where we go, we represent.

Woo... and I daresay hoo!

Dia de Padres

We drove to Eugene this past weekend
to celebrate both Father's Day, and Chase's college graduation.
As always, here are the pics...


Here's the fam (minus Alex) waiting for the ceremony to start.
The proud graduate with his two favorite ciblings (in-law)...

Eric was getting artsy.
That night Chase opened presents, the boys played football, and we ate steak!
I grew fond of the backseat on this trip.

This is where we ate Father's Day brunch.
It was delicious, not to mention beautiful!Here's the view. Vineyards for miles.

Windy day.The boys.

Good times, good times.

Memorial Day

Since it has been so very long,

I decided I would blog about the biggies.
The first being Memorial Day weekend.

I should preface this blog with saying that Eric's family has since
dispersed across the country.
It all happened so suddenly.
David, Kristen, and Jacob all made the trek (45 hours or so!)
back to Webster, New York.
Chase decided to take a job in South Carolina.
All within one week.

Due to these sad, but exciting circumstances, we all
met up at the coast - Yachats to be exact.

This was the incredible view from our room.

Sharon and JacobThe Parnell family loves to take pictures!

Reflection in the glorious ocean.
Love was in the air...and so was the smell of fish.
Speaking of fish...we went to the undersea gardens.
This is one of many ugly, ugly fish we saw.
Quite the touristy thing to do, so I'm told.
Yes, this is a picture of a picture...but I liked it so much
I thought carpe diem!
This was a boat. We posed appropriately.

Hooray for family and three day weekends!

Kitchen Cabinets

I promised months ago to show you our finished cabinets.
Well they've been done for a while
and I know that you all have been losing sleep
wondering how they turned out...
so here you go!




Voila!
So much work, but so worth it.