Roberts Family Reunion - Deer Park, WA - 2008

This is a photo of the entire group at the reunion. Right before this was taken, as we were all quietly waiting, Sadie yelled out "Uncle Chris is cute". She's a goofball that one.

From Roberts Famil...

This past weekend Chris and I traveled to Liberty Lake, WA on Friday afternoon to spend the weekend with my Dad's sister, my Aunt Judy, and to attend the Roberts Family Reunion in Deer Park on Saturday. My dad's mother came from a family of 9 siblings and this reunion was for the offspring of those siblings, all of whom have passed. So, it was a cousins reunion of sorts, and it was a blast.

Deer Park is pretty much out in the middle of nowhere. Our cousin Ron has about 100 acres out there, an old farm house, a swimming pool, and plenty of tractors. We arrived around noon and ate, drank, swam and moseyed around the property for the next 8 hours. Pretty fun times. Here are some of my favorite shots of the event:

Ella in the pool.


The cousins.

Our family.

Sadie.

Ella and her crazy Uncle Chris.

Ron playing his trumpet for the girls.

Hi, I'm Rags!

This past weekend Chris and I stayed with my Aunt Judy in Liberty Lake, WA. We were there for a Roberts (my dad's side) family reunion (more on that later). On Saturday night when we returned from the reunion we picked up my Aunt's dog Rags who had been out camping with the neighbors. He is just the cutest damn puppers ever.

Angie, if you're reading this, wouldn't he fit right on the back of your kayak?

Hi, I'm Rags!

C'mon, Pet My Belly! I Dare Ya.....

Doesn't he look cute? All rolly polly lying on the dead grass in our backyard. Just begging to have his belly rubbed:



Well don't fall for it. This is how he pulls you in and then leaves you with a bloody hand and what should be a trip to the emergency room (if you're not stubborn like me).

Yep, he's one big, angry, tricky cat alright. Keep your guard up at all times.

Backyard Garden In Bloom

At the beginning of the summer I posted some pictures of our somewhat remodeled backyard. This was before the warm weather and sun hit Seattle. Here are some updated pictures of the backyard, in full bloom!

View from the deck:


Giant Sunflower. We didn't plant any of these sunflowers. They are scattered about by the birds who eat at our feeders. We don't keep too many of them, but this one we let grow and look at the size!


Chris says that this is called Cottage Garden style:


My pots finally bloomed:

Dulldrums

The weather has changed from sunny and happy to gray and sad. The weather people keep telling me it will burn off, but nope. I've been wearing a fleece jacket for the past two days. It is cold outside and in here our air conditioning is on full blast. Lame.

This weather change makes me lazy. All I want to do is go home, take a hot bath, and watch Law & Order reruns. When it is all sunny I go home and do hours and hours of yard work. I have no desire for that today......

*blah*

Really?

Conversation overheard today at my fitness club (soon to be ex-fitness club!!!) by the front desk girl and a poor guy who had come in for a tour:

Girl: I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?

Guy: Dan

Girl: Dave?

Guy: Dan

Girl: David?

Guy: Really?

I am so not making this up!

Put Down Your Phone And Drive

Seriously. I want to take a survey of Seattle residents and ask one simple question.

Did you realize that THIS BAN went into effect on July 1st?

As of that date you were supposed to put down your cell phone and begin to drive using both hands once again.

I'd say that about 1 in 10 people I see driving on the road are still holding their cell right up to their ear, chatting away.

Come on people! A hands free unit can cost as little as $9.99. Isn't that worth it to save your life? And possibly mine?

Percy Poo

I just gave Percy a bath. He'd gone outside and rolled in something downright nasty and I couldn't bring him in the house without a complete wash down so I picked him up and threw him in the tub. He's actually a pretty decent bath taker. He just stands there and takes it.

But then he retaliated. As soon as he was out of the tub and toweled off he walked into our bedroom and took a GIANT STINKY POO, right in the middle of the floor.

Nice one Percy.

They've Done It Again! - Totally Looks Like

The crew at icanhazcheeseburger has done it again. They've added http://totallylookslike.com/ to their list of hilarious sites that include: http://icanhascheezburger.com/, http://ihasahotdog.com/, http://graphjam.com/.

Again, hilarious!

Who Knew?!

Movie Reviews

Another Path On The Way To A Better Yard

While I was chillin' lakeside during the 4th of July weekend, Chris was home finishing the path we had started to build in the front yard. We had picked up the stones the week prior at eGreen Landscaping but Chris had to level them and fill in the dirt. Next up we're going to plant some moss or thyme around them. Looks pretty good right now though:

Congrats Angie and Brandon!! - Matron Makes Me Feel Old

Chris's sister Angie and her long time beau Brandon are engaged! Brandon popped the question during their 4th of July weekend on Anderson Island. Check out the rock (nice work Brandon!):



But....the best part (!!!) is that Angie asked me to be her Matron of Honor! I'm so, so, so excited and I feel totally honored. The only thing is, I've never been a "Matron" before and it makes me feel kind of old. When she said "Will you be my Matron of Honor" I thought to myself, well no I can't, I'm not a matron.

ma·tron (mtrn)

n.

1. A married woman or a widow, especially a mother of dignity, mature age, and established social position.

2. A woman who acts as a supervisor or monitor in a public institution, such as a school, hospital, or prison.

Turns out I was wrong, I am a matron. Mainly just because I'm married but I'd also like to think it is because of the "established social position" part.

Wishful thinking I know!

Anyway, congrats to Angie and Brandon, I can't wait for the wedding!

Josh & Elise - July 7th, 2008

I mentioned before that my cousin Elise got engaged to her long time boyfriend Josh. Well on Monday they decided not to wait until Josh returns from Iraq to tie the knot and they got married! Here is a pic of the happy couple (Thanks Stacey!). How cute are they?!



Congrats to Elise and Josh! We are all so happy for the two of you!

Sun-Rype - Eating My Fruits and Veggies

One thing that I am trying to get better about is eating a good amount of fruits and vegetables on a daily basis and I'm tracking my progress on my Joe's Goals page (see the graph on the right side). Chris and I often laugh at our fridge: 2 parts drinks, 2 parts condiments, 1 part expired food. With the abundance of strawberries in the backyard this year you'd think that fruit servings wouldn't be a problem for me. Sadly, strawberries really aren't my favorite. Which brings me to Sun-Rype.

While in the produce section of Safeway the other day I stumbled upon a display for Sun-Rype snacks. They are all natural and contain 100% Fruit or 100% Fruit and Veggie.

I just finished one of their FruitSource Plus Veggie Raspberry bars and it was delicious. The wrapper tells me that I just ingested 2 1/2 servings of fruit & veggies. At a mere 130 calories and zero fat I can actually feel good about snacking on these.

Yesterday I tried one of their Squiggles 100% Fruit Twist, also delicious!

If you're looking for a convenient way to up your fruit or fruit and veggie intake I highly recommend these snacks!

Paperboys - Tsillan Chellars Winery - July 5th, 2008

Saturday night Jeff, Sara and I went to the Tsillan Cellars Winery on Lake Chelan to see The Paperboys perform. We left the girls with Grandma & Grandpa and had a fun evening out!

As always The Paperboys put on an amazing show. The crowd loved them and there was plenty of wine and dancing. They played many old favorites and some new tunes they haven't recorded yet!

Paperboys on Stage:



Jeff & Sara:



The View from our Blanket:

Tubing!

Saturday the niece's talked Grandpa into taking them tubing behind his boat. Ella went first. Every few minutes you would see her little thumb pop up asking for Grandpa to go FASTER! Tubing is a definite prerequisite for being a lake kid so Ella is fitting right in. She went round, and round, and round:



One of the highlights of this past weekend for me was when Sadie turned to me and said "Aunt Courtney, you're my best friend!". How cute is that. She decided that she'd like to try tubing for the first time, but only if I would go with her. So Grandpa pulled her and I around the lake and the entire time we sang "Let me tell you 'bout my best friend" with some lyrics of our own! Check out the thumbs up action:

Strawberry & Blueberry Tart

For our family dinner on the 4th of July my mom made a WONDERFUL tart with fresh strawberries and blueberries on top, covered with an apricot preserve glaze. The filling was cream cheese with a hint of orange extract. It was incredible. And the crust was flaky and delicious. As soon as I can get the recipe from my mom I will post it.

Here is Ella getting ready to enjoy the tart:

Let's Go Sounders!

Oh how I love to watch soccer.

Last night Chris, Gary and I attended the Sounders US Open Cup playoff game against the Kansas City Wizards at Qwest Field. The game was totally intense and at the end of regular play was tied at nil - nil. Next came two intense overtime periods which also ended tied at nil-nil. But the Sounders brought their A game to the penalty kick period and ended winning 6 goals to 5 (or a final score of 1- nil).

I can't wait for the MLS season to start next year.

Go Sounders!

Granite Falls - Clearing the Trail

Behind our cabin at Lake Chelan, about a 1/4 mile up the hill, is a waterfall from which our community gets it's name, Granite Falls. There is a primitive trail that leads from the main road up to the falls. Last winter there were really bad wind storms that toppled trees near the trail making it difficult to hike up to the falls.

Dad had a solution for this.

Early Friday morning he and I grabbed the chainsaw, shovel, and loppers and headed out to clear the trail. Of course we all know how dangerous it is for me to use power tools, so dad manned the chainsaw.

Maybe not the best idea.

The first tree he tried to cut through he got the chainsaw stuck in. Rather than help, I shot some pictures for evidence:


Luckily we were able to get it back out and after only one more incident of getting the chainsaw stuck we reached the falls.



The next day we hiked up there with Ella, Sadie, Jeff and Sara. The girls loved it.







Dad and I enjoyed watching them enjoy it:



Check out the rainbow - such an amazing place:

Fishing

When I arrived at the cabin in Chelan on Thursday afternoon I found the family down on the dock fishing. Sadie was pretty excited to see me and started running around doing a crazy dance:



Ella was too busy fishing to do more than look over at me say "Hello Aunt Courtney". Then it was back to fishing:



And catching! Ella caught quite a few Chubs off the dock (also known as Squaw or Pike fish).



But, leave it to Sara to catch the biggest fish of all. She brought in this huge Chub:



And of course Dad had to take it off the hook for her:

Funny Face Game II

I've mentioned before that my nieces and I love to play the funny face game. Especially in front of the camera. Here is a great gem from the past weekend:

Weekend Posts Are Coming

I spent this past holiday weekend dangling my feet in the cool waters of Lake Chelan. I went over Thursday afternoon and just returned this morning. Sadly Chris had to stay here and work. I'll get my pictures downloaded soon and give a play by play of the awesome weekend. In the meantime, in no particular order, are a list of activities I participated in while there:

Swimming, Floating, Fishing, Kayaking, Hiking, Cooking, Wine Drinking, Cocktail Mixing, Concert Going, Walmart Shopping (ick), Boating, Tubing, Sunning, Reading, Game Playing, Fire Building, S'mores Eating, Fireworks Watching, Visiting, Laughing, and Joking.

What a great weekend!

Well, It's a Start!

I think the hardest part about converting our lawn into flower beds is the actual planting of the flower beds. Picking plants that will do the best in this totally exposed spot, but that will also require as little water as possible. Chris has been amazed at my enthusiasm in this regard lately. Last night he actually asked if I was feeling alright as I rattled off plant names and where they would do best. I'm actually really getting into this gardening thing.

So far we have planted one of the two beds we recently built. The plants (from left to right) are as follows: Oregon Sedum, Barberry Bush, Oregon Sedum, Japanese Maple Tree, Ice Plant, Sage, Lavender, Postman's Sedum, (something I can't remember the name of, twice), Black Jack Euphorbia, Lavender, Postman's Sedum, Sage, Ice Plant, and Rosemary.





The second bed is just staring at us like a blank canvas. I'm thinking of making some stepping stones to create a path from one side to the other, something I can use to get in there for weeding. Other than that I'm drawing blanks. Any ideas? So far I have one Barberry Bush and four Sedum planted.