Yes, I was officially surprised.....

Matt through a surprise party for me today. Totally wasn't expecting it at all, seriously. I've been warning him about not planning a party this week, as I have a big test on Thursday.

Turns out he has been planning the event for over a month. I was studying with a friend at her house most of the day and came home to a house full of family and friends. It was completely a surprise and touching to see those who made the long trip to attend.

Thank you to Lynn and Randy for driving to Eugene to pick up Nicole. It was great to see her, especially since our last conversation was earlier in the day and I was wishing she was home for the weekend.

-Lori :)

Paper Craft - If you're up to the challenge

I was looking over our list of favorite sites, and tried to remember what I saved them for.

I ran across a website we used earlier in the school year for Abi's Shakespeare class. It was an extra credit assignment. She was tasked with putting together a paper model of a Shakespeare theater. She did end up with credit--after both of us struggled to put it together correctly. In the end it was a miniature version of a theater house that could sit in the palm of your hand.

On the website, Paper Toys you'll find other paper models of famous buildings, cars, and animals. It's all free, you just print out the page and start cutting and gluing.

Enjoy

-Lori

Second Snow Fall This Year....

We received about a 1/2 inch of snow this morning. It's already converting to slushy rain and is forecasted to be gone by afternoon. Now that's how a typical snow fall goes in Oregon.

I was able to capture a few pictures that were interesting:

Slushy, melting snow

Squirrel feeder, most used by the blue jays lately

Blue jay landing--note the two skid marks behind the foot prints

More prints, they are neat how "clean" they appear in snow

They look like they could be squirrel tracks, but they are from the blue jays, and one other small bird (on the right)

Graber.... Party of Four.....Graber....Party of Four...

Sunday we took Abi with us to visit baby Lily Marie, and her big brother J.D.

The visit was brief, but worth the trip! Here's a few photos:

Mommy, Daddy and Little Lily

Proud Uncle Matt

Ingredients: Sugar, spice and everything nice!

Cousins: Abigail Marie and Lily Marie

Lori with Lily and Abi

JD was a bit shy at first, was able to catch him once with his new Tonka dumptruck.


Before we left, JD was talking up a storm with Abi and showing her all his toys

Cousin JD (2 yrs old), Cousin Abi (16 yrs old)

Twelve Wonderful Years, and looking forward to many more...

Today, we celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary..... Picture after dinner at Todai's in Portland


Flowers from the bouquet Matt gave Lori

The flowers sure brighten up a wintery day!

IT'S A GIRL !!!!

A few moments ago, our newest niece arrived into this world....

Brother Josh and Susie had a little baby girl, 6 lbs 12 oz. We are awaiting to hear her name....

Congratulations JD, you are a big brother!

Love to all, and God Bless!

Love, Matt & Lori

Silvery Frost at Silver Creek Falls

Part of our quick afternoon outing today involved Silver Creek Falls.

Unfortunately, we arrived 45 minutes before they closed the day-use area. Fortunately, we were close to the first main fall. Unfortunately, the trail that leads to the fall was closed/blocked. Fortunately, we could still get a picture of the falls from the upper view point. Unfortunately, the fog had rolled in pretty thick, making for a difficult picture. Fortunately, we had 3 cameras on hand between the 5 of us, so hopefully we have a least one good picture. Unfortunately, our stay was short. Fortunately, because it was dusk and quiet, we saw four beautiful chocolate brown doe on the way back to the car. They were content eating and weren't bothered too much by our presence.

Frosty Leaf Silver Creek Falls Silver Creek Falls
Doe....A deer....a female deer

Ray....a drop of golden sun....

Me, a name I call myself......and our friend, Lynn...

Dude...why did you park your truck (like that!!!)

We spent the afternoon with our friends Lynn and Randy. We stopped at a local store for a few minutes. When we returned to our car (small honda on right) we found a truck 1/2 way in our parking spot--no joke!!! It was unbelieveable!

Matt left a message on the truck's back dirty window:

"I don't know how to park, I should buy a car!"

We were able to safely exit the parking spot.

Fried Green Beans???? Yep....

Matt and I took Abi out to lunch today. The restaurant is called "A Taste of Chicago", and is located in a high-traffic area for truck drivers near I-5.

The appetizer menu had an interesting item on it, Fried Green Beans. We ordered them, they were definitely fried, and definitely green beans. Served with ranch dipping sauce, they were a nice crunchy snack. The serving size was so large, we weren't able to finish it, and shared some with a nearby diner, who was also curious about the menu item.

Matt's lunch was a sampler plate of smoked meats (all smoked on the premises in a special smoke house trailer). Ribs, pork, bratwurst, sausage, and tri-tip. Abi had a pork loin BBQ sandwich. I was hoping for a Chicago-style dog with large tomato wedges, cucumber slices and lots of onions. It was close, but not he same as the one I had at the Chicago airport a few years ago. All-in-all the food was good, serving size large, and worth visiting again.

Baby Bear and Checkerooo Pictures

I had a camera moment today with two of our dogs, Bear and Checkers.

I took a few pictures of Bear, and each time he ended up with one yellow eye and one green eye. Weirdest thing.

One yellow, one green-eyed, fluffy-white people eater.... or somethin' like that.

His hair is all fluffy and thick for winter, his facial profile is interesting

There's that yellow/green eye thing again....

Bear had too much of the camera flash, squinting eyes

Checkers is a patient, loyal dog--always has been.

Figures, Checkers goes for his nuts while I'm taken a picture (by the way, they were removed 10 years ago--I guess he still misses them)

Always attentive to noises in the house, good watch dogs

If dogs could talk...that would be interesing....

(insert caption here)

Awwwwwwww

Happy Big 40, Matthew!

Golf-theme chocolate cake

40 candles upon the cake

It took both Mandy and Abi to light the candles

Birthday Boy, feelin' the heat from 40 candles~

Thank you Mandy, Randy and Lynn for stopping by to help us eat cake!!! Love you all!