Spring Break - Oregon 2010 - Lincoln City to Seaside

There isn't a picture of this but we went to the casino in Lincoln City, OR, we just had good luck altogether I guess...first we signed up for a member card and got two free buffet meals and then we hit the slot machines - penny slots! We were able to walk out of the casino $35 richer from the penny slots, it was great!

Next we went to Pacific City, OR and there was this beautiful rock on this beautiful morning with great waves crashing in. We went to the Pelican Brewery - Earl had a sampler platter of their brews and we took a great walk on the beach.

Then we made our way up to Cannon Beach, OR this was our view to the right...

And this was was our view to the left...

We were on the beach and the weather turned to a windy, cloudy, rainy mess...well not too horrible but a bit blustery

We are getting ready for our day in Seaside, OR and our drive up to Bellevue, WA tomorrow.

Spring Break - Oregon 2010 Continued...

It turned out to be a beautiful day after a bit of rain between Sunday afternoon and Wednesday morning...We were just north of the Yaquina Head light house which is just north of Newport, OR

Here is one of Earl's crabs on the beach in the sea foam - there were two, they just barely got swept away to sea by a wave that came up the beach a lot further than the rest...they were both found, a few minor scratches that were easily touched up, and had only a bit of sand in them...Silly moment!

The two crab in the sand - they look like they are thinking about going out to sea...

Waves crashing...

We are now in Lincoln City, OR and our plans are to head north to Cannon Beach, Pacific City, Tillamook, and Seaside tomorrow...busy day!

Spring Break - Oregon 2010

We started our journey with a little six hour drive down to Portland and on the way, it was beautiful so we were able to catch this picture of Mt. Hood while driving

We then visited friends Tom and Julene, they showed us all around the Aurora, OR area (south of Portland area - this included a super neat aviation/space museum). We really enjoyed our stay with Tom and Julene and are meeting back up with them in Tillamook (yes, the cheese town). Earl learned all about "jeweling" so we'll have to post a picture of that as soon as he gets all of his stuff set up for that process.

We then made our way to Newport, OR - this reminded us that we really do miss the coast! Above are a few of the sea lions that make their way from California to hang out on the docks...they look like they have been eating really well! The one on the far right was such a talker he would just start honking away - I think he was a show off.

This is the shop-front in Newport, OR that Earl was able to sell 10 metal crabs. They have all sorts of metal, wood, glass, and other types of art - very cool store/gallery that we both really liked - and the owners were super excited about Earl's metal crabs!

Earl's Metal Crabs

Here are some photos of Earl's latest metal Dungeness Crab

Each crab is made of recycled sheet metal and then cut with a plasma cutter by hand

Earl then works each crab shell and body by hand to create a one of a kind Dungeness Crab

Earl also either paints, heats or grinds the metal to give the crab its final look

We are going to the Oregon Coast in hopes that Earl might be able to sell some of his metal Dungeness Crab to a gift shop or gallery, or two!

Hope everyone enjoys Earl's art - if you are interested let us know, he is selling his crab (Just thought I would through that in).

Our Laundry Room...Finally!

We finally decided that it was time to transform our plywood flooring in the laundry room - we had to remove the vinyl when we moved in (May of 2006) due to a tear and a little bit of water damage - so here is the before picture minus the washer and dryer

A break in work to enjoy a Winter sunset from our backyard here in Otis Orchards

Porter getting in on the action helping to put away the dryer - the floor is in and the walls are painted a light yellow with white trim around the room

And the finished project! Earl put a small shelf area between the two cabinets - a nice place for fabric softener...The room looks great!

Update on Porter...

Porter is 6 months old, 45 pounds, wild and crazy, loves to retrieve his toys especially his mallard duck and his red chuck-it (who cares about the ball when you can have the whole chuck-it!?!), and right now he is very into dragging his big bed around the bedroom. Porter is also VERY into food, snuggling with his mom and teasing his dad whenever possible.

A post before New Year's Day

Hi, we just wanted to make sure that we posted a little something before the New Year hits us! We are both looking forward to a great 2010. Our 2009 has been a wonderful one - lots of snow early in the year, a first birthday for our nephew Payton in Las Vegas, our first wedding anniversary, spent time with family both in our home and away, had a beautiful veggie garden, Earl got a new job which he is really enjoying (especially the winter break so far!), U of Montana Griz Football season tickets, and we got a new puppy, Porter. We also had a couple of sad moments but know that we have angels watching over us everyday.

Here is a picture of Porter with his new upland game bird - he's a bird dog you know!?! He loves his Christmas bird and loves to hear his call.

Here are a couple of pictures of Brian and Charlie and then of Earl and I sitting on a neat tree that we saw while hiking on a pretty but cold day at Bass Creek in Montana.

Earl and I had a very nice Christmas in Stevensville with Brian and Charlie, our time flew by quickly!

I would have posted pictures of our new RC plane the Super Cub but well...we'll save that for another time - maybe within this next year!

Lots of love to all, as well as, great joy for the up and coming 2010!

22 pounds of Porter

Porter is getting SO big, the first Friday we had him at home he weighed in at 14 pounds and now he is 22 pounds. He is just a crack up most of the time (Earl might tell you differently) but is becoming more and more brave around the house - that is both good and bad...my crocs and tevas are proof of the bad (at least they are still wearable)!

As you can see Porter likes to play with all of his toys at once

Just another shot of Porter and his Bird...not really the right kind of bird but it is a bird...