More vacation pictures

Soooooo sad....vacation is over. :( We had such a wonderful vacation! It was nice and relaxing and we got to spend quality time with our family. Today was the end of 17 days with Ryan, we had such a great time, it was the longest stretch of time that we have had to spend with him not only since I met Derek, but since him and Shawna split. Ryan is such a wonderful boy and we loved having him with us. It was so special to have him with us for that long. It is difficult sometimes being the stepmom, because I don't know where to balance "mom" and "friend", about half way through our trip to Oregon, I really started to wonder if I was doing right by him or if I was being too hard on him at times. Ryan answered that question over the next few days in his own way...once he walked up to me before going to bed and hugged me, told me he loved me and planted a big kiss on my cheek! My heart melted. The next few days he got really cuddly and snuggly and both Derek and I could tell that he had a great time with us and we loved every minute of it.

Here are some more pics to fill you in on our trip. Update on the camera.....still not working....will have to take it to a camera shop. :(

Dad and Son watchng the sunset....the ocean was so calm that day....it practically looks like a lake.

My cute Witt boys....

He's a ham!


One day, Rob went off to Coos Bay and went crabbing....we had an excellent crab fest...we were even able to get Ryan to try crab and clam chowder...a big deal for a kid that doesn't like syrup!!

Ryan and the Dungeness Crab..

More Pics....

Rob..aka MacGyver brought a truckload of fireworks to light off...he was great about including the boys...with all safety precautions of course. Rob has a set of walkie talkies so the boy could communicate with him...otherwise known as fire-dog code! Notice the sign...that comes into play later. :)

Family Photo in front of proposal rock
The Firedogs preparing for their mission....

Derek...having a birthday drink for me. :)

Katie, Rob, and Derek putting the fireworks in order for the big finale...

Firedogs in their bunker watching the fireworks! The finale required them to stay away...they were nice and safe in their bunker far away from the action.

From left to right....Firedog 11, 5, and 1 in their protective bunker....notice the feather fence to "protect" them. ;)

Roger and his wife Dot enjoying the show

Since fireworks are illegal in Oregon, we knew we were pushing our luck, so eventually, a local came down the beach and warned us that we needed to stop, he was very nice about it, so we did and the show was over. Rob (and his assistant lighter Derek) did a great job with the show even though we didn't get to see all of them.

Vacation

Hi Everyone! This is my first post from the beach! We are in Neskowin, Oregon, one of my favorite places in the world. My family has been coming here since long before I was born and it is great to be back here with my wonderful husband and stepson. It is fun to be able to show them all the places that my sister and I used to play and tell them all of our legendary stories (Emily barfed pink...I mean Emily barfed pink and yellow too...) . Ryan is having a blast, he has been playing hard each day. My third cousin (it took us a while to figure out the geneology) has two boys ages 7 and 9, they all became best friends instantly and played together all day....they soon became known as the fire-dogs...more about that later. Enjoy these pics for now....on a side note, my camera got sand in it and is now having a "lense error"....I am so bummed. Borrowing Katie's pictures for now, so enjoy!

Moving....

For a while now Derek and I have been talking about moving to Shoreline once the summer was over and rent a house. We did quite a bit of looking over the past few weeks and everything in our price range were total dumps! Until this house came along....it's an older house, but very well maintained, it has hardwood floors, fireplace, WASHER AND DRYER, and dishwasher. The room is listed as a 3 bedroom house, but really has 3 normal sized bedrooms and 3 extra rooms that aren't really big enough to be bedrooms but would be a great office or storage room. The thing that sealed the deal is that there is a basketball hoop in the backyard....a certain 8 year old is VERY excited about that. :)

The house has the perfect location, it is only about 1 mile from the college where Derek coaches and 2 blocks off of a bus line that gets me to work (thanks Jeff for the bus pass!). As lame as this sounds, I am very very very excited about having a washer and dryer in our house....as much as I hate doing laundry, this will at least make it easier! :)

We will keep you posted on the moving date, but we will still have our place on the lake until the end of August, so for all you locals...get your dock time in quick!!! Suburbs....here we come!

Dock Time...

Well, FINALLY summer has truly arrived! We have been so busy that we haven't had time to relax and enjoy our lovely lakeside home/apartment with really dirty carpet!! Today was the day, Derek, Ryan and I spent about 3 hours out on the dock today and it was actually warm enough to jump in the water. Then, I had to go to work for a few hours (to earn my final comp day so we can have a full week of vacation), I got home in time to see the sunset and the pretty mountain.

This is Ryan's version of a mean cannonball....I told him it would be much more believable without the life jacket...but oh well. :) Ryan and Derek spent most of the day on the dock in the sun and swimming. Derek assumed his favorite summer time position...in the purple floatie with a beer in his hand....sorry no photos of that this time, but maybe next.

Don't encourage her...

Leave it to Chad to encourage me and my artsy fartsy pictures...one little word of encouragement and you get a whole new blog! I have no experience with photograpy, but I like taking pictures! Sometimes they even look good!

Derek took the one above...not sure if it is good photography or just cool looking. :)
I took this one of the salt shaker on the table with the lights of the balcony at Eastlake behind it.

Golfing....

Not a bad view from the driving range

Part of Derek's Father's day gift was a few buckets of balls with Ryan. You have all seen the baseball pictures, but here is a clip of Ryan's golf swing, notice the deep breath before he swings....so serious! Derek is the proud Papa.

4th of July!!!

What up America....Happy Birthday! We had a great mellow 4th, we went to a BBQ at the Mapp's house, then went to the Eastlake Bar and Grille to watch the fireworks. We had fantastic seats and even managed to find good parking!!

My New Favorite TV show...

For those of you who haven't seen it yet (or heard me ramble on and on about it), my new favorte TV show is "Wipeout". My favorite part of it being the red balls, watching people fall down just NEVER gets old. Here is a link to a short clip of my new favorite show. Good night and Big Balls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK1wr2ZZvuw

Pics from around Bellingham

I almost caught Rob smiling!!!

Peek - a - boo

You are stuck with her pal....no turning back now!!

First Look....

Getting Ready...

Looking calm, cool and collected

The pretty dress......I was very honored that Katie wore the veil from my wedding. (tear)

More pics from the picnic

Katie and Rob - once again...he's not mad
Mr. & Mrs. Witt

This is Rob's uncle Ian...he has many nicknames.....drunkle Ian, bartender, curling king....he does make a mean drink!

My attempt at an artsy fartsy picture

Rehearsal Picnic

Hi Everyone! Well, we have been super busy the past few weeks, there will probably be several posts to get all the wedding stuff in, so bear with me. :) The weekend festivites started with the reahearsal dinner/picnic. Rob had a lot of family in from Canada and boy are they fun! For those of you who don't know Rob too well, he has braces and hates to show them in pictures, so he really isn't as angry as he looks in ALL of his pictures!

Our multi-national centerpieces!
Larrabee State Park

Rob was having way too much fun with the homemade whip cream, so Mom confiscated it from him and sprayed it on his head. Yes...this picture is of him eating whip cream off his head.

The whip cream culprit!

The happy couple

Ok...I am still learning this whole blog stuff....I don't know how to rotate the video, so turn your head to the left and enjoy the wild and crazy Canadians!! Nothing like impromptu dancing in the park.