He'll Melt Your Heart

This past Friday, we picked up our new little baby boy, Cooper. We were sad that he had to leave his cute pile of playful siblings, but were just as excited to bring him home. He did great on the hour-long ride home, snoozing on his new toy whale.

Ears!

When we put him in the grass for the first time, it was a little overgrown, so he had to do little hops from one spot to the next.

Cooper & the whale.

Coop has been doing great with Teddy. He gives Teddy kisses and hasn't even thought about chewing on our 30-year-old bear friend.

Cooper & Dad do some yard work.

And then take a warm nap.

Super Cooper.

Erin & Sam came over to visit. Cooper pretty much fits in Sam's mouth. Sam is a good dog, and let Cooper jump all over him and snuzzle in.

Cooper going for it! C'mon Sam! Let's play!

Coop is one brave little dog. He is smart, adventurous & a quick learner. He's such a good boy! The breeder, Leann, did a phenomenal job. Coop's great & we are very lucky to have such a great new family member.

Coop @ 5 Weeks!

Cooper at 5 weeks. The breeder, Leann, tells us that Coop's eating 3 times a day & working on drinking water more. They've started the weaning process, meaning that his mom is going in & out of the puppy room for much of the day and all night. She is starting to get tired of them already and isn't wanting to come in when called! Aww! He's just small!

Butt spot!

Teddy meets Cooper on the computer. :)

Our First Oregon Christmas Tree!

Yesterday at lunch, Tom and I went out to find our first Oregon Christmas Tree! After a bit of a searching, we found a real nice one at a place up in the heights. We decorated it all up last night, while enjoying some fun christmas tunes and a few PBRs.

I have some really cool ornaments, some that I've made, but most that friends and family have given to me over the years. As I unwrapped each one out of newspaper or its special box, I'd smile, get exicted and tell Tom all about where it came from. Christmas ornaments are a fun way to remember people—what a great gift!

Teddy is psyched for Santa. ;)

Mojo & Lewis Do Oregon!

In the beginning of September, Mojo, Lewis, Kevin and Kim made the 3,000-mile journey from Philadelphia to Hood River for a visit. :) :) :) The Cornells arrived on Friday night and we enjoyed some laughs, libations and catching up. We hit the sack to rest up for a few days of gorge-style exploration.

After a Saturday morning stroll down Oak Street for some coffee and breakfast, we hopped in the car and went joyriding through the gorge to the Eagle Creek Trailhead.

Creek water = cold. Summer sun & air = warm.

We hiked the always enjoyable Eagle Creek Trail to Punchbowl Falls. When we arrived at the falls, Kevin, Tom and I went for an icy dip—a true Oregon initiation—in water barely above 40 degrees.

Clear water to the max.

Kevin high-tails it back to dry land and dry towel while Tom and I swim out into the pool right below the waterfall. Good morning!

Fun with camera perspective and cairns.

We built a few creekside cairns as company for the other ones that were standing around. In the gorge, people say that when you build a cairn, you are supposed to make a wish, and when the water level rises with winter, the cairn is washed away and your wish comes true. So, you can hike to Punchbowl Falls any day of the year and find other people's wishes (cairns) standing around, just waiting for their destiny. Many of the cairns are very precarious-looking. Tom is good at building cairns that seem to defy gravity.

Me, Kim and Kevin mosey along while the warm sun dries our wet butts.

The Eagle Creek Trail winds through a rugged canyon—some parts of the trail are ledges that was blasted out of sheer cliffs by Italian engineers in the 1910s.


We came upon a little Ringneck snake slithering along the trail. He was so small and cute!


After our hike, we decided to take a ride up to Timberline Lodge for some lunch and to say hello to Mt. Hood. The road winds through the scenic Hood River Valley and around the east side of the mountain before climbing to the Lodge at 6,000 feet. There's a stretch of road where you round the corner and Hood commands your attention.

The little man waves hello to Hood.

We snagged a GREAT table with a big picture window. The thin metal bar you see on the top part of the window is a brace to keep the big windows from breaking in high wind.

MMMmmmmMMMM. Lunch & Ice Axe IPA.

BIG door that leads outside to a balcony with a sweeping southward view.

Timberline Lodge was built entirely by hand, inside and out, by unemployed craftspeople hired by the Federal Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. The carvings, stonework and architectural elements combine to create a true living masterpiece. Every guestroom, for example, is furnished with hand-made draperies and bedspreads, as well as one of-a-kind watercolors, hand carved furniture and hand-forged lamps.

We spent some time exploring before heading back to the Hood to relax for the evening.

Photo shoot on the butte.

On Sunday morning, we took a ride out east to do a little climbing and wine drinking. Our first stop was Horsethief Butte, which is on the Washington side of the gorge, about 20 miles from Hood River. Horsethief Butte is a basalt landmark famed for its short, labrynthine scrambles and hidden pertroglyphs (that we can never find).

Primates on the precipice.

Bear on the butte.

Next stop was the Maryhill Winery, where we enjoyed a tasting followed by a French-style lunch of cheese, crackers and a bottle of white on the deck overlooking the vineyard and Columbia River.

Mojo, Lewis and Teddy especially enjoyed the pianist. Fancy!

We had a great, albeit short visit with the Cornells! We hope they'll be back to visit us again! :)

The Big 3-0 :: WANTED Dead or Alive

My 29th year was like a roller coaster with extreme highs and lows, twists, turns and loops. A few times during the ride, I lost my breath and even blacked out momentarily from all the g-force. Luckily, I landed on my feet in Oregon and life seems to get better everyday.

En-JOY-ing the scene and old age along Tanner Creek.

My week-long 30th birthday celebration started out with a bundle of Joy, who turned the big 3-1 on May 30th.


Continuing the festivities, Carley surprised me with some star-shaped cupcakes (Teddy likes cupcakes). We had many a good laugh looking through the photo album that my mother put together for me to commemorate my big day. The album has a photo of me from each year on my birthday. As you can imagine, there were MANY big laughs to be had—a direct result of all the BIG hair and BIG glasses, I'm sure. My awkward years certainly outnumber my graceful ones.

"Windbag WANTED Dead or Alive".

My mom also sent me a Captain Jack Sparrow t-shirt, which is now in the weekly rotation and gets a lot of compliments. People always say, "I thought that was Bon Jovi for a second".


My official 30th birthday pic—my mom left a place in the photo album for a 30th and future photos.


I called Carley to invite her down for a beer on our new boat. Silly girl thought we were taking it out on the water. We pulled up the garage door and enjoyed a few beverages, a cool breeze and some practice rowing/captaining. Arrgggghhh, Matey.


Teddy picked out my pajamas and was waiting for me for a birthday snuzzle.


After a short work week, Tom and I spent a perfect weekend at Lost Lake—Floaty's maiden voyage. Tom and Carley got me a great birthday gift—a new fishing rod and stocked tackle box! We slayed the fish on Saturday morning and enjoyed some rainbow trout on the campfire for lunch.


Coffee in the middle of the lake with a smilin' Mount Hood view—happy birthday to ME!!!