Friends, marriage, and cars

This weekend we got to see some friends from Chicago when we went to a wedding of one of them. It was great to see them again and catch up in person. It reminds me how good I feel when I'm around friends.  Congratulations to JE and T on their marriage. Many blessings for your years together.

The best part of the weekend was staying with my sister. I stayed up talking to her till almost 2 A.M. Friday night/Saturday morning. It was great to be around her again. I just wish we could get together all the time. I loved talking to her. It was great that my month-old niece was able to hang out with us too. I can't wait to see them again at my niece's baptism in two weeks.

The best feeling in the world happened to me when we arrived at my sister's house Friday night. It was after my nephew's bedtime, so I didn't expect him to be awake or to see him till the next day. When I pulled in the driveway, my brother-in-law was in the garage and peaked in the house to say we were there. Out runs my nephew, who's almost 3 now, arms wide open, yelling my name. He ran into my arms and gave me a giant hug. It was the best feeling ever! I obviously don't have any children, so I'm not used to kids being attached to me. I melted when he did that.  He's the cutest nephew too, he always wants to talk to me when I'm talking to my sister. The other day she called me to ask me a question and then hung up. The phone rang a few seconds later and it was her again. She forgot to let my nephew talk to me, so she had to call back. He asked me to come to his house. Thankfully I was able to tell him I was coming that weekend, so as not to disappoint him.

So, while waiting for our Prius to arrive (it's been 4 months now and at least another month to go) it's been harder and harder to get around without a car. Yes, we have our bikes and that's been really handy, especially since my parents gave us their kiddy trailer so we can carry our groceries home,  but we had to rent a car anytime we wanted to do some major traveling. Last weekend we decided to buy a car in the interim. We had great luck when we went out on Monday. We picked up our car on Wednesday. It's a maroon ' 95 Buick Century with onlly 82,000 miles on it! We really lucked out. We got a good deal and a great car. We drove it to the wedding this weekend and got some great gas mileage too. We're falling in love with the car and will have to seriously think about if we want to keep it or not. :) Here's a picture of our girl...

Oh, Deer!

We really do have deer in our yard, and we finally got a good picture of one before it ran away. I was taking out the compost yesterday and I turned around after dumping it in the pile and it was staring me in the face. Okay, it was down the hill, but it was so close! It stared at me for a while, then I left to go get the camera and Nate. We went back to look at it and it was still there looking at us. I took this picture of it, then it started to walk away. It snorted at us a few times, but it left before I could get another good picture. Anyway, I enjoyed getting this one and I'm glad we finally got to snap a picture of it.

7 years, a niece, and Niagra Falls

Earlier this week, Nate and I celebrated out 7 year anniversary. He was really sweet, this year he bought me a framed picture of Multnomah Falls and hung it in the bedroom while I was still sleeping. Then he took me to a local inn/restaurant for dinner, a night in one of their rooms, and breakfast. It was an awesome place! We had a really good time playing cards and reading. He even planned a short prayer service. I think I'll keep him for at least another 7 years. :)

So a lot has happened since I last posted. My sister had her baby! The baby girl's name is Gretchen Kristine (middle name was chosen after my sister's middle name). She's a doll, she look just like her brother did. Here are some pictures of my new niece and her big brother.

Look, she's smiling at her mom already. Mom looks happy. 

This is what you get when you try to get Tyler to smile. I thought it was so cute, I couldn't resist.

We had some family come and visit us last weekend, which was really awesome. It was nice to be in a place where people want to come visit and to be close enough for them to come. Friday night we had the most spectacular storm I had ever been through. It was scary! There was lots of thunder and lightning, which sounded like it was right above us. There was even some loud ones that woke everyone up and brought almost all of us to the kitchen to see if everyone was okay. We took our turns in the bathroom and tried to fall asleep afterwards. I checked the time, for a full half hour after we got up, it thundered constantly. Not just one here and there, but it was a rolling thunder that didn't stop. The craziest part of the night was the electrical noise we all heard. It was a loud zap that shut off our electricity. Some people saw sparks outside and we got up to make sure nothing was on fire. We were about to call the authorities in case something went wrong, when our electricity turned back on. 

Saturday, we went to Niagara Falls. I talked to my mom and she said that every time we've gone there, we've been on the Canadian side. I know that when my sister and I were there about 10 years ago with friends, we were also on the Canadian side. So this was my first experience at the falls on the American side. Here are some more pictures:

It was a beautiful day to go up there. It was sunny, breezy, clear, and comfortable weather for a picnic. We were exhausted by the end of the day but the ice cream we had at the end of our walk around the falls sure helped re-energize us for the ride back, well some of us at least. After dinner we had some great games of Twister. I haven't played that in ages! The whole weekend was great. We had lots of laughs, great food, and shared experiences that will last a lifetime. Thanks again to everyone for visiting! 

Town pictures

I actually remembered my camera when I was going to church this weekend so I got some pictures of the downtown area. This picture is of the Opera House.  They have a lot of different event going on throughout the year.

This next picture is just a view of Main St in one direction.

This one is a bummer. It's an inn whose 200 year old tree fell down this week. You can see the tree here. There were 2 large trees flanking the walkway up to the front door. The one on the left is still there. It has a plaque on it saying when it was planted.

This is our church, St. Josephs, just a couple of blocks away from downtown, on Main St.

This is a common area in downtown near where they hold the Farmer's market and some other summer events. There's a fountain and a gazebo and some park benches.

So that's your sneak preview... hope you enjoyed the pictures. 

Weekend alone

So, we've now been in our new home for a month. This weekend I had the opportunity to spend the weekend by myself here. I hate being by myself, but I surprisingly had a great time. I got my bike fixed up a few days ago and today I rode all around town to the market and to get a hair cut and to a couple of garage sales. It was great to not be coped up in the house and not be able to go anywhere without walking. I need to work up to biking longer and longer each time though, because tonight my legs ache. It's really strange because I've been walking up a storm ever since we moved here. But I guess biking is so different on your body.

I'm looking forward to getting a car though, I'd like to explore the area a lot more. Not just our town, but the surrounding area and doing some hiking or some outdoor summer activity besides weeding the yard. By the way, people coming to visit is a great way for us to learn more about the area, so one at a time, let me know when you want to come. We're looking forward to visitors!

New Home

I promise I'm trying to post more than once a month. I'll get better at it, I hope. So, we're out of that dreadful big city and into our new home in rural New York. How do I like it? So far it's good. It's so hard to say because we've spent the first two weeks unpacking and hardly anything else. We've got a LOT done. If only we can keep the unpacking messes to a minimum... The town is great. It's a small downtown that's actually pretty active. We went to a classical music concert last weekend and there were a lot of people there for the size of the town. It was really nice. They offer a lot of programs and festivals. We also found a special place already. It's an ice cream shop. Those are always good, but this one has Hershey's ice cream and it also sells tacos! Strange combination, but it works. :) Since it was so hot our second week, we went there a couple of times.

This week is a mixture of stuff. I'm visiting my sister and watching my nephew for the week. In between that, the two weekends are busy visiting other family for Father's Day and my niece's baptism. It's so great to be closer to home where we can just drive for the weekend if we wanted to. We're still waiting on our car though. I don't know how long it's going to take, but I'm predicting the end of July. I guess Toyota still can't keep up with the Prius demands.

Maybe next time, I'll post a picture of our new town. I'll have to get a good picture of something that's representative. I'll think about that one...

I'm an aunt again!

I'm so blessed to have so many nieces and nephews and I was blessed again on Friday. My sister-in-law (husband's sister) had a baby boy on Friday morning. Congratulations to her and her husband and welcome to Elliot! You are coming into a wonderful family who will take good care of you and love you so much!