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!