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!