Our First Anniversary

Matt and I went to Sunriver, OR for our first anniversary. We rented a house for four nights and took Charlie and Alice with us. It was a pretty fun and relaxing trip. We rode bikes a lot, played with the dogs and played tons of Battleship. It was beautiful and warm all five days we were there, so that made it really nice to sit out on the decks. The house also had a hot tub so that was perfect for relaxing.

Alice and Charlie loved to just hang out on the porch and relax in the warm afternoon sun. I think they loved all the attention and walks that they got.

We did tons of bike riding all over the place. It was a great way to explore not to mention enjoy the beautiful sunshine.

This was on the last night there, which was our anniversary. We went and had a really nice dinner together and then went out and chatted and watched the sunset. It was a perfect evening really.

Cake Decorating Class

I signed up for a 4 week cake deocrating class. It was pretty fun and I was able to learn some new and interesting things. They were on Monday nights so every Monday I brought home a nicely decorated class. That was Matt's favorite part for sure.

This was the first cake I made in the class. It was supposed to be a sun but it ended up looking more like a colorful blob.

This was my favorite of all of the cakes that I made.

This was the last cake I made for the class.

A new recliner for Charlie??

Matt and I got a new recliner. We realized that it was the first 'real' piece of furniture we have purchased together. We decided right away that we wouldn't allow any dogs in the chair. We were keeping to for ourselves. Well, we got home, made some dinner and looked over, only to find little Charlie all snuggled in an sleeping. He looked to cute to kick out, so now we check with Charlie to see if we can sit in his chair.
'

Our 'little' Watchdog!

Alice on neighborhood watch duty! Nothing gets past this girl.

Cupcakes!!

I have been on a cupcake making kick lately. Here are my two new latest creations. More are sure to come.

These cupcakes are from a Martha Stewart recipe I found. I am working to find a good icing recipe- one that is light and fluffy, yet easy to work with in decorating.

New Years 2009

This year, Matt, Charlie, Alice and I spent New Year's with our friends Ben and Alana Lysen. We stayed the night and had tons of fun. Charlie and Alice had lots of fun meeting Parker and getting to play with Ralphie. It was truly a great way to ring in the New Year!

It seemed that everyone brought a bottle of champaigne, yet they were all different brands, no naturally we had to try them all.

... and then the Glamour Shots began.

Christmas 2008

We had a great Christmas this year. My brother Brad and sister in law Victoria came down from Anchorage for 10 days. They arrived just in time for the 'Artic Blast' of 2008. It made it a little hard to do everything we had planned, thought it allowed for lots of relaxation, good conversation and plenty of laughs. It was a great time!

Matt and Brad put in countless hours playing Mario Kart. It seemed that everytime there was a lull in the conversation, one of them was saying, "We'll just play a quick game."

While they played video games, Victoria and I made cookies and drank wine. Too fun! After trying a new recipe for Chocolate Mint Sandwich cookies, I looked at the fine print of the recipe and discovered EACH cookie had 647 calories!!! Needless to say, that was the first and last year this house will be eating those cookies.

Our Christmas picture... it could also double as a high school prom photo. Good thing Matt got all dressed up for the picture ;).

Alice was more than a little excited for Christmas morning. It seems this little girl loves presents!