Let there be light!

Woo Hoo! Our solar lights from Kim, Rick and Alex are working. The picture does not do them justice...but they work (and it's raining). Hooray!

Life's a Beach!

Rich and I were planning on going camping this weekend...but with all the burn bans across the state (and our love for the Olympics)...we ended up doing a day trip to the beach on Saturday.

We hopped in the car early on Saturday morning and headed for Ocean Shores - the beach was extremely foggy so we headed a little further down to a marina and enjoyed a walk on the beach. We were amazed by the hundreds of Seagulls...thank goodness we didn't get any "droppings" on our heads.

We stopped for a bite to eat at this little deli on the beach.
It was an amazing view and the food was pretty good too!

Our little lady buy!
Good luck to us - yeah!
(She/he followed us back to the car and travelled to our
next destination via the Honda).

If anyone has ever seen Rich before 11am...
then no explanation is necessary.

We packed it in at Ocean Shores and headed further south to Westport. On our trip down, we stopped at a little winery and did some tasting and just enjoyed the view together.

This is the view from the car on our way to Westport.

We arrived in Westport and walked around the marina area and checked out the vendors. There was a local street fair going on so we checked out some of that and then the outside fish museum. Pretty fun stuff....of course, the museum had labeled a fish wrong (Steelhead and it was a Salmon, or vice-versa )...and Rich was quick to point it out). I love his passion for the facts!

Who knew...Little Richard's House of Donuts.
We didn't stop in, but I couldn't resist the picture opportunity.

A little future down at the home of the Pelican was a restaurant that claims they have "Washington's Best Bloody Mary"...it was delicious and so were the garnishments (olive, green beans, beef stick, cheese, tomato and celery). CRAZY!!!

Rich posing with the heron. It seems since we have been together there have been herons everywhere...even where we got engaged.
It's fun to find them when we are out now!

We ended our night up at Harbor Lights in Tacoma and took in the view of the Sound from our table. There were tons of people out on the water and we even saw a boat pick up a crab pot! We walked along for a bit and took in the view from a bench. Fantastic!

The day was over...but we weren't quite home yet. We were trying to wait to see if Michael Phelps won his 8th gold when we got home....but heard the results over the radio on our drive home! Still, it was exciting to watch last night...but we both wanted to be surprised.

Wow! What a fun weekend...back to work in the office!

Chimes - a link to our past!

Thanks to Denise and Dick (Rich's parents) we have a new wind chime at our house. Chimes have always held a special place in my life - as my mom has always told me, "every time the chime "chimes"...it is a connection to our past and the loved ones we have lost". We love our new chime!!!

Every time I hear it...I think of how much I miss my Grandpa Rudy and wish that he were here to share this special time in my life. I know how much he would have loved Rich and how well they would have gotten along.

Here's the chime - hanging above our front door
to welcome all that come.

All our love to those who are no longer with us -
but still hold a part of our hearts - FOREVER!

For the Birds...

the hummingbirds, that is. Rich installed our new hummingbird feeder (Thanks to Aunt Roxy) this evening. Here birdie, birdie...here birdie, birdie. Can't wait to see if we have any hummingbirds around.
Also, we installed our new solar power lights (Thanks so much to Aunt Kim, Rick and Alex). Now, while enjoying an evening in our yard, we won't be limited by daylight.

The tasks we had set out for ourselves this weekend turned out to be a little more than we were ready to handle. The door is still a work in process...and the office, well, that is too. It's all organized chaos at this point...but sometimes you just have to call it quits and finish it another day.

Dinner was served!

Last night we entertained our first dinner guests...yeah!
So much fun...Here is Rich prepping the Kabobs for the BBQ.
Max and Dad playing in the backyard.
"Goal for 2009 - Green Grass"

The feast is served....
Kabobs, Orzo salad, asparagus and blueberry delight for dessert.
YUM! Everything was perfect!

Can't wait to have more people over...who's next?

Tongue or Pork - you decide!

Rich in all of his glory...
Rock out with your...oh, you know the rest!

A place to put a glass..

Yeah, our new dining room table is FINALLY here. Thanks to Rich and Joni for going and picking it up (while I had cocktails)...we now have a place to eat at.

First came the chairs...

Then came the table...
(Don't worry we will dust it)!

The final product!

The finishing touch.

We are so excited to use our new table for the first time tomorrow night with guests. Mike and Joni will get to enjoy the first dinner with our new table...as a BIG thank you for the countless hours they put in to get our house to where it is today. Can't wait to see what's next...Office here we come!