Friends, Fun and Food!

The Markels finally made it! We had such a good time together! When we weren't out having fun we were making yummy food!!

Tuesday: Arrival
Food: Filet Mignon with Gorgonzola cream sauce and yummy mashed potatoes!! :-D Sooo GOOD!

Wednesday: Lava River Cave and Lava Butte, and a trip to the market
Food: Big, yummy sandwich for lunch and for supper:Grilled Pizza with Fresh Pesto from the Market & White Chocolate Bread Pudding [wipes drool]

Atop Lava butte

Thursday: Baseball game and Float down the Deschutes
Food: Asian night- yummy chicken wings and chicken and pork dumplings

Here's the crew just before Brenda took her unexpected swim in the river :D

Friday: 3 mile hike on the River Trail
Food: Aspen Lakes Lodge

We had to hike to work off all the calories we were eating!!

Yeah! I'm so glad Brenda made it out here! Brenda, you're the best!!

Brand 33 @ Aspen Lakes did not disappoint

Don't these look delice??

Saturday: Canoe on Hosmer Lake and Cook Out
Food: Weiner roast and S'mores

Even Star had to get in on the canoe action

Can you see how incredibly clear the water is??

See how much fun Brenda is having in our tippy canoe??

Perfect day, perfect weather... that's Bend!

Ethan thought he would like to fish, so he tied this dragonfly he caught to a piece of long grass and went fishing with it.

Cook out!!

Myles hamming it up

Yes, that is Brenda eating a hot dog!! Can you believe it? She really does love me enough to go canoeing, out on a cookout and eat hot dogs!

and.... Myles even got in on the bug action... something unheard of from the boy who hates bugs!!!

We had a great time!

Sunday: Church & Chill
Food: Chicken Pepperoni 8 pounder and Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings. Mmmmm!

Monday: Ethan's Birthday Party- I tried to get Ethan to change his birthday party to a later date when we could have more time to plan his party, but he insisted on having it while his best friend Myles was here :D
Food: Dominoe's Pizza & Calzones: We took the week's leftovers and put them in calzones. YUM!

Tuesday: Good-bye
Food: Pilot Butte Drive-Inn

It was so fun having Myles and Brenda here. We were planning their next trip while they were still here. We still have so much to do and see in Bend with them. We wish they could have stayed longer and Brad wishes we had taken more time to decorate the house.... I guess that will have to wait until the next trip.

Can't wait for them to come again!

My full freezer is happy they came too.

My boy- 7 years old!

My boy was born 7 years ago today! We had moved to Dedham, MA, on July 1st and he was born on July 28th, so we were still pretty new to the area and hadn't completely unpacked.

I was so anxious for him to come as the girls had come 3 and 4 weeks early and had anticipated an early arrival. Ethan came only 2 weeks early. I was busy eating Thai food and walking trying to move things along. Ethan's birth was very "normal". Sitting at home waiting for contractions while I watched "Grease", the Saturday afternoon movie on tv, and then eventually getting the kids to the neighbours and going into the hospital.

It was actually pretty exciting to have my mom there when Ethan was born. She was in the air on her way to MA when we went to the hospital, so we had the airline notify her when she landed that we were at the hospital, and she took the taxi straight to the hospital where Ethan was born a few hours later.

Ethan's homecoming day. We had a "blue party"

Here he is on his blessing day (2 weeks old)

Ethan's first trip to the beach- Wingaersheek beach (1 month)

Such a cutie!
Mmmmm cookies!!

Uh-oh!
Ethan at 18 months Ethan at 3 yearsEthan at 5 years
It wouldn't be right to show pictures of Ethan without a critter photo

"I think I scared him away"

Here's a pic of Ethan after he fell in the river trying to catch a crawdad

Happy Birthday to my boy who is always full of surprises and keeps things interesting around here. He has always been a lot of fun, full of energy, with a witty sense of humor, an inquiring mind and a great kid!