Happy 1st Birthday Greta!

Hi Greta,

I hope you had a wonderful first birthday. I'm sure the princess themed party left all the other pre-toddlers envious. We can't believe that you are already one year old. You are growing up way too fast. It feels like just yesterday that we were holding you for the first time, and now you are scooting around and getting ready to walk. Make sure you help your mom post some pictures of your party on the blog. We can't wait to see them. Hopefully we will be able to make it to many future birthday parties. We love you Greta, I hope this next year is even better then the first!

Love,

Doug and Nicole

PS- Tell your mom and dad that we love them and miss them as well!

Pay it Forward...Doug Style

Lately a trend out here has been to buy complete strangers stuff. The other day at a star bucks 47 customers bought coffee for each other. It started with one person buying the guy's coffee behind him in line, then that guy bought the coffee for the guy behind him... you get the point. Well, I went to Burger King today with a co-worker up in Seattle. The line was really long and I waited for fifteen minutes. I kept noticing an older gentleman ahead of me looking back at me and smiling. When it was his turn to order he turned to me and said do you like Whoppers. I said boy do I. And next thing you know he orders a Whopper for me and tells me to pass along the happiness. I turn to my co-worker behind me said, "Hey I'm getting a free Whopper be happy for me." The Whooper give away ended at one.

This past weekend Nicole and I decided to follow the Lewis and Clark Trail. I was Merryweather Lewis and Nicole was Clark Griswold. We followed the Columbia river from Portland down to Skamania Lodge. Along the way we saw North America's second tallest continuous flowing waterfall. We also saw the Columbia Gorge which had a lot of scenic stops. We also stopped at the Bonneville Dam and saw 100 pound sturgeon. We did not see any seals but they were reportedly eating large amounts of endangered salmon. At the dam they tried to tell us people forded the river by floating their wagons with no wheels down the Oregon Trail. I happen to think it was a hoax because the river looked too wild for a wooden wagon to float down. Come on, people were white water rafting on a wild adventurous ride on the same trail. At the lodge Nicole enjoyed a back massage and I sat in front of a large fire place sipping hot cocoa. All in all it was a very nice relaxing vacation!

This past weekend Doug's parents were able to come out and help us celebrate Doug's birthday and Valentines day. We had a great time visiting and seeing a few sights. One of the highlights of their trip was going to the Museum of Flight near Seattle. We were able to see everything from the very first planes/gliders, to old war planes, and even an old Air Force One plane. There were planes for hours, lots of history. It is always great to have family and friends visit. We look forward to our next guests soon.

Happy Birthday Doug!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband Doug! Doug's parents are out here this weekend to help us celebrate Doug's birthday, Valentines Day, and President's Day (lots of celebrating to do). Tonight we are going to go to a Japanese steakhouse and the rest of the weekend is undecided at this point. I am lucky enough to have next week off as mid-winter break, so I'm trying to think of a belated mystery date/birthday date for next weekend. Details yet to come. I hope you have a fantastic birthday my love, this year is sure to be a great one! I love you.

The little clam, the big clam, and the clam that got away

Clam Digging

This weekend we went on a quest for clams. We had only been clammin' once before and figured we'd give it another try. The weather was beautiful and our clam digging skills were even better then we thought they were. We caught/dug our limit (15 each) of clams in under an hour! It was an awesome day at the beach! The picture of the sand is the air bubble that you look for while clam digging. Once you see the air bubble, you use either a clam gun or clam shovel and dig out the sand under the bubble. Sometimes the clams are quick and you have to stick your hand in the hole to grab them out. Who would have thought that clams were fast moving! Check out the videos above to see how it is done.

The tide is right...

In effort to put off the finishing touches on our painting project for one more weekend, Doug and I are going "clammin" next Saturday. Clam season only occurs certain times of the year depending on the tide and the acid levels in the sand. We went clam digging for the first time about a year ago, and had a great time. I don't know how much I enjoy eating clams, but the process of catching them is fun. We'll be posting pictures of the dig soon. If you have any good clam chowder recipes, please share! Other then the upcoming dig, Doug and I have been busy with work, preparing for Doug's parents to visit (February 12th-16th), thinking about what to get Doug for his upcoming birthday, and enjoying the past couple days of sunshine and fifty degree wheather.