Weekend Fun with Alee!

2 weekends ago we took Alee to her first puppy socialization class!  She did well in the car and COMPLETELY worse herself out by playing with Jasper the 4 month old Boxer!  Afterwards Ed and I got lunch at a deli and sat outside while Alee people watched.

Alee on her way to puppy socialization!

This past weekend was  fun filled and certainly exhausting for Alee!  Klamath Falls held a "Be Kind to Animals" Dog Festival this weekend as a chance to celebrate dogs.  There was a "show ring" (just for fun) and competitions like "cutest couple" and a "confidence builder agility course." Alee got to meet lots of new dogs, put her paw print on a certificate, try out some home made chicken cookies and try out the agility course.  The little boxer she met the weekend before at the puppy socialization class was also there, so they got to play again!  They even got on the news for playing together!  Alee did so well and loved the agility course so much we have definitely decided to start her in agility training once she's old enough (about 12-18 months).

Alee doing the agility training - about to "jump" through the tire

Alee after her playing

After the dog festival, the 3 of us went to Moore Mountain to help the Linkville Lopers running club set up for the Moore Mnt Half Marathon the following Sunday.  We hiked up a hill to see the area where Ed and I will be manning an aid station and helped put markings on the ground to direct runners.  Alee was EXHAUSTED from hiking up that hill - she kept trying to sit in the shade instead of walking with us. 

Sunday morning we worked the aid station and handed out water, gatorade and gels to the runners - they all seemed to have a great time and really enjoy the views.  Of course Alee was a huge help in motivation!  She really enjoyed collecting all the sticks around the site.

 A little blury - but here's Alee collecting her sticks...

Trying now to figure out how to chew on it

Just a beautiful shot of our girl

Ed with Alee

Our Mile 7 Aid station

All in all we had a great weekend and are looking forward to this week where we get to move into our new house!  We're still renting, but this house has geothermal heat and some really awesome neighbors/land lords.  PLUS there's a yard for Alee!

Adkins Company Outing

This post is a little out of order, but I just got the photos off the camera!  Last weekend, the weekend BEFORE we got Alee, Ed and I went on the Adkins Company Outing.  Ed's company, Adkins Engineering, paid for all their employees and spouses to head out to Grants Pass to take a ride on the Hells Gate Jet Boat tour on the Rouge River and have dinner at a riverside restaurant.  To top that off, they also paid for everyone to stay at the Riverside Lodge that evening.  We had a great time and I really enjoyed meeting all of Ed's co-workers.  The event was coincidentally held the day before the Boss' birthday, so they definitely had some fun letting everyone know about the birthday boy!  The lodge was super cute and the boat tour was really fun.  They did some unexpected moves that soaked several people on the boat but Ed and I stayed mostly dry. 

Ed and I on the boat before dinner

Coming into Hells Gate Canyon - the scenery of many famous movies!

Dinner...where they also had some fun singing for the birthday boy (boss)

After Dinner on the way back to the boat

Hells Gate Canyon

Alee!!

This week we brought home the newest member of our family - ALEE!!!  Alee (short for Alethia, the Greek Goddess of Truth) is a 14 week old Rhodesian Ridgeback from Pacific Grove, CA.  She is still a puppy but is growing quickly!  A few things we've learned so far:

• She would prefer to sleep than go for a walk (most of the time)
• She prefers to sleep with or on someone...instead of in her doggie bed
• She doesn't have any interest in Buster although Buster despises her presence
• She doesn't like the leash so she chews on it the entire time we're walking
• She LOVES Kristin's home made garlic-cheese biscuits
• She doesn't like being cold or hot...cuddled up on the couch seems to be the perfect temperature!

Chewing on the rawhide

Watching NCIS...trying to figure out why Gibbs is so smooth... :)

Ready to go to bed! (and it's only 8pm!)

Christina and Paul Visit!

Christina and Paul came to visit us for Labor Day weekend!  It was so great to see them and their Baby bump!  Christina seemed to do very well and was even up for some hiking!  We took them to Crater Lake where Kristin and Christina hiked around Pentacles and Ed and Paul hiked Mount Scott.  We spent Labor Day relaxing by the pool and checking out Ashland.  Ashland is such a cool town with great shopping and fantastic food.  That night we continued the tradition of Blockus  before taking them to the airport on Tuesday morning.  We really look forward to meeting their baby on November!

 All 4 (5) of us at Crater Lake

Baby Gosling's First National Park

Ed and Paul at the Mt Scott summit

Kristin and Christina at Crater Lake

Lassen National Park

After dropping Harmony and Grandma off at the airport on Saturday we headed south to meet Ashley and Matt at Lassen National Park - located within Lassen National Forest.  We headed down to the park looking for a fun short weekend and ended up seeing one of the coolest parks out here!  We didn't even get a chance to see most of it, but what we did see was just gorgeous!

 Lower Falls in Lassen National Forest - before the Park

Lassen Volcano erupted in 1914 and spewed large rocks all over the park.  The Volcanic peak is 10,462 feet and is supposedly a really nice climb.  We didn't get a chance to climb it due to the shortness of our trip, but we will one day!  The park also includes waterfalls, bubbling mud pots, boiling lakes, and much more.  We can't wait to get back and see more!  For this trip, we camped and did a 3 mile water fall hike to Kings Falls.

 Ed and I in front of Lassen Peak - we're in the "Disaster Zone" where all the lava flowed in 1914

A Meadow upstream of Kings Falls - there were reports of a Black Bear eating lunch out here but we never saw it.

Ed and I with Ashley and Matt just upstream of King Falls at a "mini" waterfall - photo by Matt Hoover

Kings Falls!  Photo by Matt Hoover

Family!!

 Last week we were so lucky to have family visit us in Oregon!  Kristin's Grandma (Myrtle) and Sister (Harmony) visited us during the week to see the sights of Oregon and California.  They flew in on Tuesday and Kristin picked them up to take them to some gourmet cheese, wine and chocolate tastings!

After the tastings we went home for a delicious home made meal of Fisherman's Pie!  Believe it or not, Kristin cooked most of it!

Wednesday morning we started with french toast covered in sauteed cherry tomatoes to prepare for a long day in central Oregon.  First we headed to Crater Lake National Park for a couple hikes and beautiful sights!

Then we headed down along the Rouge River to see some waterfalls!  We initially planned on seeing only roadside falls, but we ended up doing a lot of hiking!  (Go Grandma!)

Wednesday night was wrapped up with some home made pizza's by Chef Edward - I'm such a lucky wife!

Thursday was the day for Lava Beds National Monument and Medicine Lake!  We actually got Grandma into a LAVA CAVE!  We had a blast and enjoyed a wonderful picnic at the lake with bagel sandwiches, local cheese and crackers and local chocolate. 

Thursday evening we went to the Klamath Falls 3rd Thursday festival to see the local artwork and crafts.  We had great time tasting local wine and looking at local jewelry and finished the night with a great Thai dinner downtown.  Friday we took it easy and visited a few local mountain lakes but found it a tad to cold to jump in! 

Sadly we said good bye on Saturday as Grandma and Harmony started their 12 hour trip home...hope they come back soon!

Shopping and Gypsy

Last week at work was absolutely exhausting - Kristin had a ton of work to get done in order to prepare for a new measurement device which is being installed this week and Ed has been spending all day, every day outside overseeing and inspecting a new sewer line project.  We were definitely ready for the weekend!!  This weekend we did a little baking to use up some fruit and veggies that were about to go bad then we headed to Portland to do some shopping and to see Matt Insley's performance of Gypsy at Lakewood Community Theater.

Kristin used up some left over corn and blackbeans to make a Mexican Breakfast Pie - this is a favorite that is so easy once you have the pie crusts down.  Basically just take breakfasts foods, put them in a pie crust and then fill with 5-6 beaten eggs and cover with another pie crust and cook at 375 deg for 45-50 minutes.  We used hashbrowns (thawed), fake sausage (cooked), green peppers, corn and blackbeans - yum!  The great thing is - it will last us 4-5 days!

After the breakfast pie, we noticed that we had a ton of blueberries that were about to go bad so Kristin took an old recipe from Ed's mother and made a Blueberry cream pie.  This was sooooo easy once the crust was made!  If anyone wants the recipe - let Kristin know!

Before we got to Portland, we stopped at the madhouse shopping area of Woodburn.  This place was so packed we couldn't do a whole lot of shopping - just shoving!  But we did find 1 KILLER deal that we had to post!  Kristin found a super nice pair of Merrell winter boots for $33! (original was $115)  These are water proof and super warm for winter activities like snowshoeing or snowmobiling. 

After our one good deal, we raced out of there to get away from all those crazy shoppers and headed to Terri's for a home cooked meal of shrimp, ribs and veggies - Thanks a ton Terri!  After dinner we finally headed to see Matt's show - Gypsy!

Gypsy was an absolutely awesome show - here's the description from the theater:
Based on the real-life account of burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee, Gypsy is really the story of her mother Rose and her unflappable desire to see her daughters become stars. Fueled by regrets of her own dreams lost to motherhood and fate, Rose's destructive obsession eventually drives all the people who love her away, including the one man willing to accept her for who she really is. This epic musical covers more than 15 years in the life of Rose, her two daughters Louise and June and the gripping mania that drives them to tour the country seeking fame and fortune.

 

 Matt and AJ with the child version of June - this girl twirled baton WHILE dancing on point!!

 After the show we headed for a drink at Oswego Lake House - this was a very cute restaurant and pub that we will definitely have to visit again!  We sat right on the Lake and enjoyed watching some moonlight sailing.


On Sunday we headed for a nice morning bike ride with Terri, Josh and Elsie in Lake Oswego (near Portland).  We did their typical "work out ride" which was definitely a work out!  We ended our ride at breakfast where the food was just awesome!

After breakfast, we headed home through Bend, just to see what it was like.  That is SUCH a cute place!  There are tons of winter vacation spots there and a ski resort, so we'll definitely be back up there in a few months!  On our way, we passed an old Army Corps of Engineer's Dam- Detroit Dam.  This was not pretty by any means, but it was kind of cool as it was completely covered in moss!

Now it's time to get serious about cleaning the house for Harmony and Grandma's visit in 2 weeks!!!!  Woohoo!!!