Preggo palate plus!

Brian thought this day would never come: I am eating seafood.  

Not sure if it's the hormones or what, but smothered in garlic and olive oil, salmon doesn't taste half bad to me now!  

I think Brian's exact words were: "I'll make this all day long as long as you keep eating it!"  

This new shared interest has made our marriage stronger :)

A Night at the Deadwood Saloon

Here are some shots from a murder mystery birthday party we were invited to this past Friday night.  Our characters were father-daughter, which made for some entertaining exchanges.  

Brian ended up being the killer, partly because the man he killed had broken his daughter's heart.  It was a hilarious night, to say the least.

Bellying up to the bar

Reviewing evidence.  Doesn't he look guilty?  No one knew (Brian included) who the killer was until after the murder occurred.

Good times!

Some videos of Maude

This is a video of Maude after getting her cone at the vet's office.  Her paw was in a splint with an IV bag on it to keep it dry, along with my duct tape job.  (I had taken this video and sent it to Brian while he was out of town.)  Oh, and we still owned the rust-bucket back then.  It is loudly carting some other southeast alaskan around town now.

Here is Maude's first swim session after getting her splint off.  Please pardon my high-pitched cheerleader mom voice.  It had been a long six weeks of keeping her paw dry.  I was excited.  

Maude and her favorite shoe:

Maude and Brian playing some ball:

Maudie girl

We love this face:

Waiting for Dad to get home from work:

Together at last:

Maude and her mama, Bay:

Eclectic Assortment of Pics

Ok, here is a random collection of iPhone photos for your viewing pleasure.

My second black bear sighting this summer.  This one, while walking home from work:

A glimpse into the fun, goofy time we had in Seattle for Brian's cousin's wedding:

A sad face from Brian as we prepare to load our truck onto the ferry toward its new owners in Sitka:

Brian demonstrating his salmon fillet skills:

Brian 1, Fish 0:

Vacuum cleaner 1, Brian 0: (I'll let him explain...)

Maude enjoying the back of our new/used Subaru Outback from Missoula, Montana:

Our new grandfather clock from my clock-repairing papa, all the way from Germany:

Caroline's Wedding

Here are some snapshots from Caroline's wedding weekend at BGSU.  It was a very quick trip for me, and it was a blast!  And it was such an honor for me to get to be the one presiding over their ceremony.  Everything went beautifully!

In the car on the way to the chapel:

Dad, "lookin' a spry 45" in Brian's words :)

The happy couple cutting the cake.

The happy couple turning borderline violent for cake face smashing :)

And they're still friends!

The bride's beverage:

Best friends for 20 years!

And then the party bus happened.

Congratulations, Williamsons!

Got quills?

At 9:30 at night a couple weeks ago, I spotted this prickly friend lounging on our patio.  Yep, it's a porcupine.  

I watched him walk from the grass up onto the patio, and then fall flat on his belly like this.  It was as if he was saying, "Man, I'm beat."  I opened our sliding door just a little bit to make some noise and he (and his quills!) popped right up.  He scampered away before I could snap another photo.

People keep telling us it is only a matter of time until Maude gets "quilled" for the first time.  Thankfully, tonight was not her night!  

Awesome friends!

When Brian and I traveled to Kalamazoo, MI for grandma's party, we also got to meet up with some great friends who made the drive from Columbus and Cleveland.  We were/are so thankful to get face time and connect, even if just for a couple hours! 

We got to have breakfast with Caroline & Michael!

We got to have lunch with Alison & Ryan!

Love all these smiling faces :) 

House projects galore!

We have been in our house for one year now and have a few projects under our belts already!  We have been busy and trying to have fun with the process where we can, and even build a little community at the same time.  

Project #1: Spare bedroom

before

after

Project #2: Chimney leak repair

thankfully we are good friends with a roofer

I told Brian the only way he could get on the roof is with Andy

Project #3: Bathroom tile grout/calk clean-up

before

after

Project #4: Take down back fence and remove old greenhouse from patio

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We gave this old, dilapidated greenhouse to our friend, Becca.  Six of us literally carried it and walked it over to her yard, just a few blocks away.  We got a lot of stares along the way!  She is excited to give it new life, and we are excited to have more patio space.

Project #5: Re-build back fence (and host two bbq's, two weekends in a row, for the two different groups of friends that showed up to help us tear down boards, strong-arm posts, dig holes, hammer nails, etc.)

we met neighbors we had not yet met thanks to this project, and got to know others better!

the fence, ladies and gentlemen

Project #6, leading to Project #7: Replace two windows and then replace rotted wood found as a result of replacing said windows

ugh

our new friend, Justin!  he did such a good job and ended up sharing a couple dinners with us after working all evening

Project #8: Build new gate/door for back fence

Justin offers advice to Brian

Project #9: Pick cherries from our 5 cherry trees and get baking!

and notice that snazzy new gate!