Last week of freedom

Sorry about the late update, we've been busy! :)

We got to go to our first ever intermediate krav on Monday! We learned about how to throw hooks and uppercuts, but much more work will be needed! this week was really nice, a good mix of rain and sun, and gave us a good chance to play around outside a little. Jeanie is pretty hit and miss with wanting to play, but we were able to get a video of her and her "wubba. :)

It's not looking like it's going to work on here though, so check Nikki's facebook page! :)

The best part about the beginning of the week was a trip to the Oregon State Fair! As far as state fairs go, nothing can beat NE, but Oregon was nice! We got to see a log cabin built in 1952, BEAUTIFUL rose gardens, and a magician! AND they had wine!!!



As you can see, Nikki was excited to taste the gold medal winners from this year, and they did not disappoint! We got to ride in an air-tram thingie at the very beginning of the fair, and it was nice to see the whole fair from the air.

Well, there ended the "fun" part out of the week. While Ryan got to stay home for Wednesday and Thursday Nikki had to head back to school. It's rough after a summer off, but Ryan was enjoying having the house to himself! :) Open house at Eisenhower was Thursday, so Ryan was kind enough to come help put the classroom together Wednesday night. Yay for leaving school at 6:30pm. We'll put pictures up next week so everyone can see the rooms! Nikki had about 10 families visit her all the way down in the music room, and everyone seemed to be excited to start school again!

Friday brought more work for both Ryan and Nikki. Nikki is feeling much better about this school year, and actually feels halfway prepared this time around. We'll see how the year starts off though. Saturday we got to spend time with some friends we haven't seen in a while for a bbq celebrating their new grill. Our first experience bbq-ing and not eating meat went very well, but I think we ate enough mashed potatoes to kill a horse. Apparently red meat makes you less hungry - who knew?

Anyway, this all brings us to Sunday morning. Nikki woke up at 6:10 (it wasn't planned) and freaked out because Ryan is usually up and getting ready to go by then, and he was still asleep. When asked (more like shoved) he just grunted and went back to sleep. Well, Nikki did too, and before you knew it an alarm was going off at 7 and Ryan was telling Nikki to get out of bed. Seeing as Ryan tries to be out of the house by 7 on the days he works (which is usually Sunday) Nikki was very confused. It turned out that Ryan had switched shifts with someone so he could take Nikki out to brunch on Sunday!!! He had been planning this for weeks, and Nikki didn't know about it until then. What a surprise! We went to a place called Skamania Lodge which does an amazing job with their Champagne brunch. Not only was the food great, but the view was extraordinary!



We are hoping to go back sometime to stay for a little while. The Bonneville hot springs are very close, as well as a bunch of great hikes and Mt. Hood across the river. Something to look forward to! :)

And now it is Monday, and you know what kept us from updating yesterday! Sorry about that, but hopefully this week will run smoothly with the start of school and the killing of a few blackberry bushes. :)

We hope everyone has a great week! We miss and love everyone, and Ryan can't wait to see NE family in October! (Nikki wishes she could be there....:( )