Waylon's 1st Trip to the Lake

Yeah we finally got Waylon out on the boat! We have been looking forward to this days for years! I remember when I was VERY pregnant with Waylon that there was a couple out with their little boy and we stopped and chatted with them to see how old their son was and when the first time was they had taken him out because we just were so excited to take Waylon. Well the day finally arrived and he of course LOVED it...what is not to love about being outside and in the water right?

We had Grandma and Grandpa with us, which made it awesome because Waylon had plenty of us to hang out with. Waylon even rode with daddy up in the front! Waylon had not one ounce of fear in him, he loved it.. Enjoy the pictures of our newest, boating buddy!

Camping Trip! Father's Day Weekend

We went camping this weekend up north. This was our view from our camp site. Jake has had this campsite in mind for a long time to take Waylon too and this weekend we finally got our chance too. My sister and brother-in-law joined us with their 2 dogs and then on the last day my cousin came up with his daughter. So needless to say we had a lot of great family fun.I bought this helmet for Waylon a month or so ago at a garage sale for $5 bucks and was not sure how he would do with it. This trip it was "wear the helmet or no quad" and Waylon did not bat an eye about it. (thank goodness) The helmet is a little big, but at least he knows now that he HAS to wear one while on the quad. This makes me feel so much better. (now we need to get one that fits daddy since I wear his)

We rode the quad so much while we were camping and Waylon still did not get enough of it. Even though this picture is not completely in focus it is one of my favorites. We took Waylon around the mountain where Jake has done a lot of his hunting. This is at the pond where we always stop and we heard Elk and saw some deer the following day on a different ride. Jake was excited to get Waylon started on how to look for Elk.

Here is the only picture of the deer that I got. Not bad.. Courtney, Jon, Waylon, Jake and I for a self portrait..again not bad :-)Kylie (Trevor's daughter) helping with the tent when they arrived on Saturday. She was too funny because this was her 1st camping trip and she is such a girl compared to my dirty boy when it comes to camping. The first few hours she wanted to wash her hands and not be in the dirt. Well after hanging out with Waylon she must have decided that the dirt was not a bad thing because she was almost dirtier than he was at the end of the trip...I got a good video of her but not great pictures of her all dirty.

This trip was filled with a lot of great food (thanks to our camp cook-Jon) and a lot of great quad rides too. We had such a great time and can not wait to go again. We plan to go at least one more time before I go back to school.

Another Great Deal at Albertson's

Albertson's was having a great mix and match deal last week with many different items. All of the items above I bought for either $0.75 or $1.50 plus I had coupons for each of these items. (of course- I barely shop without them anymore) I was very proud of myself when I walked out because my percentage saved was 74%!!! On the bottom of my receipt my savings for the day was $39.50~ I used a total of $21 in coupons.

The trick to this mix and match sale was that you had to buy 10 items in the price category and then at the register it took off $5 instantly. So I bought 10 items in the $.75 category (which took $5 off my total) and then 10 in the $1.50 category(which took another $5 off) . Then I snuck in the Kleenex box because it was a Walgreens coupon and Albertson's takes all competitors coupons too. (actual paper coupons I brought in were a value of $11.00)

My items I purchased were
6 TreeTop Juices
6 Easy Mac cups (I do not pay full price for these anymore, they are always on sale)
1 Kraft salad dressing (another item I never pay more than $.50 for!)
1 Cheerios snack mix
1 box of Triscuits
1 box of Wheat Thins
(you should never pay full price for crackers either~always some sale and a coupon)
1 box of Kleenex ( I got for .89 using a competitor coupon from Walgreens)
4 Rice packages

My total..........$13.87 way to go me!!! :-)

My 30th Birthday Party

For my birthday this year we had a lot of friends and family over to the house. It was a blast, the most fun I have had in a long time with everyone. Ahna, Ryan and Cooper came down from Vegas which always makes for a good time. All in all there was about 3o people here. It was so nice because everyone brought a little something and so it made for an easy party for me.

Ahna and I :-)
We have been friends for a long long time
we met when I was 5 or 6 years old and became
great friends in high school.






Dad and Courtney at the party...Great picture!

Waylon had a great time too, while he was there. He was at the party until bedtime and then went down to Aunt Heather's for the night. HE had a blast down there and asks all the time to go back to aunt Heather's "real quick." (one of his new phrases he says at the end of everything.)

Many of the people who were at the party.
The orginal Party Night Gang! Love having all of us together what fun!
One uninvited guest that showed up! Luckily it was after almost everyone had left for the night. This big guy did not make it home that night! Yucky-!!!


It was a blast-Thanks so much to everyone who made it out and joined us we had a wonderful time!

Just Jake and I ;-)

This post is actually just about the two of us....It has been a long time since Jake and I have been away and just as the two of us. Heck it has been a very long time since my camera has done this many consecutive pictures without Waylon in any of them.

Jake had to go to Washington state this week (well now it has been several weeeks, thanks to my slacking on the blog) for his work for a class they are taking. So we decided to make a mini vacation together and went up a few days earlier together! We left on Friday afternoon and got up to Seattle about 8 in the evening. Which seemed perfect because up in the northern part of the world it stays dark until 10 PM. We stayed the night in Seattle and had not only an awesome view of the Space Needle, but a great room! It had a huge jaccuzzi tub and a lot of space (small kitchen). See Jake's traveling has paid off some, because he was able to upgrade our room to a great one and it did not cost us anything to stay there.

The next day we went to Victoria, Canada and spent the next two days there just hanging out and walking around. It was great. Jake and I had only planned one thing in the two days we were there and the rest of the time was ours to do whatever we wanted. So we did a lot of eating, drinking and sleeping! I slept great on our trip, because I did just that. I did not have to listen for anything or anyone and it was needed despirately. Well, I did not nap like Jake did (on the fairy in the middle of the day, where ever), but at night I did sleep well.

So our first day in Victoria we went back to a place we had been to about 4 years before for a wonderful meal. Not a well priced one but a very tasty one with such a great view. This meal we split and it had mussels, crab, salmon and fried oysters along with bread and some amazing vegetables. It was delish!!

Throughout the rest of the day we just walked all around Victoria, and checked things out. We did not do the museums and such because we have done all of those in the past, and unfortunately, they do not change that much in a few years. We did a lot of walking though. No worries when we got tired we found a place to have a drink and recharge!

The next day we went back to the Butchart Gardens. Now if you have never been I highly reccommend you do one day. Even Jake says it is great even if it is a bunch of flowers. The views and smell of this place is so amazing. All the women that walk through this place, I think just think it is heaven because it is so beautiful. Here is a sneak peek at it though..plus the intro picture is from the gardens as well.. Maybe someday I will figure out how to add an album on here. AMAZING flowers though- The rose garden is always my favorite...what an amazing smell.

Then after the Butchard Garden we took the bus back into town...and Jake and I walked around some more. We decided together that we wanted to find a place that we could sit outside and eat and drink for cheaper than it was costing us in town. So we had seen a Red Robin on our bus ride back from the gardens. We thought it was not far and would walk it. OK??? Well we walked it alright and by the time I got there I was in despirate need of a beverage... So 3 margaritas later we called a cab. Not far...whatever, it had to have been a few miles...at least. Oh well what else were we going to do for the day right?

We headed back to Seattle that night on the fairy and then I spent the next morning in Seattle doing some walking around town. (I know you would think I wouldn't after that long walk the day before, but I managed ok.) I went to the Space Needle and then walked all the way down to the market and tried to get as much of the touristy things that I knew Jake would not enjoy as much while I had the time to myself. (remember he was in class)

View from the Space Needle
Flowers in Pike's Market $20 if only I could have taken them home, so pretty.

It was a well deserved trip for Jake and I~ we had fun and I will always remember this trip. Thanks honey-Happy Anniversary.