Grant's First

We were lucky enough to be part of Grant's First Birthday Party while we were out in Portland which proved to be a lot of fun. Ryan blew up balloons and shopped with Todd for patio furniture and also set up said furniture as well as a volleyball/badminton net. I helped Cathy make cupcakes and cole slaw and had the priviledge of putting the birthday boy down and getting him up from his naps on the big day. He was a trooper, had several guests and did not fuss at all!Here is Uncle Ryan blowing up a ton of balloons the night before!Phew, the guys and gal (Bondi the dog) were pooped after all the party preppingUncle Ryan and Owen fill up the Loch Ness monster pool for the festivities.The cupcakes. Check out the cute labels that Cathy made. Can you tell what the theme was?The morning of the party...Grant opening his gifts mailed from all over.Sometimes you don't realize what a good photo you have until you get home and blow it up. Look at little bro Grant looking up at his big bro, Owen. So cute!Grant and I on the big day!Mom and Dad helping Grant with his Birthday cupcake.And....a happy Birthday boy with some cupcake on his chin! Happy First, buddy!

Multnomah Falls

Pretty cool, but tourist-crazed. I haven't checked this but I was told this was these were the second highest falls next to Niagara. Since I have never been to Niagara, this sounds good to me! Here are some photos:

This was a photo taken on an old highway on a detour to the falls. Pretty amazing view!

A Night Out In Portland

My brother and sister-in-law, Todd and Cathy, are nice enough to let us stay with them on our (now annual) visits to Portland. We first visited 4 years ago, soon after they had moved from Colorado and had their first child, Owen. Owen is now 3 (and a quarter) and they have since had Grant. Grant was born on our first wedding anniversary in 2008 so we were pretty excited to go out there and be present for his first birthday. Since we live so far away, we often just mail our gifts. Being there was priceless.


But, I digress. This entry is about our night out. Cathy had arranged a babysitter to come watch the little ones while the four of us hit some hot spots. First stop was Vino, a wine shop where they have tastings according to regions/types of wines depending on the week. We were lucky enough to come on Italian wine night and get a seat outside. So, this was also the deal of a lifetime - $10 for 5 tastings. They didn't sell food, so Cathy and I ran 2 blocks away and picked up some yummy cheese and baguette to compliment the wine. We sat with some lovely local ladies and enjoyed some good conversation. One was a food critic and she recommended the restaurant we ended up at for dinner.
Ryan and I happy as clams. We are on vacation!!

Cathy and Todd. Look at all those wine glasses!

We then headed to Iorio in Portland for a delicious Italian dinner. We also had a fantastic waitress who recommended some cool places to check out in Seattle for Ryan and I.

The four of us at Iorio.

Once we left the restaurant to head back to relieve the babysitter, we stopped outside to talk about what a great night we had....*boom* *boom*....Serendipitously, the fireworks started. Out great night happened to coincide with the beginning of the Rose Festival in downtown Portland. What a cool way to ride home!The fireworks....I just had to share this photo as well. Once home, Todd announced we were having breakfast burritos in the morning. Cathy and I were pretty excited!

portland.seattle.

Ryan and I just got back from one of the most fantastic vacations. We spent the last 7 days in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. We stayed in Portland for 5 days with Ryan's oldest brother Todd, his wife Cathy and our 2 nephews, Owen and Grant. While we were there, we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary and Grant's First Birthday!

I have several blogs to post about all the fun we had so bear with me while I put them together. If I dare say it, the pacific northwest suits Ryan and I very well. If the wind blows us in that direction someday, we would not be upset!

Here are a few photos that sum up some of our trip:

A view of Mt. Hood on our way into the Portland Airport. Welcome to Oregon!

Multnomah Falls in Oregon.

The famous Pike Place Market in Seattle.

Stay tuned!

What you can't see....

Our house is pretty neat and clean most of the time. But, as I have revealed before I have a little problem with closets and hidden areas where I tend to stuff random items that have no home. Well, now that our closets are mostly tidied up, I tackled our desk. Here is the before photo:


This leaf that Coodie is laying on is usually closed so the mess behind it is hidden. Today, I went to stuff some more papers in there and realized I was out of room. Luckily, I had some time and decided to tackle this disaster once and for all.
So, what exactly is in this pile? Mostly bills or other types of mail correspondence. Crazy how it piled up so much since the majority of my bills are now paid online. So, most of this simply needed to be taken out of the envelope and shredded and a few items needed to be filed. So, Cood sat right there with me the whole time and we listened to Pandora Radio (Coldplay to be exact) and shred...(or is it shredded?) Fun, fun!


Here is the finished product. Coodie had left me since I tuckered him right out with all of the excitement! The bag to the left is all of the shredding.


So, that's it. I think I have tackled all of my hidden areas at home! Now, onto my office at work...

Bonsai!

In the first year Ryan and I were together, we bought 2 Bonsai cherry trees. These trees are really Ryan's and have been with us for about 7 years. They used to go to "Donna's summer camp" when Ryan's parents, Donna and Sandy, lived just 10 minutes away. They had a fantastic garden with all sorts of room for the trees to be watered and thrive in the sun. When we had a small apartment in downtown Manchester, this was a lifesaver for the trees. Donna and Sandy have since moved to Tennessee and luckily, we now have a little more room in our townhouse to keep them outside. However, in the winter we do bring them to Bonsai West in Littleton, MA to be repotted and cared for in the cold months.

So...we picked them up today and they look fantastic. I wish I had some "before, after" photos but that would take some digging and I just don't have time to dig today.


In the first photo, you can see Coodie in the door wondering what the heck we are doing outside and not playing with him....




It's great to have the trees back, the sun out and so much green around! Happy spring!

The Cat Show...Seriously!

OK, so we may be a little bit dorky...but we went to a cat show this weekend. I could say it was because we had our nephew Ethan with us, but in reality we knew we were going before we knew we were going to hang with the E-man.

Ryan and I love, love, love our cat Coodie (hence, the blog name). He is super sweet and 12 lbs. of orange fur and cuteness. He loves us just as much and we battle about exactly who he likes better, mama or papa (don't get started on telling us we need to have kids!). So, we heard about this cat show in Concord, NH and headed up there after I picked up Ethan. We met some cool, crazy and fun people at the show and got to see and cuddle some seriously adorable cats. Here are some photos....

This cracked us up....here is Ethan behind the "no pets allowed" sign.

Ethan, Ryan and I all agreed that the hairless cats are a little scary.

A beautiful "red" Maine Coon cat. Very gentle and nice and quite possibly Cood's distant cousin.
I can't remember the name of this cat...persian? They are so funny because when they fall asleep, they crash right out...I wish we had a photo of that. They look so grouchy but have a very nice disposition.We fell in LOVE with these cats...the Birmans. They have this "worried" expression that makes you want to give them a big cuddle and kiss. They are "lap" cats and love people. Look at that little face! The fur is also like a bunny, amazingly soft.

Here is one of the Birmans being "judged". It's all a perfection game...poor kitties! We love you even if you have an extra stripe or an uneven paw!!

Well, we had a great time hanging with Ethan and the kitties. Who knows....maybe there will be another kitty in our future soon!