A Very Beachy Post

We've been having a nice spring. Nolan survived his test and I'm sure he passed it (even though we won't know the results until late June/July). I had a great birthday, especially going to the beach with Anna and the kids the next day! And we enjoyed celebrating our anniversary at the Hallmark Resort in Newport last weekend. It was so much fun to be able to take Toby with us. Poor thing, though, he gets carsick, so the trip over wasn't without challenges. We stopped once because he was drooling so much in an effort to calm him down. Then we stopped again when he threw up. And then we stopped for about an hour because there was an accident and they weren't letting traffic through. At least we were able to let Toby out (on his leash of course), and Nolan was able to get wireless signal on his laptop! It was nice for him to be able to check how long detours would take and be reassured that we were doing the right thing in just waiting for them to clear the road. We finally made it to Newport and had a great time!

Cami ate what might have been her first Oreo on our way to the coast!

I could get her to smile, just not look at the camera!
Micah playing in the sand

Josiah climbing

Nolan checking Map quest on our way to the beach

We were too late to get a nice dinner, so we settled for McDonald's instead

Toby standing in the wind outside our hotel. We had him on a 16 ft. retractable leash, so he felt free

The view from our room

Introducing Toby to the beach. He likes to stand against us

Happily Married!

Three Years Ago Today...

We got married! It has been a wonderful three years! In some ways I can't believe it's already been three years, but mostly, it seems like we've always been married. We faced a lot in the first year--buying a house, me starting a new position at work, a hospital stay, my parents moving away, and lots of great memories. After that everything has been pretty calm! It's exciting to think of all our next year of marriage could bring.

I am blessed to have such a sweet and wonderful husband who loves the Lord so much and honors Him through the way that he leads our family. He is a man I respect, and he doesn't let me just get my way! Here's looking back at the past three years...

Honeymoon in Hawaii

Fourth of July, 2007 (oops! out of order!)

Our first Christmas as a married couple & in our house! December 2006

Visiting DC for our 1 year anniversary (and Tim's end of Pleeb Year)

Visiting Mount Vernon, May 2007

Christmas with our kitties, Sophie & Wylie, 2007

Summer vacation in Cambria, here we are at Hearst's Castle, July 2008

Once again in DC, this time for Thanksgiving in 2008

My Smart Husband

Tomorrow (April 24) Nolan will be taking an 8 hour math test! He'll be taking his Professional Engineer's Exam (the PE) to become licensed to do his own engineering work. Currently, everything he does has to be signed off on by his boss. This test is like the Bar Exam for lawyers, and the CPA for accountants. He's been studying for about six months now every evening and whenever he has time at work. His books are loaded in the car (he has about 90 pounds of books to take with him), his backpack is full of snacks, calculators and a ruler, and his GPS is programmed and ready to go. He may not think so, but I'm sure his brain is also set and ready to think! It'll be up to three months before he hears back if he passes or not. I'll be praying for him and I hope you will too!

Beautiful Weather!

We have had a beautiful weather weekend! Our new dog is officially named Toby and we had fun enjoying the weather with him. On Friday night our friends the McCallisters had us over for dinner, and were kind enough to let Toby come too. They have a standard poodle named Zoe, and Toby thought he'd met a long lost aunt. The two had fun running laps around the living room. It was the happiest we'd seen Toby yet.

Then Saturday morning we made a trip to Petco with him to get a free consultation with a trainer and once again, he did great! He loved the car ride (as long as it's daylight) and wasn't too shy or nervous in the store. Next we visited the vet where he was given a great bill of health (even though he was shaking and drooling out of nervousness). He spent the afternoon in our front yard with me as I weeded, and then we took a walk and discovered how good he is on a leash!

Today (Sunday) it was 70 degrees! Nolan's brother called us saying he and his family would be stopping in Albany on their way to take our nephew, Aidan, back to his mom. We met up with them at Timer Linn Park here in Albany and wondered why we've never visited it before. Aidan and Uncle Nolan had fun on the playground, and then after they all left, Nolan and I took Toby walking around the park (as seen below). All in all, it was a wonderful weekend!

Pupppy Trial

I started looking for a new dog right away--all our reasons for getting a dog were still there, and my way of coping with the sadness of losing Josie was to find something else to replace her. Through Oregonlive.com we found a listing for a 5-month-old Labradoodle mix. His mother is a standard poodle and his father is a labradoodle/retriever mix. What we liked in his picture, though, was that his fur looked more like a retriever than a poodle (although Nolan wasn't too excited that the dog is a "doodle"). He is black with some brown highlights. In the sunshine, he has an almost plum-color to his fur. His breeder is selling him because she had hoped to breed him, but then he started shedding a little bit, which means she couldn't sell his puppies as shed-free. All of this made for a great deal for us! We met the breeder and Berkley (although we want to change his name) in Troutdale on Wednesday evening. Poor Berkley was so scared! We couldn't really see much of his personality because he was so nervous, but I was impressed by how much he clearly loved his breeder. The breeder agreed to a 14 day trial period with him, so if he doesn't take to us we're able to return him. The poor thing was very nervous and frightened last night, but gradually took to me. For some reason he's very distant with Nolan, but we're slowly remedying that by having Nolan give him cheese (his favorite treat as we've discovered). Wylie and Sophie have actually warmed up to him really quickly. Within a half hour of being introduced to him, they both were bathing themselves and chasing bugs within 5 feet of him! Berkley was so scared of them he tried to hide behind our vertical blinds! If he keeps progressing the way he has this evening, he could turn out to be a great dog! We'll just have to make sure he passes the kid-test.

On a Lighter Note

There is new life springing up in our home! Nolan's mom started several rosebushes for me last spring, and we enjoyed planting them all summer. When it as time for me to prune my bushes back this year, there were a few that Becky asked me to make some clippings of. I put the clippings in a jar of water hoping to see at least one survive. I can't believe the growth we're seeing!

The first three are the "St. Patrick's Day" rose and the last one is "Dream Come True."

A Sad Day in the Nelson Household

Today Nolan and I took Josie back to the Linn County Dog Control. Yesterday Josie bit Josiah (4-year-old nephew) without any provocation or warning. Thankfully, Nolan was able to pull her away quickly and Josiah only received a minor scratch. We could only imagine how much worse it could have been. We loved our dog, but know that she could no longer be trusted, especially around children. It was a hard decision to make, but the right one. I'm so proud of Nolan through all of this.

We will be looking for another dog. We'll definitely take our time, though. We don't want to have to go through this experience again. Josie brought a lot of fun and joy to our lives--especially Nolan's. We'll either find a puppy (which means it'll be a while since we would need me to be home with it), or a slightly more mature dog where we can know the ins and outs of its history.