Our First Tree!!!

It's Christmas season, and I really wanted a tree. With days away from home planned for the holidays, Andy wasn't quite sure if it was worth it to get, set up, etc. I almost gave up on having one, but then I got a call from him while I was at work. He was at a lot in town looking at one to buy!
I think he did a fine job of picking it out - it's beautiful and smells awesome!
Last Christmas, Andy's Aunt Donna gave us ornaments for our first tree and Andy's mom hooked us up with lights, more ornaments, stockings, and the cute little stuffed animals while she was here last weekend.
We woke up yesterday morning and decided that the tree should be put up and decorated while we were still in our PJ's! So, it might look like Christmas morning....but it's just a lazy Saturday morning with some Christmas spirit.

Mom's Weekend

Last weekend, Andy's mom came over to visit us. It was wonderful to spend that time with her without worrying about wedding details! :) Of course we think she spoiled us, but protesting doesn't work! We really enjoyed the visit and look forward to the next one. 

From Margaret's blog (http://grandmamargsblog.blogspot.com):

Idaho Trip
I spent last weekend with Andy and Teresa. We had a great weekend of shopping, making candy, eating, playing games, watching movies and catching up! We even had snow on the day they took me back to the airport in Spokane. It was fun to see how these newlyweds are settling and enjoying their married life.

Snuggling up to keep warm - it was snowing hard!

Teresa had never made candy so here we are trying to spread out the peanut brittle quickly. It was quite the feat!

Andy is trying to toss the pizza dough like the pros. We laughed and made a mess but we managed to get the pizza done!

The backyard view before the snow. It was cold and even the horses didn't want to be out in the weather. I don't miss that cold weather!

Thanksgiving in Portland

Andy, my younger sister Beth, and I traveled to Portland to spend Thanksgiving with Susan and Chad. Marie flew over and Colleen drove up (2 other sisters) to meet us. Andy and Chad took charge of deep-frying a turkey (experimental first time with this!), and we sisters did the other cooking and baking from scratch - like the good ol' times. :) We had a homemade feast to be proud of!




Beth also got to see the ocean for her first time. That was really priceless - to be able to share that with her. Since it was a first-time experience, we couldn't hold back. We played in the water and ran on the beach and tried to make a sand castle. Then, we headed to the nearest town with numb feet and hungry stomachs to find some authentic seafood. A wild game of Cranium finished off this vacation for us. It was so fun to have that time with these fabulous people!


We stopped by Multnomah Falls to break up the long ride home to Idaho. Look at those "kids" tuckered out in the backseat! :)

Pumpkin Carving

We didn't go trick-or-treating, but we did make pumpkin cinnamon rolls and spend hours carving our pumpkins! (what can we say? we're perfectionists!) Andy carved a pretty good evil face on one side and a haunted tree, moon, and flying bats on the other. I carved a spider on one side and a spider web on the other. Fun times!

Hunting Adventures

Andy and I went deer hunting...didn't get anything that day, but no worries! He got his deer of the season another day...and lots of ducks besides! Hunting season is a fairly new idea to me...getting up before the sun for reasons other than milking cows, bundling up to go hide and watch for the animals - what fun! :) Maybe someday I'll do more than watch...

Our Home

Home sweet home to us. House, shop, open backyard, animal trophies on the wall, stargazing, sunsets, pond full of fish and a little frog :) garden, fruit trees, ahhh...this is the life.

Camping in Oregon

Two weeks before our wedding day, we decided to take a break from all the planning and go camping with my sister, Colleen, and some of her friends. We did the tent-camping thing, but also went to Wallowa Lake and Joseph, Oregon for an afternoon. We found a cool soda shop in Joseph that keeps Andy and I talking about running one someday, with a hotrod shop attached.
The trip was nice and relaxing - just what we needed!

Oregon Coast - celebrating Andy's graduation

After Andy's graduation, his dad took us to Depot Bay to relax and play for a week. My sister, Susan came home from Afghanistan that week and met us there. We went fishing and crabbing on an ocean boat, tried our hand at clamming on the beach (we got one!), and just had a great time together.