Kruchten Reunion and other random stuff...

Back to school shopping.  As Morgan is going into middle school, she suddenly cares about what she is wearing, what her hair looks like, etc.  Pretty funny.

Went to the zoo on Friday - we hadn't gone all summer.  It happened to be zoo a la carte so it was packed, but it was a beautiful day, all the animals were out, and we had a great time.  So much to pack in as the summer slips away...and I go full time:(

Sifting for gems.  You buy a "pack of sand" and see what good stones you get.

These were the first set of tomatoes I canned.  Many more to come as the next batch is ripening as we speak.  Today we made fresh salsa!

Kruchten reunion.  So good to see everyone.

Darling Mercedes.  She is so beautiful.  I wish I got one of her bright blue eyes.  Doug had to work, but Keisha came - so nice of her to make the trip

Needless to say, the girls had lots of fresh air, exercise and fun.  Macy was exhausted and when I turned around to see if she was sleeping, this is what I saw.

My favorite pic.  So nice to have the cousins together and all of their kids.  Wish more of us could have made it.

commencement

I finally got around to buttoning up the last bits of my master's thesis. I defended it almost 2 years ago, which was the major part of the work - a 2 hour presentation plus a couple more hours of questions and discussion from professors in the department. This was definitely the climactic and stressful end to my program.

I have been "done" this whole time except for a few last hurdles - gathering forms and signatures, making some small edits, formatting, etc. It ended up being quite frustrating, which was what I expected and why I have been putting it off for so long - the department misplaced my paperwork, I collected signatures again, but someone missed the main spot to sign and then left town with no computer or cell phone access. Then I got additional small feedback the day I was submitting, preventing me from hitting the first deadline. Ugh! BUT - its finally wrapped up (minus one signature that the grad department took on tracking down). I submitted a final copy of all 180 pages of original research.

After all this, I decided to walk in commencement this weekend to really help it feel final after all this time:

Lined up to walk



The only actual picture of my masters "hood"



Sea of graduates - it was a beautiful day

My committee showed up and brought cards and flowers - it was really sweet

2 out of 3 of my thesis committee - Dr. P in the middle and Priya Kapoor on the right. Kapoor was the "chair" and professor I was by far the closest to throughout my program.

We had a couple glasses of champagne when we got home, and headed to a bbq at Josh and Michelle's to celebreate 1 year of Sydney's adoption being final. It was a really nice day : )

a few low key weeks

We have been laying low around the house the past few weeks - it has been really nice to catch up and relax a bit after a busy start to the summer. Ashley has had to get work done on the weekends, and I've been working on tying up the loose ends of my thesis at long last. We've had lots of bbqs with friends and small yard wrap up projects. Here are a few random photos from my phone of small things going on here.....

Ashley installed some landscape lighting in the yard - one of the last finishing touches!

Fluffy dog and beer on our little patio after work at night

I had to post this photo even though I emailed it as well: we went to a housewarming bbq at some friend's house and they had the same wallpaper as what was in our house on Cobblestone! Flashback.

When Jeff was in town we opened one of the old bottles of wine from Fritz and Susanne. It always makes whatever we're doing a special occasion : )

Nashville and the Nutty Professor

My three Nutty Professors - Nashville bound.  Robin bought these at the dollar store and the girls wore them when we saw Mikey after the show.

Standing by the Marquis outside the theatre.  Kind of cool to see his sign right next to The Lion King.

We took a tour of the Grand Ol Opry.  Very interesting history and beautiful place.

Beth, you would have loved this old place.  It's a historic poster making shop called Hatch Show Print.  They've been doing typesetting for the Grand Ol Opry since 1879 using the blocks in the picture below.  Really neat to see.

You can't make it down the streets of Nashville without stopping in one of these - Cowboy boots!

The capitol was directly across the street from our hotel.

This and the next few pics are from a war memorial right next to the Capitol.  The architecture was beautiful.

The ceiling

This one might be my favorite.  The whole day we were worried about Macy falling asleep during the show.  Macy didn't miss a minute of it, but Brooke missed the last 30 minutes and then some.  She slept through the encore, clapping, lights, signing, a standing ovation and the exiting of the WHOLE theatre - lol. 

Unfortunately I have no pics of Mikey (no photography during the show) but here is the cover of the playbill and below are a few shots of the inside with his name and credits.  Robin has some on her camera I can post later.

Ok, it's upside down and I am too tired to figure out how to fix it.  You'll have to stand on your head or something...

The Rankin Family Visit... and other misc summer stuff

I just threw this one in because I love it.  They are the cards Morgan made for Aunt Beth

I took the girls out for dinner and mini golf a couple weeks ago.  This kid cracks me up!

We had some good laughs - especially when Brooke hit her ball so hard it went over the fence and into the field!

Just takin' a break- it was HOT!

Morgan had pool party with some of her friend

Brooke, Macy and Annie?  Owen spent the night and didn't have PJ's.  The light blue shorts and red top were the best we could do.  At least they weren't pink!

We spent Sunday down at Bradford Beach - what a gorgeous day.

That's Matt on the paddle board.  You had to sit until you got to the buoy. We both tried it and thought it was a blast! 

Owen Brooke and Stella - bums up

Stella will be 3 in a week!

This and that the past week



The last photo taken when Mom and Morgan were here! I just loaded this one onto my computer with the rest of the more recent batch. I like this photo : )

  After the craziness of last week, Jeff and Julie showed up for the weekend. Cooked a nice dinner together Friday night, and Saturday a.m. we took off to camp in central Oregon.

Getting dinner started at our campsite with Jeff and Julie. Made pulled pork in the dutch oven over the fire.

Moon rising and serving up dinner on the tailgate.

Peaceful campsite

The next day we wandered around a nearby ghost town. This horse wandered up as we were poking around.

He was very friendly, so there must be SOMEone that lives somewhat nearby that takes care of him?

Wednesday night - motley crew of a softball team.

Went for a sunset sail on a friend's boat on the Columbia on Thursday night - perfect evening weather.

Pretty moon rising.