Andrea's Adventures

Time to celebrate!

2008-01-04T15:10:00.000-08:00

In celebration of Diane's graduation, we all went to Zepponi's Pizza for a wild night of arcade games, jukebox songs, pizza and fun!

High on Pepsi, breadsticks and jukebox music.

Wild night at the pizza parlor.

The adult table.

Look at the kid on the left checking out Erika. Ha ha!

Diane's Graduation

2008-01-04T15:01:00.000-08:00

She finally did it! My mom graduated from Weber State University with a Bachelor of Integrated Studies (emphasis in art, photography and multimedia) on December 14 after seven years of study!

Nervously waiting.

Proud children of the graduate.

Filing in with the other graduates, including great-niece Ashley in front.

Waiting to walk.

Diane's fan club.

Check out the video of Diane's walking at graduation.

Sexy Sophie

2008-01-04T14:53:00.000-08:00

I'm in love with my dog. What can I say? I needed to post some pictures of the cutie!

Gearing up to go get a Christmas tree.

Using Grandpa's foot as a head rest after a long day of play at the cabin.

Surprise Trip to Portland

2008-01-04T14:13:00.000-08:00

For Brooke's birthday I flew to Portland for the weekend to surprise her. Brooke's sister Shelley and nephew Carson also surprised her for her birthday. They arrived on Thursday. I arrived on Saturday and Marc took me downtown to surprise her while she and Shelley were shopping.

Check out a video of me surprising Brooke while she is shopping in Anthropologie. Not the best quality, but listen for the 'What the freak?' at the end.

Shelley's first trip to Voodoo Doughnuts. 'Mmm....a belly hair!'

Portland's famous (or infamous) Voodoo Doughnuts. Home to the Grape Ape, Tang-a-riffic, Voodoo doughnut (a raspberry-filled, chocolate-frosted doughnut in the shape of a voodoo doll with a stick pretzel through the heart. My personal favorite!) and many, many more. Ahhh...brings back fond memories of beggars and the smell of urine. Check them out at www.voodoodoughnut.com.

Chloe, my love.

Home Improvements

2007-11-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

We've been busy working on my house. It seems like a new project every weekend. Check out all the projects below.

My dad and Chris slaved two weekends to put my gates up. It's been a HUGE improvement!

Inside gates.

Gate on north side of house.

Dad is working on replacing the cover to my crawl space. It used to be a piece of particle board, now it's a nice trap door to match the gates. This summer we cleaned out all the garbage under the house. I thought it would all fit into a garbage can, but it ended up taking two or three truckload trips to the dump! Later Erika and I spread out plastic sheeting on the ground to keep the moisture out of the house. It's a lot nicer! Check out earlier post pictures to see all the weird stuff we found under there.

For my birthday, we installed a tile backsplash in my kitchen.

Detail of the tile.

My favorite tile. It reminds me of a petree dish.

I bought a kitchen cart and painted it to match the tile. Adds food prep space and much needed storage space.

Chris made this planter for my birthday. It rocks and the finish changes everytime it rains! Check out his employer's website by clicking here.

I changed bedrooms to the back of the house and painted the room a butter-yellow color. I still need to install crown molding, window treatments and buy a rug, but its nice to be away from the front of the house and the street. I get great views of the backyard from my bed.

I painted my existing bedside table to match my new bedding and the mirror frame my dad built for me.

Another bedroom shot.

This summer I stopped by an antique store in Helper, Utah and bought an old five-panel door to hang over my couch. The color is original and ended up working out really well.

Sophie spends her days sitting in this chair and watching out the window. The other half of the day she spends sleeping on my bed. Spoiled dog!

Sophie's Halloween Costume

2007-11-01T15:16:00.001-07:00

Sophie was a ballerina for Halloween.

Such a pretty girl!

Warming up to dance.

Sophie's doggy pirouette. We've been training for months.

Detail of the great craftsmanship that went into her dress. Ignore all the safety pins!

Halloween Party

2007-10-13T14:19:00.000-07:00

Zach and I went to a Halloween party last night as Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze from Batman and Robin. We won best costume. Mom and I stayed up 'til 1 a.m. the night before working on my outfit.

Mr. and Mrs. Gigantor

2007-05-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

Chris and Lydia got married last Friday, May 25 and are currently enjoying (we hope) their honeymoon in Southern California. Here are a few pics from the big day.

Before the I Do's.

Waiting for the bride and groom.

On the way to dinner.

At the Lion House.

The new couple.

At dinner.

My little bro.

Heading to their honeymoon.

On their way!

Decorating Chris and Lydia's car.

The finished product.

The last laugh.

The Whole Fam Damily

2007-05-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

Life is good in our family.

'Rents, Norm and Diane

Troy, Lindsay, Erika, Kate, Ethan and Abby

Eliza, Kari, Allen and Anna

My little family

Lydia and Chris

E-reek-a

Katelyn

Anna-banana

E-man

Lizard

Abby-babby

Willard Bay in May

2007-05-21T08:24:00.000-07:00

We took the boat out for the first time this season. The air was a warm mid-eighties, but the water was a chilly 70 degrees. The deepest part of Willard Bay was 12 feet and the shallowest was 1.5 feet, which we managed to find, TWICE! This was the first time Sophie has been in the boat. I think she enjoyed it and even swam a couple of times.

Sophie didn't realize the water wasn't solid and took a head dive right into the water.

Sophie trying to get the seagulls.

Sophie chilling.

Sophie and me soaking up the sun.

Sophie and her favorite, Chris.

I like this one because it looks like Sophie is laughing.

Adventures in Babysitting

2007-05-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

Kate and Ethan came over for a camping sleepover. We had foil dinners and smores, explored under the house and just monkeyed around. We camped out by the fireplace and I enlisted them in a little yard work before going for a nature walk that morning. We saw ducks, geese, birds, pelicans, frogs, turtles, fish and butterflies.

E-man looking for a treasure in the crawl space.

Katelyn forging through fallen debris.

Kate and I found several mutilated dolls under the house. Some had their faces burned off and others had scissors stuck in their hair.

Poser.

Cute Kate.

Trying to drum up some business for Dad.

Enjoying a few smores. Believe it or not, Sophie did not get one. She tried pretty hard though.

Before and After

2007-04-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

Here are some before and after pictures of my house. I didn't do the work, I just moved in when it was done, but you can get an idea of how bad the house really was. I am a little reluctant to post the 'before' pictures for fear nobody will come visit me anymore. Sorry some of the pictures aren't in the right direction. I couldn't figure out how to adjust them in this program.

Little Jammers

2007-04-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

I forgot to include this "Little Jammer" as Brooke and Marc call old people in my last blog. The old guy walked into someone's picture while we were at the Tillamook Cheese Factory and then stopped right in front of the camera. Maybe you just had to be there, but it was pretty funny. Then his wife brought them both ice cream and Marc secretly snapped their picture.

Portland a la Spring

2007-04-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

At Multnomah Falls with guide dogs Will and Chloe.

Mama guide dog and her pups.

Will Schmitt: Snake Hunter

Best buds...

Stairway to heaven.

Forging ahead.

Multnomah Falls from afar.

Um....I don't think so.

William Schmitt

Chloe Schmitt

"Say cheese"... at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

Cheese tasting. Tiny men dressed in white prepare bite-sized tastes of Tillamook Extra Sharp White Cheddar Cheese for the hundreds of visitors. Mmmm.....cheese.

Ice cream: so many flavors...

Finally decided on white licorice and marionberry pie.

A cheesy proposal.

"Did you hear what that cow said?"

Marc braving the wind, water and cold.

Delicate arch of the Oregon coast.

Walk on the ocean...

Manzanita from Makeout Point

Family pic from the Pittock Mansion.

On top of the world in Portland.

Sophie's Puppy Class Graduation

2007-04-09T09:33:00.000-07:00

Sophie chilling on her carpet at puppy class, awaiting her giant bone.