Al Amir family dinner

It's a boy! We found out today that my sister-in-law Sonia and brother Ken are having a baby boy this October! We celebrating by meeting for dinner at Al Amir ~ a Lebanese restaurant in Portland. My aunt Susan, sister Janice, Parents and Portland family are all in town for Dana's baby shower tomorrow.

Al Amir are supporters of St. Jude and are family friends of Sonia. It was fun to talk shop with Joseph and Lydia and enjoy a great meal with family.

A few Middle Eastern appetizers.

Belly dancers came to our table....

and Ken was pulled up to join in!

And then Janice and I made fools of ourselves. Arabic dancers we are not.

It's good to be back in Oregon. I'm looking forward to a fun filled long weekend.

Dana and family visit!

My little sister Dana and husband Nick are going on a "babymoon" on a cruise to Mexico with Nick's parents and friends. We met for a Mexican dinner in Foothill Ranch before they set sail tomorrow.

Dana's sweet mother-in-law Julie and My mom. Julie (Julianne) is who my future niece, Elle Julianne is named after. She is going to be so spoiled by her Grammie Julie and Nana Oregon (my mom).

Mama

Big sister and little sister. (Oh, new flat iron, how I love how you flatten my fro-like locks!)

The three sisters

With our dad

Dana Lynne ~ due mid June 2010.

Family Ties....

My family and Tommy spent the day relaxing at Janice and Mark's house in Ladera. Football, food, cards, naps...

Jake knows how to make himself comfortable...

Nick, Dana and baby Mayo in front of the fire.

Mayo thinks that she is a baby and loves to be held just like one!

Can you tell how thrilled Mark is to have his photo taken?

Janice and Mark

A glass of vino at the end of the night. I love my papa!

Tommy flies home to Memphis tomorrow, Dana and Nick are headed back to Portland and my mom, dad and Jake will drive back to Borrego.

It's been a great 10 days and I'm feeling sad that life returns back to normal on Monday. I'm grateful for all of the fun times and memories made over Christmas and New Years. I am so blessed!

One last day in the Northwest

I had to get out of bed this morning. And let me tell you if I could have I would have stayed in bed a wee bit longer. My toes hurt. My nose hurt. And everything in between. Olivia brought me Advil to my bedside and that is never a good sign.

Tirza was busy in the kitchen making homemade from scratch waffles with oatmeal and do-it-yourself wheat and fresh strawberries from the garden. Far superior to my frozen Eggo's. She's domestic like that.

We headed out to Mt. Angel to pick strawberries. The above picture is the Mt. Angel Monastery. Monks chant several times a day.

Hand picked strawberries are 75 cents a pound.

You're looney if you think I was squatting down to hunt for berries. Olivia and Tirza enjoyed themselves and I took it all in behind my camera lens.

Olivia and her new hardware ~ braces! She's on her way to an even more gorgeous smile!

Tirza will freeze the berries and then can them. She cans. I don't can.

Our next stop was the Oregon Garden Resort. It is beautiful and I have to find a reason to stay there on my next trip up North.

Inside the lodge.

Shane and the girls came home from their Central Oregon weekend just after we arrived. I loaded up Mira and Annah with outfits for their American Girl Dolls and cheerleader outfits and pompoms for Halloween. Shopping for girls is my favorite!

Go! Fight! Win!

Annah Pearl!

The night rounded out with meeting up with Dana and riding back to Portland. We joined her hubby Nick and our brother Ken to watch the Lakers Playoff at Buffalo Wild Wings. I met a guy from the LA area who ran the same half marathon yesterday. He's run 13 and confirmed that yesterday's was the hardest one yet. Now I feel a *little* better of my slacker-dacker-ding-dong achy body-ness!

A jam packed long and fun weekend. I love Oregon and get to go back next month for Sonia's shower. My future sister-in-law is having her bridal shower the same weekend as the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. So I just had to book a flight! My friend Carolyn will be coming along too. Her first trip to Oregon. I can't wait to show her my old stomping grounds and the beauty and awesomeness of the Beaver state!

Happy First Anniversary, Dana and Nick!

My little sister Dana married Nick Everett on February 23, 2008 in our hometown of Sisters, Oregon.

They have had an eventful first year of married life. They created a home together, had job promotions, added their first addition to the Everett family ~ (Curious) George, a yellow lab, traveled all over God's green earth to root for the U of O (Dana is a trader!) Ducks, and visit family and friends. They have sacrificed for each other and I'm so proud of the life that they are building with one another!

The Hughie kids ~ Janice, Ken, Dana, David and I. It meant so much to have all of my siblings together. It was the first time in Hughie history to have all of us together ~ 13. And most of my cousins were able to celebrate with us too!

The whole family

Dana was a gorgeous bride

The (freezing cold) wedding party

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, DANA and NICK!

"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-7