The birth of Riley Jo

At around 9 A.M. on Saturday, October 9th, we received a message informing us that Stephanie was going into labor. Scotty and Kelsi had arrived earlier in the morning at our house around 3:30 A.M. We were all super excited and anxious to meet Riley. We took our time getting things ready, and then headed up to Vancouver, where we arrived at the hospital at about 2 P.M. I knew Stephanie was going to start pushing around then, so we had no idea how quickly or slowly this process was going to take. The four of us met up with Stephanie's dad, her sisters, and a couple friends in a waiting room outside the delivery room. We were representing the Ducks, while the rest of the crew was cheering on the Cougars. By watching the game, we were able to kill time and stay relaxed. Shortly after, we heard a baby cry, and the nurses coming in and out the room. We got confirmation from a nurse that Riley had been born. When Eric was able to leave the room, he came out to greet us all. It was the most incredible experience to see Eric and hear him say, "She is perfect!" He is an incredible Dad and so proud of his incredible wife for how well she handled the labor and delivery. Once we had a chance to go into the room, we saw first-hand how perfect Riley really was. The four of us spent as much time as we could in the room with everyone, and I am so happy we were all able to be a part of this incredible day. Also, it is incredible that Scotty and Kelsi were down that weekend for the birth as well. We all are looking forward to spending an enormous amount of time with Riley Jo, and watching her grow up. She is beautiful and she is blessed to have such incredible parents.

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Carrie Underwood Concert

Some pictures from the Carrie Underwood concert. Lindsey, Amber, and I had an incredible time watching and singing along with Carrie from the floor in the 16 row. We were so close!!

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Posting entire albums!

While messing around on Shutterfly, I figured out how to post entire albums directly to our blog! Exciting, right?!

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It's been a while...

Hello! I apologize I have been so bad about posting. Since my last post, we finished up another school year, completed our summer vacation, are back into the swing of another school year, and Stephanie is getting close to having baby Riley Jo. This fall has served us well so far with quality time as a couple, along with our families. The opened the Duck football season off in Eugene together with friends as well as a full Autzen Stadium. Fortunately, the Ducks kicked butt against New Mexico and tied the school record with a 72-0 victory!


At the Oregon football game.


Beautiful Stephanie, who is now 36 weeks along!

The following week we headed up to Aberdeen, where we watched the Bobcats play a little football. We were also able to see Scotty's school and classroom. We then drove down to Vancouver where we cheered on Skyview to a close victory over Coeur d'Alene. Unfortunately, we had to call it an early night because we had a very early morning. Yesterday morning we woke up and drove to downtown Portland where we prepared to run in our first road race, the Pint to Pasta 10k. Scotty joined us in the 6.2 mile journey through Portland. Although it seemed like a terrible idea while we were running, we finished the race and are very proud of ourselves for finishing.


Eric and Stephanie after the 36-34 Skyview victory.


After our 6.2 mile run!

Baby girl in Stephanie's belly!

Yesterday, Stephanie and Eric headed to the doctor to hear whether they are having a girl or boy. Of course, we were all waiting on pins and needles, but we FINALLY heard the news. Eric and Stephanie are having a baby girl!!!!!!!!! We are so excited and Eric said the doctor commented on how large her lips were! I guess she did not have much of a chance to not have Eric's lips. Riley Jo is due on October 10th and we are very excited. Congratulations Eric and Stephanie. :)

Garren's 2nd birthday

We had a free weekend and we decided to make a surprise trip down to Yuba City, CA to visit Mandy, AJ, Garren, Linda, and Dennis. We thought we could make it down there in a solid eight hours, and then sneak into the house without a sound. Unfortunately, Avery and Aspen, their two yellow labs, heard us and could smell Jesi. Our surprise was blown, but at least we were there for Garren's birthday on Saturday! We made the trek in our new car, which was really nice for Jesi in the back. However, the following day, we offered to pick up the food for the party, which was Mexican from a neighboring town. When we arrived back into Yuba City at another restaurant to pick up some salsa, we noticed the disaster we had in the back seat. Not only had the container of beans opened, but it has spilt EVERY WHERE! Why would packaging of refined beans be safe with only tin foil as a "lid". Needless to say, we had quite the mess to clean up once back to the house. We survived and thank goodness there is not a single sign of beans in the car. We got everything set up and people began to arrive. It was adorable to see Garren with the other kiddos. Here are some pictures that highlight the day.


Linda and the birthday boy playing in the jump house.

Buddy and Garren playing with his new bubble machine.

Garren taking a break from his birthday celebration.

Here are the three dogs, Jesi, Aspen, and Avery.

The two of us enjoying the beautiful sunshine.

Here is Garren when everyone was singing him Happy Birthday. So cute!

Garren eating his Elmo birthday cupcake.

He got his first Giants hat and baseball glove from us.

Garren watching his DVD player to mellow down for the night.

Mountain Biking in McDonald Forest

Buddy bought a great mountain bike last spring and has continued to ride it for the past year. I have loved hearing his stories about how fun it has been, but I was still a little jealous I hadn't tried it yet. On Saturday, I borrow a friend's bike and helmet and I was ready to hit the trails with my husband and puppy. Jesi, Buddy and I loaded up the truck and took the adventure to Corvallis where we were planning on heading into McDonald Forest.
This is the two of us at the top of McDonald Forest.

At the top of the ride, there is a pond, and we had a blast throwing Jesi's buoy off the dock. Buddy has been trying to get her to be confident off the dock, so she is able to jump right into the water. She was pretty timid at first, but when other dogs came around, we couldn't stop her from jumping in!


Jesi did great and though she would ran away, she would always come right back beside one of us. After having a blast, we actually went and bought a mountain bike and helmet for me! We look forward to hitting the mountain as a family soon!