Donny's Gettin' Married!!!!!

I met Amberlee last Christmas. I liked her right away. She gave us a whole Tupperware of Chex Mix.

In July they came out to see us. We got to spend a week with the two of them. I've never seen Donny so happy and I can remember a lot of this kid's life.

While they were here, he bought a ring and told me with a wink he wouldn't be using it until September, and sure enough, September brought an engagement.

He send me this text: "Amberlee said yes."

I cried.

Donny, I finally understand how you felt on May 30, 1999.

Love ya bromide. She's a wonderful woman, you two are going to be happy!!!!

Our 11th Anniversary

Today marks the 11th anniversary of our wedding. I CAN'T BELIEVE how fast the time has gone by. I would be lying if I said that our lives have been as awesome as I hoped they would be when this picture was taken, but I would be telling the truth if I said that I love Daniel a million times more than I did the day we were married.

It's true that things haven't worked out the way we wanted. I would have bet money that by now we would have 4 or 5 kids, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. I can't believe that we ended up in Oregon of all places, and living all of a quarter mile from the Pacific Ocean, but the adventure of getting here has been more wondrous than I could have ever dreamed.

He really is my best friend. I talk to people and it seems to me that most men would rather go fishing or watch TV or play video games than hang out with their wife, but Daniel is that rare guy who doesn't like doing ANYTHING unless his wife is around. (Seriously, this is true. Once, he took his nephews on a Fathers/Sons overnight camping trip and asked me if I would sneek into camp that night and stay with him in the tent. He didn't want to go camping without me, so I did. The next morning he went through the chow line and got breakfast, which he brought to me in the tent. He then went through a second time for himself and I could hear the guy ask him "Didn't you go through once?" and Daniel said "Yeah, but that wasn't for me. I got my wife stashed in my tent." The guy laughed. I think he thought Daniel was joking.)

When I ask him what movie he wants to watch he says "Whatever you want to watch."

When I ask what he wants for dinner he says "Whatever is easiest to cook"

When some of the guys from the ward ask if he would like to go Salmon fishing he says "No thanks, I'd rather spend my Saturday with my wife."

You are a sweet man Daniel McCuen. I love you.

Summer Fun

It's only July but we've already had a pretty busy summer. After Brandon's wedding last month, Daniel's Dad came back to Lincoln City. We did all the usual stuff.

Visited the Aquarium, our year's pass has paid for its self more than twice over. Saw the star fish. And the sea pens.
Kevin swam with the piranhas. The alligator said hi. Kevin was completely unimpressed with the beautiful sunshine streaming down through the shark tank. But he cheered up a little when we went out for lunch in Depoe Bay. We bought Dad a leather jacket in Depoe Bay because he kept complaining about "the cold." Just because it's not 90, doesn't mean it's cold. We have great weather here on the Coast! Dad and Kev left on July 3rd to go home, so we went down to Siletz Bay, to play in the water. I love my man! He's so cute!

Dad and Kevin's trip was the second time we had guests this summer, but not the last. After Dad left, we had 2 weeks to get ready for Donny and Amberlee. So, I cleaned my house and got ready to do all the usual stuff all over again! ;-) I love having company though, I'm not complaining!

Ode to Crochet

If you only know one thing about me you should know this:

I Love My Husband. ;-)

But if you know TWO things about me: I also love to crochet.

It's been 14 years since I took up this little hobby. I've tried crocheting lots of different things but I seem to be best at making afghans. It has given me hours of good times, and during some of the most stressful times in my life it has literally kept me sane.

(so to speak)

I'm starting a scrapaghan. That's an afghan made out of scrap yarn from other afghan projects. For no particular reason, I wanted to post some pictures of some of the afghans I've made over the years. These are in no particular order, but my scrapaghan will be made out of yarn from pretty much all of these. If you want to see all of them, I have them all on my Facebook account.

For Harmony, back in 1998.

For my Grandma Hebdon, Christmas 2009.

For my Mom, Christmas of 1996. The first afghan I ever made.

For baby Kylee, fall of 2006.

For my nephew Bailey, fall of 2009.

For my Cousin Tabby. Summer of 2002.

On the left, for my sister Mandy, spring of 2003. On the right is a quilt made for her by my Grandma Hebdon.

For Daniel's sweet Mother, Phyllis. Christmas of 2002.

For my sister Emilee, summer of 1997.

For baby Sabrina, summer of 2009.

Second afghan for my Mom, she loves the 4th of July, made for Christmas 2009.

For my niece Gabriel, fall of 2009.

For my nephew Cannon, Christmas of 2008.

It is going to be a very colorful scrapaghan. I will post a picture of it when I am finished.

Hope everybody is having a great day!

More From Brandon's Wedding

Before we get started today, here is a picture of an adorable man: Thank You. Now let's continue with more from the wedding.

This is Shasta. She's the Bride's sister and the Matron of Honor. This was the day before the wedding when we all showed up to decorate. It was interesting. You could totally tell who was in the middle of their Pre-Wedding meltdown! (For the record, it was the Bride's Step mom)

Shasta was cutting greenery for the table centerpieces. Eric and Kathryn are fixing some of the ceiling tiles. These are the finished table decorations. And the finished banquet hall. This is the gift that Daniel and I gave to Brandon and Summer. I post a picture of it only because I have never been very good at wrapping presents. They always end up looking...abnormal. But in this case, I think I did o.k. We gave them a service for 4 of everyday plates, salad plates, bowls and glasses. This is the outdoor site of the actual wedding ceremony. It was a beautiful sunny day!This is the view of Mt. St. Helen's from the park were the wedding was. The mountain is only about 40 miles from where we were. Daniel's Uncle Bud and Aunt Joyce came up from Trail, Oregon to be part of it. Brandon and Summer got a little messy cutting the cake. And finally, they had the traditional dollar dance. Which was a huge success. Here we have Bob dancing with Summer, his new Granddaughter-in-Law, and Brandon dancing with his Mom. See, They really do love each other.
All-in-all, it was a beautiful and fun wedding! Congratulations Brandon and Summer! May you always have love in your home!

Brandon's Wedding

Our nephew Brandon was married last week to a very pretty girl named Summer. The wedding was at Lewis and Clark State Park just south of Chehalis, Washington, where they live. Here are some pictures of the event.

During the ceremony. Best Man Nick from Australia, Groom Brandon, Bride Summer and Groomsman Eric

Except for it being strapless, I loved her dress. This was about as excited as Brandon got all day. It was a very sunny and warm day for a wedding! The Cake. The Top of the Cake. The Groom's Grandpa, aka my Father-In-Law Bob. I thought he looked so cute in his suspenders and straw hat!
Groomsman and grooms brother, Eric. Grooms brother Craig. Grooms brother Kevin.Grooms Uncle and my sweetie pie, Daniel. He wore a pink tie to match my dress, which we have no pictures of because I was the photographer. I will take a picture of my dress next time I wear it and post it. Matron of Honor Shasta, Bride Summer and Bridesmaid Lacey. No matter how old he gets, Brandon will always be our little nephew! More pictures to come!