Pearly Whites...or pinks!

Dustin's sister, Ashley, is a dental assistant and always has "supplies" in her purse. She was up in Portland over the weekend for a training class and we decided to use one of the pink tablets that they give to kids to show them where they still have plaque and need to brush better. Granted, we didn't actually brush before we used these and had just eaten a FEASTY dinner at Red Robin, but still....we thought these would be fun. Ash, we had fun with you and would love for you to be in Portland more to hang out with! =)

Gorgeous Fall Weather

We have been having some great weather over the past 5 or 6 days so we decided to ENJOY it. Dustin and I rented a kayak and took it out on the Tualatin River on Sunday afternoon after church. It was beautiful! These are just a few photos....so much fun. We may even think about buying our own kayak so we can do this WHENEVER we want.

Grayson Alan Butler

Grayson is already 6 1/2 weeks old, so this post is overdue! My great friends Kristen and Matt, whom I've known for about 17 years have the cutest little son, Grayson. I got to meet him when I went back to Colorado a week or so ago. He is just so darn cute and apparently is growing so fast. I can't wait to see him again when we go back over Christmas...and I know Dustin is excited to meet him as well. Congrats again, Matt and Kristen!

Coach Erinn...

Erinn is a good volleyball player and also a good influence on young people so she decided to put those two talents together and begin coaching a middle school volleyball team. I went to their game on Monday night...here are the two pictures I snuck of her in action...She looks pretty official out there!

Wild at Heart

Yesterday, while everyone else was either out of town or at work, I got to spend the whole day with my big brother, Josh. I can't even tell you the last time I spent this much time with JUST my brother - it was a lot of fun. We borrowed his pastor's jeep to go 4-wheeling up in the mountains. It's been one of their favorite things to do recently and Josh wanted me to get to experience it. I figured we'd spend the day in front of the TV while he played video games on his day off, but he actually had this all planned and coordinated already. Way to go, Josh! Here are a few pictures from our trip, but I don't think they do the trails justice! It was about a 2 hour drive up to the resevoir and then we got out and walked around it for a little bit. It was another 2 hour drive down...and Bazi got a little tired. All that jostling around in the car wore her out.

Another Dog Post

Erinn is in Colorado this weekend and I am at my parents house in Junction City. Like her, I have been spending some time with the Dogs, mostly Riley... I guess you would call her my sister dog since she's my parent's dog...actually someday I think my parents have a secret plan to send her to Portalnd with us and not let her come back. We went to the beach today since I did not have to work. Here are a few pictures...


She loved playing fetch with tthat ball...
Posing for the camera...I guess this was her first trip to the ocean ever.


Unlike Savannah, Erinn's parent's dog, Riley would bring the ball back to me...actually she would NOT STOP bringing the ball back to me. I must have thrown the thing hundreds of time in the hour or so that we were there. How can that not get old for her??? I started to wish she would take it to the corner and leave it there.

Come on...please throw it again!

That is as still as I could get Riley without someone to snap the photo for me...self timer.

Last picture...I drew that in the sand, not Riley!

Another kind of rock...

I have been thinking a lot about rocks lately and actually even watched the movie The Rock the other day. Anyhow I just ran across this picture of Erinn and I in front of the rock (alcatraz)...Thought it was a pretty cool one even if it was from a while back.

Tails of Savannah and Bazi

Ok, so I was trying to be a little bit funny and I intentionally mispelled "Tales" in my title because Savannah and Bazi are dogs! =) Savannah is my parents' dog and Bazi is my neice-dog (brother and sister-in-law's dog). I am spending a long weekend with my family in Colorado and this is the first of what will probably be several posts about my trip...lots of things to cover when I haven't been here for almost a year! But, as the time goes on, I am loving these doggies more and more...and have recently been wishing more and more that I had one of my own! If you know me at all, you know this is a BIG STEP because I have not always been a dog-lover. At any rate, these are just a few photos of these funny dogs. I love them enough to give them their very own blog post. Enjoy!

She is a mini-bear....mom and dad feed her good, I guess. Plus, she has about 2 inches of hair around her whole body that add some extra "weight." Who knows, maybe it's true for dogs too that the camera adds 10 pounds?
Savannah hasn't really learned the whole "fetch the ball and BRING IT BACK to me" game yet. I would throw it to her and then she would take it to her corner in the backyard and play with it and not bring it back to me. Silly dog!
She has a few tricks under her belt. Here I had a treat in my hand, so I asked her to "sit" and then "shake." Good dog, Savannah!

Oh Bazi...why are your ears pulled back? You LOVE your aunt Erinn!
I was trying to take a nice photo with her and she decided to stick that skinny little tongue in my ears and nose....she likes to do that for some reason. But I turned my head and then so did she.
Sitting on the couch with the neice-dog, drinking some wine, and hanging out with the bro and sis-in-law! The day was good.

Josh loves his dog...and boy, does she love him! She just stood there to take it all in.

Oregon Classic

Today was a long day of work...on my feet for about 8 hours straight. Sold a ton of NIKE gear at the Pro Am for the Nationwide Oregon Classic. Here are a couple of pictures from the day...It was a zoo out there, this is actually the calm after the storm...

Sunset on the Hills

So I was on my way down to JC tonight to get ready for the Golf Tournament tomorrow and had the chance to see another great sunset and I know how much Erinn likes these...therefore it goes up on the blog...

Oregon Classic

I am heading to my childhood golf course to work the Nationwide Oregon Classic golf tournament tomorrow. It is a pretty big tournament where the winner gets like $90,000, not much when compared to what Tiger gets for winning a tournament but it is the minor leagues of the PGA. Anyhow they transform the golf course for the week. Little old Shadow Hills has grand stands and all kinds of people running around. It is a pretty cool thing. I may try to take a picture or two!

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http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/h068/

Where does our honey come from?

Here is a verse that stood out to me on Saturday during my reading and journaling time with the Lord...

"But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." Psalm 81:16

He wants to give us the FINEST and he WILL satisfy us. This is pretty awesome! He is our rock. What HE gives us is the FINEST, it will not leave us unsatisfied.

Dustin

Northwest Chocolate Festival

I wish I loved chocolate more than I do because there was so much good chocolate on Saturday night. Six of us girls - me, Karah, Lisa, Elise, Melinda, and Stephanie - went to the festival! Check out the site...even though it's over!

http://www.nwchocolatefestival.com/

Reminders from God

On Saturday, I (Erinn) drove out to Cannon Beach to spend the day at the coast by myself with God. The beach is a great reminder of all the beauty God has given us to enjoy and it also reminds me of how AWESOME our God is. So, I drove out there and did my morning bible study with these views in front of me - can't beat this! I wish I had these views every morning during my reading time. I read some great scripture and also a few chapters from my latest book, Captivating, but I was also reminded of two great stories – “Footprints in the Sand” and “Build your life on the ROCK, not on the sand.”


God loves to give us reminders in life and these were the two that came to mind during my day at the beach. I took some pictures to keep those reminders present, but I also took a rock back home with me from the beach that is sitting on my bed stand, reminding me that God is the ROCK in my life!

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD. When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it: "LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."

The Lord replied: "My son, my precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

Another thing that Erinn Loves...