Welcome Fall!

Ok, so I really hate when summer leaves, but Oregon fall is so beautiful that it's hard to complain sometimes. The leaves haven't started changing much yet but the air is crisper and it's time for fall food! YUM! 

We decided to start off fall with cleaning our carpets. We don't wear shoes in the house so I don't know how it gets so dirty but it does I guess. We had Matt come over and help us move all of our furniture out of our living room into the kitchen which surprisingly enough is actually possible. They look A LOT better.

While Erik cleaned the carpets I decided I was hungry and went in the kitchen (climbing over living room furniture) and made macaroni and cheese. Obviously I really wanted it to climb over everything to make it. Haha. I had a picture of me doing that but it won't upload for some reason. 

Time for fall deliciousness which means pumpkin in a lot of different things right? Our go to fall treat is pumpkin chocolate chip cookies which come this time of year we are craving so badly because we haven't had them since last year. These were so delicious, there is just something about a really good spice cookie. Our friend Krista also made us ginger snaps last night so we are totally in fall cookie mode. 

Erik's buddy at work went Clamming a few days ago and brought Erik back a whole bunch of beautiful fresh clams. Erik promised that if he brought him some he would make "Cram"-chowder for his lab at work. He made it the night before and OBVIOUSLY we had to taste it to make sure it didn't kill anyone right? It was SO delicious. Everyone at the lab loved it it was a HUGE hit. Erik knows what he's doing with this soup he has the recipe down pat. This is a frequent meal at our house in the fall/winter. That and "Cram" of Broccoli soup. (That was Erik's play on words, not mine, but I liked it so I had to share) 

I think over this next week I'm going to work on decorating our house for Halloween! A couple years ago we decorated WAY too early and by the time Halloween was here we were sick of it but I think the beginning of October isn't too quick is it? This year is going by so fast I swear it was just Christmas and now it's Halloween again! I will post pictures of our cute decorations. 

Visit from the In-laws

     This week we had Erik's Mom Julie and his Step-dad Doyle here for a visit. We had lots of fun but I failed miserably at taking pictures on a daily basis. Oops. 
     They flew in on Saturday and I had to work unfortunately but Erik drove up to pick them up from the airport and they spent the morning at the Farmers Market up in Portland. Portland has this awesome market with street performers and arts and crafts and food that is just a fun thing to experience. That night after I got off work we went to El Sol which is a local Mexican restaurant. It was really good I always love good Mexican. 
     Sunday we just relaxed. We went to church and came home, napped, and watched TV, and Erik used his famous BBQ skills to make us delicious BBQ chicken. Let me tell you ladies out there who don't have a grill. BEST INVENTION EVER. It makes your food taste delicious, in the summer you don't have to turn on the oven to heat up your house, AND all of the mess is sent outside with your husband and your clean up is SO much easier. I like that Erik is a good griller because I can just send the meat out the door with him and I know it will be delicious! 
     Unfortunately while they were visiting Erik and I still had to work our normal amount so Monday we were back at it but were both off by 5. We decided to take them up to Peavy Arboretum which has beautiful trails through the Oregon forests. It really is beautiful just so green and the air is so fresh out there. Once we got tired there we took them to a local favorite called Block 15 which is kind of a pub-like atmosphere with burgers, sandwiches, pastas and best of all, beer battered fries. This is probably the number one reason why I like to go there. Their fries are just so so so good. After eating ourselves sick we settled in for a night of relaxing. 
     Tuesday we went with our friends the Butlers to go apple picking after work. Our friend Kenyon knows where there are free apples we can pick and he has a cider press that we can make cider out of which is so delicious! After apple picking we ate dinner with them and just enjoyed our evening. It was fun to show the in-laws what our every day lives are like here, have them meet our friends, and participate in what Oregon has to offer. I felt really bad I left my phone at home because I really wanted to take pictures for the Blog. Oh well.
     Wednesday is my day off so we took the day and went out to the ocean. Now I have some pictures. 

Erik and I with the Ocean in the background

Erik and Doyle down by the tide pools looking for Starfish. Last time we came down here there were lots of starfish but we didn't get out there until a little bit later and the good tide pools were covered as the tide was coming in but we did find one. 

I think it might have been dead...

These waves crashing in were awesome. Some of this spray went up so high it was incredible. It makes you really appreciate the power of the ocean. That water coming in and crashing on the rocks could kill someone. Being by the ocean makes me feel very tiny and like I might die. 

I didn't get a good picture but that spray would go up three times that high sometimes just huge waves. 

I love this picture of my cute hubby loving the ocean waves but I wish it wasn't so dark. He really is a pirate at heart he just loves the ocean. He'll poke all the icky sea junk that I won't go anywhere near. 

After exploring all we could we came up to the Bay front in Newport to eat. These Sea Lions are almost always there just tons and tons of them and they're so close up. They're so funny they get so upset when another sea lion comes up and wants to get on that dock with them and gets them all wet when they're trying to sleep. We had yummy fish and chowder at Mo's and then went home for the night. 

Thursday we took them up to a nearby park where we like to go BBQ sometimes and grilled turkey burgers and toasted marshmallows on charcoals up there. The weather here has been awesome we try to get out as much as we can before the rain starts. 

Friday I had to work late but Erik took the in-laws hiking for one last look around Corvallis then Erik drove them back up to the airport yesterday to head back home. We had a really fun week full of fun! We love visitors. Who's next? 

Weekend BBQ and In-law prep

SO on Sunday we had a BBQ for our friend Krista's B-day. It was a S'mores theme party and we had a little fire and roasted Brats and marshmallows over the fire. It was so delicious! There is just something perfect about sitting around a campfire chatting and enjoying each other's company. I for one ate WAY too much food but it was all so good I couldn't help myself.

Delicious S'more I made. I am quite the queen of S'more making I feel like I'm really good at making them really nice and toasty on the outside and gooey on the inside...yum yum!

Awesome Fire. This thing got so toasty and warm by the end of the night when it started cooling down it was hot enough to keep us warm. So much fun!

On another note, Erik's Mom and Stepdad are coming in on Saturday to spend next week so I will be sure to document our fun times with them here. The next few days for me are going to be cleaning! I don't know about you guys, but when I know people are coming, my house kind of becomes a disaster because I think to myself "I really need to clean the bathroom..." But then I think "If I clean it now I'm just going to have to clean it again in a few days for company so I'll just wait until then." Makes sense right? Except now my house is twice as dirty as if I would have done it a week ago and then just had to touch it up before the in-laws came...sigh...it sounded more logical in my head. Oh well. We are excited for fun times when they get here!