Seeing Papa & Uncle Joe

We had a great time seeing Papa for Father's Day. Matt brought Mateo to me on Saturday night and we boarded the cattle car airline (Southwest) for an 8:50PM flight to Spokane...I would have imagined that Mateo would sleep because it was so late, but he was way to in to seeing all the things and watching all the people!

He finally crashed about 11:15 when we were in the car headed to my Dad's house. We arrived shortly after midnight and just fell into bed. A strange thing happened, Mateo woke up when the sun came up (his room at home has black out shades on it)...which was just about 5AM. Man, I wish I could function on as little sleep as that kid does!!

We got dressed for church and got to see Uncle Joe who was home for 3 weeks from Westpoint. He finished his first year with a 2.5 (not too shabby when you figure the average high school GPA of the kids who goes there was like a 3.75)!! This summer he is doing advance field training (which is really war games in the woods)...but he is really excited about it. And freak, small town thing...Kyle Payne (another kid from Joe's class who is going to school at the University of Idaho and is ROTC there) is one of only 32 kids in the whole country to gets to go do that training, so Joe will have a local face to see for the summer time.

We went to mass at St. Mary's in St. Maries...and then Joe & I went to the local grocery store to buy stuff to make Dad a Father's Day meal. Joe bbq'd some pork ribs and I made all the other fixin's. It was nice to be together.

On Monday, Joe & Dad got up at the crack of dawn & went fishing...didn't catch anything but said they had a good time. When they got back, Dad & Joe played some catch with Mateo...he had a great time chasing the ball around.


Dad wanted a three generation of LaPlante's picture...which Mateo sat still for. He's wearing camo in honor of Uncle Joe...and the Mountain View Construction hat that Papa sent.

We finished up our visit by watching Bug's Life...and Mateo and Papa enjoyed some popcorn. When their bowl was finished, Mateo came and took some out of my bag to give to Papa...man, it's nice to have a kid with manners!!

Monday night we stayed with Marnie's parents, Bill & Karen Basom, in Spokane so we wouldn't have to get up so early on Tuesday to catch the flight home. We were home by nap time on Tuesday afternoon...and the best part of vacation was still having 5 more days before I had to go back to work.

Not that I haven't been busy, yesterday, I made 64 half-pints of jam: strawberry rhubarb, strawberry, and triple berry (strawberry, black berry, blueberry mixed). It was a blast!! Let me know if you need some!

Hope all is well with you all...hugs from Oregon, Sarah

Boise Book Club Babes "Do" Portland & the Gorge

Every June, my book club comes to visit me in Oregon...for those of you who don't know, we have been together for more than five years, and I make monthly treks to Boise to hang out with them still...each year we do something different---the first year we explored Silverton area, the next year we went to the beach, last year we did area vineyards, and this year we focused on the Gorge & seeing some of Portland.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Tigard (near Washington Square Mall)...because they were supposed to have a room that slept 6 adults comfortably (and for which we paid a high premium rate)...well, let me just have a momentary tirade about what a ridiculous situation that was...it had 2 double beds, and a pull out couch whose cushion was barely 2 inches wide...we didn't have pillows or blankets for the couch and when we called to get some we were told to just take them off our beds...nor did we have enough towels/washcloths for all of us...not to mention running out of TP on the 2nd morning!

But all that said, the beauty of book club, is it doesn't matter the circumstances, we just all have a blast!!
On Friday morning, we headed out to Multonomah Falls...which has a gorgeous waterfall which we really enjoyed! Forgive the sideways pictures...Matt usually does the picture manipulation for me...but he's busy working on projects!!

Then we shopped, shopped, shopped at the outlets in Troutdale...we all found some good stuff...and are beginning to prepare seriously for our Tuscany Trip in June 2008.

Friday night we ate at Cafe Castagna on Hawthorne in Portland...we have a tradition of ordering lots of stuff and sharing it...which was lovely at this Italian bistro...it was fabulous food and they took reservations which was a plus on a Friday night!

Marnie had been to a fabulous place for Spanish Coffee (a afterdinner treat with lots of alcohol and quite a show to make it. We went to Higgin's first on our waitresses recommendation but ended up at Huebers where this guy made some for everyone (except me-I was DD)...yes, that is really him pouring Kahula over his head into a mug. When we asked him how many he had made, he said, "In 17 years, I'd say about 350,000 or so!!"

Saturday morning we headed to La Provence Bistro in Lake Oswego...it is a favorite of ours for breakfast/brunch...the surprise was I had arranged with my work friend Barb Jensen to bring local author Maryanne Radmacher to meet us so she could discuss her new book, "Lean Forward into Your Life" which is my selection for book club in the next rotation. We had a simply fabulous time and before we knew it more than 3 hours had gone by!
This is the crew...from left to right: Kristi (Medical School & fellow vacationer), Marnie (Mom to Cole & Ellie & the friend I usually stay with in Boise), me, Patty (who all our kids call Patty-cakes), Barb Jensen (my colleague & friend also known as Aunt Mimi to Mateo), Maryanne (squatting in front...we loved the pig tails!!), Teresa (who is orginally from Glide, OR) and Natalie (who got to be here in person this year--we had to hold a photo of her last year when we took this picture).

The best part is we have decided on a location for our Tuscany Trip...from June 14-21, 2008, we will be in a villa in Greve (about 1 hour south of Florence) in the Chianti region. We Millers will likely add on 2-3 weeks before...just for some fun! I mean if you are going to take a 2 1/2 year old on a 20+ hour plane trip...you might as well spend several weeks over there before coming home.

The girls all flew home on Saturday night...and Mateo and I flew to Spokane to see my dad for Father's Day...those pictures are in the next one!

Lots of Firsts

We are back from vacation and we had a blast!!


We arrived in Seattle late on Friday night and hung out with Melissa & Ryan for a couple of days. Melissa and I ALWAYS go to Pike's Place for Crumpets (it is part of our right of passage), and this time we enjoyed it--but the crumpet recipe appears to have changed. We also enjoyed a nice dinner with Greg Price & Sabina Holland. Greg is the VP for Coffee Innovation (read that to mean he gets to oversee putting coffee in new and different products) at Starbucks...and an old frat buddy of Matt's...so there is always much laughing when they get together.

On Sunday, Matt's niece Tegan's graduated from Seattle University, and Mateo was on his best behavior (even better than Mom who froze at Qwest field for 3 hours). We celebrated by indulging in DimSum at a local place--where we ate lots of things that we didn't know the names of.

We drove that afternoon to Discovery Bay (between Port Townsend and Port Angeles on the Olympic Pensinula in WA). Mateo got to stay in his first condo (we have a Trendwest/WorldMark membership), with our good friends Dan & Kristi Rose. Monday morning, we were on a ferry to Victoria, BC...no pictures of me, because I was hanging my head trying not to vomit!! Can we say zero to sea-sick in less than 5 minutes?

We stayed at a condo right on the waterfront in Victoria...and got to see all the sights, including Buchart Gardens and Minature World. Our condo had a private hot tub so the adults spent many late nights in the warm water consuming adult beverages. It was a great time to relax and hang out with some good friends.

Mateo swam in a pool for the first time...of course we picked the coldest, windiest day to do it. Mateo didn't know quite what to think...it appeared to us like he was just happy to be hanging out with Mom & Dad...the water didn't phase him at all.
This is all of us in the ferry line in Victoria waiting to head back to the US. God Bless US Immigration which made us get in line 90 minutes before the ferry and not leave...the van which we borrowed from MamaNona was filled to the gills with stuff, so we were happy to be able to stand outside for a bit.

Thursday afternoon, we dropped Dan off at the Bainbridge Island Ferry so he could head back to Seattle to catch a plane home. Kristi made the trek with us back to Oregon so we could enjoy the next part of vacation...stay tuned.

Vacation here we come...

It is 48 hours and counting until we are officially on vacation. We are leaving on Friday night for Seattle, where our niece Tegan will graduate from Seattle University on Sunday at one of the stadiums. We'll be staying with Melissa (& her two 'boys' (puppies) Bailey & Jack) and visiting Matt's friends Greg & Sabina.

Then we rendezvous with our friends Dan & Kristi and are off to Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula for a night at Discovery Bay. We'll hop a ferry early in the morning on Monday for Vancouver Island where we will spend 3 nights in Victoria near the waterfront. Matt has, of course, created a jammed packed agenda of odd things to see & do in Victoria so it promises to be fun.

Thursday, we will take the ferry back & head home. We pass off Dan to his sister-in-law on Thursday afternoon then we travel south with Kristi. The Miller boys will head home to Silverton while Kristi & I pick up the rest of the Boise Book Club Babes who will be arriving in Portland on Thursday night.

For those of you who keep track of book club adventures, this year's theme is Portland & the Gorge (we've done Silverton, the beach, and the vineyards in previous trips). We're staying in a hotel near Washington Square Mall, and having Saturday brunch at our favorite place: La Provence Restaurant in Lake Oswego. There's some R&R planned for Saturday afternoon.

Then Matt will bring Mateo to me, and the book club girls and I are headed to the airport...they all go home, and we are off to Spokane to see Papa for Father's Day. Matt assures me that every day is Father's Day for him, so it is really a present for him to have 2.5 days without the baby! We are looking forward to loving on Papa and seeing Uncle Joe who is home on a small break from West Point.

We're back home on the 19th, and I was smart enough to schedule three days off to recover from my vacation!

We'll post lots of pictures, I promise. In the meantime, hugs from Oregon...vacation is looking oh, so sweet.

Love, Sarah

Papa's visit

So, I can't believe it has been a week since Papa came for a visit. We had such a good time. Papa and Matt went to Mateo's daycare to pick him up on Friday and Papa reported that Mateo came running to him and gave him a hug...in standard Papa-speak, Dad said, "Made the price of the plane ticket worth it..."

Friday night, MamaNona and Pamela cooked up a mean lamb dinner which they feasted upon. It is good to see MamaNona returning to her old self more and more each day. My dad left stuffed...something that any Italian would be proud of.

On Saturday, my favorite men were slaving away, making some stairs between the upper and lower driveways. They got the stairs all built, and as I type this, Matt is out finishing the railing. Yeah!! The project that would never end, appears close to ending.

Saturday evening we had our friends the Kelleys and the Murphys over for a BBQ with Papa. Mateo loves the Murphy boys...and they teach him to do things that stress out his parents! And Mateo is very fond of babies right now...he just loved everything about Eloise Kelley. And Uncle Josiah loves to bounce Mateo on his leg...which causes Mateo to shriek with laughter. See above pictures for proof!!

We finally gave in to keep up with the Jones with the purchase of a Traeger BBQ. Made in the Mt. Angel/Silverton area, these BBQs use wood pellets, and are a bit pricey...but man, oh man, I have never ever had something that wasn't GREAT cooked on one of them. It will be a great addition to our front deck!

We have a big June coming up...our niece Tegan graduates from Seattle University on the 2nd weekend of June. Our friends Dan & Kristi Rose are coming for vacation in the Olympic peninsula and Victoria Island, BC. Then Book Club comes for a weekend of exploring the joys of the city of Portland. That Saturday night, the girls will go home and Mateo and I are off to spend Father's Day with Papa in North Idaho. Then we should be home for a bit. Whew!!

All our love from Oregon!! Sarah