My Surprise Date!

Last night Phil called me on his way home from work.
"Jenna Im taking you on a surprise date, we'll need to leave at 7."

I LOVE SURPRISES!

We had made plans that afternoon to have family dinner but Phil said don't worry they can come too.

WE WENT TO THE CIRCUS!

Phil got coupons from work for buy-one-get-one-free.



Jenn tried to pay me $10 to get on an elephant with the babies. Sometimes the comedic sacrifice is too much.

Ruby and Lewis' first circus. We got their early and got the best seats in the house!
Jack and Beka probably had the best time.

This was also Wubby's first circus. And this is Finn our new bestfriend(Phil's engineer friend).

We might have been the only ones our age there! I looooooooove the circus!

This guy had no net or wires. He was walking upside down!

Uh-oh, runaway pony! He just didn't want to cooperate.
The poodles were my favorite! One little guy's only job was to hold the rope, how did they get him to do that?

Look Nancy, you would have been falling out of your chair laughing!

So most of the performers were from Brazil... how did they get to Corvallis?

This very tall yet skinny contortionist did some very gross things.

and then he squeezed into a very small box.

So when do you make the decision to give up on your Olympic dreams and join the circus? There were some very strong and talented performers.

During half time we got a picture with a python. I chose not to touch it. SICK!

The grand finale. Everyone loves the elephants.
Wait wait wait ok this was the grand finale. all the Brazilians came out with American flags and rose this giant one. Lewis started chanting "USA USA" he is so hilarious.

We ended the night with a cherry dipped cone from Dairy Queen, my favorite.

Have Y'all Ever Been To Mapleton?

Last weekend our friends Mike and Melissa took us to Mapleton, their hometown. If you forgot Mike is Phil's foreman at Knife River.

We stayed at "Pa's" house. We loved him!

Mike and Phil needed to test their man-hood or something.Mapleton is only a few minutes from Florence. We went back and forth for meals, we spent our first evening at the casino.
One of the main reasons we went down was for Mike to take Phil bear hunting. Mike and Pa have a lot of trophies in the house.


This was our room. The wall was covered with photos of dead animals and huge fish. There was a bear and a beaver sleeping with us. Mike crafted both that clock and the gun cabinet, he is really talented.
Pa has a great house right on the Siuslaw. His living room was all windows with an amazing view.

We had a lot of fun just chillin on the dock and fishing for Chinook.
Swimming!

Phase #1

Phase #2

Phase #3

Success!

Time to play with the camera.
My Fisherman


Empress Tree

Whitney?

Hey Whit, do you know who this is? It is Chelsea Korka. She was runner up for the "Next Pussycat Doll"... yes I watched the show, Im embarrassed. But the moment I saw your bangs it was the first thing I thought of. You look like her!

Thank You Bulgaria!

Last night Ryan threw a very nice dinner party at our house. He made very yummy Bulgarian food, recipes he brought home from the peace corp.

Jimmy is home from training

I got to watch and learn. I love it!
Ryan made us 2 dishes.

Chushki Burek

red peppers stuffed with rice, beef, tomatoes and parsley. drizzled with yogurt

Moussaka

a potato, tomato, beef casserole with a yummy yogurt eggy crust.Ryan threw a great dinner party.

The boys had guy time and I got to watch Bella so Abby could take Betsy home for bed. Uh-Oh! I either need to have a baby or steal Bella in the middle of the night!
She quickly fell asleep as did I on the couch and I didn't want to let her go. There is something so special about a baby sleeping on you!

My Dream Job

I figured it out! After 6yrs out of high school I finally figured out what I want to do. I wanted to be a pediatrician for as long as I could remember... oh and a Janet Jackson backup dancer (not so realistic, I know). I went to college to follow my dreams but then they all changed. After changing my major 5 times I decided to work full-time and marry the love of my life. But I still have no idea what I want to do, other than being a nanny and eventually a mom that is...

I want to own/manage/run a small bed & breakfast. I love hosting and serving people. But on a small scale. I want to be able to do everything, cleaning, cooking, hosting and the books. All I need is an adorable 4-6 bedroom house to start my business! Oh and $500,000. Darn, probably wont happen but at least I have a dream.

I've never even been to a bed and breakfast but I saw one on Gilmore Girls. It just made sense to me.

The Kelley/Kiker/Van Hovel/ Household

It has been fun having a big house of people! I get so much energy from others, I love it.

Lewis- He likes to eat his mac n cheese like this.

Phil- he works all day and sometimes comes home looking like this, and yes he is wearing his backpack because he also went to school looking like that. I love you babe! Thanks for being such a hard workerman!
Through out the day Lewis and Phil miss each other so much, they like to cuddle.

Saturday Phil thought it would be funny to thaw a turkey?? I guess its hilarious. So last night I had no other choice but to invite all the family over for Thanksgiving Dinner. We had all the classics: pumpkin pie, corn, green bean casserole, rolls, salad, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy. We invited Lewis and Phil's siblings. It was a blast. I wish I took more pictures.
I was sportin' my NY Giants Shirt... Kevin was playing , I had to... and Phil made me.Bem had turkey an potatoes. What a big girl!

Emma is so smart. It took Bem a minute to warm up when she first came over. She started crying when Phil held her. I asked Emma if she wanted to see the dogs, she immediately reached for me and was looking toward the window. she started making the dog sound "pooff, pooff"
She was trying her hardest to say "woof" but that dang "W". After that every time I mentioned the dogs she said "pooff"... she is very smart!
Jericho was bummed that Apple stole his bed. He is too good of a dad to kick her out.


So he got into her bed. but he is too big for it! We obviously don't love him because he is smart. Poor Jericho, he cant lay down!