Can you believe it? Ryan is 16!

Yep, you read correctly, we celebrated Ryan's 16th birthday this month. He turned 16 on Oct.15th. He was so excited that the school decided to celebrate his birthday by having all the sophomores take a practice PSAT test...to get them ready for next year when he is suppose to take it for real. Ryan was not to thrilled about getting up and going to school early for that.

On Oct. 11th, Ryan and Andy headed to Corvallis, OR for the Beaver Football game (I gave my ticket to Ryan so he and Andy could have a "man" day). While in town, they also got together with Kevin and his girlfriend, Anne.

On the 12th we had Grandma Donna, Grandpa Paul, and Brother David (the neighbor from across the street and Ryan's good friend) for a gourmet dinner of Lamb chops, asparagus, and garlic mashed potatoes, and for dessert - birthday pie (thank you Grandma Donna for the pie, it was delicious)

On Ryan's actual birthday, the 15th, Ryan took the said PSAT, and after school had some buddies come over, eat pizza, play video games and watch movies/TV.

But the celebrations did not end there, for Ryan. Over the weekend of Oct. 18-19th, Ryan, his mom Katy, and Kevin went out for dinner and out for a movie.

I think all in all, Ryan had a pretty good birthday, but I still can't believe he is 16! Where did the time go?

Below are some pictures to remember the celebrations.

"Brother" David and Ryan

Andy, the Proud Father

Grandpa Paul and Grandma Donna

He wanted Monopoly

Rosie helping blow out candles

Selle's in September

As Rose is taking a nap, I have a little quite time to myself and thought I would post some new pictures on the blog and let you know what we did the last part of September.

Mt Angel Oktoberfest:

There is no more appropriate setting for an American version of the "Old World" Oktoberfest than in Mount Angel, Oregon. The small community was settled by German pioneers in the 1800s and readily reminds one of the rich Bavarian countryside. Oregon's oldest and best-loved Oktoberfest began in 1966 as a traditional harvest festival to celebrate the bounty of the earth and the goodness of creation. It is Oregon's largest folk festival.

On Sept. 14th, after church, the Selle's (minus Ryan) and the Spencer's headed to Mt. Angel for there annual Oktoberfest. It's something I've wanted to do for many years, and this year we did. We ate great food and listened to some great music. Andy and Chris decided that next year they would wear lederhosen.
According to Wikipedia, "Traditionally, lederhosen were worn by Germanic men of the Alpine and surrounding regions, including Austria, the highlands and mountains of Southern Germany, the German-speaking part of Italy's province of Bolzano-Bozen (formerly part of Austria until after WWI) and Switzerland . Lederhosen have remained regionally popular and are commonly associated with virility and brawn. Some men enjoy wearing them when... attending folk festivals and beer gardens; they are rarely seen elsewhere..."

That would be a sight to see Andy and Chris wearing Lederhosen...maybe next year.

Rose and I danced to the polka band, well we actually just went in circles. She LOVED it, as you can see by the smile on her face. And the Mt. Angel Oktoberfest wouldn't be complete without seeing the Glockenspiel play its song and do its little show.

The Mount Angel Community Glockenspiel, with its hand carved-figures and beautiful music plays daily at 11 a.m., 1, 4 and 7 p.m. The Glockenspiel celebrates Mount Angel’s rich history, Germanic culture and our world famous Oktoberfest.

Visiting Daisy and Baby Carter:

Wednesday, Sept. 17th, Rose and I took a road trip for the day and went to visit our friends at the beach, the Woika's. Rose and Daisy are only 4 weeks apart in age, and Daisy has a new baby brother, Carter. The weather was wet and cold, so we just hung out at the house, the girls played with play-doh, danced, played music, and did some "cooking" with the pretend food. And of course they watched an episode or two of their favorite show, Yo Gabba Gabba! You can see what all the rage about is here on the Yo Gabba Gabba website.

Daisy and Rose

Sitting on the couch eating a snack

Rose and Daisy being silly

Baby Carter

Here is a little video of the girls being silly.


Making Muffins and Tea Party with Daddy:

Rosie decided she wanted to make muffins and have a tea party when Daddy got home...so I helped her make muffins. She is a very good baker.

Rose mixing up the dough

Filling the muffin tins

See Daddy's great form, pinky finger is even up in the air

Rose and Daddy having a tea party

Princess Time:
Rose wanted to dress up in her princess skirt and wear her rubber boots one day. She had to put her boots on herself. If you look closely, her boots are on the wrong feet...but she looked really cute.