Giving Thanks

This Thanksgiving was bittersweet. Daniel and I started the day attending the Thanksgiving service at our church. That was a wonderful hour of concentrated time on praising God for the many blessings and gifts He has given us. It was also nice to take our minds off the turkey and all the sides yet to be made! But realizing the time was getting close to saying goodbyes made the day all the more special and emotional.

We hosted the dinner at our house and invited several of our friends over to share the feast. Our Navy friends, the Donathans, Daniel's school buddy, Dave, and our church friends, the Binneys, all joined us. We combined family traditions and everyone brought something they were used to having on Thanksgiving. The greatest success though was frying the turkey! Dave had a fryer and offered to do the honors. I purchased a 13 pound bird and he did the rest. It was delicious! I also roasted a turkey breast and it too was yummy. The ladies worked on everything else and other than me forgetting to let the bread dough for the rolls rise twice, everything went fairly smoothly. I have always helped out at my family's house with the Thanksgiving dinner, but it's entirely different when you are in charge of the outcome! I know everyone says it will taste good, but I didn't want to be the one taking blame for flat rolls, dry turkey or a burned pie! Thankfully, none of that happened and we finally sat down to eat around 3pm. Daniel was the official turkey carver and with two birds and a ham, we actually made quite a dent in all the food. Afterwards, I made sure everyone took home leftovers -- I didn't want to be left eating leftovers for weeks!

As tradition goes, we all shared several things we were thankful for this year. Even 3 year old Dorothy contributed! And what better than finishing the dishes and plopping down on the couch to watch some football...except for the part where the Aggies miserably lost.

Fall Fun

This fall seems to have flown by! Surprised? Daniel has spent most of the fall going to class and preparing the paper and presentation for the major project he worked on this summer. I have stayed busy leading a women's Beth Moore study on Monday nights, babysitting, and maximizing time with friends.

We managed to go to every home football game -- GO BEAVS!! This meant that we were able to get tickets to the much anticipated Civil War game. I never thought of myself as much of a football fan, but it sure has been fun getting dressed in our orange and black and revving up our Beaver spirit!

Another highlight for me this fall was a visit with my dear friend Hayley. We have been friends since I first moved to Virginia Beach. She and her family now live in Naples, FL, and her husband generously offered to keep their three girls while she came out for a long weekend of "girl time." We would sleep in and then head out for the day. I was anxious to show her everything around here. We went to the coast one day and had lunch in Depot Bay. It was actually quite sunny that day, but there was this wierd haze and the waves were huge. I was hoping to spot some whales, but we never saw any.

Since the weather was so gorgeous that weekend, we did lots of hiking and one of our trips was up to the top of Mary's Peak. You can see this mountain from our house and it's the highest point on the Coastal Mountain range. We have been snowshoeing up there and hiked on our anniversary. This time we took a picnic lunch and the visibility was just incredible. Daniel came along and led us around the loop. We could see the Three Sisters mountains all the way in Bend (100 miles away!) because it was so clear. This was a really relaxing time and something Hayley doesn't get to do often without children. I was so glad she could come visit -- I am so blessed by her friendship.

The Grand Finale Trip

In September, we ventured out one more time in hopes to capture as much of the Northwest in our memories as possible! Daniel's parents and their friends, Tyrell and Barbara, flew out from Houston to join us. We relied entirely on public transportation -- beginning at the train station in Portland, Oregon. We travelled by train all the way to Seattle, ferry to Friday Harbor, on San Juan Island, WA, ferry to Victoria, Canada, ferry to Vancouver, Canada, and then train back stopping in Seattle and ending in Portland.


In Friday Harbor, we were able to start our trip with a little relaxation and beautiful summer weather on this quaint island. We think of the San Juan Islands as the Outer Banks of the Northwest. You can only access the islands by ferry and there are just a few main roads around the islands. We toured the island via a tour van one afternoon, but the highlight for sure was our picnic lunch where we spotted two Orca whale not too far off the shore. Daniel and I had camped here earlier in the summer and weren't so lucky -- but this time they were out playing. It must have been the sunny day!

Our next destination was Victoria, Canada. I think everyone agreed this was a favorite. We spent three night in downtown Victoria. We saw the Parliament building lit up at night, toured the famous Empress Hotel, and took a very educating bus tour around the city one afternoon. But we didn't stop there. A must see on everyone's list was the well-known Butchard Gardens. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. With the sun shining and the weather warm, we spent a couple hours touring the unique gardens. My personal favorite was the Sunken Garden -- I wanted to just grab a blanket and some lemonade and sit out here for hours. A beautiful rose garden and traditional Japanese garden were among the many others. This is definitely a recommendation for anyone travelling to Victoria.

But, we didn't stop there! On mine and Marjie's to-do list was "High Tea!" Hey, this is about as close to London as I was going to get. We found a cute little tea place for lunch one day. And...yes, the men even came along! However, they probably don't want that being made public. We had a delicious lunch of tea sandwiches and scones. I think I could get used to that way of life!


Our third destination was a night in Vancouver, Canada. And, well, no offense to those who love Vancouver, but it was a unanimous least favorite vote here! From the minute we stepped off the ferry and had to wait for a crowded bus for over an hour, our appreciation for this major city quickly went downhill. That day happened to be Eldon's birthday, so we made reservations at the "Top of Vancouver" rotating restaurant. The excellent meal and view did redeem our views slightly, but we were all getting very tired by this point. In light of time, we also did a bus tour here and got an overview of the city in just a few hours.


After Vancouver, we boarded the train for Seattle. We were going to stop here before heading back to Portland the next day. Daniel and I have gotten to spend a lot of time in Seattle while living out here, so it was fun to show the family around Pike's Place Market. Even though the weather is typically grey in Seattle, the city itself is very clean and unique with lots of places to run, walk, shop, eat and board a ship to head somewhere else.


Portland was the final destination all together. We have seen so much this year that it's hard to pick favorites, but this trip sure was memorable. We are so glad to have had the opportunity to see so much of the Northwest.

More Adventures in Oregon

This month we completed our tour of Oregon with a camping trip to Crater Lake and then returning up the Southern coast. Daniel's Mom, aunt, cousins and friend, came out for the trip he named "Women of the Woods" since it was 6 women and one man! Well, we atleast like to think we're that tough! We spent three nights camping at Crater Lake, which, at 1,943 feet, is the deepest lake in the United States. The weather was perfect and we had a great time hiking, driving the rim of the lake, and taking a 2 hour boat tour around the lake. Daniel and his cousin Samantha were the only brave souls to jump into the 53 degree water. They can proudly say they've jumped into a volcano now, since that is what Crater Lake originally was before it erupted and left a giant hole that has now filled with rain and snow. Personally I think this is one of the most beautiful places Oregon has to offer. Even though we roughed it camping, we all dressed up one night and had a delicious dinner at the Crater Lake Lodge. With a porch overlooking the lake and rockingchairs next to the fireplaces, this would be an ideal spot to stay another time.

A little rain came our way the morning we packed up to leave Crater Lake, but this didn't stop us too much. We packed up quickly and continued further southeast. We toured the Oregon Caves and then cut into northern California for a quick drive through the Redwood National Forest before heading back north along the Oregon coast. We saw several lighthouses and miles of beautiful rocky coastline. One of my favorite stops along the coast before heading home was the Sea Lion Caves. Not only did we see a host of sea lions playing and sleeping in these caves, but we even saw a few whales playing out in the water.

Daniel and I have now driven Highway 101 along the entire Oregon coast, and feel like we've been able to absorb as much of Oregon history, culture, and scenery as physically possible in a little over a year. We have been busy this summer with lots of visitors, but so glad our friends and family want to come out and visit us.

We have also had a ton of fun this summer hanging out with friends, especially our "little" friends. Daniel is the bicycle repairman for the neighborhood and enjoys hanging out in the

garage with our neighbor's children fixing his bikes and theirs. I usually go to the pool with them about once a week and often Daniel is able to join. This month we also kept our friend's daughter, Dorothy (3), for a weekend while they were away. After church we decided to take her and Karina (7) and Ruth (4) to the state fair in Salem. I think Daniel is reconsidering whether he wants to have little girls, because all he heard in the car was girly giggles and squeals! But we had fun!

We are about to celebrate our first anniversary on Monday and can hardly believe a year has gone by so quickly. We feel so blessed to have spent this first year in Oregon, for Daniel to go to school, and for all the new friends we've made. We have one finale trip in a couple weeks to Canada and then it will be back to the grind of school. Daniel has made great progress on his summer project and will be starting up his last term at OSU in late September. Our latest news is that Daniel got orders to go back to Virginia Beach next summer! We will be leaving Oregon in December, stopping in Texas around Christmastime, and then on to Panama City, Florida, for 6 months. Daniel will graduate from Navy dive school in July and we'll head back up the east coast to Virginia. We are so thrilled to go back there, be able to attend New Covenant again, and reconnect with friends. It will be another eventful year, but I don't think the Lutzs are capable of anything otherwise!

North By Northwest

If you are checking our blog and wondering why we haven't been posting anything lately --- it's because we've hardly been home! This summer has been exactly what was promised as far as weather and we are thoroughly enjoying it.

We started off the summer with a camping trip across Oregon (from the Columbia River Gorge to the Wallowa Mountains and Hell's Canyon) and some triathlons/duathlons. We celebrated Daniel's completion of his first full year of grad school with an "A" average AND that he passed the Professional Engineer Exam!

Over July 4th week we had a family reunion with my (Erin) side of the family. Many cousins, siblings, and my aunt came out for a week vacation in Cannon Beach, OR. Then, my youngest sister Claire stayed the rest of July to hang out with us. We have shown her a lot of the Northwest, including a short trip up to Seattle with our friends, Jeff and Sara Nickel, for Jeff and Daniel to do a bike ride from Seattle to Portland known here as the STP (~200 miles!). While the guys rode, the girls checked out sights in Seattle and set up our campsites along the way.

Daniel is taking one summer diving class and also working on a project for his degree. We still have a few more trips before the rains set in and the semester starts. Oregon is so geographically diverse...enjoy all the pictures!

San Juan Islands Trip

Over Memorial Day weekend we went camping with some friends in the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington. Our friends, the Espings, had the great idea months ago and we quickly signed up! There were five couples and we spent the first night, well four hours of it, at the Esping's in Seattle and then all rose early to catch the 6am ferry as to avoid any holiday weekend delays.

We arrived in Friday Harbor, the main harbor on San Juan, just in time for the sun to really shine. We spent the morning hiking, checking out state parks, playing frisbee and waiting long enough until we could check into our campsite. The island had a very unique island/forest feel. San Juan is the main island and about 25 miles in circumference. One day Daniel and his friend Jeff rode around the entire island. I got to ride around a few times as well, but the hills just about killed me on the last ride!

Our campsite was perfect, set right next to a lake. We had brought most of our food and enjoyed creatively cooking everything over the open fire. The other couples had all headed home by early Monday morning, but Daniel and I decided to stay and tour another island. We took the ferry over to Lopez island on Monday morning. We'd planned on just staying the morning, grabbing lunch and taking an afternoon ferry back to the mainland and driving home that night. Everyone else had the same idea! So, when we realized the ferry line was about 4 hours, we decided to stay that night on Lopez. It was awesome! We drove around the island, did some hiking, walked around the Lopez village area and by mid afternoon had checked into a local lodge (we were done with the camping at that point!) and made reservations for a sunset kayaking tour. Since it was Memorial Day we had to find some ribs and the local's choice fulfilled the need! After dinner we set out on a 2 hour sunset cruise. It was so quiet on the island, since the holiday weekend was over, and we had the tour guide to ourselves. We saw some harbor seals and lots of birds. The sunset was just incredible!

We feel so privileged to be able to explore the Pacific Northwest while we're out here. Daniel has one week and some finals left before the summer begins. We are taking a camping trip/vacation in mid-June in between semesters and to do a couple triathlons. We'll be exploring a little more of Eastern Oregon on that trip. Stay tuned!