June 23, 2012 was definitely that – quite a night! We departed for the coast early in the morning. It was pouring rain but the clouds parted for our arrival at the Oregon coast. We drove down through Lincoln City, Depoe Bay, Newport, Waldport, and Yachats.

We stopped at Heceta Head to see the lighthouse there.









Then we drove up to Cape Perpetua to see the amazing viewpoint there.





After a day together in the sunshine, we got to Salishan Resort where we were staying near Gleneden Beach. It was perfect – deck with rocking chairs, fireplace, pool, jacuzzi, ocean view – awesome.



We went to dinner at the fancy steakhouse they have at the resort and treated ourselves to steak, crab cakes and chocolate cake. Right after dinner, we went straight over to Gleneden Beach – Eric’s favorite beach. We walked down to the water and walked north along the beach for a few minutes before we noticed a seal in the waves right next to us! Seconds later, we noticed a spout just about 15 feet into the water – a gray whale!! It was the first time both of us had ever seen a whale that close in the wild! We followed the whale for a while until it out swam us and we had come to the spot that Eric wanted to stop.



We laid down a towel and sat down together to watch the sunset. After a little bit of time, Eric did it – he proposed! He brought out the most beautiful ring I have ever seen – absolutely perfect for us. I, of course, said YES!!! right away and gave him a big hug and kiss. We then had our mini photoshoot of the ring and us (results below) and we sat together for a while until the sun had set completely and then we walked back to the car – timing how long it took us so we could remember the exact spot.






When we got back to the resort, I was surprised to find that Eric had arranged for a local florist to come into our room and put red rose petals all over the floor and on everything – so romantic! I felt like I had walked into an amazing romance movie!



The next day we had some Pig N' Pancake for breakfast and then explored the coast a bit more and visited the beautiful Yaquina lighthouse before our last stop at Tillamook Cheese Factory for some ice cream.







It was a perfect proposal and I am beyond happy and thrilled to have found the love of my life and I am so excited for the amazing, fun, awesome, wonderful life we are going to have together!! I love him!!

I guess it is about time that I write up the story of Derek's birth. Monday afternoon last week I headed to my 37 week appointment with my doctor. He checked me and told me that he could see me having our baby within the week. Contractions began that evening, not very strong, but every 20 minutes. This continued on through the night and into Tuesday. They got gradually stronger all day and began to get closer after we put the kids to bed around 8:00pm. I continued to keep track and decided at 12midnight to head into the hospital to get checked out.

At 3 we were finally admitted and I was at 5cm. Let's just say I stayed at 5 cm until 11am when I finally began to dilate further. It felt like forever especially after not sleeping the night before. We were greeted with his presence at 12:52pm. He ended up being my biggest baby at 8lbs 4 oz. Derek Russell Olsen is what we officially decided on for his name. We now have our ABCD family :). Derek had done breathing problems and had to have a close eye kept on him but we were able to head home 24 hours later. The other kids are loving him and he has been such a quiet sweet baby.