My first solo trip to Oregon

    After 26 years of living in Utah, I made my first solo trip to Oregon. I've never driven all the way to Klamath Falls and back so this was a big adventure and it actually went pretty well. We definitely had a fun time and I got to feel a little nostalgia running around my old stomping grounds with just a few kids in tow. I definitely love where I grew up even if I love Utah a 'tad-bit' more.

David was generous with his time and skills and took us on a fun boat ride at beautiful Lake of the Woods.

Charlie loved tubing.

Brock and McClane were pretty happy on the tube too.

This girl loves the water!

Lake of the Woods is so gorgeous!

This cute little guy stopped by pretty much every night.

Guy's a good sport to play games with Charlie.

And this is my parent's 'yard'. This cracked me up because for the size of lot they own this tiny little patch of grass with my dad's plum tree is the only kind of yard they have.

This little train bench was along the walking path and was pretty cool.

Abby's pizza is truly legendary. This is one place that hasn't changed in years and the pizza is just as good as I remember.

 

    We made a little visit to Grandma Elaine's work and I had to take a photo of the place I spent many hours during my youth helping with orders or being a distraction to those who were actually doing all the hard work.

Lots of memories in this shop and the kids loved getting a tour from Grandma seeing what she does all day every day.

Movie time. We saw "Boss Baby: Family Business"

Fun crafts with Aunt Ann. She always has fun stuff. She was also a great walking partner.

Almost!

Fun helicopter.

 

    And while we were gone Charlie's sunflowers bloomed!

So pretty!

    I can't believe I drove to Klamath and back! It was fun! I made good time on the rode and it was great to be 'home' for a few days spending time with my family, it was just what I needed to make my summer feel complete.

fun and family photos

    Our dog Georgia had her first litter of puppies, 3 girls and 3 boys. So sweet!

mini-bernedoodles

Momma Georgia and her puppies

    American Fork parade started with a mini-car cruise and this Thunderbird was the best of the bunch.

 

    At the car show I saw this and had to photograph it just so I could ask WHY!? Weird choice and not a car I'd envision at a car show.

  

Talk about 'attention to detail"!

And my favorite classic car, 1958 Corvette

 

    Sunday I got the kids to cooperate for a few updated family photos.

We're now a family of 12! 

 

Beau was done with posing at this point.

Mark/21

McClane/10

Carter/16

Isaac/18

The Wendel's, Tanner, Kayli, Beau/23 months and Harley 2 months

Charlie/7

Brock/13

He just can't help himself!

      And to finish off the week I decided to take a little road trip with the three youngest kids to Oregon and my only real concern, aside from not having Greg with me, was the fire/smoke that has been a problem recently in Southern Oregon, but miraculously, despite the size and lack of containment for this 'Bootleg' fire, the skies were clear pretty much the whole way and this was the only smoke we saw, which is directly where the fire is.

 

    I do wish Greg could have come with us on this adventure and Charlie is definitely homesick for her Dad but we're looking forward to some fun here in Oregon starting with a day of boating today. Tune in next week to see how long we lasted without Greg.

July 4th and 26 years of marriage etc.

    It's been a fun week and we had a great time celebrating our nations birthday with our neighbors over the weekend. We watched "Sandlot" in our neighbors front yard, had breakfast the next morning in the same neighbors backyard and got to swim at our other friend/neighbor's house in the afternoon. 

 

Cute girls.

Brock

Carter

Isaac

Charlie (She needed the pool-noodle to pose with for some reason.)

McClane (The pirate?!)

Charlie was beyond brave with the slide and jumping off the 'plank'.

    I also got an updated photo of Mark's shoulders this week. They're definitely looking much better.

 This photo was taken six weeks and a day ago from when he crashed.

    Greg and I celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary Wednesday. Sadly it wasn't anything more then dinner because Greg's water responsibilities monopolize the majority of his time but we did enjoy our dinner.

Steak for me and salmon for Greg.

Not my best photo but it was a little too hot outside to be fussing over photos.

    This morning I walked with my friend in Lambert park and somehow almost stepped on this big guy. I still can't believe I didn't see him until she pointed him out to me. He was a slow mover so I had plenty of time to make sure he didn't have a rattle and then I was happy to take his photo.

 

And these flowers are the perfect shade of periwinkle, by far my most favorite color!

    So that's our week and I'm happy to report that our 'every-other-Tuesday' streak of bad phone calls from different kids has been broken! I may have made a few phone calls Tuesday evening to remind a boy or two not to do anything stupid but we made it through the night without a phone call and everyone arrived home safe and at a decent hour. (At least on Tuesday night.)

cute babies and girls camp 2021

    It's been a fun week. We had a fun time watching Harley and Beau Friday night. 

That hair!

Busy Beau.

   

    These three put together their robot Kiwico box. They sure love those projects every month. (Thanks Grandpa B.)

McClane's a master at these boxes.

    Carter is officially a member of the "Small Truck Nation".

 

 

    Charlie likes to watch Victorious on Netflix and sing along. 

Rockstar dreams.

    Our girls camp this year was floating down the Colorado River for three days and it was a blast!

In or out of the boat was a fun time.

We had a great group of girls, leaders and river guides.

The scenery was AMAZING!

We even got a little rain.

 

Such a fun time!

    Fun stuff! Now on to the 4th of July celebrations!