OREGON!

Since it's been like a month since my last post, I guess I have a lot of catching up to do. We recently returned from an 11-day trip to see ALL my family. It was the first time my parents, siblings, and their families have been together in about 6 years. I think it was the longest Dave has let me stay there since I moved out (he gets bored easily). I think we all had a blast. My kids did not want to come home.
The boys spent a few hours at the trout farm catching something that resembled large goldfish, but they enjoyed every minute of it. We went swimming at Firstenburg and both the boys seemed to get over their fear of deep water quite a bit. I think the thrill of the water slide had something to do with it. This pool is becoming a new tradition for us. Why couldn't Rancho's multi-million-dollar rec center actually have something fun like this?
My brother has been starting up a photography business, Candent Photography, so we had a bunch of family photos taken. I'm quite impressed with this newly discovered talent. Judging by my photos you can see I obviously didn't get that gene.
On Monday my parents took the boys with them to their new beach house and Dave and I (and Audrey) stayed behind so we could go on our semi-annual date (it was so fun hanging out without shrieking and yelling in the background). We went to the movies, Gustav's (another family tradition), and even did a little shopping at the mall. In doing this I discovered that my sense of style is completely outdated. The idea of wearing a red dress shirt with white polka dots under a turquoise tank just seemed ridiculous. I couldn't picture myself wearing anything I looked at. My 10 year reunion is in October. It won't be long before I'm over the hill. Where have the years gone? Anyway, I finally let Dave pick out a shirt for me, which I actually liked (he hates shopping, so I was proud of him).
The next day we met up with the kids at the beach. I forgot to take pictures, but the beach house was awesome! I'm so jealous that we don't live close enough to go more often. We got to stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory and get cheese curds (aka squeaky cheese). I have been looking forward to sinking my teeth into those squeaky morsels for months!
After the beach we spent some time at the Oregon Zoo, checking out all the animals. It was supposed to be warm that day, so I hadn't dressed in a whole lot of clothing. Well, the sun didn't peek out until after 3PM. We were all a little cold and Audrey's toes were freezing! I sat down on a bench next to some woman who was trying to feed her baby. She overheard me saying how cold Audrey was and insisted that I take a pair of socks from her. She told me she had 8 kids and understood (no, she was definitely not Mormon). I was caught off guard by the kindness of a stranger.
The next weekend we took a short hike at Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River George. It was gorgeous, but hot (we saw the sun, can you believe it!)
On Saturday we all went to see Wall E. Besides the highly political message, it was cute. Sam had a love/hate relationship with him. At first he was really excited, but after the movie was over he said he didn't like him cause. Why? "Cause... said so!" He seems to have a new phobia for robots!?! Okay, whatever! It was great to see all my family and get to see some I've never met. I think most of all I was excited to see my 4 year old nephew Matthew. He's had some health issues so he hasn't been around any of the other visits I've had with them. I am in awe of him. He is so loving and sweet. I just felt this strong connection to him. I rubbed his back at one point and it sent shivers up my spine. He is one incredible little boy! Chris and Kerry, thanks for sharing your wonderful family with us! It was great to see everyone else too! We miss you all. Thank goodness for blogs, to help us stay close:)