We really have been nuts this summer. (I mean scheduling-wise, we are always a little mentally nuts.) I thought I would share a quick (well, sort of) run-down of the highlights for the last month or so.

Oregon (aka blissful homecoming)

We drove 2167.5 miles (which equates to 40 hours, 20 min. of in-car time) on our 4 day trip. It felt so good to be there-a little hot and sticky as we hit a record heat wave-but still good. We played on the beach and Megan couldn’t get enough of the water. She just giggled-almost hysterically-as she sat on the sand and let the waves lap over her.

We took 101 up from where we stayed in Depot Bay to Tillamook (mmm…ice cream…) and over to Portland to meet Amy. (yay!) I am kicking myself that I didn’t get a picture of her. We spent the night hanging out and talking, which was just as fun as when were in high school. I know I am treading towards annoying gushiness here, but she is such a fun friend. It is amazing how we can not talk for months and then get together and feel just like being back in high school. (Only better, because we don’t have to be in high school.) She great to confide in and has deep insights on so many things. I am going to stop now and just say that I had a great time with you Amy.

On Saturday we headed down to Salem to watch Brent play the Salem Surge (or something). As you can see it was fun. We were all a little wilted from the heat, but some icees perked us up, as well giving us nicely colored tongues. Other highlights: driving too fast down Croissian Creek Rd., past my old house, Sprague and Hylo Rd. I can’t help but sigh just thinking about it. We also wandered around Silver Falls. (Which I always thought was Silver Creek Falls, huh.) Either way, the place is gorgeous! Several beautiful falls that are easy to hike to and closely situated. I highly recommend it!

Idaho

We went to the Idaho Falls area to support my cute nephews for their mission homecoming (Jordan) and farewell (Jake). We also got to visit the super-cool Schwendimans and their AWESOME potato farm. I loved climbing up on the potato mountain in the potato cellar. (Yes, it was a lot of potatoes.) The Schwendimans are so much fun, that we are going to head back in a couple of weeks. It was an action packed 33 hours, I tell you what!

misc. joys

The 4th of July was just as much fun as always, here are the kids in their shirts. We loved your bee outfits, Wrights/Hinckleys! Also beloved, are summer dinners in the Jensen’s backyard.  And the nieces and

nephews’ many sporting victories. Among them Weston’s baseball team taking the State tittle. Way to go Wes!

Here is Mike’s new baby. It was the summer of Mike (what with his motor and mountain bike purchases.) His old baby, the Jeep is going to live on the Shwendiman’s farm; where it will have lots of room to run around. (Bye bye, last little shred of coolness. Don’t worry about me, I’ve got my minivan to get around in.)

Next month should be even more fun with Brent and Katie’s wedding and a couple of camping trips on the calendar. Also exciting, I finally finished my proposal for my art idea book! Thank you, Thank you, please no applause. Yes, I feel like it was an accomplishment. You can see it at www.ArtAllYear.com. Please note the site I designed and Eddie laboriously coded for me. I will be posting about the joys of collage soon (featuring the very seasonal trees you see on the site.) If you’re still with me, congrats on your blog endurance capabilities. I’ll try to be more frequent and brief in August. ;-D

This entry was posted on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 8:05 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.