Family Vacation

We got home a few days ago from the most divine family vacation to Washington and Oregon. We had the BEST time. I absolutely loved every minute of the trip. It was great to all be together as a family for the last time in awhile, as Jessica left from Portland to fly back east to nanny for the rest of the summer at the end of our trip, and Ky and Brody will probably be back in Arizona by the time she gets home. There's lots to tell, and many pictures to show, so I'll break it down into days: First off, I have to tell about the incredible home the Lakes bought 6 months ago. It is so fabulous! We stayed in "the loft" above the three car garage. It's a deluxe two bedroom, one bathroom and bonus room that was just perfect for our family (although Jessica slept in little Brody's room and Cam slept in Griffins room). It was so great to have our own space, and to enjoy the comfy, inviting and beautiful home Todd and Stacey have created.

DAY 1
We were so happy to spend the first four days of our vacation with the Lake's in Vancouver. They really rolled out the red carpet for us. They had so many fun activities planned, and great food to go along with it. Stacey and I started off the day with a brisk walk along a gorgeous lake and around a golf course and extremely nice neighborhood. For anyone who knows how fast I like to walk, Stacey is the only person who has ever been a faster walker than me. I was having to jog every 20 or so steps to keep up with her. It was great though. We grabbed Mike, Kylee and Brody and all went back to the same course and beyond on bikes. It was great, and a good warm up for the rest of the day. We loaded 12 bikes up on a trailer behind Todd's truck and headed off to a beautiful park along the Columbia river for a Martha Stewart picnic. Stacey sure knows how to make a normal picnic extraordinary with a few special touches (I got harrassed on our picnic at Cannon beach when we were without the Lakes for not having fresh potted flower centerpieces like Stacey. . .). We spent the next few hours riding our bikes around downtown Portland. It was so great, and a fun way to see the city. When we got back from Portland, even though the temp was only in the 60's, most of the kids jumped in the Lake's unheated pool- but didn't stay in too long. . .

DAY 2
Todd had to work all day, so Stacey joined me, Mike, Kylee and Brody on a 6 hour adventure in Portland. Jessica stayed behind to take care of the kids. We stopped for 45 short minutes at the most awesome antique store ever called Monticello. You really need 2 or 3 hours there to see all there is to see. We then went to the beautiful Portland temple. It was breathtaking.


After the temple, we headed to Saturday market- mostly to get an "elephant ear" something that Lindsey said her dreams are made of. I can see why now. It was a HUGE (Ky and I shared) piece of sugar/cinnamon covered scone for the bargin price of $3.50. We walked around the market for 45 minutes before heading back to the Lakes. Ky and I each bought a cute purse.
That evening we had yet another delicious meal and played some fun games. I started sewing some curtains for Stacey to go in her living room.

DAY 3
Father's Day. The only day of rain on our whole trip. We (all 13 of us) still went on a beautiful short hike near their house, then came back for a big breakfast and church at 1:00. After a yummy Sunday dinner, we played more games, then I did more sewing.
DAY 4
Everyone but the three littlest Lake kids went on the most gorgeous, breathtaking, spectacular hike I've ever been on to Multnomah Falls. It was amazing. I just couldn't take it all in. I loved every step of the 5 miles. Todd and Mike took all the kids boating when we got home, and I hung out with Stacey and the Brody's and did mending and hemming. I'm so happy I could be useful and do something for Stacey that she didn't want to do for herself (not that she couldn't have. . .) That evening we had some tasty s'mores in their backyard.

Day 5
We left the Lakes on Tuesday morning for three days on our own. We stopped by the ROSE GARDEN's in Portland on our way to Cannon Beach. They were so gorgeous. It was a feast for the eyes, that's for sure. I'm so glad we made this detour.



When we got to Cannon Beach, we had a picnic lunch at Ecola State Park, then hung out on Indian Beach for about 3 hours. The weather was beautiful, and we all enjoyed playing around the water looking for sea creatures, climbing over rocks, playing in the sand, playing frisbee, and playing in the water (only Cam and Jake were brave enough).

We got checked into our cute little cottage, then walked a block down to the beach near haystack rock and played some more before heading out to dinner at Mo's. It was a great setting for a restaurant and we enjoyed our meal very much.

After dinner, we made a fire on the beach and had s'mores. It was great! The weather was perfect, and we really enjoyed sitting on our log eating and talking until well after dark. What a perfect setting for such a fun activity.

DAY 6
Before checking out at noon, we spent a bit more time on the beach. We all played frisbee and the four kids got up to their necks in the freezing ocean and had a great time.

We then walked around the main street of Cannon beach for several hours shopping, eating lunch, and doing a fun scavenger hunt Stacey planned for us. It was a perfect day. Drove to Seattle at stayed the night at a motel. Went out to eat at Chipotle and walked around a cool outdoor mall.

DAY 7
Spent about 6 hours walking around Seattle. Saw the spaceneedle, walked through the Seattle Aquarium and Pikes Place Market. Ate a delicious seafood lunch at Ivors. A tiring, but fun day. Got back to the Lakes that night at 9, and left the next morning for home.

It was sad to leave for home without Jessica, but I know she'll have a wonderful experience being on her own for two months. I loved being with my family 24/7. I have some very cherished memories of our time together. Thanks so much to the Lakes for being such fun hosts. We had such a great time with you.

Jessica and I had a fun day yesterday celebrating our birthdays. My best birthday present ever, without question, was 20 years ago when Jessica was born the day I turned 29. It has been so much fun celebrating each birthday together every year.

We didn't think of taking this picture until several pieces of cake had already been served. . .

Kylee and Brody (with some help from Mike) slaved away in the kitchen all afternoon preparing our yummy meal of shisk-a-bobs, special potatoes, kung pow soy beans, rolls, and strawberry glaze cake. It was a great day. I loved receiving phone calls, voice messages, texts, and facebook wishes from many family and friends.

And now, on a totally unrelated topic, I'll bet you'll be surprised to hear that both Mike and I are running for the U.S. Senate. I know, you didn't think we were that politically minded. It's true, but we just decided it was time for us to do our part. We've had fun campaigning together, and feel like we have quite a bit of support. We encourage you to check out our platform, and see if we're the right fit for you. Please vote for us!

Haha. We couldn't pass it up!

Jakes Eagle Project

Jake's almost three month long Eagle Project came to an end on Thursday. It was so fulfilling to see how it turned out and to have been a part of it from the start. I'm proud of Jake and how hard he worked on it and how willing (for the most part) he was to do what he needed to. He wasn't afraid to talk to people, make phone calls, and do whatever else Mike told him to do. Mike did a great job working with him on almost every little detail, and keeping it all going. Jake lined up 4 pickups and two trailers to deliver the 61 bikes to the apartments buildings where the Burmese people live. It was so cool to arrive there to see probably about 100 people waiting there for them. The lady he had worked with (and who suggested this project to our bishop, who is the President of the Rotary club in Logan) at the English Learning Center had lined up the Herald Journal to come and do a story about it. It was great to see Jake being interviewed and photographed, and to hear him talk to the crowd of people (through an interpreter) to explain why he had done this project and where the bikes had come from. It was also really neat to see the happy looks on the faces of the adults and kids who got bikes as they picked out the one they wanted and then rode it around. It was a happy day for them. And for me to arrive home and be able to park my car in the garage after not being able to for the past two weeks as that's where we've been storing the bikes that had been fixed up. Way to go Jake! And good job Mike on spending many, many hours with Jake on this project.

An article about it appeared in the newspaper today. To check it out, click here.

Vindicated!

I've been dreaming for the past 6 months or so that someday I would be writing this post. Many, many times I feared I would not. But I'm thrilled to say today is the day. . .

This story started almost 9 months ago on a lovely fall evening. Jessica and two friends were driving the Chrysler Cirrus home from a Logan High Football game. They were going west on 400 north through a green light, when a guy going east and turning left on 100 west didn't yield to her, and the two cars collided. Happily no one was injured (there was just a lot of screaming on the part of the three girls) and I hurried down after getting that phone call no one wants to get "Mom. . . I've been in a crash. . . but it wasn't my fault!" Our car was towed away, and we learned several days later that it was totaled. We were just hoping to get a fair price on the car, collect the money, and buy another car for Jess and Jake to drive. That was not to be. The guys insurance company came to the conclusion, after speaking to Jessica and the other driver (but not after reading the police report that states that the other driver said it was all his fault, and he was cited for failing to yield) that she was 40% at fault because "she could have stopped, thereby avoiding the collision." Don't you think if she could have stopped, she would have??? Duh. So, instead of paying us $5000 for the value of the car, they were offering $3000. I'm sure they have experience where if they make it difficult enough, people will eventually give up, collect what they can and move on with their lives. They kept encouraging us to just file with our insurance company to collect the other $2000. We could have done that, BUT, we would have had to pay our $500 deductable, plus have our premiums go up by up to $50 a month because of Jessica's prior crash and two speeding tickets. So, we REALLY didn't want to do that. After much time spent talking to the insurance lady back east, and to several attorneys, Mike decided to take it to small claims court. To make a LONG story a little shorter, after countless hours and much frustration, and 4-5 trips to small claims court, we found out several weeks ago that the judge found Jessica 0% at fault, and today WE GOT THE CHECK IN THE MAIL from the guys insurance company for the whole $5000. Woo hoo

It will be so great to pay off the Mazda Protege that we bought in October, and finally have that headache over and done. I'm so grateful to Mike for the time, effort, energy, patience, and smarts it took to stick with this project. The moral to this story is: sometimes good guys do finish first!

Memorial Weekend

We had such a fun-filled Memorial weekend. On Saturday night, we had a welcome home party for Kylee and Brody with some of my extended family. Sunday we went to the cemetery in Clarkston then visited with the Romneys. Monday we started the day with a big breakfast outside on the patio. We all then went on a bike ride along the Bonneville Shoreline above our house

with a little detour to climb up to Castle Rock.

We then proceeded on bike to the Logan cemetery where we enjoyed riding around checking out the graves and seeing a bunch of balloons released with messages to loved ones.

Home to clean up and play a little croquet before heading out to the Searles for a BBQ.

Home again- walked over to Lundstrom Park to do a variety of things: slack line, baseball, frisbee, and catch with Sal. It was great fun.

We finished off the day with popcorn and a DVD- National Treasure 2. I couldn't have asked for a better day.