Oregon {Part 1}

Nine days

One flight to Portland

1200 miles logged in our rental car

Six hotels and endless pit stops along the way

Eugene, Bandon, Medford, Bend, Salem, Portland

Countless beaches, hikes, waterfalls, and gorgeous green parks

Delicious restaurants, donuts and ice cream

One flight to Salt Lake, and,

we're home!

How do you sum up a vacation in a blog post?  Either in one gigantic long post or broken up in multiple posts...both sound daunting at this point.  I'm going to break it up into sections of our trip as best I can.  Here goes round one...

Background:

Marcus served his mission in Oregon and we've wanted to go back to visit for years, so when my sister and her husband moved there for the summer we figured it was the perfect opportunity.  Marcus planned the best trip for us - he mapped out where we should go, keeping our days flexible and unstructured but getting us destinations and hotels each night.  It was such an adventure.  We spent many, many hours in the car, but it was gorgeous pretty much everywhere we went and Asher was sure a trooper.  He napped in the car or was pretty happy reading books or playing with his little toys.  He was such a little cutie to have with us.  I loved exploring and felt that by road tripping it we got to see so much of this pretty state.

First stop: Portland temple.  Man that temple is gorgeous!  We then headed towards Eugene.  On the way we stopped at McDowell Creek Falls near Lebanon and hiked to some waterfalls.

I think I was most surprised by how green everything was and that there were farms and nurseries EVERYWHERE.  There were thousands and thousands of Christmas tree farms and it really was all so picturesque and fun to see.

Elise and Mike were able to drive up to meet us in Eugene and camped out in our hotel room with us that night.  We stayed up playing farkle and had such a good time with them.

We enjoyed a delicious waffle breakfast at Off the Waffle, played and explored in gorgeous, green parks, and went to the Saturday's market there in Eugene.  

This picture is blurry but it pretty much sums up Asher's excitement to get to hang out with Lise & Mike.  He asked for them every single day of our trip that we weren't with them.

We also were able to visit with one of Marcus' converts which was a really sweet experience.  It was neat for me to get to see a little bit of that side of Marcus.  We also found all of his old apartments and I have to admit, I was kinda surprised by how run down most of them were.

...to be continued with our coastal adventures...

Carnival Party

Marcus' mom planned the most fun carnival party I have ever seen for her parents' birthdays and anniversary celebrations.  Grandpa Miller is turning 90 and they are celebrating 65 years of marriage.  Marie is a one of a kind party planner and goes all out.  I didn't take any of these pictures but thought they were so fun I had to post them.

-- this was just the family that came.  there were so many friends, neighbors, old mission companions, and many more that came to support.  you can tell grandma and grandpa are so loved. -- 

-prizes, tickets, cotton candy, snow cones, clowns, popcorn, train rides and tons of games --

-- grandpa got his face painted and grandma got a balloon bouquet --

-- so, so sweet --

-- cute pregnant laura, and my darling nieces and their mom --

--asher loved himself some games --

-- marcus' happy mom & dad enjoy the party --

-- matt & marilee and their five cute kiddos.  steven was so cute carrying around all of his loot! --

-- scott & julie had way too much fun in the bounce house and are pretty much the cutest --

-- at the end of the party sadly it started raining.  everyone quickly moved everything under the trees and hung out under the pavilion.  asher was obsessed with playing in the rain --

--the webb family --

Bells Canyon, Take 2

We started out Saturday morning hiking up Bells Canyon with Tommy and Rilee.  We got to the first reservoir and went right on going up to the waterfall.  It was a pretty steep hike and I could relax and just enjoy it this time since Marcus was kind enough to carry Asher.  The waterfall is quite a ways past the first lake, but it was so gorgeous it is definitely worth the hike.  I couldn't believe how big the waterfall was - it was wide and beautiful and had so much water coming off of it.  It was absolutely stunning.  Asher hated the water spraying all over him as we got near it, and he was completely terrified of the water - I guess with the noise, the spray and the fact that there is not much flat surface area for him to walk around on.  He just wanted to be held and hid his face from the water.  He kept saying over and over, "me no like the water".  

It was so gorgeous up there and I loved being there.

An incredible view of the valley:

We followed up our hiking with a delicious brunch at Ruth's Diner and swimming in the pool.  What a beautiful day.

Our Fourth

For the Fourth and the days surrounding it we packed up our car and headed out for lots of adventuring outside.  First stop was the Webbs cabin up past Oakley.  We relaxed and enjoyed the cool {er} mountain air and spending time with family.  Asher was in pure heaven as usual riding the fourwheelers.

Next stop was the Oakley rodeo.  It was such a great show this year and Asher loved it.  I would have to say the bull riding is always the best part of the show but Asher was mesmerized by the whole thing, and couldn't stop talking about horses, baby cows and baby pigs {although there were no pigs...I don't know where that one came from}.  They had a fun firework show afterwards which was the perfect way to end the 4th.  

This picture seriously melts me.  My two boys watching the rodeo.  Asher's perfect face and the sun going down.

The next day we spent boating at Jordanelle.  It was another gorgeous day and all I can think of is that this has been an amazing summer and I never want it to end.

We ended the day at the Mandarin with my parents where we enjoyed some delicious food while Asher was with a babysitter.

Saturday we did more adventuring and enjoying being outside...more to come.

Joe is Home!

My little brother got back from his mission last week and it has been so much fun.  In some ways I can't believe it has already been two years, but at the same time, when I think about the fact that he had never met Asher before it made me realize he has been gone a really long time.  It was so good to see him again.  I can't believe how much he seems to have grown up while still definitely being my cute little brother.  We love you Joe!

We went boating a few days after he got home and had a really fun time despite it being a little chilly.  Asher was a little nervous of Joe, but Joe was so sweet and Asher finally warmed up a bit when he took him down to the water to play.  Cutest picture ever.

~Love these summer nights ~

Beautiful Bells Canyon

I've been wanting to get up to Bells Canyon for years now and I finally hiked it with Kate and Rilee a few weeks ago.  It was absolutely gorgeous up there.  We didn't have a ton of time, and we only hiked to the first reservoir, so now I will have to still go back to see the waterfall and second reservoir.  What an incredibly beautiful place so close to home.

How dang cute is baby Charlie?

Asher loved throwing rocks in the water, riding in the back pack, and seeing all of the baby ducklings up there.  We definitely had a fun morning.