Oregon-Washington-Oregon-Washington

It was a bittersweet weekend for the Lindseth family. Shawn's father's father passed away and many of us trekked to the Vancouver-Portland area to celebrate his life and spend time together. We left on Wednesday afternoon and didn't arrive until about 3 a.m. The drive wasn't terrible since I discovered a way for myself to read in the car without getting sick. I finished Breaking Dawn!

Our first day there was full of site-seeing thanks to Shawn's Aunt Connie who was a wonderful and gracious tour guide. She took us to the idyllic Sauvie's Island just outside of Portland where my father-in-law and his family lived for about 12 years. It was amazing. This is a picture of the only store on the island during their childhood where they would run up charges on the family tab with candy and lay on the branches of a big tree while they ate it. I'm not making it up. Maybe Connie and Chris did but I'm just repeating what they said.


Across the street from the store was a peach orchard. Pick your own they said, so we did just that. Aside from the earwigs it was lovely. (I am not a girl who is afraid of bugs but I HATE earwigs.)

After lunch at Burgerville where they boast only the freshest Oregon's own Tillamook cheese, Washington Walla Walla onions and fresh Oregon Raspberries in their shakes we took off for Astoria. Another amazingly beautiful place. No wonder such a classic like Goonies was shot there. Later on we even went to a rocky beach where I swear I saw One-Eyed Willie peek out from behind a rock.
Here we are at Louis and Clark's camp. Connie said if we didn't go there we'd never see it and we had to see it to check it off on our list of National Parks. It was crazy to think of them making their way across the country, how miserable and wet they must have been. Amy couldn't resist touching the museum's objects. Tisk tisk Amy, I can't believe that you didn't listen to your father when he said not to touch anything.

And then we took off to the Oregon Coast. It was balmy and beautiful. Even though it was only 55 degrees there it felt nice to be out of Utah's blazing heat and to dip our toes in the Pacific. Here's Amy with her Dad. We even saw some people out there boogy boarding. One girl doing it in a bikini. Um, my toes were numb so I'm really not sure what she was thinking. This beach is where Shawn's dad would come when he was visiting his grandmother. (I think I got that right, so many stories in such a short time). Her house was within short walking distance. Connie lamented not being able to go unless her mom would come because was too young. Oh the plight of the youngest child!
This below with the rocks and the birds is Cannon Beach. It was gorgeous as well. Cute town, beautiful beach. There is also a lighthouse just to the right of this shot but I didn't want to overwhelm this post with pictures because I took TONS.
The next day we went to down town Portland and shopped and ate. I don't know why I didn't take pictures there but I forgot.

And pedicures, turns out you can get them anywhere you go so you know, we had to make sure that they were the same. This is Haylee (I'm not sure how she spells it) Connie's daughter and the cousin of my husband and all the way on the other end is her beau Jason. They are far apart because it took a while to convince him to do it with us. What fun we had.
I didn't get a lot of pictures of the other family members because they wern't tourists with us but we had fun at the house. Thanks to Julie and her hospitality, I think we had 20 people there one night. And we even dyed Shawn's Aunt Robbie's hair. It made me feel like I was in college again.

My Golden Birthday!

What a day. We had to get up early for our Primary parade and carnival but don't worry my father called at 7am anyway (does the man know me at all?).

After the Primary activity we went home and Shawn bestowed many gifts upon me including: a guitar, a CD, a DVD and a teapot that matches my kitchen. I LOVE all of them because, I once had a very cheap guitar that was nearly impossible to play and I've wanted a nice one for a while, I like Fergie because her music makes me want to move, I love Bridget Jones Diary because it is just a great movie for many reasons and with our ClearPlay it'll be wonderful to own and quite frankly I like to accessorize my themed kitchen (I guess I'm like my mother.)

After we opened gifts we went to Deer Creek Reservoir to kayak. I'd never done it before and I really enjoyed it. It was totally fun getting splashed by the wakes of the boats passing by. No actual action shots because we might have tipped so I left the camera behind...but we didn't tip.

Bridal Veil Falls was on fire (well not the falls themselves but you get the idea). Which was pretty crazy to see since it wasn't that far from the road.

For dinner we went to Happy Sumo with Amy Lindseth and April and George Gallagher and let me tell you I was in Heaven. I LOVE HAPPY SUMO. It makes me happy. I love tempera veggies, I loved the Vegas roll, the sunset roll, the panda roll and the edemame.

To top it all of we had Costco chocolate cake which we're still eating, I had some for breakfast. It was a great birthday.

Call Me Dwight

Whitney's the name. Farmin' beets the game. I toiled and labored and planted seeds into my sandy soil and voila! Something edible! I also have a bell pepper forming that's about 3 inches long. Gardening is a thrill a minute.

A Day at the Pool

Notice anything strange about this picture. I'm not in it because I'm taking it but notice Shawn, with his shirt on, in the shade. Notice my towel, definitely NOT in the shade. It's a wonder we are even married with the way we differ in this area. I assure you that behind the camera I am most definitely not wearing a shirt. Or pants. Or anything but my bathing suit. Vitamin D is good for me.

Memory Tag

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Thanks!

What's the Most Jello You've Ever Made?

Well, don't even bother responidng because I win. 30 Gallons.

(And there is more behind that you can't see.)

If you'd like to come join us for Thanksgiving Point Garden's Monday Night Family Adventure's 2nd Annual Jello Fight feel free. It'll be a sticky good time.

God Bless the USA...

was just one of the songs I 4th of July serenaded my nephews with while lighting fireworks on our camping trip in Fishlake National Forrest. From Thursday the 3rd to Sunday the 6th we survived cooking, sleeping and squatting in the woods.

All in all we had a great time, it was just really nice and relaxing, especially considering that I think Shawn and I slept better than anyone with our new air mattress.

On Thursday we set up camp, ate, ate and went to bed. On Friday we just hung out around camp and Shawn and I even went on a little adventure with Nittany and we saw some very pretty views. Afterwards we went for a drive up to the campsite that Jared's family camped at last year and we saw an entire herd of Elk. It was pretty cool. After that we drove to this creek where Jared said there were trout to see and started to trek across a field of grass. I got freaked by the possibility of snakes (I was in flip flops!) and made my way back to the car with Lindsey and Brock but Cole, Dylan, Jared and Shawn saw a porcupine which would have been pretty cool to see. Then we lit a few fireworks to celebrate our Freedom (Lindsey kept telling the boys that I was going to put on a show so I did a few numbers, ha ha), it was a pretty great way to celebrate just being in a beautiful part of our country that not many travel to.

On Saturday we all went to Frisco, a Ghost Town located outside of Milford, Utah. Shawn and I had been there before so we were responsible for taking everyone there and discovering HUGE no trespassing signs. Lovely. Let me just say that it was not a short drive. We did find one part without signs so it wasn't a total loss but we didn't get to see the best part in my opinion. Brock was really into the Camelbak that Uncle Shawn had on, he even walked up to us at one point huffing and puffing very dramatically, starring at the blue tube. Shawn said, wow you look thirsty do you need a drink? Brock seemed very pleased that his plan worked.

Then we met Lindsey's sister Toni and her friend and took them back to camp with us. We all had another round of campfire hot dogs and s'mores in their honor. Sunday Morning Shawn and I packed up and were the first to leave, we had to go in shifts since Jared's car was the only one that could really get us up to our site. Sunday afternoon I took a nap and Shawn snuck off (I thought he was napping with me) and did a lot of unpacking for which I am SO grateful! I think I tore the entire house apart getting everything together. What a good man.