August Fun

We have had a good August.  Most of the time was spent in Oregon, and that was great.  But we have had some good time since getting back.

We have had some crazy storms this last week or so.  Tyler and I enjoyed standing on the porch watching the lighting and rain.

Megan went to Sam's Club with my mom and I and found a huge camping chair.  She thought it was pretty cool and she looked pretty cool sitting in it.

Allie sang the song that she had been learning in the stake choir to Grandma and Grandpa, and the rest of us.  She sounded really good and still really loves singing whenever she can. 

Allie has new Activity Days leaders, and they have been doing some fun activities.  There last activity was going to the temple and having a little picnic.  They had lots of fun learning more about the temple and enjoying the beautiful flowers.

Family Dinner & Hang

Julie and her family came to town to take Averee to Snow College and to go to a farewell of Boyd's nephew.

They were going to go straight to Snow to drop off Averee, but a couple of things slowed them down and then we had a few crazy storms come through the valley.

So, they decided to stay at my parents' house, and we all went there to hang out with them.  We ended up going to dinner at Astro Burger and then we all went back to my parents to hang out. 

We had a tour of their garden where Julie and pretended we were in Oregon with all the foliage.  It was really nice just hanging out with the family and having good conversation.  

First Day of School 2024-2025

The kids have officially gone back to school.  Tony gave them all blessings the night before school started.  He did a great job, and I think the spirit told the kids exactly what they needed to hear.

Josh was the first to go to school.  They had freshman go two hours earlier than the other students.  So, Tyler drove Josh to school and then came home to walk Megan to school.  Then I walked Allie to school while Tyler drove himself back to school.   

They all came home from school very happy.  Megan said it was a lot of walking.  They had the Jr. High kids go to all of their classes for ten minutes each so that they all knew where they were going, and then they did it all again.  And now she walks further to get to the Jr. High, so it is more walking.  Besides that, she said that she liked it.

They all have friends or know someone in each of their classes, except for Megan's 8th grand honors math class. She one of few 7th graders in that class and none are from Frost.  But I am sure she'll make friends with them soon.

I have no doubt that this is going to be a great year for all the kids.  Very busy and challenging, but also very great.

Oregon 2024 - Day 11 &12: Driving to Boise & Home

We got up early Saturday morning and finished packing up the van before we headed out of town.  

The drive was nice and smooth as we drove to Bend.  We stopped at Costco for lunch and a rest break.  We then got gas before getting back on the road.  

We got to Boise and put gas in the car before checking into our hotel which was very close.  We then got our hotel room, which was really big and had three beds and a family room area with a couch and small kitchen-like area.  

We then let the kids go swimming.  Tony and I stayed in the room to unpack and figure out what to do for dinner.  We decided to just pick up pizza.  So, while Tony picked it up, I told the kids they had 20 more minutes to swim.  The kids came back from swimming about five minutes before Tony got back.  The pizza was good, and it was nice just relaxing in our room watching the Olympics.  

The next morning, we ate breakfast and then got back on the road.  The ride back home was nice.  The kids slept off and on both these days.  Megan read tons in the car because we brought The Hunger Games books for the kids to read.  She really took to them.  We got some lunch before getting home and unloading the car.  It was a good few days of driving and we were glad to be home safe.  

Oregon 2024 - Day 10: Foggy Morning Beach Walk, Estuary Hike, Marine Life Museum, & Dinner at Wendy's

This morning, I got up and got dressed to go walk the beach with Julie.  It was a very wet morning, so I wore my new jacket.  Good thing that I did because it was very foggy, and I didn't want Julie to lose me on the beach.  We walked by a soccer team that had come to the beach to practice and that was kind of fun.  We had never seen that before.  It was so nice to get out and walk the beach each morning that we could.  Nothing beats the view or the company.

After our walk, I got showered before meeting up to go to breakfast with Julie, Tony, and my dad.  We wanted to try a new place, but they didn't open until 10:30, so we went to see Julie's rental that Boyd spent most of his time working on while we were all there.

After that we went back to the docks where the restaurant was and ate breakfast.  The breakfast wasn't the best, but the lunch menu looked a lot better.  We will have to try them next time if they're still in business.

After breakfast we went back to the cottages and got the kids, and we all went to the Estuary.  My mom's knee was still hurting her, so she wasn't able to come with us.

The Estuary was amazing as always.  The kids loved going on all the trails and were good sports when we wanted to take lots of pictures.

We went a different way back to the parking lot and ended up going up a huge, awful hill that went straight up.  It about killed me, but I stayed strong didn't die.  Just took lots of breaks and was super happy when we were back to the top.  

After the Estuary we went back to the cottages and made lunch out of our left-over food.  It's always a fun combination of foods.  I then started getting us backed up while the others relaxed.

When Julie got back from helping Boyd and getting lunch, we then went with my mom to the Marine Life Museum that is by the docks. 

They have a few live things to look at and even fun things you can touch in the water.  Upstairs they have lots of bones and different discovery things for people to play with and look at to learn more about ocean animals.  You can also watch people unload shrimp from a boat and put it on ice.  We watched them for a long time.  It was really cool watching the process from boat to iced containers and then watching them move the containers around.  It was my favorite part.

After we went back to the cottages and packed some more before going over to Wendy's place for dinner.  We brought cookies and Julie brought a salad and a blueberry/blackberry cobbler.  Wendy and Ryan made chicken and sausages and some potatoes.  It was a good meal and fun being all together eating.  

The kids had fun playing together and hanging out too.  Some went down to the beach and others stayed at the house.  We watched Jacob's movie and then we headed back to the cottages for the night.  I was able to finish getting us packed up and we all crashed for the night.

Oregon 2024 - Day 9: Rogue River Mail Boats, Lunch, & More Blueberry Picking

We got up bright and early to start our drive to Gold Beach.  We packed up some different breakfast foods and then went on our way.  It was so foggy the whole drive there.  I don't ever remember it being so foggy.

We made good time and had time to look at the souvenir shops.  They had their bright salmon-colored jackets in the discount section of the store, and I asked my mom to get it for me so we could be twiners.  Big score for me!  I was a little worried about getting cold, so it was perfect to wear over my hoodie.

Luckily, we had a few blankets in the car and the new hooded blanket that we had bought from Costco because they no longer provide blankets for the guests, and it is chilly to start out.  It started warming up as we got down the river and we slowly started taking off layers.  But blankets were definitely needed to start.  

The ride was lovely, per usual.  I wished that we could have all sat by each other, but we didn't all get there in time.  The whole boat actually had to wait for Jacob, Alex, Luke, and Neil to show up because they were late.  How embarrassing for them, and their parents.

We saw many different birds and a few bald eagles.  Those are always so exciting to see.

Oregon 2024 - Day 8: Shore Acres, Kite Flying, & Wendy's Beach