20th Anniversary Trip

Many people said it would never happen, many said is should never happen, but somehow, someway, DeA stuck with me for 20 years. For one of us, it has been the most wonderful 20 years imaginable. For the other, she had to be married to me so...

We took off on Friday afternoon and made it to The Dalles, OR. DeA said "I love being in The Dalles because I feel like I'm stomping on my family's ground!". We had dinner at Cousin's restaurant and found our hotel which was very The Dalles-ish. We stopped by the Portland Temple on Saturday morning before hitting Trader Joe's, Chick Fil-A, and Deseret Book. All the places that aren't close to home.

We stayed in a renovated hotel on the beach in Lincoln City, OR. The view from the balcony was pretty spectacular.

The view of DeA is always spectacular.

We went on a long walk on the beach and DeA decided that they are vastly overrated.

We found a ghetto gym that was still stuck in 1983, but the girl who opened the door when we got there was dressed up like a ninja turtle (literally) so DeA felt very comfortable there.

This was not a long walk on the beach. It was a short stroll in the sand.

Being on vacation made her crave Nachos Bell Grande for 4th meal. We hooked up a Roku stick to get to watch stuff that we actually like.

That treadmill might be as old as she is. Literally.

We made the hour drive up 101 to Tillamook to see the cheese factory.

They sold a flight of ice cream in the cafeteria (the food was pretty good, BTW)

She was pretty excited for her sample tray.

The gym had a little room for power lifting and a decent deadlift platform. It was great for old-school lifting with metal plates that clang together and made it feel a little bit like Rocky IV.

We went to a seafood place so that she could get her sesame seed chicken that she always got as a kid at Long John Silver's.

The sunsets on the balcony were one of the best parts of the trip.

We were on one of our long walks on the sidewalk when we strolled past an Indian restaurant. Everything in Lincoln City is bar/grill or seafood and we were getting sick of it. The smell of the Indian place was like walking past a Cinnabon at the mall. We craved it until the next evening. DeA has never been a big fan of Indian food, but she discovered mango chicken curry and it is her new obsession in a way that I never could be.

There was a local candy store that was a lot of fun with pretty good candy and chocolates.

We had to stop by on our last night to order more mango chicken curry for the road. We also bought a cooler to make sure it made it home safely.

We stomped on family ground on the way home.

Sharon's ice cream has some incredible homemade snickerdoodle ice cream. Who knew that The Dalles was more than a truck stop and meth house?

Rock the Pilot

The day after Jens' surgery, Rock had his checkride in Ellensburg. He said it didn't go well, but he came home with a flying license so it couldn't have gone that poorly. DeA made chocolate eclair dessert to celebrate.

I was very excited to fly with him, but it was weird to watch him pre-flight knowing that I could not help even if I wanted.

It's one thing to sit in the passenger seat when he's driving my truck, but a Cessna 172 Skyhawk? That's a very different feeling all together.

He did great, we buzzed the house a few times and enjoyed the lake. I still have a queasy stomach, so I was not sad when he started back to base.

He commemorated the flight on his insta.

Luca and Sofia have been fun, they get left behind at Nama and Hampa's quite a bit and end up watching shows at our place.

While we were at the hospital, Ryker went fly fishing in Stehekin with Roy Bennion, an old-timer visitor at church from Seattle. He had a blast and I got this email a few weeks later.

Another Spokane Trip

It seemed like it took a long time to get Jens in for her surgery, but it was only like three weeks. We stayed at a hospital themed hotel (seriously, it was cool and weird) right next to the real hotel.

There were turkeys in the hospital parking lot. When we checked in they asked if she had been around poultry and I was like "yeah, in your parking lot".

Schnoogies looks pretty even when she's looking up restaurants near her.

We surprised Jens with a stuffed octopus that she wanted during her first hospital visit. His name is Sherbertous, Sherbert for short.

He was a big help during the nervous intake and waiting.

Sherbert kept her good company.

He also helped DeA during the anxious wait during the surgery. 

The surgery took about 45 minutes longer than they expected, but she came out great. Well, hungover, drowsy, and aching, but great.

The first couple of days following the operation were hard, she wanted to pepper the volleyball in her room.

DeA kept close tabs on her. Maybe too close if you ask Jens.

It took about 48 hours for the meds and oxy to wear off, but then she was excited to show off for her cousins.

Bristol Blessing!

Lil' Baby Bristol had her blessing in Sultan. We couldn't get over on Saturday, so we drove Sunday morning. It was the calmest drive to church in my life.

Church started at 10. We were able to get there at 9:40 but there were about 20 people standing outside. About five minutes before the meeting someone with a key showed up to open the chapel. An older guy was hurrying to set up the sacrament and then walked around the chapel looking. He stopped by me and made eye contact and I asked if he needed sacrament help. He gratefully nodded yes. I grabbed Rock and Ryker, and Lindsea pushed Huddy out of his pew. Huddy was pretty nervous, so I told him that it would be just like Georgia. He, in a not-so-reverent tone, whispered back "this is nothing like Georgia! We don't have benches in Georgia!". It all went very well and Bristol's blessing was excellent. We all gathered for a family picture, but not everyone was excited about it.

Nick separated the two sides so that it would be easier to crop us out.

Mom has this Aladdin lamp, I turned it into a 10 Virgins prop.

Luca was pretty impressed.

Dad needed his truck dropped off at Totem Pole, so I loaded my scooter in the back because it sounded fun. Lindsea told Mom and Mom didn't think that that sounded safe and sent her to come get me. She asked where I was, this was my response:

By the time she caught up to me, I was stopped by a deputy that I knew and who wanted to see the sweet scooter. Meanwhile, Jens has been dealing with an angry gall bladder while we wait for her surgery. 

There have been many porch sitting nights.

I think Huddy enjoyed the attention on his birthday, but it was kind of hard to tell.

DeA and I drove the boys to FSY for a week in Seattle. Not just Seattle, but stupid downtown Seattle at Seattle University. They were excited.

Javi is feeling the patriotic spirit this summer.

Dad made a bunch of hamburgers for the impromptu family reunion. Leo really really wanted to help.

Jensley ate a bunch of blueberries and then had a gall bladder attack and vomited. DeA just about fainted when she walked in to see the toilet like this:

Leo liked being a people and sitting on the porch with everyone else.