Summer Finale

The last couple of weeks for us have been busy, busy, busy! Thanks to Uncle Mattman and Aunt Gillian, we had a grand summer finale and took a trip to Portland, Oregon. Sadly, Eric couldn't come with us due to school. We missed him like crazy, but we made the best of it and had a good trip.

 We stopped in Idaho to see the Snake River. Tessa was convinced the river was full of snakes. 

 The sun was so bright, we couldn't open our eyes for pictures!

 We stopped in Twin Falls, Idaho to see the new new temple there. 

 Tessa loves to find flowers

 Lunch break!!

 We stopped at Shoshone Falls in Idaho. Adam loved these cause they kinda look like Niagara Falls. They were quite the site!

 We are blessed to have good little travelers! I got Adam 3 chapter books to read on the trip, thinking he might not even get through one of them. He finished the first one in about an hour and a half! Uncle Ben took his naps on Adam's lap.

 We were so thankful that Tessa didn't get car sick once while we were gone! A true blessing! She is a princess everywhere she goes...she had to bring her crown with us. 

 A yummy dinner at Golden Corral. The kids were excited about the cotton candy!

 Gwennie the buffalo.

 We saw some cool things in Oregon. We stopped at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center and checked some things out there. The cousins had fun playing with their tops from Ma.

 On the Oregon trail! You can still see the wagon tracks. Pretty cool!

 The only complaint I have about my kids when we travel is that they don't sleep in the car. Why, I have no idea, but they don't. When Tessa fell asleep one afternoon, I was shocked and had to document the moment!

 We stopped outside of Portland to see another cool waterfall. Adam is afraid of heights, so the fact that he was up on that bridge made me proud of him! That's him in the red hat with Katy and Ben.

 Aunt Dee and Gwen

Gillian is from the Portland area, so she and Matt were sealed in the Portland temple. It was hotter than heck, but the temple was beautiful and it was fun to see another temple.

 Adam and Tessa loved seeing their Uncle's in their uniforms. Here they are with Uncle Danny.

 Matt and Gillian

 Matt and Vincent

 Tessa was thrilled that Gillian had a candy bar at the reception and declared herself, "The Queen of Candy!!"

 I can't believe my little Mattman is all grown up and married. 

Tessa's favorite table!

 Gwen and Pa

 Matt and Danny-(Matt is Air force and Danny is Army)

 Tessa wanted to catch Gillian's bouquet so badly. One of the bridesmaids helped her out a bit!

 She caught it and was so happy!!!

 Everyone was so happy to swim in the hotel pools. My kids are fish and would live in water if I let them. Especially Gwen!

Tessa & Ares

 Tessa would swim around yelling at the top of her lungs, "Go Missy Franklin! Go Missy Franklin! Missy Franklin wins the gold!!!"

 Adam trying to float.

At one of our stops for lunch, Tessa insisted she sit alone with Pa!

 We stopped and saw the Boise Capitol.

 We saw the Boise temple

We came home this week and got ready for the Utah reception. I spent 2 days making over 450 cake balls! 

 We had fun visiting with so many family and friends. It was a fun party!

 Adam and Tessa did a good job of taking care of the kids table.

Our summer adventures are over for this year. It was fun to go out with a bang! We are glad Matt and Gillian are so happy. Now it's time to get back into the groove of normal life and figure out what "normal life" is. We are so grateful to live close to our family and create new memories with them!