To Oregon For a Visit: Part 1

My heart longed to go back to OR. I loved the weather, the people, the land, the environment as a whole and i missed it all. Dave and i were going to sneak out last Winter/Spring, but when the kids got wiff of it, they said nothing doing! So we waiting until Summer and all 6 of us flew out for 3 weeks. ( spent some time in CA)

We stayed at Ronnie and Nettie for a few days and then at Daniel and Sadie the rest. Both of those couples are super hosts, and they blessed us beyond measure. Things were going so well, that after 2 weeks we were not ready to part ways. Our time was short.

We as a family tried to hit all our favorite spots. My cup is full, so we did pretty good i guess. We also went to new spots that are now a part of my favs. I've waited too long to post and therefore writing is not happening. Enjoy the pics.


We lived near the Alpaca Ranch and never found the time to go til now. It was shearing week and so we watched.
They tie the legs and shear off a 'blanket' of wool all in one piece. Then they continue to shear all the nooks and crannies and fill another garbage bag! LOTS off one animal.
After. Wooless
Sadie's brother Andrew and niece Ashley were with us today.
Tristan loves Georgie and Josiah likes to read. Good buds they are.
Ahh! Bike races in Bend. How do we get so lucky? Twas great fun to stroll around here again.
Here's a spitting contest off the bridge. If a back leg helps i'm sure Dave won. Otherwise i think Meg got it!
A lovely evening out with Ronnie, Nettie, Daniel, and Sadie. Thanks to our teenagers for babysitting all the kiddos.
Anyone recognize this spot? Dave and i have seen so many magazine picture out of Joseph, OR or labeled as being in the Wallowa Mnts/Lake/Valley. And now we see for ourselves why. It was so beautiful in Northeastern OR. The men were elk scouting and begged we ladies to join. We're glad we went!
The town of Joseph.

What more could you want from a place?Just outside of Joseph was this little tourist-y village from where the tram went up to the top of Mount Howard. 8,150 ft.
This cable ride is about 15 minutes long and dangles anywhere from 3 ft to 120 ft above the ground. The view was spectacular, but i guess i used both hands to hang on, rather than take pics.
There's Daniel, Sadie, Tristan, and Renae.
Oh! Is this why i should be wearing shoes instead of my sandals?
Sadie and her kiddos
The guys are glassing for elk. They hope to hunt in the Eagle Caps this fall.
Dave and I.

We spent the night in La Grande, the guys went out in the morning to set up their trail cam and then we traveled the 4+ hrs. back to Terrebonne. Dave and Daniel saw over 300 elk this morning, so this was a worthwhile trip for them and Sadie and I were very glad we joined them. Tristan and Renae were glad to be home again!

Oregon: Part 2

The kids played in the dirt everyday and if they used water, they made these huge mudballs.
On the warmers days they swam and splashed. Tristan loves having friends stay over!

Finally Renae warmed up to us and here she even flirts with Dave. Or is it the other way around?!

Renae gets a ride while the rest of us take a little walk to the canal.
the kids loved to play in the water, but need a watchful grown-up as it is a swift canal.
The water is ice cold, but she begged to get in it.
Josiah
Skipping rocks
One of our last days here we put the kids to good use.....washing the vehicles that Daniel and Sadie so graciously allowed us to use.Megan just washed her hair and she always wraps it up so her shirt doesn't get wet. Hope that works out for her!
Another fun evening at Ronnie and Nettie's. We love playing 'Shoot the Moon' with them. An old childhood game of Nettie's.

And then we watched elk videos! Jackie and Jody watch as if they've never seen them before. Dave and Ronnie watched as tho they'd never see them again!!Brooke watched just because it was time to go home and she was waiting. Oh, how i hope these tutorials help Dave's hunt this fall!

Looks like Ronnie doesn't need any more videos. I can honestly say that by the end of this 2-week visit i warmed up to the beast in Nettie's formal living room. At first i was campaigning for a move, but i now think he looks handsome. He certainly is worth showing off!And now it's time for good-byes. We always wait to go to the Troutmans until the last minute. As if putting it off makes it easier.......

Oh, Lily!! Just the cutest ever. Dave sure has a list of girlfriends here in CO. We love the Troutmans!
Loaded into and onto the biggest vehicle that the little local airport had. Everyone but the driver was unhappy about this arrangement, but we did survive. We are off to California to spend a fews days with E-man, Marcy, and family. An 8 hour drive, i think.

We had a super-duper time here these past 2 weeks. Thanks to our wonderful hosts and also to our fun loving church family. We LOVED the volleyball and kickball games!! ( why on earth did i not take pictures?!)We'll be back for more.