Family "Vacation"

I started our blog several months ago, but this is my first actual post :)

Someone once told me that once you have kids, you no longer take "vacations, " you take "trips." You do everything you do at home, just in a different location!! So, with that distinction in mind, we were gone on our family "trip" July 27- August 5. We drove to Oregon (in our new minivan...something I swore I would never own, but I have to say... I absolutely LOVE it).

We attended Paul's family reunion in Salem, OR the first weekend of our trip. We had a great time hanging out with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins etc... and hiking Silver Falls, tubing down Mill Creek, practicing our archery skills, and climbing the climbing wall. The White women (Susie and I) made it to the top, even though our husbands didn't...it was the source of much gloating all weekend!! In their defense, the hand holds toward the top did get very small- Susie and I had a (slight) advantage because we have smaller fingers than the boys?!

We moved the gathering to Portland for Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Paul's parents, his brother and family, as well as my dad, brother David, and sister Tiffany all met up there. We all went to the Portland Zoo on Monday and had a long, but fun day there. My aunt Diana and her grandson Joshua, who is just a month older than Avery, also met us for the day. Avery loved Joshua's bike and took it over! Fortunately for Avery, Joshua was content to be pushed around in the stroller.

Tuesday morning Paul, his parents, brother, and I all went to the Portland temple while my dad and brother stayed with our girls at the hotel. It is so beautiful there...so peaceful! A wonderful way to start the day!

Paul's family then went on to Bend, OR and we moved South to my dad's house in Harrisburg. Paul got to do some golfing with my brother David, and I finished up last minute preparations for my 10 year high school reunion.

My reunion was on Saturday August 4th, which also happened to be Paul and my 7th wedding anniversary! Where does the time go?! 10 years out of high school and 7 years married!! CRAZY!!! We had about 50 of the 67 people in our class show up for the family BBQ. I think it was a success- everyone seemed to have a good time! It was fun to see old friends and meet all their kids that look just like them! I have known most of my classmates since we were 4 or 5, so looking at their children is like looking at them in old pictures. Avery was being a little stinker that day... she had tripped down the stairs in Tiffany's high heels and "sprained" her ankle?! She wouldn't walk on it for days! Poor thing! You could tell she wanted to go play with the other kids, but her pain inhibited her. So, she spent the whole day attached to me, Paul, or Uncle DayDay.

We got in the car right after the BBQ was over and drove to my mom's house in the bay area (9 hours straight)! YaYa and Poppa got to see the girls for a little bit in the morning and then we finished our "trip" with the 3 1/2 hour drive home. When we arrived home, we were welcomed by the craziness and chaos of our remodel (more on that later). I wanted to turn around and go back!