Steel Reunion ~ Tuesday ~ part 3

Back to the beach. It really was breath taking. Especially with the sun out.

These girls had lots of fun together as well. Karlee, Ruby, Avery, and Abby. It's hard to believe that Karlee and Ruby are older than the other girls.

Garrett flying a kite. Kinzie and Todd chatting.

Wes is playing in the sand with the little boys. He's just a big kid!

Dad is hanging out on the deck of Blake and Beth's place to watch the grand kids play on the beach.

Blake made dinner on the grill. It smelled great. These three below were drooling as it was cooking.

Come and eat!! The kids all wanted the shells, but not the clams in the shells. :0)

Usually at a reunion everyone brings rolls of coins that we put in sawdust for the grand kids to find. This year Noelle had a great idea of seashells in sand. It was a big hit.


These three are sorting their shells as if was Halloween candy.

After dinner we had an impromptu photo shoot. It started out with Bailee, Aarin, Waynette, McKinzie, and Taliesyn. You can see Taliesyn calling for someone to join.

Before we were finished this is who gathered. Taliesyn, Noelle, McKenna, Bailee, Aarin, Waynette, McKinzie, Monica, Brenda, Alison and Ruby and Karlee in front of us. On the ground is Beth, Abby, Avery, Blu (Monica did I spell her name right?) Madison and Tanya.

Since the men were taking our pictures, we quickly retrieved our cameras and snapped a few shots of them. We have Blake, Adam, Cameron, Richard, Josh, Josh (yes, with a group this size we are bound to have doubles), Dave, Nick, Jon, Dad (Grandpa), Brian, Nathan, Garrett, and Randall. In the front is Mason, Colby, Todd (he's often with the kids) Coleman, Carson, and Cade.


There was still more that was at the reunion but didn't make it out. And even more family that wasn't able to make it to Oregon.

Steel Reunion ~ Tuesday ~ part 2

After the cheese factory we went to a park to hike to some falls.

Everywhere you looked it was beautiful!

Maybe not everywhere. This slug is not so much.

After our short hike we stayed and ate lunch.

These boys, plus a few others, played extremely well together. Carson, Cade, Mason, Coleman, and Colby.

Steel Reunion ~ Tuesday ~ part 1

Tuesday morning we went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I'm not sure how we got five little boys with us, but they were great. They're watching "Percy Jackson". Our new favorite.

I think these blocks of cheese are about 45 pounds. The workers below are checking the weight. Either adding a little more, or slicing a little off the ends.

Samples...YUM!!

Most of us tried their ice cream. It's probably the creamiest I have ever had.

We need our sunglasses.

Steel Reunion ~ Monday

We left Portland around noon and headed to the coast. On the way, there was an airplane museum that we stopped to check out. Our boys were not very excited to stop. They didn't want to get out of the car. They were too excited about the beach. I finally coaxed them out and we walked around for a bit.

Another hour drive and we made it to the beach. We didn't even unload the car. We all went straight to the water.

If you can't tell from the pictures...it was freezing!!

Our beach house/rental was comfy, modest yet dated. It was perfect.

The sun started to show and more people arrived so back to the beach we went. Some even braved putting on swimsuits.

Luckily there was a hottub for the kids to warm up and wash off some of that sand before dinner.

If you didn't know better, you would think that this is a little family. Adam really took to Skylar. He was even able to get Adam to sleep. This girl next to him is Whitney, Skylar's girlfriend. Skylar is leaving for his mission in a couple of weeks, we'll have to wait and see if she's still around when he returns home. I believe they have been together/friends for four years.

temple

Years ago Brian and I decided to attend the temple once a month. We haven't missed a month yet. There have been some close calls but we have been able to accomplish our goal. Since we were going to Portland, we decided to attend a new (to us) temple. A day or two before we left I checked the schedule online. I was sick when I read that the temple would be closed for maintenance the week we were going to be there. When we arrived the gates were locked so we couldn't get on the grounds. Oh well... It will take a lot more that locked gates for me not to take pictures. Portland is such a beautiful city. There were almost too many trees to get a picture of the temple. Although the third picture is one of my favs. I love how trees frame the temple.

Since we couldn't attend in Portland, we decided to attend the temple in Boise on our drive home. We've attended here many times a long time ago.

Attending the temple brings great blessings. I've seen them. I hope Brian and I always make the temple a priority.

eventful drive

In 8 days we traveled 4,338 miles. The elevation of 11,324 feet over Monarch Pass in Colorado all the way down to the Oregon coast. The kids all traveled great. Watched many movies (Percy Jackson 6 times on the way home). Played DS, had sword fights, read books, slept and laughed.

On our second day driving home Karlee had passed out chocolate bars to everyone about mid morning. A few hours later Bailee starts freaking out that Mason had something all over his legs and the seat. It was the chocolate bar!! He was playing his DS and forgot about the chocolate bar and it had slid under him and melted. I have never been soo grateful to have leather seats. It wasn't hard to clean up, just a little time consuming. New rule...no DS when your eating chocolate! We all had a great time in Oregon. We all are glad to be home. Shortly after we unloaded the car we went for a swim in our big tub in our back yard...yes, it felt that warm. No one really cared. It was great to be swimming and enjoying the hot sun. Oregon was cold.

Oregon coast...

here we come!