Comin at ya a little late....

Not the typical vacation spot!

Don't ya just love free trips? Quinn is in the process of building a new dental office and the headquarters for some of the equipment that he has to purchase is in Portland. So the first week of December we were able to fly out to the coast, mainly for the purpose of choosing dental equipment, but we decided to make a little mini-vacation out of it. When I think of taking a trip, Oregon is not typically the first place that comes to mind...but I was surprised at how beautiful it was! Here are some of the highlights of our quick trip.


We decided to take a drive out to the coast one of the days, and on the way we found this cool Air and Space Museum. Inside this building is the actual Spruce Goose built by Howard Hughes. It is huge!! On the lawn in front of this building they have another huge 747 that they are planning on turning into a water park...with 4 water slides based off the airplane itself. Way cool.

This is as close as I have ever been to the pacific ocean. It's so beautiful. The waves were roaring this particular day and I found myself awed at the amazing creations that make up this world we live in.

I love this guy.

We were driving up the coast and found this cool place to stop and watch the sun fade into the endless expanse of ocean. What an awesome sunset!

We drove out to this place on Sunday after we visited a ward in Portland (which is always very interesting). It's called Multnomah Falls and is located just outside of Portland. Very cool waterfall. I love the bridge connecting the two canyon walls.

Somewhere in the middle of all this we actually did pick out some dental equipment!!

I LOVE it when:

Quinn helps Morgan with her math....


...I am quickly realizing that I am NOT smarter than a 5th grader!

Happy Halloween!

Don't we all just LOVE Halloween?? The ultimate kid fantasy holiday. Here are the kids on the big day, just before heading out to claim their loot...

Morgan, a.k.a Hermione Granger. "Swish and flick"

Layton a.k.a Indiana Jones...Kate lovingly calls him "IndYIana Jones."

Allie, my darling 50's girl...caught her mid-spin on this pic.

Cute Kate...little Tinkerbell. Sometimes referred to as "Stinkerbell". (Only when she's being a stinker of course.)

One holiday down, two to go...Christmas is just around the corner folks! Ready or not...

Yeahhhh! I can SEE!!

Little Miss Rigby

Every year the Rigby High School dance team holds a fundraiser called Little Miss Rigby. Now before I continue, I need to add the disclaimer that I am sooo not a pageant mom and I don't believe in exploiting little girls in that way. That being said, this particular program is kind of like a Junior Miss for little girls. There is no talent portion, they just learn a little physical fitness routine, followed by a poise and interview segment. This is Morgan's second year participating and she has really enjoyed it. They assign each girl a "big sister" from the dance team to help them learn their routines and cheer them on. I think this is Morgan's favorite part. At the end, each girl recieves a rose, and a special award from their "big sister". Morgan's award was Little Miss Hard-Worker. Can't ask for a better award than that! We love you and we're proud of you Morg!

All the girls on stage at the end of the program. There were 42 participants this year!

Morgan after the show...barefoot because her shoes were hurting her feet!

Mom and Morg

Her faithful supporters

Blast from the Past, part duex

While we were on our trip to Boise a few weeks ago, we stopped off for a moment in a little town that has a big place in my heart. In fact, I still like to call it my "hometown" because so much of my growing up happened there. I will always consider myself a blessed person for having the opportunites and friendships that were cultivated there. Here are a few pics of my old stompin' ground.

My old house on Juniper Street. When we lived there it was brown with yellow trim. It has unfortunately fallen into disrepair, but so many good memories remain!

North Elementary where I attended 5th and 6th grade.

Mountain Home Junior High School -- Home of the Patriots

Mountain Home High School -- Home of the Tigers
I took this picture from the back of the school... my friend Forrest and I RAN up this sidewalk nearly every day because we were late...most often it was HIS fault!! :)

Mountain Home High School was unique in the fact that they allowed the art students to paint big murals on the walls of the school. Nearly every wall in the school was covered with some kind of cool painting. Some of them became "landmarks" to me, helping me remember exactly where my classes were. (Chemistry was right next to the Beetles) I heard that soon after we moved from Mountain Home, they painted over all the murals and were no longer allowed to paint on the walls of the school. This is one of the only murals left, painted on the concession stand just outside the school, and happens to be the one my older brother, Mike, painted. Way to go, Mike!

The Seminary building...Brother Roberts was one of the best seminary teachers ever!

Mountain Home City Pool where I worked as a lifeguard and taught swimming lessons for two summers in High School.

Mountain Home Stake Center where I attended church and had some of the most amazing leaders. Not to mention super-fun stake dances!

Anyone from Mountain Home recognizes this iconic landmark just outside of town! Nuff said.