Garage Sales and Craigslist (July 14)

 I got a ride with my brother/sister-in-law to Grants Pass when they were on their trip to Red Bluff.  It was a short visit but I had fun.  Saturday morning we went to garage sales and the kids were given a budget of 4 things.  Elijah picked this truck first.  Rather than play in the dirt with it, he liked to ride it down the slope in his driveway.  He had a few crashes but just kept doing it over and over again.  I think we paid $3 for it.

 This scooter that Brielle has came from Craigslist in Vancouver.  It is like new and I was able to get it for $15.  Since they sell for $50 now, that was a great deal.  Brielle and Adalei both had a fun time riding it.

 Adalei had a great time playing games on my i-phone.  I was amazed at her math skills.  She learned a lot in kindergarten.  I enjoyed watching her play the various games.  She is holding a pink poodle that we got at a garage sale for a quarter.

 Elijah's Hot Wheels scooter was another good find on Craigslist in Grants Pass.  It cost me $10 and it was well worth it because he loves to ride it.

 Adalei picked an Easy Bake Oven for one of her purchases.  It was $3 and works great.  The picture above shows her getting ready to eat the puffy pancake she made in her Easy Bake Oven.  She also warmed cold pizza and made a melted cheese sandwich.  She was having a great time with it.  I was impressed that her parents took the time to help her use it right away.  She was so excited.

My final picture is of Brielle with one of her purchases.  I think this doll was a quarter too.  It didn't cost much but the kids really had fun going to garage sales.  

I have to thank Jenna for giving me the idea to get scooters for Adalei, Brielle, and Elijah.  Jenna pointed out how much fun they were having with Weston's and Benson's scooters at our family reunion.  I'm so glad we found them used on Craigslist.  Thanks Jenna!

All Good Things Come to an End!

I had such a wonderful time with my whole family here.  I wish they could have stayed longer.  I'm so grateful that they came and I really enjoyed each minute of each day.  I can't thank them enough for this wonderful surprise and for loving me like they do.  I am so very blessed.  I will always remember 2012's Fourth of July since I have such special memories.  The kids got up early on day 5 and left quickly.  We couldn't find one of Brielle's shoes so I didn't get any final pictures of Adalei, Brielle, and Elijah before they left at 7 am.  I was able to get Paisley's picture (above), and Audrey (below) before Jason, Ashley, and Charity left at 8 am.

 

 

 Spencer was still half asleep when they left.  (above)

 Casey, Jenna, and Malcolm were the last to leave at 9 am.  I missed getting Benson's picture but got final pictures of Weston above with the sword and Allison below.

I miss them already.  It was such a joyous occasion.  I will cherish my memories of it forever.  I can hardly wait to see them all again. 

Portland LDS Temple and Wedding Reception

Day 4 was another busy day but I didn't get pictures like I wish I had.  Charity and I went to Carly Plessinger's wedding in the Portland Temple.  (Carly is my cute niece.)  She married Jacob Wilhite. 





Below, Adalei took this picture of me. 

 Above, Adalei and Brielle in front of the fountain at the temple.  Below, the girls were having fun coloring.  In between taking these pictures we went to the Woodburn Outlets for a couple of hours.

 We came home to have a delicious dinner with BBQ pork sandwiches that Jenna made.  Jenna was amazing to have it all ready so quick and it was so very yummy!  We all enjoyed our dinner very much.  Allilson had a fever so I ran to the store for some liquid Tylenol for her.  Then we rushed off to Carly's reception.  Below is a picture of Casey passing out sparklers to Weston, Spencer, Paisley, and Benson after the reception.  They thought that was fun!

 Two final shots at the wedding reception of my two youngest grandchildren - Audrey above and Allison below.  They didn't get too excited about the sparklers.

Garage Sales, Lacamas Lake. and Miniature Golf

Day 3 started out with the boys having breakfast.  Weston, Benson, and Elijah were so cute eating their cereal at the little table.

 

 

Casey and I wanted to go to garage sales so we decided to do it first thing that morning.  Jason, Charity, and Nate were up so they went with us.  We had a great time!  It was so much fun!  We found so much good stuff.  It was exciting.  In the picture above Jason and Casey were hurrying to beat the other at finding the "good" stuff.  We laughed a lot and really enjoyed ourselves.

Then we came home to show off our great deals.  Spencer (above) loved his moose.  He was so excited.  Below he is watching as Jason and Casey figure out which cars are theirs. 

Benson (below) had fun with his new cars. 

Below, more garage sale finds - Weston's sunglasses and you can see that Spencer has two hands full of cars.  The boys were really happy with their new toys.  I can't remember now what else we bought but we got quite a bit of stuff.  We got books for all the kids and Barbies for Paisley.  I think we had something for everyone.

Above Adalei, Brielle, Paisley, Weston, and Elijah were enjoying the strawberries and raspberries from my garden.  The boys would go outside and then come in and tell me that they ate all my raspberries.  They were so cute and I was thrilled that they were enjoying themselves so much.

In the afternoon, we went on a hike to Lacamas Lake and had a great time.  Above is a picture of us hiking and below is a picture of the beautiful lake.  Thanks to Misty for the great idea.

This appeared to be a skate boarding place and the kids had a fun time.  Casey was running up and down the steep concrete wall.  Then Weston tried to do the same.  He was able to reach the top of the concrete wall.  We had a couple of skinned knees on the boys but no one got hurt.

After the hike, we stopped at the park so the kids could play.  Ashley holding Audrey, Jenna, and Charity were relaxing on the bench.  I captured this cute moment with Audrey below.

The kids and their dads had a really fun time playing on this structure.  You can see above that the kids could hang on and then below the dads took a turn.  I think Casey was able to hold on the longest as the structure went in circles.

Nate suggested ice cream so we stopped at Costco for treats on the way home from the hike.  (See above.)  

Below is a picture of darling Allison.  I just loved her dress and she just looks like a little princess.

 
Here's a picture of Weston picking raspberries above.

 

 

Above, Spencer and Benson were checking out my strawberry patch.

Then the kids really gave me a wonderful gift - another surprise - they just started doing yard work for me.  Casey and Jenna were pulling weeds and Jason was clearing my raspberries so I could get in to walk around them and pick them.  After Nate cleaned his car, he came to help also.  Malcolm was great to mow and edge my front yard, then he mowed my back yard.  They sure did a lot of work fast and I was thrilled.  I really felt loved to have them do this service for me.

I had fun taking pictures of Audrey and Allison.  They are just cute beyond words.  I took lots of pictures and thought the above one was the best as they were both smiling.  I am such a lucky grandma to have such cute grandchildren.

We weren't able to find a babysitter so Malcolm stayed home with the kids while the adults went to play miniature golf.  I think Jenna was the winner of that game.  It was chilly and we had fun.  After that, we stopped at Shari's for pie.  We stayed up late!  The day just went so fast.

Voodoo and the Zoo

 Day 2 of the family reunion started off with the kids watching a movie. 

 Our first stop was Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland.  We all enjoyed our Voodoo doughnuts.  The voo doo doll is my favorite!  Spencer above picked a doughnut that looked yummy.  Paisley (below) was slow to eat her sprinkles doughnut.

 Benson above finished his doughnut and was ready for the zoo.  

Adalei below is holding the empty box that held our doughnuts.

 As you can see above, the kids were really excited to go to the zoo and see all the animals.

 Playing on a tractor above.  Below is Audrey in her stroller.

 Spencer loved this horse above.  Aunt Charity took Paisley to see the goat below.

 Paisley above and Elijah below.  It was wonderful to see them look so happy.

 Precious Allison above and the kids playing in a car below.

 On the way home from the zoo, I caught Audrey (above) sucking her thumb while sleeping.  She looked so peaceful.  

We ended the night with dinner at Who Song & Larry's while the kids stayed home with a babysitter.  Afterward, we went to Powell's Bookstore and had a fun time mostly looking in the children's section.