Smiles from Grants Pass, Oregon

The best part about needing dental work is getting the chance to go see my son and his family. Adalei and Brielle were so entertaining - singing and dancing!

I brought raspberries from Vancouver that I had picked that morning. Misty made two batches of yummy raspberry muffins. They didn't last long.

Elijah..........

We made crab sandwiches. Red peppers were $2 each so I bought a 79 cent green pepper for the claws... We all enjoyed them very much.

Congratulations to Nate and Misty on 8 successful years of marriage!
They celebrated their anniversary while I was there!

In addition to the crab sandwiches, we made rockets out of hot dogs. They were really good and I enjoyed mine very much. As you can see in the picture below, Elijah loved his hot dog rocket also.

Elijah playing with the pillows.....

Two sisters with coordinating outfits - pink and navy..............

A close up of Elijah...

The three kids full of smiles! This is my favorite picture!

Lastly, a picture of me holding Elijah. How do you like my new hair cut?
It was hard to leave - like usual. I had a fun time and look forward to my next trip!

My first crown........

Last Monday I was in Dr. Tanner's office with a cracked tooth. I needed a crown.... Nate did a great job of making the crown and completing the work in one afternoon. No temporary crown or waiting. I was so impressed with his equipment and the staff at his office.

I wear a retainer so my orthodontist was concerned that the retainer would no longer fit after the crown. Nate made the crown exactly like my tooth so my retainer still fits perfectly! I highly recommend Dr. Tanner to anyone that needs dental work! He is great!

I love the new sign for his dental office.........

Adalei and Brielle Performing!

Final 4th of July Shots!

This picture was taken at the airport. Both boys were sleeping so I didn't get to tell them good-bye. I did give them good-bye kisses! I cried to see them go. What a fantastic time I had with them. I hope they will come visit me again before too long!

We had our traditional dinner at Who Song & Larry's. However, we were disappointed in the quality of the food and our service. Perhaps we will need to change our tradition location next time!

I was so excited to go to Voo Doo Doughnuts with Casey and Jenna. The doughnuts were so good! The Portland cream and the Voo Doo doll doughnut (in the picture below) were my two favorites! We'll have to make this trip for doughnuts part of our tradition also! Casey and Jenna really enjoyed the maple bars with bacon on top!

We had fun making crab sandwiches - I thought they turned out cute!

Jenna helped me make chocolate covered strawberries for our snack at the fireworks! She made all the fancy decorations with the white icing that looks very professional! These were absolutely delicious!
It was a very happy 4th of July week for me! Lots of wonderful memories that I will cherish and remember in years to come!

Proud to be Americans!

It was so much fun to do lots of red, white and blue to celebrate the 4th of July!

Jenna made this delicious shortcake with real whipped cream, strawberries, and blueberries. I loved it!

I made little goody buckets (instead of goody bags) for each of them to celebrate the holiday. The boys had fun playing with the flags the most.

Jenna made awesome chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries and blueberries for our 4th of July breakfast! Yum!

Casey and Benson waiting for the parade to pass by.....

Weston having fun at the 4th of July picnic......

Benson wandering around with his bag of potato chips. He sure loves chips!

Family time at the swing set after the picnic lunch at the park!

What a beautiful family! I just loved the patriotic outfits!

Jenna made these white chocolate dipped strawberries that we took to the fireworks that night!

Waiting for the fireworks to start.... Benson fed himself some yogurt.....

Another bag of chips for Benson!

The Best 4th of July!

I was just thrilled that Casey, Jenna, and the boys came to visit me for a week at the 4th of July! I had a terrific time and hope they did as well. We had lots of fun and kept busy! On the first day they were here, we went to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science & Industry). Benson had fun just running around and hiding....

Casey and Jenna were good at the brain teasers. (Benson was hiding under one of these tables in the picture above.)

At lunch time, Weston was more interested in playing than eating. He was so cute!

At the zoo gift shop, Weston was quick to make his selection for purchasing.... I wanted to buy him everything he was holding but didn't. He loved the lizard, snake, and dinosaur the best!

When we went to Walmart, Weston disappeared and we got quickly concerned when we couldn't find him for awhile. I was calling his name and finally I heard him reply to me... He was underneath these bean bags hiding! It was so cute! I had to take a picture of him climbing out after we all had a good laugh!

We had lunch at Humdinger's one day. It is a popular hamburger spot in Portland. This was on our way to the outlets in Woodburn where we had a fun time shopping.

My pictures are a bit out of order.... This dinosaur picture of Jenna and Benson was taken at the zoo.

This cute picture of Weston and Benson having lunch at their own picnic table was taken at Humdinger's.

Another picture taken at the zoo...... What cute boys!

Benson was so adorable to watch sitting at the little table and eating his breakfast. I just can't hardly describe how much it meant to me to have them here. It was just wonderful!
Thanks Casey and Jenna for coming to visit!

Visit from Mom and Dad!

My mom and dad - 20+ years of marriage and still happy... We mostly talked and ate but we did go a few places during the 9 days they were here.

My mom, dad, and nephew Kade had fun shopping at Bob's Red Mill. Then we crossed the street to get yummy bread from Dave's Killer Bread store.

We had fantastic doughnuts at Voo Doo Doughnuts. My dad LOVES doughnuts so we all went to try them out. The favorite in the group was the maple bar with a piece of bacon on top. My favorites were the Voo Doo doll and the Portland cream! Delicious!

The Voo Doo Doughnut truck...........

We had fun at Portland's Saturday's Market. I bought myself several necklaces with glass pendants! They are beautiful and I'm having fun wearing all of them!

This is a picture of us at church - Susan taught a great Relief Society lesson on families.
From the left, Kade (nephew), dad, mom, me, Susan (sister-in-law) in the back, Susan's mother in the front, and Randy (brother). I had one of my new necklaces on in this picture.

Susan and I took my mom shopping at the Christopher & Banks store for a new Sunday outfit. She ended up getting 3 tops and some jewelry. (I got myself some jewelry too!) She bought this top that she has on in the picture. (The "belt" around her head was just for a fun picture.)

My dad watched 7 western movies while he was here. He LOVES them and could have watched more. I didn't watch any of them. Here's a picture of my dad, mom, and John watching one of the movies.

It was a really fun visit - one of the best. I was sad to see them go!

The love of my life............

my family! This picture was taken at Whiskeytown Falls with my camera. I would have liked to have taken a family picture with Jason's camera - perhaps at Christmas or the next reunion!

From left to right, me, Nate holding Elijah, Brielle and Adalei on Misty's lap, Ashley holding Paisley, Jason holding Spencer, Charity, Jenna holding Benson, and Casey holding Weston! These people are the most important people in this world to me! I am so blessed and love my family so much! I cherish all our times together and wish we lived closer! I look forward to seeing them again soon.