Yakima, Washington - June 14, 2014

Jeff and I went to Yakima, Washington, to meet his friends Jeff/Cassie from Kentucky yesterday.  Union Gap had a Civil War re-enactment that we went to.  It was a beautiful day and we had a good time.

The people were dressed up in period clothing.

They had camps for the Union soldiers, the Confederate soldiers, and the towns people.

We watched a parade with antique farm machinery.  It reminded me of growing up on the farm.

This is the Union army during the re-enactment.

I had to rest my feet and sat down on the ground for awhile.

On the way to and from, we saw lots of wind turbines near The Dalles, Oregon.

The river views were just beautiful!

We stopped in Cascade Locks at Eastwind for ice cream cones on the way home.  They call these mile-high ice cream cones.  I had a small and this is a medium that Jeff had.  I was hoping he'd get large so you could see how big large is.

It was a fun and relaxing day.

Visiting Bryce on His Mission - June 9, 2014

Jeff and I just had a fun evening with Bryce (Elder Pless) and his companion Elder Mather.  We started the evening by having dinner at Olive Garden in Lake Oswego.  We had the 2 dinners for $25 and had soup or salad, bread sticks, pasta, and dessert.  It was so good!  It was fun talking too.

After dinner we went over to the Visitor's Center and watched a couple of movies and heard the presentation about the Christus.

Then we walked around the temple and saw the flowers that Bryce planted with his ward.

We laughed and talked and had a great time.  I sent pictures to Gary and Venus.  I think I'm Bryce's favorite aunt now!  It was hard to say good-bye but I hope to see him again in August.  It was a great evening and so much fun.  This final picture was taken in Tigard where Bryce lives.  He's a good missionary and I was thrilled to see how happy he is with being a missionary.

Kayla's Wedding - June 6, 2014

 My niece Kayla Plessinger was married in the Portland Temple to Jared Johnson.  It was a beautiful ceremony and I was happy I could attend.  We had a delicious and fun family dinner the night before the wedding.

My First Time Kayaking - May 31, 2014

 Jeff took me kayaking on the river near Ridgefield, Washington.  It was nice.  We paddled about 4.2 miles.  My arms got tired but I wasn't sore this morning.

We stopped in the middle of our 3 hour adventure to have lunch at this nice location with beautiful yellow wildflowers.  

We saw 3 bald eagles and 4 blue herons.  It was a beautiful day.  I enjoyed myself more than I expected.

Mother's Day Weekend in Missouri - 2014

 I went to visit my mom for Mother's Day and had the best time ever!  The day I arrived we went to Liberty Jail and the Independence Visitor's Center for our church.  The above picture is from Liberty Jail.  I was really touched by how easy it is to be a member of the church today compared to Joseph Smith's day.

 This picture is from the visitor's center in Independence.  It was so fun to go on the tour.

 I love the Christus and our picture together.  This is also from the visitor's center.

 A lovely sunset from the patio of my mom's house....

 My mom made these delicious cinnamon rolls!  I had 3 because they were irresistible!

 One day we went shopping in Kansas City and nearby.  This was a really fun store and I bought 3 scarves here.  We also went to Trader Joe's and Kohl's and had a great time.

 On a different day we went to Holden.  This is a picture of the inside of the post office.

 I loved these beautiful flowers - my favorites - outside of the post office.

 This is in Holden also where my mom bought tomato and herb plants for her garden.

 My mom and dad on Mother's Day.  Mom is wearing some of her new jewelry from our fun shopping trip.

 Mom worked in the garden one day while I was there.

 This is a picture of her house.

 A picture of Holden, Missouri - they have a Sonic!

The most fun thing we did was go to Charming Charlie's.  We had a great time in this store and bought ourselves and each other Mother's Day presents here.  My bought herself something from each of her kids so we both had a wonderful Mother's Day with our new jewelry and scarves.

We also made cards one day and that was fun.  It was a great visit and I had a wonderful time.

Long Beach, Washington on Memorial Day!

 Jeff and I went to Long Beach, Washington, to spend Memorial Day!  We had a great time.  We went to a cranberry farm (in the picture above) which was very interesting.  I had fun shopping at the cranberry gift shop.

 Jeff and I were both having fun taking pictures at the beach.

 It was windy and rainy when we arrived so we had the beach to ourselves.  We sat for a very long time and just watched and listened to the waves.  

 Within 30 minutes, it cleared off, the wind died down, and the sun came out.  It ended up to be a beautiful day.  I enjoyed watching this seagull in the ocean.

 Then we went to town and had seafood for lunch.  

 I loved this sign for the beach.

This is the other side of the sign.  

What a great day we had at the beach.  I slept great last night and I'm sure it was from the relaxing day.  It was wonderful!

Celebrating Mom's Birthday in Portland - March 2014

 I took a day off work to spend with my mom and celebrate her birthday.  Her favorite place is Bob's Red Mill so that was our first stop.  She loves that place!

 Next we went to Penzey's Spices - another fun place to shop.

Then I took her out to eat lunch for her birthday.  She had fried oysters - one of her favorite meals.  She really enjoyed it.  It was a really fun day spending time together - shopping and having lunch.  I love my mom!

Dental Visit to Grants Pass - March 2014

 My mom and Randy both needed dental work done for implants so I made the trip to Grants Pass with them.  Kade wanted to get his teeth whitened so he came along also.  My mom made these adorable dresses for Adalei and Brielle.  I thought they looked really cute.

 While the dental work was underway, I watched Elijah play with his trains.

 Randy and Kade kept busy on their devices.  We drove down on Sunday afternoon and returned to Portland Tuesday evening.

 We had a fun Family Home Evening while we were there.

 Grandma Creek didn't want to smile and show where she was missing a tooth. 

 Adalei gave a great lesson for FHE.

 Randy was in pain....

 Elijah loves to play basketball and I enjoyed watching him.

 Elijah is really good at shooting with his basketball.

 Brielle was coloring.

 Isaiah's first steps....

 Brielle in Kindgergarten

 Grandma Creek took us to lunch at the Mexican restaurant - Tacos Locos.

On the way home we stopped at Cabela's for Kade to do some shopping.  It was a fun two day trip to Grants Pass.  I was really happy that I could go along.