Seaside

In July we got to spend time with more of our cousins.  My brother and his family came for a visit.  They drove on Saturday, went to church with us on Sunday, and then we all (both families and Nana and Papa) drove to the coast to spend 3-4 days there.  It was great!  We had such a good time playing with our Utah cousins, splashing in the ocean, swimming in the pool, building sandcastles, eating good food, and playing at the park.  We stayed in a little house that was about 3 blocks from the beach.  It was the cutest little place.  We had to leave Wednesday but everyone else stayed until Friday.  Friday everyone came over to our house for dinner and we played Beatles RockBand and hung out.  It was a great time and I am so glad we got to see them before we move.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the cousins (don't ask me why....I don't know) or the house where we stayed but I do have a few to share.

This is one of my favorite beaches.  Its called Indian Beach.  You may recognize it from the movies Goonies or Twilight.  We got there when the tide was pretty high and still coming in but I've been there before (like 13 years ago) when the tide was super low and there were sand dollars everywhere.  It's such a picturesque beach.  This is also the beach where I started reading The Hobbit for the first time.

My handsome boys. 

My handsome hubby catching the little waves!  He was dying for any kind of surf and these small waves were all that were there. 

I took a nap and woke up to all my guys building this sandcastle.

The sunset at the beach just 3 blocks from our little vacation rental.  Gorgeous! 

Fourth of July

Fourth of July

Our cousins came to visit us before we move half way around the world and so we celebrated the 4th of July with them.  It was great to watch the kids all play together.  The boys all got along together well and I think some fun memories were made.  On Monday we went to the beach; on Tuesday we went swimming and ate dinner at Grandma Deanna's and had the boys spend the night; on Wednesday we met up for lunch, played, and ate dinner at Grandpa Kurt's; and on Thursday we had a wonderful lunch at Grandma Deanna's and played with more cousins from Grandpa Dave's family and swam and watch fireworks at Hag's house.  Good times. 

Ryder, Bailey, and Grant jumping on the tramp

 Jack playing on an iPhone with Canyon and Sam watching

 The brothers and a sister

 Waiting for fireworks at Hag's.


Now its Saturday and tonight our cousins from Utah come to visit.  We are going to spend some time next week at the beach and we are VERY excited.  We are planning on driving to Seaside to spend about 3 days at the beach.  Yippeeee!  We LOVE the beach and the beach with cousins is even better.   
Of course all these visits have doctor appointments sprinkled through them.  I had to visit the doctor to get some blood work done.  The kids had to visit the doctor for general check-ups, TB skin tests, and blood draws.  I had to get some immunizations at a travel pharmacy.  I got Tdap, Hepatitis A & B (cuz back in the old days we didn't get those immunizations when we were little), and Japanese Encephalitis.  The Tdap hurt and still does.  Plus I got muscle aches from it.  No wonder little ones are so grumpy after shots.  I have to go back for more Hep A & B and Japanese Encephalitis.  Not too thrilled about that.  But hopefully all the medical clearances will go through and we can get it taken care of.     

Hello and Welcome to Me!

After many years of looking at blogs, I've finally decided to create one.  Actually, I created this so friends and family (you) can look at what we are up to on the other side of the world.  I am planning on using this as a way to post pics and explain what its like when we are living in Thailand.  We are super excited and scared all rolled up into one.  Lots to do before we leave our lovely home here in Oregon though.  So, I'll try to post regularly but its me so you never really know.