Washington

There are a million great things about being in Washington. A few of them are trips to the Castle Rock Bakery (where P was enjoying a chocolate donut), park weather in January, and G being able to spend the day at his old preschool. The weather is wonderful -- wet and foggy, just the way I like it. Obviously, the best part of being in Washington is spending time with our family and friends, and as such, it is bittersweet to know that we will be leaving for Alaska in three short days. Don't get me wrong, we are certainly looking forward to four days on the Pacific Ocean, finally getting to Alaska, and eventually getting settled into a new house, but the goodbyes do not get easier with practice...trust an expert.


P.S. The High School that Sky and I are standing in front of is in a very popular movie...bet you can't name it.

It's Only A Day Away

Tomorrow is the big day...we'll all bundle up in our rain gear, pile in the Jeep, and trek down to Portland to find if Baby McBean will come home in a tutu or John Deere overalls. This may not make sense, but I am dreading it as much as I'm looking forward to it. I love being able to know what color to buy, having a name to call the baby, and being able to answer the question "so, what is it?", but there is also something sweet aboout not knowing and trying to imagine the baby as a newborn little boy and ten minutes later imagining a little girl. But, the mystery can't last forever, because sooner rather than later this baby has to be born. So, who wants to place their bet...pink or blue?

C-a-l-i-f-o-r-n-i-a

I spent 72 hours in California.
I had planned the quick trip when we weren't scheduled to get our passports on time to travel through Canada. A quick trip would allow me to get birth certificates for me and the kids and get the details of passports and traveling worked out. Turns out that the passports for all of us showed up about two weeks early and there was really no need for me to go to the Golden (insert sarcasm) State. But, I already had a ticket and it had been awhile since I had a) seen some of my best friends b) had my hair cut and colored and c) breathed smog, so I headed down there. It doesn't take more than about five minutes being off of the plane to realize that California really is like a whole different country. The pretension just seeps out of people.
But as much as I wholeheartedly dislike CA, I love my friends and I was grateful to be able to spend the day with my awesome friends like Nancy, Amy, and Eileen, as well as seeing a bunch of people that I had been missing for a long time. An added bonus is that my head is about 15 pounds lighter and a bit bluer thanks to Eileen!
I flew back into Portland last night, only to hear G said to John "okay, now you're a good daddy because you got my mommy back". It's sweet to be missed.

Another Ode to Portland

Some of the coolest things about Portland...

1. It's so easy to entertain our kids. G could ride the street car all day, it's his favorite thing to do in the city.

2. Portland is famous for its food trucks. If you know John and I then you know how much we love eating at taco trucks, and P-town has trucks from every region of the world...today I had the best Pad Thai ever, it came off a truck.

3. My sister-in-laws work building has a birds nest in it -- a gigantic, human sized birds nest.

Portlandia

It feels great to be back in the Northwest. Family, familiar stores and sights, and Portland make Chris happy. Despite the lack of interesting pictures, Portland is one of my favorite places to be. Close to the top of my list for reasons why is Cupcake Jones, a quaint little shop in the Pearl where I absolutely insisted we stop for dessert last night after dinner at Deschutes Brewery. You just can't beat the cupcakes. Aside from the amazing breweries and cupcakes that the Portland area has to offer, there are so many fun things to do with G & P. Yesterday we took them to the Portland Children's Museum, which I'm pretty sure we enjoyed as much as them. P is completely enthralled with the fairy wings that her dad got her there.

We were also fortunate enough to secure babysitting so that we could have an adult night with Sky and some great friends (Ben is the guy whose head you see in the Jones picture).

Of course, in addition to all of the awesome things about Portland, there are weird things too. Portland is known for their very enthusiastic campers -- campers so dedicated that they camp under the bridges and on street corners. Really, the town is full of weirdos and slackers. The dream of the 90's is alive in Portland -- ask any Portlander.

So, tomorrow we're getting on the street car and seeing where it takes us. It should be a fun day.

Home, Home on the Rez

It's hard to explain to people what the reservation is like. To say that it's rural is the understatement of a lifetime. John honestly grew up outside of the realm of civilization. The other night we ran out of milk and it was an hour round trip to get a gallon. On a typical day on the drive from John's house to either Athena or Pendleton you are likely to see wild horses, eagles, turkeys, deer, elk, and some days even a cougar. For G especially, this is like Disney World. He loves nothing more than driving up the river "hunting", hanging out with his cousins eating the days kill, and getting in quality time with his Papa. Oh, and not far away, there is Hal's Hamburgers -- best fry sauce anywhere.

Missing Out

One of my favorite things about coming to Oregon is John's Aunt Mary. Not only does she make the best elk taco's ever, but she is so insightful and funny that I could sit and talk to her for days on end. So, I was really excited to hang out with Aunt Mary and John's cousins last night. That time is never boring -- our kids played until they were exhausted, John and his cousins had some quality boy time, and I laughed until I cried with Aunt Mary, Nicole, and Kelsey. It's days like yesterday that really make us feel like we are missing out on something important, for ourselves and our children, while we go gallavanting across the world with the Army. It's a double edged sword, but at the end of the day we're following our call and trusting God and we're at peace with that, even if there are some sad days here and there.

The Great State

We've finally made it to Oregon! After a VERY long detour and $250's at Cabela's in Boise we started on the final stretch of this leg of our trip. The weather did not hold out today. From Ladd Canyon all the way home there was snow. Luckily John and his dad are awesome snow drivers and we made it to the reservation safely.

Our kids are oddballs in that they get better each day of a long trip, so today they were great, but by the end of the day they were exhausted and ready to be out of the car, but who could blame them? I felt the exact same way.

So we're in the Gibbon/Adams/Athena area until Friday if you are in the area and are so inclined to want to see us.

Random change of subject -- there has been so much going on in the last week that I have completely forgotten to mention that the baby has started moving! One of the best things about the third baby is that you are aware enough of your pregnancy that you recognize movement sooner, for which I am grateful. I love it when the baby starts to move...Only 10 days until we find out if G & P are going to be joined by an R or an M.

Just Another Day in the Commander

How many of you who are not from the West forget that Utah and Idaho are even states? Go ahead and raise your hands - I know this happens because I often forget that Iowa and Wisconsin are states. Well I am here to tell you that Utah and Idaho have some of the best scenery in the lower 48 (I don't feel qualified to compare them to Alaska - yet). Today we drove through the Flaming Gorge across Utah and then north into Idaho. During our drive something amazing happened - it rained! I haven't seen rain in six months.

We made a necessary trip to WalMart in Rock Springs this morning, so we got off to a late start, but we still made great time and the weather held out for us again, even the wind died down. We bought each of the kids a digital camera to take their own pictures. They maxed out their memory cards taking pictures of all of the dead game on the side of the road and the cool signs they saw, so then they took off their socks and shoes and staged a sock puppet show. Thanks to a $17 investment called Mickey's Numbers Round Up, the cameras, and the sock puppets we had a generally tear free day.

The late start made us reconsider our final destination for today and we decided to stop in Twin Falls, Idaho, where the kids are currently knocked out after pool playtime. It's about time for me to join them.

Tomorrow we head for the reservation and the break from long days in the car is welcomed by us all.