Portland, OR

 As previously mentioned, Paul and I decided to road trip up to Oregon.

Why?

This was our last chance to make it up there before his parents leave on their mission to Ukraine!

The drive went without a hitch.

We arrived safe & sound and spent the rest of the evening with family.

On Friday morning, we woke up early and went to the Portland Temple.

There were beautiful flowers EVERYWHERE. 

Who is this boy?

Following our Temple trip, we went to lunch at Chang's. It's a restaurant very similar to Blue Pacific Grill. You pick everything you want and then it gets grilled up in front of you.

Seeing as it was a buffet, I tried my best to refrain from over stuffing myself.

I wanted to save room for the family bbq we had in the backyard later that evening.

The weather, food and company were wonderful.

I wish we had taken more pictures, but we did get a few good shots of the little ones.

Darling Miss Macie

Miss Marion in Mr. Potato Head glasses

Eddie with the biggest smile in the world

Saturday morning was spent playing Taboo. 

(Bryce and Sierra smoked us all)

Then we piled into the car and drove to the middle of nowhere to eat at Helvatia's Tavern.

Paul has been talking about this place for a while, so I had high expectations.

I'm happy to report that my expectations were met! 

The Burgers were divine.

Following lunch, we drove to downtown Portland.

We went to Saturday Market-- where you can buy anything and everything useless.

(Except for their awesome soap. That stuff is not useless.)

Sierra & Bryce. Looking good, as usual.

Saturday night was spent shopping for black flats.

I destroyed my last pair and have been trying to find a replacement.

We searched and searched and searched . . . 

And I walked away with a pair of completely unnecessary, but oh-so-awesome, high heels.

You don't even know how much my husband loves me.

Later that evening we sorted through Paul's old stuff.

I always enjoy hearing those random, once forgotten stories.

We got a few zzzz's and then woke up early on Sunday so we could head home.

However, we weren't able to leave the house without partaking of the Brallier's generosity.

Paul's parents sent us home with delicious jam, a beautiful rug and other goodies.

Kathryn & Ron saying goodbye as we drove away.

The drive home felt longer than the drive to Portland.

Probably because you lose an hour when you travel East.

However, this trip had a few fun surprises.

I find joy in standing in new states and sticking my finger in bodies of water.

(Click here to see us touching the Mississippi River)

Now get this, when you drive on I-84 through Oregon, the state of Washington is staring you in the face across from the Columbia River.

I was itching inside to drive across a bridge, stand in Washington and stick my finger in the river.

Unfortunately, we got off to a late start on Sunday and I told Paul we didn't have time.

I promptly fell asleep and Paul's sneaky side devised a plan.

When he woke me up, I looked out a window to discover that we were driving across a bridge

 . . . to Washington!

Seriously people, you wouldn't believe how frequently Paul goes out of his way to make me happy.

Picking blackberries in Washington. (You can kinda see the tip of Mt. Hood behind the bushes)

We drove back to Oregon and found a good spot to touch the water.

Paul's turn!

Oh yeah, and then he picked me more wildflowers.

So, as you can see, we had a lovely trip.

Getting home and immediately packing for our Connecticut trip was a bit stressful. . . 

But I'm glad we made time to squeeze Portland into our Summer.