Back from Vacation

We recently returned from an almost three week vacation to Utah, Idaho, and Moses Lake, WA. Because this blog is serving as our family journal, I am going to document some high points of the trip. Warning: this will be long, so feel free to skim or skip!

If you prefer to just get the summed-up version, here it is: we spent weeks reveling in everything we love about Utah (and Idaho and Moses Lake). Everyone spent time with some best friends and family. It was sometimes crazy, sometimes relaxing, but overall wonderful.

The end of July Dan and Brandon left to a High Adventure backpacking trip near Pendleton, Oregon. At home, the kids and I packed up and prepared for our family vacation. The guys left the backpack trip a few days early and hiked 7 miles to the cars. Another family was leaving early, and they drove Dan and Brandon to Pendleton. Meanwhile, the kids and I left Vancouver and drove the 4 hours to Pendleton. We met up at the hotel in Pendleton, where we all spent the night.

The next day we drove to Shelley, Idaho to see Kara and Dave Yancey and family. Bailey had spent a few weeks in Shelley with Ashlyn last summer, and she thinks Shelley is the greatest town ever. She's right - it is wonderful. It has a very nice small-town feel. The kids are safe to walk to the store and play outside all day. Our kids had a great time with the Yancey kids and Dan and I loved visiting with Kara and Dave.

One night we took the families to see G-Force at a drive-in. How fun!

Earlier the same day we attended a rodeo featuring little kids. It was fun to show the kids a real rodeo. The most exciting event was the sheep riding. It was crazy - little kids held onto a sheep the best they could, until they were thrown off, under over, whatever. The announcers called it "the only form of legal child abuse in Idaho!"

Ashlyn, Bailey, and Aubrey watching the rodeo.

Joseph and Lauren, both age 4, had a great time together. They dressed up in costumes and played nonstop outside.

Getting a snow cone was a highlight for the kids. What a fun rite of summer!

Here the girls are preparing to walk to the store to get a treat.

Saturday, August 1st we left Shelley to drive to Utah. We arrived just in time to change our clothes and drive to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. Dad (Grandpa Springer) attended with us.

A few weeks prior, a bolt of lightning had hit the Angel Moroni on the top of the temple. The face and arm were still blackened. The next week the statue was replaced, before the dedication.

It is a beautiful temple. This was the first time the kids attended a temple open house. We waited outside for about half an hour before entering the temple. It was hot! Joseph created his own sunshade using his Sunday suit coat.

While in Utah we stayed at my parent's home in Draper. We visited with them for a week, and then they left to Europe. They were nice enough to let us stay in their home for another week.

This Utah trip was really all about kids. For much of the time, Dan flew from Utah to facilities he needed to visit for work in Arizona, Nevada, and California. I facilitated the kids in their quest to do as many fun things as possible.

We didn't see much of Brandon, as he went to EFY shortly after we arrived. The day he came home from EFY we drove him to Aspen Grove to spend a week with his friend Jeffrey Bennett. He had a great time. He hasn't shared any pictures with me from his adventures, so we'll just have to imagine how fun it must have been.

The younger three kids and I started our week in Utah by visiting some of our favorite field trip locations. We have great memories of our "field trips" from past years.

On Tuesday we visited Thanksgiving Point Children's Garden and Dinosaur Museum with our cousins, the Sullivans, and Aubrey's best friend, Breanne Yates.

When Aubrey and Breanne were very young, about age 3, I took pictures of them dancing around this "bug stage" in the Children's Garden. We had to re-create the moment, so they danced again.

KSL TV was filming at Thanksgiving Point that day. Bailey and Mianna (Sullivan) were filmed answering questions about what they like about the parks. They enjoyed their moment as TV stars!

The next day we drove to Ogden with the Sullivans and Breanne to our FAVORITE museum - the Treehouse Children's Museum. It just feels magical to us- so full of imagination, literacy, and exploration. It is mostly geared for younger kids, but Bailey and Mianna loved re-living their favorite moments in the museum.

Joseph pretending to be a cowboy. The museum is divided into many small sections, each with a theme. In each theme there are costumes, books, and playthings to help the child explore that "world." Joseph, who lives for costumes, thought he had entered his own version of heaven.

Bailey and Aubrey in the "England room," which includes a table set for tea, Harry Potter and wizard robes, and a "magician's desk" with secret compartments and riddles to solve. Here Aubrey and Breanne pose in front of the desk after they solved the riddles and claimed their prizes.

Bailey and Mianna in the Germany room.

On Thursday, August 6th Bailey and Ashlyn flew from Salt Lake to California to visit my brother Scott, his wife Ann, and their kids. They had a fabulous trip in beautiful California! Scott and Ann sent a disk with wonderful photos they took during the trip. A sampling follows . . .

Burying Scott in the sand.

Boogie boarding in the ocean!

Kayaking (from left: Ann, Ashlyn, and Bailey).

Bailey with her cute cousin, Cameron.

While Bailey was in California, I visited Temple Square with Aubrey, Joseph, my very great friend Christine Yates, and her daughter Breanne.

Still very best friends!

After Bailey returned from California and Dan returned from his business trip, we took the kids to a few more fun places before the vacation ended . . .

Rollerskating with friends. Bailey is on the far left, Aubrey on the far right.

Joseph wouldn't go near the skates, but liked the stable scooter we rented for him.

Bouncing in the Classic Fun Center bouncy slides. The kids also went to a water park that day.

Now, this was a treat. Here the girls and I attended a cabin overnighter for our Mother/Daughter Book Club. We had started the book club when we lived in Utah. The girls and moms in the group are absolutely amazing. They have kept the group going, and the moms and girls have all become great friends. They were kind enough to invite us to attend the overnight book club party at the Page's cabin. We had such a great time . . . it was a little bit bittersweet, because we miss interaction with them, but felt truly "filled" by our visit.

On one of our last days in Utah Bailey and Mianna were able to do Baptisms for the Dead at the new Draper Temple. This was Bailey's first time going to the temple! How perfect to go with a wonderful cousin/friend.

When Brandon finished with Aspen Grove, we picked him up and loaded the car. Friday the 14th we drove to Boise, Idaho, where we stayed in a fantastic hotel (for a really great price). The next day we drove to Moses Lake, Washington, where I grew up. We stayed with my Aunt Lora and Uncle Brent. They were so welcoming to us, and we loved visiting with them. We also had some wonderful visits with Grandma and Grandpa Palmer. We went to dinner with them, to church the next morning, and then visited and had lunch at their home. It was a fantastic visit!

As I finally uploaded all the pictures from our trip, I realized there are some things I didn't capture on film.

1. The mountains in Utah. They took my breath away frequently.

2. The feel of a beautiful Utah evening.

3. The excitement of a crazy Utah summer thunderstorm (in the midst of a wild windy storm Dan's plane tried to land. They were diverted to Idaho and Joseph and I were stranded at the airport waiting for him!)

4. The great joy we felt seeing family and friends who we love so much.

5. The bittersweet feelings we experienced, because we love where we live now, but we miss so many people who live elsewhere.

6. Our incredible joy every time we ate Cafe Rio Mexican food. Wow - it was amazing.

An appeal to Mother Nature

Dear Mother Nature -

I know you are very busy, and it must be hard to order appropriate weather for different places at different times of the year. I think it is possible that you have gotten a little confused.

You see, I live in the Pacific Northwest. You know, the part of the world where it is green and wet and the summers are beautifully cool (not too hot, not too cold). I am wondering if you mistakenly sent the wrong kind of weather to this part of the world. Day after day of 105 degrees with high humidity - now, does that sound like the Pacific Northwest to you? Midwest? Yes. Southwest during monsoon season? Yes. Pacific Northwest? No.

We are melting, melting, melting, wilting, dehydrating . . .

Thank you very much.

Ahhh . . . . summer

Isn't summer great? It's like this dream world, where tightly scheduled days and early morning awakenings don't exist (for the most part). We have really enjoyed this summer. There have been a few busy weeks . . . Bailey and I spent a week at Girl's Camp. Dan and Brandon are currently backpacking/hiking in the wilderness with the Scouts. We are headed to Utah and Idaho soon for visits with family and friends and EFY and Aspen Grove (for Brandon ). While in Utah, Bailey will also meet up with her cousin Ashlyn and fly to CA to visit more cousins.

So, some weeks have been hectic. But, many weeks have felt very relaxed - hanging out together, swimming or playing tennis at the athletic club, watching movies together, playing at the park. I love it!

I really love this time of year in the garden, also. Little plants have grown into maturity, the decorative pots are full and gorgeous, and the air smells like flowers, plants, and rich dirt. I took some pictures this morning of some of my favorite garden spots right now. Mostly I needed to document this for myself. When it is raining hard this November, I want to remember that I do have a yard outside, and spring will come again.

Dan and Brandon leaving at 5:30 this morning to their backpacking trip. I have to say, I marvel at the entire concept of backpacking. I love the outdoors and I love hiking, but carrying around all my clothing, bed, food, etc. on my BACK as I walk up a mountain - is this really a smart idea??
These are two of my favorite spots in the back yard. Vegetable plants and strawberries are mixed in with the ornamental plants.

A few Josephisms

Every day Joseph says something that makes me smile. I always mean to write them down, but usually I forget. I love listening to evidence of how the four year old brain thinks!

Joseph frequently takes my face in his hands and says, "you are my love. My love forever." One day he also told me that he plans to marry me someday. I told him that I am already married to his daddy, and he will need to marry someone else and visit us sometimes. He looked stricken, paused, and then sighed and said, "this is howwible (horrible)." I remember Brandon saying something similar at this age, except he came up with the idea that he and his wife and two kids would just live with us and sleep on our couches. Let's hope he has reconsidered by now!

Joseph is not, absolutely not, a morning person. We all steer clear of him until he has returned to human form. One morning he came downstairs and growled for awhile. Finally, laying flat on the ground, with one hand shielding his eyes from the sunlight, he said, "I will eat now. I need options." ("Options" is one of his new favorite words.)

Apparently our lessons about what is and isn't appropriate on the Sabbath have sunk in, somewhat. Last Sunday he pulled out a movie and asked me if it is "approprio" (appropriate - a new favorite word) for Sunday. He also caught me watching the news show 60 Minutes late one Sunday night. He ran in front of the TV and said, "Memer (remember) - it is Sunday!"

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree

I've been thinking lately about how interesting it is that children often adopt some of the interests of their parents. Some of our friends are big-time into sports, especially soccer. Their kids are also very into soccer. Did they inherit some super-great-at-soccer gene from the parents? Or did the environment in which they have been raised influence the children to love the sport? Or both? I can think of similar examples where the parents are very into music, high school football, water sports, etc.

So, this train of thought led to me wondering what interests Dan and I are passing on to our kids. And, if they enjoy things we also enjoy, is that because they have grown up in the environment we have created? Interesting to think about.
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This is my rudimentary list . . . Dan is really into music of all kinds. Our kids also really enjoy many different types of music. One of our Porter family "things" is Broadway musicals. We love to watch and listen to musicals. We have a Sunday afternoon tradition - we watch one of our DVDs of Broadway musicals together (and eat ice cream - another great tradition). Would our kids have naturally loved musicals so much if they hadn't grown up in our home environment?

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Our home environment also includes lots and lots of books. I love to read. I mean, books are a huge deal to me. So, from the time our kids were little, books were an integral part of their lives. Reading out loud, reading silently, listening to books . . . I have a terrible time saying no to a great children's book. For years I scoured garage sales, thrift stores, and Scholastic book sales at school to add to our ever-growing collection of children's books. I am forcing myself to slow down and only buy new, really special books. Each child has a filled bookshelf in their room. I love my built-in bookshelves in our den and family room, bursting with the books I love. I like this quote from Cicero, "A room without books is a body without a soul." Now that all our kids are past the "baby and toddler book stage", I'm finding it hard to part with many of the books. I may just have to tuck them away in the garage for grandkids.

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So, I guess it makes sense that our kids love books too. Some of the kids are more enthusiastic readers than others, and that is perfectly okay. But, they all have inherited/learned a love of books.Bailey and Aubrey in Williamsburg, VA reading biography books we bought on our vacation last March.We saw this shirt in the gift shop of the National Archives in Washington D.C. Thomas Jefferson is the one who initially said he couldn't live without books. I agree.

It seemed we were re-reading the same five storybooks to Joseph each night. I think it was easiest to choose whatever was most accessible on the bookshelves. So, a few months ago we decided to systematically read all of our Joseph-age books and then stack the books in a pile near Joseph's bed. We are about halfway through the bookshelves and have found many great books we hadn't seen in awhile!

Small Town Fourth of July

The day before Fourth of July we hiked Beacon Rock, which overlooks the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. It was a hot day, and we were glad for any breeze we felt during the hike!

Vancouver, Wahington is actually the fourth largest city in Washington. At least, that's what the realtor and the newspaper have said. However, we live in the far northwest corner of Vancouver, called Felida, and our area feels very much like living in a small town. The roads are narrow "country roads", traffic is very minimal, and we don't have many nearby options for restaurants or shopping. A few times a year there are community festivals at a nearby park. It's fun to see people we know from school, etc. The sense of community reminds me of the small town where I grew up.

This year for Fourth of July we attended an early morning breakfast at the church. Then we spent time at the Fourth of July festival at the park. It was a really unusual weather day for us . . . HOT! We didn't really like the heat. It was mid 90s and humid. We found ourselves missing the cloud cover and cool temperatures! We had planned to have Aubrey and Joseph ride their bikes in the small children's parade around the park, but we wimped out when it was so hot, and ate popsicles at home instead.

We spent the afternoon and evening at the home of friends in the ward. They have a good piece of property where they host a bbq dinner and party for anyone in the ward/area. It is so much fun. Once again, it reminds me of celebrations when I was growing up. The kids all run around together and the adults talk. When it is dark, everyone lights their fireworks for a really fun show. Apparently, most types of fireworks are legal in Vancouver, which is becoming increasingly unusual across the country.It was a great Fourth of July!

Berry Happy

There is nothing I love more than hanging out with the family during the lazy days of summer. At the beginning of summer I get motivated to include learning experiences as part of our laziness (I usually give up on this by mid-July!) I've been working with the kids to learn to cook different meals, learn cooking skills, etc. The kids each identified meals they like at restaurants which they would like to try to make at home. So far Bailey learned to make Zupa Toscana, a potato sausage soup from Olive Garden. Brandon is learning to barbecue different foods. Aubrey wants to learn to make some of her favorite pastas.

Berry season is one of our favorite times of year here in the Northwest. We have strawberry plants in our garden which produce the most delectables pieces of strawberry heaven you have ever tasted. Joseph, our super picky eater, happily eats strawberries and sugar snap peas straight from the garden every day.

One summer morning I decided to teach the kids how to make strawberry jam. We listened to Taylor Swift songs (the girl's choice) while mashing strawberries and pouring into freezer containers. Now we have delicious jam to eat on our waffles! Afterward, we used some jam, frozen berries, and some ice cream to make super delicious shakes.

Super Agent Spy Guy

Joseph keeps our family entertained. Every day is a new adventure for him, filled with bad guy fighting or, more recently, spying on the bad guys. The last few weeks he has changed his focus from superhero costumes to his new persona, "Super Agent Spy Guy" or "Super Spy" for short. To portray this role, he dresses EVERY DAY in his full Sunday suit - including tie and Sunday shoes. He will not tuck in the shirt, but otherwise looks like a miniature version of his Dad or brother on Sunday morning. Unless recently, he refused to wear this particular Sunday outfit on Sunday. You see, this was a costume, not church clothes . . . Try reasoning with a four year old. It just doesn't work.

Joseph puts on this outfit when he gets up in the morning. Sometimes he substitutes khaki pants for the dark blue pants and adds his Indiana Jones hat, and then he is Indiana Jones being a teacher. Bailey snapped these pictures below - on this day Joseph, Bailey, and Dan walked to get the mail. Before running to get his Big Wheel for the ride he said, "Wait - I need to put on my jacket!" Other suit-wearing activities: jumping on the trampoline, playing on the swings, shopping at the grocery store with Mom. I did draw the line at running through the sprinklers in the suit. Thank goodness Super Spy Guy is okay with wearing a Spiderman swimsuit!

A year in the life of Brandon

Since Brandon turned 16, he has not missed a single school dance or LDS Prom. I don't think it is because he has a great love for dancing. He tells me he feels that he dances a little woodenly. We, his family, are very willing to offer our critiques and dance education, but he has so far refused to demonstrate his dancing abilities for us. And yet, he still persists in attending the dances. Maybe it is the cute girls who are the incentive?

Below, this was Brandon's first date and first dance - LDS Prom 2008. By the way, his first date was with an older woman - he was a sophomore, she was a junior! They also attended the LDS Prom this year, but I haven't scanned the picture yet.
Who knew that Brandon had this rebellious streak in him? He seemed to feel pretty confident in the skull shirt, studded belt, black earrings, spiked hair. Maybe he is secretly a rocker?

LDS Prom 2009 - now this one is a great story. You really need to hear the entire elongated version from Brandon himself. In short, the dance was held an hour away in Longview, WA. Brandon was driving his date and another couple. It took longer than they expected to get to a restaurant (there are none near us), drive to Longview, and get hopelessly lost (the GPS was absolutely no help). The two couples walked in for the LAST song of the night. Oh, AND this was the first date for both of the girls. Yikes!

Girl's Choice "Tolo" dance, with a jungle theme. Brandon's date was a jungle girl, and Brandon was an explorer. Their outfits were tame. Another couple in the group dressed as Witch Doctors, with skulls hanging from their staffs, tights and leotards, nose rings, huge black afro, etc!

Winter Formal - the group ate dinner at our house. Bailey and her friend were the servers.

After the three couples ate a fancy dinner, they posed for pictures on our stairs. Winter Formal 2009 was a Masquerade Ball.

AND

Other Brandon accomplishments this last year (other than dating): finishing his Eagle project, passing his four AP tests with a 4 or a 5, serving in the presidency of the Priest quorum, getting a 4.0 gpa, performing as a "Who Dad" in the school musical "Seussical," performing in a steel drum band, playing on the tennis team at school, swimming district-qualifying times in 50 and the 500 meter freestyle, forming a band (he plays guitar) and writing music and lyrics which his band is learning/performing, and making it to early morning Seminary almost every day (and occasionally on time). Oh, and being an enjoyable teenager and patient big brother. We love you Brandon!

Summer on the Coast

We had a great time visiting Depoe Bay, on the Oregon Coast, mid-June 2009. We left the day after school let out for the summer. Our good friends, the McDonnells, came with us.

Right now the young women and moms in our ward are participating in a Book of Mormon marathon - we are reading the entire Book of Mormon in about 80 days. So, as often as possible we read our scriptures on our reading bench by the ocean. Brandon came along and read his scriptures, too, but he reads in Spanish!

This is our favorite spot on the coast - "Secret Beach." Isn't it look beautiful? We have to be adventurers to get to the beach (up a small hill, down a steep path cut into the hillside). Because of this, the beach is almost always deserted.

This day we enjoyed absolutely perfect weather, which is not very common on the Oregon Coast! No rain, just the right temperature. We stayed at the beach most of the day.

One of my other favorite spots near Depoe Bay - Fuddy Duddy Fudge. I am picky about my fudge, and this place lands in my "Top 5 Fudge Shops." It's an expensive habit, though, and our kids save their money to purchase their own chunk of fudge heaven. Unlike me, though, their fudge lasted them more than a day. How do they do that?

One of the days of our coast trip we took a great hike - the Drift Falls Creek Hike. I've seen the turnoff for the hike for many years and have always wanted to try it. We didn't realize how FAR we would have to travel on an extremely windy road to get to the trailhead (about 30 minutes from the main road - and Brandon discovered that it is not a good idea for him to go on long, curvy drives riding in the back seat). The hike itself was a little muddy, but we dodged most of the puddles. Above, Dan carried Joseph the last stretch back, but removed his shoes because they were so muddy! At the end of the hike was an amazing suspension bridge, leading to a waterfall. We played in the water at the base of the waterfall. Both Aubrey and I made the mistake of slipping off rocks into the creek. We tried in vain to let our shoes and socks dry before the hike back to the car!We know how to grow slugs here in Oregon/Washington. This is a lovely banana slug we encountered along the way. We also picked berries growing wild along the trail and ate leaves from some other edible plants. Even Joseph, Mr. Picky Eater himself, ate the leaves. Go figure!

This was another day on Secret Beach, but this day was more typical for June - overcast, rainy at times. That didn't stop us. The kids ran into the waves and had a very wet, cold journey back to the beach house!

Aubrey, Bailey, and the three McDonnell girls: Rebecca, Laura, and Megan. They also have two boys around Brandon's age: Taylor and Zachary.

We may not make it back to this beach again this year, so we tried to enjoy every moment. We spent hours playing tennis, swimming in the indoor pool in the clubhouse, riding bikes on the paths, walking along the beach. At nights we watched movies and ate ice cream (Mmmmm - Tillamook Wild Mountain Blackberry) and popcorn. We had fancy breakfasts - crepes, homemade waffles with fresh berries, etc. It was a great vacation!