A Rainy Day!

It seemed to be raining a lot of the time Grampy was with us! Really, it is the most rain we have seen since we have been here. On Saturday we were hoping to go to a park that has a nice hiking area by water falls.....our plan was to bring a picnic. But, we woke up to a very rainy day. We didn't let that stop us, though!......we went to the park, rainy day style!!! we all got in the car (the couch) and drove to the park
then we hiked up the rocks (the stairs)
And then we found a great picnic area to have our lunch!!!!

A trip to the Ocean

We went to Tillamook.....we were told you can take a tour of the cheese factory there, and it is on the coast. Grampy wanted to see the Ocean.....so did we! Unfortunately, the cheese factory was closed by the time we got there, but it was fun to see the ocean.....for most of us! After Grampy got soaked up to his knees by a wave, Kayleigh decided she did not like the ocean.....she was scared it would get her! Jared loved the light house! It was neat.....we were able to walk right up to it.....for anyone who knows Jared, you know he loves light houses....I have never seen him so excited to get somewhere!!!!

LOOK WHAT WE HAVE!!!!

Just had to brag to my family!!!! It is about 20 minutes away from us....another great reason to move here.....or at least come visit! Of course, we had to introduce Grampy to Sheridans!

Mt. St. Helens Field Trip

I got to go on a field trip with Jessica to Mt. St. Helens. Matthew's Dad was in town, and one of the things he really wanted to do was see Mt. St. Helens, so Matthew chose, as his way of taking care of Jared and Kayleigh while I was on the field trip, to take Jared out of school, and to ditch work for a few hours, and drive up to Mt. St. Helens that day. We actually ended up seeing them a few times. They sort of kept their own pace and schedule, but it was fun to hook up with them through out the day!First stop.....Ape Cave.....this is a cave that lava has flowed through. It was really cool.....the pictures don't really do it justice, so you will have to come see it for yourself some day!

Second stop.....trail of two forests.....this was a cool area.....it was a forest that new trees had grown in, since the volcano erupted, but the old forest, many of the trees had been taken by the volcano.....and with the heat of the lava, as it burnt the trees, then as the trees cooled, it left wholes of stone through out the forest. Amazing! Some of the wholes actually connected to each other, making a cool underground tunnel that we got to crawl through. Again, it is more amazing in person, so you really have to come for a visit!

One of the wholes of the tree.....a lot of the trees, they said were 6 feet in diameter.....it was so neat to see!

A SURPRISE VISIT FROM GRAMPY!!!!

Matthew's dad flew in today from Utah. We decided not to tell the kids....he got here while they were at school, so it was perfect. We had him stand in the kitchen, and we were ready with the camera to take pictures of their reactions! I wish we had the camera at the airport to get a picture of Kayleigh, too....she had a look of excitement and surprise, too! waiting in the kitchen for the kids to get home!


They were both shocked....Jared was so shocked that he fell to the floor....it was more than he could handle!

Piano Players Wanted!

Well, you know you are in a ward that needs piano players when you are drafted to play as a last minute substitute for choir practice on your 5th Sunday in the ward! Scary.....like I told Matthew, I could have done worse, I could have done better.....they seemed to think it was better to have me than not.....that is debatable!!!!

House Cleaning Day!

Well, we are getting onto a schedule, finally! Yesterday we had our first official house cleaning day.....don't worry mom, I have been cleaning here and there.....anyway, at the end of our house cleaning day yesterday, Jared asked, "Is tomorrow house dirty day?" Honestly, I feel like that is what the rest of the week is, so it probably is house dirty day today!!!!