Oregon Trip Day 7

The beach house was wonderful and beautiful and left little to be desired.

Arcade machines and a wii were the big hits for the little kids.

Massage chair (that I never tired because of the way people cringed when using it) and hot tub were a hit with the big kids.

Brian's birthday was a week before the trip, so we celebrated it now that we are all together.

of course, Andy has no clothes on. Surprise, surprise.

The big kids (my siblings and I) planned to go out to a karaoke bar to celebrate.

Would that not have been hilarious?!

A karaoke bar in a vacation town?

We were thrilled with the anticipation of being greeting by all kinds of crazy. Plus I had my harem pants on and everyone agreed that I must request "Can't Touch This" . And just because I know you are all singing it in your heads right now, go ahead and play this

l;;

kareoke bar- check!

Hammer pants- check!

dance moves- check!

kids in bed....

The last thing to do before I could break it down like Hammer was get the kids to bed...

and...

I fell asleep.

ah!

It happens all the time at home when I put the kids to sleep, so I should have been better prepared to fight it off. I woke up a few hours later. Brian and Dad were chatting it up in the hot tub, Chris and Andrea were watching a movie, Ben and Erica were putting their kids to sleep. Mom was watching a movie. Mike was playing with his kids.

I knew the opportunity had passed, but because of it, others opened up... so maybe not such a bad thing. (at least that's what I told myself when I realized I crashed our plans)

Next time guys! And I will make sure to bring Hammer pants for everyone!

On to bigger and brighter things.

We spent our last full day at the beach, of course.

This time the tide was out and we were able to explore the amazing tide pools finding fish, sea anemones, star fish, crabs, etc.

Can you believe this was all covered the first afternoon we were there because they tide was in?

Scroll back to yesterday's pictures. Never mind I will do it for you.

We are in the exact same location! We had no idea this was even there! Or the treasures it would hold...

Things we learned that day:

1.Ben is the best sand castle builder

2. Brian has gained a lot of patience.

This picture makes me laugh. Brian had started (many times) and tried to build (many times) a sand castle but all of the kids, for some reason, were drawn to his castle and kept "helping him". In the top picture you can see Lauren running over to join in. Love it. If you look in front of Brynn there are a bunch of "windows" the kids, so thoughtfully, poked in to the wall. Not once did Brian tell them to leave or stop. He just shrugged his shoulders and laughed. A far cry from the Brian who two years ago on a trip for a similar thing- Caden's baptism- who earnestly shushed a whiny, tired Andybaby during the talk before Caden's baptism. As if a 9 month old was going to heed his shushing! We still have a good laugh about that. "Andy, shhhhhhh!" He, himself would admit that he was impatient and annoyed by kids. Bri, you're growing up. You are a fantastic uncle and never let any impatience or annoyance show... even if you do still feel it! And I will always love you for that.

3. If you hold something up to someones mouth, they will automatically open it

And that's how grandma ended up eating an ABC sucker she really didn't want, and grandpa ended up spending the next 5 minutes feeding Jackson pretzels right in to his mouth:)

4.Sea anemones feel like sticky hands

5.Velour does not mix well with sand. (see Lauren)

6.Kids never tire of this.

Brynn.

I love this little girl. Her sweet, gentle disposition. Her raspy little voice and English accent. How she mothers my boys and how they listen to her. I am so glad after the chaos and heart ache and hurt feelings, we can still be a part of her life. I love her dearly. Happy 8th Birthday, Brynn. I am so glad we are family. You are truly delightful.

Tomorrow blogging the flight home (because that is absolutely worth blogging about) and then back to normal posts. Woo hoo!

Oregon trip Day 6

Today is the big day!

The reason we all we crazy enough to road trip cross country.

Brynn-bear's baptism.

In our faith, Latter Day Saints follow Christ's example by being baptized by immersion in water and then receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. We also believe children are unable to commit sin (are born pure) and are redeemed through Christ's mercy should they die before they are baptized- which, in our religion, is the age of 8.

“Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore, little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin” (Moro. 8:8).

We believe that by the age of 8, children can understand the difference between right and wrong, become accountable for their choices, and therefore have need for repentance. Or in other words, we are baptized in the name if Jesus Christ for the remission of our sins.

(picture pulled from the web so you get an idea)

Those who are baptized enter into a covenant with God to take upon themselves the name of Jesus Christ, keep His commandments, and serve Him to the end. We remember and recommit to this covenant every Sunday when we take the sacrament during our church service.

I didn't take any pictures of the event, or at the family get together afterward.

I was feeling really overwhelmed.

I was so proud of Brynn for making the choice to be baptized, so there's those emotions.

I had been traveling for a week with little kids and no husband and missing him, so there's those emotions.

It was so touching to have my entire family there to show our love and support to this little girl on her special day.

But really it was an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for Preston (Brynn's step dad, married Rochelle last year) and his family who stepped in to this little girl's life and loved her completely. If a father is a worthy, active member of the church and has been ordained with the priesthood (the power and authority of God), he is able to baptize his child. So on this Saturday, it was Preston baptizing Brynn. A mix of emotions that it wasn't Mike up there baptizing his daughter, but again, so much gratitude that Preston was. That Rochelle and Preston have continue strong in their faith, and helped my sweet niece's faith to grow.

Divorce is hard.

Even for aunts.

I gave Preston and Rochelle teary hugs afterward and tried to express my gratitude to Preston and his parents individually, but I have never been good at expressing the truest feelings of my heart.

I am grateful that Brynn (and Caden) have a dad in their life every day.

Of course, I am sad that isn't Mike with them every day.

Of course.

But I am so glad that Preston loves these kids and has happily taken on this responsibility.

I make it sound so formal, and, again, am botching an effort to express how I really feel- just know that I love my family. And that has grown to include Preston and his family now.

After a fun cupcake family get together with those closest to Preston and Rochelle at a local park (again, no pictures! ah! My brain was on another planet.) We drove over to the coast to spend the next 3 days together.

We arrived.

Claimed bedrooms.

Changed clothes.

And hit the beach.

The water was cold.

Colder than Lake Michigan.

(that's sayin' something)

But a few still braved the cold

There was a lot of this...

and this...

and this...

this...

Family- a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children,

considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not: the traditional family.

Family.... so much more than that