Portland Girls Trip

My mom and my sisters have never gone on a girls trip and I'm so glad we made time to do it. We decided on Portland, Oregon since none of us had ever been there before. Let me tell you what, it was absolutely beautiful. Wonderful food, lots of different transportation, forests, the ocean and lots to see and do. We were busy the whole time. The only downfall is the humidity...it made for crazy hair by the end of the day. Overall we all LOVED it and I would love to go back and explore Oregon again!

The first stop we made was to go get some food!

Afterwards we headed to Pittock Mansion to explore the grounds. It was a bit chaotic to get to the Mansion because there was an explosion earlier that day so traffic was messed up. Thankfully nobody got hurt. A building blew up due to a nicked power line. But we finally made it with a little bit of patience.

Afterwards we headed to Salt & Straw. They were the only store that remained opened during the explosion. It was on the same street so we were a bit worried it would be closed but they were using dry-ice to keep everything cold. This was probably at the top of my list of my most favorite food we had while we were there...surprise surprise. I love ice cream more than anything!

The next day we headed to the Screen Door for breakfast. Their Biscuits and gravy with fried chicken was out of this world. This is something I will be craving for a long time...Benton would have loved it. Afterwards we shopped a bit at some antique stores.

On Friday we started off at Mother's for breakfast.

Then we rented a car and drove to Cannon Beach. This was the day I was waiting for! I love the ocean and couldn't wait to see how pretty it was in Oregon.

Then we headed to Astoria. The drive there was something else. It almost felt like the trees were alive. I couldn't get over all the moss on the trees, it was breathtakingly beautiful.

Astoria was a cute little town filled with shops and restaurants. We ate lunch and walked around for a bit.

Since we were so close to a lighthouse we decided to cross over the bridge and drive into Washington to see it. We headed to Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. We hiked up a bit but it was getting dark so we didn't stay long. But I'm glad we made the drive because of course it was amazing.

Our last day to explore we headed to the Japanese Gardens.

And then we had a few extra minutes to spare so we walked around the rose garden. Very peaceful and beautiful.

We all loved Portland and I loved seeing it all with my sisters and Mom who are my best friends. I'm glad Benton willingly took off work to let me getaway for a bit. I have never left Lincoln before so it was a bit hard but I'm glad I made some time to get away with my sisters and mom. Hopefully I can make it back to Portland because it was well worth the trip!

Last camping trip of the year!

We ended up buying a new trailer since our other one was a bit too small for us. We knew when we bought it that we would eventually grow out of it. I LOVE our new trailer. I enjoy having more room to cook, walk around and the difference for sleeping is so much better for our family.

We wanted to try it out and make sure everything worked well before Winter hit. We drove to Smith & Moorehouse and stayed one night. Most campgrounds are closed for the season but I am a sucker for Smith & Moorehouse, it's absolutely beautiful. We didn't do much, fished for a minute but didn't catch anything. It's nice to just get away even for one night.

Sadly our night was pretty awful. Lincoln was awake from 1am-5am and would not for the life of him go back to sleep. I'm unsure why he was so upset but the only difference I could think of was that I am no longer nursing him. I think it was a hard adjustment for him to sleep next to me and not able to nurse. He was hitting us, kicking us, screaming, crying, rolling around, pulling my hair, he was an absolute terror. Hopefully next year he will be better! I'm glad we got in one camping trip, even if we didn't get any sleep.

In a blink

Karly's week here in Utah went by in a flash. We ended our last day together by going to Beauty and the Beast at the Hale Center Theatre. My kids loved it. They were scared a little bit but overall they loved watching the actors and actress' perform.

Afterwards some of us went up to Silver Lake and took in the beauty of Fall time in the mountains. It really is unbelievable right now.

It was such a fun week, I'm sad it's over with. At least we have a fun trip planned in the upcoming weeks for me to look forward to!

Time to Party

My dad finally retired! We all couldn't be happier for him. He's worked long and hard and hopefully will finally relax. My mom threw him a party and he had a great turn out with friends, family and co-workers.

Addie drew him a picture and was so excited for him to see it!

We are hoping to be able to spend a lot more time with him and my mom now. Happy Birthday Papa Kendall, we love you!

Sundance

My sister Karly flew out from Arkansas this past week since my dad is retiring and having a big celebration. So you know what that means, TONS of family time!

We met up at Sundance on Tuesday and enjoyed breakfast together. It was absolutely amazing. The mountains as well as the restaurant.

We walked around after breakfast and took in how beautiful it was. Utah really is something else!

Visit from the Toothfairy!

Cambree finally lost her first tooth! She has been asking for a year now when she would lose a tooth. She's the youngest in her class and so she's one of the last of her friends to lose a tooth. But the day finally came when it started to wiggle. She came running up to me after school and showed me with such pride.

Later that evening she asked me to pull it. I didn't think it would come out but on the first try it did. Her face was priceless. She started giggling uncontrollably. I don't know if it was out of happiness or shock. She was beyond thrilled to show her friends the next day.

The Toothfairy came and left her a gold dollar. Also the tooth next to the one that fell out is starting to wiggle. I guess it's the beginning of her teeth falling out!