A little Catch-up...

First of all, no we're not dead.... the last few weeks have just been slightly crazy!

Let me think what has happened since the anniversary....

We spent the 4th with the family at the cabin at Cocolalla. It was a blast. Even mowing the lawn was kinda fun... haha! We went boating, tubing, ate lots of delicious food and just enjoyed the beautiful scenery.


We watched the fireworks at Gesa Stadium and LOVED them! The next day (Tuesday) we headed back to Hillsboro, after stopping for a few hours in Yakima to see the Smarts and welcome home Shea!

On Thursday (around 36 hours after we'd left Kennewick) we got back into the car and drove to Kennewick yet again to begin our family vacation. We spent a week on the East Coast with my family seeing all the sights in D.C., New York City and Palmyra.

While in D.C. we visited the National Mall, quite a few of the Smithsonians (including the Zoo)

and almost all of the memorials.

We spent some time at the temple

and even got to see Chelsea Smart for a little while when she met us at the Arlington Cemetery.

In New York City we ate at an amazing pizza place (best pizza any of us had ever had.)

We spent hours in the shops of Times Square

used just about every type of public transportation

went up Lady Liberty,

visited Ground Zero,

and went to the temple.

The family also stopped by Carlo's Bakery (from the show Cake Boss) and waited in line for a while to get into the shop. The delicious pastries were worth the wait. :)

This was the view from our room.... pretty incredible huh?

During our day and a half in Palmyra we saw the Hill Cumorah Pageant, walked through the Sacred Grove,

visited the Joseph Smith farm and the Grandin printing press

and went to the temple

(yes, we are trying to go to as many temples as possible... we're up to 13 so far)

Our flight home left D.C. at 6 in the morning on Saturday. Since we drove from D.C. to Manhattan and then to Palmyra, we had to make the trip back to D.C. to fly out. We wanted to have as much time in Palmyra as possible so we left around 6pm Friday night and our loving dad drove THROUGH THE NIGHT to get us to the airport in time. Needless to say, when we got home from the trip, we were quite exhausted. BUT... it was SO worth it.

What an amazing family. and trip. :)

Since the trip, Dallin and I have been picking berries, finsishing our 2000 piece puzzle, relaxing in the pool, exercising and starting to pack up our home in order to be ready to move out on the 6th of August. We can't believe our time here in Oregon is almost over, it seems like we just got here!