Easter

We spent Easter in Deltona with family. It was a beautiful day, and the kids had a blast. Lots of good food, sunshine and CANDY!

EVK

Little girl got a new dress, and she wanted to show it off. I took advantage of the opportunity to get some recent pictures!

We're home

Brendan in LAX
We are home.  We left Portland on Saturday afternoon, spent the evening in Los Angeles, and then got home yesterday morning at about 5:30am.  We all slept until about 4:00pm!  

We had a lot of rain and snow on our drive from Grants Pass to Portland (four hours).  At one point we had a LOT of snow coming down, and I was getting a bit anxious about how much more of it I was going to have to drive in. Thankfully the heavy stuff only lasted a few minutes, and then we came out of the taller mountains and back into the rain.  I can handle the rain just fine.  

We did make one stop once we got into Portland.  We saw this cute little town on a hill, and I had to get a picture of it.  It was just so neat, and it was so representative of many of the little towns that we saw as we drove through Portland.

Back home, back to work and school, back to routines.  

3/14 Mom's birthday

This is the reason that we came to Oregon. Today was my mom's birthday, and we spent the day with her. After we all woke up we stopped at a local florist, picked up some flowers, and then brought them over to her (the boys have been staying at her house all week). We hung around the house for the afternoon, I baked her two pineapple upside down cakes (her favorite), we had a small surprise party for her in the recreation room, and then we all went out for dinner.

Happy birthday mom. I'm so glad that we could be here with you this year, and I hope that having us here made this a memorable birthday for you!  We all love you very much.

Sean popped the poppers just as she walked in

Getting emotional after reading some of the cards

Dancing with Erin

Grandma and Erin out at dinner

3/13 Sea Lion Caves

On Thursday we visited the Sea Lion Caves just north of Florence, Oregon. While we were there we saw a group of deer walking and grazing on the side of the cliff (just above the sea lion cave). On the way to the caves we also stopped and visited our tribal reservation area. We went to the administration offices, looked at some of the artifacts, and then visited the sacred Longhouse (where tribal ceremonies used to be held). Afterwards we had dinner at the new Three Rivers Casino before heading back to Grants Pass. Even the drive to and from the Sea Lion Caves is a treat because the scenery is as much of a treat as the destination.

Brian looking at some of the tribal artifacts

Bren and Michelle in front of the tribal Longhouse (I'm wearing Larry's huge winter coat!)

The Umpqua Lighthouse

The Haceta Head Lighthouse (photo taken from the Sea Lion Caves)

Inside of the Sea Lion Caves

On the way back to Grants Pass we made a stop in Cushman, Oregon. The house that you see in the picture below was built by my great grandfather. He started building it in 1917 when he was 17 years old, and finished it in 1923 when he was 23 years old. The house has since been sold, restored to original conditions, and is now a historical monument.

3/12 Redwood Forest

On Wednesday we drove down to California, and got to see the Redwood trees. You just cannot get a good sense of their size from any pictures. I've seen pictures of them all of my life, but seeing them in person gives me a whole new perspective. They are amazing and beautiful. We drove along the Pacific coast (Pacific Coast Highway), and even though it was a foggy and overcast day you can still see from the pictures how impressive the coast is. Very different from the passive coast that I am used to!

We took a cable car ride up through the Redwood trees, and it was really neat to be able to look down at them from on top of the mountain. It isn't often that you are above the Redwood trees!

Sean coming up in his car alone