Crater Lake

This place is only 2 hours from our house!!!! We had to get out of town and we had heard of this amazing place and wanted to explore it. We went with our pals the Arnells. Crater Lake is a National Park and is a lake high up on the top of an old volcano. The volcano erupted leaving a MASSIVE crater that then filled with water from the melting snow of the peaks around it. It is HUGE the lake is the second deepest in the US and believe it or not. The water is BLUER than Lake Tahoe. The color is unreal!!

Our first day we explored a little bit and hiked to this waterfall.

Unfortunately there was a HUGE fire that was close by so the smoke blew in by the afternoon and you couldn't see the lake. We hiked up to this spot and Chris and I are literally standing on the edge of the crater. Behind us...it's a mile STRAIGHT down!!

We thought this rock looked like a Mayan god looking down on the lake. Do you see it?

This is us at another point of the crater. Again a mile straight down behind us!

Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of the whole Arnell family but this is Jeremy chilling above the clouds.

The sun that night as it set in the smoke.

This was our campsite. That's our tent. The Arnells had a trailer! JEALOUS! It got really cold at night!

And in the morning, a lot of the smoke had cleared so here is the lake. The pictures don't do it justice. It's HUGE and AMAZINGLY blue!

And our outdoorsy dog Maximus looking all mighty. Really...just chasing after a chipmunk.

More of the lake. Still smokey. The water is so clear and blue that the reflection is so cool. You can't tell where the lake begins and where the mountains end. The lake is over a mile deep.

What an amazing view! We were SO DIRTY from camping.

We hiked up to another peek. Again...behind Chris was straight down. I couldn't get that close without feeling like I would pass out.

More of the lake. There is a boat ride that goes around it if you wanna hike down to the water but we just missed it. It closed last weekend.

If you look closely, you can see the chipmunk that drove Maximus nuts!

Standard's Night- It STILL fits!!

Our new ward Young Women's president asked Chris and I to be the mock bride and groom for standard's night at the church. They were emphasizing the importance of a temple marriage. I got to get in my dress again and Chris in his tux. The dress was definitely tight thanks to Italy and my stressful new job but I got into it! I came right from work so I didn't have much time to do my hair very well, but we pulled it off. Must say...our real wedding pictures were much better. LOL

Can you tell we've been married over 6 years now? Yikes! Time flies!!!!

The Uminas Visit!

Eric and Tiff came to visit us with the kids. We were so happy to see them! We had a great time and unfortunately I didn't take very many pictures. I was so tired from working so much that week that I was a little out of it.

Ally and Logan took turns riding with us in my car. We took a trip to Bandon which is a really cute beach town about an hour and a half away from us. Maximus was happy to ride with us.

Ally fell asleep on the way there. I gave her my sweater to put over her face because the sun was so bright and just roasting her. Our next car will have tinted windows!

Here's us on the coast. It was a cold day but very sunny.

And this is little Logan asleep on the way home. LOL. Maximus makes a great pillow!

And this is Katelyn. She is SO CUTE!! We gave her her first toothbrush and she loved it! We had a great time with the kids going to the park, roasting S'Mores, playing in the river, exploring the coast, eating good food, and their favorite-playing with Maximus.

Happy 6th Anniversary

And so the tradition goes, we counted our "marriage bank" and had LOTS of money this time. We spent the day shopping in Eugene and unfortunately...all it took was one trip to Costco for some cool stuff. LOL. We did look at some cars though. We want to get a bigger SUV and are thinking it will happen in the next few months.

Here's the Reason!

And THIS is the reason that I have not blogged in what seems like decades!! This is my new job. I am the Family Services Director at the YMCA. I am over the Child Care, PreSchool, Teen Services, Family Services, Food Services, and all the special events. Yep..that's all. Trying to be 4 people and working crazy hours! This week was my first one under 80 hours. A whopping 60. YES! I do like my job a lot though. That's what I get when I am salaried staff at a non profit organization right?

The Douglas County Fair

We got a chance to explore the Douglas County Fair and had a great time! They had all kinds of events including a HILARIOUS hypnotist and some really cool expos.

Here we are at the Fairgrounds.

And of course, what would fair be without award winning animals? Our friend Brandi's sister won the best pig. Or Grand Champion as they call it.

I made friends with this cow. She was very pretty and friendly.

Does anyone else see the HUG double chin on this bunny? WOW

This rooster was HUGE!! The picture doesn't do it justice.

Checketti!

It was a super quick trip, but we had a great time with family and friends. Our last night in Utah, Dayna made us this AMAZING dinner (stuff chicken breast, asparagus -my favorite- with hollandais-sp? sauce, rolls, and yummy salad for my birthday and topped it all off with mouth watering chocolate cake and games. It was a night fit for a king! We miss you guys! Come visit in Oregon soon!

Another Siesta Sac

We needed some more seating in our theater room and we love our Siesta Sac so much that we had to get another one! This is how it arrives. It's vacuum packed and WICKED HEAVY!!!

This is the new Siesta Sac compared to the old one.

Once you get the wrapping off which is extremely difficult, you pick it apart, throw it around, etc. to let the air come it and it expands to full size.

My Cuddly Nephews

Since we were only in St. George for a few hours, my brother Dan and Christine were so kind to drive up from Vegas to Chris' parent's house for dinner. I hadn't seen them in a long time! It was a quick visit but it was so good to see them!

William has gotten so big! The last time I saw him, he was a newborn.

I got to cuddle these guys and watch a movie. I was so tired from all the traveling that I actually fell asleep. I feel really bad I didn't get to chat with Dan or Christine much but Dan and Chris seemed to have a good time talking politics with Chris' Dad. Hopefully we'll get to visit again soon!

Baby Jayda

The sweetest little girl! This is our niece Jayda who was born at 26 weeks. She is already 2 months old in this picture so you can imagine how tiny she was to begin with.

Chase was so sweet holding her in this massive pink blanket. Check out the sweet bow on her head. It had a feather boa piece to it. Darling!

Hey cute girl! Meet your auntie! Pronounced...ONTEE not antie. LOL

She was so precious that I cried.

Uncle Chris. Who's your favorite uncle Jayda..LOL

All five of us.

And this is Jayda's sweet Cadillac of a crib. It keeps her temperature perfect and monitors everything. This post is actually so old that Jayda is at home now doing well.

Becky Sue and Family

We had the chance to visit with Chris' little sis Becky and our SUPER cute nieces Sadie and Jessie. Chris spoiled them with all kinds of toys. Hey...that's what uncles are for right?

Playing with all the toys. Gotta LOVE Wal Mart.

I dunno know why...but sometimes when Chris gets in front of a camera....

stuff like this happens. LOL. Sadie loved it!

Visiting the bros

We had the chance to briefly visit with Jon and Amy before they headed off to work at one of the places we miss the most. CAFE RIO!! Hmm...

We miss these guys!

Before we could meet up with Joe, Chris and I spent some time at Temple Square. We had never had our picture taken here so we thought...why not? It still looks cool even if you aren't in a wedding dress and tux.

And then we took Joe and Jessica to Tucanos. It's the BEST place!! It's Brazilian and they just keep coming around with skewer after skewer of meat until you say no more. The food is AMAZING! And the grilled pineapple is out of this world. The salad bar and buffet are great too!

REAL Salt Lake Game

We had the privilege to attend the REAL Salt Lake game with our pals the Checketts. It was the first night that Nate was launching his new business called Mangia. It's the coolest thing! You get to order food from concessions from your seat so you don't have to miss any part of the game! We actually got to run some food because they got so many orders! We were so proud!!

At the end of the game playing with cute little Gabe.

Nate and his boy Gabe. Doesn't that REAL jersey look so cute!!

Chris just as happy as could be.

It was an awesome game that had everyone on the edge of their seats! The REAL won! It was a great night!!

Kenny Chesney Concert in Utah

While we still had a little bit of time before Chris started working we decided to head off to Utah to see friends and family. Thanks to our pals the Checketts we got into the Kenny Chesney concert. And then by chance we were able to get Joe and his girlfriend Jessica in too. It was a lot of fun!!

Me, Joe, and Jessica at their first concert!

We had a really good time. I didn't know all the songs but at the end of the night he started to do cover songs for U2, Sublime, the Beatles, Bob Marley etc. It was AWESOME!

Love is in the air!

He had a really cool lighting setup on the stage with a big TV screen up top.

The love birds.

There's Kenny himself in the characteristic cowboy hat.

As you can see, we had a GREAT time!