Refreshed and Recharged

Last week our family went to Oregon. We started out by surprising our friends in Albany by showing up a day early. We got to visit our old church and see old friends. We had a BBQ with some, and a bonfire with others. I took Makenzie to have tea with the "girls". This is something I do every time I go back. They have several amazing tea houses there. I love tea, and now Makenzie does too. Caleb's birthday was while we were there, so we took him to Chuck E Cheese. Some of our friends met us there and we had a blast. One of Caleb's best buddies was able to come. This was the first time they had seen each other since we moved. It was the sweetest thing to see them run to each other and hug. They never left each other's side. Tuesday we left for the coast. Our friend's family has a beach house in Seaside that we were able to stay at. It was so much fun! We shopped the little shops, ate at the different restaurants, played at the beach, went to the outlet mall, and spent every evening playing the new Disney Scene It game. We went to an Air Museum, the Tillamook Cheese Factory, stopped at Ft. Clatsop, and rode a trolley through the town of Astoria where they pointed out all the sights. Including the school and hotel where scenes from Kindergarten Cop were filmed, as well as two of the houses where Goonies was filmed. We had a great week. It was a much needed time for our family. The past few months have been filled with some personal battles for me. Thanks to people around me who love me and want the best for me, I have overcome. This was a time for me to rediscover the wonderful gift God has given me in my family. We all came back feeling refreshed and so much closer. I have SO many pictures that it will be hard to choose a few to post. If you want to see more, you can always check out Scott's blog. He has a slide show.