Memorial Day Weekend

Before I even get started, I have to confess that I brought the camera along, but it didn't come out even once. . .

Even without the pictures, it was a great weekend. The weather was wonderful! Sunshine Thursday through. . . well, it is still shining!!!! Now if we can just hang on to it throughout the summer.

Most people started their holiday on Friday, but I think I will back up to Thursday morning. Our activity of note was actually inspired by Jessica. She used to do this activity every week, and I have been thinking about doing the same, so after Seminary, I took Nichole and Marissa to the Portland Temple. We didn't stay terribly long, but it was such a nice visit. I actually really wish I had taken my camera. The girls and I were amazed at the size of some of the rhododendron blooms. As we stood gaping, one of the temple gardeners invited us to pick some violas as they were in the process of removing them to make room for summer flowers. (The temple grounds are always so beautiful--the gardeners must stay busy pretty much year-round.) Nichole and Marissa both ended up with quite a bouquet of flowers, some of which are pressed in their journals. The Portland Temple has a fountain and a reflecting pool, which are nice to just sit beside and think. On Thursday, there was a cute little Mallard duck in the reflecting pool. We all thought that was really cute.

While most people were headed out of town on Friday, we decided to stay put--more or less. Rachelle, Marissa and Jamie all did some babysitting. Tim had to work. Rob and I went on a date (back to the temple!), and Nichole stayed home as she wasn't feeling well. We all slept in on Saturday morning. We took our time packing up for a couple of days camping at Grandma Hawkins' house. I think we arrived at her house around 5:00 pm. She immediately stuffed us on the most delicious chicken and dumplings we have ever had! Nichole says this is truly one of her favorite foods. Then we set up the tents and sat around visiting and watching a little TV with Grandma and Craig. Around 9:00, Grandma Christi stopped by for a visit with her new friend, David. We all thought that he was a very nice man. We finally hit the sleeping bags around 10:30 or so. I had a little trouble sleeping, but it seemed like everyone else managed fairly well. The weather was still pretty nice, and most of the night sounds were delightful. For some reason, I am oddly fascinated by the frenzied yips, yaps, and howls of the coyotes. They did actually serenade us for a few minutes that night. As is customary when camping, we were up with the birds on Sunday morning. Grandma beat us though. She spends time every morning and evening in scripture study and prayer. Then she cooked up a breakfast to feed an entire army! We were pretty much stuffed till dinner time. We attended church with Grandma and came home for a relaxing afternoon. I had quite a head-ache, so I retired to my tent for some down time. After a rousing little game of chase with Ivy, (see Nichole's blog for the story) Nichole joined me for an afternoon nap. Rob and the other girls went out to play some wiffle ball. (Tim had to work, so he didn't get to join us this time--which felt extremely odd.) Eventually, the sun had done it's job and cooked me all the way through. I had to get out of the oven tent for some fresh air, but my head-ache didn't subside. Eventually, Rob gave me a blessing and one ibuprofen which did the trick. (I generally don't take ibuprofen as I am allergic to it.) A cold front moved in, so we put on our jackets and ended the night around a terrific bonfire to roast hot dogs and make smores. It was really fun! (Oh, just a little side note: Grandma had food out all day long, and Rachelle discovered that she LOVES Grandma's Spanish rice. She has formally requested that for her birthday dinner.)

Yesterday, we celebrated our freedom at--where else--the beach! There was enough of a breeze to make it cold for those who got soaked, but otherwise it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! There were many people out on the beach yesterday. And certainly, there will be till after Labor Day weekend. Still, there was plenty of sand to place our blanket down and relax. But, first the water! Nichole had Ivy, so she wasn't able to just run out into the waves like the girls traditionally do. And Ivy would have nothing to do with rushing about in the water. She didn't mind the waves coming in, but she had a terrible time with the ones going out. Nichole did eventually get her out there. Rob picked up another body-surfing board. I intended to play on it too, but it was just too cold for me. I could only take the arctic water up to my knees. Marissa and Rachelle finally got the hang of the little surf boards, but the breeze drove them out of the water before Nichole could get much practice. We headed back to the blanket, where the girls tried to warm up. For a mostly dry person, the weather was perfect. A cool breeze to keep things from getting too hot. For a wet person, the breeze kept things a little too cold. For a black dog, it was just plain hot. Nichole tried to warm up by sitting on the blanket. She eventually took her wet shirts (yes shirts) off and just wore a dry sweatshirt. That seemed to help her out. Marissa tried sitting in different spots on the warm sand, but she just didn't dry off. She shook and shivered the whole time. Rachelle had Jamie bury her. I laid on the blanket with Rob's head on my tummy or lower back and fried myself into a nice lobster red. After burying Rachelle, Jamie went to play on a swing just down the beach a little way. When Marissa had had enough chattering and I had had enough cooking, I looked over at Rachelle who had fallen asleep buried up to her neck in sand and with a hood pulled down over her face! I wished I had thought to bring the camera down to the beach! I think everyone was relieved to head back to the truck to change into dry clothes. . . even the sand monster that slightly resembled Rachelle (again, I really wish I had thought to bring the camera out). Once everyone was dry and comfy, we headed into Seaside for dinner at Fultano's and then off for some hand made ice cream at Zinger's Homemade Ice cream. It was the best! Everyone agreed that it even beats a trip to the candy store. From there, we headed home. We were all pretty tuckered out, but I think Ivy most of all. She is still just laying around sleeping!

It was a very nice weekend and I am thankful to all the soldiers who have put their lives on the line to protect my freedom. What a great blessing it is to be able to freely enjoy my family and friends in this great country. Truly, I am proud to be an American!