Oregon in the Summer

What can I say...I love the Northwest and I love my crazy family! Thank goodness Matt loves both too :) We have millions of pictures, so we can't possibly capture all the fun and memories and beauty in one post. It might take a couple. We spent evenings around fire pits sitting and chatting, making dinners, going out to dinners or a brew, a rodeo, camping in the middle of the forest along a beautiful stream, hiking, boys days golfing, girls day for massages and pedicures...the list goes on and on. Our days were filled. The time always goes too fast. We had a wonderful trip! I will try to do it justice.

St. Paul Rodeo (Matt's 1st rodeo...one of the best rodeos in the US)

sisters

sunset (don't mind the calf tied up there...the lil guy was released moments later-phew.)

a mama and her girls


CAMPING IN THE GREAT NORTHWEST.

matthew and i hanging out

kels and i by the stream (there was an old broken logging bridge, we are standing on it)

this is kelsey's boyfriend derek...we LOVE him!!!!!

it was a good backdrop...why get original?

baggo (or cornhole)...bean bag game-super fun! we have only played the one with one hole. matt and i picked this game up at target, and it is fun with different holes worth different points! definitely a camping hit. i think kels hit a good shot ;)

matthew and his manly self choppin' some firewood

uuummm, our dogs chillin in the tent. they are sooo southern cali dogs. they LOVED camping but were major wusses at times! (a couple examples: matt had to carry zoe over logs when she was not about it, they limped around when they got sap on their paws)


Pops House for Dinner

matt and derek waiting for dinner

stephanie (step-sis), me, and kels...at our dad's house


Seeing Family and Friends...

we got together with Step-dad Mike twice and it was so good to see him! Here are kels and i, curran and mike at round table pizza

went to drinks with my good friend courtney, her new hubby sean and our other super fun friend jen...SO great to get together. i miss these people!


THE HIKE

tim took a day off work to take us to one of his favorite hiking spots. Eagle Creek is near Estacada... absolutely beautiful. we hiked in about 4 miles, at lunch at the creek, and hiked out.

salmon berry.

our cute hiking pups

curran and i

a man and his dog (tim and katie)

love it.

the trail

tim in a huge ol' hollowed out tree. there is tons of old growth in here...been around for centuries. he wanted to make sure you could see his gun on his hip.

the creek is below, at the bottom of this big canyon. we started higher, hiked all the way down, then out!

matthew making a wish

curran rode back down to cali with us, and we have spent the last week together. it has been so great to hang with the nephew...he is such a good kid and tons of fun! we will have to do with austin when he is curran's age. another post to follow soon! :)