Trip to Utah

The first of June we got to go back to Utah for the weekend.  The first thing we did was go to the zoo.  The little boys loved it and we also got to see the bird show which was awesome!  We wanted to see the polar bear because the new exhibits were open, but we went in the afternoon and she was tired and they had put her away.  We will have to see her next time.  It was a really good day and kind of hot for us Oregonians who haven't had anything higher than 80 degrees so far.
The main reason we were there was for Matthew's blessing.  It was a great day to see family and spend time together.  We did miss some of you though.

It was a great weekend, but it went way too fast!  The next time we will get to go will be October when we all welcome Elder Daniel home!  We will get to stay a week that time!

Camping in Florence

I know it has been such a long time since I posted.  I am going to try and be more current.  I will start with this trip and probably go back into February and come forward in future posts.  Oregon is treating us well, it is very different in so many ways.  The last weekend of April we went on our first camping trip.  We went to Harbor Vista campground in Florence.  Florence is on the coast and is about 57 miles from where we live.  We go over a "pass" which makes us laugh each time we see it because it says Summit 749 feet!  The campground is a county campground and all of the county and state camps have hookups which is awesome and only $25 per night!  This one is just above the jetty and has so many trees that you can't see the campers next to you.

The first morning ( Saturday) we went to this diner.  It is called the Hot Rod Grill and they have a pretty good breakfast.  The cars are actually booths to sit in for your meal.  The outside of the diner has the fronts of classic cars coming out from the building all around the top.  It was fun to watch kids (and grownups) come in and want to sit in the cars to eat.

we took a drive up the coast that day to Yachats.  Along the way we stopped just above Sea Lion Caves ( it is an attraction that you pay and actually go down to the sea cave where the sea lions are) and we took this picture of sea lions sunning on a rock.  

There is a lighthouse along the way but it was under construction and covered up, we will get a lighthouse picture next time.  There was this house that was next to the ocean that was built with a lighthouse, but not one that served as a lighthouse.

We also saw Devil's Churn. It is a place where the sea has cut into the rocks along the shore and the water comes in at tide and splashes up really high.  We were not there at high tide so I am guessing it is more impressive when you are.  We also hiked down to the tide pools but didn't see much there since the water was way out.

We went down to old town Florence and this is a picture of the street.  We ate at a restaurant right on the water called Mo's.   The food was great!

At the end of the day we went to the overlook at the campground and got these shots of the sunset

On Sunday we went to church at the Florence ward.  We don't have any pictures of that day.  They were all so friendly and had what they called a "linger longer" which was a pot luck lunch and they invited us to stay.  We met some really nice people and when we are over there camping again we will enjoy going to their ward.  It was a great trip and as you can see, the scenery in this state is breathtaking.  We hope that everyone that can will come up to see us and we can take you around first hand!