"The Mother of all Relays"

Check out what Jason and I will be doing over the next 36 hours with Jason' s sister Gretchen, our friend Ginger from church, our neighbor Anna and seven others on team "SWASS" (aka. Sweaty + well, you get the idea). A relay run from Mt. Hood to the Coast! Check it out at
http://www.hoodtocoast.com/
movie of it at
http://www.hoodtocoast.com/movie.html

I'm pretty sure Jason and I are going to be crippled after this. Thank goodness for yummy snacks in the van and good company. Let the adventure begin... and check back for some sweaty photos and empty bottles of Advil. And thank you Nana for babysitting for us on YOUR birthday!

thinking about Oma...

I've been thinking about Oma today. Thinking about her, and Opa too, lots of days since they passed away. The girls asked if she could come back from heaven for a visit, that they'd like to talk to her. Eleanor said, "Mommy, I used to think that people were kids first, then teenagers, then they died and became grownups...but I don't think I think that anymore."

I've been thinking about how much the absence of a person ministers to us, how her life and her love of others and God taught/teaches me so much. I keep feeling like I can call her up and hear her say, "How ya doin' Honey?." Even though I only knew Oma the eight + years I've been married to Jason, Oma is someone that should just be there. Not in my every day life, but she should just be there. And she is there in my mind now more than ever. When I start to worry about our life, my children, our church, the future, anything really, I think about Oma and Opa and then I think- One day I won't be here. One day these worries will have come and gone. One day I'll be with Jesus and understand. These things that seem like such a big deal today won't tomorrow. This life is short. It is a gift.
"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet..."- Psalm 8:3-6

A Day at the Coast

We live 90 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Why I don't drop everything to go wiggle my toes in it more often, I do not know. But Tuesday, the girls and I left 95 degree heat in Portland to spend the day at the cool, breezy 75 degree Oregon coast. ahhh...blue skies, tide pools, our kite, and some sand toys...and a camera with dead batteries after these two quickly snapped photos.
Along the way we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. It was a bit touristy, but with, ohh...40+ flavors of ice cream to choose from I swallowed my tourist pride. My cone- Marionberry Pie. yum. The girls- bubble gum. super yuck. They would disagree.

After some cow posing we were able to view the packaging factory complete with white coated ladies slicing, packaging, and monitoring cheese as it moved like a train down the conveyor belt.

*Factory photo courtesy of the internet*

A Long, Adventurous Journey

Sorry for the long absence on the blog as of late. The last two weeks have involved one exam in my Cell Biology class on the aerobic respiration of cells and DNA replication, two quizzes, two labs, two days of driving in the car, two and a half whirlwind fun days with Grampa Bix in Bozeman, MT, two more days of driving home, and three more days of single parenting while Jason was away helping at RYM (the Presbyterian youth camp in the area). So- it has been fun, full, AND busy. The girls and I left Portland on a Thursday and drove six hours to Spokane, WA which reminded me a lot of a NW version of Chattanooga. The next day we hit the road again to drive through Idaho and Montana to reach Dad's house in Bozeman. Our stay was full, and both girls agree that their favorite part was roasting marshmallows by the fire pit and visiting the Museum of the Rockies to see dinosaurs (who knew there were dinosaurs in Montana???). Dads' legs are healing up, and he is in quite a different spot from my visit in March. The girls did great in the car with the help of Tom& Jerry and the traveling DVD player. Traveling that far, doing potty stops, and navigating hotels by myself was definitely an adventure. Little things like making a quick potty stop on the road means everyone has to unload and file into the gas station or leave dinner behind on the table while everyone goes to the batheroom. And, when Eleanor wet the bed in the hotel room all three of us were nice and cozy in one bed.

Things I learned on the road- snacks are great, movies even better, and hotel swimming pools are God's great gift to traveling parents.

Downtown Spokane, WA on the riverfront park (1/2 way to Bozeman!). Spokane is this lush, cute city that pops up like an oasis after hours of driving through what felt like the desert of Eastern Washington (where the only signs were signs that read "Next services 91 miles"...geez)

One wiped out six year old after two days of driving...


Snuggling with Grampa Bix and watching "Lady & the Tramp"


some Montana beauty right in Dad's neighborhood

Looking for grasshoppers

A teepee in someone's backyard because....why not?

Dad's house with the Bridger mountains in front

a potty stop on the way home along the Columbia River Gorge...only two more hours left of driving until back home in Portland!

ugh...when are we going to get there, mommy???