No. 4 (vacation)

Vacation number four of the summer is in the bag.

Last Thursday we headed to Sunriver with our friends the Haddens for five glorious days of Eastern Oregon sunshine and relaxation. Coming home today (Monday night) was hard... I get the "going home blues" whenever trips are over and I especially didn't want this one to be over.

So now I'm going to relive it through pictures! So many pictures! 

(Truly. I'm sorry about all the pictures.)

So Sunriver has the best water park, and the house we rented came with passes we could use daily, and also happened to be a two minute bike ride away, so off we went every day to bask in the sun, float in the lazy river, and water slide, etc. to our hearts content. I read a whole book there. A WHOLE book. 

Friday night we went to the outdoor movie in the park. It was the Princess Bride! Obviously the night was magical. 

My parents and grandparents just happened to be in Bend (20 minutes away) for a little getaway so came over to join us. This thrilled me to NO END. It was so fun to enjoy one of our family faves with them. 

Our trip also included meals and hot tubbing on the back deck...

bike rides to Fort Rock Park...

ice cream visits at Goody's...

And a good old fashioned street dance party in the Village. (Seriously, Sunriver is 100% awesome.)

 {Emily & Blake getting down}

Even Walter, TJ & Jana's dog, got to join in!

On the way home today we stopped in the town of Sisters for a late lunch and discovered the Depot Deli Cafe. I would like to move into their outdoor eating area, it was that cute. 

And the food wasn't too shabby either. 

And can you believe I'm going to stop the pictures there?! (You're welcome ;)

This was our 5th (I think?) year going to Sunriver with TJ & Jana and their kids and every single year we wish we could stay longer. Here's crossing my fingers for 2015!

Celebrations

What I Wore Wednesday has been postponed, folks.

I'm too busy celebrating the birth of my new nephew!

 {Lincoln James Hernandez. Born Aug 5th at 3:01 pm}

{Congratulations, Dave & Kelly!}

{So blessed to be able to witness his entrance into the world!}

Annnnddd... today we are also celebrating the 13th birthday of my firstborn child.

Who I'm pretty sure just looked like this yesterday...

{Don't you sometimes wish you could just command time? "Freeze, I say!"}

Life is abundantly good!

The Lakehouse {2014}

This past weekend took us back to the Lake House in Pacific City for another annual Halverson family getaway - the most precious of all our summer trips. The cousins are all still living at home and we know it won't be too many more years now before things change as the oldest head off to college/get married/start families of their own.

BOO HOO HOO HOOOOO!

It was a wonderful trip, and like every other year, I didn't want our time together to end!

This year will be remembered for:
- NON-STOP Settlers of Catan by all the boy cousins (whenever they weren't in the lake)
- an ACTUAL sunny and warm day at Cape Kiwanda! (with no fog! Miracle!)
- kayaking and swimming and fishing galore
- Qwirkle madness
- home movie watching
- my father-in-law's amazing fish feast
- my mother-in-law's amazing white chili that was, in retrospect, although the best chili I've EVER eaten, perhaps not the wisest dinner choice for a group of 20 people staying in one house together. Ahem.

It will also be remembered for hearing the sad news of a very dear family friend's death, and relishing our time together even more because of it, though we mourn his loss deeply.

(Multiple pictures ahead. Stick it out for my very favorite at the end!)

{All the cousins} 

{Ben & Miranda are going to be seniors in high school this fall. Don't leave us, Ben & Mandy!} 

{Us in our entirety!}

{I wasn't kidding, right?}

A Packing Party

What do you do when your sister is 9 months pregnant and moving to a new house four days before she's scheduled to be induced?

You throw her a diaper shower/packing party and invite everyone to come help pack up her house in one fell swoop, is what you do!

Can you even believe the number of ladies who showed up and delivered?! Not only did Kelly get enough diapers and wipes to last her for the first few months of baby's life, but she got her whole house packed in 45 minutes FLAT. 

It was craaazy amazing.

Even our Grandma all the way from New Zealand was there... with precious hand knitted sweaters in a beautiful pale blue. (So talented, Grandma!)

Everyone split up in rooms and all Kelly had to do was waddle walk through to give quick directions. And besides Christine's wee finger, no one was harmed in this astounding feat ;)

I love my sister and I love how successful the night was. Kelly and Dave were soooo grateful and it made me so happy to see them blessed in such a practical way. 

What I also love?

The view from their new back deck. 

WHICH, BY THE WAY... is only 2.6 miles from my deck!

Life is good, folks :)