One Day...

Maybe one day I will post, promise we are still alive!!

Oregon trip... finally!

I'm not sure that this post will even capture how much fun we had on our trip to Oregon, but I will give it a try! So we took a couple of days to actually get to Oregon. We left the HOT HOT valley on a Thursday and stayed the night in Bakersfield, CA and got up early and spent the second day driving through not-so-pretty California and made it to Redding, CA. The third day we began our journey again, and it was so weird because we went from kind of desert landscape to beautiful green roads lined with trees and green everywhere! You know when you're in Oregon!

That day we got to tour around Medford/Central Point, Oregon. We obviously didn't get to tour Jaron's mission areas in order, that would have been kind of tough, but I did get to see all of them but one! It was a neat experience to get to re-live some of the things Jaron went through as a missionary with him. We got to visit a couple of the families Jaron served with in Cave Junction and then stayed the night in Brookings. We stayed in this awesome little cabin right on the coast, it was absolutely amazing! It was really foggy so we couldn't see the ocean very well, but it was still awesome. I am in love with the ocean!

(still working on loving seafood...)

Our room with this view...sweet!

Nothing better than to watch your husband return to a place he has talked about and loved... a pretty sweet memory to be a part of.

The next day we were able to take the Highway 101 all the way up the Oregon Coast, again it was a little foggy, but that is the best scenic drive I think that you can ever take. We ended up that day in Coos Bay. Jaron's last area of his mission. I think he would tell you that one of his favorite parts about this area was seeing a whale jump out of the water right in front of him. So lucky!

I guess it must have been really sunny.. bad squinty pics!

There is this sweet place called Shore Acres right there on the coast that has a BEAUTIFUL landscape that a guy built for his family... I will just let the pictures tell that story. While we were in Coos Bay, I think I found a new love.. Dutch Brothers German Chocolate Hot Chocolate! Wow its good!

We left the coast for a couple days and spent three in Eugene. The reason we actually went to Oregon in the first place is because our friends moved up there and so we drove their car up to them, so we got to hang out with them and we had an absolute blast! Jaron took me to 2 of his areas that were near Eugene, Lebanon and Corvalis. We again got to meet up with some sweet families that Jaron served with and even got to eat at his favorite place in Corvalis, Local Boys! Yummy!

Some pretty waterfalls outside Lebanon

Eatin' at "Hole in the Wall BBQ" love that name!

We then went back to the coast and stayed in Newport. Jaron's favorite lighthouse is there, Yaquina Head Lighthouse. It was the first one I have ever seen and I fell in love with it too!

We also got to visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium, which Jaron says is where the orca in Free Willy lived! We topped all that fun off at Mo's which is a pretty renowned place in Oregon. Jaron decided we should be brave and eat something we both never had before, so he ordered oysters... can I just say gross! I don't know who got hungry enough that they decided those would be good, but wow those are disgusting! of course since Jaron ordered them, we each had to down about five of them. I dipped them in every sauce that was on the table, but it certainly didn't help! We will never do that again.

After our fun stay in Newport, we headed up to Portland to meet up with the our friends the Klein's. They were so awesome and gave us a great tour of Portland. We got to go up and see The Gorge as well as some breathtaking waterfalls up in the mountains there. My words would probably be cheesy in trying to explain how pretty it is there, so again, we will let the pics do the talking.

The Gorge

I would say our favorite waterfall--- Montanumah Falls

We got to go to Saturday's market in Portland, and oh my gosh that was fun! There are some crazy people in this world! We played a game to see who could find the weirdest dressed/acting person in the crowd and I won! The "guy in pink" did it for me. We, of course, also had to get some goods from VooDoo donuts, we had just seen them on TV, its a pretty sweet place. The line was pretty dang long! We got the VooDoo doll donut of course and a maple bacon donut. They have some pretty crazy stuff there.

Thanks to Kevin's parents for letting us stay with them while we were in Portland, we had such a good time with them, and had some pretty sweet card games going!

Sunday, we had to head back home, but were able to stop by the Portland, Oregon temple on our way to Eugene to catch our flight. :( it was pretty hard to come back to the desert after being in a little piece of paradise! That trip is definitely one I will never forget! Sorry for the long post, if you made it this far, I am very proud of you!

My cute husband-- on his Oregon Eugene Mission

WE LOVE YOU OREGON!

countdown...

I don't think i mentioned this, but Jaron and I are counting down the days to our Oregon vacation! Jaron served his mission in the Oregon Eugene Mission, and some friends of ours are moving back there, so we are "helping them move" by driving their car up there for them! ( I think we are getting the best end of the deal!) We will be driving up through California and then get to spend some time going to Jaron's mission areas! Can't wait!

Lots to catch up on...

Wow its been a busy few months, we have been working, playing, and putting lots of work into this new house.. We love it! I am gonna update what's been going on the last couple months, but I don't have new pics of the house yet, cause there are a few things I still want to do before I take pics. So to go back a month ago... we will start there, Jaron had a birthday! We went to Greer a week or so before his actual birthday and spent a couple days up there (Thanks to the swweet Groupon deal we got!) We had fun relaxing and skipping rocks on the lake, we ate a delicious dinner at Molly Butler's, watched movies, and had a great time in our "Log

Motel"!

The Man finally got his grillin' machine! He can cook a steak that will rock your socks!

We also made a trip into Springerville cause we love the Western drug there.. it seems so old fashioned and has awesome stuff! On our way back to Greer, we stopped at SouthFork, one of our other favorite places, and went on a little hike. Jaron decided he was going t

o go out in the creek and move some logs and play Boy Scout, but he got a little

cocky and ended up in the stream... Gotta love that man!

Before:

After:

The end of May Jaron's parents came and stayed with us for a week. We had a great time with them! I must not have had my camera handy cause I didn't get any pictures, but we got pedicures, saw a horrible wreck happen right before our eyes (had to get out and play nurse on that one- weird how that instinct kicks in...), made Japanese food, Amber got engaged!, Derek (Amber's Fiancee) and I got new jobs, and Jaron got called as the ward clerk in o

ur new ward! It was quite a week for them to be here! We even went dress shopping and Amber found a dress!

The next week was my birthday- the big 2-5! I'm old! I got spoiled for a good full week! Jaron and I moved our schedules around for memorial day weekend so we both had five days off and we had tons of fun spending time together. Monday, Jaron surprised me with an overnight stay at the Scottsdale Hyatt Resort! That place is seriously so cool. We swam a lot (pools were awesome!), ate dinner at one of the restaurants there and I even got my own gondola birthday cake! It was an italian place so we got a free gondola ride after dinner. I didn't want to leave the place! I got some sweet birthday presents like some pictures I wanted, a timed crock pot, hobby lobby gift card, money and lots of pretty decorations for the house.

The weekend of my birthday I rode up with my mom to Utah for the baby blessing of this beautiful new addition to our family:

Meet Taylin Makelle McLemore! She is a little angel- we have all fallen in love with that hair and this little girl! I love being an auntie over and over again! I can't believe how fast they all grow though. I got taken to dinner for my birthday and thanks to Jen for the birthday cake and presents! It was an amazing birthday. I wish I had pictures of another new addition- I will have to put them on here if I get some- but Parker, Jaron's brother, and his wife Cali also just had a baby girl named DALLY REY FOY- Congrats you guys!

Like I mentioned earlier, I got a new job! I am still working at North Mountain Medical and Rehab but I am now the Director of Case Management! It has been fun so far and I am learning a ton! And now I am on a regular Monday thru Friday schedule which has been a nice bonus...

Jaron starts his MBA at the end of June, so we are getting ready for another 18 months of school... can't say that we are too excited for that, but we are blessed to have his school paid for and we certainly count our blessings there!

I think I am getting a hand cramp so we will have to stop there- plus I th

ink that about wraps it up! TA TA!

P.S. Did I mention we have a dog? Meet Bella! The cutest ShitZu that ever lived! Jaron would say the first part of her breed fits her the best! ha ha we love her!