A long but very worthwhile trip

This last Sunday our family was lucky enough to be able to attend my new neice's blessing. We left Friday afternoon to travel a good eight hours, half of it in the pounding rain, to be with our family for the occasion. We managed to only stop one time on the way down and it really wasn't that bad of a trip. The kiddies were excellent in the car and didn't make a fuss. We stayed in North Bend,OR which is about half an hour from Coquille where my brother and his family live. Saturday we were able to head to Coquille and see baby Moira and catch up on some visiting. She is such a doll and just a little cuddle bug. It was hard for me to give her up for someone else to hold, especially as I was watching my little man crawling around like a speedracer and wondering where in the heck MY little baby went.

That night we headed to Rich and Deb's ward building for a family dinner and to let the kids run around with their cousins in the gym. Kendle is one lucky little girl to have such fun cousins her age and they really are good little friends. The highlight of their night was finding a wheelchair and racing up and down the hall in it. Those crazy rascals.

*Side note*: Did I mention that it did not stop raining the entire time we were in southern Oregon? Not just sprinkling, pouring down buckets! The bottom of Kendle's pants were constantly soaked. And no one wears rain gear there. My sister-in-law told me that's how they pick out the tourists.

Sunday morning we arrived at the church and sat with our family, and as I looked around at everyone seated together I realized how important my family is to me. As I listened to my brother give a beautiful blessing for his daughter, and witnessed my husband and the other men in our family gather around that precious new being I wanted to lock that memory away in my memory safe. Not to be cheesy, but the line "I always want to be, with my own family" from "Families Can Be Together Forever", kept running through my mind and I couldn't be more thankful for the good people who surround me in my life. My grandfather got up and bore his testimony about just doing the simple things in life to be happy and just doing your best. It was a good sacrament meeting. Check out this picture of little Moira in her white dress from Debbie's blog:









Afterwards we headed back to Rich and Deb's to change clothes and grab a quick bite to eat before we hit the road again. It's hard to say goodbye to those guys because they live so far away and we never know when we are going to get to see them again. I'm crossing my fingers that a location closer to us is in need of a new district attorney soon. My little sis rode home with us, so that was a nice change to have someone else to help keep the little ones entertained and side with me on what music to listen too. We were all very tired and the ride home seemed like it took forever. When we came over the hill into Kennewick I told Riley that I think we really do live in one of the best places in the world. Our little slice of heaven might not look like much to many other people, but to us there's no where else we'd rather be. It's good to be home.

Oh yeah, and it rained today. Afterwards though there was the most beautiful rainbow...............