Our Very Fun Vacation 2008

We drove to Klamath Falls Oregon and stayed with Jason's parents for two weeks. It is always a relaxing and fun time.

Day One, Monday:

This day was devoted to just hanging out and relaxing. Jason and his Dad hung out in the morning. Autumn played with the girl next door who always comes over when we visit. In the afternoon Grammy, Auntie, Mommy and Autumn got to go out shopping and got lots and lots of food for the stay. Daddy and Asher went to see the Clone Wars movie, it was intense!

Day Two, Tuesday:

Today Papa, Daddy, and Asher drove to Medford and Jason bought a motorcycle! (He had been praying about buying one for months now because the gas prices have been crippling our household economy!) While in Medford (a town about 70 mi away) they had lunch with Jason's sister Annie and her two boys. Meanwhile, Mom and I took the kids to a beautiful hiking trail overlooking Klamath lake. We saw lots of nature then the kids played at the playground for awhile. The only sad thing is that Asher came down with a cold! He is sniffly and has a low fever and we are praying that no one else gets it.

Day Three, Wednesday:

Asher is doing better and no one else has gotten it yet, praise the Lord! This morning Dad and Jason went to the forest and chopped down trees for wood. This is a picture of Aiden and Jason unloading the wood from the truck when they got back. Meanwhile, everyone else gathered together and while the kids played quietly, I read aloud a book to everyone. Later, Jason and I went to dinner, saw a movie (The Mummy) and stayed overnight in a hotel! It was so nice to be just by ourselves and stay up late and sleep in, we had a wonderful time.

Day Four, Thursday:

Jason and I returned home in the morning and everyone was still alive and happy. In the afternoon we went up to Lake of the Woods and hiked around, then the kids swam in freezing cold water. Asher caught a frog and a tadpole with legs! Then in the evening we went to a street faire in downtown Klamath Falls. The kids got their faces painted and got to pet an alligator!

Day Five, Friday:

We started out the day going to garage sales. Here in Klamath Falls, people do garage sales on Fridays! Mom, I, Asher, and Autumn all bought some junk...then we had to come home because Autumn wasn't feeling well, only to find Aiden sick, too! So the rest of the day we laid around and pumped Aiden and Autumn with Vitamin C and took turns running errands. In the evening we all watched Pollyanna and Mom and I cried our eyes out!

Day Six, Saturday:

Today we spent the day at a lake again, this time with the kids' cousins, AJ and Andi. It was a neat time because the whole family was there: Jason and all of us, his sister Neeley, and his other sister Annie and all her family. Of course we took a family picture! The cousins played in the lake, drove the boat around and made chipmunk traps. One awesome thing: where we swam at the lake there were tons and tons of butterflies all around! Autumn got two to land on her finger. Later in the evening, Jason and his sister went to see the new Batman movie. That makes three movies for Jason since he arrived...he loves going to movies!

Day Seven, Sunday:

We started out this Lord's Day by going to church of course! Jason's dad is the pastor of the church, however since he is on vacation he didn't preach this morning. So he sat with us and our sniffling kids! We love going to their church, Immanuel Baptist. It is filled with wonderful, godly people and lots of homeschool moms that I love to chat with. There are also three little girls from China and it makes me so impatient for our adoption! The afternoon was spent doing laundry and running errands again, then for evening service we had a barbeque at someone's house. The kids got to run around and play with their friends from the church and we sang and had a devotional. It was a great time of fellowship! Here is a picture of Autumn and her friends.

Day Eight, Monday:

Now Jason is sick! I think I will change the title of this post to "Our Very Sniffly Vacation". He is not too bad; but really needs to rest. This morning Dad took Asher fishing. They only caught one little perch they had to throw back, but Asher had a great time with his Papa anyway. Meanwhile, Mom and I took Aiden and Autumn to the Klamath Falls Zoo, a.k.a. the pet store on Main Street. This is the coolest pet store I have ever been in. They have a monkey, a python, a small alligator, plus snakes, tarantulas, unusual rabbits, fish of every size, lizardy things, and newborn mice. Since we love mice the children watched them the longest; it was so cute to watch all the tiny mice nursing on the momma mouse. Anyway, Jason felt better in the afternoon and took Autumn for ice cream and Mom and I took Aiden and Asher to a very neat playground by the lake. It is so nice to be in this beautiful small town!

Day Nine, Tuesday:

Jason is still sick today, so Dad, Mom, the kids, and I decided to go to the Lava Beds Nat'l Monument without him. This is the place we go everytime we visit to go cave exploring! We left early and brought snacks with us, then planned on having an early dinner at a restaurant on the way home. On the way we stopped at a bird refuge visitor center and hiked to an overlook. So pretty! Then we stopped again and hiked to a crater made out of black volcanic rock. Next was the Lava Beds visitor center and then to the caves! The picture is of us before we went into "Valentine's Cave", named after the date it was discovered. This cave was very large and had many interconnecting tunnels, some we crawled through on our hands and knees. It was getting late after that so we decided to check out one more cave, this one with ice in it. It was called "Heppe Cave" and to get to the entrance we had to hike .4 miles to it. The cave was awesome, it was a steep zigzag decline to huge chunks of ice. While in the cave, Dad and Asher found an alternate way out so Mom, I, Aiden & Autumn came out the way we came in. When we were out we didn't see Dad and Asher so we headed back to the van to wait. By the time we got there we were hot, dirty, thirsty and rather grumpy because Dad had my van keys. So we just waited. And waited. And waited. Then of course we started to worry. Where were they? After about half an hour of waiting we heard a faint shout of "Helloooo", no where in the direction of the cave! We tried to shout back but received no answer. Mom walked in the direction of the shouting and eventually I could hear her and Dad shouting back and forth. Meanwhile, Autumn and I prayed! Finally, after about an hour, Dad, Asher, and Mom emerged from the brush scratched and tired.

Here is Asher's take: Papa and I were just walking through the cave and we wanted to check out something. Then we were going to far and we didn't know it. Papa realized we were lost so we tried to go back. Then we got in a big circle. Then we started following our shadow and Papa said we were going the wrong way. Papa prayed. Then he climbed up a big tree and saw a car on a road and heard Grammy shouting. Then we started in that way, and got home!

After that we still went to a restaurant where Jason met us on his motorcycle. We all ate lots and lots and lots! (Even Autumn finished her meal!) God was so merciful and He showed us how He answers our prayers. He is a faithful God who is a very present help in times of trouble.

Day Ten, Wednesday:

First thing today my awesome sister-in-law Neeley dressed me up in her cute clothes and did my hair in a fashionable way! Then all of us drove to Medford and took the kids to a science museum there. It was very cool and we spent three hours there exploring all the exhibits. Check out the photos! Then we met Jason's sister's family at a mall and the cousins got to play a little bit again. On all of our drives I have been reading aloud from a book called "By the Great Horn Spoon" and we finished it on the way home. It is so neat to read aloud a book together as a family...I highly recommend it for long car drives!

Day Eleven, Thursday:

Jason and I got to go mountain biking this morning! What a treat! The mountain air, the beautiful scenery, and the alone time with my husband were priceless. After coming home we spent the afternoon relaxing then for dinner we ate at the ANA's Breakfast Spot restaurant! This was a breakfast restaurant ran by Neeley, Asher, & Autumn. I had french toast and a vegetable omelette. Delicious! And the service was excellent. Autumn must have asked if I wanted more orange juice five times!

Day Twelve, Friday:

We drive home pulling a U-haul trailer with Jason's motorcycle. The trip went fast but it was so hot! At one point it was 114 degrees outside! But thank the Lord we made it home safe.