Grandma and Grandpa Thier's visit

Grandma and Grandpa drove all the way from MN to visit us this summer.  We had a grand time during their visit.  We took a trip out to the Columbia River Goerge to see the Bonneville Dam, to the fish hatchery to catch a glimpse of some salmon making their way up stream, and of course the beautiful waterfalls.  We also enjoyed the time we got to spend with them around the house.  Emma especially enjoyed making apple pies with Grandma, and having about 100 books read to her by both Grandpa and Grandma!

Mt Adams camping and Huckleberry picking

We ventured back to Mt Adams again this year for our annual Huckleberry picking.  This year, John and John joined us camping.  We had a long drive on Saturday looking for the perfect berry fields, only to find great picking a short distance from our camp site on our way back home the next day.  We did come away with about a gallon of huckleberries though, and some good memories from camping with the Johns!

Camping trip in Southern Oregon

We headed a bit further than our usual camping trips this year...but for good reason.  We met up with our best camping buddies...John, Angela, and Marty, who now reside in California.  The trip to southern Oregon was quite worth the drive, with the rugged beaches, warm sun, sand dunes, and great friends!  Emma was even able to venture into the water...which is usually much, MUCH too cold to bear anything more than a dip of the toes!  We stopped to see some Sand dunes on the way back home.  It was a bit cool and windy though, so we will have to explore more of that area on our next trip.