Oregon...or bust!

This fall, our family had the chance to go back to Oregon. Well, we made it happen. Troy really wanted to go to the BYU football game vs. OSU and I had a few photoshoots. So, we decided to make a weekend out of it. We left on a Wednesday night and stayed in Boise. We woke up the next day and made our way to Portland. We stopped at Multnomah Falls on the way into town for a photo op. It has been so long since we have been there. Still gorgeous! We then drove into Aloha to stay with friends, the Gonzalez Family. We ran a few errands (tax free) and met up with them at THE Papa's Pizza. Definitely not a food favorite, but the kids LOVED playing there. It was really fun. The next morning we got up early, packed a sack lunch, and drove to the Oregon Coast. It's not a trip to the coast if you don't make it to the Tillamook Cheese factory! We stopped at a beach near Cannon Beach for our lunch. We ate quick, and the kids took off their shoes, and headed for the water. It was a sunny day in October, and I wished I had shorts on! At one point, a child said, "Who knew we could have so much fun at a cold beach?" We stayed about an hour, then headed inland to meet Sarah and kids at the Pumpkin Patch we frequented when we lived there. It was still fun (pretty sure more expensive though)! We told the kids they could pick any pumpkin as long as they could carry it. I think we ended up saying at least 20 feet. It was fun for them to play on the hay bales with old friends! We then went back to Papa's pizza - this time with the Nielsen's. The adults did NOT want to eat the food, so after the kids played for awhile - we put Kyle in charge of all the kids, and we went to PF Changs. Yum! My kind of dinner! It was fun catching up. The next day, Troy left early for the football game, and I headed to do more photoshoots. I LOVE my Oregon clients! Cassandra picked me up when I was finished, and we took all our girls to lunch and then to a makeup store where we put makeup on them! Their choice of everything! That night, Sarah came by and we visited and chatted until Troy got home from the game. We decided to drive through the night and make our way home. It was a super fun weekend! I love little family trips. Oregon was such a great place for us to raise our little kids. It was the place I had babies, was pregnant, and had toddlers to entertain. The friends I had their taught me so much and I will always remember them. As Troy and I drove around, we missed that time our kids were so little, but we also knew that we are where we are supposed to be. It was a great feeling to have. We know we will always remain close to friends, but we made the right decision for our family, at a time when we really didn't know what would be the better choice! We will definitely have to make Oregon a destination for more family get-aways!