Best hike ever

Brian and I love hiking. Especially together, we work like a well oiled machine and its the best couples therapy/bonding time. We have been very lucky to go on two hikes together this summer thanks to our amazing families who jump in and help watch the girls for us.
I'm not going to lie, leading up to the hikes I start thinking, "Why are we hiking? We should just go to a hotel and do nothing for two days." But once we get out there it's so much fun I remember why we do it.

The Timberline hike is a hike around Mt. Hood and part of it meets up with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) which goes from Mexico to Canada. This was Brian's 4th year and my second, Craig and Jess came again and some new hiking friends, Kirk and Amy. We hadn't hiked with Kirk and Amy before so there was a little unknown about how well we would all do together. About 2 hours in it was clear we had an amazing group. We all got along amazing and had the best team work through river crossings and setting up camp each night. We had such an amazing time and everyone had such a good sense of humor that even on the hard inclines we were able to laugh through the pain.

The very beginning before we started, all ready to go

We joked about how we jumped a couple levels in friendship with Kirk and Amy. We went from talking at tailgators together to bathing in streams in our underwear together. Hey, when you are hiking for 4 days, a bath in the freezing water in your underwear is heavenly.
Each day brought different terrain and challenges and it was such a fun adventure. One day we ended up going past the camp spot we had originally planned on and did 16 miles in one day. That was definitely our toughest day and by the time we put our tents up we all needed major pain pills. Once those kicked in we all felt a lot better :)
Some highlights of our best hike ever:

Playing Cards Against Humanity

Bathing in the creek

Food and Beer halfway through at Timberline Lodge

The amazing views where the only thing you could think to say was, "Wow, look at that."

At the Lodge, halfway through our journey

Kirk and Brian climbing out of Elliott

Kirk and Amy by the sign that says, do not cross Elliott, we are rebels

snow crossings

One of the many amazing views

The waterfalls are amazing

Spectacular views around every bend

River crossings

Being silly

The guys

 One of the most spectacular waterfalls ever is Ramona Falls, it cannot be fully captured by a picture. It's just incredible in size and all the different rocks make the water cascade so beautifully all the way down.

Ramona Falls

I would highly recommend this hike. It's about 40 miles so doing it in 4 days is more than doable. There are some tough inclines and terrains in general but the views and accomplishment are worth it.

And so it begins...

My baby went to school today. 

She couldn't wait for today to come and in her eyes it took forever. In my eyes?

In my eyes she was this a few days ago...

 And now she is this...

As I walked her to the lobby to meet up with her teacher and other students, she was all smiles and didn't seem nervous at all. When her teacher told the kids to give their parents one last goodbye, I choked back the tears as best I could. 

She gave me a hug and sweet little kiss and then they got in a line and all looked back to give one last wave, the tears nearly spilled over at that point but I held my cool.

Apparently my phone mimicked my own blurry eyes

I walked to the car excited for her, hoping it would be a positive experience and one that would set a good tone for her for school.

When I picked her up I was very happy to see her confidently walking in line with the class and waiting patiently until she was dismissed. She talked all the way home about how fun it was and how much she loved and couldn't wait to go back. I was beaming! 

We celebrated with chocolate M&M cookies as an after school snack.

Thumbs up for Mom :)

I'm so grateful it went well today and hope it continues that way. Big stuff happening here, class of 2027 started school today people!

Just about school time

In addition to our eventful summer, we also had days where we did basically nothing...I mean you gotta have those days too.

Watching some tv with Dad

And days where little ones got into trouble...

During nap time Reese got the lotion and did this. Ugh.

 We had Bria's Back to School BBQ the other week and it was fun to see her classroom, meet her teacher, and play. 2 days and she is school bound!

 This summer has proven to be challenging and great all in one. As always, the girls go through phases with each other, one minute they are best friends and the next they are screaming at each other. We had a few rough weeks there and I was going crazy with all their fighting. They are a little more even keel these days and that helps. I think Bria being at school everyday will help make their hearts grow fonder too :)
We have enjoyed a very warm summer (despite no AC) and it's still going strong, suppose to be in the 90's the next couple days! I'm looking forward to Fall but I want to take full advantage of the warm weather because once it's gone it will be a looooong time before it comes back.
Wish us luck on Bria's first day!

Our awesome family reunion

Every 2 years we do a family reunion with my whole family, all 4 parents and everything. We are very blessed that our blended family vacations together and we appreciate our parents so much for allowing this to happen.

We all look forward to them so much and can't wait to spend 4 days hanging with the fam. We stayed in Sunriver at a pretty rockin' house that had rooms for everyone. 

 We had a few activities and also some down time to just chill. The weather was a little cooler than I had anticipated, in the mid 70's during the day but at night and in the early morning it was down in the 40's.

Bria and Aunt Abby hangin' out

Jax and Papa (my step dad)

Porter man!

We have the meals down to a fine science. Each family signs up for two meals and they bring all the groceries needed for it. Makes it super nice and it's fun to have some different meals.

Kayla and Lance working hard in the kitchen

Kailey doing Reese's hair for me :)

It was amazing having so many helpers. The Jensen kids along with Abby and Cassidy were incredible and did so much. Aside from entertaining the kiddos, they watched our girls and Jax one evening so the adults could go out. They put our girls to bed and everything! Fabulous!!

Anna (step mom), Jenny, Dad, Jaime, and Brian watching some hilarious ice bucket fails

 The ice bucket challenge was in full effect while we were there, we pretty much all got nominated and Bria even wanted in on the action.

Ice cream cone break!

 One of my favorite things was just to sit on the back porch with a drink in hand and chat with my familia.

Reese and Jax in deep conversations

Strike a pose (Jaime and Jaidyn)

 We measured and Jaidyn is just about taller than Jaime! It was only a matter of time before her kids passed her up. :)

Dad, Schuyler, and Abby

Tegners in the kitchen!

Lollipops are the best

Brian and Schuyler....and Jaime :)

It was so fun to see all the little relationships grow while we were there. Jax is pretty enamored with Porter.

Reese shows her affection through violence...awesome

Who's da man? JAX MAN!

My little Reese was very cuddly the whole time with all her family. It was a nice change from our last reunion where she only wanted me.

Loving on her Uncle Lance

 Bria and Jax and Reese were all pretty cute together, they coined a great new dance called, "Beh Frenz" translation: Best Friends!

Jumping on the bed

One day we went to the little water park, Sharc. It was fun but definitely wish it was warmer out!

Cassidy and Jaidyn in line for the slide

Swimming fun!

A sister run!!! Kayla was asleep and since she's pregnant we didn't want to wake her!

We did a little photo shoot for HP while we were there since my mom's work group is in charge of marketing and such. It was kind of fun to feel like a celebrity ;) We also got free family photos out of the deal!! Wahoo!

Yaya and Jax

Big kids play too!

Me and my mini me

Schuyler and Porter

 We spent a lot of time just playing in the driveway and cul de sac, that's usually where we have the most fun.

Reese and Kailey

Yaya and her Bria

Love my Dad!

She loves her silly Grandpa

I also loved floating the river, definitely in my top 3. 

I can't say enough about how much I love my family. I'm already looking forward to the next one!