The Durant's: Oregon Visit/Vacation

We were so thankful Kyle was able to get leave for 8 days (August 21-29), so we could go home. I needed to go home for the weekend of the 24th because my childhood friend, Jessica, was getting married. If Kyle wasn't able to get leave I was going to make a short weekend trip home to enjoy all the wedding festivities and then fly back to spend that last week with Kyle before he deploys, BUT thankfully he was able to get pre-deployment leave. His deployment is going to be 8 months and I know his family and friends in Oregon were thankful to be able to spend time with him before he had to leave.

Jess, the beautiful bride, and I at her rehearsal dinner. Jess and I have been friends since the first day of 1st grade for me and Kindergarten for her. Her family has a home video of her getting off the school bus and her mom asked her if she made any friends. She said something along the lines of meeting a girl named Brittney. Her mother, Sandy, said "Oh, Brittney." Then Jess replied, "Britt-knee!" I am almost positive I told her about how I spell my name "BrittNEY" not "BrittANY", so I am sure I emphasized the "NEY" not the "ANY". Jess is an only child, so her parents, Tom and Sandy, let her invite a friend on family vacations and I was lucky to be invited on probably close to 15 family trips from going to the Oregon Coast, Crater Lake, Sisters and many more. I was so little I don't remember the names of all the places we went :) But I do remember camping. We would go with her extended family, Aunts, Uncles, cousin, and close family friends, so I got to know them very well and considered them family. Here are a few memories I will cherish forever:

Family vacations
Playing youth sports, particularly basketball camp in Colton my parents put on
Watching and quoting movies like "That Thing You Do!" and "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days"
Listening to soundtracks from "That Thing You Do!" and "Grease". One road trip Sandy was tired of skipping through songs to our favorites, so she told us to choose one cd to play the WHOLE way through. We chose "Grease". Not the wisest decision :)
Putting up a tent in her backyard and bringing her mini tv out there to watch movies and sleep out there on summer nights
After Coast to Coast basketball camp, going to her grandparents house to spend the week with them. I particularly remember renting "The Labyrinth" and watching it about ten times that week.
Playing high school basketball, particularly in the state basketball tournament in 2005
She got me hooked on Harry Potter and I will be forever grateful :)
Watching The Bachelorette (Ali's season) in 2010 when we still lived in Oregon and also lucking out to watch the finale of The Bachelor (Sean's season) when we were visiting Oregon in February...this time with Kyle AND Joel!

We have shared so much of our lives together I can't even fathom my life without her. We've created so many memories that I will cherish for a lifetime. I am so excited to move back to Oregon to do double dates with newlyweds and watch some Beaver football since Joel is a Beaver fan!

This is Jess', Uncle Jon. Before the wedding started we were hanging out inside and he came up to me and said, "Look what I found in my jacket pocket!" It was Kyle's and my program from our wedding (April 3, 2010)! I told him "You must not wear that jacket much." He agreed and we all had a good laugh about it. Very nostalgic.

With the stunning bride before the ceremony!

They had their wedding in Canby at Willamette Valley Country Club. Beautiful!

I still find it so weird to see Kyle in a regular suit and tie...he is always in uniform. This was a nice change, but I do prefer his uniforms :)

Dad, Mom, and Alexis at the reception.

The Bride and Groom. I actually was telling two of the groomsmen that when I first met Joel I thought to myself, "He is a male version of Jess!" Then the groomsmen started to laugh and they said they thought the SAME thing about Jess! Guess they were meant to be :)

The dance party getting started. Lexi didn't seem to mind the loud music. I think she enjoyed the lights!

They had a fun photo booth. Here is one shot of the females from the Adams family. My favorite is the top right because Lexi is smiling so BIG!

The morning after the wedding, Kyle and I went with his family (Rhonda, Larry, Darcy, and Josh) to the Street of Dreams. There were about 10 homes that were newly built near West Linn. They are million dollar homes, if you couldn't tell from the outside of this one. They sure are beautiful, but they make me want to be a millionaire. :)

After we went back to Kyle's parents and we played a little croquet in their newly landscaped front lawn.

That evening we went back to my parents (so thankful our parents only live 15 minutes from each other!). We celebrated my late birthday (July 26), Macie's (September 7) and Megan's (September 29) early birthday with an ice cream cake.

I couldn't resist posting this...How cute is she?!

The following day, Kyle and I went to the Oregon Coast. I know I live in Hawaii by an ocean, but the Oregon Coast is completely different! Kyle knew I had been wanting to go for awhile, so we planned this 1 night stay in Newport. I do not see beautiful sea life like in the picture above in Hawaii! Such a different beauty.

We stopped by Yaquina Head Lighthouse and it was beautiful!

We walked down on Cobblestone Beach to get a different perspective of the lighthouse.

Looking down on Cobblestone beach and and sea stacks!

Of course we had to stop at Mo's to get some of their famous clam chowder! DELICIOUS!

Beautiful view of the bridge, boats, and sea lions.

There were about 15 sea lions lying here and there were a few that were barking like crazy!

Sea lions barking and playing

Don't mind his face. He really was excited for Dutch Bros coffee and fresh caramel corn!

The Devil's Punchbowl

WOW! I love how the cliffs go right to the sea, along with the wonderful TREES! This is called Cape Foulweather...fitting for the weather :)

A little Oregon Coast history for ya!

The bad weather started to roll in, but I loved it!

I recently bought this new app for my iPhone (Rhonna Designs) and was messing around with it and I LOVE it!

Okay, so Kyle and I have been looking for houses in Oregon to purchase. We are "supposedly" getting out of the Marine Corps. And I use quotes because Kyle changes his mind a lot. ;) One reason we are looking in Oregon is because we will move back there and second, housing prices are going up. This is the house that we are in the process of purchasing. It is in West Linn. We will be doing a lot of cosmetic updates (new floors, paint, new doors and floorboards and hopefully a few other things like re-painting the kitchen cabinets and a few minor changes to the bathrooms). Pray for an easy transition with this until we can get renters in because I am having to deal with this while in Hawaii and while Kyle is in the middle east!