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!

Love my beautiful nieces!

Um...hello cuteness!  How stinking adorable is this?! Alexis giving Kyle a little goodbye lovin'!

A last picture with Kyle and his parents before he deploys!

I stopped at the Beaver store with my mom and sister and got Kyle a Beaver football shirt...some of his OS shirts are getting a little ratty.

We loved our trip/mini vacation home to Oregon! 

The Great Northwest

Kyle and I arrived back to the island a little over a week ago from our 10 day trip home to Oregon. Other than Kyle being home in February 2012 for a total of less than 36 hours, he hadn't been home since before we left for TBS in Virginia back in March 2011.  So, this vacation home was much needed for him.  We also took 3 days to fly down to Sacramento with Larry, Kyle's dad, who was also partaking in some business.  Kyle and I are looking for options in case we decide to get out of the Marine Corps.  Many things come into play...he doesn't really want to, I want him to, he needs to get selected to Captain or he can't stay in...so only time will tell and we're praying God clearly shows us the way.  In Sacramento, Kyle went on a ride along with Sacramento Police Department and we looked around Davis to get a feel for the neighborhood.  After our time there and in Oregon, Kyle said, "It really is nice being near friends and family" when referring to Oregon. :)

The night we flew in we stayed at Kyle's sister, Darcy, and her husband, Josh's new house.  Then the very next morning Kyle asked them to take him to the gun store.  So this was the VERY first thing Kyle did one our first full day in Oregon.  I believe our gun collection is complete now...well, I hope :)

After our first day in Oregon we flew down to Sacramento and look what plane we got to fly on.  Kyle was a tad bit excited!

We spent our day walking around downtown and historic Sacramento.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day!

When Kyle was on his ride along from 3pm to midnight, Larry and I went to a King's game with some people he knew from work.  

Reunited with my niece, Lexi! :)

When we got back from California, we went down to Springfield to spend the night with Megan, Greg, and Alexis.  This was Kyle's first time meeting Alexis! This night we went out to pizza with the Olaen's, my moms side of the family.   

I love being with them! I cannot get enough of Lexi :)

Seriously?! SO STINKING CUTE!

Here are Kyle's two little nieces, Macie (18 months) and Lexi (5 months), along with his brother-in-law, Greg.

Since the whole family was together, Mom set up family pictures, but this was a little photo shoot of our own.  Here are Tyler, Katrina, and Macie, who had a poor little tummy ache :(

Here's Grandma, Lexi, and Grandpa! :)

Uncle Kyle and his niece, Alexis! I'm glad he's getting more and more comfortable with babies :)

We also got to meet up with my best friend from college, Amanda, and her husband, Juan, and sweet kids, Sofia and Jakoby.  I lived with Amanda and Juan when we were finishing up college and they had recently gotten married.  We also lived together for the first 8 months of Sofi's life! Kyle would visit a lot since we were engaged and that was she was his first real experience with a baby and she had colic.  Poor thing! And when I say poor thing you can take that as Sof AND Kyle! :)  The last time I saw Amanda was 2 years ago when she was days away from giving birth to Koby! It was on our drive to Virginia we swung by her place in Hermiston to say one last goodbye.  We definitely need to see each other sooner next time!

 I also got to go on a nice little 4 mile walk with my mom and the dogs in Colton.  I really do miss the scenery! 

I got to see my great childhood friend, Jess! Kyle and I went to dinner with her and her fiancé, Joel, then we got frozen yogurt and indulged in the season finale of The Bachelor! Kyle was a real trooper to hang in there during the 3 hour show! Boy, I love him :)  

Jess, Stephanie (her roommate and friend from high school), and Joel made The Bachelor into a Fantasy game, like Fantasy Football.  It. Was. AWESOME!  I think I will have to do this in the future with friends and maybe that will get Kyle interested in the whole season ;)

Our last night at my parents, my mom and dad gave Kyle his birthday presents early.  He got an OSU pint glass and a Benny the Beaver pillow pet! Macie had a U of O pillow pet and Kyle was playing with her and trying to get her to play with the beaver one instead of the duck, but every time he got close she refused and would push it away! I think my dad trained her ;)

Kyle and his dad with the dogs, Stella and Hattie, in the Durant's newly landscaped yard!

Before getting dropped off at the airport, we went to breakfast with Rhonda and Darcy.  A great little send off :)

AMAZING view when we were landing back in Honolulu!

Finally, a little news from Hawaii:

A day before we flew to Oregon, Kyle's platoon was in the field for exercises.  Their last day there they invited a few spouses and girlfriends to DRIVE the tracs (aka Amphibious Assault Vehicles)!!!  So, I got to drive the 20 ton vehicle!  Of course, I was the first one to drive it, I was nervous as heck, and Kyle told me to put in "3rd" gear, but he never told me to change gears while driving.  I was so nervous I didn't want to break anything or crash, but then he told me after I could have switched gears to go faster.  Well, there better be a next time then! :)

A few days after we arrived back on island, the USO was putting on a free meet and greet with three actors from the TV show Sons of Anarchy.  It is about a motorcycle gang.  I didn't think it would be my cup of tea, but Kyle got me hooked on the show when we were dating and I've loved it ever since! Kyle had duty the day before, so he was exhausted and decided to pass, but my friend, Mandee, and I decided to go.  It was a blast!  We only got about three minutes with them to say hello, get a picture, and get their autographs, but I loved it!  I LOVE meeting celebrities and I am in love with pop culture (thanks to my father)!  I was star struck by them, I couldn't imagine meeting someone like Ryan Gosling.  Oh my! :)

P.S.  We didn't just hang out with my friends...Kyle hung out with his old college roommates, including Greg, and some other friends, BUT he is not a picture taker like I am.  I try and Try and TRY to encourage him and he really does try, but he "forgot" to get a roommate picture. ;)