Christmas Miracle

I was writing my latest blog last night, which talked a little about how Lil' Jackie Lyn had been missing for a week, when lo and behold she showed up on our door step! I heard meowing outside our door and thought it was this orange stray we call Bonkers, who frequents our house (thanks Jeremiah), and almost didn't open the door, but something inside me said to just check. And when I did you can't imagine my surprsie! Lil' Jackie had been missing about a week and somehow found her way home! She was starving and tired, but happy to be home. We are so thankful she is home safe and it made my night to see her! Thank you God! I will be posting the aforementioned blog soon, so come on back yo!

Blessed

This weekend, while my hubby was out of town working with his dad, I spent some quality time playing games and eating S'mores with my mom, sister, Aunt Marie, cousin Jennie, and my angels Eli, Trenton, and Harper! What blessings they truly are! They are a good distraction when I am missing my hubby!

Eli had me laughing all throughout the grocery store and definitely has me wrapped around his finger! He tried to get me to let him crawl through the shelves and would look at me with his big blue eyes and sweet smile and I would just melt! He is so much fun, but no wonder his mom can't take him shopping alone anymore... I also got to snuggle up and eat popcorn while watching The Alien Movie (War of The Worlds) with E, which is rare now that he is such an independent big boy. He is such an awesome kid! ! I was in Heaven!

My Harper also gave me lots of snuggles! Well, she is only a month old now and had no choice, but I know she loved it! Wow she is growing fast! She is getting the cutest chubby little thighs and the most adorable little cheeks! She is so precious and delicate I could just kiss her all day! Soon this beauty will be Eli's age running me around the store and getting away with everything. I am beyond blessed!

On a sad note, however, Lil Jackie has been missing since last Wednesday. We finally brought her to our house a couple weeks ago, when we brought home our new kitty Teddy Ferguson Atkins (a.k.a. Ted Ferguson). The two were finally getting along and Jackie Lyn was adjusting to her new home, but somehow she got outside and we haven't seen her since. We will be posting signs my cousin sweetly made and offering a reward in hopes someone has seen her or can offer some information. I am so sad and want her to come back to me. Who knows maybe she will make her way back to my mom's somehow, it happens! Until then, I have my wonderful family to comfort and distract me from missing her. They are amazing and I AM BLESSED!

*** Jackie has been found (see above post) I just wanted everyone to see what I was about to post last night.

I Love Vacation!

The last week has flown by! We had so much fun on our vacation and made such great memories! I feel so blessed to have seen so much of God's beauty in this world and to have had so many great experiences with all of His creations and to have done it all with my hubby and best friend! Our first day of the trip was spent on The Alpine Slide at Mt. Hood and was so much fun! I totally recommend it! You sit on a sled with teflon pads on the bottom and go down a huge luge type slide. Younger kids can do this as well, since you control how fast you go. Of course, Jeremiah was flying down the mountain twice as fast as anyone else. I also picked up some speed too. Definitely a great beginning to a fabulously fun trip! Oh, I almost forgot, we got to eat at Pietros Pizza and won a ton of tickets on a bonus game after Jeremiah jokingly prayed to win, and so of course we gave the tickets to a sweet little girl nearby. It was so cool how God totally used this night to bless a little girl and her mom who were so grateful for something so simple as tickets for a prize! Isn't the way God loves little children awesome?!

The next day we made our way into California to see The Trees of Mystery! Who knew The Redwoods were so old and BIG! We didn't make it to the tree you drive through because we found out where it was after we left and were back at our hotel in Crescent City. Bummer :( But we saw amazing sights and got some great pictures! While in Crescent City, CA we went up to a lighthouse on the beach that you can only get to when the tide is low. It was very cold here in good ol' CA surprisingly... but so memorable.

The next morning we got up and drove to the inspiration for the trip... The Bandon, Or. Walk-Thru Safari and Game Park! I never thought I would get to pet or play with any wild animals as a child, but always dreamed of holding a baby tiger or some kind of cat cub. Well, my dream has finally come true! Here you can feed reindeer, play with a baby leopard or lion cub (or whatever other animals they have for interacting with that day), and see many others close up. I had so much fun and was like a little kid running around this place. I would definitely go back! The baby leopard was so cute and I think Jeremiah and I were the only ones to get in trouble for petting his head and making him jump out of all the people and children that were in line hahaha! After this wild experience, we drove onto Newport, Or. for our next adventure! Along the way we stopped at Coos Bay and a few other lookouts and saw a whale and tons of Sealions through our binoculars. Once in Newport, we ate dinner at the classic Arctic Circle (they have the best fry sauce and milkshakes ever) and fell asleep to the sounds of the ocean at our hotel on the beach. What an unbelievable day!

Our next day in Newport was spent at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, The Undersea Gardens, and The Wax Museum. Unfortunately, Ripley's was a letdown and only had replicas and posters to read and the Undersea Gardens was not so cool after going to the aqaurium. The Wax Museum was fun and made for some good photo ops, but was pretty small. The aquarium, however, had the shark tunnel and tons of cool sea life to see. I was excited we were there since it was officially shark week on the Discovery channel. In addition to the days activities, I was also desperately trying to find a good place get some fudge, but picked the wrong place and was disappointed. So, my mission became finding good fudge before I could come home. Luckily the mission was accomplished on the last day!

That night we strolled over to the tide pools on the beach and saw tons of little fish and crabs swimming around in the shallow water. Then we got down to business and made a fire on the beach to make s'mores! It was so romantic to sit by a fire with the hubbs and roast marshmallows for the yummiest summer treat ever invented!

The next day we went in the jacuzzi and then ate at Arctic Circle one last time before heading onto our next destination. But first, we stopped in Lincoln City where it was sunny and quite a bit warmer and took some fun photos on the beach. I think we would stay in Lincoln City the next time we come to the Oregon coast.

Finally, we made our way into Portland where we started out with some shopping and then met up with a friend and went out for dessert at Rock Bottom. That night we got some much needed rest in our 5 star hotel room that was as small as a dorm room! So weird! The next morning we got up and headed to Beaverton to drive The Malibu Gran Prix Cars! We drove them a couple years ago when a ski trip to Mt. Hood fell through and had a blast and decided we needed to go back. These things aren't your normal go-carts friends. You have to have a drivers license to drive them and they can go very fast! After a few spin outs and beating our times, we ate lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings and got back on the road. This time the destination was home... but at a leisurely pace :)

On our way home we took the historic highway to Multnohmah Falls where we saw a beautiful smaller waterfall just before the big falls and had to get a picture. Once at the big falls, the destination was the fudge and ice cream kiosk! I have seen the falls many times, and while it is always beautiful I NEEDED chocolate and some good fudge! So, when Jeremiah asked, "Do you want to see the falls?" I very quickly responded, "No" as I made a beeline for the fudge kiosk. Then it was time to get back on the road and get home. Just being in the car made me sick at this point and I was ready to get back to the dry desert heat that is my home. No, Really! Nature is beautiful, but the those windy mountain roads will get ya and the coast can be chilly. I am so glad we did a trip like this before we have children and more responsibilities. It was definitley worth the ride! Now to get planning on our next tropical vacation! :)