The Beach. . .

Every single time, without fail, when I visit Twin Rocks, it's raining.  Pouring, even.  Sheets of rain and low lying fog have defined every visit I've ever had to Twin Rocks.  Except this one. . .

We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather on the Oregon Coast in December. . .

I don't imagine that I will ever live at the beach, but if the opportunity presented itself, I would have to seriously consider it. . .

Twin Rocks Road Trip. . . Finally. . .

Last weekend (Dec 2-4), we hit the road again for another quiz trip. Here are 6 of the 13 people that made the long, long, long (long) journey to Twin Rocks, OR:

I realize it isn't that long of a journey, say in comparison to driving back east, but I wasn't looking forward to a trip of any distance, much less one that would take 10-12 hours in one day with a packed vehicle.  Especially after what happened the last time we traveled this road. . .

The weather was perfect for this trip, however, with clear roads, sunny skies and just a trace of snow as we went over the Blue Mountains. . .

After we safely passed through the pass, I relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the drive.  It didn't even bother me (much) when we took a little detour through downtown Portland in 5:00 traffic. . .

Steph had been counting down the days for a couple of weeks due to the fact that she was very anxious to see someone at Twin Rocks that she had been missing terribly.  She wasn't very happy when we stopped for dinner at Denny's just 20 minutes away from our destination. . .

We were all a little tired by that time. . .

We still made it to Twin Rocks before 8 p.m. and Steph JUMPED FROM MY MOVING VEHICLE for this:

And I'm pretty sure it was worth it. . .  Samantha was a VERY welcome sight after such a very long drive!! 

To be continued. . . (ooh, the suspense.  Not.)

Happy 13th Birthday, Gloria!

Instead of going on and on about how old it makes me feel to know that my youngest child has become a teenager, I want to say how very, very proud I am of who she has been, who she is, and who she is becoming.  This girl has always been able to make me smile. . .

Happy birthday, Baby. . . I love you!!

Still Waiting. . .

More of my favorites. . .

Happy Birthday Elsie!!

 Beautiful little girls. . .

Becoming beautiful young women. . .

So glad I get to be a part of it. . .

In The Meantime. . .

Still working on the Quiz Meet post so here are a couple of my favorites until then. . .

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to my daddy (December 3rd) and Me (Today). . .

This is one of my favorite pictures ever. . .

Home. . .

It was a very long weekend and I have 394 pictures to edit and sort but I'm very tired and tomorrow is a BIG DAY so this will have to do for now:

Road Trip. . .

This is where I'll be for the weekend.  Well, actually, I'll be there for about 30 hours.  I'll spend 10-12 hours getting there and 10-12 hours getting back. . .

Honestly, I've had a hard time getting excited about this trip.  There are people I can't wait to see again, so that will make it all worth it but the last time I traveled this road I came back with a visual I can't seem to forget.  I guess I'll look at this trip as "getting back on the horse", so to speak. 

See you on the flip side. . .