Pacific City 4th

We spent the beginning of July with Jim & Cheri and family in Pacific City. They rented a beautiful beach house and we spent four days relaxing. I hadn't been to Oregon for 3 years (and Todd for 2). I think we both forgot how beautiful it is and how much we like it there! 

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. I have a very specific idea of what makes a good 4th, and it requires being in Provo. Nobody does the 4th better. This year, there was no parade, no BBQ, and nobody wore the right colors (except me). But I don't regret missing a 4th in Provo for this. We spent the day with family and the evening watching fireworks going off all along the beach with Haystack Rock in the background.

We don't get to see these little guys often enough. They think we live at the beach, because that's the only place they ever see us!

We were *this close* to stealing this little one.

 I'm not a big fan of sea life, but somehow Todd convinced me to touch the starfish. Barely.

We got up really early the last morning to check out low tide. Todd, Trent, Tanner, and I went way past the safety fences to watch the waves come in. I love watching the waves, somehow it is simultaneously peaceful and terrifying.

Todd, Tanner, Trent, Jodie

We were so glad we got to spend some time with Tanner before he left for his mission to Arizona. Jim asked some of the brothers to do the temple prep lessons with him, which was a very cool idea and Todd enjoyed doing.

We hit our family vacation limit Saturday morning. Trent drove us back to Portland, where we had some great pizza before I flew to San Francisco. After I left, Todd and Trent spent a few hours together driving around the places they have childhood memories and visiting Tandi's grave. 

I've never lived there, but I was feeling "homesick" for Oregon it as soon as I left! I think I like it so much because everything there reminds me of Todd. Which is usually a good thing :)

High Adventure

Despite the fact that he doesn't contribute to it, Todd really likes this blog of ours. He says I'm the better writer, so he'll just let me tell our story. It turns out this means I also tell stories I was not a part of.

Todd's last hurrah with the Young Men was their high adventure trip in June. They went out to the Nolichucky River on the Tennessee border and had an absolute blast for four days straight. 

Todd's favorite part was caving. It was about four miles roundtrip with several tight spots he could barely fit through. One of the rooms in the cave was about the size of a Volkswagen car, and they crammed 15 people into it and the guide turned off the lights. They had to figure out how to find the entrance, then crawl out one by one in the pitch dark. The return trip was through an underground river...  everyone was muddy from head to toe, but loved it.

His other favorite part was rafting the Nolichucky River. They didn't fall out at all during the 3-4 hour trip, until the guide purposely dumped the boat at the end.

Between adventures, Todd taught everyone Crazy Rook, they played volleyball, ate great food and bonded. 

Todd has loved this calling like he's never loved a calling before. He was nervous about it at first, but he thrived in it. The boys loved him! He was really sad to be released and is crossing his fingers he'll get another Young Men's calling when we return to the States.