Right after the Gomez family left, we started preparing for our ward campout. Nate had graciously volunteered to buy all the food for it, so we were kinda busy getting back to real life + buying food for the campout + packing for the campout + normal every day life. 

I have to tell you... I was overly slightly skeptical about our campout. It was to be held at one of the ward member's family dairy farm near the coast. Yes, you read that right, a freaking dairy farm. I was not super excited about spending a night in a pasture where cows had done their business, and I did not want to smell the cows either. But, since Jess was in charge of the ward campout, and Nate had volunteered to buy the food, I had no choice but to go.

Bleh.

After frantically packing all day Friday, and running around like nobodies business, we were finally ready to head out around 5 pm. It took us about an hour and a half to get there, and the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. 

I took this photo with my phone on the drive up there, and I didn't edit it whatsoever. 

I never tire of the scenery Oregon has to offer...

And you can imagine my pleasant surprise when we pulled up, and this is what the "dairy farm" looked like...

It smelled wonderful, and come to find out, they had kicked the cows out of the pasture 2 weeks before, so it was literally just a big, green, luscious field of beautifulness.

We quickly set up our tent, had some delish dutch oven fajitas (pronounced fudge-I-tuhs... hee hee hee) courtesty of the Bills family, and enjoyed a pleasant fireside by the light of the fire.

The girls went to bed super quick, and we were able to stay up until about 1:30 just chatting with some of our nearest and dearest friends.

That night, I seriously slept awesome. I mean, I haven't ever slept that well in a tent. I wasn't too hot or too cold, I didn't toss and turn, Colbie slept the whole night... it was wonderful!

As sticking with tradition, on Saturday morning, the bishopric cooked us breakfast.

Have you ever had French Toast Croissants? 

H.E.A.V.E.N.!

And I tried to take a lovely pic of me and ma besties, Jess and Karisa...

But Nate and Dan staged this lovely photo bomb for us.

Gotta love these two responsible men... hee hee hee.

For breakfast, Halle carried around her silverware in her pocket. It was so stinking cute!

The rest of the day, we just played games while the kids explored.

It was really nice not being in an actual campsite, and not having to worry about leaving at a certain time.

This gave us time to pretty much do whatever we wanted to.

Plus, there wasn't any other campers that we could disturb, so the kids were free to roam!

Here is Halle with her friends, Brooke and Kenna.

We were by the creek, and the kids loved tossing rocks into it.

Colbie loved sitting in this chair!

Blackberries grow like a weed up here in Oregon, so we went and explored the berry bushes. It was just amazing to see nature at her finest!

And of course, Colbie and Piper were by each other's side...

I feel like the campout just ended too soon. I honestly wished that it could have lasted another day! I know, funny how I was put in my place! 

I think I loved it so much because there wasn't a lot of dirt, there was 3 port-a-potties which were all super clean because it was just our ward that had used them, none of the kids fought, it was the perfect temperature, we had delicious food, and of course I was surrounded by my ward family, who I have just grown to love with all my heart!

Until next year....

Le Gomez Familia

How lucky are we to have such awesome friends? In fact, our friends are so stinking awesome that they drove all the way up here to visit us. That's true dedication, yo. Most people always say that they want to visit, and that they miss us... but so far only a few have actually come to see us. It means the world to us!

Here's a little background on Margeaux and Eldon.

Margeaux, Nate, and I all went to Brockbank (aka Skankbank) together back in the late '90s. It was da bomb.com. Except Nate was too cool to hang out with M and me. So Margeaux and I actually met in 8th gradeish. We were friends, but became really good friends our junior year.

Eldon and I met out sophmore year in orchestra. I can still close my eyes and see the first time I met him. I was sitting on the stairs in orchestra, and he swaggered in, looking all g-funk in his homie gangsta clothes. He had a bull cut. I literally wondered what in the heck this kid was doing in orchestra. He was probably there just thinking it was an easy A. I was stunned when he could actually play the violin! We became stand partners, and the next 3 years in orchestra were a blast!

Meanwhile, Margeaux and I still continued being friends... she was my friend when I had my first boyfriend, Mr. Josh Tuttle (whom I dated for 3 months and he never kissed me...), we went crazy at football games, drove around in Auty's little yellow Geo Storm, went on midnight walks on sleepovers, and just enjoyed being plain old silly.

Somewhere down the line, I introduced Margeaux to Eldon (awesome friend meets other awesome friend) and we all were friends.

Then, tragically, Margeaux and I lost touch. There were some bad feelings, and we didn't speak for like 4 years. Then, our friend came home from his mish, and we decided to ride up to his homecoming together, and reconciled. Hallelujah!

Nate and I met and married. A year and a half later, M and E got married. Then we all lived in student housing up at the U together.Then M and I started beauty school together. Then M & E moved into the 200 court where we lived, and we were all in the same ward together. Graduation came for Eldon, and it was time for the Gomez fam to move on. Sad.

I have visited Margeaux and Eldon every time I've gone back to Utah. My time is so precious when I go back home, that it is nearly impossible for me to visit all my friends, but they are friends that will always be on the top of the list to visit.

So you can only imagine that I almost peed my pants when I found out they were coming up here to visit! And they were bringing Miss Zuri, who is only a week older than Colbie!! They couldn't stay for long, so we could only do a few things, but I knew that it would just be a blast to just catch-up!

We took a little walk in the forest behind our house. We happened upon some wild blackberries, and had a little improv taste test session.

Side note: When I take pictures of Halle, and I see all the sweet expressions in her face, and the way she is just curious about life all around her, it melts me.

We went to Tillamook.

And of course we went to the coast! We decided to go to Cannon Beach, which was a new experience for both of us. See, this is why I love it when people come into town.... I get to do things that we just normally wouldn't do!

Disclaimer: This awesome sand city wasn't built by us. But it was too cool to not get a picture of.

Crack up moment: Margeaux and El brought their swimming suits and were prepared for a lovely, sunny, and warm day at the beach. The Oregon coast is never super warm. Jackets are required!

Margeaux and Ava built sand castles of their own. Please excuse Margeaux's bosoms.... :) Hee hee.

Hal fell in the ocean, so Nate spent most of his time warming her up. He's such a good daddy!

We also went to The Grilled Cheese Bus.

And I realized that it's not fair for a baby to have such beautiful eyes....

And we got a little lost on our way to Voodoo Doughnuts, and ended up having a mini detour of the city.
We took some doughnuts home and had a milk and doughnut tasting party. It was fab.

We loved just seeing Zuri and Colbie together. They are about as opposite as can be! Zuri is super teeny, and is just a spit fire of a thing. Colbie just has some lovey chubby, and is just super laid back. Sweet and spicy.

We absolutely adore the Gomez fam. They are just awesome, and they keep it real. It was fun to reminisce and just be plain old silly. We can't wait until our paths cross again... 

Swimming

Oh, this summer has been a busy one, and it's not slowing down. Part of this summer being so busy is I have decided to go jogging 3x  week at the high school track. This process is very involved, and to get a good 40 minute workout, it takes me about 3 hours to get ready, do the workout, and get ready after the workout. I guess that's life with 3 kids, right?

Usually after running, we rush home, have a bite to eat, and then rush off to swimming. Our friends live in a place where there is a pool, and so we grab their key and go swimming! I must say that I am impressed with the progress my girls have made this summer! At the beginning of summer, I felt really bad that I didn't put my girls in any swim lessons... but now that I look back, I really didn't need to! Ava learned to swim in about a week. Seriously. Everytime we would go to the pool, she would learn something new.

She is now able to do flips under the water, do a handstand under water, do cannon balls, and she can even swim the width of the pool underwater in just one breath. Yes, one breath. It's seriously one of the most amazing things I've ever seen considering that back in June she was afraid to put her whole head under water. She is literally a little fish!

Halle still wears floaties, and she is perfectly content to jump off the stairs into the pool. Just the past couple of weeks, she has been able to jump and actually go under the water.  For the longest time, she would just put the front of her face under water. For some reason, having the back of her head under the water freaked her out. Yes, I tried to reason with her that the hardest part of going under the water was putting her nose in, and that she was now okay to put her whole head under, but she didn't listen. Meh, oh well.

Halle also learned to float on her back. It is just the cutest thing to watch her!

My girls have the cutest tan lines ever. Their bodies are just as white as can be, but their legs, arms, and faces are brown!! Even Colbie has a little tan!

We love going to the swimming pool, and have loved spending time with our friends there!