A Nice Long Weekend in Oregon

We had been planning on going to Oregon for weeks, but it kept getting postponed. Finally in late July, Lincoln was post-call on Friday (and had actually gotten some sleep at the hospital) and had the the next Monday off, so we jumped on the chance to make the trip. We have lots of wonderful family in Oregon and got to stay in Portland with Lincoln's uncle Randy and aunt Carol and their awesome kids, who had just gotten home from college.

Since we have such an enormous family :), Randy set up his big tent in the backyard for us. It's been a couple of years since we went camping, so our kids were so excited to sleep outside for a couple of days. They especially liked Randy acting as a pillow fairy to get them comfortable. It was hilarious! Randy is one of the funniest people I know.

Carol cooked wonderful dinners for us and we had a great time hanging out and catching up. It's so awesome to have such nice people in our family, we felt so homey and comfortable. Thanks so much for your hospitality, Randy and Carol! :)

Kenny and Katie with our kiddos. They played so nice with them and the kids really enjoyed them. Too bad you're so far away!

Ava with their dog. At one point she was very afraid of dogs and still is with bigger dogs, but this little one was just right for her. Noa is the exact opposite. He wants to pet all of them, anywhere.

Cute Noa.

Our whole bunch.

Kenny, Katie, Carol and Randy aka the pillow fairy

We went down to Cottage Grove (where Lincoln & his mom were born, a 1/2 hr south of Eugene) for a day to see the kids great-grandma Mae (77) and great-great-grandma Marie (almost 96). Grandma Mae is actually recovering from a major heart attack (she's such a trooper), so we are grateful she is doing relatively well and that we could have such a nice long visit with her and her mom. It's always great to hear stories from the past and to see them with our kids. They're both so cool, extremely knowledgeable and on top of things. I'm amazed. It's a joy to talk to you, grandmas!

Lincoln brought his stethoscope and Leea knew just what to do with it. She must have heard something in the belly area...

Daughter and mother, what a wonderful picture of them.

I love grandma Mae's expression here.

5 generations with Lincoln's dad missing.

Here are the kids next to grandpa Kenny's (grandma Mae's 1st husband & Lincoln's dad's father) grave. He grew up close to Kirksville (where Lincoln did med-school) and Lincoln sometimes would take care of old buddies of him in the hospital. They all loved Kenny and tell what a great guy he was. Lincoln wishes he could have met him before he died, but it's been nice to get to know him through others' stories.

Here are the kids next to grandpa Norbert Krantz's grave. Norbert is "Oma Zanne's" dad, whose family came from Germany. Unfortunately Norbert never spoke German with the kids, only with the farm animals. :)

Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge on the way back home. It's simply beautiful there and the gorge is HUGE (and windy - lots of amazing windsurfers there).

Me and the twins.

Noa loves to play in the water.

Leea right before she fell into a deeper part of the water and was saved by a kind stranger near her who reacted super fast. The river was shallow, but there was one part where it went abruptly down, maybe up to my knees, and she didn't see that part and stumbled.

Here she is all wet. She thankfully still likes water.

We also got to hang out with Lincoln's aunt Mary and uncle Steve on his mom's side and their children Stephanie and daughter Mariah and Aaron with his wife Cory and their kids. They were so nice to take us in for the night and we very much enjoyed their company. Thanks guys!