Washington Trip Aug. 2011

Since we were already going to be in Washington for Mark's farewell, we decided to just make a vacation of it and stay the whole next week.  We also used it as a good time to go check out the chiropractic school in Portland.
Mark's farewell was great, and it was fun to hear him speak.  He has such a great testimony, and I know the people of Tampa, Florida will just love him!  He'll be such a great missionary! After the farewell, we went home and changed and then went back to Aunt Teresa and Uncle Jeff's for a family dinner.  The food was delicious, and it was fun to visit with everyone! 
Monday morning we went for a run down to the pole-line road and back which was about 2 miles (whew!).  We met everyone for lunch at the Country Mercantile Store, which is a cute store/cafe place where they sell lots of local produce, ice cream, candy, and other various foods and crafts.  Their sandwiches are delicious too!  That night we went out on the boat and got to see some of Spencer's mad wakeboarding skills.  I also got to take a bunch of really cool pictures with my camera, which was so much fun!

 Tuesday Chris and I hiked Badger Mountain with his sister Libby.  It wasn't a really long or hard hike, but it was fun and there was a great view at the top. 

Wednesday was our Portland day.  We headed out there early in the morning and went straight to Western States Chiropractic College.  It's a smaller school tucked in the middle of a residential area, so we may have gotten a little lost, but we found it!  We talked with an administrator, a financial aid clerk, and one of the admissions advisers before taking a tour of the campus.  Everyone was very friendly and we really enjoyed seeing all the school had to offer.  After the tour we met up with one of Chris' friends, Allen, who is attending the chiropractic school and got some "insider information" about the school and living in Portland.  Then we had lunch and drove up to see the Portland Temple.  I've always wanted to see that temple, for some reason, and it was so beautiful.  I'm glad I finally got to see it in person and take some pictures there. 

(This one looks photoshopped, but it's not.  I was there, I promise! Lol)

 After the temple, we squeezed in a bit of shopping at the outlet mall and then met Allen and his wife Carmen for dinner before heading back to Chris' parents house.
Thursday we had a chill day.  Chris helped his dad who was having some problems with his truck, and in the process took the best picture of all time - my 2-wheel drive Ford towing a lifted 4-wheel drive Chevy!  Hahaha!  :-) 

Friday we went to Silverwood, an amusement/water park in Idaho.  We rode lots of rides, went in the water a little bit at the water park (it was really cold!) and then finished our day on the rides again.  We were there from when the park opened until it closed, so we were really tired afterwards, but we had such a fun time.  We missed having Kassie there with us, though.
Saturday was another chill day, and then Sunday we got the truck all packed up and headed back to Provo.  The drive always seems much longer going home, but we made good time and got home safe.  Mayzie did great, and all was well with our house when we got home.  All too soon, back to reality and back to work.  It was a great relaxing vacation and we loved spending time with our Roundy family! :-)