Our Wonderful Summer Vacation!

Welp, we're back from Oregon! It was so fantastic! I was so sad to leave!
We left on Saturday, July 25th and traveled to Boise to my Grandpa and Grandma's house. It was so fun to see them! Then on Sunday, we went the rest of the way to Lincoln City, Oregon where my dad rented a Beach House for the week! We went through Portland and on the way there, we stopped at this beautiful waterfall! I can't remember what it's name was (Shannon, Shawnee... can you help me with that?) but it was so fun to hike up to the top bridge and take a good look at this awesome place! Here are some panoramas of it. Click the picture for a better look!

Dave and Me at the waterfall

We finally got to Lincoln City around dinner time and had enough time to run down and check out the beach before sundown. The boys in our family tried skimboarding and Lucas got really good at it! It was fun to watch them fall down in the freezing water! haha!!
The next two days we started going to lots and lots of beaches! Some of them were sandy and had warmish water, some were rocky where we found tons of agats and some of them we found some cool shells! I wish I could remember all the names of the beaches, and which days we were to which ones, but I can't. All I know is that we probably explored almost every beach from Tillamook to Newport!

Cute picture of me and Dave on the beach!!!

Way cool bridge that we got to drive over to get to Newport

Toesies!!!

I love the feel of the waves on my feet... and the sand...

I love this picture of Dave

Dave thought it was funny that his toenails didn't have sand on them.

The next morning we started out at the Devil's Punchbowl.

Funny picture of us at the Devil's punchbowl... it was bright outside.

We went to a beach that had a ton of fossils but Dave was more excited about this slug... It was huge.

The next day we went to the Tillamook Cheese factory! Delish! We sampled Banana Cinnamon ice cream and it was... eh... ok. There was so much cheese and ice cream! Probably that's what heaven is going to be like.
On the way back we stopped at the Haystack beach.

My adorable mommy and sister!!!

Daddy on the rocks.

The next morning we went Deep Sea fishing!! OK so the next picture is pretty bad, but in our defense, it was like 6:30 in the morning and pretty cold on the boat. Also, it's the only picture of Deep Sea fishing that we have. It's not a very conducive environment for photography.
We didn't catch very many fish, sadly, but we threw some crab pots in and we got lots of crab! It was quite a feast when we got home!

The next day we went to the Newport aquarium. There were so many fun things to see.

One of my favorites was this little family! The momma fish just had these babies (the little white specs) at 10:00 this morning! Both the mom and dad gaurded their little specs and if one of the other fish swam too close, the mom and dad would chase them away! Also, if one of their babies swam away, the mom or dad would go find it, suck it up in it's mouth, swim back over to the group and spit the baby back out! It was so cute!!

This was a HUGE snake! It's a 15 foot anaconda!

AHHHH!!!! Dave's in with the Paranas!!! Well, at least he's happy about it...

Gorgeous Jelly fish. Look, don't touch...

Dave! I said don't touch!!!

Way cool star fish

This fish wins the ugly fish award.

Oh my gosh, Dave!!! WATCH OUT!!!!

This is the only semi good pic I got of the shark tank. These leopard sharks were amazing!

We think this is one of the fish Dave caught while we were deep sea fishing! But we had to throw him back... Kinda pretty, though.

 

The next morning we woke up early to look around at low tide! It was sooooo cool! This is Dave trying to get on this big rock. 

closer.... closer....

Ahhh!!! abort, abort!! He had to go back and get his swimming suit on... haha!

Low tide star fish

I found a starfish on the beach and rescued it! But when I picked it up, it left this cool mark in the sand.

We found tons of sea snails. Some of their shells were so bright with orange and white and purple! I really wanted one, but I didn't want to make a poor little snail homeless, so we searched for ones that were empty! We found some pretty good ones!

This starfish couldn't decide if he wanted to be orange or purple. Kinda cool!

We had such a fun time! It was so nice to relax and have a good time with my family! 

In between all these adventures, we went shopping, out to eat, drove through some amazing country side, played uno, ate, talked, laughed and had such a great time! 

Thanks Mom and Dad for such a wonderful vacation!!! We love you!!!

The Oregon Coast

I'm getting really excited for my family's trip to the Oregon coast! We are leaving on Saturday, the 23rd, and we won't be back until Sunday the 31st! Then Dave and I move August 10th! We have a few busy weeks ahead of us.
My dad rented a house and you can view it if you click here. We are also going to go deep sea fishing and crabbing and walk on the beaches and collect sea shells and go shopping...
We are so glad to be able to go on this fabulous vacation! We really feel like we are in need of a break and this is exactly what the doctor ordered!
Here is the 10 day forecast of Lincoln City, where we are going to be staying. Perfect temperatures in the 60s and 70s... so nice!!

YAY!!

Thanks Daddy for renting this awesome house for us! We're going to have so much fun!! Can't wait!!

Note to self....

Wear sunscreen...


Dave and I are seriously this red.
Anyone have sunburn remedies? It's so bad that we couldn't sleep last night...

We weren't even out for very long... but we were boating so sun + water = sore Waddoups...


Any help would greatly be appreciated. Even wearing shirts hurts!

Goings on...

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!! 

Independence day is one of my very most favoritest holidays! I LOVE fireworks and I LOVE bbqs and I LOVE getting together with family in the summer!!! I just LOVE the Fourth of July!! YAY!!
This year is going to be a pretty low key year, but I'm ok with that! We're not sure what we're doing on Saturday, hopefully hanging out with my family and watching the Rigby Fireworks! Then on Monday we're going to the Rexburg parade, having a BBQ with my family, then lighting our own fireworks! Yay!!

So last weekend was the family reunion extravaganza weekend! From Friday to Saturday we went to City of Rocks with Dave's family. It was so fun to see them! We have missed them. It was awesome to climb around on all the rocks and see this kinda weird place.
I even got to climb to the top of a rock called Bathtub! It was fun! Here we are at the top!

Here is a panoramic view from the top (click for a larger picture):

I think Dave had such a fun time with his brothers climbing! See them way way way up at the top?

Allen and Eric both had harnesses and everything to go serious climbing! They had such a fun time. Dave found out that he had a little more junk in his trunk than his brothers do, so we really had to struggle to get the harness on...

 It's ok, sweetie, I like your junky trunk! :o)
But we got it on eventually and he was able to climb!

And repel back down!

Allen and Eric climbed alot too.

 It was such a fun trip!

Saturday afternoon, we left City of Rocks to go to Boise for a Dahl family reunion! It was so much fun to get to see everyone! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures, but we had a great time chatting, playing cards, swimming, sitting by the fire, shopping, fishing, playing volleyball and football! We had a really fun BBQ with Anita's family and the burgers were DELISH!!

We had such a fun weekend and I can't wait to get more sun and play more! Summer is such a fun time!

Oh yes... and another thing I can't wait for is THIS:

Dave and I got midnight tickets and I just CAN NOT WAIT!!! Yes, I am a MAJOR Harry Potter geek... but I am not ashamed! So much better than being a stupid Twilight geek. Eww... But I digress...
This movie is going to be phenomenal. Even if it doesn't correlate exactly to the book (and I don't see any way they could be exact... there is so much action and depth in the book, I don't think they can capture it all in the film.) I think I am really going to enjoy it!

Check out the preview if you haven't already. It's amazing! I've only watched it about 18 times.



Now, a little update on Moscow:
We are on the list for 3 complexes. We have an apartment available for us in 2 of the complexes, but they are all $550 dollars a month (which isn't bad at all) but we are holding out for a few more weeks to see if any cheaper ones come available. Right now, Hillside Village is winning in the running because they have two bathrooms in the apartments and they allow us to stay on the waiting list for a less expensive apartment and if we find one, they don't make us pay a new deposit or anything, they just let us move! I think we're going to go this route. We've heard a lot of good things about this complex.
We're pretty set for moving in the first week or two of August, so we're doing good! Now we're just saving money, filling out paper work, and Dave is taking tests so he can test out of some of his classes!

I know the Lord is guiding us to where we need to be. Even if it's far away, Dave and I both feel that we are needed in Moscow and that we are meant to be there. I'm excited for this new chapter in our lives! But I am not excited to pack everything and move. Bummer...

So that's us for now! I will let you know how I like Harry Potter and I will keep you updated on our moving status!

Through His Eyes

I taught a Relief Society lesson a few weeks ago.  I titled it “We are daughters of a King”. It was all about self worth and being daughters of God. What it means to be a daughter of God and how we should act since we are daughters of God. I shared an experience that I feel I should share here.

When I look in the mirror at home, I see many flaws. I need to lose weight, I have blemished skin, zits, bags under my eyes, imperfect hair, etc. Sometimes I get so down on myself that I cry. I am not pretty like those girls down the street, in the grocery store, on TV.

Sometimes the weight and pressures of the world are so much, so heavy. Sometimes the trials that I am going through consume every fiber and particulate of my being. They start to define me and I feel like I’m failing.

Dave and I go to the temple every month. As soon as I walk through the doors, I am comforted. I feel peace. Then I make my way into the dressing room. I change out of my street clothes that never seem to be in style. Then I put on my pure white temple dress. I put on my pure white stockings. I put on my little white slippers. I am pure again. Then I get to sit through a wonderful temple session and feel the spirit. My faith is strengthened. After the session, we walk back to the dressing room. As I take off the session clothing, and get back to my simple white dress, I look into the mirror.

There I see a daughter of God. A sweet girl who is doing the Lord’s work for the dead. A choice woman sent here to lift others and do good works. A princess with beautiful skin, a healthy glow, and a perfect countenance.  A saved soul who is cherished and blessed.  A strong spirit who can conquer any trial because I have the Lord on my side, He is with me, He will help me.  I am beautiful. I am glowing. I am a daughter of God.

Sometimes I wish I could take those temple mirrors and install them in my own bathroom so I can see what God sees every day. So I can look through His eyes and see who I really am. That temple mirror is a window into the eternal perspective and I see beauty and love there.  

It may seem funny that such a simple experience can strengthen someone’s faith. But every time I go to the temple I get excited to look in the mirrors. I want to see what I look like when the world and opinions of other’s are stripped from my appearance. I want to see what God sees in me. It gives me strength and helps me grow.

I know that we are all Children of God. If we work at it long enough, we can see Him and His love shine through our countenance. Someday, I hope to make those Temple mirrors become my bathroom mirror that I look into every day. Someday, I hope to see what God sees in everyone, not what the world and sins and temptations coat them in. I hope that I can love enough to see them as God sees them. God loves you. He can see the true YOU. YOU are beautiful. 

Sale!!!

Dave and I are moving to Moscow, ID next month so we decided that we needed to sell some of our things.

Check it out here: http://rexburgsale4you.blogspot.com/

Prices are negotiable. Let me know if you're interested in anything!

Thanks!

I want to get away... I wanna flyyyy away...

So Dave and I flew away a few weeks ago. We didn’t go very far. But we still flew away.

It was so much fun!

So my company has a personal pilot to fly all of the head-honchos around to their meetings in Texas, Arizona, California, and Montana etc. His name is Sage and he’s awesome. I actually know him from a previous job. When he walked into JD Premium as their new pilot, I was shocked! But it’s cool to work with him again. Well, I kept asking Sage when he was going to take me on a plane ride. He always promised that it would be soon, but I never really thought it would happen because he flies Roger Ball’s (the owner of JD Premium and most of the Idaho Falls area) personal plane and I didn’t think I would ever be privileged enough to fly on Roger Ball’s plane.  Well, just a few weeks ago he wandered into my office and asked if I wanted to go for a ride. I said HECK YES!!! When? Oh, how about later tonight? PERFECT! So I rounded up Dave and told him to come to Idaho Falls ASAP. 

Here is our plane!!

Here we are by our plane... see how small it is?

So after some lessons from Sage about all the gauges and gizmos... we were ready for take off! Actually, Dave really did take off! Sage let him control everything and he really flew the plane!

We flew over Idaho Falls and headed off to the dry farms and mountains. We flew over the Idaho Falls Temple and I took a movie of it, but it's still on my camera. If  I remember, I'll post it up here. 

We flew over our local ski resort, Kelly Canyon 

Then we went to go find my parent's house!

There it is!! (My Dad named our little homestead Willowstone. I made this picture and framed it for my mom for her birthday/mother's day. Click for larger view)

Then we took off towards Rexburg where we were gonna land and switch pilots (My turn to fly!)

Here's the Rexburg Temple

Then we landed at the Rexburg airport and it was my turn to fly the plane!

We flew back over Rexburg and got a good shot of the BYU-I campus

Then we flew out towards Menan and back towards Idaho Falls.

The Menan Butte

It was so much fun!

Thanks, Sage, for taking us on such a great adventure!!