Summer Time!

 One nice thing about living in eastern Oregon is that we are so close to camping! This little gem spot we found just 15 minutes from our house!

Fmily Reunion Vacay!

The kids and I were able to take a 10 day vacation down to California and Arizona. We hit up CA for a family reunion with my side of the family. It's been several years since I was able to attend the last Goodman reunion, so I was happy to be able to go. It was so great seeing lots of cousins! Some I haven't seen in years and years! We had one day at the beach with everyone which was super fun! It was really crowded, but seriously, probably the nicest beach I've been to. It was in Dana Point. My mom, sisters, and brother were all able to stay at the same hotel. The kids had fun swimming and playing with cousins!

Our car was STUFFED so full! 7 people gone for 10 days requires a lot of stuff. I think I overpacked though! Thankfully we were able to fit everything. It was a long drive, especially doing it all by myself, but it went really well. We enjoyed lots of snacks, pillows, and show tunes! 

 My plan was to drive to Fallon, NV the first day, since that was the half way point. But, when we got there it was earlier than I thought it would be and I was feeling good, so we continued on for a few more hours. We pulled into Bishop, CA after 13 hours of driving and got a hotel for the night. This is how Jace ended up. :)

The next day we finished off the last 7 hours and pulled into Dana Point at about 3pm. Plenty of time to swim in the hotel pool and meet up with cousins!

The next morning, Friday, I bathed everyone in sunscreen and we headed to Salt Creek Beach! It was so fun to relax in the sun and sand and enjoy the company of my immediate family and so many cousins and extended family members. I wish I had gotten more pictures of everyone!

 Jace was thrilled to be able to make a sand angel! He loved playing with the cousins in the sand and making tunnels and burying anyone who was willing. :)

The boys probably spent most of the time in the water, but the girls were close behind. Jefferson really enjoyed the boogie boards! Thanks to Aunt Jennifer for providing those! And, only Kayda walked away with a gnarly sunburn. The rest of us came away pretty clear! But, thanks to Aunt Jeaniece who packs everything including the kitchen sink, she helped save Kayda with the gallon size jug of aloe vera! (Ok, not really gallon size. But, it was big!) 

On Saturday, most of the day was a "free day." So, we drove down to Old Town San Diego and hit up Mormon Battalion with my mom, sisters, brother, and the nieces and nephews. It's super neat! Really interactive and fun. The kids enjoyed the talking pictures on the wall and panning for gold! 

Jace, the little stinker, would not participate in this picture. He sat in the corner behind a plant and refused to come out. Until one of the sweet sister missionaries from Japan went over, bent down, talked with him, and bribed him out. Then he was fine. :) 

Saturday evening all the Goodman Family met up again for a nice catered dinner, talent show, and visiting. Of course the Bill Goodman family had the most talent performances (they are, after all, the most musical and quite good). I always love hearing and seeing them do something. But, we did have some other great talents by my cousin Jacob, Audrey's daughter, Cele', Jameson and Legend shared a few jokes, and even the Barney clan participated. It was fun! 

Uncle Bill had put together a slide show of all the Goodman Reunions since the 60's. I didn't have a chance to sit and watch the whole thing, but what I did catch was really great! He's got everything and everyone labled and it was really fun to see pictures of all the extended family from yester years! 

One that I really loved and snapped a picture of was of Grandma Goodie dressed up in her cowgirl get up performing a tap dance at one of the talent shows in 1983 when she was 70 years old. She was so cute! 

  And here's another one I snapped of when I was 4 and Jeaniece was about 12, with some other cousins. :)

After our 3 days in California, we packed everything up ad drove over to Arizona. We figured since we were that far south, we'd drive the 6 hours over to Chino Valley and see Kody's side of the family. We've only been gone from there for 5 months, so not a whole lot had changed, but it was good to see everyone. And of course the kids loved the swimming and playing with all the cousins! 

Since we were there for July 4th we had some fun festivities. A little Flag ceremony, a red neck style mud run that Papa made, and a fun tug-o-war! 

It was lots of fun for the kids to be with the cousins! 

By the time we had been gone for 10 days we were ALL tuckered out! Most of the drive home looked like this! :) 

We got to make a quick stop and see our friends the Forsberg's who moved  a couple months ago. We happened to be in the same town at the same time as we were passing thorough, so it worked out good! We sure miss them!

It was so nice to get home! A 10 day vacation is a long time. We all missed Kody and I'm pretty sure he missed us.....even though he probably slightly enjoyed the quietness. :) We're thankful for our family and good friends who we love and for all those wonderful people we were able to see! Next time, y'all should come visit us! I guarantee you won't want to leave!!!!!!

Summerness!

Here's some exciting news......I get to be a surrogate again! It's been almost a year since I delivered the twins for my first surrogacy journey. I applied again, thinking that since it would be my 8th pregnancy, that the likelihood of some intended parents selecting my to be their surrogate, let along, an RE doctor who would approve my very veteran uterus, what highly unlikely. But, to my surprise, a super sweet couple from China chose me, and their doctor said, "anyone who has had their own babies at home is good with me!" The beginning process went well, getting cleared from my own OB doctor, and Kody and I passing the phycological evaluation. (We're only averagly crazy :) ) I was able to make a quick trip to California for my medical screening. I went by myself which was sort of nice. I enjoyed the quietness. :) The doctor said I have a "professional grade uterus." I enjoyed meeting my case manager from my agency and having breakfast with her. The screening went well and I passed with flying colors! Since I had several hours to kill before my return home flight, I got a 40 minute uninterrupted workout in, visited the LA temple and did an endowment session, then went to the beach for a bit and soaked up the sun and sand! It was a nice little 24 hour get-a-way! I'm looking forward to the next phase of signing my legal contracts!

Jace helped make biscuts one morning. "Helped," is the keyword :)

Isn't this sunset so pretty? This was standing at our front door!

Every kid (no matter the age) needs a big pile of dirt to play in! I'm just so grateful our pile of dirt (that's under the big pine tree) is surrounded by loads of grass!!!!! I LOVE GRASS!!

While Kamille was gone for a week at EFY in Provo, UT (which she absolutely loved, by the way) the rest of us hit up the mini golf place here and had a ball. It really was fun! And we only lost one ball to the water!

 Our garden is coming along pretty well! We had to replant the cucumbers 4 times! They didn't even break through the ground. But, they're doing well now. Our corn and mellons are doing awesome! Along with basically everything else!

 Soccer was the word one night for FHE! It was girls vs boys. The girls were ahead by 3 goals, then the boys made a serious come back. But, the girls pulled it and dug deep for the win! We won by 1!

Every year this area hosts a "Farm Tour." We were all able to go and had a good time and learned lots. They took us around on school busses and we visited 3 different farms. One farm we visited was a dairy goat farm operation. It was really incredible! This family with 5 sons, originally lived in Gilbert, AZ moved here a few years ago to get into farming. They've got a very successful operation going on, and the goat cheese we taste tested was super yummy, actually!

This is the milking carousel they use to milk the goats. They can do about 40 goats at a time. It was so cool!

All the bus riding around (which very well might have been the kids' favorite part) really wiped some of us out!

Every year our stake holds a Mother/Daughter campout. Just like the Fathers & Sons. It was great fun! And I was thrilled to take the girls and go! It was up at Catherine Creek and we loved it! Lots (and lots) of yummy food and snacks, some fun crafts, games, campfires, great friends, a beautiful creek, and a great time!

 One of the young women in our ward is a serious baller! She brought it! But, I still had some ballin' left in me and I still beat her! But, she for sure, gave me a run for my money!