CoLoR mE cRaZy

I saw an advertisement for the Portland Color Buzz. It looked awesome! I had to get Rylie to do it with me. It wasn't hard. Rylie has done similar runs, and I've always wanted to do one. So I signed us up!

On Friday I drove to north Portland to pick up our packets. I've never driven to Portland! I was nervous, but the way I went was pretty easy.

I drove over a mountain. The view was amazing.

Crossing St. John's Bridge was spectacular! I felt as I was floating on air. I want to visit St John again. 

(I didn't take this picture)

The day of the race arrived. We were pumped, high on calories, and a song in our hearts. We didn't get the pretty drive, but did party hard while stuck in traffic. "See You Again" just might be our favorite song.

We got there a little bit after the pre-party started. People were already covered in paint. We weren't close enough to enjoy it....yet.

Clean white shirts before we got smothered in paint.

Thats the starting line is way up there. They split us up in waves so we weren't all walking/running on top of eachother. We were in the 7th wave. We walked/jogged/ran it in about an hour. We ran through colorful bubbles. Practically swam in the pile of them. We were covered head to to toe in bubbles.

 

The after party was fantastic!! It was loud, but fun! We did the WHIP, got covered in paint, and experienced "snow" in September. The energy was high! 

At the end of the evening we were smothered in paint. Rylie got most of it in her eye, but she shared it with my sleeves. When we got to some real light, found out we changed skin color. We looked like Oompa-Loompas, even had the green hair. Thanks to some hard scrubbing and water, our secret identities were kept secret a little longer.

I hope to do another one!! Like it or the same one next year!

Holiday to Sun River

One last holiday before school starts for the rest of us in the northwest. Jim & Clarka's family, Steve's kids (besides Amber), Brittany (friend), Grandma & Grandpa, and me took the 4 hour trip up to Bend. Everyone left Thursday, besides me because of Institute. Jim had to stay for work so we went up Friday. Friday could not come fast enough.

Oh, and Rylie tagged along:). We both brought our Stitches. It was a fun drive up! Those 4 hours included beautiful views, getting to know Rylie better:P, Birthday Cake Oreos, and Jim's music playlist. Can't complain.

After settling in and watching Nancy Drew, Rylie & I decided to explore Sun River. The bikes were our mode of transportation. As we left it started raining. It was chilly, but we had a great time. We played at a park and found a marina. 

The rain subsided when we were finishing our bike adventure. This beauty I captured on the way back. Rylie is so photogenic....oh look and there's a rainbow. 

On the way to the park on Saturday we saw a lot of deer. They were going about there business not noticing the cars or the people.

We also went to the S.H.A.R.C. (acronym for pool, somehow). Even though it was chilly outside we enjoyed it. They had a lazy river, water slides, kiddy pool, and hot tub. Rylie and I went down the big water slide with a double tube. We flipped at the bottom. The kiddy pool had a log to sit on and log slabs you can jump across. We had a lot of fun in the lazy river. We played tag, so we hid behind tubes and were running laps trying to get away. It was a pretty good workout. They also had an indoor pool. Rylie and I waded in the deep end for 4 minutes. We could have done it longer, but it was boring. We ended the day at the pool with some fries.

At Sun River they had a little shopping/dining village. Shopping? I'm in! We went to a souvenier store. I bought a pink long sleeve shirt with 'SUNRIVER' on the back.  After stuffing our faces with yummy pasta and desserts, Rylie and I went on another bike ride. Even though it wasn't raining we dressed in our warm rain coats. It was chilly enough to bring out my gloves. Not a true Oregonian:/. 

On our adventure we found horses. There was a beautiful horse that had a blue eye and a brown eye. Sadly he wasn't in the modeling business. 

The view was spectacular as the sun went down behind the mountains on that crisp summer evening.

We found swans in the marina! They came towards us so we got out of there. Not the friendly type.

Then we stayed up (not too late) and played Sardines in the dark. Thank goodness it was a one level home. But it was scary. Brittany enjoyed it the most by scarying us. Ben & Ashley were attached to me. It was fun scary. It was completely dark and everyone wore black. You didn't know if someone was there or not unless you reached out and felt them. Because Brittany and Clarka were so good at hiding, all of us kids hid. I was the last one to be found. I hid between the two couches which had a tea table next to them. They stuck their feet and hands under the table, but I was beside it. Bethany was 2 feet away from my face. Clarka didn't find me till she used her flashlight.

It was a great way to end Summer. Its a fun place to do a family reunion. I hope to go there again, but a little warmer next time

¡Buena Suerte Hermana Ely!

(Okay, I googled how to say "Good Luck, Sister Ely!" in Spanish)

Wow! Your mission came faster than I thought it would. It seems just like yesterday we were singing "I Hope They Call Me On A Mission" in Primary together. I know serving the Lord and the people of Ecuador will be a wonderful experience. I know you will receive many blessings and so will the people you serve. I hope those 18 months fly by fast. I can't wait to read your emails and see your beautiful face at Christmas and Mother's Day. Safe journey and God be with you till we meet again.

"To belong to Jesus is to Embrace the NATIONS with Him."
                   -John Piper