Portland Oregon 2019

January 11th, 2021 in Uncategorized

On the way to our next destination we did make a stop to do some berry picking. Why is picking produce so darn fun and relaxing? Who knows BUT IT IS!

After Seaside we headed to the last leg of our trip…Portland. It is where my brother Jonathan and his fantastic wife Calley live and it is a city I’ve always wanted to go to as well.

We rented a dreamy treehouse to stay in that had just the coolest architecture and decor to it.

On the first day we gave everyone a break from us and the girls and I just went alone to the Japanese Gardens.

That night we went with everyone on a “Witches Hike” in Forest Hike and learned that Jonathan can cackle better than any princess villan.

The next day we went to OMSI Museum which is a stellar museum for kids and adults!

Portland’s Farmers Market was a treat to walk around and I am sure I left with many vinegars, salsas, honey, and jam to bring home. I always do!

At the market we found a mural wall to take group pictures against…or TRIED TO.

One of the favorite things about traveling with uncles is that they know how to play the games you like to play online at night!

Fun memories were also made at the park and just being goofy.

PORTLAND IS THE TOWN OF DONUTS! And no VooDoo donuts is not the best one, although the designs are fun. But if you don’t go to the other famous donut shops you are missing out; Blue Star and _____ were favorites of ours.

A day of shopping with Aunt Calley was perfect on one of the days and we found a really cool leather shop as well as a rainbow cat unicorn for Reagan.

We all agreed our favorite activity was a boat ride that I thought would just show us around Portland and the famous falls nearby. LITTLE DID I KNOW it was an oversized speedboat where he tries to make you feel like you are about to be flipped the entire time and that you are drenched at the end of. Oh my goodness it was hilarious and so freaking fun.

Cameron surprisingly was the one that had the most fun and loved getting as drenched as she could! We did still really did see some cool parts of Portland on the crazy ride though!

For our last night we went to the movies and saw a too spooky movie that I had to walk out of with the littles. Ha, that’s okay the rest got a good spook out of it.

Wow we were gone for a long time but really loved being with people who love us after a really lonely year in South Carolina.

Seaside Oregon 2019

January 11th, 2021 in Uncategorized

After Lake Tahoe we headed to Oregon to visit family there and cross a travel spot off my list; the beautiful coast of Oregon. We stayed in Seaside which is a town that gave me the same vibes of my favorite coastal towns in New England. It is not a spot I did once and enjoyed but one that I want to travel back to many times in my life.

Everywhere we go I plan activities, from official tours to hard hikes to fancy concerts. However each time the most peaceful memories full of joy come from something random. This trip it was pulling Shae & Reagan around the neighborhood in a wagon. Also a random walk to the beach where we made a sand castle out of dead crabs.

We totally beat the sandcastle built by Ty and my brothers!

I got sidetracked and went out of order of what we did. So the drive was one of the prettiest ones I have ever done, from Tahoe to Seaside. I should have been taking notes because there are so many spots I want to go back to.

As soon as we got there and said hi to the family we ran down to the beach.

The next day we went to one of the beautiful places I’ve been in my life— Indian Beach. Why hasn’t it been renamed? I am not sure but that is the name. You walk through really thick forrest and then all the sudden come out of it and BANG, there is the most stunning beach. If you go at the right time you can walk through and explore just about…no I think they are the best…tidal pools.

On the same day we also went to Canon Beach since Goonies is a family favorite movie. In addition Canon Beach has great shopping and such a great downtown. We are still dreaming about a Passionfruit Coconut Sundae we had. However now that it has been 17 months since this trip I can’t recall which of these photos are Indian Beach or Cannon Beach or Seaside Beach. This is what you shouldn’t wait so long to do your family journaling I guess!

Another thing we did other than visit beaches is to go tour the Tillamook Factory because their butter, ice cream and cheese is our favorite! It was a really fun tour full of so much food.

It was a wonderful trip, I really love traveling with my brothers.

Lake Tahoe 2019

January 11th, 2021 in Uncategorized

Off we were to spend time with some of the Brown family at Lake Tahoe. One of Ty’s personal goals has always been to take his family on vacations so for this one we rented a cabin in Lake Tahoe to host a fun summer week.

We split up the meals between families, smushed everyone into a house, and had a lot of water fun. Boating on Donner Lake, jet skiing on Tahoe Lake, eating lots of fresh fruit cobbler, hiking THROUGH a river, downtown shopping, and lots of time to shop & talk.

Highlights: watching the kiddos scream & have fun on the tube, triple scoop team going out on the jet skis, dancing around the fire, being exhausted from playing in the water, walking through a muddy river, going crazy with board games, a break from the HEAT, and just being together.

Lowlights: I just had tried contacts and went out on the jet ski with them. After a huge splash one came out and the other rolled up into my eyeball. I could not see my landmarks to get myself back to where we were camped out along the shore. I tried for three hours and finally the Coast Guard found me because the Brown family had sent for me. I was ELEVEN MILES away from where we were and my kids through I was dead. Then Tyler and I fought and cursed each other out. The End.

2019 Grand America Trip

January 11th, 2021 in Uncategorized

While living in Utah Grand America was our biyearly trip away from stress to pure relaxation. So we found it fitting to spend our last bit there together as a family.

All of us has spa appointments, ate their GRAND Sunday brunch, ordered room service, and the hotel put us in the rooms we used to always book. We sat by the pool, ordering our favorite fish tacos and strawberry smoothies. It was bliss.

It was an emotional goodbye to friends and family so it really was perfect to take a breath and spend time there. We did venture out once to go to our favorite small local film theatre and saw a wonderful film together.

Perfect ending to our very hard second goodbye to Utah. It has been 18 months and I really don’t know when my heart can take going back. I was able to recreate memories and bond with people we missed. But its been too long now and it will feel different…and I don’t want the girls to feel that.

It was an emotional time, there was a lot of fighting. Shae makes me laugh because she is so patient but just hits a point where you can see it in her face that she can’t take it anymore.

Despite that, it was the perfect “ending” to Utah.

2019 Annual Pictures

January 11th, 2021 in Uncategorized

While in Utah our wonderful Kim took the girls’ pictures at the capital. She has been photographing most of them since birth and has a really special relationship with each one. I am writing this in 2021 and when we had to have our pictures taken by a stranger in 2020 the girls struggled. They missed Kim who knew them and made them feel at ease.

Here are some of Kim’s shots:

Utah Trip 2019 Part 2

January 11th, 2021 in Uncategorized

The girls and I checked into a rental house in downtown SLC right next to the capital so we could do the rest of our trip and host people at the home.

Abby & Cameron did a late night with some friends. It was fun (and a bit painful) to see them laughing and feeling comfortable with friends they love again.

Then Lydiabug spent the night, the three of them together make me hope they are able to be cousin roomates at university one day in the future.

Did our favorite EASY hike around Silver Lake up one of the canyons that we really had missed. Being in Utah was hard and beautiful all at the same time. It was the first time I had felt home in my heart after wanting it for so long in my life.

To celebrate Pioneer Day we went to the parade in the morning, hosted a dinner at our rental house, and watched fireworks at the capital a few steps away.

One morning we headed to Natural History of Museum which after our dance studio was where you could always find my family. It was nice to walk around that museum and remember many of our favorite memories as a family.

Of course during these days we fit in MANY more food trips to our favorite places. I miss knowing a town SO WELL that you know where to get your favorite cookie, the man at the museum that always gives your kids the biggest smile, and all the best parts in each parks.

The last thing we did with friends and family was a pool party with an ice cream truck. We ended the party a good hour before the pool rental was done. The girls and I just sat and sat and sobbed and sobbed. We didn’t want to go and acknowledge once again that we were leaving HOME. It was almost worst than when we moved because I knew it my heart that relationships and memories drift. We wouldn’t come back again and this many people would want to be with us. Because sadly that is what time and moving around tends to do. We jumped off the diving boards alone…BAWLING. We drove off away from our last night with everyone with so many tears.

Utah was HOME, in Utah we were LOVED, Utah forever will have such an important part of our hearts. It treated us so well.

Utah Trip 2019 Mini Willden Family Reunion

January 10th, 2021 in Uncategorized

I knew we were coming to visit during the summer so talked my Mom into doing a family reunion, having JB & Calley come from Oregon, and to be together as a family.

Some highlights were:

*Doing family pictures in pokey bushes

*Family Food Competition; this time something simple, smoothies!

*Church with the Grandparents

*Spending time at the pool & water park

*Going to the movies

*Hikes

*The best thing….was our night renting the backyard along the lake. They let us use the BBQ, fish, use all the water equipment, and it is the best part of when we get together. Paddleboarding, jumping off tubes, and just being silly. Minus someone almost drowning it was perfect!

Utah Trip 2019 Part 1

January 10th, 2021 in Uncategorized

After a year of being away we made it back to Utah to love on our friends and family. It was a lot of pressure to make sure that we saw everyone enough, that I didn’t offend anyone, and that each of my girls felt happy and reunited with people. I also tried to plan a mini Willden family reunion in those busy days as well. I did my best and it was a blast of a week!

The first four days we stayed at my parent’s home and spent some time visiting family. Our first morning Grandpa & Grandma Willden with Sarah took Abby & Cameron to do temple baptisms. I watched all the kiddos and took them to a religious art gallery nearby.

Afterwards we went to visit Great Aunt Ellen…or to my girls GREAT GREAT Aunt Ellen. My grandfather’s sister who taught us a Rencher card game that has been passed on through the decades. Then we visited my Grandmother Willden to say hello and see how she was doing.

The girls spend the night with their grandparents while I met up with some Daybreak friends. I set up a night of Axe throwing and eating at my favorite restaurant Copper Onion.

Speaking of food Cameron & Abby made a LOOOOoooooOooong list of everything they had to eat white in Utah. So in between seeing people we made sure to stop at all their favorite spots.

The next day before the mini Willden Family Reunion started we hosted a “Donuts at the Park” and invited Daybreak friends, old YW, book club kiddos, dance friends, school friends, cousins, extended family and everyone inbetween. We wanted to see everyone and love on them. The amount of donuts we bought was extreme and we made it to the park we reserved right in time.

There were a few friends that couldn’t make it that day so we met up with the Starks to go bowling, the Atkinsons to go shopping, Ivy at the Farmer’s Market, Jodi for lunch, and Chelsea or Cressida tagging along with some other groups where there wasn’t someone Abby’s age. I also made Emily come with me to beautiful Emily’s wedding. The amount of people we got to see and all the fun things we got to fit in was incredible!

Before the Willden family reunion got started we also spent a lot of time with the Brown cousins. My girls missed Rebecca & Ryan’s kids SO MUCH and were in heaven together again.

Surf Camp 2019

January 9th, 2021 in Uncategorized

Every day for a week and a half we headed down to Folley Beach for surf camp and lessons. I decided to sign them up for some private lessons so they wouldn’t be such greenies on the first day of camp.

When you take privates they really do help you pop up a ton!

First they practiced on the beach for a bit and then got straight into the waves.

I think the girls can success based on their age from youngest to oldest. Those little bodies can just pop up on the boards so easily and Reagan has the strongest core. At the end of camp she got voted Surfer of the Week and really bonded with her instructors.

Shae & Cameron did awesome as well and I was proud of them for just jumping in and going. They would walk into “well it was outside so down to” the camp, hop on a board, and paddle away into the ocean. They were in the hot sun for 5 hours straight and it is tiring on the body.

The staff was awesome at teaching them about the ocean, sea life, how to pay attention to water while out there.

Abby invited a friend, Claire, to attend with her. So she said at least she was in misery with a friend.

It was the summer that I was reading all the Harry Potter books so I would walk around Folley Beach and find a place to read. Or find a place with WiFi to work. It is such a beach bum town and I loved it.

Proud of these kids of mine for experiencing new things!

Part of Summer 2019 in South Carolina

January 8th, 2021 in Uncategorized

Our first summer in South Carolina was not spent really in South Carolina! But we at a couple weeks at the beginning and a few days at the end. While we were home we tried to fit in as much time as well could with our favorite next door neighbors ever.

Lots of swimming with Norah, they loved to pretend to be mermaids in the “cove” part of the swimming pool.

Cameron went mini golfing with Libby:

We took all the girls to a painting shop to work on painting and also some glass art.

Speaking of art, Claire and Abby would follow Bob Ross instructional videos and make their own Bob Ross creations.

Lots of movie nights at our house, these three had so much fun together but also fought like 3 sisters too!

One day we took them to an ice cream event at the Workshop in downtown Charleston. A cool place where different vendors would have food stands in and on this day it was all ice cream!

Claire, Cameron and Abby also binge watched a whole season of Stranger Things over a summer weekend as well.

We would go to trampoline parks together often and one day took them to the aquarium and fed the manta rays.

Shae & Reagan spent time with friends from church…

Reagan stayed being a cutie!

There was another stormy day at the ocean because of a hurricane blowing in and we gathered up some treasures after the storm.

A couple of times we shot down to Savannah to visit Aunt Maggie who was pregnant with baby Clara while Darren was out of the country. We always tried to bring loads and loads of food for her! And take her to do something fun, Savannah really because our favorite town out there. Paris Market & a Chocolate Torte from a certain place was always on our list to do there. One day we took her to Husk for brunch and it was incredible.

After visiting one time we timed it with hitting a drive in movie theatre on the way back home. It was the homiest, in the middle of no where, charming drive in.

Shae & Reagan went to ziplining camp and still say it was the best summer camp of their lives!

Dance camps with Creative Edge were in there too to be ready for dance team again in the fall.

Reagan’s voice teacher came to present at one of the dance camps to teach a certain thing and Reagan got to sing in front of her dance team. She was so nervous!

A library opened up under ten minutes from our house that was incredible. They had a teen section that adults could not go in. They were allowed to bring food in and rent rooms. So during the school year I would drop Abby and Cameron off there for the whole day. Over the summer we went to relax and be in a place with wonderful AC!

I had the longest list of beaches to check out while living in that area. Not one was bad or bomb, everyone of them was stunning! The girls new thing because getting junk food to eat on the beach, bringing a book and going “bobbing” which is just going out past the break and bobbing up and down.

The Condies were a family that was always so sweet to think of us on holidays and if we had someone fun to do with. On the 4th of July we learned that their dad was an EXPERT at fireworks!

Abby and Cameron would invite church friends over for girls nights, fun at the pool, escape rooms, etc. They were a fun group of girls, younger than Abby would really included and loved her when the girls her age didn’t. They were such a special group of girlies.

Over the summer I invited a group of ladies to try a new dessert place that a woman we were friends with opened up and to take a ghost tour downtown.

One of my very closest friends while living in SC was a pediatric dentist and it was the only two years of my life where my girls have LOVED going to the dentist. It was hilarious and she took such great care of them!

Shae & Reagan also took a summer camp class through the city on Traveling Around the World and had so much fun telling me about each country or region of the world they learned about when they came home.

Lastly we got some restaurant trying in over the summer, southern and BBQ food galore! I love BBQ so Cameron and Abby were good sports to try a couple of the famous ones in the area with me. We also loved anything that involved delicious biscuits.

Holy Sticks was a place someone we knew opened and the girls loved to go there and put together ice cream bar dessert creations.

Our friends the Hernandez Family came into town and let us know where the very best pizza place was in the area.

But our very favorite place that we would always go to when it was time to eat out as a family was Gypsy Cuban with the most delicious fresh Cuban food ever. And a mural in honor of Anthony Bourdain on it’s walls.

Lastly there were some abnormal rainy cooler days where we would read books and run around like Mary Poppins.

Fun part summer in the South!