Mt Hood

The day before Ane left for Young Life camp we took a trip up to the Alpine Slides on Mt. Hood and then went on up to Timberline. Ane doesn't see much snow where she lives, so it was fun to show her the snow, even in the summer. The kids all loved the Alpine slides. Everyone rode up and went down twice, while Grant and I hung out on the bridge down below and took pictures.  We had lunch at Calamity Janes on our way home for burgers, fries, and shakes. Ane and Leyre both enjoyed their huge chocolate milkshakes. :) It was a lot of fun to have our friends, the Wilsons, hosting a Basque student, too. We got to see them a lot at the various events, and our families got together several times to do things and hang out. We enjoyed getting to know their student, Leyre, too.

Isn't that a beautiful sight?

Horses

The same day we got back from Sunriver, we went to the Hynes' home for another student get-together, and they let the kids ride their horses. They all loved it, especially Kari. Now she wants to learn to ride horses. We still haven't found a sport/activity that she doesn't enjoy. We're hoping she'll narrow it down soon.

This is where Ane spent her time there--chatting on the porch with her friends. :)

Farewell to our Basque daughter

Well, we said good-bye to Ane early in the morning last Thursday, and now it's back to normal life around here. Normal life feels strange without her, though. We miss her! She wants to come back next year, and we're hoping she does. Until then, we'll keep in touch over email, Skype, and Facebook.  Having her stay with us and become a part of our family was an amazing experience. We're so thankful God gave us this opportunity.

We've spent the last few days catching up on all those things we neglected while we were too busy having fun this last month--sleep, laundry, and house-cleaning. We're taking some time to decompress and then we'll try to get back into some of our routines.  I need to catch up on the blog, too. I have a lot more photos to post from all our activities.
Before Ane left she wanted to try some more cupcakes, so off to Bella Cupcake we went. We decided the triple chocolate was the best flavor that day (we tried 'em all!).

Teaching Jen and Leyre "Afghanistan," Ane's favorite new card game, at the park while the kids ran around.

We enjoyed our last dinner with Ane at Red Robin, and somehow Grant walked away with two balloons, instead of one.

Sunriver 2012

Had a great time in Sunriver on our annual Moffat family vacation.  It felt like we hardly saw the older kids. They were off on their own adventures a lot of the time. They're growing up! Grant was a stinker when it came to sleep. He decided to be an owl and do his resting during the day, rather than at night. It was great to have so many kids able to ride their own bikes this year. They did really well, and we never had any major collisions--amazing! Ane was a good sport and had a pretty good time, too, I think (as much fun as a teenager can have with a bunch of adults and lots of little kids). It was fun for us to bring her along on our trip and show her how we crazy Americans vacation. :) Here are some of my favorites with a collage of many more, too.

dirty, happy girl

This year's theme--Pirates! They talked about building up treasure in heaven, went on treasure hunts, sang pirate songs, and so much more. G&G outdid themselves, once again, and made so many special memories with the kids.

bike-rider Joel loving his two-wheeled independence

with Brennan and Grant, the two youngest grandkids

on our memorable raft trip down the Descutes

4th of July

The Wilson's graciously hosted again this year, complete with the "slide of death II," BBQ, and extralong fireworks display (we won some additional fireworks at Brian and Blake's fireworks stand this year--truly luck of the draw!).

Another Vacation Day

Took a trip up the Gorge to Multnomah Falls, hiked up Horsetail Falls, and stopped at Crown Point and brought friends along with us. Thank you, Millers, for joining us. Next time we'll have to get Mike to take the day off, too. :)

from behind the waterfall

at Crown Point

Vacation Day

The day after the 4th (will post photos of that day later--forgot my camera) Greg took a day off, and we headed to the zoo.

Grant trying on Ane's shoes--he's ready to go!

Aubrey got pooped on while we were feeding the birds, and she totally freaked out, "What WAS that?!" Screaming, crying, not happy.

Went over to Mom and Dad's to enjoy the sunny day at the pool that afternoon.