Oregon

Ben came home from work 6 or 7 weeks ago and said Lowell, his boss, planned for him to attend the upcoming Oregon board meeting. That’s not unusual – Ben goes with him once or twice a year. Then Ben got my attention by saying, “He wants you to come, too.”  Ah, great news!  Then he said, “And it’s a holiday weekend so he suggested we go to Utah afterwards and spend a few days with my mom.”  More great news!!!  We also talked my parents into flying cross country with our kids and meeting us in Salt Lake after our Oregon trip so they could see the Utah family, too. I’ll blog about that trip later, though.

Meigan Smith, an 18 year old in our ward, watched the kids for the two days we were away. She did fantastic!  Another friend, Hailey Patera, and Meigan’s mom helped out some, too.  They had so much fun from what I hear.  The kids went to bed easily and McKay slept through the night. The second night my parents came up and spent the night because they had an early flight the next morning.

Anyways, back to our trip….

Every bit of the trip was pretty new and exciting for me. Even riding on an airplane without kids was pretty amazing….no needing to keep them busy….no carrying all their snacks, diapers, toys, etc……no stressing about keeping them quiet….no worrying about bothering people….no stress.  I just sat back and read my book and snoozed a little and was lazy. Wow! It’s been a while since that’s happened.  I’ll be honest, though, and admit I was secretly worrying about how they were doing but I tried to just relax and enjoy myself.

We arrived on a Wednesday around 2PM. Lowell picked us up and took us to our hotel where we freshened up and then we headed out to dinner. Lowell and Lori took us to an outdoor Catholic sanctuary first called The Grotto.  The gardens and statues were beautiful!

For dinner that night we went to Salty’s which is a seafood restaurant along the  Columbia River.  We started off with a seafood appetizer which was delicious.  I’ve never eaten much seafood but I decided to be adventurous and I really loved it.  The crab legs were truly delicious!  It was really good quality seafood – I’m sure that’s part of why it was so easy to love.   All the food was amazing!

Thursday morning the guys had a meeting so Lori and I went shopping.  Lowell dropped us off at the mall and insisted I go on a shopping spree – his treat.  He told me, “Go pick out some nice outfits.  Your budget is $500.”  I about died!  It was one of the more amazing moments in my life.  It took me a little while to relax and accept their generosity but I got the hang of it in the end 😉  Lowell said it was his way of saying thank you to me for being so supportive of Ben during busy season.  So nice.

The guys met up with us at the mall and we went to Nordstrom Cafe for lunch.  I’d never been to one.  I’d highly recommend it – fresh, healthy, scrumptious food!  Ben and I shared a lime cilantro salad and a roasted vegetable pizza.  After shopping and lunch Lowell took us around Portland and we drove up to Mulnomah Falls.  It was stunning.  The land was covered with moss, plants, ivy, flowers, or vegetation of some type.  Everything felt so alive and colorful.

That evening we went to Ringside Grill with Lowell and Lori and several of the board members.  It was fun to meet some of the people Ben works with and see how much they liked him.  They were each so nice and likable, and were great company.   I didn’t bring the camera along, but the food was also delicious!  I felt a little foolish because the weather was freezing and I had planned to wear a long skirt with sandals, but in the end my cold toes talked me into wearing the only pair of closed toed shoes I brought which were my tennis shoes.  So I wore a new  white blouse, blue pants and my tennis shoes.  I looked like a fool!  Thankfully, no one seemed to stare or care.  Cliffie always says, “You have to suffer to be beautiful.”  It’s a statement I’m not motivated enough to live by, but in this situation I decided I should have suffered and looked more normal.  Or, better yet, had the foresight at the mall to find a nicer pair of closed toed shoes.  Oh well.  You live and learn.

The next morning I took an early plane to Utah so I could be there waiting when the kids landed.  I’ll blog about that next.

Needless to say, we had a fantastic time!  It was fun to live like the rich and famous for two days 🙂  It was lovely to temporarily let go of the mental and physical burden of caring for three children.  It was fascinating to experience a new place.  It was exciting to try new food.  It was great to spend time with friends and meet new ones.  I loved it all!