A December to Remember

So thankful for the quality family time we got to spend together during the month of December!  We took three separate trips in three different states: the Oregon coast, Washington & California.  First we spent a weekend in Pacific City at a friend's beach house.  On the way we hiked Drift Creek Falls and crossed an amazing suspension bridge.  The weekend weather forecast looked rainy, but we were blessed with dry days to walk the beach, climb the massive sand dune and explore the tide pools.  We got to see an impressive king tide the day we left, which is a high tide with swells over 9 feet.  Our next trip was a weekend at the Cornerstone Cabin in Ashford, WA.  During our journey north, we spent the afternoon at NW Trek Wildlife Park, which is home to 40 native northwest animals.  We took a driving tour through their free-roaming area and saw bison, elk, caribou, sheep and more, then walked around and saw a wolverine running laps, bald eagles perched, wolves howling and lots of cats!  The next day we drove into Mt. Rainier National Park, which was less than a mile from our cabin, hoping to catch a glimpse of the peak.  We decided to head to Paradise, and the kids enjoyed romping around in the snow.  Landon was mesmerized by the ambulance parked next to Paradise Inn.  At our cozy cabin, I made soup, we watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas & the girls soaked in the jacuzzi, and we surprised the kids with our last destination:  California for Christmas!  

My father-in-law made our entire trip possible and helped us pull off some memorable surprises!  First we surprised my mother-in-law, and then we headed over to Travis & Natalie's house so Ben and the girls could surprise them by jumping in their pool.  Cassie and Alan made plans to spend the night Christmas Eve, but my nieces and nephews were totally shocked when we happened to be there too.  We spent precious time together with Ben's family, enjoying many hikes up God's Rock, eating carne asada & In-N-Out, and swimming in Travis' pool.  We also got to spend a couple of afternoons with my brother and his family in Coronado.

Pacific City, OR

 

Ashford, WA

California

Rose City Challenge/ Emerald Team Challenge

 The girls ended their gymnastics competition season with exceptional performances at their last two meets.  Little did we know that Rose City Challenge and Emerald Team Challenge would be their last meets....  Both McKinley & Piper had qualified for the Level 3 State Meet with an all-around (bars, beam, vault & floor) qualifying score of 34, but due to Covid 19 the meet was cancelled!  The Rose City Challenge was hosted and run by Metro, which means Benji and I volunteered and worked a lot of events during the weekend, including set-up and tear-down of all the gymnastics equipment.  Despite having to juggle our schedules, Benji and I found it very eye-opening into the sport of gymnastics and appreciated what we learned from the judges we assisted.  RCC ended up being the high light of the girls' season as they placed first as a team, and Piper won the coveted, all-around trophy for her age category!  The girls' last meet was in Springfield hosted by the National Academy of Artistic Gymnastics.  They both medaled in all of the events in their age categories, and Piper placed first for her all-around score.  GO METRO!

     ROSE CITY CHALLENGE

Metro Gymnastics Center: Tigard, OR

EMERALD TEAM CHALLENGE

Springfield, OR