Wedding

Mark and I took a road trip to my old stomping grounds in Oregon!

My parents took the kiddos for the weekend so Mark and I could go.  I picked up Mark from work Friday night and we started our trek.  We drove out to Caldwell, just west of Boise and called it a night.  We had a blast chatting and getting to spend some uninterrupted time with one another.  

Saturday morning we woke up early and continued our trek.  We stopped at Multnomah Falls on our way into Portland.  I have no recollection of ever going here before - I am sure I have but we had a great time.

It pretty much rained the entire day on Saturday!  Welcome to Oregon!  We then headed into Portland to go to the International Rose Test Garden.  Once we finally found a parking spot it really started pouring.  We laughed at everyone hiding under little outcroppings and braved the rain and massive hail.  

It was quite an adventure.  And I am sure the garden would have looked beautiful...if the roses were in bloom! Haha!

We still had a great time and were soaked through!  We then headed to the Portland Oregon Temple.  This temple will always have a special place in my heart.  It is the first temple I ever went into and I think it is just beautiful.

We ended the night by grabbing some dinner and catching a movie!

The next day we drove down to Salem!  I haven't been there in six years and it was the first time I've ever been back and had access to a car.  We first went over to Lauren's Dad's home for breakfast.  They have always been so kind and were so welcoming.  It was great to spend time with Lauren and Ricky and their family as well as Scott and Kristen and their family.  

After breakfast, I took Mark on the whole West Salem tour!  It was wonderful to go and look at the places where I have so many memories and walk around and linger as long as I wanted.  It was really important that Mark and I come up for the wedding but also because I don't think I will ever come back.  Obviously, you never know, but I can't think of why I would ever come back and so this kind of it for me.  It was so nice to show Mark so much of my childhood and he was such a good sport about all of it.  We then grabbed some lunch at Kwans (one of my family's favorite places to eat while we lived here!) and then got ready for the wedding. 

Leah lived a couple doors down from me growing up and we have been good friends ever since Kindergarten.  My childhood is littered with memories of us together and I have a large pile of letters we wrote to one another after I moved.  Leah is one of the kindest people you will ever meet.  She is truly beautiful from the inside - out.  I am so happy that she got a day all about her and Kurt and excited to see them start their life together.  It was a beautiful ceremony and I am so grateful that we were able to be there!

Monday we got up early and were on the road by 7!  I literally read hundreds of pages from Harry Potter and Steve Young's autobiography (I know - great combo huh?!) and we had a long, but great drive home.  We were able to stop in Burley and visit my Grandpa Moldenhauer's grave and finally pulled into our house by 9 that night.  

The kids had a blast handing out with my parents and their Aunt Melina and Aunt Megan!  Thank you so much for loving on our kiddos when we couldn't!