April: Drum Tao, Birthday lunches, launching the Dan, Easter, bike rides, Saki track

We went to see Drum Tao in Portland. This great Japanese drumming troupe. So much energy and power...very loud but very fun!

We invited Nozomi to join us. He is the other AFS exchange student from Japan in our area. He and Saki both agreed it was a great show:)

A bit late but I was able to have my birthday lunch with a great group of friends:) We ate at a yummy Indian place in downtown Hillsboro.

That same day I met up with another group of friends for ice cream at Salt and Straw. I'm so lucky to have so many people around me that love and support me:)

We found a perfect sunny day to launch the Skinny Dan for the year. Time to get back out sailing!

Raising the mast is always a bit tricky but we managed to pull it off once again:)

The Easter Bunny left some treats for the kids

Katrina hosted an Easter egg hunt in her backyard. This was the first hunt for Saki AND Stevie:)

The "golden eggs" always have money inside $$

Beautiful blossoms on a bike ride with friends on the Banks/Vernonia trail

Another day, another bike ride. My friend Robin has a goal to ride the entire Banks/Vernonia trail out and back by the end of summer. That's 42 miles:)

Emerson and Peter

Saki got her ears pierced!

One Sunday morning Hyrum and I got some urgent texts asking Hyrum to play music for Sacrament meeting THAT day! Needless to say it was a stressful morning and Hyrum wasn't too happy to be put on the spot but in the end everything turned out great. He played the piano instead of the organ but it was fabulous and Saki even offered to help with one of the hymns with her violin. In the end it was a beautiful music filled service.

We went with the Doxey's to see the amazing Yo-Yo Ma perform in concert. What a treat. 

Saki decided to run track. She loved being with her cross country friends again and having the chance to run after school every day

It was going to be a beautiful day on the coast so Emerson joined us on a quick trip to Tillamook. It was so nice to spend time with him all day

The elusive "roof duck" Every once in a while we are on a walk and we see a duck on top of a roof. It's pretty rare so we always think it's great when we see one

Sherry, Robin and I had a wonderful walk around the Portland rhododendron garden

Out for a walk with Stevie girl

What a great start to a beautiful Spring here in Oregon. I am truly blessed to live in such a lovely place and be surrounded by friends that want to share in adventures with me. It has been great having the twins take turns coming home on the weekends so we can spend some time with each of them individually.

Astoria trip with Robin and Sherry

 My good friend (Robin Mann) went through breast cancer treatments all last year. As she was nearing the end of treatment she wanted to plan a trip so she would have something to look forward to as a celebration for finishing her treatments. Sherry Work and I happily agreed to join her on a trip and we had a wonderful time celebrating Robin and the fact that our friend is still here to enjoy this beautiful world with us. We spent a few fun filled days in Astoria, Oregon.

First stop...the bow picker for delicious fish and chips

There is a "Nordic heritage" park that honors all the immigrants from Scandinavia that came to Astoria and mostly worked very long and hard hours in the fish canneries.

Sherry needed a photo honoring the "sturdy women"

The waterfront in Astoria has a wonderful walkway. We walked about 5 miles out and back making it to the terminus of the trail before walking back into Astoria. We all got a bit sunburned!

After dinner with my friends I drove up to visit Jacob and Aodhan in their new home. I hadn't seen it and was super impressed with all the work they have put into making it a lovely place to live. The view from their upstairs balcony is amazing!

Back at the hotel I went up to the rooftop terrace and captured this wonderful sunset.

The next morning we stopped by another beautiful park, this one honors those of Asian ancestry that immigrated to Astoria to work. What a beautiful tribute

While researching things to do in Astoria we came upon the "pigeon steps" None of us had ever heard of this attraction before so we had to check it out. It was basically a steep ramp with some concrete stays to make it less slippery. We of course walked all the way to the top.

Sherry and Robin heading up the "steps" with the beautiful Columbia river in the background

Sherry acting quite dismal as we drove across into Washington to visit the Dismal Nitch historic site

Not so dismal on a beautiful spring morning but we could all imagine how terrible it would have been for Lewis and Clark and their expedition to be stuck her for days during a winter storm.

Cape disappointment. We ended up hiking out to that lighthouse in the background after visiting the very well done Lewis and Clark museum

On the hike to the lighthouse

We made it!

Cool tree on our hike back to the car

We stopped in Ilwaco, WA for some yummy lunch at the Salt Pub. It was a great little spot right on the water and a wonderful way to end our girls trip/celebration. So happy Robin made it through her treatments. Although I'll be honest, I don't really NEED a reason for a girls trip get away weekend:)