The End of a Long and Eventful Summer

We rounded out our eventful summer with two Marquee events. On Wednesday August 4th we left our kids with Grandparents at 4 am to head for Central Wyoming where we would retrace two key trails where the Willey and Martin handcart companies encountered much of their great hardships. I must add an editorial note that this event had Nicki and I a little frustrated and our moods reflected that in the days proceeding the trip. However, upon arrival we had a serious change of heart. We were in charge of 6 kids who would be "ours" for the next 4 days. We were Ma and Pa to 6 great youth from our Stake. Jack, Emily, Lily, Tiaurra, Thomas and James. They were amazing and made the trip an absolutely great experience. There were so many moments that we experienced that were beautiful, visually, spiritually, and or physically. Nicki and I both came away with a renewed sense of purpose and testimony.

After our return from Trek at 8 pm the 7th of August, we left at 10 am for the Oregon Coast for our planned summer vacation. We were sharing this vacation with some good friends from our neighborhood. The Bailey's had tired of hearing of our vacation from the previous year and decided the only way to get us to shut up was to come and experience it for themselves. This year we chose to drive which certainly added to the adventure. 4 total days of 7 to 9 hours of driving certainly taxes the patience of parents and children. However, I must add that our kids did great considering the duration and distance of travel. We were able to spend time with two of our Great Grandmas and one Grandma. It was a nearly perfect trip. The coast trip included stops at the world famous Tillamook Cheese Factory where we sampled cheese and ice cream until we could stand no more. We spent mornings looking for sand dollars and various shells and generally spent our days doing nothing more or less exciting than spending the day at the beach playing on, in or eating sand. There is nothing quite as relaxing as no schedule nor computers or phones and spending the day at a beach. Brit, Cami and I even got a day of body surfing in. I must say to any of the Gray Clan that the discovery of renting wet suits dramatically changed the fun that can be had at the beach. We also brought a couple kites and the kids (and really the parents) had a blast flying them. One kite in particular is a trick kite and we had fun dive bombing and nearly making Cami wet her pants (more than once I might add).

I am going to add a few pictures to illustrate the conclusion of our Around the World 30 days in which we have traveled the world.

Grace and her good friend Madi at the Bonneville Dam .

Nicki and I watching our kids floating away?

Andrew and Stewart skim boarding.

Lucy with Haystack rock (pre sand in the mouth).

The GANG of kids.

Andrew and Grace pretending to pose and be friends.

Andrew flying the trick kite. We just thought the picture turned out cool.

A token picture of 3 days without bathing.