holy long post about washington...

alrighty. so... a month ago tomorrow my cousin erik got married. he married this really amazing girl [carolee] in the logan, utah temple. mom, adrian, dustin & hayley got to go... the rest of us couldn't make it. but thank goodness there was a reception in washington because the rest of us [except an austin] got to go to that. so blah blah blah a couple weeks ago mom & kelsey fly up, then a few days later dad flew up, then a few hours later adrian, hayley & i flew up. we haven't been back to oregon/washington since my grandma's funeral. which is pushing 4 years now... but i was still amazed as we walked out of the airport that oregon still smelled the same. it smells good... in case you were wondering haha... so we get to nancy & dan's house [which, by the way, looked fantastic! they redid their family room... and it turned out beautiful!]  and we chit chat & then go to bed. oh, i forgot to tell you... this wasn't truly a "vacation" ... it was more of a working vacation. we were there to help aunt nancy get everything ready & set up for the reception.

so the next day was supposed to be a work day, but instead uncle dan took us [me, kels, dad, erik, carolee, jason & isabel] out on the columbia river in his new boat. and we had a blast! the water was freezing! we [the farrs] didnt get in, but the richardsons did. we all got burned... it was fantastic. lol... it seriously wasnt even that hot... and i didnt put sunscreen on. and i got this awfully cute little farmers tan on my arms... which, by the way, i had worked all summer to get rid of. awesome. haha... it was worth it though.

these are just the silly picture. the one of "kaiser shipyard" is for nicole. haha... we saw ducks [and ducklings], ate fresh picked blackberries & laughed at funny signs about gutting fish...

so we get off the river & back to nancy's and the next 36 hours was all work. we spent a lot of time making tons of food, chopping tons of celery, & baking tons of rolls.  we were running around like crazy... but everything came together SO perfectly at the reception. there was a beautiful buffet with teryiaki chicken, meatballs, chicken salad sandwiches [my personal fav], a vegetable tray, pasta salad, homemade strawberry lemonade, a chocolate fountain [with all the necessary ammenities] and of course cake. it was a ton of food. laurel [& adrian] arranged all of the flowers, mom found the table toppers, our cousin mike made the backdrop... and it all was beautiful. kelsey, mom & i truly were the workers.... making sure there was always food on the table and cake set out and the punch & water was filled up, but eventually we got to eat too. a few women from aunt nancy's ward came... and they were a huge help. we took family pictures, i caught the bouquet [which i promise i tried not to... it just... kinda happened. i know. im in trouble now... haha], and we decorated the newlywed's car. overall, it was an absolutely fantastic night!

the next day, we visited grandma's grave for a bit. we saw canadian geese... funny, eh? afterwards, kelsey & i took a nap. and then we had a family dinner [with leftovers... which were still delicious], visited for hours, watched the 3 little kids ride down a hill in cardboard boxes, and had a very relaxing day... it was lovely.

the next day was our vacation. we took a trip down memory lane & went to the oregon coast. it was a beautiful and slightly chilly day.  we ate lunch at mo's... a favorite seafood restaurant of my family's [and yes, i got a hamburger. lol...] erik & carolee met us for lunch [even though they were on their honeymoon]. we walked down the beach... this was hayley's first time to the ocean. i think she liked the sand, but not the water so much... which isnt really surprising since it took her months to like the pool. we had fun though... i wish we could have stayed longer.

i couldn't resist the opportunity to pretend to be artsy & take some fun pictures...

after that, on our drive back to vancouver, we stopped by the infamous tillamook cheese factory. it really is tradition to stop there, take the tour, eat some squeeky cheese & get some ice cream. so that is exactly what we did. and it was great! :)  when we got back, we stopped by grandpa's house [to drop karla & rachel off], but we got some time to chat with grandpa. [on a side note, we are really excited for him to move back to arizona this month.] i have to admit, i was kinda sad that his house doesn't smell like him & grandma anymore... i love that smell. but i did get a chance to look through grandma's scrapbooks. they are fantastic. after that we went back to aunt nancy's to pack.... we had to be up at 4:30am to catch our flight the next morning.

it was a whirlwind of a trip... and it was absolutely fantastic! i loved seeing my cousins & my aunts & uncles that i havent seen in awhile.

and again... thank you [and congratulations] to erik & carolee... we wouldn't have done it without them!!  :)