Oregon - or the graduation of a marine biologist.

The last of our summer vacations was a trip to the hypnotic Oregon coast line. We specifically went to support my brainy brother as he defended his dissertation.

This first picture is of the pouting Talmadge as he had just been told he could not go in the boat house and get Uncle Paul until he was done meeting with his review board. We all were anxiously awaiting Uncle Paul's announcement.

The boys found things to occupy their attention as they wait

He passed! He is now Dr. Paul H. Dunn the Ph.D.!!!

The Dr. getting some love from his Celtic Queen.

Once we knew Paul was in the clear it was time for some fun. We walked down to the docks and found this friend swimming around looking for some discarded fish guts, sounds like a tasty treat right?!

Paul and Heidi showed us a cool little hike to a waterfall. It looks like this background isn't real, right? Well, it's real ya'll. I'm sure you all know I couldn't figure out how to photoshop anyway.

They boys found a stream with bugs and slugs and all kinds of treasures only boys could love.

Jared and Talmadge exploring and finding which rocks they could jump on.

The reasons I am alive. The wonderful Kim and Hayven.

Spence had had enough of watching from the sidelines and jumped in.

A little ways away from the waterfall we found a river in the sunshine. These are my two handsome fellows. Please, don't be jealous ladies.

Refusing to get in even slightly cold water, I am soaking in the sunshine on the riverbank. Ah, delicious sunlight.

The true highlight for our little adventurer was the crabbing. Uncle Paul put out crab traps several times and Spencer and Talmadge were in heaven. They were able to hold the crabs and...

Throw them back in!!! The crabs were amazing once they were back in the water. They could flip back over and swim right on down to the bottom.

Talmadge was impressed with his fathers accomplishment. Jared made the balloon dog he is holding. What more could Jared hope to accomplish after that?

Next up are the boys running on Bastion Dorff beach. The water was freezing, but as you can see, they didn't care.

Talmadge will rarely smile for pictures but I promise he was loving his beach day.

Nana was helping Talmadge build a sand castle.

The mighty edifice with scavenged crab shells. Nana and Talmadge even put water in the moat.

Spencer was buried alive!

Me with my beautiful mother. I loved the humidity making my hair incredibly curly. It was great I hardly had to do a thing to it.

Talmadge had to be buried too.

Paul and Heidi told us about this really cool little lake out in the middle of no where. They said no one was ever there. We pulled up to find about 15 cars with loads of people. So much for skinny dipping.

Mother and recent Ph.D. taking it easy at the lake. Behind this lake was an awesome sand dune that Dad called his Mt. Everest to climb. We all made the trek up and ran around jumping up and down it. Of course my guys made the trek several times performing flying leaps as they ran down the giant hill.

Family Time

Our next adventures take us to mud puddles and family reunions. (And, no they're not the same)

This is my studly husband in the Runners Cross, a race that takes you up, over and through obstacles. While doing all this testosterone filled fun you are racing against other teams. Jared loved it.

Jared's brother Curt got him involved in the race. He's the one holding the cute little girl.

Next up we have the Thomas family reunion. Jared's sister Tamra was in charge of planning it. She chose a KOA at Bear Lake. It was a lot of fun. We had so many things to choose from to keep the children entertained. This KOA even had a pool that Talmadge took full advantage of. I say good job Tamra!

Hmm? Am I really related to these two? I suppose they were just trying to do a cheep sand scrub to soften their manly calloused skin... Yah, I'm not buying it either.

This is Talmadge's cute little cousin Max on the beach at Bear Lake. He is just a few months older than Talmadge.

Me in my favorite spot reading the Hunger Games. The family was lucky I didn't try and fashion a bow and arrow and try to hunt them down, I was so into the book.

The KOA we stayed at even had a bouncy playground where they did games. Talmadge was loving it.

This is everyone that came to the Thomas family reunion. We are only missing a few people, pretty good I'd say. How are those kids so cute with those fathers?

This was just before we entered the eerie, dark, Minnetonka (I probably butchered that spelling) caves. Really, it wasn't so eerie we had a fun guide and it was lit the whole way. However, it did make me feel like I was about to encounter Dwarves that had mined too deeply. Yes, I am a sci/fi geek.

It looked like the Dwarves had make castles. Really, it was mother nature. We had a great time at the family reunion and personally think Tamra should be in charge of them more often.

Angels Landing

Our next summertime adventure took us to a place that is so close to the heavens it had to be named after a heavenly being.

This is Jared and I from the the second to highest landing.

I love red rock beauty, and I slip into a meditation on the astounding glories God has created, that or I'm thinking holy crap I'm not hiking any further over the narrow strip of rock that you see in this next photo.

The fact that this narrow passage had sheer drops to both sides, where you could possibly fall for hundreds of feet before you were splattered on hard rock didn't phase my husband in the least. He took off like a mountain goat on massive doses of caffeine, leaping and bounding. He payed no head to the metal chain placed there for him to hold on to for his safety.

I really don't know if this picture adequately demonstrates just how high up we were.

Yes, that's right, I am using the safety chain unlike other people we know.

I took a picture of the Angels Landing sign, please pay special attention to how many people have died since 2004. That is especially reassuring since you are already nearly done with the hike when you reach where they have posted this sign.

A little friend we met on the way back down the mountain. He taunted me with the ease in which he scaled the face of the cliff. ( He and Jared both)


During our challenging adventure Nana, being the saint of a woman that she is, was with the boys walking down by the river. It was a fun adventure for all of us that day!

Summer time fun

We have had a busy summer. This first installment of pictures is from our Calf's Creek adventure.

Nana insisted Talmadge wear a hat. Of course anything of Nana's would have bling.

Talmadge and Jared are ready to hike!

As always, Talmadge has more energy then his mother.

Spencer doesn't take well to the heat. We have to offer lots of encouragement, and water to keep him going.

We made it to the waterfall!

The water was cold but our little adventurer didn't care, he was going to swim.

It started to rain while we were at the waterfall. The rain cooled things off and we all had a pleasant hike back to the car.

Stay tuned for more summer time fun - a photographic journal.