Oregon + patience, please?

the road is always better with this...tasty.

We loved our drive through Oregon. The farmlands, the forever tall pine trees and the beautiful lakes...gorgeous. I was pretty sure we would find our next hometown in all of this delightful green, but we didn't, we spent so much time in the car I doubt you can get any of us to go back. And, Oregon didn't even let us pump our own gas?! How can you live in a place like that??? (You should have seen the attendants jump after D. when he tried to get out to wash the windows - ha!)

Every part of this trip was different. We visited Washington a few years ago and had a wild time with our Seattle cousins. This time we went for the whole Jacobsen family reunion..."hold on tight and keep your arms inside the ride at all time" kind of family reunion, know what I mean?

The boys are so much older this time. The road trip is easier and more complicated. Each one of these young men feels a great need to be heard, to be plugged in (ipoding) and to be making decisions of their own.

Do you all need to grow up at the same time?

Did I pack enough patience for this trip?

This time, no baby to worry over, no baby naps to protect, no diapers to change, this is a new world. Every day now is a grown-boy adventure, jumping and running, long legs bumping into other long legs, ipods and earbuds dangling over tall shoulders, sweaty bodies always ready for a shower, and scooters and guitars filling up all of the luggage space.

These are my boys now. This is my life now. Shouldn't life be getting easier as they get older?

I am more tired now than when they were two!

All four boys running up and down the trails at Lithia Park, Ashland,Oregon
(we say it like Lucy says Asland - the old British version of Narnia)

"Aaashlaand".

A huge water retainer in the middle of the 93 acre park - found some great scripts -we even found the secret to happiness written here, and it's more simple than I ever thought.

A walking tour (actually a trying-not-to-die-by-bicyclist tour) of Portland, Oregon.
Josh says we are walking across "Rabby Road" right here. Okay.

The beautiful and painful view of Mount St. Helen's lost peaks.

We took the drive all the way to the top of the observation mountain to see the best view. Well worth the extra time to get here, it is stunning to see. The forces of nature unleashed and how long it takes a disaster area to begin to grow new life again

Hmm...something to think about in my own personal disasters in my life.

How long does it take to heal? How long does it take to grow new life again?

Do I have the patience to relearn, regrow, and trust God to not blow things up again?

Joe (10) in awe of the mountain. I loved the way the sun hit the top of his head.

He was so enamored with that telescope & fascinated by the idea of a volcano. Kaboom.

The blast zone is all around us here, everything around us in this place was just blown to bits. And right now as we stand here, our little lives are held here...precariously perched atop this wildly dangerous place. A place so meant for little boys to see...

photo journalist in the making?

A brand new thing. Ben is always taking pics of himself in interesting places...and who is he sending them to?

Great God Almighty...thank you for safe travels all the way to Washington. In all of our adventuring we need all the help we can get.

You are in control and we don't even see you keeping us out of trouble.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Many more pics of the wild family reunion to come... Yes, yes and Amen.