Reflections on the second half: Oregon Trip 2008

The second half went by even faster than the first and was twice as action-packed! There will be one more download as soon as Courtney and I empty our digital cameras so stay tuned!There are a lot of pictures yet to come. Mainly family groupings of our visit times-not to be missed!! We were able to get in a good visit with most of the family.Because of schedules, there are always a few that we miss and have to catch the next visit. We made the rounds: Mount Hood, Kahneetah, Multnomah Falls, the Columbia River Gorge, the Clackamas River, the Indian Springs Trout Farm, the wineries of Yamhill County, Oyster Bar, Oaks Park, Willamette Park, Hemmerle Park, the Oregon Coast, a baseball game at PGE Park, and other miscellaneous good times! Trevor and Courtney went golfing one day and also went downtown to Saturday Market and the Portland City Festival which featured Luis Palau and some of the best Christian bands around: Kutlass, Chris Tomlin, Mercy Me, and Toby Mac just to name a few of the more well-known ones.
There were a few themes that came up while I was there. For one thing, every time I go back I realize how precious family is and how that becomes even more true year after year. In our ignorance and youth we often do not see the importance of these relationships. The importance of forgiveness, love, support,acceptance and being present to one another. I know this today like I have never known it before and I am grateful to be in this place in my life. Second, there really is a gut-level oneness that a person has with the place of their birth and childhood. There's a love there for those familiar sights and sounds and smells that belong to your heart's home. The sight of the beach, the sight of Mt. Hood, of Willamette Falls, the Oregon City elevator, the West Linn bridge,familiar buildings, houses, and streets, the Columbia River Gorge...the list goes on and on. The sounds of the waves, the seagulls, the wind blowing on the mountains, the spray from Multnomah Falls, the rides and the roller rink at Oaks Park. I even love the stinky smell of the paper mill in Oregon City! Now that's love!! I remember when I couldn't stand it. Now I wish I could smell that smell more often! Funny how things turn around so much in time. Another thing that came up time and time again was the family legacy. I took Jayden to a lot of the parks that I used to take my own boys to for swimming in the wading pool or feeding the ducks at Clackamette Park. Those were also places I went as a child. When my boys were very little I taught them to skate at Oaks Park,which is where I went skating as a child, and this trip I had the thrill and priviledge of teaching Jayden~although I will admit to not being as good of a skater as I once was(out of practice and out of shape!). Our family used to love to go to baseball games in Portland-the Beavers-and I went there with my kids and now my grandson.If you look at the post from last summer, the Indian Springs Trout Farm has also made the list of traditions, as does Timberline Lodge and Kahneetah. I have always been very committed to maintaining the family ties in the years since we moved away and I am so happy that my sons know their relatives and have relationships and ties with them and now so does little Jayden. It has been a magical time!I know I say this after every trip but I think this one may have been the best...