Trent came home

Pregame Hype. Getting Pumped.
If you know my mom you know what was required before Trent could land. Cooking, cleaning, posters, t-shirts, decorations, balloons, more posters...you know - the usual.
Only it was the usual times a jillion.

Just a C shot for posterity. Because I can't handle the cuteness.
Did I mention the balloons, t-shirts and posters? Oh, that was not a joke. Making a fool of yourself is part and parcel to being a member of thisfamily. We had only been there for 30 seconds when A started chanting (also not a joke) "Who do we want?? TRENT!! When do we want him? NOW!" Making spectacles of ourselves is what we do best. Tyler has never been so relieved to miss a family function. Only C got out of the humiliation.But all embarrassment was forgotten when we saw this cute face coming down the terminal.
Two years is too long to not have one of your favorite people around.
Danny grew about 3 feet in two years. Happy!The whole crew.We had the best weekend, just catching up and chatting and eating. Leaving Utah was hard this time around. I am so glad to have Trent back. He is all grown up and totally adorable.
And now I have some competition for C's favorite person on earth.
Actually, no. No I don't.
So glad he is home.
All photos by A.

Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning began in full force last night. I always love a good clean out, but this year it is looking like a whole new animal. Tyler and I caught the bug somehow and decided it was time to go through every dresser, closet, drawer, nook and cranny in our house. I had no idea how much stuff we have accumulated over the last 3 years since moving here. When we moved in I thought we had SO much storage and that we could never fill the place up. Now we are bursting at the seams. So, a massive clean out has begun. We spent 5 hours yesterday going through our bedroom (aka...all my crap). And this is what I/Tyler decided I don't need anymore.One bedroom down. Basically this equals me emptying out one of my 3 closets. Yes, three I know. Now, Tyler gets to move some of his stuff into our room for the first time in our marriage. Generous of me, I know. All I can say is that Tyler better get all of this stuff out of my sight before I change my mind. I am tossing about 12 pairs of shoes and 10 bags. I don't do that. This is big.

I am actually excited though to see this pile grow as we go room by room. Hopefully by the end of the weekend our home will be orderly and crap free!

Spring Break is Great

Spring break was a fantastic and much needed vacation. Ty and I packed our car to the brim for our 1,000 mile road trip. We spent several days driving down the Oregon coast at a very leisurely pace, stopping when we wanted and enjoying the incredibly beautiful drive. It was a mellow trip with next to nothing planned, including where we would stay each night, which is not typical Scott family fashion. But it could not have been a better, more relaxing and enjoyable week. We got extremely lucky and had beautiful weather for the majority of the trip. And thanks to all of our new fancy hiking gear we were totally prepared and almost excited to face the rain. We helped clean the beach with our ward. It was a gorgeous day, and the beach was pretty much spotless when we got there, so the clean up was cut short and we went and got ice cream at the Tillamook Cheese Factory instead. We stopped at some incredible overlooks and lighthouses with gorgeous views. We were really hoping to see some whales, but it was just too windy and the white caps made it impossible to see much of anything. We did manage to spot some seals and sea lions, which almost made up for the lack of whales.

One of our favorite stops was Cape Kiwanda. It was beautiful with a huge sandy beach. We went on an awesome hike with great views.

Tyler loved playing in the tide pools.

Cape Kiwanda was beautiful with its bright bright water and orangey sand.

We stopped at a placed called "Devils Churn" which was pretty much my worst nightmare. Tyler was in heaven and I was terrified and convinced that we were going to get swept out to sea. As you can see in my face in the photo below.

Tyler forced me to get even this close. If we had been standing there about 20 seconds after we moved we would have been soaked by a giant wave and likely sucked out to our death. Dramatic? Maybe. Or maybe not. You weren't there. Very very scary. I just could not capture a big wave on the camera. It was pretty crazy. And pretty awesome. Despite being terrified, I would recommend checking it out if you are ever cruising the Oregon coast.

We got to see a new piece of the coast on this trip. The sand dunes. It made for beautiful beaches and difficult hikes.

I loved all of the lighthouses we were able to see and stop at along the drive.

Our final coastal destination was Bandon. We met up with our friends the Kienes and the Risleys for a few nights. We had a wonderful time hanging out at the beautiful beaches and spending time with friends. The Risleys have serious hookups and the boys were able to golf for free, which I am told is a big deal. They had perfect weather and loved every second of it. The whole gang.Our final stop was a trip over to Medford where we got to stay with the Roas and Tyler got to work in a clinic. I am bummed we didn't take any pictures with the Roas. We love them. Medford is on our list of possible places to go after graduation, so it was nice to get a small taste of what it has to offer. While I didn't fall madly in love with it, I can see that we could fit in there and be happy. Being only just over an hour away from Crater Lake pretty much sealed the deal for Tyler. That and he loved the clinic. It is exciting that we are getting close to decision time.

We had an absolutely perfect break. It was so nice to spend quality one on one time with Tyler. I don't know the last time we had so much fun together. Now we are just looking forward to our next week off! We are running out of time to see all that Oregon and the NW has to offer. We are working our way through our list and hopefully can keep doing so as the weather gets better.

Now off to SLC in TWO days to see Trent!

Crater Lake Part Two

Our new found hobby of snowshoeing led us back to Crater Lake to experience the beautiful scenery in its winter format. We were uncertain if the weather would cooperate or if we would even be able to drive to the rim, but our good weather luck followed us and it was an amazing day. The road to the rim had been closed for the previous 9 days, but magically opened about 45 minutes after we got there, saving us a very long and difficult hike to see the lake. The rangers told us there was 25 - 30 feet of snow throughout the park...all unpacked and unhiked on since the 9 new feet of snowfall over the past week. Basically that means I have never worked so hard on a hike in my life. Even with snowshoes on, it was slow going and a lot of work. But so beautiful and so worth it. The rangers told us to "follow the road" and that there were road signs along the trail that would keep us on track. Well this was really the only sign we found. Not too useful. So we just tried to steer clear of the edge, pay attention to where we were going, and prayed for no avalanches.The lake was mostly covered in haze when we started, but eventually it started to clear. It was incredibly beautiful. We were so thrilled that we got to see the bright blue lake.

Wizard Island Loving our beautiful day.

Proof that we were exhausted by the end of our trek. But no complaints it was absolutely beautiful. We love Crater Lake and feel lucky to have seen it now in both summer and winter. It is one of the most incredible places we have ever been. This was the perfect end to a much needed vacation.

Outside

We have been outside a lot lately. Rainy weather can't slow us down. So I have a lot of posts I need to do. I will get working on that. But in the mean time, here is a photo taken by the one and only Kate Maxwell. Go to her blog. She is a beautiful photographer.

And I love this picture of us at St. Helens.

Thanks Katie friend.