Family Reunion 2012 - Gold Beach, Oregon

We had our family reunion this year at Gold Beach, Oregon. We traveled down and met at the Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon. After that we traveled on to Gold Beach. There we stayed and had dinner at the Porthole. A cute little restaurant by Jerry's Jet Boats. The following day we went on a 103 mile tour of the Rogue River on Jerry's Jet Boats. We had such a great time. We had dinner on the river and even though it was colder than when David and I went last year it was a beautiful boat ride. We had so much fun. It was fun that Grandma Ardee and Pap John got to come with us. The only sad thing was that Nick and Ashleigh had to leave early. Nick's grandpa was very sick and he needed to go to California to see him. We missed them for the boat ride but we had a great time at the safari and dinner! We just love our kids so much and we look forward to these reunions every year. We are already planning next years! What a great way to start our summer off - all together as a family!

Puerto Rico

Welcome to Puerto Rico!
Fort El morro, that kept Old San Juan safe from intruders.
Bananas anyone? We went to the fruit market everyday for fresh fruit and smoothies.
Us saying goodbye to our "home" for the past 4 days in Puerto Rico
And us saying hello to our new "home" for the next 7 days at sea.


The Golden Girls were back at it, another adventure which included 4 days in Puerto Rico and a 7 day cruise on the Carnival, Victory through the Caribbean. We stopped off and visited St. Thomas, Dominca, Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts. We were headed to St. Maarten, however hurricane Igor was on our tail and did not allow us to dock. So we spent an extra day at sea being re-routed to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

This was an amazing trip, there is nothing like soaking the rays of the Caribbean and being able to swim in the warm ocean.

I had a relaxing time, what a care free way to recover from the last two years. Now that I am relaxed I am ready to get to work!

The Caribbean

I'm relaxing in the Caribbean Sea.... on the island of St. Thomas
Sarai, Jen, and I putting our toes off the coast of Puerto Rico
In the pool at the Ritz, on St. Thomas
Jen and I soaking up the rays on the island of Barbados
Sarai, Jen, and I took a ride on the Gladiator, what a rush. The water felt so amazing!

RDH

Well, it's official I am a registered dental hygienist in the state of Oregon!!! I am now in the process of applying for my Washington State license. Now I just need to start working!

Our Jungle Trip

While snorkeling, Nick dove down trying to catch some fish.... almost!

I am wading in the ocean, trying to cool off. We spent the day on the island of Las Calaitas.

This is the view from the back of our hotel.... we truly are in the jungle.

After dinner photo... we enjoyed a yummy meal with ocean view!

This is the view from our balcony, looking out on all the pools, ocean, and beach. We were on the 8th floor.

We were in Puerto Vallarta for 6 days, 7 nights, and enjoyed every minute of it! This was an excellent way to end the school year. We were there right in the beginning of the rainy season so everything was very green. The sun was hit or miss and it rained a few times but it was warm and enjoyable. We visited the site were the movie The Predator was filmed, we snorkeled, layed on the beach, swam in the pool and the ocean, hiked through the jungle, and ate lots of yummy food! We can't wait to go back!

Love, Ash and Nick

Christmas 2009

Hi family,
Nick and I got our first Christmas tree this Saturday... we were dressed for warmth and headed out to the tree farm. We thought this would take us awhile to find the "perfect" tree, we walked in and found the tree within 15 minutes. Talk about luck, we packed up the car and headed home. I am so excited for spending Christmas this year with everyone! See you all on the 19th!
Love, Ash and Nick

Operation Jen 3.0

Me practicing my "free fall" position.
Golden Girls all geared up!
The airplane that took us to 13,000 ft.
That is me with my legs straight out, coming in for the landing.

WE SURVIVED!

This year has been an eventful year for the "Golden Girls". Whitney, Sarai, and I wanted to surprise Jenny for her 30th birthday. After some thoughtful planning and juggling of schedules we planned to kidnap Jenny on August 29th, have a slumber party and say goodbye to her 20's. The next day we woke up (August 30th) to say hello 30. At breakfast we told Jen about our adventure we had planned... were going SKYDIVING! We headed out to skydive Oregon, signed our life away and prepared to board a plane. The adrenalin that was pumping through us was unreal, free falling at 13,000 ft. is unexplainable, and floating through the air with wings on our back was a dream come true. This was an unforgettable adventure that I am blessed to have shared with these three amazing women. If your feeling up to it, I highly recommended this adventure! Happy Birthday Jen! We love you!