Day 5 and 6 in Ashland

The clouds in Ashland are amazing.. they are different every day!

We counted over 30 waterfalls on the drive to Brookings.. we stopped at this one!

The girls having fun with their 2nd cousins








These two pictures are of the Smith River.. it has a beautiful emerald green color to it... these pictures just don't show the true color very well... you have to see it in person.

Day 5: We drove up to Brookings today to visit Chris' aunt and uncle. They own a beautiful home that overlooks the ocean... just gorgeous. We were also able to see Chris' cousin Wendy, her husband, and their three amazing boys. We also saw our property today, and it's just as beautiful as ever.... now we just need to build a home on it, one day. :-) We also had some wonderful clam chowder in town for lunch. What a great day!

Day 6: It was a sunny day in Brookings today, and it was SUCH a gorgeous day today!! It was so warm that we were able to wear t-shirts and jeans comfortably to ocean! We happened to go at high tide, so we were not able to walk on the beach, but it was still fun. On the way home we had a blast chatting with one another and singing our hearts out to Jim Croce... my new favorite artist.

Day 4 in Ashland

View driving through the park



We didn't really do much today... just explored the town a bit. We had lunch at The Standing Stone Brewery, which we learned today that this restaurant serves all organic meats (raised by them!) and buys 95% of it's products from organic farmers in Ashland! I thought it was pretty neat that the restaurant supports the town so much. We also visited Lithia Park... a must do activity when visiting Ashland! All photos were taken from my camera phone today... I forgot the big one at home. :-) (which isn't always a bad thing!)

Day 3 in Ashland

We had the opportunity to visit a church here in Ashland today. Finding the right church is an important consideration for us before deciding if we like the town. The church we went to today was not really our style, but we did learn more about the type of people living here. Caring, open, honest, unpretentious, down to earth people. It amazes me every time we come up just how nice people are!
We also went to Medford today to check out the area. This is where we would do most of our shopping, so we wanted to see what it was like. I would say that Medford is a mini Sacramento, but without all the crime, drugs, and gangs.
And of course the day was not complete until we made our gingerbread house. But what really topped the night off for the girls was that it snowed! They were so excited to see snow coming down. So, what did we do? We had ice cream cones to celebrate. :-)

Day 2 in Ashland

I think this in the one and only tree lot in Ashland! :-)

Do you think my nose looks big? LOL
Madeline playing Christmas music for all of us.
Playing with Poppa!


I think this dog is spoiled!
Chris took up his usual spot while we decorated the tree... on a couch with Whiskey. LOL



We had a chance to get settled into the house we are staying, so today we decided to go into town and get some grocery's and a Christmas tree. We have to have a Christmas tree so that Santa will be able to find us. :-) We drove all around town looking for a Christmas tree lot, but there were none! It was really strange to not see one on nearly every major intersection like we do at home. We talked to a nice lady in the market and she told us that they were sold on the north end of town. It was at that lot that found the perfect little tree. Later that night we colored the ornaments, drank hot cocoa, ate some choclate chip cookies, and of course, decorated the tree.

Day 1 in Ashland

Lucy and Ava... 4 1/2 years!

I have been wanting to update the photos around the house of Ava and Lucy... So tonight we had some fun taking photos. Lucy was a little ham and kept "posing" for me. LOL Ava didn't really want anything to do with having her photo taken, but I just love the way some of them came out. Now the hard part comes... choosing which ones to put on the wall!