Silver Lining

So it all started last weekend with a sudden unbearable sore throat. Chris had the same sickness on his mission, and now it's back again. Some really serious type of flu, with tons of different symptoms, came back to haunt him again. You name the symptom, and he had it.

And in the past, it has always stayed around for two weeks

It pained me to see him like that, especially since he still chose to go to work through all of this. But my respect for him grew, as I realized what lengths he was willing to go through for the welfare of our little family.

I did my best to take care of him, and through serving him, I was amazed at how much our love for each other grew. I loved him more because I was constantly serving and caring for him, and his love for me grew because of my service.

We were also talking about how much of a blessing it was that he got sick on a weekend, and not during the middle of the week. With our insane 15 hour work days, Chris would have had a much more difficult time, because he is too stubborn to not work lol. So Sunday was a day of relaxing for him. Both of us had Sunday off, so I was able to take care of him, and he was able to relax, which turned out to be a very big turning point for the better.

Chris woke up the next morning feeling significantly better, and while he still is battling the rest of the sickness, the worst is definitely behind him, which in years past would take Chris a week to reach that point.

Right now, he's just got this crazy cough, with the occasional sore throat, but nothing compared to what it was. I told him that if he wants to get better, he needs lots and lots of rest. So what is he doing right now while I am creating this post? He is changing the oil and fixing the breaks. The guy never stops. I'm so proud of him. Even in his sickest moments he never slows down. Thanks babe :)

Yeehaw!

Here is a little bit of a visual at what went down at our second family reunion:

There were two herds of horses, one in each pasture on opposite ends of the house. This herd had 7 babies in it, and one of the mares was still pregnant!








On the atv ride up the mountain :)

Photography

So while I was at Arch Cape, I was so taken back at how beautiful everything was, even in the little details that most people don't notice. So I was inspired by that beauty to try and capture what I could in pictures. So even with no photography background/classes AT ALL, here is my attempt at some photography from our first family reunion of the summer...










(above) Chris's dad in the background. This is Chris's terrible hand.
Lunch in town :)

Chris built so many campfires on the beach, and they were great for s'mores!






This star fish is flipping me off, not very nice.

These two are holding hands :)






Chris is talking on the phone with one of his mission buddies and tossing a football in the air.

And Now for the Fun Part

Our motto for the summer has been "Work hard, Play hard". Well we've been working our butts of with two jobs and a lot of crazy schedules. So we finally had our first REAL vacation of the summer early in July: two family reunions back to back... on the in-law side. Some people might cringe at the idea of spending time with the in-laws at 2 different family reunions back to back, but I LOVED it. Not only were the PEOPLE amazing to hang out with, but the PLACES were phenomenal as well.

Reunion #1: The Bateman side: Arch Cape, Oregon
That is just south of Cannon Beach, which I love because it was WAY more secluded and wasn't "touristy". I felt right at home with this family and Chris confirmed how comfy I was by how I was "sandal sockin' it" nearly the whole time, and I didn't care! Our stay at Arch Cape was filled with...

• Boogie boarding
• Book reading
• Popcorn eating
• Beach house lounging
• Card playing
• Movie watching
• Rook playing
• Campfire sitting
• Marshmallow roasting
• Tidal pool exploring
• Long walks on the beach-ing
• Sun tanning
• Picture taking
• Sunset watching
• Good food eating
• Rock climbing
• Cave exploring
• Games in the sand playing
• Crab chasing
• Starfish searching
• Fireworks Watching
• Homemade doughnut devouring
• Lunch in town eating
• Some lucky girl riding her horse on the beach watching
• Football throwing
• Game playing
• 
  

...FUN! I'm so glad we were able to go. Then from there, we all piled in the Bateman family van to:

Reunion #2: The Ivie side: 5 Star Ranch, Spanish Fork Canyon
This was at a HUGE house/ranch way in the Spanish Fork Canyon. There was so much to do, including being with the two herds of horses in the pastures on either side of the estate, with all their cute horse babies! Our stay at the 5 Star Ranch was filled with...

• Horse feeding
• Horse watching
• Horse picture taking
• Horse petting
• Horse bonding
• Baby horse watching
• Horse wishing
• Horse calling
• Horse yearning
• ...ah
• Ping pong playing
• Rook playing
• Poker playing
• Pistol shooting
• Rifle shooting
• Shotgun shooting
• ATV riding
• Lake canoeing
• Horseshoe playing
• Campfire building
• Marshmallow roasting
• Food making
• Food eating
• Family talent show participating
• Picture taking
• Frisbee throwing
• Cell phone service lacking

...FUN! Needless to say, we didn't want to come home, or go to work the next day.