At the Beach.....!! September 1 - 7

 Retired Life. Sunday.

The congregation we attended today did not start services until about 11, so we risked it and didn't set an alarm. But, after we did wake up, we still looked at the below Jesus Picture so we were reminded why church makes us happy.

First thing this morning, our phones went nuts with a ton of texts. A Franchino group text. Further investigation found that a new granddaughter was born last night! Congratulations to Hanna's oldest daughter and her husband, who live in Ohio. Happy times!

Busy day. We attended Manito Ward to be part of the blessing of our new grandson, August, born to Luigi and Brooklyn in June. In our faith, children are not baptized until they are at an accountable age and can decide for themselves to be baptized. But shortly after birth, they are given a blessing which usually includes being blessed with health, strength, faith, and all that good stuff. Tons of family came out for the blessing.

Following that, a potluck lunch was hosted by Brooklyn's folks which included some obvious snuggling time with grandkids. And even a granddaughter who wanted to snuggle with her new little cousin.

Next, we rushed back to our church building to be part of the setting apart of our nephew, who this week starts his two years of service as a full-time missionary. He starts training at home, then to the Training Center in Provo for six weeks, then will serve in Brazil. He will provide service and do what he can to bring people closer to Christ, all on his own dime. A setting apart is also a blessing given to him. He was blessed with an ability to speak Portuguese, health, protection, lots of stuff. He will do great.

Then we rushed home for a kind of get together with my side of the family. We have a fantasy football league that involves me, my brothers, a lot of the nephews/sons, some of the wives, and at this point, even one teenage grandson (who won it all last year) spread out all over Washington, Idaho and Utah. This evening was our on-line draft party. There may or may not be a lot of trash talk in this league. But, regardless, a family that footballs together stays together, right?

Last picture below, Frivvy, enjoying being let out of his kennel after spending a long day in there. "The chances of a Golden Retriever killing you are very rare, but they are never zero...." Just look at that look!

Retired Life. Monday.

Today we drove to Portland. It was weird. Everyone else was driving home from the holiday weekend. But we drove away from home. Doesn't matter. We're Retired.

And we've learned over the years that the best time to go to the beach is right after Labor Day. Everyone is done with their vacations and the beach is empty. But the weather is still good.

Checked into Airbnb, got dinner, and that was our day.

Meanwhile, the elk family returned to the Highlands.

Retired Life. Tuesday.

We committed to worshipping in the temple weekly this year. And because of that, the alarm went off way too early this morning so we could worship in the Portland Temple and make it back to our AirBnB in time to checkout before the deadline. We love the Portland Temple and have had incredible spiritual experiences there. We usually end up worshipping there once a year and usually on our way to or from the beach.

Next, we went Geocaching. We found a cache hidden in February of 2004 on a highway overpass and one that required a half-mile hike in the back woods of Oregon hidden in February 2008. Hanna needed both of those to complete her Jasmer Challenge, which she did! She now can say she has found a cache that was hidden in every month since caching was invented.

Then the drive to the beach. We stopped and picked up our on-line grocery order at the Safeway in Tillamook because who wants to spend vacation time roaming around a grocery store? (We placed the order from home last week...we may be retired, but we still anally plan our lives like CPAs...)

Once at the beach, we did have time to play in the water a bit, watch Frivvy run some zoomies and get real excited about the waves, watched the sunset, then did some reading.

This is where and when we usually did our tax law updates. No updates this trip. Gonna be wonderful!

Retired Life. Wednesday. I think it's Wednesday. Hmmm. It really doesn't matter. I will not be going to work today.

We are in a Vacation Home on the beach. We pretty much just hung out on the beach all day. Except we left to find dinner. Fish and Chips and chowder for me. Shrimp Tacos for Hanna.

Retired Life. Thursday.

We went out to breakfast at Grumpy's. Gin Rummy and Omelettes. And then hung out on the beach. Took some walks. Played in the water. Naps. A bit of football and shows after sunset. Frivvy loves this place and parks himself on the back deck where he can watch for other dogs very closely. Fun times.

And critters at the Highland's.

Retired Life. Friday.

Travel Day. Kind of. We packed up, cleaned up, and checked out of the Vacation Beach Home. And then, because we are retired and can take our time, we went for a long walk on the beach. In the dense fog. This resulted in Frivvy needing a towel bath before he was allowed in the truck.

We made it as far as The Dalles where we checked into a motel. It was really hot out, so we spent the evening running the AC on high, snuggled on the bed, watching the BYU game.

Also, you can see the Papa Elk made an appearance last night.

Retired Life. Saturday.

Early in the morning, before it got too hot out, Frivvy and I went for our walk while Hanna got her cancer fatigue sleep. We found a park overlooking the river and The Dalles to walk in. (He hates selfies...)

We played Gin Rummy and had breakfast next to a vintage John Deere Tractor. Yummy and fun.

And it was GAME DAY so I made it a point to wear my lucky ISU Bengal socks. It worked. They won!

Made it home. Unpacked. Now we rest.