The Hills are Alive

I loved how the mountains looked this morning. The nice thing about it being Spring Break is that Jason doesn't have to be at work so early since the library doesn't open until 9:00. So he is able to come with me to drop Kayla off at the sitter's in the morning. It's nice to have the company...and now I can take pictures like this while he drives! Granted, it's not the best picture, but along this road you don't get many breaks in buildings to take shots of the hills.

Brilliance

When we woke up this morning the sun was shining brightly on the top of Mt. Emily. This was the view from Jason's parents' front step. The camera of course doesn't capture the sheer WHITE sparkle of those trees along the top ridge of the mountain, but it was so beautiful it truly did take my breath away.

Homeward Bound

These are my favourite mountains on the way to my parents' house. They are the Elkhorn Mountains, just west of Baker, Ore. We got to see them today on our way home from spending Thanksgiving with my family in Boise. Beautiful!

Lazy Day

Today we did nothing but be lazy. We slept in since we were up late for fireworks last night, and then we hung out in our PJs for a couple of hours. Finally, we washed and dressed ourselves, but went right back to being lazy - we read, played computer games, napped, ate some lunch, read some more, and ended the day with dinner and a movie. It was a stupid movie that just happened to be on TV - "Cruel Intentions" with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Reese Witherspoon. Basically, it's a teenage/high school sex movie. And it has a stupid ending. If you get the chance to watch this movie, pick something else.

There was also a storm today in La Grande. The wind came up (I heard 70 mph gusts) and it rained, though not terribly hard. There was plenty of lightning and thunder, though, which was awesome. Above is a photo of the sky after the biggest part of the storm had passed. Here is a shot Jason took of the sky as we were driving home this evening:

Independence Day

Today we went to church and then quickly changed, grabbed an ice chest or two full of food, and began the 1 1/2 hour drive to Enterprise, Oregon. There we had a delicious BBQ lunch at - pay attention now - Jason's sister's mother-in-law's house. For those of you who know names, that would be Rolie's mom. She lives in a beautiful little house out in the forest about five minutes from Wallowa Lake. It was nice and cool, and it was a quiet, beautiful little spot for a picnic 4th of July lunch. (Even if we did have to make a run for it indoors shortly after starting our burgers because the rain came pouring out of the sky as if someone were dumping buckets!) Here's a picture of the backyard where we started our corn and burger/hot dog BBQ:

After lunch we all kind of lounged around and relaxed...and then around 6 we headed up to the lake to reserve spots for the fireworks show. The scenery in the Wallowa Lake area is some of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Here's some of what we saw just on the 5-minute drive to the lake from Rolie's mom's house.

Since we got there and settled in around 6:30, we had quite a time to wait before the show started. (It didn't begin until 10 p.m.) So I enjoyed watching the scenery, people-watching (quite entertaining), and shooting some photos. The people next to us had the most adorable little puppy. Somehow I managed to catch him looking at me after he'd climbed up into one of their chairs.
Of course, before the real fireworks started, everyone had to shoot off their personal ones. Jason, his mom and I ended up moving to higher ground, because we were choking on fireworks smoke as well as cigarette smoke, and it was super loud. Before it got too bad, though, I snapped a shot I really like (except it's a bit blurry) of some kids enjoying their fireworks.

And here is one of my favourites, taken shortly before the show began (you might want to click on it and view it full-size):

The fireworks show was supposed to be "unique" - something never before done in North America. I'm not sure what was so fabulous about it - it was a good fireworks show, but there was nothing phenomenal about it. The show was about 20 minutes long and was quite beautiful. Here's my attempt at capturing some of it:

An Early Weekend

This morning Jason and I left work early to head to La Grande, Ore. in time for a wedding rehearsal. On Sunday our friends Tyler and Sophie will exchange vows and swear to love and cherish each other for the rest of their lives. Here are all the groomsmen at the tux rental shop in their groomsmen t-shirts after fitting their tuxes this afternoon. From left: Jason, Tyler, Alex (best man), Lance. They look pretty good in those shirts.

After the tux fitting we went to the rehearsal which was at a winery in Cove, Ore. It was a gorgeous place nestled up on the side of a hill with a fabulous breeze blowing and a fantastic view of the Grande Ronde Valley. I hope to get more pictures on Sunday, when we're there for the wedding.

The rehearsal dinner was at Wallowa Lake near Joseph and Enterprise, Ore. It was a picnic at Wallowa Lake State Park, and boy was it COLD! The wind picked up and blew across the lake, which chilled it significantly. Most of us were in t-shirts and some in shorts because it had been in the 90s all week. It was a delicious dinner, and quite a fun time, as well. Here's a view of the lake on the north end (the picnic was at the other end).

I love this area. It's one of the most beautiful parts of the state, I think...and imagine it being on the EAST side of Oregon!

Home for a Surprise

Today Ruth, Jason and I drove to Boise to surprise Mom for Mother's Day. It was going to be a surprise for his mom, too, but she invited us here after we'd already planned to come, so there was no surprise there. This is a beautiful time of year for the drive between WW and Boise. It's about the only time of year the entire drive isn't ugly and brown. These are the Elkhorn Mountains around Baker, Oregon. The view was FANTASTIC on the drive, and I couldn't stop taking pictures. This area is almost always photogenic. At any rate, we really did surprise my mom...and we'll have Mother's Day pictures this weekend, for sure!