Spring Break 2009

We the Fullmers set out on a grand adventure last week as we began our Spring Break vacation. We made the decision to go to Portland Oregon so that we could go and visit Bill's younger brother Thomas and his family. They have documented part of our adventures here on their blog. We set out from Utah way too late at night! We didn't hit the road until about 8pm, we had orginally made plans to stay in Ontario Oregon the first night and yet sadly we were too tired to make it that far and so we contented ourselves with staying in Boise, Idaho. We were so exhausted that we slept in the next morning and had a leisurely morning swimming in the Motel's pool. Liam acquired some new swimming goggles that cover his nose much like diving goggles would. He kept getting his nose stuck in a pig like position and Bill and I couldn't help but laugh at the funny face he kept pulling!

We arrived in Oregon on Saturday evening at about 9:30 pm we awoke the next morning groggy and tired. I was really sick with a fever and the flu and was out of sorts. We went for an amazing drive along the Oregon Coast to Cannon Beach. For those of you who are familiar with the movie, "Goonies" this is where it was filmed in addition to Astoria. This was a huge highlight for Bill and I since we are children of the 80's it was super amazing! The weather was kinda crazy since it started out sunny, snowed, hailed, rained, and then turned sunny again. Very strange and tempermental weather! But it made for amazing and memorable photos.

This is my most favorite picture of us during our trip since its all three of us together enjoying a peaceful moment in my favorite place on Earth, the Ocean. My name Moana actually means the Ocean and my Maori ancestry hails from the North Shores of New Zealand. For me this was a special time to reflect upon my heritage and share with Liam in his first beach and Ocean experience. I was in awe with how huge the Ocean appeared and how the horizon seemed to go on forever. It was super gorgeous and I am grateful to Tom and Rosie for taking us here, it was amazing!
I loved that Bill and Thomas were holding their cutie boys on thier shoulders, these two brothers are very close and have been best friends to one another. I am grateful for the relationship that they share with one another. I also love Thomas and feel like he is my younger brother as well, especially since I have had the honor of watching him grown up into such an amazing man. I am so happy that he married such an amazing woman that we love so much and that they are building such a wonderful family. We love you guys so much!

The Columbia River is humongonous!!! We were astounded by its size and were way excited to cross it in Astoria on this super long and amazing bridge. We also noticed in watching "Goonies" recently, that you can see the bridge in the back ground. The length is astounding! I am totally freaked out by heights and yet it was such a memorable experience to cross the Columbia River, glad I could contain my jitters and fears and do it anyways, it was amazing!

Rosie was so sweet to take us on an adventure around Portland, Bill really wanted to catch the Japanese Gardens and Rosie took us there. Sadly the kids were exhausted and had fallen asleep by this point. Rosie graciously stayed with the sleeping kiddos in the car so that Bill and I could go and explore this truly amazing garden. The weather was crazy with hail, rain, sleet, snow, and sunshine, but the gardens were truly awe inspiring. It was so quite, reverent, and peaceful. We were impressed and inspired by the rock gardens, the small details, and sheer beauty! It was truly special, we loved that the trees had collected water droplets that the sun caught it in such a way that made the trees look as if they were budding in tiny droplets of shimmering light. It was breath taking! We can hardly wait to visit again so that we can check out this amazing garden again!
As we left Portland we stopped off to check out the Multnomah Falls, WOW WOW WOW!!! One of the things we loved most about Oregon was all of the Water Falls. We are glad that we stopped off to see the Multnomah Falls, Liam was not to happy with us since he was not ready for a Pit Stop yet and was really into watching a DVD and yet we trudged on depsite it. It was truly worth having one grumpy kid over! We had an amazing time and are so glad for the time spent with loved ones near and far. We look forward to our next adventure and hope it wont be to long until we get to fly the coop and go on another excursion! Sadly it went to fast and we are depressed that school and work begin in earnest tomorrow! Heres looking forward to Summer Break, the count down has already begun!