Spring Break 2010- Heading to Newport Bay

I thought it would be great to get the family away from the house for spring break this year to spend some alone time as a family. Of course after thinking of all the places we could go I decided that I needed to go see the ocean. I found a beach house online and booked it. So on Tuesday, March 23, we packed up the suburban and headed towards the Oregon Coast. It was whale watching week and I was determined to see a whale- and find a glass blown float on the beach!

First stop was in Lincoln City for some lunch. Kevin told us that Mo's was the place to go, but when we drove up saw a very long line- so we backtracked to a place we had passed that looked like it had a great view of the beach. We ate at Kyllo's Seafood & Grill. It did have a great view of the beach- our table was kidney bean shaped with us all facing the window. 4 of us enjoyed clam chowder in a bread bowl and salad (I forgot what the other 2 had). It was Yummy!

After lunch we headed down the coast and stopped at Cape Foulweather.And saw Devil's punchbowl.Enjoyed the scenic view of Gull RockThe girls enjoy the view- Kevin enjoys Gameboy.Brian snaps some pretty shots.Looking for Whales.Only finding seals!Next stop Agate Beach and our home for the next 3 nights. A look at the front room from the loft.A view of the beach from our beach house.

Melissa and Her Violin

Melissa has been very busy on her violin this spring. She plays with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony (MYS) Interlude Orchestra. They practice every Saturday from 10-12 in Portland. On March 12 at 7:30pm they played a concert in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall downtown Portland . Here you see the advertising around town:

Here it is at the hall in lights!Here she is on stage. Her group played three songs: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major by Franz Schubert, Amedeus! (from Symphony No. 25) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Spirit of Freedom by Tracey R. Rush.They sounded wonderful! Brian, Rachel, & I enjoyed it from our balcony seats. (Kevin and Jessica were at winter percussion practice.)Melissa also spent many hours after school practicing with the Pit Orchestra for Westview High School's production of Guys & Dolls. They had performances on two weekends: March 4,5,& 6; and March 11, 12, & 13. She said it was strange being under the stage. She never did get to actually see the show- but knew most of the lines! Here she is in the pit- the stage floor was painted purple.Here is what it looked like above for the grand finale:It is tradition for the orchestra to dress up for the final Friday performance and to come on stage to take a bow. Unfortunately that was the night of Melissa's MYS concert so she missed it. Here she is after her last performance on the 13th:

Great job Melissa! We are so proud of all your hard work!!

RS Makes me HAPPY!

I was asked to make a cake for our RS Birthday Party on March 11 that was decorated to show what Relief Society means to me.

Those that brought a cake got to stand up front at the party and explain it.

(I wish that I had brushed my hair before I got there - it had been a very busy rainy day!)

This was what I said: "Relief Society makes me HAPPY! I feel loved by my RS Sisters- I'd go BANANAS with out them!" If I do say so myself- it was a very yummy Banana Cake!!!! I got the recipe from my friend Becky G. I think what also made it so moist and delectable (as Kevin would say) was the technique learned from another rs sister: after taking it out of the oven, let it cool for 10 minutes then cover and put it in the freezer. YUM! If you want a copy of the recipe let me know, I'd be happy to email it to you.