July's End

July was a busy, busy, busy month for the Tolivers. Every weekend we seemed to be out of town visiting family. First it was California, then Tillamook and Yakima. Don't get me wrong, we love to visit family and get out of the house to do things, but we also love just being home. So far August is off to a peaceful start. Although we are planning a trip to the zoo next week and a trip to Tillamook towards the end of the month.

We had so much fun in Tillamook visiting my Mom, Dad and oldest niece, Bethany. Hobbes had a lot of fun playing with Bethany and Misty, the dog. Mom and Bethany took us on a train ride up the coast. It was so much fun. Here is Hobbes waiting for the train:

The train went from Garibaldi to Rockaway Beach. When we got to Rockaway we briefly went to the beach (I'm embarrassed to say that this was Hobbes' first time to the beach. I know, I know...we were in Southern California and we didn't visit the beach? I blame it on the family sickness that was going around). We also visited a few candy shops and bought some munchies for the ride back to Garibaldi. There was saltwater taffy, fudge and popcorn. Hobbes liked the popcorn the best. He couldn't get enough of it.

We also went golfing in Tillamook. It was windy and cold. Hobbes liked to chase after the golf balls and dig them out of the holes when we were finished with the hole. Since the weather had been so hot before the trip, I forgot to pack Hobbes a jacket. So I had to wrap him up in my jacket. I think he looked like a Jawa from Star Wars as he hobbled around the course.

After visiting Tillamook it was off to Yakima to visit Brendan's Dad, Shayne. I was there to be trained to start doing some medical billing for his family practice. So the trip was mostly work for Mom while Dad got to hang out with Hobbes all day. On the way to Yakima we did make a little detour to visit Stonehenge! Not the one in England, but the one in Maryhill, Washington. It is just across the Oregon border on the way to Yakima. It was built by the famous Sam Hill. Hobbes thought it was pretty cool. There were lots of places to run and hide.

Since we've returned from our travels we've enjoyed sleeping in our own home, but we really miss the fun, games and conversations with family. I've started working from home doing medical billing, Brendan was called as the first counselor and teacher in the Young Men's Presidency, and Hobbes has been working on his phone etiquette. He LOVES to talk on the phone. As some of you have experienced, he doesn't usually say much when he is talking with a live person. He usually just laughs, says "hi" and pushes buttons. But when there is no one on the other line or when he is pretending a toy or other object is a phone he is quite the chatter box. His one-sided conversation usually goes something like this: "HI (said really loudly with much enthusiasm), ohhhh, ahhhh, ha, da, da, ba, ba, da, da, ohh, ahh, ha, ha, ha, bye, bye!"

We are anxious to see what fun and adventures August holds for us.