Oregon Visit

Summer is about half way over and we are over half way done with our time in Oregon. It has been a great and busy time seeing family and friends and enjoying our time in the United States. The school year finished July 1, but we gave ourselves until July 7 before leaving. Those extra days were crucial in the packing and preparing for the trip (especially with three kids and a pregnant mommy). Thank you to all our friends in Germany in helping us those last few days. Especially to Peter who helped us with some last minute gear and being willing to check in on our house while we are away. Also to Muyiwah who drove us to the train station at 5:15 in the morning.

The flight was long, but we were blessed to have a direct flight from Frankfurt to Portland. We were even able to check our bags at the special rail'n'fly desk between the train station and airport terminal. Our kids were awesome for the flight. Stuart was a little fussy and did throw-up once but what can you expect from a two year old who was just getting over a sickness. His fever actually broke on the flight. Stanley and Holly loved the little toys and activities we had planned for them and got along well for the most part (again what can you expect for a 10+ hour flight). We actually found out at the very end of the flight that they were not supposed to be sitting next to each other because you need an adult next to a child.

In Oregon we were greeting by Grandpa Steve, Grandma Sue, Nana (Cinda), and Pat Thurman. It was a great reception after a very long and tiring day (up at 4 am and then 21 hours of travel). Those first few days in Gresham were spent mostly with the Overby family, but Nana and Grandpa Ron also drove in from Bend to have dinner with us one evening. 

Arrived

 Happy to be in Oregon

Swimming with Grandma

Baking with Grandma

Water fight

We then left for the Oregon Coast (Cannon Beach) to celebrate Seth (Scott's youngest brother) and Beka's wedding. It was a Christ centered, God honoring, beautiful ceremony that we were blessed to be apart of. 

The Happy Couple Seth and Beka Overby

Our not so great family picture after a long and fun wedding day

The wedding party was a really fun group

Daddys and their babies

Holly as a beautiful flower girl

Stanley was a greeter

We drove back Sunday morning to be at Good Shepherd and attend a Global Outreach BBQ at the Thurman's. It was good to be back at our home (American) church and to enjoy a relaxing time with others with a heart for God's work around the world. 

On Monday we drove back to the Oregon Coast, this time to Lincoln city, for an Overby family reunion. We had all the cousins (7 total), all Overby siblings and spouses, Grandpa Steve and Grandma Sue, plus Grandpa Stan together for a week. It was a great time playing together, laughing together, and we had a meaningful time of prayer Thursday night. Seth and Beka actually only joined us Wednesday evening until Friday after driving all the way to Disneyland and back after their wedding. We were so thankful they made the effort to be back to spend time with us.

Girl Cousins

Boy Cousins

Baby cousins

Beautiful weather at the beach

Lots of laughter

Story time with Grandma

Boy's hike

Men of the family

Playing at the beach

Cousin Time

The Girls

Da Boys

Getting dirty at the beach

All the cousins

Playing with Uncle Seth

Beautiful sunsets

After our time at the beach we returned to Gresham for our time with friends. We enjoyed the Gresham Farmer's Market, joined several families for various BBQ's and gatherings, and kept very busy.

BBQ at Guisingers

BBQ with Cindi B.

Gresham Splash pad

BBQ with Knapps, Carys and Pietzolds

2 years ago and now

Tired kids

One of the highlights for the kids was getting to go to Vacation Bible School at Sandy Assembly of God. The theme was Mt. Kilimanjaro and the focus was learning to be wise from the Proverbs. Stanley and Holly absolutely loved the time with friends, activities, crafts, memory verses and so on. 

During our time we also had the chance to go through our stuff in storage. We often tell people that when we came to Germany we had 4 weeks to sell all our stuff and then go to Germany. We need to correct that. We had 4 weeks to sell a lot of our stuff, and then put a lot of stuff into storage. Wow, it is amazing how much is still there after all we got rid of a lot.

Stuart helping us go through stuff

Now we are getting read to head out to Bend to see Heather's side of the family. Hopefully we'll get more updates out soon. But in the meantime you can check out our summer photo album by following the link below

Overby Odyssey in Oregon Summer 2015 Photo Album

Summer and a big announcement

As the weather gets warmer, the days are longer, and time seems to speed up. We are gearing up for summer and have enjoyed the wonderful weather we've had the last few months. Here are some highlights plus a big announcement

Stanley celebrated his 7th birthday! We celebrated the day with extended family and enjoyed a BBQ and S'mores.

And I celebrated my 32nd birthday with a guys game night. Settlers of Catan.

We've picked up again a fun family activity, geocaching. We've spent several Saturday mornings out searching for little treasures via GPS.

In May we celebrated Heather's 32nd birthday

We also had time with friends celebrating "Men's Day" on May 14th.

Stanley had an overnight field trip with his first grade class.

We visited the Fairy Caves and got to dress up as Dwarfs.

Heather is currently part of a choir and had a solo at a recent concert.

And the kids enjoyed Family Fun Day at school and got their faces painted.

Finally, our big announcement. After losing baby Silas in October, we are excited to announce another addition to our family. That's right, Heather's pregnant! The expected arrival date is January 2016, and we are so excited for the adventures God has planned for us.