Trip to Portland for Turkey Day

Hayley and I got to go to Portland for Thanksgiving! We lucked out because Dani's mother in law had a companion pass on Delta that she was trying to give away. We both got up there on a direct flight from SLC, so that was great. We don't have Friday classes, and only were going to miss 1 class on Monday of Thanksgiving week, so we got up there early. On Friday, Hay and I had some exams to take. We finished those, and then I had a soccer game at 6:15. We won (I had one heck of a game!), and then we hit the road to the airport. We flew out at 9:20 and made it to Portland.

On Saturday, we hung out with the twin twins for most of the day. In the afternoon, we went with JJ, Jacob, and Claire to the Columbia River Gorge. It was beautiful! It was a bit rainy, but we had our raincoats and were ready to go. Jacob and Claire had their cameras and were sure to document each angle of the places we went. Unfortunately, I could not get their pictures to post here. I'll let you imagine. We visited several waterfalls, including Multnomah falls, Bridal Veil falls, and Latourell falls. Here are some pics:

Multnomah:

 From the bridge:

Latourell Falls:

 We found a nice log, so we kinda owned it:

Bridal Veil Falls:

For more on our trip to the Gorge, see JJ and Dani's blog HERE

Saturday night, JJ, Dani, Hay, and I went out for some dessert. We went to Salt and Straw-- Hipster Ice Cream in Portland. It was interesting-- they had some very unique flavors including Stuffing, Salty Caramel (super salty), Minced Meat, Pear and Caramelized Ginger Sorbet, Strawberry balsamic with Cracked Black Pepper. Some of them were delicious, some were so-so. Hay and I got Cinnamon Snickerdoodle and the Pear Sorbet. The waffle cones were a MUST- they were so good!

Sunday was a normal day, if you consider being on a church pew with twin twins normal. Church was fun, and they were sure to promote the Turkey Bowl. I had an interesting lesson in Priesthood on what I call 'Husbanding.' I like husbanding for now-- we'll wait a bit to learn 'Fathering.'

On Monday, we went to a sushi track with JJ for lunch. We then went back to his office for another installment of the Jensen Brothers' Pingpong Duel. I'm sad to report that JJ won 2-1. 

On Tuesday, Nana and Papa came! We liked having them with us. I was a touch 'gamed-out' by the older twins, so it was good that they had some new competition with Nana and Papa there. We went out to a DELICIOUS Peruvian restaurant. We had empanadas, scallops, seared tuna, salad, and other good dishes. YUM! Afterwards, we went to Papa Hyden's dessert restaurant. They have a 2 page menu! I got a hazelnut meringue cake and Hay got a 'baked alaska'-- ice creams, meringue, fudge, and cake. Here are some pics:

On Wednesday, we went out the the OMSI museum with the whole fam. It was really cool! We played around and found some cool things to keep us busy. One of the exhibits they had was the Grossology section. It taught us why we burp, fart, and sneeze, amongst other things. Turns out I am healthy for doing all of the above! It was good for me to validate my insecurities about those things. We had a good time, and the twin twins had a blast. See JJ and Dani's blog for more on their adventure there.

 On Thanksgiving day, JJ and I woke up early for a good Turkey Bowl game on a non-rainy day (the first since we'd been there!). JJ and I represented well-- we were on the same team. He had 2 interceptions and some nice defensive plays. I had a kickoff returned for a touchdown and 5 receiving touchdowns. Some of them were pretty legit catches in the endzone. It was a highlight reel day for both of us out there!

The food was absolutely delicious. I won't mention the turkey since we decided that was the least important part of the meal. We had yummy rolls, super sweet potatoes, regular mashed potatoes, pomegranate grape red salad, stuffing, and I'm sure I'm missing some things. It was delicious!! And the baby twins were asleep the whole time! They missed out!

Post-Thanksgiving, we all hung around and planned out Black Friday pick ups. The girls headed out to the outlets and had some good success. JJ and I went to Target for our first black friday experience. We waited in a relatively long line outside the store and then made it in, where I had to wait another hour or so to make my purchase-- an iPad for Hayley for Christmas (shh! Don't tell her!) ((She knows I got it-- we decided to buy it together)). It was fun being there for black friday.

On Friday, we made a trip to Costco and Target to finish up our black friday shopping, and then, after Claire lost her second tooth of the week, Hayley and I headed to the airport to end our trip. It was a blast and we had so much fun!

We loved hanging out with these babies and laughing at all the crazy things they do. Here are some of our favorite pics:

They were good little travelers:

 They loved getting into their old rockers. Liam was a good little texter from his posted-up position.

Hay liked dressing Kate up in this hat. Got to get ready for Hilton Head!