Baby Blessing & the Beach

Sunday was a busy day for us. We got up early and drove to the airport to pick up my Aunt Kathleen who flew in from Salt Lake. Then, we went straight from there to Beaverton for my cousin's baby's blessing. Eleanor decided not to nap in the car on the way to or from the airport, so she was quite tired by the time we were in church. We tried to drop her off at their nursery, but as soon as she realized we were gone, she started crying. We could hear her down the hall, yelling, "Go go, Mommy!" (That's how she says, "hold you, Mommy," when she wants me to hold her.) So Grant ended up taking her for a drive, and she got a little nap.Cameron, Matthew, Becky and baby Megan.

I had not seen my cousin, Cameron, for probably over ten years! It was so good to see him and meet his family and spend time catching up. We went to their house after church for dinner. Eleanor took some time to warm up, but after that, she had a lot of fun running around with Matthew.

This is my Aunt Bonnie, Uncle John (Cameron's dad), and Aunt Kathleen.

Uncle John took our picture. It's not too often that we have pictures of all of us together.

Matthew serenading Eleanor with his toy guitar.

After that, we took a long drive out to the coast on the rainy, dark roads. It was a surprise to Aunt Kathleen. She thought she would be spending a night on our couch before she left Monday afternoon. When we found out she was coming, I kept saying it was a shame she wasn't staying longer because we could have taken her to the beach. Grant and I decided we didn't care if it was a short trip, we would take her to the beach anyway, and we decided to make it a surprise for her. So, when we finally arrived at the beach house and Aunt Kathleen opened her eyes after dozing in the car, she realized she wasn't at our house. Eleanor knew just where we were. I walked her and Aunt Kathleen over past the side of the house where you can see down to the beach, and even in the dark, Eleanor was shouting, "ocean!" with glee.

Aunt Kathleen loved the surprise. She was so excited to be on the beach! I was glad she enjoyed it. The weather was wonderful. The forecast said it would be cold and rainy, but it wasn't too cold, and we even had some sunshine for part of the time.

Eleanor saw her daddy digging with his foot, going after a sand crab, so she had to give it a try.

Washing hands.
Aunt Kathleen with her findings: sea shells and seaweed.

Aunt Kathleen wanted a picture of the beach house so she could show it to people back home.
Then she took a picture of us.