Last Minute trip are the BEsT!!

So Ken decided last minute to go to a Monsoon Conference (the inventory system they use at CBR), and since he had the 4th off we decided to hit Oak Harbor before the conference started in Portland.  So with a days notice we packed the bags and left on the 3rd.  Spent the 4th in Oak Harbor with the usual Temp. of 60 degrees and a chilly breeze off the ocean watching fireworks in our coats and with blankets.  Love LOVE love spending time in Washington!  I am pretty sure that if I was involved at all in the creation, the Northwest is where I helped!  On the way out of town we went and checked out the development that Ken headed up in the years 2001-2005.  Checked out our homes and things looked pretty good!  Trees and bushes grew and the people that had lived there when we did were long gone.  (Military has a way with lots of changes!) 

Deception Bridge...gateway to Whidbey Island

Crossing the Bridge...

The Hood

Our 4th and final home on the Island

Oh how we miss it!  Had a chance to do some catching up with a dear, dear friend and her family.  So happy to have been able to see her!  Still have yet to convince her to leave paradise for the next best place on earth :). 

Tyler, Linda, Alex and Jared  (Erik working and baby Elizabeth sleeping)

Friends 4-ever

I missed another dear friend by a couple of days.  She was taking her son to Naval Academy clear across the country on a road trip.  How blessed I consider myself to know such valiant servicemen that keep freedom for all those I know and love.  Gary and Tammy and their family is in the Navy and have lived the Military life their whole marriage and have now passed on that desire to their oldest son.  Such a hard life and a huge sacrifice for all of us who don't realize the work that goes into this great country.  We will get together SOON though :)  We ran into one of the boys friend at Applebees on the island.  Funny how things happen.  We were just talking about him and wondering if they were still in the same place and low and behold we walk into Applebees and there he is!  It was a fun surprise.  The only reason we ended up at Applebees is because the best terriyaki place in the world WAS found in Oak Harbor.  One of the reasons Oak Harbor was an important stop haha.  The Martins were very very disappointed!  Well our time on the Island was short-lived.  We did catch  a moment on Ala-Spit beach were the kids found crabs, clams and star fish and we decided if we ever hit the lotto, a summer home on the beach on Whidbey Island was the place we would love to be.
We then found ourselves on the Port Townsend  Ferry heading down to Oregon.  Love the Ferry and the ocean!

Beautiful view of Mt. Baker

The tide was going out

So our trip was quite eventful and filled with lots of stuff!  We found a skate park for Jaden and when we were in Portland the kids and I took a trip and found the zoo!  (We were just lost for about an hour :)).  We stayed right in the city and did a little shopping and found the farmers market where the kids put together vegetable cars and raced them.  We ate at Joes Crab shack along the Columbia and just enjoyed the time we had exploring a big city.  Ke'Nia loved it but Ridge was not as excited.  Coming home was made a bit easier because I have a friend from Washington coming to spend time here!  If it weren't for that I would be really sad!  Will be posting about her time here soon :)

Finnegans..The BEST toy store ever!

Farmers Market

Our pad for 3 nights...10th floor

A great Zoo after we finally found it :)

The Washington side of the Columbia

Eat at Joes Crabshack

Tired little Martin kids...

J is for July 4th Bike Parade and making Jam

I didn't get the kids at the start of the parade :(  It was cute and fun and the kids love it!  Ridge thought his letter J would best be spent going with Jaden and his friends to get July 4th fireworks haha....  So Ke'Nia was the only child of the Martins that participated.

Letters from the field July 11

hey ma! thats awesome your trip went so good! i forgot to ask last week who donated to my mission fund? everythings fine down here thismorning we were building a shack for a lady out of bamboo and wire its pretty sweet ill send you a pic when we finish it. today is changes day and at 11 ill find out where im going. so im pretty much pro at making tortillas now. we have another baptism date for the 16th of this month, a little muchacho named luigi. the whether here is starting to cool down and it rains a ton kinda like a mist. and its super muddy. that sucks that terriaki place is gone. at least you got to eat applebeez i have to eat freakin cow stomach its sick! but in that package can you send my ipod please my little touch one i got for christmas and the cord, headphones and the charger. and tell jade to load it up with some enya. and to leave everything else on it, cause i have spanish stuff on it that i need. thanks, but make sure you send it with that lady cause if you send it in the mail to peru itll get robbed. hows everyone doing down there and when does carson get shipped off to prison?
chases letter is crazy thats awesome, we gave a priesthood blessing to 2 members last night who were pretty sick, less than 10 minutes later they were perfectly fine it was awesome! we,ve witnessed this miracle tons of times too. everyone thought it was going to be the end of the world here too it was pretty funny. ill spare ya on all the crazy stuff that happens here on a daily basis till when i get home haha. love you talk to ya in a week.-kode

Letters from the field July 4th

hope you guys are having fun on your road trip. thanks for the email. tell carson before he takes off that right now i wish i had a jump rope, a USB, a wrist rocket, a pocket knife, my ipod and all the church videos. let me know how his farewell goes im excited for him. and tell him to give you my guitar back. we had a ward family night this week and i did that lesson where i bought everyone a candybar and made a kid do 7 pushups for everyone for their candy. (the significance of Christs atonement for everyone of us individually) but the problem was that eeryone wanted their candy and didnt care if the poor kid had to muscle 7 more pushups hahaha it was funny so that activity kinda backfired on me. and it kinda tells ya what the people are like here, it was humorus. all the rest of our adventures are tagged with the pics. so hopefully they go thru to you. you should save all my email too if ya can cause im a little bit of a slacker writing in my journal. tell everyone i said hey and have fun on your trip. love you tons.-kode. and im 1/5 of the way done with my mission. times flying huh