The Oregon Trip and NO SHOW CRABS

Laura and Kyle at the hotel and the beautiful wild flowers

I'll add to Kyle's and Kelli's blogs, (although Kyles is on his own blog) so look there for his adventures in Oregon. We had a great time (although the wind was quite cold), especially in the evening. Usually we go in August because the weather is a little bit better but this was the best weekend for all of us. Kyle and Laura flew in to Seattle, Luke drove the other car down to the airport and they followed us to Portland where we spent the night.









We then got up in the morning and left for Nahalem State Park. Kaci and her two friends (Aaron and Daphne) drove down on their own that morning. Kelli and her family drove up from vacationing down in Newport Beach. It was really funny because that morning we all were in different areas, us coming from the East, Kelli and her family coming from the South and Kaci and friends coming from the North. As we came upon the 101 highway, who should be in front of us, Kaci and her friends. Kelli calls and she's within minutes of the park and Van was a few minutes behind us. It was really weird that we should all come at the same time from different directions. It was GREAT!!!!!

Even though the weather was kind of cold, we had such a great time spending time with our family. All that sitting around the camp fire and the great food that we had, everyone chipping in helping with dinners and lunches and everything took a load off of me. My favorite part was just sitting around the fire and talking and laughing and enjoying everyone. It always brings us back to how much our family means to us. It is our whole purpose, to be with our family and enjoy the time we have with them. THIS has to be one of those Kodak moments, or Church commercials. It helps you come back to reality, that this is what life is all about. Even though we caught tons of crabs but NO keepers. Sorry Laura, we were going to show you how yummy those little guys are when they come fresh out of the ocean. Hopefully next year!!!
The only part about this trip we missed the Lucoff's which we and wished they could of come. It would've made our trip complete. Hopefully next year they will be able to join us!!!! Van really missed them.

Dezember Family Summer of Fun!

So I wanted to update you all with all the fun we have been having this summer and share some new pictures:

Here is Cooper drinking his Route 64 oz Lemon-Berry slushy (with Lime) from Sonic on our way to Newport, OR. He loves to drink...must get that from his dad....

We had a great time on the 4th of July watching the fireworks off of the Pier down at the historic Marina. We ate at least 2 pounds of Salt Water Taffy

And had a great time! The next day we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. The underwater tubes were the coolest part.

Watch out for those Sharks girls!

And for those Giant Japanese Crabs! Creepy!

We also saw giant bronze sea turtles, sea lions, and three cute kids!

Then it was off to Nehalem bay to go crabbing with Grandma and Grandpa and the Henricksen's and all the rest of the family...even Kyle and Laura came all the way up from Provo! Good Times! Here we are at Tillamook Cheese factory:

When we got home we performed in our Ward Luau. We have been learning hula for almost 2 years now so it was fun to show off our stuff. The girls perfomed 3 numbers and Mom even shook her stuff for the whole ward to see.

Everyone was really impressed and said they felt like they were at the Polynesian Center in Hawaii

And then we Closed on our First Home in July!!! Finally! It was a long journey but totally worth it in the end. We purchased the home that we are currently living in from the Previous owner who gave us a great deal because he didn't want to have to deal with putting a house on the market right now. It worked out well for both of us. He didn't have to put the house on the market and we didn't have to move our stuff!

The kids are hanging in there but ready to start school again. Kendall got a letter from the President:

Brinley Built the tallest block tower EVER!

And Cooper got a buzz cut!

Hope you're all having a great summer too!

Love the Dezember's

Lukes BIG Graduation Day!!

LUKE'S BIG GRADUATION DAY!!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS LUKE, WE LOVE YOU!

JUNE 14, 2008

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today was the day! Kaci, Dad and I drove up to Bellingham, WA, about an hour and a bit to see Luke Graduate. It was a great graduation, great talks, great company, and a beautiful sunny day. (bleachers were a little hard, and reading the names took over an hour, but we survived it)

Howard Lincoln, the CEO and chairman of the Mariners, and long time Vice President and later chairman of Nintendo (I think he said 20 years) was the main speaker, that was great for Luke! He even got to shake his hand. We were so PROUD of him, we were bustin buttons. He looked so good in those lovely graduation gown and cap, we took lots of pics.

After that we went for lunch at a Thai resturant that we got to sit on the floor with our feet down underneath. We had a great lunch and then went over to the local Co-op store where Luke bought dad a bunch of goodies for Fathers Day!!!

We went to the local favorite ice cream shop and bought some yummy ice cream before we headed back home. Next week is the big MOVE back from the long years of college. We had a great time today spending it with Luke and are looking forward to his new adventures!!!

Here are some pictures of the big DAY! Sorry this picture is blury, the bleachers were swaying on us, a little scary.

We packed up some of Lukes things so next weekend we won't have to pack as much.

YEAH! He's done! Now it's time to look for a Job in the real world. Good Luck!

You'll have a great time on your vacation to China, you deserve it!!

The Christmas Gift Adventure

Well, Thanks to all of you kids, we had a great time on the dog sled run. We so much enjoyed the weekend get away with the hotel and the dog sled ride. We left Friday night March 7, and got to Leavenworth around 8:00pm. We bought a new camera just for this event, we wanted to get great pictures and also a video of it.

Saying good-bye to Crazy, the lead dog.The day was beautiful!!!!!!!!! It was in the high 40's and so warm that we didn't have to wear gloves or hats, although dad wore his baseball hat. We got to the place and went out back to a beautiful field of snow, with 28 Alaskan Huskies barking like crazy, wanting to be hooked up to the sled that was out and waiting to take off. We went all over the mountain . The amazing thing about these dogs was that when I was on the sled for about 15 minutes, the musher lost his hat and we kept going. Then on the way back the dogs took off the trail, which was unusual , and the musher, said "what are you doing!!!!!? They pulled up next to his hat and stopped so he could pick it up. WOW!!! Smart dogs , the musher leaned over and said "wow, I forgot I lost it". Shows who really is in charge.

Louis and Perry were great guides and gave us tons of information. Nine of the 12 dogs that pulled us were in the big race in Alaska and finished all 1100 miles. WOW!Thanks again for all the fun!!! We really appreciate your kindness and great IDEA!

It was a beautiful ride and lots of fun, thank you for your gift of Adventure. It was the best gift ever!!!! After the ride we went into Leavenworth and spent the day together. It was really relaxing and we really enjoyed the break away. Sunday we got up and took a ride over to Lake Chelan and drove home. It was a great WEEKEND!!!!!! THANK YOU, WE LOVE YOU