Our summer vacation

Lately I've been slacking off for no good reason really other than I've been enjoying my summer. But I don't want to fall too far behind in my little blog.
We spent 3 days in Walla Walla with Shane's brother and his family and like always we had a blast. They have a little boy Dacian's age so my son was so excited to be there. We went to a water park, played on their slip and slide right in their front yard and went to a show of Footloose where their daughter played in. It was so much fun and I enjoyed being in an outdoor theater on a hot summer evening. Thankfully there were no mosquitoes.

From there we went to McCall, ID where Shane found a really cool, affordable cabin in the mountains of this resort which is I guess out of business now. It was just the right thing for us to do. We only stayed three nights though. We explored the area which is perfect for those who have boats but we had fun of many of their sandy beaches just swimming around. It was a relaxing vacation for once. We decided that with little kids we needed to gear our vacation more for a spot that is family oriented and not go on a big tour like last summer.  Who wouldn't have fun in a pretty place, with lots of little hikes, swimming, great food and my favorite almost, the jacuzzi. I was so excited to go in it really late when the kids were sleeping. There were not many people there and so not too many lights on and that way we were able to see that perfectly painted starry sky. I loved it! We saw lots of shooting stars and the Milky Way.


View of Payette Lake from downtown McCall. 

Dacian and Lavinia on a nearby beach. The water was really warm much to our pleasure. 

We called this car Mater. This place was fantastic and I think next time we come here we want to stay here.

There's a hot spring right there that is remote more or less and they have cabins for cheap that I guess are pretty nice ( no electricity though) and also the whole place is also a ghost town. Pretty amazing. 

There are these really old shacks dating from the 1800s and of course no one still lives in them. There is also another ghost gold mining town nearby that we didn't get to see but next time I am sure we'll head down there as well.

On the way back we stopped in these fields of wheat. Dacian made that pose and I was so confused as to why he was sitting like that: "Mom, I'm a scarecrow, can't you see?" Oh, silly me, but of course.  I immediately got my camera out and took a picture.                  

This was an quite interesting Bed and Breakfast. I saw it out the window when we were driving and just had to stop. You don't see this type of stuff every day. There was another little house/workshop in the vicinity where this old man was carving dogs of all breeds out of wood. They were really cute and the man was so nice and kind. I love it when I meet sweet people who are open and friendly to strangers.

So I guess this more or less sums up our little vacation. We had other fun and will still have fun for the next three weeks of vacations that I have left. Look out for more posts to follow.
I hope you all had a great summer as well.

Another graduate or two or three...

Well, I have a few new graduates in my life. Numero UNO: DAD
My amazing dad went to school for a year to get a certification as an auto mechanic technician since without knowing English really well it would be hard to find a job in his real profession, Engineering. He did amazingly well (even got a scholarship his second term for really good grades) and in the process he learned English better, he pushed himself, was patient and diligently stayed up in the wee hours of the night studying, looking up words in the dictionary all at the ripe age of 62. Simply amazing. I am so, so proud of him. Now we are praying hard that he finds a job where he could put to the test all the new things he learned. He's a super handy guy and very strong and healthy. I love him with all my heart and wish him the best.
Here he is and here is my aunt who was here helping me with the kids while dad went to school. So grateful for her and my family.

Of course we had to celebrate Romanian style. We had a BBQ and end with delicious cakes made by my mom. We celebrated dad's graduation, Doina's birthday and her farewell and father's day. It was such a fun day!

Michael, Shane's step dad was able to join us and a cute couple who are our neighbors and who are expecting their first child.

Our next grad is Scott, my brother in law. We are so proud of him as well. He got his MBA at Western University. I can't believe 2 years flew by. Now he is a proud daddy of two kids. Imagine that, little kids and having to study for two years. Also pretty amazing. To celebrate they had their own BBQ with yummy food and desert at a park (they were so lucky to have a nice, warm day). We love visiting them and the beautiful place that is Bellingham. Later on we went on a nice walk and let the kids play.
Here he is with new baby Zeke.

I was able so snap a few pictures of new cute baby Zeke and Dacian. My son was so in love with him and was curious about him and wanted to hold him a lot and even share with him some lollipop. Of course we made sure he had none. :)

And last but not least my own brother is graduating in a month from BYU with his masters in Spanish and has been accepted to go to University of Kentucky for his PhD. He also had another baby while studying there. Chris, send me some pics so I can add one of you and your cute babies.

I am inspired by all their examples and hard work and hope some day soon  I too can go finish my degree. Love you all.