Saturday, Sunday, Monday

We've been very busy doing all kinds of new, different, and sometimes exciting things! I must say, I don't know if I would appreciate the amazing landscape that surrounds Southern Oregon if I lived here all the time. I find myself just staring off into space mesmerized by the mountains and trees. It's kind of ironic to me that there are so many people in this part of the country who don't believe in God, because I can't look outside the window without being slapped in the face by God's glory.

Anyway, there is a big thing here in the summer called the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. So, Saturday night we went to Ashland, OR (just up the road) and saw Our Town. It was performed on an outdoor Elizabethan Stage. Now, Our Town is not Shakespeare but it was pretty interesting. I don't think I'm smart enough to "get" the underlying themes but I feel like I experienced a bit of culture. They are very protective of their theater and I actually got in trouble for taking this picture with my phone:


In the Playbill from Our Town my Dad saw an advertisement for a tour of a little town nearby, Jacksonville. This tour was intriguing to my Dad because you got to go around town on a Segway. A Segway is a two-wheeled contraption that moves based on your body movements. A year or so ago, President Bush tried one out and completely fell off. So, Sunday morning my Dad was looking for volunteers to do this tour with him. I honestly did not want to do it. I have enough trouble on my own two feet, thank you very much. But, nobody else wanted to do it and since it was Father's Day I agreed. It was HILARIOUS watching us try to get used to these crazy things, but we eventually got the hang of it and enjoyed a 2 hour tour of Jacksonville. The Segway turned out to be kind of fun and it was a great opportunity to spend some time with my Dad. Here's a couple pictures from before we knew what we were doing:


Last night, we went to dinner at a Mexican Restaraunt on the banks of the Rogue River. Now, Mexican Food outside of Texas is very different. In my opinion, it's so much better! We had a nice dinner and then tried to skip rocks into the river afterwards.


These are my cousin Russell's two kids - Ella and Tommy.


Ella is 9 and about to go into 4th grade. She is very smart and speaks very eloquently. Tommy is 6 and will go into 1st grade next year. Tommy is very smart as well, but the thing that amazes me about Tommy, is that he'll eat just about anything. He loves seafood and sushi and tells my sister and I that we are really missing out because we don't like it. They are very cool kids and I'm thankful for the chance to get to know them.

Today, was another day of touring the local towns. Tomorrow we are going on a Jet Boat tour of the Rogue River and then spending a couple days in the mountains with the other side of the family! Should be fun!