our weekend in Madras

My Aunt sponsors a hot air balloon for the Collage of Culture Festival, in Madras Or. We were thrilled to be a part of the team this weekend that got the balloon unfolded, filled, and ready to fly! The boys and I raced around pulling fabric and John helped hold it open for the heated air-it was incredible to see the balloon grow and take shape! Sam and I were all ready to fly but the wind picked up and they had to cancel the flight. We tried again the next morning but rain came. I was a little hesitant to do it at first (it is LITERALLY a wicker basket, albeit strong) but I just couldn't dampen our adventure seeking Sam's desire by saying no. And by the time we got done getting it ready I was excited to try it! So this is now on our "Life To-Do List". Sam and I will get to fly up in a balloon someday, I promised him.

We stayed with my Uncle and his family. They are just incredibly warm, generous, friendly and we love spending time just hanging out together. We hadn't visited in a year and were wondering why the whole weekend! It's only 3 hours away and we have missed them a lot since they moved from Veneta. Their daughter is between Sam and Josiah in age and the 4 kids (shown above, with my Grandma) had a lot of fun, catching lizards, passing secret notes, bouncing on the trampoline and exploring in the central Oregon sagebrush.

The other photo is from the Crooked River Canyon Bridge. John indulged me on the way home and stopped (you see the 2 tiny spots on the left of the photo? That is John and Josiah!) Isn't it beautiful? The boys could not stop laughing at the signs posted everywhere "MANY DOGS HAVE DIED HERE! PUT YOUR PET BACK IN THE VEHICLE NOW!"

Sam shouted-"cool, lets go see if we can spot dog skeletons at the bottom of the ravine!"