You Won't Believe It!!!!

After a late start last Friday, due to our van being in the shop and a dryer-that-died-so-we-have-to-go-to-the-laundromat-situation, we were off to Springfield, OR where we went to Hillview Baptist Church. We went on visitation Saturday and Craig preached on the family on Sunday. Visitation had a record number in attendance...and that didn't even include our family!! The services were great with one baptism and two others who joined the church!  Monday we took off in the sun and warm weather toward Astoria, full of clouds and chilly air!! We enjoyed a dinner of clam chowder and cheese bread at Mo's in Cannon Beach with Grandma and Papa. And then we were off to the candy shop where we all enjoyed handmade candy! Tuesday was a bit of a lazy day at Craig's sisters house. The cousins all enjoyed just hanging out together. Of course, we had to go to Fultano's for dinner!!! Fresh pizza from our favorite place was enjoyed by all! Wednesday, we went to my parents where my brother and his wife and daughter were staying. They live in Utah and it has been two years since we have seen them! My niece is 19 months old and adorable as can be!! Papa had a great idea to go to Fultano's for lunch...we didn't tell him we were there the night before! ;-) Had he known, he would have withdrawn the offer!! We willingly went and had some more fresh pizza from our favorite place. That evening, my sister and her family came over for a small family reunion. Thursday, we went to the fair. We ate junk and saw a lot of people from days of old!! The day was....can you guess? It was cloudy and cold!!!! Very cold!!! :-(  But, we had a great time! My nephew had a dairy cow he was showing. Michael even got in on it and was allowed to show a cow!! It was a great day and we were ready to get going toward home. Just outside of town, headed toward Knappa, we were driving along when a deer ran out in front of us! It all happened so fast, I actually watched the end of this deer's life, right before me! We are so thankful that it was the end of the deer's life and not ours!! Craig pulled over, checked on the deer (which was VERY dead), and then looked at our van. :-(  I knew it was bad when Craig's comment was, "we aren't going anywhere tonight!" We were able to go a bit further to a gas station, where Craig made a few phone calls. The radiator was completely smashed, both front turning lights are out, and the engine is pushed back. In Abby's words, "the van is broken!" Pastor Roberts from Astoria is loaning us their church van for a while! What a blessing, so we got to come home after all! We are hoping that our run ins with wildlife can end now. That poor van!!! We will find out soon if it is being totalled or if it will get fixed. Whatever happens, we know that God is in control and that He protected us yet again!!! Here are a few of the many pictures from our trip.  I will post more in the days to come as there are too many for just one post!