Richland

John's Grandma Morrey passed away on July 29th after a short bout with cancer, so we headed up to Richland, Wash. the next weekend for her funeral. It was fun to spend time with the Morrey side of the family (who we don't get to see very often), even though it was for a sad occasion. The funeral was lovely--I always feel weird saying that a funeral was "nice," but I felt like all of the words people said about Grandma Morrey were beautiful and just even how many people traveled up for the funeral was a nice tribute for her. One thing about her that has always come across is that she LOVED her family and was so proud of her children and grandchildren. I'm sure she was happy that so much of her family was able to be there.

John at the grave site

The entire Morrey clan

Our little Morrey family

John & Lynne recreating a pose from their wedding...ha!

John and I left Thursday afternoon (Aug. 4th) and drove halfway, stopping in the thriving metropolis of Boise, Idaho to spend the night. And what a pleasant surprise...we actually had a lot of fun. We ate brunch Friday morning at this absolute dive of a restaurant (Capris) that was attached to a sketchy motel, that surprisingly came quite highly recommended on the Internet. Holy moly, it was DELISH! And cheap, so even more awesome. :) Afterward we decided to go to the Boise Zoo, and on our way to the entrance we happened across a community rose garden. Umm, hi, it was like something out of a chick flick. I half expected to look up and see Tom Hanks coming around the corner, chasing his dog Brinkley...(And are we kind of pathetic that we got really excited anytime we saw roses that we have in our own garden at home? Sheesh.)

Other highlights of the trip?

-We stopped in Oregon to get gas and grab some food. John literally used the phrase "we're not from these parts" when explaining to the gas station attendant that he wasn't sure how it worked at a non-self-service pump. You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy, eh?

-After the funeral, John's dad took us on a drive past all of the places he had grown up and told us his childhood stories. We also made a stop at the Columbia River, i.e. the biggest river I have ever seen in person.

-Honestly, my favorite times were when all of the family was together and telling stories. I love that I married into such a huge, close family.

John and I with Grandma & Grandpa Morrey at our wedding (Photo by Lindsey S. Briggs Photography)