sand on my soul.

For Thanksgiving this year, my aunt and uncle hosted a reunion for my mom's side of the family. It happened to be in my most favorite place in the world, the Oregon Coast, and despite the craziness involved in getting us there, the chance at a beach vacation and the opportunity to see family I haven't seen in far too many years made it an opportunity we could not pass up.

Not going to lie, the traveling was horrible. We flew out of O'Hare and the night before our flight drove to Chicago. It was a 4 hour drive that took 6 hours thanks to children, traffic, and snow. More traffic the next morning meant it would take a miracle to make our flight. Luckily, we had strategically placed miraculously kind people that helped us get through O'Hare in record time. But then . . . our nonstop flight to Portland landed in Denver to refuel, meaning our 4 hour flight took nearly 7. The trip home was another beast: 2 hours to the airport, 4.5 hour flight where the twins were terrors, 1 hour to get to our car and get out of Chicago, 4 hour drive home. It was a long day, but the sand in our boots upon our arrival back to our home made it all worth it.

We had a truly wonderful 4 days at the beach. The babies met the Pacific. Our nature girl Quinn was a fan. John seemed more fond of trucks in the sand. They both called the ocean "bubbles". Carly loved being at the beach too, though the big house full of fun people was just as exciting for her. Oregon showed off for us, and we ended up with two 60 degree days, which was heavenly. We spent our days running from waves, walking down the shore, digging in the sand, catching up with family, and eating. A lot. Every night we had "adult story time", where we shared stories from our lives or that we enjoy, giving us a chance to get to know each other better. And on the final night my uncle made a family trivia version of Jeopardy. We got to play with cousin Shay, who Carly has always known as "baby Shay", but who is a big girl these days. We got to get to know uncle Brady's lovely lady, Sierra. And Carly got plenty of playing time (and in-house movie theater time) with my 10-year-old cousin, Novalie, who she just thinks is the bee's knees.

Thanksgiving was a great feast. We had around 40 family members there, and my aunt ran a beautiful show. We had our big dinner in a little building that could hold us all, and after filling our stomachs, we walked down the beach back to the big house. We stopped for a picture of all of us. My mom's parents have quite the posterity, and nearly all of us were there that day, wearing our matching t-shirts. I have so many wonderful memories of these people from my childhood. I love my grandparent's house, with their cherry trees and giant lawn and beautiful garden. But we grew up, and many of these cousins, aunts, and uncles I haven't seen in 10 or 15 years. It was nice to be together again, and get to know the people they have become. Thanksgiving evening we took Carly, Shay, and Novalie to see Frozen in matching t-shirts. How good is that movie? A pleasant end to a pleasant day.

Black Friday was spent far away from long lines and busy stores. Instead, we headed to my favorite beach. We vacationed at Cape Kiwanda when I was a child, and took Carly back a few years ago, so it was fun to go back with the duo. We checked out the tide pools and ran down the giant sand hill. I think Black Fridays should always be spent just like that. 

The best part of our trip was of course the people we shared it with. It is hard being a country away from these people, but it is a blessing that we can come together and it is like we were never apart. Quinn became quite the little Mimi fan, and my mom got her fair share of work-outs hauling her all over the place. We also got to meet John and Quinn's west coast counterparts. My aunt announced she was expecting twins when I was just into my second pregnancy. I remember being overjoyed for her, but also thinking I was happy it was her and not me. And just over two years later there we were, with our two sets of twins. Such a blessing to finally have the opportunity to get them together.

We are abundantly blessed with the good people in our lives. We are so grateful to my aunt and uncle for making the whole week possible. What a blessing to be brought together with the people I am most thankful for as we offered our thanksgiving.

And the Pacific. The Pacific is good for the soul. There really is no place like the Oregon Coast for me. We got home and I unpacked our suitcase to find a bunch of sand at the bottom. I shook it out and thought of the saying "You can shake the sand from your shoes, but not from the soul."

Amen to that.