Mom and Dad's Visit

Grandma and Grandpa Green

Mom and Dad came up in September for Joshua's first Birthday. The drive is simple enough and there's not much canyon, but it is still a twelve hour drive and I think Mom barely made it. They stayed for five wonderful days. Well... wonderful for Challene and I because we were able to go out on several dates while they were here! We so miss obligatory tending! It was nice to have them here, too. Anyone is welcome to visit us up here anytime they want. Especially as the prospect of our being able to travel down to Utah for Christmas is looking quite grim (money is extra tight this quarter for some reason). As with any and all guests in our house, their room and board was paid by their allowing me to do spinal assessments on them. That's the price of admission.

I always thought that Challene was a difficult patient. Well, compared to Dad Challene is a lovely walk in the park. He is the most difficult person I have ever had (tried) to adjust. The man can't relax. Though, after some coaxing and some chiropractic tricks, I was able to adjust what I wanted.

Here's me assessing Dad's leg length to see how contributatory an inequality would be to his back pain and scoliosis. The difference was staggering (note: Dad, as you are technically not my patient I am not breaking any HIPPA requirements by disclosing your rather staggering leg length inequality)

And here I am feebly attempting to work out some kinks in Dad's neck.

Everytime I work on someone Ethan thinks he has to work on them too. He worked on Grandpa and Grandma after I finished. Then he wanted to work on me. Here he is assessing my leg length. Fortunately for me he didn't find anything!

He must know something I don't know because we haven't learned this move yet. By the way, if you haven't noticed the finding nemo underpants (tee hee), Ethan is potty training. It has been going very well so far. He loves going potty (mostly for the treats no doubt) and he loves his underpants (tee hee).

Saving the neck for last... that's my boy!

As I said, Mom and Dad were up here for Joshua's birthday. I think Grandpa enjoyed the gifts just as much as Joshua did! The kids sure enjoyed playing with him. Ethan still talks about Grandpa all the time! "What's Grandpa doing?" "Where's Grandpa?" or sometimes he'll pull a combo, "What's Grandpa doing in Utah?" At any rate, he can't get enough of Grandpa!

One request Mom had for their visit was for us to make it to the ocean. It was late September and everytime we've gone at that time of year it has been freezing cold. Particularly on the beach where the winds kick up... *shudder* its just plain cold! So we all packed our heavy coats, gloves, and hats and headed on up there. After a rather interesting ride (up to and including construction zones, emergency potty breaks, a choking scare, and a whole lotta throw up) we made it there. First things first, we needed to eat. We finally found a little park place where we could picnick at, though we were off on a little outer corner of it I think. It smelled like dog/cat poop. Well, we ate and had fun feeding the greedy greedy seagulls and then headed toward the beach. We went to Cannon beach, perhaps the most famous of beaches in Oregon. We bundled up in our warm gear and walked out. Lo and behold, it was warmer on the beach itself than it was on the regular streets. This soon became rather annoying so we shed the coats and I ran them back to the car! It was a beautiful day. A little overcast, but beautiful none the less. Don't believe me? See for yourself.

A little lighthouse in the distance. If you look closely, you can see Nora singing to the little orphan Pete... "I'll be your candle on the waaaaaterrrrrr! My love for you will always beeeeeee." Meanwhile, Elliot had run into some trouble with the Gogan's in his cave! Run, Elliot! Run!!!

A little rock family.

Haystack rock. Perhaps the most famous beach rock in all of Oregon. Why? Well, look at it! Legend has is that when the tide is down you can walk right out and climb on the rock. Unfortunately, I've never been there at low-tide.

Mom "just had to" take off her shoes and feel the water so that she can now officially claim that she's been in the Pacific Ocean.

Ahhh... C'est L'amoure.

They stayed down there a long time. Mostly they were talking to some lady and kept pointing out into the vast nothingness that is the ocean. When they returned they told us that the lady was telling them that there were some whales breaching a ways back. It was magnificent! We got more whale action then than we got when we went whale watching! It was hard to get a decent picture, but look below.

Hmmm... worse than I thought. That dark spot just off center of the picture is the tail of the whale as he went back into the water. They did this nearly the whole time we were there. It was really cool. Just out of camera range, though.
Just a nice shot from the beach. We got some blue skies while we were there.

The kids had an absolute ball. They played and played. We walked quite a long ways down the beach and the entire time, Ethan insisted on dragging a string of seaweed behind him as if a pet on a leash. It was quite adorable if I may be so bold.



That's me and boys in this one.
Me and my boys.

Grandma and Granpa walking Joshua. He was just getting the knack (nack?) of walking while they were here. Now, we can't stop him!

The group. And some lady with a stroller.

Well, I suppose that's about all there is to report. We had fun while they were here, and I hope they had fun too. I think this last photo sums up how we all felt after everything was said and done.

As I mentioned, anyone and everyone is welcome to come up. We have a third bedroom compete with internet access and separate climate control. Not to mention your own complimentary continental breakfast included in each nights stay. So come on down to Hotel Green... you'll be glad you did!