9 July 2023

We started the 4th of July holiday at the local parade. Helen and Gibson walked and threw candy with Rogue Credit Union where Blake is the CFO. Helen, Gibson and Ed are on the left side of the credit union sign.

 

The Thurmans joined us for dinner and then fireworks at the field. Helen and Gibson set up chairs and blankets for us earlier in the afternoon so we had front row seats. They sat with their friends on blankets in front of us. Front row: Crew, Grace, Chance, Jason, Cason, Gibson and Helen. Middle row: Grace, Chase, Emma and Ed. Brandan and Blake are sitting in chairs behind the blankets.

Here's a view of the same group watching the fireworks. Matt said this will be his last show and so he lit a record amount of fireworks. We will miss having outrageous fireworks right outside our front door, but we completely understand that he is ready to move on after 18 years of devoting his time and money to the show.

After the show, Helen played The Star Spangled Banner on electric guitar on our roof.

Becky, Helen and Gibson left the next day for a quick trip to Seattle. After Sofi's car suffered some damage getting to Oregon for her wedding, Sofi and Nate left her car in Central Point. Brandan shepherded the car between auto repair shops, replacing a cracked air intake and a bent control arm. Her car finished with repairs by the middle of June, but we went out of town. Wednesday was our first opportunity to reunite Sofi and her car. Helen and Gibson took turns driving all the way to Seattle. Becky drove our car so the three could leave Sofi's car and still get home.  Here's a photo at a rest stop along the way.

Driving from Central Point to Seattle is straight up I-5. Most of the driving was easy, except the stretches through Portland, which we drove through during the evening commute and Seattle, which has oddly angled, narrow streets and far too many cars for the available infrastructure. The best part of the trip was seeing Sofi and Nate. They took us to dinner at a nearby restaurant which we could walk to (yay!). We drove home Thursday morning. Our consolation for such a short visit is we will be back in two weeks. Gibson and Helen were rockstars with Gibson navigating Portland during rush hour and Helen driving and parking in downtown Seattle.

On Saturday, Helen and Gibson and friends planned a picnic to Lithia Park. Helen and Emma prepared a beautiful lunch and even convinced Jason, Ed and Gibson to dress a little nicer for the event. This is a polaroid of the boys.

Here's a photo of Helen and Emma with Ed photobombing in the background.