Bend

Well a couple of weekends ago (oops) we went to Bend for a few days—and it was awesome.

We stayed in this wonderful bed and breakfast that gave us all sorts of free stuff, left cookies and hot chocolate outside our door every night, and brought us breakfast in bed each morning. it was by far the most attentive and thought-out bed and breakfast we've ever stayed at (it was also just our second time staying at a b&b...at least together...so...)



(i look like i have a fire extinguisher coming out of my head...)

we had never been to the bend/sister area before—there are several awesome mountains and a big river there and it's gorgeous. bend is super outdoorsy but it was surprisingly small. we had heard about it, i feel like even before we moved out here, in the same way you hear about boulder, co maybe, but the city itself is actually really small. and the area is so interesting to me—it's in central oregon- south and a bit west of us, about 3 hours away, and while there are like 7 or 8 peaks, and the cascades running through the area, the rest of the land is very much desert. just "high desert," i guess, because it snows there a lot. but it's completely flat—just like texas—except for all of these mountains. weird. and really neat.





we ended up walking around bend a good bit, checking out the downtown area and eating yummy dinners and the like. the main day we were there, we went out to mt. bachelor and went snowboarding and i got off the lift without falling for the first time! woohoo! getting off the lift in skis is SO much easier!









everything was really pretty and we had a ton of fun. and best of all it was SUPER relaxing. so, so nice to get away. and just to sit and enjoy. plus, now after living here for almost two years, we've seen our third major oregon city!

Haiti

Our church has a partnership with a community in Swaziland through World Vision—we sponsor children there and help the area with things like wells, gardens, hospitals, schools and community centers and over the past year and a half, Daniel and I have really come to trust and respect World Vision for what they do.

Several weeks ago we collected a special donation for Haiti, right after the earthquake, and recently World Vision made this video showing some of the stuff they're able to do for the people there because of the donations. Anyway, it's just neat to see.



And while we're on the topic of plugs for Haiti relief, my mom's cousin Dave Vanderpool is a doctor in Tennessee and has a nonprofit called Mobile Medical Disaster Relief. He and his team went to Haiti right after the earthquake, and while he's back in the states now, he plans to return with more medicine and medical supplies. His website is here, with an article he wrote and a little news spot about him.

I'm not sure anyone who reads our blog would be lacking in places to give for Haiti relief, but just in case you are, know you can do a lot through both of these organizations. plug over.