Categories
Holidays & Bdays

Shopping on Amazon This Year?

Amazon Affiliate Link

If you are anything like me, you’d rather spend your time browsing Amazon.com for the perfect rather than wandering through a shopping center. Its no secret I don’t love shopping, and anything delivered right to my door is WAY better than having to go out and buy it myself.

Last year we had Christmas in Houston and my aunt & uncle were kind enough to let us ship stuff ahead and we had a whole stack waiting for us when we arrived a few days before the 25th. It was awesome.

This year my parents are doing the same, although we’ll have a few extra days to figure out any special gifts and even buy them locally.

My point is, if you like to shop on Amazon.com would you consider clicking through our Affiliate link when you do so?

We’d much appreciate it. Affiliate links are great because you get the same price and we get a few pennies to add to our book fund for sending you there. Most of our accessory posts have affiliate links, not to be malicious, but because we only link to products we really love and earning a few pennies while we are at it is not such a bad deal.

Happy Shopping!

Categories
Faith General Information

Watch the 2014 Christmas Devotional with us!

Every year, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints present a Christmas Devotional with words of faith and beautiful music. The devotional is held in Salt Lake City, but is broadcast live for all to enjoy.

The live broadcast is TONIGHT, and about an hour long, and will begin at 6PM Mountain Standard Time, but I’ve time-translated it for you here:

Pacific: 5PM
Mountain: 6PM
Central: 7PM
Eastern: 8PM

There are many places to view it, including Youtube and right on LDS.org, but here is the complete list: 2014 Christmas Devotional Details. Invite a friend, and enjoy getting into the Christmas Spirit!

Categories
WanderLog

Finishing Up Projects, Marin Headlands, and Oakland

Nov 29 - Dec 5 2014

Travel Dates: November 29 – Dec 5, 2014

Picked up a little wandering action this week as Jess visited the Marin Headlands and the Point Bonita lighthouse with the kids. We also spent time courtesy parking with friends, finishing up wood projects, and finally heading out of Petaluma after two weeks of bumping around town!

We drove about 1.5 hours to the Oakland temple where we’ve been in the RV parking spots for 2 nights. Its been fabulous as we’ve been able to both do an endowment session, take the kids to see the Christmas lights, and even do sealings together! After visiting with friends in Mtn View last night, we’re calling it done in this area and headed to Yosemite today!

Categories
Holidays & Bdays

Christmas Activity Advent Calendar

Christmas is in full swing in the Curren Airstream! Thanksgiving felt like it went a little long, since we didn’t actually leave family until December 4th, but we managed to get some decorations up  and start listening to Christmas music in the meantime. Last year we posted about 6 easy Christmas traditions you can do with kids while traveling, and we’ll manage to do most of them this year as well! I can’t wait.

First up is our Advent Calendar. Last year we cut out the circles and put them over the door, this year Rachel had the idea to cut out and paint a tree instead. I cut the tree out of a paper bag, and she did the rest. Awesome, huh? She’s so creative. Since we have very little wall space, we chose to split the tree in half so we could center it over the closet doors. That way we can still open it and get our clothes out!

We originally got the idea from the amazing Laura Winslow, and I’ll admit I’m a little jealous of her beautifully crafted tree. Sigh. Not that I’d trade our traveling adventures for a Christmas tree mind you, but a girl can appreciate sparkly, pretty things.

Every morning we pull off the number and see what the activity for the day is. The kids look forward to this after breakfast and get super excited!

On our list this year:

Last night was beautiful as we walked around the Oakland LDS temple grounds, viewed He is the Gift at the visitor center, and chatted with the missionaries. It was the perfect event to kick off our Advent Calendar activities!! What about you guys? What are your favorite holiday traditions?

 

Categories
Hiking Oregon Outdoor Adventures Video

Wandering Update: Hiking at Cascade Head near Lincoln City, Oregon

Cascade Head Hike_11

While we were staying along the Oregon Coast, we managed a hike to the top of Cascade Head near Lincoln City, Oregon. This was probably the one day it didn’t rain in about a week of being there and we took full advantage by getting out and exploring. To find our hike, I basically Googled “Hiking in Cascade Head” and we found an article on Portland Hiker’s Field Guide that had a great description and directions.

Check out our video of the hike:

The trail started out on a small path next to the road until we hiked up to the original trail head (we believe it was moved due to lack of parking). Things got pretty interesting as the terrain was steep and involved some serious stair stepping.

Cascade Head Hike_01Once we made it out of the trees and up on the bluff we were greeted with views like this:
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And this:

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The wet mud was great for spotting recent elk tracks, and the kids had fun pointing them out. Down on the ridge just above Sam is a whole herd of elk. Super far away, but that’s the way we like them.

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Overall the hike was about 6 miles, and the kids did great on the muddy trail. It’s amazing to me how we can be warm and sweaty on the way up, but need to pull out the jackets at the top and on the way back down. So proud of our little hikers!
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