A Daily Walk: Ben + Kayla = Married (and our trip to Spokane)

This weekend we drove to Spokane to be at Ben's wedding. I was so happy I was there and would not have missed it for anything. Ben has always been a true friend to me and always been there when I needed him. It was hard to believe that it was 10 years ago that we stood in my parents driveway crying as we said good-bye before he left for college. I am so happy that he found Kayla and they are happy and get to start their new life together.

Unfortunately, this is the only picture that I was able to snap at the wedding.

Here is D and I ready for the wedding.

We made the most of our time in Spokane and stayed at this awesome hotel!

Here is the jungle chair that was in our room.

On Saturday, we went to the wedding, then went to D's aunt and uncles house to visit a while. We were able to meet both of his cousin's fiances. They are getting married in June and having a double wedding. It was nice to be able to see them and visit a while. After there, we went to Marie Calendar's to meet all of Ben's family for dinner. It was so great to see everyone and so kind of Lonnie and Sherri to invite us to join them. After dinner we went back to the hotel to go swimming and sit in the hot tub. It was very relaxing and fun.

Sunday morning, we grabbed some coffee (duh!) and met D's aunt and uncle and cousins for church. It was possibly the most friendly church I have ever been to. It was so nice! Everyone talked to us and cared about us and were genuinely excited to have us be there. They were very kind and loving people. I wish everyone who went to church could experience what we did last Sunday.

After church, we went to explore a little bit. We hit the River Front Park and Spokane Falls in downtown Spokane. The sun was out but it was a little chilly as we walked around and enjoyed the sights. Spokane Falls was incredible, especially since it is right in the middle of the city. The water was so loud and we were getting misted by the water while standing on the bridge.

After River Front Park we drove to Manito park to eat lunch. Manito Park is my most favorite place in the world. (I'm pretty easy to please). I have great memories of this park on my visits to Ben over the last 10 years. It is just beautiful and I often find myself daydreaming of this duck pond and willow tree. (there is a bench under the willow tree which is perfect for reading a book on a warm day)! It was cold though, so we didn't explore the whole park, we just ate lunch at the duck pond and then walked through the Japanese Gardens. Nothing was really blooming yet, but it was still nice.

On our way home, we were pretty hungry for dinner around Hood River. D knew of a look out spot off the freeway, so we headed up the hill and ate dinner while looking at this.....

I don't know why, but I thought it would be fun to video tape some of our trip home through the Gorge (which was beautiful while the sun was setting)! So join us for part of our trip home....

Then I was going to give D a chance to redeem himself and proclaim his love for me, but instead you get him telling me not to do it "with the truck right there!"