Sometime in July...

Every summer our ward (or rather, our last ward now...) holds a picnic/bbq for the 24th of July. It is always at the same park in Springfield, which happens to be right next door to the school I taught at for the last two years (It's beautiful, and was designed by our former Bishop).

The Primary always does a sort of goofy Olympics as part of the festivities. Youth are selected to organize teams to compete against one another. This year Aeryn was able to be a team captain, which meant that naturally Ellie and Ellie's bff were part of her team. I'd advised her to make sure to include kids of a wide range of ages, but her team ended up fairly young.

The challenges include potato sack races, three-legged races, crab walks, and a few other things. Ellie took a quick moment to ham it up for me between playing with her friend.

This year was bittersweet, as it was our last chance to hang out with many of our Oregon friends before we moved. Many people were out of town too, so in a way it made it easier to move. Being face to face with a hundred people you've come to love dearly makes farewell's more emotional and overwhelming.

Charlie-bug and I hung out on a blanket and watched the kids be crazy, which was just about perfect.

Jim was in charge of sand volleyball, but this year that just meant securing a ball to use since he's nursing a torn meniscus and shouldn't play. Of course he did anyway, though much more conservatively than he may have otherwise.

It was a really nice night and a great farewell to Oregon, though even typing that makes me a little teary. In a way Eugene will always be home.