My mom's new husband Fred is from La Grande, Oregon and he has a really nice property with 10 acres and a river running through it. It's beautiful there. They have four wheelers, a boat... and most importantly, HORSES! Ella somehow found this new infactuation with horses ever since Papa (Fred) told her at Christmas time that she could come to his house and ride his horses. She mentioned this every time she was on the phone to either Nana or Papa. So, was it to any of our suprise, that the first thing she wanted to do when we arrived in La Grande was to ride the horses? No. It was dark so she could only pet them and sit on them for a while, and then it was time for bed.
The next morning Ella awoke at sunrise, as she does on vacation, so I put on some cartoons for her and went back to bed since it was 6am on vacation. Then we get this knock on the door from the neighbor saying that our horses were out and the gate was open. My mom goes into Bonnie's room (Fred's daughter staying there while my mom and Fred are in Florida) and she says to get Scott up to help her round them up. Then my mom comes back into my room after getting Scott up to tell me that she's looked everywhere in the house and Ella is nowhere to be found!
I jump up and start running around the property in my nightgown, which doesn't get me very far. I go back inside and put my shoes on to meet Scott and Bonnie with tears streaming down my face. I say a prayer to myself since she was nowhere in sight and with the horses out and the river close by, who knows what could have happened to her.
Bonnie jumps on her four wheeler and Scott and I jump into the car to start looking for her. Bonnie finds her first at the very end of their lane and started driving her back to us. We get out and after some punishment... put her to her room for time out. Ten minutes later she was found sound asleep in the bed.
This girl of mine has done this before at Wal-mart and they had to call Code Red and shut the doors to find her on the other side of the store...
Boy, do I wish I had kids that were scared to get out of my sight!
Can you feel the excitement? I think he beat everybody's score.
The deer were very friendly there, and one came up to Scott and licked his hand!
Ella wanted to ride the big boats, but it was a suprisingly cold day near the water, so we found this kiddy park nearby where Ella could ride these little boats. 
The kids LOVED the beach toys their grandma brought for them.
We stayed in a very "rustic" cabin, and the coolest thing in it was this old pedistool tub. It was cracking a bit, so we gave it a good scrub before using it.
The first day up there Scott and Grandpa caught some fish which they grilled up that night
This is what you do when you marry an Idaho boy... go fishing!
We all had fun on the boat, and the kids took turns driving it.
Ella had a Barbie fishing pole, and Cole had a Scooby Doo one.
Jamie caught a fish!
Scott would help them build a sand castle...
and then Cole's favorite thing to do was to stomp on it
We had a great outdoorsy trip to Cascade Lake. 
Kassie and her 3 week old girl Aubree
We all took turns going down... first Scott
Then Jamie went...
And even Grandpa Thompson went!
The riders lined up for a picture:
Kenzie gave me a big "CHEESE"
And then gave Cole a hug
My friend Alene created her own salon in one of the rooms in her house, it's so cute. She was really good with Ella, making her feel at ease the whole time. 
Alene got her all this princess stuff: tiara, earings, necklace, wand, bubles, candy and more! Thanks Alene you made her feel special, and it looks great!
