Golden Birthday...Hinckley twin style

This year, Andra and I had our golden birthday!!!! We turned 26 on June 26th. We planned a big trip down to the Oregon Coast to celebrate the occasion. At first, it was just going to be me, Andra, Jaime, and Dustin. But as it got closer to our birthdays, it turns out Mom, Dad, Brent, and Aaron were planning on going too! How awesome! The only thing that could've made it better was if Damion and his family could have made it out there. But unfortunately, it was too late of notice for them.

The whole gang (minus Dad who's taking the picture) on Fogarty Creek Beach.

Jaime bought Andra and I tiaras that said "QUEEN" on them to wear the whole weekend! You can't really see them too well in this picture.

We drove down the long way through Astoria to highway 101 so that we could stop at the Tillamook cheese factory. We got some ice cream, and stocked up on some squeeky cheese and then continued down the coast.

We couldn't have asked for better weather. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot at Surfrider, the clouds broke up and the sun came out. It was sunny the entire time we were there and the clouds rolled in as we left on Sunday.

We played on the beach, did some site-seeing, went whale watching, a little bit of shopping (lame! Not my idea.) and ate at some yummy restaurants.

Whale watching

Beach bums

Jaime making fun of people who do yoga on the beach. Haha.

We had some amazing ribs at this little BBQ place in Depoe Bay. I definitely recommend the place if you're ever in that area.

Riptide BBQ

Our birthday night was definitely one to remember. We first had a great meal in the Surfrider restaurant with the whole family with a spectacular view of the beach.

Group shot

Then we all went down to the beach and made a bonfire. We watched the sunset and hung out until the stars came out and the full moon rose. It was so beautiful!! I will never forget how pretty the beach was that night.

Fireworks!!

Yes, those are root beers we are drinking.

Once it got dark, I got this itch to go for a memorable night swim in the frigid Pacific ocean. At first, Andra was very VERY hesitant to join me and was like "There's NO WAY I'm doing that." I still decided I was gonna go for it. What better way to celebrate your golden birthday! So Jaime and Dustin went back up to our hotel room and got my swimsuit for me. (I would've just gone skinny dipping but I knew cameras were involved and some spectators so that wasn't the wisest idea.) When they got back to the bonfire, they had also brought Andra's suit for her!! After a few minutes, she decided she would forever regret not taking a midnight dip with me on our golden birthday. We changed, and in we went!! It was SOOO COLD!! But a fun great experience and I got my adrenaline fix.

Aaron even caught some of it on video. not many people can say they went swimming in the pacific ocean at midnight of their golden birthday under a full moon!..with their twin! If you have, HIGH FIVE!

After the swim, mom brought out a huge chocolate cake, ice cream, and whipped cream. Perfect. What an amazing birthday weekend. It will be hard to top.

Jaime and I at some cute restaurant along the coast.

The next day, we took a long way home and stopped for a few hours in Newport, OR to play on the beach. Aaron bough an insanely huge kite while we were down there. The kind that will literally lift you off the ground.

We all hung out on the beach, flew kites, and just enjoyed eachother's company and the beautiful Oregon Coast.

Overlooking Newport Beach, OR

Best birthday weekend ever!

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This incident just makes my heart hurt and makes me sick to my stomach.

Visalia, Calif. • A Mormon church official was shot dead between services on Sunday, and less than an hour later, the man suspected of the crime also died after a shootout with police.

Clay Sannar, 42, a lay bishop with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Visalia, southeast of Fresno, died after being shot in his office, said Visalia police chief Colleen Mestas.

Soon after the first shooting, a caller identified himself to police as the shooter. Police responded, and there was a confrontation with several shots exchanged, said Mestas.

The suspect was hit multiple times. He was taken to nearby Kaweah Delta Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. He has not been identified yet. No officers were injured, Mestas said.

Tulare County sheriff’s deputies are taking over the investigation of the shootout involving the police officers. The sheriff’s department did not immediately return calls for comment.

Visalia police continue to investigate Sannar’s shooting, but have not identified a motive.

“We have several detectives out actively investigating this so we can come up with answers, especially for the family,” said Mestas. “It’s just tragic.”

Sannar was the general manager of Soil Basics, a fertilizer company in Visalia, according to the company’s website. He had six children, including a 6-month-old infant.

Here is a picture of the Sannar Family.

It makes my heart ache to see these boys that lost their father. I can't even imagine what this family is going through.

A fellow Latter-day Saint, Connor Boyack, has set up a fundraiser for the Sannar family. Click the link below if you'd like to donate. Even if it's only a couple bucks, it'll help.

http://pledgie.com/campaigns/12975#lds #utpol

More camping!!

Another camping trip to Little Naches! This time (early June trip) we went with our good friends Ree, Leanne, their 2 boys, and Travis. We got the best camping spot EVER (literally). Right on the Little Naches river with a huge flat beach with sun exposure all day. From sunrise to sunset. Doesn't get much better than that.

Panoramic of the river from our campsite.

Jaime and I went for a ride the night we got there. Since it doesn't get dark til after 9pm we had a good long ride and got back to camp just as it was getting dark. The next day we got up and headed out again to try and ride up to see how the snow melt was going.

Ree handing off little Matthew to Leanne.

Me holding Matthew! He's so stinking cute!

About 10 minutes into our ride, Jaime had a really bad wreck. I saw the whole thing and it was really scary. I thought for sure his arm was snapped in half and we'd have to drive to the hospital in Yakima. But luckily, that wasn't the case! He hurt it pretty bad....bad enough that he couldn't continue riding (which has NEVER happened before). So me and him headed back to camp and Ree and Travis kept on the trail.

Thankfully we were camped on an ice cold river so Jaime was able to keep the swelling down by sticking it in the cold water.

Jaime laying with his hand in the river. Elliot, Matthew and Leanne sitting on shore.

Poor Jaime! He was in so much pain.

We wrapped it up and he was fine the rest of the weekend. But no more riding for a while. =( But it didn't stop Jaime from riding Travis' quad around the campsite a little bit.

He got it xrayed the day after we got home and it ISN'T broken. Just a bad sprain. Which is good because he won't have to wear a cast, but bad because sometimes they take longer to heal...which is kind of weird. Anyways, I hope it heals soon because I'm already itching to get back out on the trails!

Big campfire on our last night!

Utah trip June 2010

Brooke Hinckley turned 8 in April and we were fortunate enough to make the trip to Spanish Fork Utah to see her get baptized by my brother Damion. Damion baptized me back when I turned 8 in 1992!

Here's a couple flashback photos from September 1992 when Andra and I got baptized.

Me and Damion in the baptismal font.

Me and Damion with Andra and Dad.

It was SO NICE to get out of rainy cold Washington for a few days. I was not looking forward to getting on a plane, but anxiety meds helped me with that. And thankfully its only a 2 hour flight! The weather was absolutely perfect in Utah!! Sunny and hot (but not too hot) just the way I like it.

Jaime and I did some shopping on the first day there and went to the Rocky Mountain ATV headquarters. I was pretty disappointed in their store. I kind of expected it to be more like RMC. But we did walk out of there with some good deals on some dirtbike gear.

Going to Brookey's baptism was so cool! It's been a long time since I went to one and it was a great experience to see my brother baptize my niece. It was also really nice to see Jenny, and Branden and other family members all gathered together.

Andra and Brooke with Wicket

Jaime and I on the way to the baptism.

Here is Brooke in her beautiful dress on her baptism day!

We were also able to meet up with a large portion of the McEntire clan and hang out at the Wedge Outlook near San Rafael, UT. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen with the most amazing views! I definitely hope to go back there sometime soon and maybe float the river.

The next day we went to have a relaxing day at the Deer Creek Reservoir. Laying out in the sun, reading, and having sister talks with Andra while Jaime and my mom hid out in the shade. We had some wonderful views of Mt. Timpanogos.

The trip came to an end way to fast and we had to head back to the soggy northwest. I'm already looking forward to another trip somewhere. Thankfully we're finally getting to that time of year where the warm sun actually shines here in Washington.

Pawsi was very happy to see us when we came home. He wouldn't leave Jaime alone for hours. Below is a video of what happened when we walked in the house after being gone for 6 days.