Snow Fun !!

Look at these poor little ducks. They sit on our back porch throughout the year but I think they are unhappy with this season of the year!

Waiting for tomorrow night ?? : )

They are just resting up before Santa calls them to work tomorrow night.........

Not really - they're not even reindeer, just our local elk enjoying an evening rest.

We saw them awhile back when we were driving down to Cannon Beach and pulled over to get this picture. Aren't they beautiful !!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Clint !

December 21 - today is Grandpa Clint's birthday. (Bob's Dad-my Father-in-Law) He would have been 90 yrs old today....
Yes, his birthday was close to Christmas and I learned VERY EARLY after meeting the family, it HAD to be separate from any resemblance of Christmas.
He was such a fun person, pretending to be crusty but really a softie inside. He was a great bowler and had many trophies to prove it.
He was in WWII but never talked about his time overseas. When he was returning his troop ship was anchored in the Columbia River right off of the Longview - Kelso area and was quarantined because of an outbreak of something on the ship. It was Christmas time, his wife and two small sons were living in Kelso but they had no idea he was on the ship sitting in the river....I'm not sure how long it was before the troops got to leave but I can't even imagine how he felt, coming home from the war and having his family right beside him but couldn't even contact them.
He LOVED his grandkids. Always had pictures with him to show anyone who would look at them!
He and Grandma often came down to watch even the Jr High football games and then any other games the kids would be playing including coming to watch Cathy cheerleading at the games.
He always gave the grandkids the little cardboard box of assorted flavors of Lifesavers at Christmas..... When he was caretaker for the Aberdeen Water Shed our kids would go out and spend time with him and Grandma and they loved it. He would take them fishing (where fishing was prohibited, of course, because it was in the water shed) But if you just went around the bend above the dam, no one could see you and there he would take them out in his boat and fish in the lake.
He was just as proud of his great grandchildren. As you can see here in this picture you can see him rationing out jelly beans to Kyler. He was always teasing them with pieces of candy. Grandma would get mad at him for teasing them but he loved every minute of it and so did they.
After he left the job at the dam, they lived in a small trailer in South Aberdeen where he gardened and grew the most beautiful dahlias and other things in his greenhouse. He loved to raze people with anything he could think of... He was a great guy and a lot of fun!
I could not have asked for a neater Father-in-law. He was always supportative and loving.
He has now been gone since Feb 20, 2002 but he will never be gone from thoughts and our hearts
Anybody have a favorite memory of Grandpa Clint they would like to share ??

News Headlines

Recently Seen Newspaper Headlines !

Final Stock Session Sluggish

Berserk Man Kills Self, Stabs 5 in Shopping Area

Nation Reeling from storm

20 year Old Venice CA man Walks Out Friday After Being Lost on Mountain

Don't Start the New Year Dead Drunk, Call Care Cab for a Ride Home

Reagan adds Grenada to Caribbean Aid List

Police Looking for Green River Clues to Compare Recent Killing With Previous Women's Deaths

As This Year Begins Soon, Our Hopes Are Raised Aloft That Peace May Bless the World
(Whiteside Memorial Chapel)
Sale Going On !
Blowout Recliner Sale - Deluxe Chair - $297 Standard - $247

Apartment Listings!
Ranging from $235 to $425 per month - Don't miss out on these low rates !!

SOUND FAMILIAR !
Most things don't change a lot thru the years. Well, sort of, huh. At least until you get to the prices.

I got all of these headlines in an Aberdeen Daily World newspaper from December 3, 1983 that lives in the bottom of the box where we keep Grandma Young's ceramic Christmas tree throughout the year. It was packing to keep the tree secure. I have saved that paper each year even though it is really beat up and I look thru it every time we get the box down at Christmas. It was a Saturday am edition and it cost 25 cents.
It just makes me happy to realize Mom and Dad (Grandma and Grandpa) read that paper !

"Pay Ahead" Fun !

Ever had a "pay ahead" experience.....How Fun!
This am when I left Curves I dropped by the Starbucks Drive thru for a latte, had to wait for several cars and when I got to the window handed my card out the window and the gal said
"Actually the car ahead of you paid for your order !" So I said Wow, put the car behind me on my card then...... That was so fun. I had heard of that happening but had never had it happen to me.

WELL - Jackie and I were heading out for a "play day" across the river later this morning and she wanted a latte so she drove up and it was the same lady that I had in the morning so I asked her how long the line on "pay ahead" cars had gone after I left. She said it went 15 cars after me and I had been number 6 so 21 cars "Paid Ahead" for the person behind them.
Then she said some lady drove up and when she was told someone had paid for her drink she said "How Nice" and drove off... finally breaking the chain.

I had heard of this recently in some big city (can't remember where it was) and the line had gone 106 cars before the chain was broken. There are a "lot" of really cool people in this world and little fun things like this just sort makes ones day! I hope the person that started it somehow found out how many people followed suit !

TURKEY TALK !

OK, SO IT IS THANKSGIVING AGAIN

What do you first think of when you hear Thanksgiving?
Probably pumpkin pie, or getting together with family, or Grandma Young's green jello -OR maybe even one of the 45 million turkeys that are eaten each year at Thanksgiving.

SO how much do you really know about that turkey that lands on your table every year in November? Let's find out !

1. What is the long fleshy skin that hangs over a turkey's beak called ?

2. What color does a wild turkey's naked head and neck area change to when it mating?

3. When turkeys reach maturity they can have up to how many feathers?

4. How fast can a wild turkey run?

5. What is the average weight of a turkey purchased at Thanksgiving?

6. What is the percentage of white meat in an average turkey?

7. Male turkeys gobble. What do female turkeys do?

8. Do turkeys have heart attacks?

9. How big was the heaviest turkey ever raised?

10. Does eating turkey make you feel sleepy after your Thanksgiving dinner?


READY FOR THE ANSWERS ?? OR DO YOU THINK YOU KNOW YOUR BIRD WELL ENOUGH TO NOT NEED THE CHECK THE ANSWERS?

1. Bet I fooled you on this one. I thought it was a waddle? Nope, that hangs below the beak.
The part that hangs over the beak is called a "snood!"

2. This area turns blue.

3. WOW, guess I won't try to pluck my own turkey soon. A mature turkey can have up to 3,500 feathers. (Who do you suppose counted them to find out?) With my luck, I would get to 2,940 or so and then sneeze. GADZOOKES!

4. Wild turkeys can run to to 55 miles per hour! How did the pilgrims ever catch them?

5. The average weight of a turkey eaten at Thanksgiving is 15 pounds. - I would have thought it would be larger than that.

6. A 15 lb turkey usually will have about 70% white meat. It never seems like it when we cut ours up.

7. This was a new one for me. Turkeys gobble, right. Yes the males do but the females make a clicking noise.

8. Turkeys do have heart attacks. Who would have thought! The Air Force was doing test runs and breaking the sound barrier. Nearby turkeys dropped dead with heart attacks.

9. The heaviest turkey was 86 pounds. Can you imagine what he looked like. He was about the size of a large dog.

10. Last but not least - No don't blame the turkey. It is more likely all of those CARBS you are downing than that turkey bird.

I used this as my opener at my Weight Watcher mtg last night and we had a blast with it.
I actually condensed it here. There were 22 facts but I didn't even get all 10 of these answered right when I first took it!

SO enjoy your bird in a different perspective this year. He now has some personality rather than just being a big hunk of meat on your plate. HAPPY THANKSGIVING

HOLY, SMOLEY ! WHAT AM I DOING UP HERE?

Several weeks ago just for fun we went to a weekend marriage seminar at a local church. After we got home we had to do a "flag page" that asked a bunch of questions and then it analyzed our personalities. It is taken to help you and your spouse understand each other better so you can relate to one another easier.
Mine mailed me to the wall ! It was SO me. I quote one small paragraph:
"Dee enjoys a routine life where nobody notices her. She lives in a conscientious manner so she won't rock the boat. Staying in the background creates peace for her. She is usually good at what she does and likes to be able to predict what will happen next.

SO WHAT ON EARTH AM I DOING UP HERE !!

The Setting: Weight Watchers Annual Innovations meeting for everyone in the our area which includes two WW territories which means the whole large banquet room at the Sheridan Hotel by the airport is filled with WW staff.

The Reason: To introduce staff to the brand new program and things that will be coming soon for the new year.

The Time: After lunch, The new things have been revealed and awards are being handed out. You know, all the little pretty trophies etc are lined up on the table and person after person comes up and gets hugs etc. (you know the routine) After while it sort of becomes - Ahhh, Isn't it time to stretch etc. OK, just a few more items and we're done.
Let's just get this over so we can go home.
SO in a sort of semi conscious state I suddenly hear MY NAME and see it listed with a group of other leaders from all over both territories who are receiving the "Diamond Leader Award" and the next thing I know I am up on the stage in front of all those scary people out in the audience !

My first thought: Whatever do they give these out for. It is one of those things you read about in our monthly staff news magazine that leaders way out there get for doing fabulous things and you read no further because that has to be leaders who lead ten million meetings a week that have fabulous centers and gobs of beautiful skinny successful people in their meetings.

Conclusion: So after I got my pretty gold pin with one small diamond in the center of the WW wave logo and another small diamond on the 2008 attachment, I actually had to come home and look up in our staff news who they really give these thing out to.

Quote from our last Staff News Bulletin:
Diamond Leader Award
Presented to the top 20 percent of leaders in each territory who exemplify the Diamond standard: The highest percentage of their members reach lifetime status, and they have the highest member retention rate. A Diamond Leader leads at least two meetings per week, is a supportive team player, attends staff meetings and follows Weight Watchers policies and procedures. The Diamond Leader aware is given annually to all qualifying Leaders in that year.

OK: I have to admit that was sort of fun and yes, even an honor BUT I'm ready to crawl back into my little comfortable hole now with my two little meetings and my fabulous staff of gals that really deserve this too because they make me look good : )

FUN - FUN -FUN !

I'm still having problems getting pictures where I want them and getting more than a few onto my blog but here are a couple from our recent cruise. I wanted the ship first but they are in the complete backwards order but here goes anyway.
We had a real blast although the last day of being at sea was VERY rough...It was the roughest we had ever had on a cruise and there were a lot of "sick" people.
Our group picture was on the formal night....
Always fun to dress up and play "like the other half " once and awhile. (Aren't the guys cute !) I love that picture ! What a blast. We had Tom and Judi, Steve and Cindy, Betty and her sister Sharon with us. It was so much fun. We plan on doing it again sometime. Anybody is welcome to join us next trip. The more the merrier.

I'm Still Alive

Wow, I haven't blogged for so long there probably isn't anyone checking any more anyway. Life has been a whirlwind since our cruise. Have some great pics to post.
(It was a blast, by the way, More later)

After the cruise we headed right over to Spokane for the weekend. Was home Monday nite thru Thursday. Then left Friday am for the Women of Faith conference in Portland. Fantastic - (More later) Got home Sunday nite

I'm running over to Jackie and Chris's twice a day until next Sunday to feed and play with their four kittys while they are on vacation - What a blast they are!
(More later : )

Actually had Monday to breathe - Tuesday was at the shelter with the kittys
Yesterday we had a fun morning with some long lost shirtail relatives that called Tuesday asking if they could come down and compare Family Tree notes and pictures. She is Bob's 1/2 cousin on Grandma's side. They live in Satsop, WA. Had a blast sharing things. Got some great new pictures (More later)

On top of all that, I got called for jury duty again next month .
Well, I need to finish up my Weight Watcher lesson and have some lunch.

Looks like I have plenty of topics to talk about as soon as I get an extra minute.
Phew - life is busy, busy, busy!

Bob just popped in the door and said he filled up the pickup at Costco and gas was 2.95 a gallon WOW ! That IS fantastic news!

Hugs to all

Private Bath, Please !

This little guy came to the birdbath one am and thought to himself "WOW! a private bath. BUT
little did he know it would not last long... Soon Mo and Jo joined him just for company and THEN
Lo and Behold - the whole family came for a community bath !
The picture is too small to really see the flutter of the wings in the water in the third picture.
I enjoy my birdies bath in the mornings.
They often go rub in the dust of the driveway and then come to the birdbath to clean off.
What a blast they can be when they all hit the tub at the same time !

Memory Lane

This is one of my favorite pictures of all time.

It was taken when Bob was on Attu in the Coast Guard.

We had only been married a year and two months when he left for a year of isolated duty in Alaska.

This was taken in his room. Don't know who took it but I told him he had to have at least one picture of himself with every set of pictures he sent home.

IT WAS A LONG YEAR !

I was in Aberdeen for the year. We had been living in Seattle where he was stationed when he got his orders. Rather than stay in "the big city" Mom and Dad asked if I wanted to come back to Aberdeen and stay with them while he was gone so we took them up on it. I went back to work at the D & R with our former boss finding me extra work thru the week for more hours. I also worked at a florist shop that was right near the theatre. It was just a little one man shop and he needed some help on days he had big orders so

he trained me as an apprentice. I loved working there... especially the days we got new orders of flowers in. I used to smell the roses when they first came in and he said I would soon get over that but I never did. They were just so pretty I couldn't resist a sniff each time!

We got thru the year but seem like forever. Before we got married we had been separated for three months while he was in boot camp, then for six months while he was in ET school in Groton, Conn. so we were used to separation but that didn't make it any easier.

One reason he didn't re-enlist is we knew as an Electronic Technician it would mean another year of isolated duty if he stayed in. We weren't ready for that again.

So what happened, he got stationed on the Coast Guard Cutter Winona when he got home with only four more months to go. And guess what in November they went to sea for a month.

Oh well, that is history and we got thru it ok... Even tho at the time it seemed like the end of the world every time he had to leave.

Slow Down the Pace

Things have slowed down around here a bit. With my not being able to drive....
it is a little more difficult to be in the "rat race." It is all working out with some planning
and I am having fun getting a lot of Scrapbooking done since I can't be out and about
very easily anyway.

I finished up my two capitols from our Calif/Nevada vacation. I now have 22 capitols in my album - almost half way.

Caught up on a mini book we made in my scrapbook class last month. Used some of the
autumn pictures from our New England trip. Turned out rather pretty, if I say so myself.

Got numerous chronological pages done and feel a lot more caught up.

Sat down and went thru some recent pictures we had taken, got the ones chosen I
want to use and got them all printed up at Walgreens. So I am ready to Scrap !!

I'm at a point where I can go in and just sit down for a few minutes and have something
to do. When I get behind then I don't know where to start when I do have a little chunk
of time available so I am feeling really good about now being ready.

Had my receptionist that drives up from Seaside for our early WW mtg pick me up for my meeting Thursday and Bob picked me up when I was done.
So things are working out - I have an appointment with the neurologist the 17th so hopefully I will be able to drive after that.

Yesterday we had all our "cruise buddies" over and got all the preboarding paperwork done on line so we won't have to stand in line when we get to the cruise office the day we leave.
We are all getting excited now. We leave one the 29th of this month.

I'm feeling better and my large banana shaped eggplant colored bruise is beginning to look
the color of a human body again and it isn't hurting as badly as it did at first.

We enjoyed a visit from Ken and La Chel last weekend. Always love to have "kids" come home.
You are all welcome at any time around here!

So things are sort of enjoyable for the time being. Sometimes getting out of the rat race can be a good thing for awhile.

Identify This, Kids !

OK, Kids - identify this.
The first one to respond with the correct answer gets a Tootsie Pop!
Hint - We took this when we were visiting Pat and Lyle on our way up to our our weekend at Ocean Shores.
We were sitting out in front in the car looking at the house and a guy came out and asked if he could help us.
The house is up for sale so guess he thought we were thinking of buying it....
I tried to talk him into letting us go thru it but he said we would have to go thru the Realtor. He said the guy selling it has totally redone the inside. The side garage is now a bedroom and there is a bar between the kitchen and the domed living room. They totally redid the foundation.
I was dying to get inside....
What do you think?

Meet Henry : )

This is my little friend, Henry. He lives on or around my hose in the back yard. He comes every year and often I forget to check to see if he is on the hose before I water my plants in the morning. Then, guess what, he goes for a little ride as I unwravel the hose to reach the flower beds.
He doesn't seem to mind too much but I always feel bad when I start to rewind the hose when I'm done with it and I see him clinging to the hose or the side of the holder looking a little dizzy.
Sometimes he just sits on the side of the house clinging to the siding.
He is a cute little guy and comes back every spring to live there. Guess he likes the moisture he gets from the rocks under the hose. I was hoping he would show up when the grandkids were here so I could introduce them - and Lo and Behold - he did but it was early in the morning when I went out to water and none of them were up yet. But just in case he didn't stick around, I took a picture of him on Savannah's camera so I could at least show them the picture and sure enough he was gone before they got up.

MEOW - How Cute is This

We have had Savannah and Ethan here since Sunday. Today we will be going up to Longview to meet Lorraine and get Kyler.
Friday we are going out in the RV just for fun -
Then we have to return the kids on Monday.
We've had a blast.
Yesterday we went out to the animal shelter and spent two hours just loving the kittys.

OK It's short but sweet today. We are heading over to Jackie's to love on her kittys this am.
Hugs

It's A Grand, Grand Day

Sometimes you just have days like this... all is well with the world !
(In spite of the fact I have had gremlins doing really weird things on my computer the past few days. Some of which have even stumped my live in "computer whiz.")

The sun is shining. I got in a little early for a haircut app't so walked the river walk awhile. The ships were gently moving up the river, the birds were on the pilings, the water was lapping along the shore. I love Astoria!
After my app't I stopped in for a latte at the little coffee shop next to the hair salon. It was funny as I was getting hair cut you can hear the coffee machines as they are right beside each other. I asked Vicki (my hair dresser) if that was the latte machine. She said "Oh no that is the Smoothie machine. The latte machine makes a clacking noise." She knows them all by heart.

After getting my latte, I walked over to get my coupon scanned at JoAnn's so I will continue to get their ads. Found a really cool plum basket for behind my chair for 1/2price (My old one is falling apart)and a really neat pkg of 12 x 12 paper with fall and Christmas paper that was way COOL.

On the way back to the car stopped to look in a window of a small little store on a side street to enjoy two large kittys both sleeping along the window glass. One big tabby up front with his fur pushed up against the window and on his tail again pushed up against the window another big black one end to end - both SOUND asleep. I couldn't go in to love them a bit as the store was closed but they made my heart happy!

My Weight Watcher lesson is done for this week. Always a good feeling to be prepared before the "day" of the meeting. It has been doing great this summer. We have averaged with both meetings about 90 members a week...usually around 50-55 first mtg and around 40 or so second meeting. Wondering what will happen in Sept when all our vacationers and our "I've blown it all summer and want to look nice for the holidays"
people come back. I challenged them all (baiting them with prizes along the way) to come 12 out of the 14 weeks before Labor Day and they seem to have taken the bait : )
But we still have LOTS of new people after school starts and the routine begins for everyone.

Our garage sale was a HUGE success last weekend! Had four of us with things in it and we ran two days putting out new things on the second day. One lady came by three times and bought each time. With all four of us we were about $10 shy of selling $900 worth of stuff! Not bad for things we wanted to get rid of, huh ! We met Kevin Pierce from J & S next door in Dairy Queen Sunday night and apologized for all the cars coming in and out and even parking in their lot. He just looked at me and said."Oh, we expect it at least once a year." They are such good neighbors.

Anyway Bob is filling in on the Light Ship with an unexpected shift this afternoon. Dinner will be as soon as he gets home as we have a concert tonight at the Liberty Theater here in Astoria. What better day could one ask for -
GOD IS GOOD !!
HUGS !!

What A Life !!

This must be how the other half lives !!
I'm sitting in the window overlooking the ocean with a cup of coffee while my favorite man snoozes... The room is quiet, the ocean waves crashing in on the sand, a mama deer with her fawn feeding below our fourth story room which looks up and down the beach. Our bed will be made by the maid, breakfast will be served when we go to the dining room....There is a boardwalk to the ocean, our room has a fireplace and we watched a gorgeous sunset from our window last night over the ocean!
We are at the Ocean Shores Resort as a freebie from Bob's 50th class reunion prize.
We drove up on Friday am, visited Pat and Lyle over lunch in Aberdeen then headed on up to Ocean Shores. Yesterday after my 30 minute (free) massage, we headed into town and played around. Visited the Interperative center, had huge ice cream cones at a little place called Murphy's which made us feel like we were back in the 50's, played 36 holes of miniature golf - meeting a really fun couple about our age that was playing right behind us that we visited with at each hole as we waited for the party ahead of us to finish each hole. Then came home to keep our reservations for dinner (free) in the resort dining room. Really a fun get away -
We will head home this afternoon and back to reality....
(Cathy, we are about ten miles from the house you were checking out as a potential Christmas setting if anyone is interested - so we plan on driving by just for fun since we are so close)
(Steve/Lorraine - We found a really cool campground (Ocean City State Park) with lots of trees and green grassy spots along the beach here in Ocean Shores with spots way large enough for our RV and several tents -will talk to you about it when we get home. Has potential unless you think it is too far away. Ocean Shores is about 45 minutes from Aberdeen)

Plan on a cemetary visit on our way home thru Aberdeen. Haven't made it up to check on things for awhile. More when we get home
Hugs to all

Want An Eyeball on The End of Your Finger?

Just got home last night from a weekend with Steve, Lorraine,Spencer and Riley camping at Stub Stewart State Park up near Vernonia. We tend to look for closer RV parks now with the cost of gas and this is one we had never been to before. It just opened a year ago so everything is nice and clean and new. Nice park! A little bare of trees right now on the RV field but they have planted some for future shade.
It does have beautiful forests all around and lots of trails although it was really to hot to do much hiking.
Saturday we drove in and did the town of Vernonia (in about ten minutes : ) It is a quaint little place but too small to have much to do. We hit a few antique shops and a pet store where a cute little bird pooped on Steve's arm but that pretty much covered the town experience.
We played games ... waited on Spencer to make the most possible points rearranging his cards : ) playing Quiddler, laughed together playing a game called "What Would You Rather Do?" What a riot! Can't remember for sure the first part of the question but it was - something like "Would you rather have white eyeballs or AN EYE BALL ON THE END OF YOUR FINGER. NOW this intrigued me! No question here. I want an eyeball on the end of my finger! JUST THINK OF THE POSSIBLILITIES HERE - with an eyeball on the end of your finger you could see around corners, look down the back of your neck if you had an itch, look in small places for a lost item, sneak a finger to the next page for an answer to a test and other numberous options. Why didn't God think of how convenient that could be !
Then we ended the last evening with S'Mores around the campfire. What more could you ask for on a camping trip. That's what memories are made of !! Fun Times Together.

Garage Sale Treasure

Forgot to tell you about my "cool find" at a recent garage sale. Judi and I went to one in Astoria that was several blocks long with sales on both sides of the street. Really cool as we just parked and did all the blocks at one shot.
Anyway I found a really cool metal lamp with a really pretty shade for the table beside my living room chair for $5 bucks. But when I got it home I couldn't find a switch anywhere even on the cord where I figured it must be but when I plugged it in to be sure it worked (which he promised me it did) I accidently bumped it AND IT CAME ON. Bumped it again and it got brighter and again - brighter still.
I have seen these but had no idea this was one of them. I LOVE IT ! He had two more there and if I had known they were so cool I would have picked up another one.

We had a blast that day. Hadn't been out garage saleing (how DO you spell that?)all year and just took off on a whim after going to a sale our Close to My Heart lady had at her house one Saturday morning. We just goofed around all morning and I found all kinds of little fun things without spending a whole lot of money.

Now we are in the middle of prepping for ours which will be July 25 -26. It is always a big job but a good feeling to get to downsize and sort things out. Always feel "so organized" when we are done.

Organization! I love it but don't do nearly as much as I wish I could. To many other things crowding in. "Clutter drives me up the wall" - Found a saying in a magazine the other day I am hoping to live by more and more. It said "IF IN DOUBT, DUMP IT
YOU WILL REVEL IN YOUR DECLUTTERED EXISTANCE AND HAVE FEWER ITEMS TO DUST."
I love this but I MUST tell you I had to move a whole pile of papers and books on my desk to find it under the glass where I tucked it so I wouldn't lose it before I could share it with you. OH DEAR - guess I certainly haven't reached my goal yet, huh!
Hugs to you all today!

The Great White Hunter

The Great White Hunters Greatest Fan

Winning The Mole War !

The other day we mentioned to Jackie we had a mole starting to invade our yard. She went home and told Chris and she said he got a smile on his face... Mike Seppa had just shown him the secret to catching the pesty little things. So when they came over to celebrate Jackie's birthday yesterday he brought his trap and set it. We had a BBQ
dinner, watched a movie, opened gifts, had dessert and they were getting ready to leave when Chris decided to check the trap. LO AND BEHOLD - one pesky little critter had met his match !

It was our Great White Hunter!
Thanks Chris !

Rebekah's Mom

I'm reading thru Genesis in my QT and there are so many tiny little things I miss that Scripture always has something new for me.
This am I was in chapter 24 and didn't get very far because I began to ponder the story of Abraham's servant and Rebekah. I've read it gobs of times but never really thought about Rebekah's Mom in this whole episode....
I was thinking of the picture on Cathy's blog yesterday of her hugging Savannah and her caption
"Love this gal." So Cathy how would you respond if a man rode up on a camel (oh, lets change that to drove up in a Camry instead of a camel) and told you God had told him to bring your daughter immediately to a foreign land to marry someone you'd never met. Rebekah's Mom at least tried to buy some time "Can't we wait 10 days or so"
Nope - Got to leave in the morning. And Rebekah was willing so off she went.
WOW - sometimes I often forget the little details of the stories behind the words in Scripture and the impact of those people that are affected by God's directions.

Like earlier in Genesis I read the account of God telling Abraham after all those years they were going to have a son. Amazing news !!! BUT note that when the two angels came to talk further about this (no time frame listed) Sarah was totally surprised. HE HADN'T EVEN TOLD HER ABOUT THIS AMAZING EVENT ABOUT TO HAPPEN (isn't that just like a man !!)
Oh yeah, honey, I forgot to mention that !

So many fun little details I often miss. Someday I will ask Abraham why he didn't tell her.
Maybe God told him not to but it isn't recorded if He did.

PS - It's Easy

Just challenged you all to comment on my last post.
Just so you don't have the excuse you don't know how
IT"S EASY !
Just type on "comment" on the bottom of the post. Type in the comment box
Check where it says NAME/URL any type in your name
Then publish.

Sometimes it will give you a silly little code thing to type "what you see"
but you can figure that out then just proceed from there.

COME ON = BE BRAVE
TAKE THAT FIRST BIG STEP ! TALK TO ME........

What Kind of an "Oholic Are You ?

Come on, I know all of you out there are some kind of an 'oholic - I know that isn't a real word but you have to fill in the first part. Hadn't really thought too much about this but when we were on vacation it sort of hit me. (Do you always take the pens from the motels ? --And the shampoo and lotion even if you don't use it. You should see all of the cute little different shaped bottles of shampoo I have under my sink.
Do you go to home shows just to see what kind of gimmicks they give away (with their name on it, of course) You know all of the little freebies that you probably never use....
Or can you never pass up a new bag or container (or whatever your 'ohlic is) of some kind at a garage sale. After all, it is only 50 cents and I just might need it sometime. Purses just jump off of the shelf into my cart at stores. They really need to train them to stay put when they display them. MY garage sales are usually full of ones that I found out I really didn't need. My sock drawers are FULL but then they have such cute sox now days and EVERYONE knows that your sox must match your shirt so it takes a lot of them. (And my scrapbook room - we won't even go there !!!)
But come on - be real and honest - you all have something you collect whether you need it or not. Come on - fess up. I rarely ever hear from any of you so BE BRAVE - BE BOLD - EXPOSE YOURSELVES - LEAVE ME A COMMENT. WOW, does that scare you.... I know some of you read my blog because I often hear "Oh I heard that because I read it on your blog.
SO I know you are there but lurking in the shadows. Cathy bribes people with prizes just to draw them out of the woodwork. I'm also too cheap to do that. Pretty sad, huh !
But back to addictions and and 'oholics guess we all have our odd little quirks in life.
But then, whatever, at least I'm not out there sitting in all those casinos we saw on vacation wasting my money. I'm just too cheap to give up the money in my hot little hand to try because I know those big fancy places are not built without lots of customer money... Face it - chances of a BIG win is pretty slim. And then if one does win, there is the greed of maybe I can get more and so go on until all you won is gone too. So whatever --- we all have our vices.
So I'm off today to the animal shelter to catch up on two missed weeks of being a "kittyoholic."
But that's a fun one I'm not giving up.

ME HOME TOO !

I just checked Aubrianne's blog and she said she guessed she should blog and tell everyone she made it home -- duh --- guess I should be telling you we are home too.
Made it home a day early actually. We were heading out from Carson City to Grants Pass when we noticed our motel reservation there was accidentally made for Monday night not Sunday night so when we got there we decided we would just drive on thru to Eugene instead of stopping there. So we cancelled our Monday reservation and put in a 500+ mile day and arrived in Eugene about 7:30 or so. It worked out better for everyone as Ken and La Chel had a really busy day Monday and wouldn't have been home until Monday at dinnertime so we would have had all day to waste until we would get to see them.
It was so good to see Aubrianne again and we got to look at a lot of her pictures that night.
We got to see pictures of some of her friends and all the families she stayed with and also some fantastic shots from Rome and her other extra excursions before she left Slovakia.
Didn't have time to look at all of her pictures and will look forward to seeing more at another time.
So we are home and getting back into our routine again. Lots of things on the agenda coming up so we are back to life at home. Fun to be gone - had a great time - but love being home again !!
Chester was glad we were home too !!
Hugs to all !

Forty-Eight Years and Counting

Can't believe it....48 years ! When I walked down that aisle so many years ago I never dreamed it would go so fast. Unbelieveable but here we are as of last Wednesday (the 18th ) It as been such a fun road to travel. With family there to support us and three wonderful children to light up our lives it has been a blast to say the least. Oh sure, there have been some rough times and everyone has their ups and downs but when the Lord entered our lives five years after we were married we found a whole new realm of our traveling on this good old earth.
We had a really fun anniversary this year - very different as we were on vacation and spent a really great day in Fresno, California celebrating. We were staying in Oakhurst for several nights and had just finished our visit to Yosemite and decided to drive into Fresno for the day. It was only about 50 miles from our motel. Years ago when we visited Bill and Willa Mitchell there they had taken us to a dinner theatre and we wondered if it would still be there so after some checking found out they were still there and open..... So we had a very delightful evening with a delicious buffet dinner and then watching a great performance of "Annie Get Your Gun" live on stage. What made it even more fun was we sat a the same table with a family that was celebrating their kids engagement so thru the evening we toasted them and they all toasted us. They were Christians too. Their wedding will be the first on November. It was just a really cool evening. We got back to the motel a little late but it was a beautiful warm evening so the drive was very nice coming back too.
Tonight we are in Carson City, Nevada. Got the capitol pics this am then drove up to Virginia City to play around. Tomorrow we will do some things here in Carson city and maybe drive up to Reno just for fun if we have time. The weather has been hot every day.... LOTS and LOTS of sunshine of course. It was 90 today and supposed to be 93 tomorrow!
Have a great day everyone !

Stay on Your Side of the Road Please

I haven't blogged since we have been on vacation because we have been sending our e-mails and I think everyone that reads my blog is on our e-mail list anyway.
But this afternoon we are in Carson City and Bob is taking a nap so I will take time to jot off a note here. We had a beautiful drive today (if not a little "scary" at times) Our "lady" routed us up to Carson City on a route that looked quite a bit out of the way so we changed her mind and found a closer route. Closer yes and a bit more "interesting" to say the least.
If you ever decide to travel Hiway 4 from Yosemite to Carson City prepare yourself for quite an experience. It started out as a very windy horseshoe curved road but a nice wide road....
Took us a little longer than we planned and stopped for lunch at a cute little sandwich shop in Arnold, California.... glad the windy road was behind us - it was such a long windy road and miles from anywhere of any size. Asked the gal in the sandwich shop what they did for excitement up there and she said"work,, and we like to swim in the river. (She was just a young gal)
Sitting at the table next to us two young people were playing chess. Guess that is the exciting thing to do in the little wayside called Arnold, California. HOWEVER, little did we know this was not the end of this adventure. Later we were glad we had lunch there as we weren't "out of the woods" or down the mountain yet - in fact - it was just the beginning. As we headed on there was a sign saying something to the effect of ---- Very steep, windy, narrow road, not recommended for rigs longer than 23 feet in length. OK no problem, right, with our little Honda. What an exciting beautiful trip it ended up to be. It WAS a VERY steep, windy and narrow road..didn't even have a center line down it. Guess they figured we would feel guilty driving over it going around some of the corners hoping no one was coming the other direction. Also it was over the Sierra Nevada moutains so the drop off was RIGHT THERE and guess what - they don't believe in guard rails in California. At least not on this road. It was beautiful and after being in busy California around Sacramento was a quiet, gorgeous drive but quite a "pay attention to the road" situation for Bob around all those curves. It sort of puts you in touch with the beautiful creation God made before man got ahold of it and made the concrete jungles. But if you are in a hurry, listen to your GPS and trust her to get you where you want to go. It was indeed an interesting drive : ) Tonight we are in Carson City and will be off to get our second capitol tomorrow.

JUNEUARY

That's what the news calls our weather - I agree ! January in June.
Heard someone comment the other day they were really tired of this weather.
He was asked how long he has lived here. His reply "All My Life!" Yes, even the locals are getting tired of this spring. We did have summer though - one weekend in May -It actually got the upper 80's in Astoria. Those poor people who were out of town that weekend totally missed summer this year : ( But now school is out so it has to rain a bit before it can clear up!
Anyway we are on our way in two days to find some summer and land sakes is it ever out there. Bob just checked Sacramento (our first stop for several days) It is in the 90's and 100's. OK folks - Let's be realistic - we would totally be happy with mid 80's !! Or even upper 70's so we coastal people won't melt as we try to enjoy their city. But guess we shouldn't complain - we are seeking summer. Looks like we are going to get it. I just took out one pair of long pants and replaced it with another pair of capri's.
We actually enjoy our automatic air conditioning here on the coast but this year has been a bit trying even for us. We had another slight wind storm one day this week and one of the weakened trees came down on Hiway 101 between Cannon Beach and Seaside and hit a car. The road was blocked for some time but no one was injured. Now we have to contend with all the trees that almost toppled in the "big" storm and watch all those that are were on the verge of going over topple at the slightest wind. It has been a year to remember weather wise.
Chester came in the other night to "go to bed" and we just had to laugh and laugh at him. He had been out hunting I guess and it was pouring down rain. He looked so pitiful - he looked like he had been dunked in a barrel of water. He looked very skinny with his hair soaked on his back but his head and mane stuck out like little points sort like he had stuck a paw in an electric outlet.
Needless to say he got a GOOD rubdown before he was allowed on the bed.
OK - I'm off. Have lots to do today to get ready to go. Probably won't be back here before we leave. We have wifi at most if not all of our motels along the way so may check in somewhere along the way. WE'RE OFF TO FIND SUMMER !!

New Love

I was just reading Cathy's blog about Warren at 70 years twitterpated and anticipating a new marriage. It IS refreshing to be around people with that new love. As you know we were with Mark and Jill this weekend who at 50 years (for Mark) and 43 (for Jill) were united in marriage (each for the first time) in January of this year. . Interestingly enough that is almost the amount of time we have been married. (not quite - we're up to 48 this month) But as Cathy said it is fun to be around people who have just found each other. Always brings back memories. 48 years ago we had the world by the tail and was off on our own adventure which is still exciting and fun even after all this time. There is never a dull moment it seems. The love never dies it just matures from the twitterpated to the solid rock of marriage and the realization of how that love can grow each year.
We had a delightful time with Mark and Jill. We had about 40 people out for the reception and everyone had a great time meeting Jill for the first time. She is a real sweetheart. They stayed until Monday about noon then headed on back to Coquille. I made them a scrapbook of Mark's life since we have known him (met him in 1982) for a wedding present. Now let me tell you, he IS NOT an easy person to scrapbook. He has been in so many countries back and forth, had so many graduations from assorted colleges, seminarys etc that they all get confusing. Hopefully I got them all in the proper order. I made it for Mark but also to help Jill catch up on his life prior to their meeting. It was a delight to make and I think they enjoyed receiving it.
So far the rest of this week has been another busy one. We have had something every day including a day back to Portland to replace one part of his new computer that wasn't working and today a trip to Longview to the Honda dealer to see why our airbag light is now on continually and the book says take it to the dealer immediately as there is something wrong. We are to leave on vacation next Friday so needed to have it checked out. The time has g0ne so quickly it doesn't seem it is almost time to begin packing.
Speaking of time, I'm off to begin my list for the day.
Have a great day everyone !

Big Stuffed Dalmatians : )

This weekend is a busy one to say the least -
The annual Amateur Radio Convention is in Seaside all weekend, with a benefit speghetti dinner Friday night, there is a concert by the Columbia River Brass Quintet Saturday night and Sunday night is our reception for Mark and Jill at the church which we are pretty much in charge of.
But "busy" is fun.

We're now half way thru all these events. The dinner went great. We got down there a little after three and got home about 9:30 or 10. Didn't have as many as was planned but it ran 300 - 350. All we knew was they were lined up around the corner and we had no idea where the end was but the line didn't go away until about 7:30 and the doors at 5. Some people
straggled in after that but that was when the line around the corner ended. Bob ran the cash register and I handed out the door prize tickets as they came in. We did have a break to eat but that was about it. They had so many door prizes donated, they were calling off numbers about every 30 minutes at first - then at the end about every 10 minutes to give them all away. They had gobs of raffle items so needless to say, they did well on the money end. They really needed it because a lot of the equipment, antennas etc was lost during the storm so some of that can be replaced. It took a lot of volunteer help to pull this off but it was success enough to plan on one again next year.
It was kind of cool because it was in the Seaside Fire Station so they just moved the fire engines out in the parking area in front and we got to see all their equipment, hats, coats etc all lined up hanging on the walls ready to go and even had a call for the ambulance to go out on while we were there. (They have a big stuffed dalmatian in the office - he rides on the fire engines in parades) Really Cool !

Bob was back down to seminars etc on and off all day yesterday....he will go back after church today for the drawings etc. The concert was fun last night. Just a group of guys (in nice shirts and ties, how refreshing - seems you see mostly blue jeans often full of holes on everyone nowdays even as performers.) They were all young men, one of them was Allan Stromquist, whom we are assuming is part of the Stromquist family from the high school here as they said he was from Astoria. Fun concert with some really neat songs.

Tonight is the final event of the weekend. Mark and Jill will be here after church today and we will get to celebrate again with them and get to know Jill a little better. They have to head home tomorrow though. He said he had so many weekends off flying back and forth to Cincinnatti while they were courting that he is out of vacation time. Will give a report on that later....

Hope everyone is having as much fun this weekend as we are.
Hugs to all

Indiana Jones

We went to see the new Indiana Jones movie yesterday. We waited several days because we figured it would be busy. We were right. We almost got claustraphobic !!! There were 43 people in the theatre - two of which were sitting in OUR seats.
Yes, we are spoiled - we always go to the matinee and we feel crowded with the four or maybe even five (on a good day) people in the theatre with us. Can you imagine that. Not many people go on weekdays late afternoon. Ocassionally we have the theatre to ourselves. (the fun of being retired) Makes us remember the fun days of working at the theatre when we met. We would go up in the balcony (which was closed except for really busy days) and watch movies alone. Really cool ! The manager got mad though if we took our hamburgers up there because the french fries would smell.
Guess theatres just never got out of our blood ! Too many fun memories of when we worked together when we were dating. We are so excited to see our D & R theatre in Aberdeen when they get done restoring it. That is where we met. Had our first kiss backstage on New Years Eve 1957. How's that for a memory! They had the new marque up when we were in Aberdeen last fall. Haven't heard any more news of how it is coming along now. It is a very beautiful theatre inside and I hope they restore it basically like it was in it's hayday.
It is so interesting how minds work alike after 48 years of sharing life together.... We saw a really shiny, totally polished black car in town the other day and were both quiet for a minute and then Bob said "Does that make you think of Mr. Evans?" My mind was just pondering the thought but I hadn't mentioned anything yet. Mr Evans was our boss at the theatre. He drove the shiniest black car anyone had ever seen and he had a special parking spot in front of the theatre and no one dared to park there when he was in. It wasn't marked but everyone knew NO ONE parks there but Mr Evans. He kept the car absolutely spotless, I never saw a speck of dirt on it.
Anyway back to Indiana Jones. Very typical - constant chases, fighting, swinging from trees, going over three waterfalls - coming out dripping wet and yet having a match to light the torch when they get to the dark, scary, full of creepy things, cave....
Yes, Indiana Jones is older and not quite as agile as he was in the last movie and they don't hide the fact. He even makes some boo boos but then we all do as we get older. He's just my age in real life but I don't plan on jumping from car to car or get stuck in quicksand anymore. Like I ever did !)
As you can see, it is full of action and entertaining very "Supermanish" but that's what makes it fun. Good movie if you like action ! Worth taking in for a night (or afternoon) of entertainment.

Giraffes

This is one of my favorite pictures. It was taken at Wildlife Safari one year when we took Aubrianne and Tanner.

I am learning to put a picture in my blog and this is my first try... I named it "giraffe butts" !

Thirteen - No Wait, Fourteen

Fourteen - that's how many organizational books I found on my shelf recently !

Sounds like I'm a really organized person doesn't it ?
Not really BUT after all, I did find all fourteen books !
Actually I only have 13 but I have one really fantastic one that is duplicated.
Guess God really thought I needed that one. Have I read either of them , well -sort of. How about the other 13? Have I applied any of the suggestions, --- not sure about that. BUT I love thinking I am organized. Everybody thinks I am.(boy, do I have them fooled) Linda Pattison always said everyone thought she was so organized but she had to be to find anything because she was so unorganized. That's sort of the way I feel most of the time.
So according to the dictionary the definition of organize is "to arrange in an orderly way - to make into a whole with unified and coherent relationships." That means, I guess, to get it all together in some sort of "make sense" order huh !
I usually have this 'get organized' kick in January. I just can't stand the house and go after
it with gusto. But for some reason that feeling has hung on into the month of May this year
and I still do not feel under control.
It's getting harder the older I get because when a person reaches a certain
age these "little gremlins" move into your house and they like to reach out and
grab things when you lay them down and run off with them. They do it right under your nose
and you never see them at all ! They usually put them back somewhere close when
you are not looking just to tease you or sometimes they just hide them away never
to be seen again.
Oh yes, I went down to our Weight Watchers storeroom the other day and labeled all
of the tubs we keep our product in so we know when we are running low and need to reorder
and labeled the drawers on our rolling cart so we can find the paperwork we need
in a hurry but that was only because it helps us be more efficient during the meetings
so that doesn't really count.
If I turn around and look at the left side of my desk, I have a paper holder thingy that is
running over with things I put there to "file later." The basket behind my chair runneth
over with magazines to be read. (at least they are in a basket!) I have dropped four
or five of the magazines I used to get for lack of time to read them. My scrapbooking tote sits waiting to be unloaded in my scrap room from last weekends crop. I haven't even had time to look at the pages I got done let alone compile the book. (Has to be done by next week so it will happen) There are just to many other things that are top priority this week.
Whoever said after you retire you will be bored with nothing to do !! My goal when I retired was to fold my clean clothes as soon as they come out of the dryer. Has that happened. Not really - maybe sometimes but that is something I can do later in the day when we are watching TV so they usually wait until then.
I do love to be organized - it feels so good to know where things are and be able to go
get them immediately. But sometimes I have to just go and replace something because
it has just disappeared.
Yes, my sox are sorted in my drawer by color but that is just because quite often I'm in a hurry in the morning to get somewhere and everyone knows your sox must match your shirt !
My biggest problem -- not putting things away immediately, thinking I will come back to do
it and it often just doesn't happen so I'm still working on that and in the meantime the "little gremlins' are having a blast in my house hiding things from me that I didn't put back right away.
Oh well, one of these days the garage project will HAVE to get started because Judi and I have our annual garage sale planned for July. That not only gets the garage straightened out but makes me go thru everything and get rid of a lot of stuff that is no longer necessary to clutter up the house.
After that I will again feel somewhat organized at least for a little while !

Mothers Day

Yesterday was Mothers Day. A day we celebrate important people in our lives. At least that was always how I felt about my Mom! She was my sweetheart and people loved her so... I miss her a lot and think of her often. I miss my mother-in-law too. She was very special in our lives. A very quiet gentle person and a little more reserved than my Mom but always there for us and a great mother-in -law! Her having two sons, I was her first daughter and that was fun to share with her. But they are both gone now and it is time for a new generation to share our lives.
We had a "most fun" day with the younger set as Cameron and Kate came down to spend some time here on the coast for their one year anniversary of dating. We had such a fun time with them. They brought me a beautiful bouquet of carnations for Mothers Day and for having them ( The treat was ours !) We visited over a big bowl of popcorn Saturday night, had breakfast at the Pig and Pancake Sunday morning (you can't come to Astoria without eating at the Pig and having their bacon.) Went to visit the big noisy sea lions on the 39th street dock and then walking thru the opening day of our Sunday Market. Thought of riding the trolley but Cameron said we can't do that unless Grandpa is driving and conducting so that will have to come at another time.
Then we ended our day by celebrating Bob's birthday with Chris and Jackie and Tom and Judi as (get this) last night was the only day in the next two weeks we could all get together. (are we too busy or what) Anyway Jackie and Christ brought dinner from the Bowpicker, we had angel food cake with lemon filling, visited and watched part of the video Bob took on our vacation in New England last fall. Looked mainly at the trolley museum in Kennebunkport, Maine as I had just finished a scrapbook album for him for his birthday full of trolley pictures from our Astoria trolley and also from the Kennebunkport trolley museum. It was a fun album to make and made me even more anxious to get to the rest of our fall vacation. Have a scrapbook crop coming up this weekend but it has another priority album I have to finish before I can start on our vacation. There just isn't enough hours in each day to do everything I want to do.
Life is good - lots of beautiful people in my life. What more could one ask for.
God has blessed us above and beyond expectations.

Birds in general

Just read Cathy's blog about her unusual little bird pecking at her window.
Birds are funny things. Our goldfinches are back but all the big birds keep eating the food so fast they hardly have time to come around. Our crazy birds take dust baths in the driveway -rolling around and around in flopping their wings. Don't know if it gets rid of mites or if they are just itchy or what but they look quite goofy and don't like to move when we want to drive out of the driveway.
Friday when I was driving into town down the side of the road just past our stoplight on 101 there was a mama duck with three little ducklings waddling along behind her. They were so cute They are the first ones I have seen this year.
Our eagles are still around. Didn't see them for awhile after our storm last fall. But they are back.
Bob said there was a beautiful one sitting on the pilings along the river when he drove trolley last week and it just sat there for several trips much to the liking of our cruise people visiting our area. What a show they make with their white bald heads gleaming in the light.
The cruise ships are really coming this year. We have already had a bunch and three more are coming in this week. They have limited them to one at a time in port for security reasons. It is hard to keep watch when so many are in port with limited available personnel.
Had a blast over the weekend at my scrapbook crop Friday night and Saturday. It was at Long Beach. Got lots done and just enjoyed the time with Jan Anderson to catch up and chat.
That's it for today. Just had noticed I hadn't checked in for a long time. Where does the time go and where did my thoughts go last week. Just nothing came to mind to post so I just sort of sat here feeling blank thoughts and couldn't think of anything to post. Have a good day everyone!

Capitol Quest

We're off again. Well not qute yet but just got our trip planned out for gaining two more capitols.

We will head out on June 13 to Sacramento, California. Then on to Yosemite National Park.
We have never been there. We tried once and got part way up and had car problems so had to leave and head on home. This time after our expensive little job on the Honda he better get us there with flying colors. Anyway we are looking forward to finally adding this to our National Park list too. Anybody been there that has some "have to do" things at the park?

Then we will head on to get the capitol at Carson City, Nevada - play around at Virginia City and Reno several days and head on home. We will be back on Monday, June 23
Hoping to maybe get another trip back East next year. We'll see. They are so much easier to get back there as the states are much closer together.

Then we should be home pretty much until our cruise in September....
Any and all are still welcome to join us for that. We are gathering a number of people
who have never cruised before so that should be fun.

The evening of June 1 we will be having a reception/open house for Mark and Jill Elefritz. All of Astoria has been waiting for a chance to meet this lucky lady who finally won Mark's heart after all these years of bachelorhood!

Home at last

Seems like ages since I have gotten a blog off because ....

We left early Friday am for Longview, took our car to the Honda dealer for his 90,000 mile
"surgery"..... They had him from 8:45 am until 3:30 pm so he is now in spanking new shape.
He will be around for awhile. Expensive but beats car payments!

Friday night we went to a show at the Columbia theatre in Longview with an illusionist.
Very entertaining and we appreciated him calling them illusions not magic !

Then on to Vancouver to spend the nite with Steve and Lorraine before heading to Eugene
Saturday morning for Tanners' school play. They performed Shakespear's "A Midsummer Nights Dream." VERY FUN ! Each performer looked like they were totally enjoying every minute of it as we all were too. (Ask Tanner about being a "wall.") She did a great job !!
Then had the privilage of attending the Ballet.Magnificat! performing The Scarlet Cord (version of Rahab) Sunday evening. What a treat that was! It is the ministry of Keith and Kathy Thibodeaux and we were privileged to spend some time with them as they were staying with Ken and La Chel. What a delightful couple, full of the love of the Lord ! It was a fantastic performance ! A total delight to watch.

Arrived home Monday evening and today got a phone call from Mark Elefritz and we got a date for them to come to Astoria to finally inroduce Jill to everyone around here. They will be coming on Sunday, June 1. We are looking forward to that.

So that has been our life the past few days. Back to normal again today and trying to catch up on some things.

PS Chester has a girl friend! When we got home the neighbors cat (we think) a cute little calico was rolling around and playing with him on our deck. Not sure what she was looking for but she won't get any cooperation from Chester : ) But they weren't fighting so guess she is good company for him.

Daughters

DAUGHTERS : )

Daughters are special people and today I have to tell you about one of mine. She is a very special young lady and she came into our lives when our son was in high school. He was turning out for the school play and rehearsals were after school so since we lived in the country and he was bussed to school it made sense for him to stay after without coming home first. Little did we know at that time that "staying after school" would change our lives. Because for some reason he chose to go to a certain young ladys house to wait for rehearsal.
One thing led to another and sure enough a few years later she made our life complete becoming our second daughter-in-law and the perfect wife for our Ken. Let me tell you it is always a little scary when your children begin to date. Parents always sort of begin to look at that person with different eyes and say to themselves "what if he/she is the one." Sometimes that can get a little scary. But each time this happened to us, we couldn't have been happier with their selection.
So back to our La Chel - she is a very special little lady to us and is a great match for Ken.
After all, Ken was never too interested in fixing things etc as he grew up and how many of you know a young lady that would buy a beautiful new dress for a prom and then returned it so she could buy a tool box full of tools. God does pick our mates to compliment us.
She fit into our family like a glove fits one's hand and we are so proud of her and she has now given us two more beautiful young ladies to have as our grandaughters.
You are a very special person in our lives La Chel - We love you
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY

Oh Dear, Oh Dear !

Oh Dear Me ! Yesterday was a busy morning with a 7 o'clock and a 9 o'clock obligation and then our internet was down in the afternoon so I missed getting an important message off to a very important person in my life.... One that arrrived way back on April 9 1964 ---- That's right our firstborn came into our lives. SO HAPPY "DAY LATE" BIRTHDAY, STEVE !!
What a very important day that was for both of us. Especially after having the loss of our first child thru a miscarriage in December of 1962. I wasn't very far along but it was still a hard thing.
We were living in Port Angeles and were in the Coast Guard at the time. Bob was out at sea for a month on the CG Cutter Winona and I was visiting Mom and Dad in Aberdeen for a spell and while he was gone we lost the baby. Being the first I think it was even harder as then you begin to question if this was just a fluke or were we going to be able to have children.

But our God is gracious and sure enough in July of 1963 while we were living in Seattle, Washington (Bob got out of the Coast Guard in February and had gotten a job working as a civilian for the Coast Guard at Base Seattle) we found out we were pregnant again.
Things were all fine and dandy and then.... we found out there was a job opening in Astoria, Oregon and we decided we didn't want to raise children in the big city so at eight months pregnant we transfered and moved to Astoria.

Now I would not recommend moving eight months into a pregnancy but it can be done. When you are young and crazy you do those sorts of things. Had lots of help and managed to get moved into a little house on Clover Lane (isn't that a fun address - when we lived in Wildwood, New Jersey we lived on 146 W Crocus Road, that was a fun address too - but I'm on a bunny trail now)
Back to my story, now moving into a new town expecting a baby in a month, finding a Dr was on the top of the list. I first went to one, I did not care for at all so I got the assistance of our neighbor who had two children and she directed me to the "Baby Dr" in town. Yes, our good old Dr Kettelkamp who delivered all three of our children.
You know, the first delivery is always sort of a "what have I gotten myself into" sort of experience as you are laying there with each contraction. But as usual God took control and Bob felt useful in the pre delivery room timing contractions (which I don't think the nurse ever looked at, it just gave him something to do to feel important)
So at 9:55 am April 9, 1964 Steven Glen came to join our family at a walloping ten pounds!
(I know, I know big babies run in our family. I was 10 pounds at birth, Ken our second born was 10 lbs 6 oz, and then there was our grandson Ethan who beat us all at 11 pounds 4 ounces born to our daughter, Cathy)
But back to Steve - What a blessing he was to us. We had been married almost four years. Bob had been on isolated duty for a year (which means no wives) in the Coast Guard in Alaska) so that slowed us down a bit on having children. So Steve was a precious bundle of joy for us when he arrived. He was the first grandson on Bob's side of the family and that was a special blessing too. All of the grandparents were totally taken in by him ! I can remember after he was born the nurse laying him in my arms and his eyebrows were shaped exactly like his Dad's. How cute!
We soon learned the ropes of parenthood with Arlene Graham, my neighbor, being there for all of my stupid new mother questions. After all, she had two children and had all the answers.
He was a good baby and was a total joy to us. Each new thing he would do was so fun to watch from his first words to his first steps and then watching him grow thru his childhood.
Now he has grown up into a fine young man, married a beautiful young lady, loves the Lord and serves Him well and has given us three precious young men for grandsons.
What could make parents more proud..... SO HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT BIRTHDAY, STEVE,
THANK YOU FOR BEING SUCH A GREAT SON - WE LOVE YOU.
Hugs to you and Lorraine and the boys !

Thank You Someone

Many years ago when Cathy and I were going to the YMCA to attend the Mom and Tot swim program I started attending an exercise program during the mornings she was in kindergarten.
We often just used the gym but occasionally on nice days in the spring, we would leave the Y and jog up to the corner on 11th and Irving where the road makes you go either left or right leaving a big hill with steps going up the hill. The steps went on both sides of a flower bed at the bottom then joined up a piece and went on up the hill.
Right in the middle of that flower bed was a pink flowering tree that was absolutely beautiful each spring. I looked forward to seeing it every year.
BUT LO AND BEHOLD ! The first time I went into town after our December storm
IT WAS GONE ! I MEAN REALLY GONE. THE STORM HAS TOTALLY WIPED IT OUT !
It was like losing an old friend...one I enjoyed every time I saw it. It made me sad !

Then one day recently I drove into town and guess what !!! That's right, someone has
replaced my big beautiful tree with a little sapling with his tag from the nursery still on the
trunk of the tree.... What a fun thing to find. My big friend tree is gone but I now have a new one to watch grow up and celebrate spring with me.

Sometimes change is hard but there is always new things to encourage us and let us know God cares about the little things in life and often will replace the things we love with new things for us to enjoy.

So welcome little tree and a big thank you to whoever put him there for me.

The Balance of Life

Can life really balance? That would be so cool but probably doesn't happen to us very often in this busy, busy time of living we are in nowdays.
What made me think of this is how much fun we had last week with the grandkids here....
Sometimes you forget how precious the sound is of children (and teenagers) laughing, and playing and yes even scrapping at each other. The house is alive and vibrant with questions like: Can I have a snack - Make him stop bugging me - Can I get on the computer - Can I set the table for you, Grandma - and even the simple little sounds as a young man quietly builds a a big lanky alien out of plastic sticks before anyone but me is up.
Yes, the cat hides for the week and we trip over the unending pile of shoes by the door and the poor dishwasher says "what are you doing to me?"but we love every minute of it. Hang in there all you parents. Enjoy your children because before you know it you will have the other side of the coin. (Thanks for coming with the kids, Cathy)
Yes, the quiet side..... Just as preciously needed as the noisy side but a balance would be nice.
Yes, we need the side where we can stop and reflect on God's Word and what He is doing in our life daily and just days when we can wake up and say "there is nothing I really have to do today.
Believe it or not, that rarely happens around here even though we are retired. It seems our days are busier than when we both worked but at least that is our option.
What happened to the days when people sat on their porches in the evenings and watch the sun go down. The neighbors would go for a walk and stop for a chat. (That was even before my time, I'm afraid, but it sounds great.) Everybody knew everybody in the neighborhood.....
Now how many of us know very many if any of our neighbors more than to just maybe wave as they drive out the driveway. There needs to be a balance of busyness and noise verses the quiet and comtemplative hours in our lives where we can examine where we are in life and where are we headed.
Our recent storm really brought this home to me because without lights, heat and many other things for 36 hours your perspective changes. You know what happened !!! People actually talked to each other, opened their homes to those in need, helped in community food kitchens to get people fed and donated time to be sure others were safe by manning amateur radios all over town 24 hours a day to keep people in touch with the world when they no communications with all the phone lines down (yes, even 911 was the first thing to go).
So from enjoying laughing children to having quiet times alone with God and others we need balance in our lives. Time to enjoy, time to reflect and just time to live the lives God intended us to live - with balance in all things.
It's the tyranny of the urgent, folks ---- The urgent will always demand our attention and it must be done but the important sits quietly aside waiting for us to make time for it.

What is important in your life? MAKE time for it - whether it is taking time to love your kids or grandkids, visiting people, spending time alone with God, taking time to really talk to your spouse or friends without distractions or just personal time to think about where you are in life and how can you improve the quality time of you're own life or someone else's life you love.
How is your balance ??

Don'tcha love surprises !

Surprises are fun not matter what shape they come in. I think everyone loves them.
Come on, girls, isn't it fun when your husband comes home with a dozen red roses for no reason at all. I know that one made brownie points for my husband when he did that way back when he was working out of town a lot and had been gone for some time. One dozen long stemmed red roses. How could he go wrong there ! Very impresssive it was, I must say !
Anyway, today I sat here looking at my e-mail etc and thought I really should blog something but all was a blank. So I got up and started doing other things. I guess God looked down and said "OK, I guess I'll give her a surprise and she can blog that.
So about an hour ago He started sending big - I mean BIG - silver dollar size snowflakes coming down. Like, I mean, this is six days into spring - Jackie mowed our lawn twice already this year -and believe it or not this is our first snowflakes of the year (including all fall and winter of 2007) Is that a surprise or what !!
But He knows I love snowflakes so I think he did it just for me. It has been snowing big flakes every since and the lawn and trees are all white. My birdies are scuddling under the trees and Chester is sleeping under the house, not on the porch in the sun like he has been doing in the afternoons. Bob put gloves on and took a cup of hot coffee instead of a soda to do his lightship duty this afternoon.
So I finished my WW lesson for tomorrow night, now I'm home alone, the house is quiet, soft music is playing, just fixed myself a latte. What a beautiful afternoon. Just wanted to share this afternoon with you all !
Hope you are all having a good one too !

It's daffodil time

I have two beautiful tubs of daffodils blooming outside of my door. I love daffodils. When I visited Steve and Lorraine the spring of 1989 (when Cameron was born) to help out for awhile there were no daffodils. I had not realized that daffodils bulbs had to have cold weather to be able to bloom I learned not everybody has God's gift of daffodils in the spring. I love daffodils. I love spring (fall is still my favorite season but I do enjoy spring too)

One of the main reasons I love spring so much is it makes me think of my Mom (Grandma Young to most of you). She always loved spring and I see her in every daffodil, tulip and lilac bush when they bloom. She would sometimes say to me as she got older, "Just don't forget me after I'm gone. " As if I ever could. She was such a special person and I still miss her terribly. It doesn't seem possible she has been with the Lord now for 7 1/2 years.

The times I really miss her is when something special happens. I find myself thinking how much she would have enjoyed this or that if she could have been there. Especially when we go to things the grandkids are doing and knowing how proud she would have been of them . She would have just been thrilled to watch Aubrianne and Tanner dance. She loved to watch dancing on TV. And she would have enjoyed our energetic Savanna on the soccer field and she would have been so proud to have watched Cameron and Aubrianne graduate last spring. She would have claimed hugs from Spencer and Riley and Kyler and Ethan any chance she could have. I am so glad that all of our grandchildren were born before she left us so she did get to see them all. Ethan was just a baby but she still got to hold him and love him for a short while. They would all have enjoyed her so much.

She was just that type of person she was. People loved her. Kids loved her. I can not even remember how often I would come home from school and find one of Jean's friends sitting at the table with Mom even when Jean wasn't at home just talking to Mom. My girlfriends went to visit her long after I was married and out of town just to be with her. She was quiet and behind the scenes but so full of love and gentleness and always ready to listen.

Many times when something special happens I still find myself wanting to share it with her but that will have to wait and when we get together again it's a good thing we will have eternity to talk because we will have so much to catch up on.

Love you , Mom. - Enjoy the daffodils in heaven - I'll be along eventually and we'll catch up.

Do angels drive SUV's ?

We drove over to Spokane on Friday last week and spent the weekend with Cathy, Asia and the kids. It was so fun to watch Ethan in his wrestling match. He did such a great job. He is quite the go getter ! Came away with a silver medal. GO, ETHAN ! Gold next time ?
We headed home Monday am early as I had a class at 6:30 I wanted to be back for. No problem - we do that often always arriving on time.
BUT - heading down the freeway about 70 miles or so we began to hear a loud roar. We both looked front and back for the truck we expected to see - but lo and behold - NO truck.
What is that noise !! I looked up as it sounded like a huge airplane going overhead.
No airplane ! Everything seemed fine except for this loud roaring sound.
Bob pulled over, hopped out to check things and found our right front tire flatter than a pancake.
No indication of a flat = no flop, flop of rubber you would expect - no pulling of the car to the right which could have been serious doing 70 down the freeway. Just the loud roar !
So the trunk was unloaded - jack and tools brought out and Bob began to undo the lug bolts.
The cars and trucks were zipping by, of course, everyone hurrying as the world does now a days.
Then suddenly this big black SUV lurked on the horizon and the next thing we knew he pulled over ahead of our car - the door opened and this big strong young man jumped out heading toward us saying "Everything under control or could you use some help ?" Bob said, "No, I think we are ok." "Well" he continued " Why don't you go get your spare and I'll loosen those for you."
Upon the arrival of the tire, he promptly took it, plopped it on the wheel, tightened everything up, shook hands and was off after letting me give him a hug. All in about 15 minutes.
"Angels do appear out of no where !"

Anway we proceeded on our little donut tire (which by the way had about 20 pounds of air left in it ) When did you last check the air in your spare ?? Limped to the next service station, got some air - then proceeded to good old Les Schwab in the Dalles and ended up buying two new front tires. They were both worn on the inside due to being out of alignment he said.
I arrived about 15 minutes late for my class and they were waiting for me so it all worked out great. We do have a great God. He really does care about every little detail of our lives and is always there when we need him !

Aristarchus ? ?

Do you know who he is. Along with Tychicus, Epaphras and Justus.
All very special people to the Apostle Paul in the book of Colossians.

As I read thru these guys names this am during my quiet time suddenly I got to thinking
about these very long some unpronouncable names of people in the Bible.
I realized I tend to skip over a lot of them in certain parts of Scripture not
really thinking about them being just as real as us and holding a
very special place in history and many times in our future.

Take the "begats" for instance. We get to Leviticus in a 'read thru the Bible"
attempt and many times it is easy to get bogged down during this section.
And yet every word and name in Scripture is put there for a very specific
reason.

Can you imagine how you would feel if your name was included in the Holy
Bible - WOW - These guys and gals are very important.
I'm afraid I have some research to do before I get up there and one of them
heads over to me and asks me how I felt about his/her comment or his/her story
that was related in one of the books of the Bible.

How very special every person is that's listed in Scripture. Take note
next time you get to reading and check them out. Who were they related to, what can we learn from them and how can we glean more information about our precious Lord because
of their relationship to Him. What could be more special than to have that personal
relationship with our God and Savior in the flesh!
Gives me goosebumps just to think of having that opportunity.

March 6 - A Special Day

Wow !
41 years ago today I was in St Mary's hospital here in town waiting for my second son to arrive.
How time flies. He didn't arrive until 2 o'clock in the afternoon but I had already been there for some time by 8:45 AM.

I can remember dropping Steve off at a neighbor's house where he was going to stay but when we got there we had forgotten to bring his big stuffed "purple mouse" so in spite of being in labor we had to go back to get it before he would quit crying about not having his mouse with him. He was sort of his security blanket. Fortunately, it wasn't far back to the house.

Finally my big ten pound 6 ounce baby boy arrived. That was before the days when Dad's were allowed in the delivery room so I bopped this young man out all by myself (with Dr Kettlekamp's help of course) That dear man delivered just about every baby born in this town
so he was well qualified.

That was also when we spent three days or so in the hospital before arriving home which wasn't really such a bad idea. Gave us time to get acquainted with our new sweet little guy and also get some rest before bringing him home to big brother, meals, night feedings, diaper changing and all of the other tasks a new baby brings into the house. I can still remember the soft feel of his little head I would stroke as he was feeding in the wee hours of the night when just he and I were up.

I remember it snowed the day we brought him home. March is late for snow here and it didn't amount to anything but it was pretty coming down as we brought him home in our big old beige station wagon to our home on Dow Road.

What a joyous time that was. He was a good baby in spite of it being hard to keep him filled up.
He emptied the little baby bottles quite easily (that was before breast feeding was in)
and there was lots of formula to fix each day.

But those days are precious to us and so is the beautiful young man he has turned into.
We are so proud on him and his family and their walk with God as they travel thru life.
What more could parents ask for. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEN.

PRECIOUS MEMORIES TO BE SAVORED ALWAYS !

Yes, March 6 will always be a very special day for me !!

Mark and Jill

We had the privilege of attending a reception for Mark and Jill Sunday night in Portland.
What a special evening to be able to meet the young lady (finally) who knocked him off his feet and won his heart. I used to tell him when he would begin to question his relationship with someone that he had to quit analyzing the whole situation and just "fall head over heels in love"
and quit questioning so much. Then finally one day last summer he called me and said "Know what, you were right!" That lucky young lady is Jill.

Now they are married and that long awaited event spurred a special ceremony Sunday night with four members of the past Bible Baptist "Blues Brothers" group from the 80's that were at the reception officially announcing their group had their MISSION ACCOMPLISHED after all these years. Each and every member of the official Blues Brothers was finally married.
The Blues Brothers name was officially set to see all the unmarried Bible Baptist young men married so they would be 'blue no more' - It took awhile but was finally accomplished in January when Mark got married ! It was quite a night of celebration to see to that mission succeed!

Jill is a very special young lady and we look forward to having her in the family. They will be coming to Astoria to meet everyone up here as soon as we can get a date set.

SO after 25 years of praying for this young lady, I finally know who she is and she was worth the wait. We do have a faithful God. Never give up when you ask for something and it just doesn't seem to happen. It is all in God's timing !!