one or two more!

just a couple more!

well, we'll try again for the pictures!

Christmas time!

Here are some pictures of our family during the Christmas holiday. My mother and father came and stayed a couple of days before Christmas, and I'm very happy they did! We had a great time and they got to see half of the grandkids and families. We ate alot, talked alot and just had a great time!
Present: Erik, Angela and kids(Jeff,Calista, Carson and Ewan); Jared and Ashley and Madison; Stu, and I. Oh, and Boo, the Schnauzer!

new granddaughter

I have been able, for the last couple of weeks, of staying with Kelli and family, while awaiting the entrance of a new granddaughter!

Stu and I helped Kelli and Allen move into their brand spanking new home. (I have to say I am envious- new everything- no funny old house smells- no wood stove to stoke every day....)

Then I stayed and we waited for the baby.

She was born Nov. 28th at 12:09 am. Her name is Cassidy and she is darling! Very healthy, and just plain fun to hold!

Keyton is dealing pretty well. It's hard for a little guy who has been #1 for so long, to now share the parents with another person! But as you can see- being superman, spiderman, or a pirate can help!

I had a good time doing things with Kelli. We get along well...maybe because we both like the twilight stuff!!!!!

woo hoo

Woo Hoo for Halloween! Stu and I participated in our Ward's annual "Trunk or Treat" again this year. We dress up, decorate our trunk, eat soup and pumpkin pie, and then stand around outside and hand out halloween goodies in the parking lot!!I'm sure some of you also have this kind of activity at your church!

Anyway, Stu tried something this year kind of as a joke. We were playing pinochle at Beattie's home on night and Doug and Stu were trying to come up with a costume for Stu. Stu wanted to wear a pig nose and a pair of wings, and go as "swine flew"...ahem....but I didn't have a pig nose or wings, so Doug, being a "punster" came up with this costume for Stu. Yes, you have to think about it a little, but it is funny!

I went as a mechanic...funny how no one recognizes me unless I talk....guess I am a convincing man!

Anyway, it was fun. Yesterday, I went downtown with Erik,Angela and kids, and Jared, Ashley and Madison, for the annual trick or treating around downtown Port Angeles. It was VERY crowded...Jeff said he was going "TOO SLOW!" I had Madison and Carsons' hands for part of the walk. The kids all had great costumes, and I'm sure Angela and Ashley will post those on their blogs. Thank you, too, to Harrison who sent me a picture of him being a zombie?, and Keyton and Allen as Spiderman Sr. and Jr.

Very fun for me!!!

Hope your Halloween was great, too!!!

more change

Tuesday, we had a new fireplace insert put in. We had had the old one for 27 years- it was working at 30% efficiency, and as a result, I was throwing wood in it every 1/2 hour in the cold months. They say this new one will have 70% efficiency. We'll see. I am still "breaking it in"- I have to make 6 separate fires and let them go out each time to "cure" the paint. Hmmmm....sure is a lot of rigamarole every time we get something new. What happened to ,"put it in your house and use it" .......anyway. It cost a bundle, but I think it will make us more comfortable and less hassled.

We are now ready for winter- wood in, gutters cleaned, yard winterized, etc....reminds me of that scripture from Doctrine and Covenants- "if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear..." Yep, except I am always looking at my food storage and thinking- "I could use a little more of this-".

Anyway-

Hope your winter preparations are underway. It's nice to be warm, fed and secure!

old is new again

Here is a picture of Madison, (Jared and Ashley's 20 mos. old) riding on my horse!!!I had this horse when I was her age- it's held up well, except for a few places where the paint has worn off!

She loves it- rides hard and fast, and calls it her "see-see".

Fun times!

hmmmmmm

For all of you who are "farmers" or those who have green thumbs- I envy your talent!!

Stu and I have decided we have "brown" thumbs. The only things that grow well in our yard are the "hardy" or "difficult to kill" variety of plants.

Here is an illustration. I do have to admit the carrots are weird because I didn't thin them when I should have, BUT our carrots look like this, and the pears on our tree are about 4 inches long, look like this and are virtually inedible.

Hmmmmmmm...guess we'll stick to gladiolas, irises, the forest plants that grow naturally here, and maybe roses, if I'm diligent!!!!

one last summer thing

The end of August brought one more fun thing. Stu is the 11 year old scoutmaster, and since the boys get to go on 3 campouts a year, (with their fathers there) Stu and the dads took the boys on one on August 28-29th. They were working on their cooking merit badge, and needed 3 people to cook for, each. Stu asked me to go and be that 3rd person for our grandson, Jeff. We drove a long way up Deer Park road(all the way to the top) to camp. The road was dirt, narrow, and had a cliff on one side. Glad I wasn't driving! The campground was nice- an outhouse not too far away, and Stu had just bought us a new tent. The boys slept in a three sided log cabin. The dads, slept in tents. It was fun- enjoyed being there, except one boy was up all night sick. ( I heard it all!!!)

There was no water- you had to bring your own, but the views were spectacular, and the company was good. I do like camping, as long as I'm not in charge!!

Pictures of a good day

This last Saturday was Jared's and Ashley's wedding. They had it at Carrie Blake Park in Sequim. The weather was good, ( a little breezy, but good) the ceremony went VERY well, the bride was beautiful, and the groom didn't faint or get sick!!!

Here are a few pictures from my camera. You should check out Ashley's blog, listed on my blog called "this and that".

It was fun having all the kids and grandkids here! All the grandkids got along famously(with help from babysitter helper, Jeff) and we had lots of food, lots of exploring the yard, and lots of memories made!

some success

We have had a very strange summer as far as weather goes. It was HOT and dry for most of July, and now, in August, it is cold and wet....hmmm. Stu and I readily admit that we are NOT farmers, thus have hits and misses with the yard and garden.

I am putting some pictures of our "hits" on this blog. My garden has done well. The tall flowers are a packet from the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada. I also LOVE poppies, and they have done well. The gladiolas and the California poppies are doing well, as is the apple tree. Funny, but we have mushrooms in the dried up grass in the yard. Go figure!

pioneer trek

Last weekend, Stu and I had the opportunity to take part in our Stake Youth Conference Pioneer trek. It was held at the Pysht tree farm between Joyce and Clallam Bay, Washington.

(about an hour from our house, west)

Stu was asked to portray Brigham Young (and I was wife #1, the ONLY one....). He welcomed them , assigned them into companies, sent them off to another location to get their handcarts . We then went back two days later to meet them as they came into "imigration canyon". We walked about 5 miles altogether- finally met up with the youth after walking UP the "imigration canyon" road= logging road-gravelly, tight curves- very steep. Stu (Brigham) welcomed them and we walked down with the last group. It was fun seeing the teamwork, the care the kids had for each other, and how well the Ma's and Pa's let the youth make decisions.

It was eye-opening for a lot of the youth and leaders. We are grateful for our ancestors and those who sacrificed so much for their beliefs! ( I liked wearing a dress, no makeup and just being a "pioneer".)

three more

need to put three more pictures in: Madison at the beach, Grandma at the beach, and the place where the birds made the new nest!

to be young again

Had a VERY enjoyable time at Crescent Beach last week. Kelli was up visiting with Keyton, and I was watching Madison. We decided to go to the beach, because it was nice, and the tide was supposed to be pretty low.

It was a bit of a hike to the water, but it was worth it! I love the beach, the smell of the ocean,and the sound of the waves. Madison loved walking in the water, even though the seaweed and sticks had come onto the beach, too. Keyton loved playing with a stick in the sand, and walking in the creek water- which was warmer and non salt!

It felt good being there, and I loved watching the little kids enjoy something new !

The other pictures I am showing are one of Madison's hadprints on the sliding glass door(courtesy of Ashley's cell phone!) (which I will miss presently, as their house is about done) and my big mistake of the spring.

I saw a bird's nest in my rhodedendron. I watched for days and never saw a bird in it, so I took the nest out, and to my surprise, there were three eggs in it! I felt terrible and put the nest back, but you know, it didn't fit the same and the mom never came back.(good thing we aren't like birds!)

Luckily, the birds decided to give it another try, albeit also a strange place, in our ornamental crabapple tree. Three little heads make lots of noise, and have ugly little top knots of feathers!

The parents are diligent, so I must be diligent also and keep the tree watered so the baby birds don't cook up in that tree!

So, hooray for beaches. fingerprints and baby birds!

another world

Well, we just got back from our Greeley-Central America trip. It was Stu's dream trip (minus the backpacking, riding on chicken busses, and staying in hostels). We first visited Timm and Megan and kids, and had a wonderful, bike riding and out to eat time!!It was very fun for me!

I will post one picture of Harrison- when there is company staying, he comes down sometime in the early monring, and camps out in front of the guest room door, waiting for the guests to wake up..very fun!

The next part of our trip, we flew to Managua, Nicaragua. It was very hot, and the people, well, it seemed like most of them, were very poor. The houses were made of tin and cardboard, and there were many people living in them. The garbage was awful....made me appreciate what we have, and feel a little guilty for what we waste. The people were nice, but I wish Erik had been with us to be our translator. Neither Stu nor I speak Spanish, so sometimes it was a challenge.

We climbed a volcano the next day. (it was also hot) The guide was nice- his name was Oscar.

I will put a picture of the volcano here, too, and the almost straight up and down side we had to go down....ack!

After Nicaragua, we went to a little island off of Belize, called Caye Caulker. 3 miles long, a mile wide. English speaking, and a mix of Brits who moved there, black caribbean people, and native hispanics. (with some spanish people, too) Had fun trying the different restaurants and going snorkeling . Stu went scuba diving one day. The wind blew and it was tolerable, but when it was still.....hot, muggy and mosquitoes by the swarm!!

After that, we went to a place an hour from Belize city to a little resort/cabin/cabana called Iguana Junction. The proprietors were Retired Brits- there were two other families staying there, and we shared breakfasts and dinners with all of them. It was fun! Loved the people and the food! We went innertubing through a cave with a very nice guide name Luis. We liked him and the tour so well, we went back for another trip before we left for home. We went to some pools one day and sat in the water(it was very hot there, too), and also went to Tikal, some Mayan ruins that were in Guatamala. Getting through the border was a hassle, and our driver, Hugh had his work cut out for him. That country is poor like Nicaragua. Belize is rich in comparison. Our guide in the ruins was weird.....oh well, you can't have good ones all the time!

We also had several missionary opportunities, as people we met had some interesting ideas about the church, so we tried to tell them what we really believe, and not what other people tell them.

Besides losing our lugguge for awhile and dealing with the heat, it was a fun and enlightening trip. I am glad we did it, but I'm also glad to be home!!

like us

While we were traveling from Church historical site to another, we drove through several Amish communities in Ohio. How fun to see the horse and buggies and see their clean and well taken care of homes. You can tell right away if the home you drive past is owned by the Amish- no motor vehicles outside, clothes drying on lines, and little children with dresses or pants with suspenders. Very fun.

We stopped at several Amish furniture stores to look for a couch, but ended up shopping for a dining room table and chairs. Talk about workmanship and pride in their art! The quality was astounding, and the prices were VERY reasonable. We almost got a set, until we found out that the shipping from Ohio, would've been as much as the set was worth....hmmm. couldn't swing that!

If I had a lot of money, I would buy all my furniture from them. It will last forever! We also talked to one of the store owners. His name was John. He didn't have electricity in the store- he had gas lanterns. They don't have any computers or other technology unless run on batteries, because they don't use electricity. To call someone, he had a building separate from the store with a cell phone in it. Very interesting. Stu, being Stu, asked why some of the Amish have cars and such, and some don't . He said it depends on the family(congregation) whether they use more modern things. I liked him, and the way they live- simply. Sometimes I get tired of all the "modern" conveniences, and would like to live like the Amish. Their faith in God is apparent. I like that, too.