Ouderkirk Family Blog

Little Greasen

2012-02-08T21:38:00.001-08:00

Megan's friend, Tallia, has two adorable children and she take tons of precious picture if then. This is her 15 month old son Greasen, sleeping while his Mama does her grocery shopping. I think he is one of those babies that can sleep any where. Lucky Tallia.

Cutest Mama!

2012-02-05T22:47:00.001-08:00

Look how beautiful Megan is! Our new Grandson is due in May. The time seems to be flying by and we can hardly wait to meet him.

Time to Settle in.

2012-01-18T09:52:00.001-08:00

We have 4-5" total. Now it's getting windy and just plain cold 24 degrees.

Snowy Day

2012-01-15T20:46:00.001-08:00

Gavyn, Owen and Gus had fun playing in the snow. Gus running around, Owen riding his bike and Gavyn in his shorts. Crazy kid!

My Girls

2012-01-04T10:59:00.001-08:00

For five years when they were little, I took care of Amy and Melanie after school and summer break. I miss not seeing them since they moved to Alaska. They were both home for Thanksgiving and came over to see their Mrs. Mary Jo.

Happiness!

2012-01-03T19:16:00.001-08:00

Owen was so excited for all of us to go to his Christmas concert. The smile disappeared when the curtain opened.

The Big Test

2012-01-03T16:01:00.001-08:00

My first try at posting from my iPod. This could be a great thing.

Hidden Treasures

2012-01-03T13:48:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas Randy and I "stole" Mom and Dad's old slides and had them transferred to a DVD, thanks to Costco. I found some great photos from our childhood. I was even able to share some of the photos with several other people. I hoped everyone loved seeing them as much as I did.

Carmel, Tuffy and his mom, Patty

Great dogs in front of one of Mom's favorite rhododendrons.

Love this picture taken while we were cruising in Hood Canal.

Connie and John Gintz. Two of the nicest people. They raised, bred, showed and sold cows.

It was always fun to go to their house/farm. They had cows, a few horses, goats, chickens, dogs and I'm sure there was much more over the years.

Jack and Sid Worbass. They have been good family friends for 46 years +/-.

Jack is the greatest at cooking great food, and his BBQ'ed turkey was worth us stopping by on our way home from Ferndale on Thanksgiving or Christmas for another dinner.

Sid always drove a station wagon then. I think all the mom's did. She was the only Mom I knew that could wear a bikini.

Rachel loves this picture of Mom and Dad. She thinks Mom is so glamorous with here high hair and sunglasses and Dad so handsome.

Now this is my Dad's favorite picture of Mom.

Love the side burns, way cool!

Mom has always loved her Crown Royal.

My Best Bunky

2012-01-03T13:17:00.000-08:00

The Worbass family (Jack, Sid, Steve and Karen) moved into the our wonderful little world off Pontius Road in Bothell in the mid 1960's, I want to say 1965 but it may have been 1966. I know we were little. I don't know if my childhood would have been the same without her as my neighbor. There were no other girls my age, they were all older. There were a lot of boys.

It seemed like we were friends instantly. I don't even think they had unpacked.

They moved here from Alaska into the coolest house in the cul-de-sac, It had a bar in the basement with Hawaiian grass walls, COOL!

If I remember right they moved here with three Malamutes and they went to church every Sunday.

We were always together, especially on Friday nights. That's when our parents would make wonderful meals have a few martini's and we would watch The Brady Bunch.

We stayed best of friends even after we moved to Bremerton in 1970.

Karen and I did quite a bit of ferry riding back and forth and

we spend almost every boat trip to the San Juan's together.

My best friend.

Forever Young

2012-01-03T12:51:00.000-08:00

MARK

I really don't think Mark has changed that much over the years.

He certainly hasn't gained any weigh!

MATT

Matt with his dog Tuffy. They were best buds.

Tuffy would jump up on Matt's lap and off they would go for a ride.

Nothing too fast, but Tuffy really did like it.

I wonder just how many hours, days, weeks we spent on the water.

Mark said to me after looking at these photos, that he didn't realize how much we did and saw when we were kids. Dad and Mom took us to places that most people don't get to go to unless they go by boat. We were lucky that Dad and Mom were boaters.

And if we weren't boating there was always work to do on Hard To Beat.

And at home the pool always needed cleaning and filling.

I never had to clean the pool, but I did do the testing to see if the chemical were balanced, and skim the pool.

Matt's going to love this picture.

Dad and the boys went duck hunting every year, for as long back as I can remember.

Our lab Carmel was always so proud of the ducks she retrieved.

The was when Matt, Dad and Mom were setting up a permanent kitchen for the Totally Fresh Sandwich Co. in Tukwilla. They went to businesses around the Southcenter area delivering fresh sandwiches, chips, soup. Before this location they did all the assembly in a tavern in Burien.

What was I thinking??

Happy New Year, 2012!!!

2012-01-01T12:57:00.000-08:00

So I promise to update my blog this week! Thank goodness Mary has been keeping hers up to date.

So I post this picture for her, because she is the ultimate penguin lover.

Hola, Hola, Hola!!

2011-11-21T18:14:00.000-08:00

Another great trip to Cabo San Lucas.

This year 19 days of sun, sand, family, friends, food and adventure.

We arrived to glorious sunshine. Always a welcome sight this time of year.

Through a computer glitch, the front desk did not have our reservation, but member services did. After a phone call from our friend Ericka in member services, we got the best suite in the place.

(Well, the owner does have a bigger place)

We ended up in the "Eagles Nest" which the owners son designed from himself but ended up not using it.

It was 4000 sq. ft. +/- of wonderfulness. Three bedrooms, four full baths, solarium, living room, large kitchen, a dining room that seats 10, a TV room and the best was the 72' wrap around deck with hot tub and Bar-b-que.

Coffee here in the morning, breakfast at the table and in the afternoon the other side of the hot tub was great to relax after a busy day on the go.

The views were great. We could see all the way from the harbor entry, the marina, the Sea of Cortez to the Pacific Ocean. We were pretty lucky to be able to stay there our first week.

The beautiful blue Pacific

I loved our room. The bathroom has a window that looks out over the Sea of Cortez and the sliding doors open back so the whole corner of the room is open and the breeze blows right through the room.

I didn't have them open all the way when I took this picture.

Most nights the sunsets were spectacular.

We didn't even bother going to the beach to see them because we couldn't ask for a better view.

Yes, we did eat in and we did us the bbq and the hot tub.

Our place was the top floor of this building.

Our favorite infinity pool was closed for retiling.

There are still two others on The Ridge and just an elevator ride and a short walk through the lobby leads to five others.

Randy got REAL crazy this year!

Dias de los Muertos

Novermber 2, Mexico celebrates The day of the dead.

They honor those that have past by decorating the cemetaries and having celebrations at church and around the city.

This was the day before at one of the small parks in Cabo.

There were about a dozen of these figures around the park.

Of course on Halloween the guys at the door have to do some crazy things, even though they don't really know much about Halloween in Mexico.

We have to go down the slide every year when we arrive!

This is a pretty sweet place to hang out. Behind Randy is a swim up bar, Super Sweet!

One of our favorite places to hang out at is Cavendish's right on the marina waterfront.

The owner is the grandson of the man on the left. This is a snapshot of the filming of

"Night of the Iguana" which was filmed in Cabo in 1964. Great picture with Ava Gardner and Richard Burton.

Typical Mexico, order a beer get a shot of tequila. Muy Bueno!

We order chicken nachos and grilled shrimp nachos. This is molkajete. Hand ground peppers, garlic, onion, chilies, great stuff. It's not usually hot, but always good.

You can tell they remember us!

Randy and I were checking out this leather shop, I found this holster that holds shot glasses and a fifth of your favorite libation. (I know a few guys that would love this) The owner insisted I put it on so he could take our picture, then hand Randy the sword. He was a great guy and next year I'm going back for some of those $25 leather sandels.

You have to love a place that you can get a massage or take a nap

right on the beach buy the water.

These are cages that protect the turtle nests on the beach in front of Playa Grande.

If your lucky enough to be there when they hatch you can help release them.

We rented a Escalade with a driver for the day, because you just don't want to rent a car. They drive a little crazy and you have to get Mexican insurance, then there's knowing where your going.

This was the way to go.

There's a hill we see from our place that has a sign on it that says "Pedregal".

It is a gated community with huge houses. Some of them are 10,000 sq. ft. +.

We can only see on side of the hill, the one facing the marina.

Our driver took us up and over the hill to check it out, he knew the guard, and WOW! what a view. Most of the houses have 180 degree view of the Pacific Ocean.

We were surprised that there were so many houses over the hill.

Our driver said that mostly Americans own the houses and most are available to rent when the owner aren't using them.

Bea-u-ti-ful!

We checked out some of the beaches.

This is one of the public beaches on the Sea of Cortez.

While we were there, two men were picking up any trash and sifting the sand for cigarette butts.

This house in Pedregal has a stone frog on the right and the rocks going up the hill are made to look like a rattle snake.

The roads in Pedregal are all hand laid cobblestone, pretty but a little annoying

when you drive on it for a while.

The other beach we checked out was Chileno. It has a boardwalk to the beach that makes it wheelchair accessable.

Happy!

Definantly next year we're packing a lunch, rented some snorkel gear and spending the day here.

The snorkeling is great here and they also fish from the beach.

I think they get some big ones, looking at this scale.

Me!

This San Jose, just about 20 minutes from Cabo San Lucas. All the hotels here are on the beach.

It is a great place, clean and easy to get around.

F.Y.I. San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas together make up

Los Cabos.

Puerta Los Cabos is the newest marina in San Jose.

This young man was netting bait to give to his friend down the beach who was fishing.

Lunch at Mi Casa was super good, and the margaritas were the BEST we have ever had.

This picture was taken before the margaritas, good thing. WHOA!!

Randy has an accordian!

muy buena margarita. Uno más? Uno está muy bien, gracias

very good margarita. One more? One is fine, thank you

One is all you need.

Dias de los Muertas shrine. The colors are so pretty.

Saint....I forgot.

What can I say?

I love the silver and the crosses they covered all the walls in the room.

I think these are more popular with tourist then the Mexicans.

Glass Factory

Before the 70's and the tourism became the main industry in Cabo, they had a tuna cannery, avocado and papaya (north of the city) and the glass factory.

The glass factory supplies all the glassware to the local restaurants.

Can you imagine working here, when it's near 90 degrees?

As soon as we arrived two guys started making a creation for us to watch.

Of course they work for tips.

They started with a molten blob of glass, which the dipped into a dish with different colored glass.

That's what made the speckles.

One man worked on the piece and the other kept giving him hot molten

glass to form the different parts.

And the finished product was one hot sombrero wearing, tequila drinking turtle.

We couldn't buy this one because it has to spend several hours cooling down in a special oven

to keep it from breaking.

Then the excitment began. Randy turns to blow glass.

What will it be?

Just a blob. He said it took alot more blowing then he thought it would.

Now Dad!

He got fancy and spun it while blowing.

and it's a...giant bubble!

Good job guys.

Racks and racks of glassware, bowls, vases

Some of the glass art at the factory. The Christmas tree and the chandelier were spectacular

and the sunburst window was amazing.

We change for dinner some nights, but what do the guys have to do?

Tuck in their shirts and add a belt.

It was a full moon while we were there. One night it was orange and on this night it came and went with the cloud cover. Yes they do get a few, if fact we thought it would rain one day. I even put on socks and yoga pants.

Did you ever think you would see Dad painting pottery?

We got him to paint a few times.

Mom does such a great job, puts us all to shame.

There's nothing better then being serenaded at breakfast.

Nos lo pasamos muy bien y esperamos que el próximo año.

We had a great time and can't wait to go next year.

Fly Plane, Fly!!

2011-10-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

Gavyn made some paper airplanes. This one flew all the way across the driveway to the tree.

New E*Trade Baby?

2011-10-20T20:40:00.000-07:00

This is the "I'm not doing anything" look.

Forgot this one!

2011-10-20T20:21:00.001-07:00

Jessica decorating Brobee. Great job!!

Birthday Bash

2011-10-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

Owen has two shows he watches on TV, one is Peppa Pig and the other is Yo Gabba Gabba. Since Peppa Pig is an English show there are no party supplies so it was a To Gabba Gabba birthday this year.

Of course I had to make the cupcakes. Rachel sent me the pictures and some ideas for candy items to decorate them with. I decided I wasn't going to do 3 or 4 dozen individual cupcakes so I put them together and frosted them like a cake. The extra cupcakes I used a filling. I should say we because without Randy and Jessica helping It would have taken me several hours. These are some before pictures.

For the main character made a chocolate cake. The rest were cupcakes.

Randy baked all the cakes and did alot of the cutting of the candies.

Crazy aren't they?!

This is Muno, Foofa, and Brobee

This is DJ Lance, the actual human in the show.

Chocolate cake, chocolate butter cream frosting and orange tinted coconut.

Rachel got boxes full of goodies for the kids.

Nana's awesome fan decorations!

We had 22 family in my house. Just like Christmas, everyone finds a place to be. Though they seem to like the kitchen the best.

Jessica and Jason. They have been dating since March and are very happy together. We think Jason is a great guy and fits right in with our crazy family.

Trey is Steven's college buddy. Steven came up to spend time with all of us and he didn't even bring his parents! The kids had a fun time the night before to celebrate Steven's 24th birthday.

It is so darned hard to get Owen to stop for a few seconds to get a good pictures. Rachel finally grabbed him and this is what I got! He's still adorable, no matter what face.

Dylan, always the goof ball.

Owen did manage to share his toys with Jared. Two year old just don't always understand.

These dinosaurs, he got 6, interact with each other, talking and roaring and telling fun facts.

Kids!

At least I know Russell will always smile for the camera.

Finished cupcakes. They turned out pretty darned cute.

Owen was so happy to see his Auntie Kayla.

We had to light the candles 4 times and blow them out. He loved doing that.

Oh Russell! He is so cute.

Jared is just so darned adorable and a very sweet little boy.

Random Pictures

2011-10-02T17:33:00.000-07:00

Owen loves the "prinkler"

Oh, those lips!! and a car in his pocket.

Scrunch nose picture with Auntie Jessica.

We find Megan in the darndest places.

Jessica getting a new view of Gig Harbor.

More "prinkler"

Megan and Mom day last summer.

Megan and Amanda daughter.

Amanda keeps me informed were they sell Top Pot doughnuts in Port Orchard. Still haven't made it to QFC to get one, just one!!

Megan, Dylan and Thor on a hike. Aren't they a cute family.

And here are Dylan and Megan in high school working in the latte' stand. They are so stinkin' cute.

Sister picture!

The view from Amanda's apartment gives you a whole new appreciation for how pretty Port Orchard is. Water, mountains, beaches, trees, what more could you ask for? Maybe a Skinny Girl margarita.

Cousin picture!

High-five for Dada

Too cute!

Ha ha ha...

This is just so funny, I had to share.

Gavyn and Tanner.

I had to share Gavyn's hair, it's almost grown out now. He said he wasn't going to have it done again.

Go Hawks!!

The girls getting ready to hit the river.

New haircut!!

Our boys!

Be a Tourist

2011-09-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

Sometime you have to be a tourist in your own city.

That is exactly what we did while Mark and Mary were here over Labor Day.

We made a quick breakfast and headed to Bremerton for the Blackberry Festival, yes Bremerton!

If you haven't been downtown lately you would be surprised. It's clean and has a lot of art. There are several new stores, like art galleries, antique stores, cafes and museums.

We headed to the battleship Turner Joy after we went to the Blackberry Festival, which was lacking blackberries. It had a lot of vendors, food (not blackberry) and music.

Then to the Bremerton Bar and Grill for lunch and a beer, of course!!!

This is a great place to go. It was an old bank which they remodeled, added a deck and good food, lots of beer on tap and easy parking.

Bremerton artwork and Mary doing what she has to do to get the shot.

Even if cars have to wait for her.

Poser!

Bremerton Bar & Grill. Good stuff!!

Sideways blackberry chalk art.

Never pass up an opportunity to get a great picture.

Left Rudder!!

Mary and I lost Randy and Mark right away. We wound our way up and down the STEEP stairs. We were pretty smart to wear our tenna shoes too.We learned so much about the tight quarters the crew lives in on these "Tin Cans" aka battleship.

Randy later told us how to read the numbers painted on the hull to determine what deck your on, where you are on that deck, if it spans the entire beam and a few more things I don't remember.

The crew quarter bunks seem to go on forever, three bunks in each bank.

This is how much room between the bunks, yikes!

And did you ever wonder what sailors keep under their bunks?

Change of clothes, dress uniforms, personal items...

The Commanders quarters are towards the bow, he has the width of the beam.

He also has another berth next to the bridge when he needs to be close by.

Mary and I sitting in the sweet spots on the bridge.

Aye, aye Captain!!

Hard starboard helmsman!!

The mess hall, is that what they call it on a ship?

Mary said she takes better pictures with her sunglasses on because she is always closing her eyes.

Good idea Mary!

Randy and Mary checking out the galley, especially the big Kitchen Aid mixer that would make lots of cookies.

When we did finally find the guys we learned lots from Randy.

It gave us a while other insight on what he did for 35 years.

He certainly know his way around a battleship.

The not so much Blackberry Festival from the Turner Joy deck.

Torpedo launchers on the deck.

Bosun' chair, what a ride that would be.

We love how Mark captures his inner "Capt Morgan"

Quality Sister time.

Engine Room

The steam chamber. Randy had to get in a few of these for inspection.

The ship is 90% open to explore. Randy's tour of the engine room was very interesting.

This is the cold storage, really just a big refrigerator. They are air tight when closed.

The bridge with the helm, radar, radio...

Hello? Bridge? are you there?

The ship store.

Radar room

Mail room

Pay roll

This tube, looking straight down, went about three decks.

Barber shop

I'm a doctor, Jim, not a magician!

Officers galley had the good dishware.

Cabin for one of the officers.

It was a great weekend. Lots of time with the family and the weather was perfect.

Now we have to come up with our next tourist at home adventure.

Happy Birthday, Mary!

2011-09-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

Some of our trees are now home to next years crop of Mason Bees. They had a busy summer making these holes in the tree, creating a comfy home for their offspring who will push their way out next spring.

Mary came to celebrate her birthday with us this year. We even had Danielle and Russell with us.

Russell and Mary are now best friends forever!! BFF

Peace out Mary!!

Two year olds have no idea how to play with each other, but after some scowling at each other they headed off for an adventure around the garden. I went to get their picture and Russell had been putting ferns on Owens head and he didn't even know. It was so funny.

All I said was smile and I got the big cheeser from Owen.

Owen gets very serious about a few things, one is Mama's glasses

and the other is Pa's hat.

It is the only hat he will wear.

Owen and Russell did finally play next to each other, but not actually together.

All's Fair

2011-09-06T16:44:00.000-07:00

Megan and Jessica were judging the open class llama show this year, so Rachel came over with Gavyn, Tanner and Owen and we headed out to see my "kids". Owen didn't waste any time setting up the obstacles.

Joe is now the proud father of three girls Nicole is 3 1/2, Megan is 1 1/2 and the baby was just 10 days old at fair time. She was born August 15. Joes said maybe one more because he wants a boy. We all know how that will probably go.

Joe

Handsome!

2011-08-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

After Owen takes his bath Rachel always combs his hair with Daddy's comb,

Today after she combed his hair he said, "I got it handsome"

The Coolest Mom in the Neighborhood

2011-08-23T19:17:00.000-07:00

During all the Relay for Life events around the country they light luminaries when it get dark and all the participants walk the track, and read the sacks. Some are for friends and loved ones that are fighting the good fight, some are for the friends and family that are there for support and others are for those lost. She says it is the most moving time of the event.

Mary emailed me and said she bought this luminary for Sid from me and would put on it what I wanted to say. That Mary is so thoughtful. She also did one for Sandra's Mom, and her own beloved mother Erna. A few years ago she did one for Carolyn's Mom Luella. Like Mary says cancer sucks and she is doing her part to put an end to it.

You Rock, Mary!!

And some days...

2011-08-23T19:07:00.000-07:00

Summer, summer, summer, summer, summer time.

2011-08-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

Heading to a car show in Steilicoom. When we drove across the bridge the fog was below us. It looked so cool, in more ways then one. It was the only show we have ever been rained on.

The girls went with me to Clearwater to see Vicki Martinez. I think they got a little bored. I on the other hand ran into my friend Marshon who had a double queen booked and her husband had to go home, so I ended up spending the night.

We had one of the best times we have had together. It may have been because we hadn't seen each other since January or it could have been we won some money on the slots or maybe it was the beer. Whatever it was we had a good one!

The rooms have the most gorgious views

Vicki is from Tacoma and she has been playing around the Puget Sound since she was 16, she's 25 now. She was on The Voice this past spring. Even though she didn't win she has since gotten a record contract and is working on an album due out around the first of the year.

Yes, this is Bremerton. One of the old banks downtown was turned into The Bremerton Bar and Grill. It is a great place to go. Good food, great deck and easy to get to.

Randy took me out to breakfast for my birthday, ain't he sweet.

I made these smores cupcakes. The cake part was made with crushed graham crackers, topped with chocolate ganache' and then topped again with marshmellow cream and broiled and a shaving of shaving of chocolate.

Almost as good as those Boston cream cupcakes I made in January.

When ever we have Thor he spends a lot of time looking at the llamas.

I just don't think my pillow will ever be the same because you know it needs to be washed.

Heading to Hot August Nights in Reno

This is one of those driving pictures, so it's blury, darn. This is heading over Santiam on our way to Reno via Bend. There is the most beautiful campground by this lake and when you get up in the morning this is what you see.

The Sister's Mountains, right after we went through the town of Sisters. Isn't the Northwest a wonderful place to live?

Nothing better then being on the road, early in the morning, "ridin' dirty" in a hot rod.

Since we left early by 9:30 we all needed to stop for just a little more coffee and powder our noses, of course. This is in one of those places if you blink you miss it, called Summer Lake. Great, clean place. Super nice local people that were glad to see us.

Thelma and Louise?

Randy and Lowayne, giving me the money shot.

The hotel had a few different flower displays, the first one was in a kids pedal hot rod car (didn't have my camera) then they put out this carnation dog display. It was pretty cute.

No words necessary.

Randy and his high school friend Kerry.

Kerry lives in Sacramento and he and his girlfriend drove over to catch up on their lives and talk about old times. We all had a great visit with him and a place to stay next time were in Sacramento.

They decided they haven't seen each other since Mike and Nancy got married in 1974.

Some Owen pictures. Love those curls.

All flowers are happy birthday flowers, even if it's not your birthday.

and a kiss

Dandelions are "corn flowers" because corn is yellow.

Just a rainy day.

2011-08-22T20:14:00.000-07:00

I have been bad about updates. I haven't taken to many picture lately. We have been busy, mostly at home and work. Summer seems to be slipping by too quickly. Randy has a now and again job as an electrician's helper. He is enjoying that a lot. The kids have been busy and are all well. Owen is growing up too fast and Gavyn will start middle school next week, then his birthday is in September, he'll be 12.
Rachel and David are taking him and a friend to The Great Wolf Lodge to celebrate.

Dylan and Megan got away on a couple of short trips, one the Denver for a concert and then a road trip to Oregon and we got to keep Thor. Dylan got a big promotion at work and we are very proud of him. They have been doing a lot of work on their house and it is looking great.

Jessica moved out of Megan and Dylan's house into an apartment with a high school friend. The girls are very happy. This room mate keeps things nice and tidy, unlike the last one. They have a view of Sinclair inlet, a pool and are half way between their work.

Mango Mania

2011-07-10T14:55:00.000-07:00

Owen had his first popsicle. It was a mango fruit bar and he loved it! Ate every last bite.

Pa had to take the first lick just to make sure it was OK.

And Daddy got a bite too.

It was fun to swirl is on the high chair tray.

Trying to lick it off his chin. ha ha

All gone!

Back to the Lake

2011-07-09T14:16:00.000-07:00

ALTA LAKE 2011

I think we have been going to Alta Lake for close to 20 years, not every year but at least 10 times.

We love it because we can camp right by the lake were we can float around to cool off, the kids can swim and fish. All the fast power boater have to be off the lake at 6:00 pm so the fisherman that didn't get up at the crack of dawn can fish in the evening.

The kids caught a turtle this year, a rather big one too, about 8" long. They didn't catch any fish, but we did see quite a few people that did.

Stacy and Tony were coming with their 5 year old Noah and Ellie who is 6 months old now, so the guys pitched their tent for them before they arrived. Good Dad's.

Mike S. with Benny who found an old bone. He was pretty proud of himself.

I think it's great that Dad's still take their kids fishing. Colby couldn't wait to go, camp wasn't even set up and he was ready to go.

Daisha even likes to fish, not many 14 year old girls want to do that.

Before Colby could really start fishing he needed a little dip in the lake.

Daisha watching her Mom sweep, now that is typical teenage behavior.

I did give Michelle the big broom we brought with us to finish sweeping out the tent trailer.

Colby's blue mouth from a popsicle.

Ellie arrived with her family the next day. Her first camping trip.

The six of us decided to hike up the ridge. Randy had done it years ago so he stayed at camp.

At the crest of the first hill is this large granite boulder with these two kids hanging out. LOL

Colby and Daisha

At just about this point in the hike up the ridge, only a quarter of the way up, Colby decided he had enough. That worked out really good for me because I took him back down while the others kept going. It got a little to narrow for me. The rest went to the top and had a wonderful view of the whole lake and campground. A guy with a hang glider took off while they were up their so they got quite a show.

This is for making giant wishes.

Colby put his hand up so you could see just how big it is. Then he dozed off. Ha Ha...

Colby is ready to hit the lake!

So we grabbed Noah and I took them to the swimming area just because they wanted a change from the lake in front of camp. Boys!

They are incredibly cute though.

This is me happy that I could bribe them with ice cream after just half an hour in the lake. I would have stayed longer if they really wanted to but I think they liked the lake by camp because it wasn't so crowded.

Noah got his Fat Frog ice cream

and Colby got bubble gum swirl or as I ordered bubble gum squirrel.

Noah found a not quite mature dragonfly and he was pretty pleased with himself.

All in all we had a great time and are ready to go again soon.

Two of a Kind.

2011-06-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Pa with his iPhone and Owen with my iPod.

May Day

2011-06-21T09:46:00.000-07:00

Our dear friend May Reed celebrated her 90th birthday this past weekend.

Mom and I helped her celebrate. She was surrounded by family and friends.

Of course David made oysters. They were super good.

Sweetest girls ever!

This is one of May's greatgrand babies, Ari. She is 10 weeks old and as precious as can be.

David and Kathy daughter Amy and her husband Avery and little Ari.

Ari is in a harness while her leg sockets form around her hip joints. She will get it off in about three weeks with no lasting effects. She looks bigger then she is because of the harness. She looks just like a little doll.

Greener Pastures

2011-06-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

Fathers Day.

They're looking at the Mama dear and her twin babies in the pasture.

This is Randy's new camping stovetop coffee maker. It will be just like home. We tried it out before we head out next week camping, and it works great.

"Come on Pa!!"

Pa took Owen down to see his hot rod, he was pretty excited about it.

A real Grandpa doesn't even care if he's touching all the buttons.

~he moves so fast, some of my pictures are blurry~

Then Pa backed the car out that was even better.

Randy said he already knows, left hand on the steering wheel and right hand on the shifter.

So excited to be outside.

Let's Go!!

This baby love to run, "run-ing" as he will say.

This is the sassy backwards glance that says, your not stopping me.

I love this picture of Owen and Gus, a boy and his dog, nothing better.

Picking some flowers for his Mama.

He loves his Aunties.

Daddy, Oh!!!

2011-06-17T20:20:00.000-07:00

It's said 15% of young children think their Dad's can beat up Superman. I remember thinking my Dad was so smart he could be President of the United States. I still think he probably could have done a darn good job.

Dad is always ready to try new things. He sure loved the Rogue River jet boat ride to Hell Gate. Even though he got SOAKED!

I would say Dad has a few "happy places" he visits. I think the view of the marina from the penthouse in Cabo is his favorite. Here he is checking out the construction across the harbor.

He's not afraid the right wrongs either. Example, the refrigerator in the kitchen of the penthouse opened the wrong way, so what did he do...packed a few tools the next year and he and Randy made it right.

Dad, like me, love a good shot of tequila. The fiesta was darn good too.

Don't you think there is a little pirate in all of us?

Dad new name is Carlos

He still knows how to play and he love that Great Grandbaby.

Dad has his "happy place" and he also has his "happy food". Ice cold oyster shooters, mmmm...

He took this picture through the giant binoculars, cool!

He is always up on the latest fashions.

Sometimes a guy needs a good steak. That would be found in Roslyn at this butcher shop that has been in business since Roslyn was a booming coal mining town.

and a cold beer is pretty darn good too.

He property on the river is another one of those "happy places".

This is a real love affair.

Almost 58 years of wedded bliss.
Aren't they cute!

The driver that picked us up at the airport, stopped to get us a beer, went to Costco so we could get supplies, then took us to Playa Grande. He was a great guy.

Dad's new job.

Sun is GOOD!!

Even in Cabo you can get a hot dog and soda for
$1.50 and it was Dad's treat.

Jesus, our favorite person at Playa Grande. He told us he honestly loves us. When he see's Dad get out of the Suburban when we arrive, he makes sure he is the first one to greet us, and will say to us welcome home and always remembers Dad's name.
He and Dad are great buddies.

Yes, another "happy place"
Relaxin'

You know a guy that can get all of us to do this, not just once either, probably could have been President.

Happy Father's Day President Dad.
We love you.

Plants in the Back

2011-06-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

Cari was here from Amsterdam for a solo art show that was almost a year in the planning.

We are so very proud of her and people loved her paintings. She sold two opening night.

Her show run until the middle of July at the Nationale in Portland.

It was great to see her and hear all about her adventures in Amsterdam. She is becoming "one" with the city now.

I do have some pictures of our visit but I have to find my camera, I know it's here somewhere...

In the mean time you can see pictures Mary took on her blog, when she took Mom and Dad to the Portland office of Weiden & Kennedy, the firm Cari works for.

FYI Plants in the Back is the name of Cari's exhibit.

Random Shim Sham

2011-06-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

I was at GAP today in the dressing room, there was a mother with her young boy who was about 8 years old. The boy was complaining about not wanting to be at the mall, how he wanted to go home. Us Mom's have heard it all before so it was pretty normal.

Then he said to her "Why does Dad always say he's going to do something with me and he never does and you said you had only one thing to pick up and we would leave and we're not"

I figure there's always another side of the story, but kids usually tell it like it is.

Last year, you may remember, Randy bought all the kids we were camping with squirt guns. Well, the search is on for round two this year. He's looking for some squirt guns for him and Mike, some that will shoot a LONG way. Then of course some for the kids too.

This is our list of things to buy before we go, in order of importance:

1. Squirt guns

2. Tent

3. Queen size air mattress

4. Coffee pot

(Actually my list differs a little, the mattress being number one and the coffee pot a close second.)

We did get the tent. The one we have is just too big for two of us, if you can believe that. Found a nice one at Costco.

We missed quite a party at the Nihsen house last weekend. Lowayne retired from the shipyard and his kids had a surprise party for him. Carol said he had a great time and was really surprised and he is not a guy easily surprised.

You gotta love a guy that will wear this!

Congrats Lowayne.

Cabo Does a Body Good!

2011-06-03T19:44:00.000-07:00

10 days in Cabo after so much crummy weather at home was one of the best things we did.

It was such a sudden trip, less then 6 weeks out, and we were happy to be asked to spend a week with Caryl and Bill. We decided to extend our trip to 10 days and book a studio. It turned out to be one spacious place! Along with the front deck, we had a large deck on the side, so no one was next to us. Not that that would matter with those thick concrete walls.

The adult pool was in front of us and the palm trees hide the unit across from us and we could watch the GIANT breakers on the beach. It was pretty much perfect! Also the best place to have some morning Joe!!!
The tall white things on the beach are some of the smaller breakers.

Instead of taking a $12 taxi (each way) to the large grocery store out of town, we hopped on the city bus for $9. pesos (about .75) and headed out to Soriana. It would be like our Fred Meyer with clothes, food and household items.

25 minutes later we arrived, piece of cake!!

The majority of the workers ride the buses. We choose to go in the middle of the day when there wasn't a shift change so we had the bus to our selves. People did get on and off the bus as we went, a few vendors even got on the bus selling fresh fruit and frozen fruit pops. Which are nummy, the watermelon ones still have the seeds in them.

Soriana had a mall around the outer edges, this is the dressing room for one. The boys used it to try on their new shirts. When they asked if they could try them on the women moved the rack and we thought she was kidding about being a dressing room, but she was serious.

The further away from downtown Cabo you get there is less English spoken. We did pretty good with our limited Spanish. The Caboians (whatever!) are very nice and very helpful to us Gringo's. The bus drivers, the people waiting for the bus, the women at the deli and the one at the bakery, all asked in their own Spanglish way if we needed help.

Soriana from the outside. I should have taken pictures of the inside. Just the produce was amazing, imagine one of Fred Meyers produce tables, now think of one of those with nothing but limes! Not the big ones like we get, but limes that are the size of a small Clementine orange. Then another filled with huge white onions and another with avocados and tomatoes.

The bakery had dozens and dozens of fresh delights. You had to grab a tray, like a serving tray, fill it with what you want, take it to the counter women how packages each individually and bags it with the price attached.

Just Me!

The morning at the spa started with this water that had a minty, herby addition. Very tasty.

A sign in one of our favorite breakfast places. Which actually says something to the effect that employees must wash their hands after using the bathroom.

Every time we putt-putt may ball ends up in this spot. We'll I did win this year, yes Randy only by one point.

Our next week was spent in a two bedroom penthouse and when we walked in this is what we saw. Could it get much better?

The view from our bedroom. I did not like the Romeo and Juliet balcony to stand but it wasn't necessary we had another door that opened onto the main balcony.

There is usually at least one wedding while we are there. The couples are usually from the States, this couple lives in Cabo.

The weddings are preformed on the beach, most at sunset, which is followed by a sit down dinner reception, music and dancing.

This is a new addition to the marina waterfront. I should have taken the picture with Randy in it because the marlin is HUGE. From the ground to the bottom of the tail is about 6 feet.

This is me in my new dress, maybe I have had too much tequila??

Then again, there is always room for a Mexican coffee, Kahlua, tequila, coffee and fire.

Topped with Cinnamon, a good way to end a yummy dinner.

Each morning we had to check on the turtles, there are 4 now, a lot of times they are arguing about who gets to sun on the rocks.

When you have had enough sun, it's time to relax and paint your own pottery.

Randy and Bill even joined Caryl and I. I have to say they did a great job. Randy's sun is spectacular.

And the guy in the background is from Maple Valley, FYI.

This is the wagon that has the pottery in it. This is the already finished pieces that you can buy, the rest of the cart is filled with the white pottery you can paint.

Randy wanted to paint one of these, but they didn't have any so he settled for the sun only.

This sweet gentleman did bead work, bracelets, necklaces and such. He also placed, one by one, little seed beads onto wax figures that where amazing and intricate. Of course I didn't get that picture, jeez!! I'll get one in November.

I love the flowers, so beautiful.

And who doesn't love restaurants with no roofs?

All in all it was a great trip. 90 degrees everyday, blue sky, blue water and happy people.

I wish everyone, at least once in their life, can visit someplace with tropical blue waters.

It gets into your soul somehow and you just want more.

Beauty

2011-05-11T14:04:00.000-07:00

For beautiful eyes, look for good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness.

~Audrey Hepburn~

There's No Place Like Cabo...

2011-05-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

"El Arco"

I found this great article about Cabo. Sums it all up!

If you’re looking for a party spot, you know you’ll find it in a town where Sammy Hagar opened a nightclub and restaurant called The Cabo Wabo Cantina. Now that we got that out of the way, let’s move on … Van Halen was so much better with front man David Lee Roth singing.

Also known as Los Cabos, Cabo San Lucas truly is the jewel of the Baja Peninsula. The town at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula in the state of Baja California Sur in Mexico, over the years has grown from a very small, quiet place to a top destination of discerning travelers. Despite all of the development – timeshares, massive luxury hotels, dance clubs, bars and restaurants, Los Cabos has maintained its small-town feel. There are open-air plazas and markets for leisurely strolls, people watching, and shopping that provides the typical array of local trade goods and jewelry. Additionally, you’ll find the upscale Puerto Paraiso Mall where you can choose from everything not only from Mexico, but imported from around the world – clothing, gifts, fine art.

We can offer you $75 off a 3 or more night’s vacation package through Orbitz. The package includes airfare and your choice of select top-rated hotels. You can select your hotel only or the flight and hotel package, which is being offered at truly outstanding prices. Customize your travel however you like, but just get there! Cabo San Lucas is rich with color, golden light, and happy, personable people.

Founded in the mid to late 1800’s, Los Cabos was transformed into a fishing village. Today it is the marlin fishing capital of the world – a destination known for its blue-water fishing, also referred to as big-game fishing, where large marlin are caught for recreational sport and then released back to the ocean. Other popular activities include: snorkeling, scuba diving, parasailing, sky diving, and ATV and dirt bike off-roading! There are a number of exciting alternative activities available such as ecotours, sightseeing, and whale watching. Visit www.cabosbest.com for details and contact information.

San José del Cabo is Los Cabos’ sister town, just minutes away. It was a loading zone for sailors low on provisions and a place where pirates would stop off for fresh water at the Río San José and wait to ambush Spanish galleons sailing from Acapulco to the Philippines to purchase valued silks and spices. The Corridor, a 20 mile stretch that bridges the two towns, boasts pristine ocean beaches, picturesque landscapes, elite residential communities, and championship golf courses. The Cabo del Sol Golf Club has two amazing courses: the Desert Course, designed by Tom Weiskopf and the Ocean Course, designed by Jack Nicklaus. Named accordingly, you’re surrounded by breathtaking views on each course, so just toss a coin, put on your plaid and grab your clubs!

San José del Cabo has not experienced the explosive growth of Los Cabos, so it provides the perfect relaxed atmosphere to escape from the bustle. You’ll find quaint sidewalk cafes and restaurants nestled among wonderful Spanish colonial style architecture. Boulevard Mijares is the main thoroughfare and is dotted with small boutiques that will tantalize. Also be sure to visit the historical Jesuit Mission San José del Cabo, whose spires can be seen from many views throughout the town. There are a handful of fine dining restaurants with excellent wine menus and comfortable, elegant atmospheres in which to feast.

A scenic 1-hour drive north of Los Cabos brings you to Todos Santos. On either side of the main stretch of winding and rolling road leading to this gentle place is a desert jungle of tree-sized cacti. It’s a beautifully surreal drive that could very well be a setting for a David Lynch film. The surrounding area is wide-open spaces and every few miles you’ll see a casita and think, “I need to get one of those!” Todos Santos is a small, calm oasis where the beaches are nearly deserted; however, it is a haven for surfers. It was difficult choosing a restaurant because everything looked amazing, but the winner this time was Fonda El Zaguán. All I’ll say is that everything about it was perfect and I’ll just let you experience the details. The many local artists’ galleries throughout town exhibit original art and authentic tapestries, sculptures, glass and other unique finds. The pace is slow, the air quiet ... Todos Santos is located an hour southwest of La Paz at the Tropic of Cancer and is blanketed by the Pacific Ocean, Baja desert, and the Sierra de La Laguna mountains. It is the opposite of Los Cabos – there are no condos, no strip clubs, no beach vendors, no traffic. Todos Santos is definitely a rarity in this age.

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair

Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air …

Welcome to the hotel California

Such a lovely place

Such a lovely face

Plenty of room at the hotel California

Any time of year, you can find it here

-The Eagles, 1976

There are different accounts of when the building was constructed, but as stated by the founder’s daughter there is strong evidence that the Hotel California, located in Todos Santos, was established in 1950. Urban legend claimed that The Eagles wrote the song there, but it turns out that a real estate agent apparently fabricated the story to draw attention to the sleepy town. Early on, the hotel passed through different names only to close in the nineties … and then was reopened around 2003. It is now a spirited, exotic hotel and restaurant. Of course, the legend still lives on …

Everything seems to happen in perfect time in Los Cabos. You wake, you eat, you swim, you meditate in the sun. You get hungry; you take a short walk from the beach to a local eatery and enjoy a perfect watermelon martini and the freshest fish tacos with locally grown vegetables and homemade chips and salsa. And it’s cheap! You stroll, do some shopping, take a water taxi to Lover’s Beach, where along the way you’ll pass a seal colony and you’ll see El Arco, a distinctive rock formation that forms a magnificent silhouette for striking photographs shot against the bright sky and reflective water. Upon your return from Lover’s Beach, you check out the shops in the marina and relax with a cerveza or another tropical drink and munch on scrumptious ceviche and guacamole before heading back to your hotel to get ready for a night out on the town. See? It’s the easiest vacation ever! Where the Baja desert, Pacific Ocean, Sea of Cortez, Sierra San Pedro Mártir mountains to the north and Sierra de la Laguna mountains to the south meet, Cabo San Lucas is a magical place that will seduce the most jaded of travelers and put you under her spell.

An Oprah Moment

2011-05-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

I had to share this with you. It was written by a friend who lives in Tennesee. We should all be so compassionate.
SO HUMBLED today when i was waiting in line at the grocery store. There was a family of five in front of me who was using every last cent to buy groceries. The Cashier was very impatient/Rude because they spoke very little english. They did not have enough $ to cover all their groceries. My heart went out to them as the rude cashier was practically throwing the groceries aside that they could not afford.

Here i was standing there with Colton's movie, snacks, juices extra... & they were just buying staple foods. So when it was my turn to pay. I told that cashier to ring up all that food she threw aside I paid for it & gave it to the family. ... The family was so thankful & grateful & the kids were thanking me like it was Christmas day. As i got out to my car the family was parked right next to me & they continued to thank me. As the mom was in tears i asked for her address. She gave it to me & i told her i have a son who has lots of clothes that don't fit him anymore & toys that he doesn't play with anymore if she wanted them she could have them. She just cried & said yes & thank you again!!
As i climbed up in my brand new truck I lost it. I just cried my eyes out! I may not be rich but i have A LOT!! The smiles on those precious faces over getting food. NOT CANDY NOT TOYS NOT CLOTHES... FOOD! So today i am getting clothes, toys& food together for this family. If anyone else is willing to help please contact me. I'm guessing the ages of the kids. 6 yr old boy. 4 yr old girl. 3 yr old boy. I know there are a lot of families out there like this one but this one just touched me so.

The Best Mom in the WORLD!

2011-05-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

Loves her Grandchildren.

Enjoys some well deserved sun. Not to mention the ceviche!

Knows the best places to have coffee

Supports brown and white day.

Can enjoy the dolphin show and not spend a dime.

Makes the best appetizers

and turkey dinners.

Get's the most out of a celebration.

Someone we all look to for love and support.

Is great at arts and crafts.

Always looks FABULOUS!

Has a 27 year old boyfriend in a foriegn country.

Is up for any adventure.

Loves me.

She is pretty much perfect.

Happy Mother's day Mom.

Ding Dong!!

2011-05-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

It's May Day!

Karen and I just couldn't get together to leave you flowers today, so here's some you don't have to water.

2011-04-30T16:58:00.000-07:00

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. ~ Maya Angelou

Mola, Mola

2011-04-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad just got back from a fabulous cruise aboard Silver Cloud, one of the Silver Seas cruise ships. This is perhaps their 5th cruise on a Silver Seas ship.

www.silversea.com

They departed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and disembarked in San Diego. The cruise was 16 days which turned into 18 because of a storm that set them back a few hours so they missed their flight home. Silver Seas took good care of them in San Diego, putting them up in a lovely hotel for two nights and took care of all their food expenses.

If you have ever been to San Diego you know that it's a wonderful place to be.

While in Panama they went to the San Blas Islands, an Archipelago of flat coral islands that stretches 200 miles. They brought me home this Mola. Native are of the Kuna civilization that inhabits the islands. Molas originated from body painting. The Kuna began transferring them to fabric after the Spanish colonization. Mola in the Kuna language means "shirt" or "clothing".

We are going to have it framed. I love the colors and can't wait to hang it up.

Odds and Ends

2011-04-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

This is Frankie, she is the daughter of one of Jessica's friends. She and Owen had a play date a few weeks ago. It didn't go to well because Frankie started crying, then Owen started so you know how that went. They did play some after they calmed down.
I think Frankie looks like she should be in a Ralph Lauren ad. She is so darn cute.

This is what David does when he forgets to snap Owen onesie before he puts his pants on.
That's how Daddy rolls!!

Thor and Gus.
Randy and I stayed with Owen while the kids went to lunch, and guess who missed their people?

It's like a Day at the Beach!

2011-04-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

Anything to get the baby in the picture.

Too Cute in town

Reflecting on the morning...and it was good.

And the afternoon ain't too bad either!

David Concures

Cutest couple ever!

The first time Owen gets the sand between his toes.

PIGGIES!!

Slim and his boy.

Sand toes are OK!

We're all freezing at the beach and Gavyn looks like this. That's an eleven year old for you.

Lots of wild bunnies running around.

HAYstack!

2011-04-22T14:55:00.000-07:00

This little boat is on the wharf behind the Rogue Brewery in Astoria. We never noticed it before but it's a beautiful little restored boat.

Complete with radio. Looks like something out of an old car.

Owen and Pa checking the boat out for dry rot like Bampa does.

The story of the little boat, sorry it's sideways.

Owen trying on one of his new boots and waiting to go to the beach.

One of my most favorite pictures of Gavyn with Haystack rock in the background.

And these next pictures are Gavyn showing us sights that are around the house we are in this year.. I'm sure you needed to see this telephone pole.

and the bakery. We had were so excited to have the bakery around the corner but it wasn't as good as we had hoped. That's OK their are more bakeries in town.

Down there's the ocean.

Gavyn's favorite sign, Delta Street.

It's always good to know where the fire hydrants are.

Our street.

Owen trying to buckle Gus's harness around him.

Stolen Moments

2011-04-19T14:01:00.000-07:00

Rachel left her camera here a few weekends ago so I loaded some of her pictures on our computer.

This was Owen's first look at the Christmas tree. He touched it, smelled it and tried to hug it. It was really cute. He never messed with it much either, he did move the ornaments around a bit.

He must have been pretty excited when he got up Christmas morning.

I remember when the girls were little they would get up and open their stockings before we got up. Then when they just couldn't wait any longer we would get up.

Present for Dada, he looks happy to be a little Elf.

Sometimes I look at these pajamas and think it say Elvis.

Thank you Owen.

A Scrapping Good Time!

2011-04-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to my weekend scrap at the DeVoe Mansion in Parkland.
I finished 53 pages, completed an album for my son in law David of picture from when he was a boy. I had the photos because they were going to be used at their wedding in a video slideshow, which didn't happen.
I remembered I had the photos after David said he didn't have any of himself as a boy at their house.
The other pages were for a book I started for Jessica and some for our own albums.

Five of us always go and we usually have three others that are friends of one of ours. This year we only four of us made it and the other four women I didn't know.
This was a wonderful, inspiring group. One young women a five year breast cancer survivor with an amazing story of how she fought for her right to have more tests and finding the best care she could that ended up saving her life. My dear friend Trina who's mother is gravely ill. I send my prayers to her and her family.
Trina and I drove the same car to high school, only she is 8 years younger then me. Sid and Jack will remember the Thunderbird my Mom had with that giant 459 engine (maybe it was 460??)
Her dad bought it from my Dad. She drove it until her senior year, forgot to put oil in it and that was the end of the T-bird.
There were three school teachers and they are just a kick in the pants. Alot of funny stories to tell.
And of course my dearest Carolyn and Kerry.

A gracious Mansion.

Trina and I shared the master bedroom, Emma's Room. When we arrive there are cookie's on the sideboard and wonderful piano music playing in our room. It doesn't take us long to unload our things, put on our comfy pants and get scrapping.
I think every women should spend time with her girl friends, away from the everyday stresses and just do what she wants. You don't even have to scrapbook, quilt, or anything, just get your besties together and go away for a weekend it's "A good thing".

AmsterDAM!!

2011-04-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

Make sure you click on the link at the right and check out Mary's blog, they are in Amsterdam visiting Cari for 12 glorious days.

Hola Cabo!!

2011-04-15T14:23:00.000-07:00

Hola? Cabo, is that you?

Si! We miss you too.

Time to visit? OK!!!

Can you hear it? Cabo is calling!

And you have to answer!!!

Home Sweet Home!

2011-04-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

Dylan is safe and sound at home. And everything is right with the world again.

What a great day!

Ready, Set...come on sun!

2011-03-31T16:58:00.000-07:00

Randy has been working on his '55 to get her ready for the nice weather.

I got him a new polishing set for Christmas. I didn't think the car could look any better, but it looks amazing now. A few weeks ago we took out the front seat, again. (A week later our backs recovered). We tried to get the new carpet he put in last year to lay flat. We tugged, pulled, took out the seat belts, remove the door sills but nothing we did helped. So you know what that means, new carpet again! we're hoping the new carpet works better. It does have a more pliable backing and is two pieces instead of one.We're heading to Reno for Hot August Nights again this August with good friends and their classic rods. Always a fun trip.

When we were there in 2009 Matt and Sandra came to see us for the day, they only live a few hours away. Right after that we got a call from him and he bought a 1964 convertible Mustang. He had a bit of work done on it and gave it a new paint job. We haven't seen it but he said he'll be in Reno this year for us to check it out.

Good Luck in Vegas Baby!

2011-03-31T16:55:00.001-07:00

One of these trips Nancy is going to bring home the BIG jackpot.

Have fun!!

Safe, But Still Far Away

2011-03-31T16:41:00.000-07:00

A week ago Monday Dylan along with 700+/- civilian shipyard workers boarded the aircraft carrier USS George Washington. So he is off of Japanese soil but not home. What we do know is they are well off the coast of Japan but not really heading anywhere right now. The official web sites only let out a bit of informaion. We are all hoping he will be home in time for our family vacation.

Dylan and Megan can email each other, but it takes Dylan about an hour of waiting in line to use the computer. Keep your fingers crossed!!

I'm from Where??

2011-03-31T15:53:00.000-07:00

For a long time now I have been trying to find out more about my Mom's fathers side of the family. I knew he immigrated in 1905 from Denmark and we knew he was born there as well and that his parents, so we thought.

After doing some more Internet research, I discover differently.

My Grandfather Thor Frederick Erlingson was born in Denmark in 1899. His parents were Abjorn and Christina Erlingson, both born in Iceland. So that was a surprise because Mom or Grandma never knew any of that.

Abjorn and Christina left Liverpool, England in 1905 and immigrated to Quebec, arriving July 1, 1905, then crossed over to the United States. They travel with 4 children.

Ella, Thor, Christain, Cecelia and a brother of one of there's named Kurbison Thordarson (I think he was Abjorn's brother not sure yet)

By the time they settled in America Abjorn's name was pronounced and spelled Abraham.

This is a picture of the ship they crossed the Atlantic on.

The SS Victorian, a brand new ship just launched on August 25, 1904 and making her maiden voyage on April 27, 1905. She was 504' long and accommodated 1700 passenger, 1000 of those being 3rd class. They settled in Seattle and that is where my Grandmother, Mary, met and married Thor.

I'm hoping to find some more info on Abjorn's life in Iceland. So far I can't find an Icelandic heritage web page to search. Most of the information I found was through

familysearch.org

Check it out sometime it's pretty interesting.

I'm going to continue to search on my Mom's mothers side, so far I've gotten back to 1721 and Virginia, but that's a whole other blog posting.

Putting Things in Prospective

2011-03-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

Sending you my love, prayers and positive thoughts to you Sid.

Thankful

2011-03-14T11:25:00.000-07:00

Thank you friends and family who called to make sure Dylan was safe in Japan. Luckily he was at work and not out being a tourist. The shipyard is in the Southern part of Japan so even though he felt the earthquake and after shocks, there was no damage. They didn't have any effects from a tsunami either.

Fly the Coop

2011-03-07T17:20:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Mary, we have this picture of our old chicken coop. The coop is long gone as are the chickens (duh) but the wood lives on in the bus shed at the end of our drive way and a small garden shed at a friends house.

Mary Poppins

2011-02-20T15:54:00.001-08:00

Just a little FYI, The Broadway production of Mary Poppins is playing at the Paramont Theatre in May and tickets are on sale now.
The reviews say it is as wonderful as The Lion King. I can't wait to see it, it has always been one of mine and the girls favorite movies.
If you go and want to stay the night I would suggest the Paramont Hotel. It is kitty corner from the theatre and just a few blocks from Westlake. You can look out your window to see when the doors open and then there is no waiting. They have great package deals.

Quiet WInter Days

2011-02-19T15:57:00.000-08:00

It's been such a non-eventful February. We have accomplished a few thing around the house. We got a new mattress, so we decided to paint the bedroom while we were pulling out the bed and Randy finished the last two pieces of moulding behind the bed.

Our new mattress is not as tall as the other so we decided we had to buy a box spring and while we were at it get rid of the whole platform bed. So off to the Cannery in Sumner we went. It didn't take long to find the perfect bed. Wood and metal. I'm sure it will look massive in our small bedroom and we will probably stub our toes on the foot board but I don't care, I really love it.

Like a lot of other people, the power went out on Valentine's Day. Randy had the generator wired into the house so everything but the furnace works. We can run the hot water tank, but it really bogs down the generator. We have always been able to heat the house when the power was out and hook up extension cords to the generator to run the refer, TV, lights but we couldn't run the pump on the well so no water, no toilets. This is such a big thing for us.

Mom and Dad have an even better setup, their generator comes automatically when the power goes out, and shuts off when the power comes back on. Sweet!

Dylan is still in Japan, he'll be back mid April. Jessica is living with Megan and the sisters are loving it.

Funny story, Phyllis and I were at our Weight Watchers meeting. You may know WW is all about giving food a points value, and you have an X amount of points everyday. So..This women at the meeting made a snide remark to another member. Our leader moved along the meeting to defuse the remark, which worked well. A few minutes later Phyllis leans over to me and says " I wonder how many points duct tape is?" I could hardly control my laughter. I love that Phyllis, you just never know what she going to say.

We'll be going back to Cannon Beach this year with all the kids. We rented a new house this year with 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The other had only 3 and a hide-a-bed in the family room. It's not on the beach like the other one but it's only 2 houses away and we have an ocean view.

Owen is a talking machine. 16 months old and he has a huge vocabulary. More then 50 words. He decided to call me Nana, sometimes Nawna. Of course Pa is his favorite. He will see a man and say "Pa?" then he says "Not Pa" then he chuckles like he made a joke. He puts two words together now like "Pa's tote" (coat) "Moon pretty" "Cold day". He said really loud the other day when he had just gotten out of the bathtub, "COLD DAY!"

Two of my friends have new Granddaughters. Nancy with Baby Ellie who I've posted pictures of and my friend/neighbor Alana with their very first Grandbaby, Emma Mae. I'm very excited for both of them.

Gavyn is playing basketball right now. He does love it and is pretty darn good too. Rachel and David are well. Working, kids and life.

Matt had surgery on his knee last week and had to stay off it for a while. Mark and Mary are going to Amsterdam in June to see Cari. Steven is working at UPS and going to school, Doug is working at Safeway, which he loves.

Stay well and warm.

Happy Birthday Jessica

2011-01-23T13:59:00.000-08:00

Jessica celebrated her 23rd birthday, ALL WEEKEND!

I say that is a great thing to do.
Saturday we had family dinner.

Owen giving Bampa some toys to put away. Bampa was rumpling up the toys, Owen thinks that was very interesting.

He even found some stuff he forgot he had in the toy box.
Checking out Johan and Josh laughing and carrying on at the table. Then off to pull more stuff out of Nana's cupboards.

We tried to get Owen to put the PSU hat on but he will only let you put a hat on him when he's outside. It was OK for Pa to have it one though.

Sorry Mary, It would have been a cute picture.

Josh and Johan "carrying on". They enjoyed the evening.

When I asked Josh if he needed anything else he said he was full and content.

That is how you want your guests to feel.

We had a simple BBQ dinner so I spend a couple hours and made these Boston Cream Cupcakes from scratch. Right up there with some of my best.

They were 5 layers of baked goodness.

Chocolate and vanilla cake

topped with pasty cream

dolloped with a thick, rich chocolate glaze
and as a final touch, grated chocolate truffle.
Baked in parchment paper cups.

There was not one calorie in them.

~wink wink~

Jessica and her best bud Alexis.

They were good friends in high school, went their separate ways after graduation and now are back together again. They are having a good time.

Friday night before the kids hit The Swiss in Tacoma,

we met them all for a late dinner at The Rock.
FYI the pizza was not as good as it was last time we were there.

The Girls looking all beautiful for a night of music and dancing.

Sisters!!

Ellie's Blog Debut

2011-01-23T13:55:00.001-08:00

This is Ellie.

She gets to come home on Monday. The doctor said she is perfectly normal. They kept her a few extra days for observation after they took her off of all the meds.

Welcome home Ellie.

Prayers Answered

2011-01-19T20:59:00.000-08:00

Little Ellie's meds have been working well and she has gone two days with no breathing issued. She be coming home soon. 5-10 days. Stacy stays at the hospital. Tony and 4 year old Noah come an visit and sometime spend the night. He misses his Mama alot but being able to be together for movie night at the hospital has helped alot.

Stacy appreciates all the love and prayers. They are powerful tools.

Prayers

2011-01-15T11:57:00.000-08:00

Our friends Mike and Nancy have a brand new baby Granddaughter. She was born almost 7 weeks early. She was doing well, but in the past few days she has been forgetting to breath. She may have to be transferred to Tacoma's neo natal unit.

Please add Baby Ellie to your prayers as she is in ours.

January Snow! (insert dramatic music)

2011-01-14T15:54:00.001-08:00

Been a while since I had snow pictures to put up. Two years since the "bad" snowy winter.

We had about 5" before it started to rain. It was so pretty Tuesday night though.

Our Camry rental car.

Silent Night

Portland Bound

2011-01-14T15:23:00.000-08:00

Rachel gave David tickets to the Blazers vs Heat game for his birthday, so you can imagine that Rachel is the best wife EVER!

Rachel ask if we wanted to go and hang out with her and Owen while the boys were at the game. Since Randy and I have never stayed in downtown Portland we thought it was a great idea. We stayed at the Hilton Executive towers, which was very nice. Lots of extras and in the heart of the downtown shopping, restaurant area. Right by Portland's Pioneer Square. Randy, Jessica, Gavyn and I walked down just half a block to the MAX station to check the routes. It dropped them off right at the Rose Garden and brought them back just 1 block from the hotel. And it's free inside the city. Great job Portland!Gavyn was pretty excited to go to the game.

Look at that handsome Grandson.

Coffee!! Just 11 floors down.

Pioneer Square

Off went the boys and we went shopping.

While the girls shopped, we were in charge of keeping an eye on Owen.

He was trying to understand the weird white people. He kept touching the legs and looking at their faces.

Then he saw this nightgown, grabbed it and said "Mama"

shoes belong...

...on the floor!

What did you get Auntie?

and we're done.

Time for dinner at the Rock Bottom Brewery.

Excellent place to eat.

We headed to the Bi Jou cafe for breakfast. I love this old store with the original neon sign and the old ads on the top of the building.

Where's babies coffee?

This to is a handsome Son and Grandson.

We had a bit of car trouble on the way home. We ended up leaving the Nissan at the Toyota dealership in Chehalis, rented a car and went back Wednesday and picked it up. Not a big part to replace, just one of the several that will make the car not run when it goes out.

I was just happy we weren't stuck on the side of the road.

FYI if you ever do find yourself in Chehalis with car trouble you can get no better service then the Uhlman I-5 Toyota dealership. They were wonderful.

Japan for Dylan

2011-01-14T15:20:00.000-08:00

And we call this Tuesday. Actually we had to send Dylan off to Japan with food and beer (and some wine). He will be home in April. He is there for work. In the meantime Jessica moved in with Megan and the Sister's are pretty happy together.

Christmas Day 2010

2011-01-14T14:56:00.001-08:00

I was too busy relaxing and enjoy the day to take many pictures.

We had a lovely visit with Phyllis and Roger before they went to their daughters. Mom and Dad were here of course. All the kids, and the Hardman family.

The Portland Vander Yacht's didn't make it because of the boys work schedules. Rich was sick so he and Ana didn't make it. We still managed to have a house full, lots of food, a great day.

Tammie and Bob were over for the day. They are always great fun to have around.

We are so lucky to have such a wonderful extended family in the Hardman's.
(this IS Bob smiling!)

I don't know why we didn't take this before everyone else left. Well, there is always next year.

Randy got Owen a tent for Christmas and it was a hit.

More presents!!

Santa left full stockings at Grandma and Pa's house too.

Christmas Eve 2010

2011-01-14T13:52:00.001-08:00

The older I get the more I appreciate tradition.

Christmas Eve was spent with my Grandma until she moved to Bremerton. Since then we have Christmas Eve has been at Mom and Dad's house.

It is always a wonderful relaxing evening. We have a few special cocktails, a couple of appetizer's and a wonderful dinner. This year it was special bone in beef roast, not prime rib, but just as yummy. I made some twice baked potatoes, that I thought were super delicious.

There is nothing better in the world then some CHI-CHING as a gift. Gavyn is always saving his money for something he wants, usually for his skateboard or scooter.

Once Owen got in his PJ's he was ready to unwrap! The best present for Owen was from Grandma Jo and Bampa.

Daddy helping him out. Faster, faster!!

Just making sure Dad didn't forget anything, or maybe he wanted to play with the box?

Puttin' brother to work. What a life a baby has.

Then there's always the picture on my camera the girls take.

Owen looks a little worried, but then no...

...he become the camera hog.

with the kitty toy.

Sister pics.

(Jessica and Megan I know these will show up on your Facebook profile pictures.)

Before dinner someone rung the doorbell, who could it be? Santa?

I was!! and he left a present for Gavyn and Owen.

Mom and Dad got this crazy puppy that rolls around the floor and laughs. It was the funniest thing. Owen wasn't to sure about it. In the end he thought it was pretty funny too.

But Gus just wasn't so sure.

Owen's favorite place, with his Pa.

Along the lines of my Frederick and Nelson's story about my Grandma is the story of the Christmas ornaments.

Every year before Christmas, Grandma would take me to Frederick and Nelson's to their Christmas shop. When I was little I was sure it was on the 264th floor, but it was on the 2nd or 3rd floor since I think there was only 4 floors.

We would go in look at their beautiful ornaments, Grandma would take notes and measure. Then off we would go to the fabric store for velvet, satin, brouquads, and ribbon. To Goodwill for old jewlery and the craft store for styrofoam balls, glue and pins.

Then she would go home create paper patterns, cut fabric, pin it to the balls. the broquades were added with pins and glue. The tops and bottom were made out of the old jewlery that we took apart and reassembles on floral pins.

She worked all year on the ornaments. She loved giving them as gifts and people cherished them.

These are some of my favorite ones. I often think I should try to make some myself.

This one is missing the bottom. I remember when Grandma made it, it had a black and gold dangle earring on the bottom.

1-1-11

2011-01-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

My wishes for a Happy New Year. May this year bring you joy and happiness.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-23T15:56:00.001-08:00

I hope you are spending Christmas with friends and family. If you are far away from home (you know who you are!) know that we are thinking of you and sending you our love. To our friends that are going through trying times we send you our prayers.

We are so lucky to be spending Christmas with family and a day next week with Matt and Sandra and New Years with Mark, Mary and good friends.

Love to you all and wishes for a Very Merry Christmas.

Random Acts

2010-12-23T15:15:00.000-08:00

I've noticed since Randy retired we do random, spur of the moment stuff.

Head to Lacy just for a Dutch Bros. coffee, go to the Poulsbo Walmart because it's nicer then the one 10 minutes away, head to the casino on a Monday night for dinner, go to Seabeck for breakfast, head to Oregon and the coast looking for old cabinets. (which I found)

This week we went to Seattle.

Got up early, took the 7:20 ferry, it was a beautiful sunrise. Mt. Rainier looks amazing.

We head for The Market first of course. It's the best time to be there. The vendors are just setting up and everyone is so happy and best of all there are not a lot of people there.
After coffee we went up the Westlake Center to check out the tree and the decorations in the stores. We finished Christmas shopping a few weeks ago so there wasn't anything special we were looking for. We did find the new Penzey's spice store, which I usually have to order by mail. If you haven't used their herbs and spices your missing out on some yummy concoctions.

When I was little my Grandma lived on Queen Ann Hill, I think she lived in every apartment there ever was on Queen Ann Hill. I loves going to stay with her at Christmas time. She would always take me to see Frederick and Nelson's and The Bon Marche'. I loved the decorations and I swear the stores were bigger then anything in the whole world. Now they seem so much smaller and the decorations aren't as festive. But it's always fun to go see them.

When I was in my 20's I would take Grandma over so she could go to Frederick and Nelson's. It was always the same. The doorman would open up the door and my Grandma would tell him that she worked there from 1918 to 1942. Then she would tell the clerk that would help us the same thing and add that she would have to wear either a black or navy blue dress or skirt suit, nylons and heels. It is always a fond memory for me.

Lunch at The Pike Brewing Co.

I love the Naughty Nellie Pale Ale.
FYI they have a great spinach salad.

Brew baby, brew!

COOKIES!!!

2010-12-23T14:59:00.001-08:00

Weather they are a part of a good diet or not, we still have to make Christmas Cookies.

The girls, Gavyn and Owen where all here to help.
"COOKIES!!!"

Owen and his Pa are never far from each other.
Does the baby like the cookie or not? Hard to tell.

Cookie Art, mmmmm.....good.

Rachel, Gavyn and Megan were great cookie decorators.

I give up on this picture. I've rotated it three times and it still looks like this, but it's a cute picture so I included it.

Kayla, Jessica and Alexis are working hard on the cookies, or maybe they're watching The Christmas Carol.

Baby Dear.

Isn't this the cutest girl?

Go Hawks!!

And another one down...

2010-12-23T14:46:00.001-08:00

Tammie turned 50 last Friday, so we all met down at the Ale House for some pizza and beer. About 25 people showed up. She had a great time there.

This is Tammie with her brother, cute picture.
Amanda "daughter" and Megan. They are good friends and we think the world of her.

Yeah, that's us.

This picture is dark but it's really cute of Tammie.

Bob had to leave at 11:30, he got himself a job working on the new Manette bridge. Crazy job hanging over the water.

Happy Birthday Tammie, wishing you a wonderful year.

More Kayla Birthday

2010-12-17T15:10:00.000-08:00

You remember Dylan's Dad, we like to call him Reverend Bob, since he proformed Dylan and Megan's wedding ceremony.
Kayla with her Mama's

Check out those cute cheeks.

Yet one more daughter, Alexis.

Enough of this 21 year old Bday, on to Tammie celebrating her 50th. I'm sure they'll be pictures.

21, 21, 21!

2010-12-14T16:25:00.000-08:00

Dylan's sister, Kayla turned 21 Sunday. Saturday night the kids all went out at midnight, and

Sunday night we had a family dinner. The kids must of had a great time because they were pretty quiet at dinner.

Happy Birthday Kayla. The Mom's.

Babies, babies!

2010-12-14T15:58:00.000-08:00

Friday night we had a wonderful dinner with friends we haven't seen for quite a while.

Some mmmm...good BBQ'ed ribs and I didn't even have to cook.

Saturday Mark and Mary made to trek from Portland for a visit. They won't be up on Christmas so they wanted to spend some time with the family. They'll be back up for New Years Eve so we may have to have some kind of whoop whoop par-ta!

We also had Owen over night. He was a perfect baby, never cried and slept really well. Of course when ever he has his Pa he's a happy boy.

Our nephew Rian (Randy's sisters son) with his wife April and their 4 1/2 month old daughter, Ellie. Rachel and Rian haven't seen each other since their early 20's. It's weird since they have lived with in 25 miles of each other for years.

Ellie looks like a little doll. Everything about her is so tiny and precious.
This was the first time Owen had seen a doll. I'm not sure he understood. He did have to point out the doll's eyes, and nose.

And...my house was pretty much a disaster after Owen left. But you know I didn't care.

Holy Cow!

2010-12-09T18:14:00.001-08:00

Pizza and Beet

2010-12-08T16:42:00.000-08:00

Last week Jessica and I had dinner with her friend from school Alexis and her Mom Crystal. Crystal and I worked together on Grad Night for the girls graduating class. We haven't seen each other since the summer after they graduated in 2007.

So we decided we needed to get together and have a Mom, Daughter dinner.

We had a wonderful visit, almost 3 hours down at the Ale House in Port Orchard.

So the story on the beets is...

A few weeks ago Crystal posted on her Facebook that she was enjoying pizza and beet at Hale's Brew Pub in Silverdale. Of course she meant pizza and beer. I couldn't let that go by without doing something. So I wrapped up the can of beets in a lovely bag and gave it to Crystal. We had a great laugh.

We think we are going to expand our Mom, Daughter dinners and ask more Mom's and Daughter's to join us.

Mom

2010-12-08T16:33:00.000-08:00

We took Mom out to lunch for her, you know what, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

We had a wonderful lunch at Lele in Gig Harbor.

Kathy, Megan, MJ

Linda, Mom, Carolyn

We missed Phyllis, she was having her family Thanksgiving that day.

Look how cute Mom looks. And she is loving her new scarf.

(why is there always football on behind us when ever we want to take nice pictures?!)

No we are not in the bar and we only had hot tea.

Russell

2010-12-08T16:24:00.000-08:00

Russell hasn't made an appearance on the blog in a while.

Russell brought his Mom, Danielle, over a few weeks ago.

Russell will be 2 on December 26th and what a fun little boy he is. He keeps his Mama pretty busy.

When he came to visit he discovered the glass laundry room door.

Open...
...close and peek...
...open and come out and start all over again.

Can you remember being so easily amused?

Happy B******** Mom

2010-11-26T16:12:00.000-08:00

We can't talk about it, but we all know it's the 26th of November and it is a special day.
So we wish our wonderful Mom a wonderful day, a wonderful year!

We are all so lucky to have you in our lives and love you more then we can say.