Back on the Trail

Thursday morning Walt, Lynn and I went hiking on the same trail as our Tuesday hike. It was fun to hike the same trail, as Lynn helped us focus on the flowers and vegetation we had missed on the previous hike. She is a great hiker and I think that if we had brought more supplies along we may have attempted the trip to the alpine meadow up there or perhaps have made it to the final destination: Aneroid Lake!
Maybe next year :)
I love the lighting in this picture.

Caps to the Capital

The day before leaving for Wallowa Bernat emailed me with a project knitters can participate in, "Caps to the Capital." I quickly packed some leftover yarn and as many needles as I could find to take up to the lake -- just in case someone would like to join me in making these tiny baby caps. Marcia, Michelle and I completed several during the week. They're a quick project, small enough to take-along and for a good cause. If you are interested in being a part of this project, check out this site:
http://www.savethechildren.org/capstothecapital/

Old Wallowa Traditions

Back during the first few Wallowa years a tradition got started with our kids. Their grandparents would give them a little spending money for a treat during the week. Their favorite shopping spot was the Marina store where they could buy what I used to call "penny candy." They could buy anything they wanted and somewhere along the line they discovered the rack with candy cigarettes. We couldn't convince them to make another choice, like Neccos or Chick-O-Stix.

While we were shopping at Mad Mary's in Joseph Brian spotted a rack of retro candy and bought a couple of packs to share with his childhood buddy and fellow cigarette candy consumer,Steve. Can't believe they still make these!
Since the kids were small the go-kart track has always been a highlight of our trip. Each one racing to pick out what they believe is the fastest car. This is still an annual event and soon we will have some third generation drivers on the road ... oh, my! In the old days the karts were pretty primitive and we did have some back and neck injuries from getting rear ended by one of the kids. Today's karts are very sleek and fast in comparison but also costs about 4 times more to ride. Doesn't matter ... it's all about the race :)

Psalm 8

Since I would miss my Bible study Tuesday I brought my lesson along to work on at Wallowa. What an amazing surrounding to be reminded of the vastness of God's creation. Read Psalm 8 to see what I mean!

Grandpa Walt's Helper

How sweet it was to have a Wallowa kitchen helper! After raising all boys it was nice to have Ammy's help with K.P. duty.

Wallowa Coffee Break

It's always nice to go up to the air-conditioned Wallowa General Store and start the day off with an iced coffee ... even nicer surrounded by those you adore!

Aneroid Trail

Early Tuesday morning we drove up to the trailhead with Byron & Heather and started our journey up the Aneroid Lake trail. Our goal was to make it up to the dam/spillway but we even went a bit beyond. We enjoyed beautiful views, refreshing cool breezes, and the sound of the rushing river. What a way to start the day.
Our reward for exceeding our goal ... Mt. Huckleberry icecream at the Swiss Village. yummmmmmmm.....

Happy Birthday Wallowa Style

What a fun way to celebrate another birthday … actually it seems to be an annual event! No matter … it is always a joy to be surrounded by family, friends and fellow campers. What a treat it was to have a special helper with the candles. Enjoying our time here!

Summer Projects

Our old oak tree had to come down in May leaving a large void in our backyard. I spotted a garden bridge at Al's Garden Center and "Byron The Builder" went to work on creating one for our yard. I told him he may get requests/orders from this advertisement!
We got inspiration for landscape plants from our trip to the Cannon Beach Inn.
They had Crocosmia "Lucifer", yellow Yarrow, purple Sage, Lavender, white Hydranga and varigated Hebe growing all over the property. The Crocosmia was new to me but now I see if everywhere! The varigated Hebe is going to be a tough one to find. I know I can get it by mail order but I would like to find one locally if I could.
In addition, we got the shed up and a start on the fence. Next will be exterior paint and a new deck. If you try to get in touch with us, we'll probably be in the backyard! Our summer projects have been a lot of work but the end result is so pleasing : )

Tea Party

What a surprise … with my birthday less than 2 weeks away … my Bible study ladies planned a birthday celebration for both Loree and I. The gifting theme was “tea” and if you’ve ever spent time in my kitchen you know how much I love tea, teapots and accessories. Each gift was unique … not a single duplicate … I love each one!
To top off the evening we spent time studying Psalm 1 … a life of blessedness vs. barrenness. I was encouraged by the openness and insights each had to share. I am so thankful to be a part of this study/group.
Thank you, ladies, for your special gifts of friendship and being a part of my journey.

“There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea.” ~Bernard-Paul Heroux

Sudoku

On a recent Cannon Beach getaway for our anniversary Walt brought a Sudoku puzzle book and it didn't take long to get me hooked. Completing the puzzle requires patience and logical ability -- even though some may seem difficult -- I love problem solving : )
We spent a lot of time on the sunny beach relaxing, reading, and working Sudoku puzzles resulting in sunburned wrists!
I read two books from our school library: "Sun and Spoon" by Kevin Henkes and "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson ... both very good.
What a great way to start my summer break ....

102 degrees outside …. much fun inside

Monday a group of co-workers, brown-bag lunches in hand and escaping the heat, met at Nancy’s air-conditioned house to learn a new craft … beading. This was a whole new world to me. Have you ever shopped at a bead store??? It was very overwhelming to me … so many choices!
I picked out my beads a few days before and Nancy, being the expert, helped me fashion them into wonderful additions to my earring collection. I am so pleased with the results. Hoping we can get together again … not only to make jewelry … but also to spend some time together. After eating lunch as a group for nearly 10 months it’s kind of lonely not seeing them once in awhile during the summer break.

Sale away, sale away, sale away ...

This weekend Mom and I got to stop by an amazing garage sale in a condominium community close to our home. We found some great items at unbelievable prices. I found some great things for my home, scrapbooking, and for the school library. But the best deal of the day ... Nike hiking boots ... Ice Lake here I come! I was just starting to look at ads etc. for the best deal and there they were ... fit perfectly and at the right price.
I hope to have more opportunities this summer to browse the garage sale want ads and get out and find those bargains! Let me know if you see a good one : )

Summer Break

Friday, June 23rd @ 11:00a.m. ... the official start time of my summer break :)
I have so many plans for the time off: a time to read, a time to scrapbook, a time to rest, a time to "do", a time to garden, a time to re-connect with friends ... will there be enough days to accomplish all that I want to do???? Most importantly ... a time to be refreshed physically, spiritually, mentally and socially.
Probably the saddest day in the summer calendar is flipping the page to July 1st. After only a week of starting my summer break, the stores bring out school supplies and all the back-to-school ads! Oh, no!!!!!

Harvest Maid

In the early 80’s I received a Harvest Maid Food Dehydrator for my birthday. During that time I was canning and drying most of the summer months. Our favorite Wallowa vacation treat was dried bananas. I couldn’t dry enough of them … they were like candy and so much healthier than other snacks. Friends would share their garden bounty or I would u-pick /shop at Sauvie Island farms for fruits and veggies. We made some wonderful fruit leathers. The only bad experience ... I dried trays of green pepper, onion and garlic on the same day. It reeked and we had to air out the house for days!
Today while Michelle & my mom were here to celebrate Father’s Day and Matte’s birthday we got the dehydrator out of storage, cleaned it up, turned it on and amazingly it still works. We did an assembly line of banana slices and for the next 10-12 hours the house will be filled with the familiar aroma from my past.
During my “soccer mom” years I didn’t have much time for food preservation … I was always in the carpool van :) but lately I have been yearning to get out the canning jars and make some things from scratch. During those years I was less wasteful and our food seemed healthier. I also have another motivation … wholesome snacks for Colin.
With Wallowa around the corner I guess I’ll be watching for sales on bananas. If you see a good price, let me know!

School's Out For Summer ...

G' Pa

Colin loves to spend time with his G'Pa. Grandpa's awesome ... he can make great sound effects like missles exploding, speeding cars etc. and loves to swing Colin high in the air to "fly." He lets him sit in the parked car on his lap and "drive" and experience the thrill of the slide at the park. What great fun they have together ... but I wonder who enjoys the slide more ... Colin or G'Pa?!?!? :)

Wedding Bells Are Ringing ...

Wedding bells have been ringing in June. This month we had the pleasure to share in Eric and Whitney's wedding. What a beautiful ceremony ... and a good looking Best Man. Great job, Matte!
Matt met Eric in elementary school and over the years he just became a part of the family ... like a fourth son. He fit in so well with the boys and brought a lot of laughter to our home. Whitney became a part of his life the summer before his senior year and as Sean mentioned in the ceremony, she just brings light and joy to those around her. What a great "team"!
Tomorrow we will be celebrating two weddings ... kids we spent time with as youth coaches in church youth group. Suddenly I'm starting to feel a little old :)
Congrats to these friends and newlyweds. Wishing you much happiness.

A cousin is a ready-made friend for life

What a treat is was to spend a weekend with our California cousins. Since it had been seven years since we last got together there was much to catch up on ... sharing our joys and struggles, reminiscing about family, looking through photo albums and old pictures, worshiping together, and much laughter and joy. It was fun to spend some time with the "girls" and nice to finally outnumber the guys around here :)
Seven years is much too long to wait for another visit. I'm looking forward to more opportunities to get together...they are not only family but very dear friends. Thanks Cindy, Annalisa and Rachel for spending the weekend with us!

Washington Park Rose Garden

Kaboom!

Tim gave Walt an Atari Emulator for his birthday this spring and this brought back memories from 1981 .........
I haven’t always been a big fan of spending time playing computer games. As a “Type A” personality, I usually don’t give myself permission for this kind of activity. BUT in 1981 I became addicted to the Atari game, Kaboom! If you earned a score of 3,000 points or more, you could send your score to Activision and they would enroll you in the "elite" Bucket Brigade. With the technology available at the time -- you were required to take a picture of yourself with your TV screen displaying your score. The reward was a Bucket Brigade patch (ooooohhhhh!)
As soon as the guys went down for an afternoon nap I would pull out the paddles, insert the cassette and try to beat the 3,000 point goal. It took awhile but one afternoon I exceeded the score … but a new dilemma … how would I capture this event on film?!?!? The solution … I called my friend and neighbor, Barb over to help me out. She had to bring 3 pre-schoolers along and I’m sure once Bob learned of this crazy scheme, he would only shake his head in disbelief : ) Anyway, I did get my patch (wow!) but 25 years later I can't seem to find it. You’d think with everything I’ve saved in the attic I would have come across it by now. Nancy, a fellow Kaboom! addict, also earned a patch. I wonder if she still has hers?!?!?
Oh well, I’m off to a new game now .... Bejeweled 2. I’m addicted and thanks to a Mother’s Day gift from Brian, Michelle & Colin, I no longer have to play it online. I doubt that there’s a patch or any reward for the highest score but I can’t stop playing it.

The older I get the more I believe there needs to be more “play” in my day.