A Good Life

TOFW

2010-11-07T01:20:00.000-07:00

It's late but I can't go to bed until I can put my bread dough in the fridge for the night, so I thought I would just check in.

I've been at Time Out For Women in Portland this weekend with great friends who are a real blessing in my life. I don't know what I would do without these girls. We have so much fun, lots of laughter and girls I can bare my soul to and know they will love me no matter what. The theme this year was about Infinite Hope. We listened to women who shared stories of their life and trials and how they clung to hope to overcome feelings of despair. We listened, laughed until we cried and also shed tears when feelings of the spirit overcame us. They were wonderful and very, very funny. We started lists of what we hope for in life and what we have hope in.

Not much sleep was had amongst us, maybe 2-3 hours at best, but what fun. No pictures (forgot my camera), but will try to get one or two from Stephanie or Pinky tomorrow to post, just to let you in on the fun. I think I can just about put the dough in the fridge now, so I'm off to bed. (It's a new recipe: Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day.) I'll let you know if it turns out.

I'm tired, but it's a good tired of a great weekend. See ya!

New Business logo

2010-08-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

I finally got my new business logo up as a blog banner. It will also be used on my labels for everything. I love it! Now to just figure out CS3 and circles and texting in the circle (my fonts won't seem to work doing that, so I know I'm doing something wrong). It's probably a simple fix, but can't seem to get it to work.
Anyway, check it out, do you like it? Look here

Which of These Girls?

2010-07-31T08:08:00.000-07:00

Which of these girls.....

I didn't ask them to line up, seriously.

Isn't she just beautiful!

They always run to come visit when I come out.

Or these girls...

Gave us......

They're small, but they are the first ones. Yeah! Typically, Barred Rock Hens lay huge brown eggs, so I know they will get to be quite large. Yum! It is what I have been waiting for all summer long. Guess what we're having for breakfast!

I love chickens, love having them in my yard, love the sounds they make, I love how pretty they are, and friendly. I just love everything about them. Well, I don't like that they come on my deck and poop, but other than that, oh and that they get in my garden and flower beds and dust themselves, but it's a small price to pay. Let's see.....10 hens, 10 free range chicken eggs a day, youza. I hope some friends love good eggs! Actually, I have had quite a few people ask if I am going to be selling them, so shouldn't be a problem.

Have I mentioned I love chickens!!!!

Kayaking

2010-07-10T17:29:00.001-07:00

I thought I would just post these two pictures of Bill and my friend Sami while we were kayaking last weekend. See I do things, I just forget to post. We only have one kayak right now (my Christmas present from Bill), but Sami has 2 so she lets Bill come along since her husband has to work when we can go. We went again this morning, different lake, but so much fun. It's finally sunny and gorgeous out.

And Penny of course. She has her own life jacket and everything. She saw me in the other kayak and decided to come see me and jumped out of Bills. I don't know if she realized that was water between us or not, but she was pretty surprised, we fished her out and she was fine. This week she didn't do that, but did learn how to jump from one kayak to the other when we were right next to each other. I'm not sure she is having as much fun as we are, but hopefully she will learn to. I would love to have her sitting on the top and "leading" the way. We shall see. She is still a puppy.

I tried to make these pictures larger, but they warped. Does anyone know how to keep the scale correct while doing that. I thought it was something like holding down shift or control or something like that. Anyway, if anyone knows how to do that, let me know.

So Social

2010-07-10T17:03:00.000-07:00

I thought I would put some pictures of my cute little chicks, that I forgot to take pictures of when I first got them in March or so. Ten little Bard Rock chicks. I love chickens. I can hardly wait until they are old enough to start laying eggs. Hopefully in another month or so.

These hens are the most social hens we have ever had. One of them waits every morning for me to pet her when I'm letting them out of the coup. Today she even seemed to want me to pick her up, so I did, she loved it. They even come running up to Max and Penny when they are out there with me. Don't they know Max is a cat and birds are his favorite thing to eat????? They have even come up to him and touched his nose. What is with that!!!

They love to go nose to nose with Penny too.

Penny loves these girls, but really I think she just likes to eat their poop. It really must be way yummy.

See, they love her! Way social!

So Max has pretty much had it with these girls. I'm sure he is thinking about the others behind him and how he is going to make his escape. But then....

they chase him when he makes his move. Seriously, these girls will probably walk up to the first coyote or Bobcat they see and try to make friends. NOT a good thing! I need them to grow up and give me nice big brown eggs, Yum!

Blogging? What's blogging?

2010-06-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I haven't blogged for such a long time. It's not that things are going on. I am not working and at least something is going on and I completely forget to blog, or to check blogs I usually follow. What's that all about? I guess I think that nothing is really that interesting, so why blog about it. Actually, I just haven't even thought about it. But since this is also a type of journal, why not keep it up, besides it's fun. There is plenty of rain to keep me inside. So, need to take advantage of it and do inside things. Like, clean out cupboards and closets and purge all those things that I don't need and I'm tired of looking at. You should see my living room. I'm getting rid of 90% of my scrapbooking stuff since I'm mostly doing digital now. Kept some stuff since I really love the look of the paper ones with all the real layers and such. Still love doing it though. My goal is to get at least 1-2 closets done a day, then do whole rooms, then the dreaded garage. Then start over and purge more. We are going to have a smashing garage sale in July or there abouts. I keep saying that but it never really happens and we just keep gathering. This time it's happening, I'm tired of all the "stuff". I want it gone! I also need to get rid of some books. We have way to many, but books are hard for me to part with, so I'll do that last. You know, those church novels that we all read. Do I really need to keep them? Am I really going to read them again, or just be someones library. No, probably not, it's just so hard to part with them.

I'm playing my Viola again and hoping to join the local chamber group within the year. I have forgotten so much, it makes me sad that I didn't keep going. Years ago when I was playing there were very few opportunities locally to play, or people to play with. I went to Eugene for a time and played with the Lane CC chamber group for awhile, but it is just a long way. It was fun though, and of course the local Oregon Coast Chamber Orchestra. Now we have one girl that is in our ward that plays violin and another that just decided to pick it up again. Now all we need is a cello. I've tried to convince Bill to play the cello. Maybe I just need to buy him one and have it sitting around for him to get interested. That would be so fun to have a little quartet in our ward. Anyway, I should, hopefully, be able to get back what I have lost within the year, so that will be fun. I really love it. Learning an instrument is so important I think. I wish I would have had my boys learn to play the piano. When they were little they did the violin for a short time, but they hated that. Piano should have come next. David played the sax and Chip the Oboe in Middle School, but they needed to continue some kind of instrument. Really, the piano should be something everyone learns I think. I wish I would have. I can play a little bit, but not really. Does that make sense?

Knitting and hand work have all been replace with keeping a puppy entertained, throwing balls, etc. Penny has really grown, and she is a blast. We took her down to my dad's house and he LOVED her. She loved him to. When we came back from walks she would run to him and jump on his lap. When we got home and I called him to tell him we were home (and even a couple of calls after that), he would say how much he missed ... Penny. What are we, chopped liver. I thought it was so funny. He would get down on the floor with her and play and was always excited when she came back in from walks, and would comment on whatever she was doing at the time. It was fun taking her down there, but she got very used to the weather and not having to go out in the rain to do her duty, which really made it difficult when we got home. She would just stand at the door and look outside and then look at me like, "ah, no thanks". Can't say I blame her.

That same trip we went to Disneyland with David and his family. What fun that was to see Milan loving Disneyland. The weather was perfect and we all had a great time. I didn't know you could spend a whole day in Fantasyland, but we wouldn't have had it any other way. Bill and I did sneak off and go on two rides, Splash Mountain and Soaring, which is in Calif. Adventures. That was very cool. It closes early and we barely made it so we didn't even get to look around it there, wish we could have, but that's okay, next time. Anyway, Soaring kind of makes you want to learn how to hang glide. I'll put up some pictures in the next day or two.

Well, enough jabbering for now. I'll post some pictures later. I have to make a dessert for a YW auction tonight (not in YW anymore, but just contributing). I think I'll make the coconut dish with cream cheese and coconut cream pudding and coconut on top, it is way yummy! It's been a lazy morning, so better get started.

Finally

2010-04-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally have a moment to post. Actually, it's probably that I have finally taken the time, not that I've been too busy, though it does feel that way. So much has been happening it's hard to believe it is already April. I'll skip the little stuff and move on to the big change. On March 14th my whole department at the hospital was laid off. Most of us could see it coming, but they promised it wouldn't ever happen, so it was still kind of a shock. They really didn't have much choice. For those of you who don't know, I'm a medical transcriptionist and have been working at our local hospital for just over 13 years. The whole corporation, which includes hospitals and clinics in Alaska, Washington and Oregon, decided to go with voice recognition. Frankly, most of us saw the writing on the wall and in late April they announced they would be outsourcing the editing. So, March 14th was our last day. They have been kind and generous to us and we feel pretty good about the whole thing.

One of the best things that came from this experience is a wonderful talk I had with one of my kids about faith. He was so angry about all of it, but I explained that if we have faith that all will be well and that our Heavenly Father will take care of us, he will. I explained to him that it didn't mean things wouldn't be difficult, that we might have to make some major lifestyle changes, but that change isn't always bad. It can open doors that ultimately are better for us. We really talked at length about it and it was a great moment. We really do have faith that all will be well and that we will be guided towards the answers that ultimately will take us to where our Heavenly Father wants us to be. Most important to me is that it's an opportunity for spiritual growth, because ultimately, that it most important. It really doesn't matter if we lose everything, it's just stuff. It's not that we think that will happen, we don't, but even if it did, as long as we have faith and we are doing what the Lord wants, I'm okay with that. Ultimately, the company that took over has asked me to come work for them, which I am trying out. I'm not sure it's what I want to do, but I told them I would try it out for a month or two, so we'll see. The job has caused some nerve damage in my ears and a few other aches and pains, so I may make a major change, maybe take some classes and try something different. We'll just have to see. I do have a testimony that if we follow the guidance of the Spirit all will be well. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and His great Plan of Happiness. I know that if I earnestly pray and ask my Heavenly Father to guide me, he will. The place where I want to be is where He wants me to be, doing what He wants me to be doing. It's that simple!

Shortly after this conversation, this same child had some major change in his life, which I think, because of our conversation, he was more able to deal with, and understand that change isn't a bad thing. He isn't a child that likes change, or deals with change easily, but it has ended up being a blessing in his life and an opportunity for growth. It's been good and he agrees. We are so proud of him. We are proud of all of our boys and how they deal with life's challenges.

Now, on a lighter side. We have a new puppy, Penny. She makes us smile all the time. Here is the first picture I took of her.

Yes, that's the picture. She moved so fast that picture after picture looked just like this, or maybe this one.

Finally I got one of her, but it wasn't easy.

Of course, she turned her head so I didn't get her face. I think she weighed about 1.3 pounds here. We are so used to having big dogs, a Golden Retriever , Rotty', that this is sooo new. But we are loving her. She is a Yorkie, but a full-sized Yorky, not a tea-cup or toy. She will never be big though, probably about 9 lbs. She doesn't shed, Yahoo!, so no one will be allergic to her. Here is another picture of her. Everyone says she looks like a bear cub.

Is she not the cutest! I think she looks like an Ewok, sounds like one too sometimes when she is trying to talk. No one passes her on the street without stopping and giving her attention, which she loves. Now she wonders why some don't.

She is so good. She has really grown, she now weighs a little over 3 lbs. Here is a picture of her on the beach for the first time. We are really having fun with her and she makes us smile all the time. She is such a kick!

She still moves fast, so not great pictures. I'll have to get a video of her and post that. I also have to post another one that Bill would be embarrassed about, but oh well. I was in the kitchen making dinner or something and he called me out one day to look at what he was doing. This is the guy that was shaking his head about getting a small dog. (I had given him multiple opportunities to get a golden again, or a lab and he wouldn't go look, so this is what I decided on)

We have a picture of David with Milan on his 4-wheeler, so this makes the picture even more funny to me. Look closely, see the green bag... Does this look like a man who minds having a small dog?

All of the boys have basically said it is official, we are getting old. But I have to tell you, she won't shed (no allergies), she is small enough to take anywhere without a hassle, she will be a breeze in the camper and traveling. We just love her to pieces. I think Milan and Eden will too!

Oh, and here is a picture of her brother, who we just saw yesterday. His name is Guinness. Not a great picture, but the best we could do. He is a little bigger than Penny, but is adorable. He chases his tail like a cat and has a great personality.

Glenda????

Christmas Trees

2009-12-31T16:17:00.001-08:00

Just a quick note to show you my new collection. I'm starting to collect white or whitish Christmas trees. I just love these. There are a few more I'm going to make to go along with these.
We had a wonderful Christmas with Chip and Andrea, and Zach this year, though we missed David, Amanda and the girls terribly. The only thing that would have made it perfect is if they could have come. Maybe next year. It was one of those beautiful sunny winter days here on the coast, so there was some relaxing on the deck, feeding horses and playing with dirt bikes and 4-wheelers. We had Salmon this year that was delicious (and ham of course) and all the fixings we needed. Our greatest gift was spending the entire day with our kids, or most of them. How I love my family and spending time with them. Hopefully we will have everyone together next year, which will make it the best!

Love to you all and have a Happy New Year!

Beautiful

2009-12-07T14:08:00.001-08:00

I haven't had time to blog lately, but I want to get this on for people to see. I think it's wonderful. Let's all remember to not get caught up in the hustle and bustle and to relax and enjoy the season and remember the birth of our Savior. If you missed the LDS Christmas broadcast yesterday, go online and watch it. But before you do, watch this:

A Contest

2009-11-08T18:00:00.000-08:00

Check out my other blog for a contest I'm running, I need some fresh ideas on a name, read all about it Here

I Love Wyoming

2009-11-08T15:31:00.000-08:00

I love Wyoming, especially Rock Springs. Now I know some of you will think I'm crazy. There really isn't a lot to do right there, though Walmart can keep me happy for awhile. I love the high Uinta Mountains and have great memories of camping there when our boys were young, before we moved away, But the absolutely, positively, most wonderful of all things, where ever you might be, thing to do while in Rock Springs, is play with Milan and hold Eden. We just got back from David's where we blessed Eden and spent a wonderful week visiting and playing and watching the girls to give some needed rest and relaxation to mom and dad. It was perfect fun and a great visit. Isn't this a great looking family!

We went to the library for story time and got to play a little bit before the story started.

Afterwards they trick or treated through the Library.

On Friday night David and Amanda were able to go to a Halloween Party while we watched the girls. Can you guess who David is?

Did you guess Mr. Clean and his maid?

Here are a couple of pictures of the girls. First, Milan in one of her many costumes. She was a cow on Halloween, nice and warm for trick or treating. I didn't get a picture of that since we had to leave, but you can check out Amanda's blog for it. She was a princess a lot while we were there and loves to play dress up.

I don't have a great camera but still was able to get a couple of cute pictures. It's hard since my camera has such lag time and so many were blurry. I really need to invest in a good quick camera!

I LOVE this picture! We really need to be closer to them. We had such great fun with the whole family! I hope we can go back soon, very soon!

September catch up - Bear cubs

2009-10-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get these pictures up and finally have a few minutes to do it. My friend Ann had three bear cubs and a mom come play on their trampoline. Fun, until you think about it, then kind of scary when you have three young kids that also want to go play. It's kind of late to have such young bear cubs out, but there have been tons of them around this year. I mean tons of bears!!

I didn't get a picture of the bears on the trampoline, but here they are eating the neighbors berries. I'm sure Brian, the neighbor, didn't appreciate it. They also love his pumpkins. I think that is why he grows them. There are two on the left and one on the right, mom in front.

After this they came right up to the house, these pictures were taken from just a few feet away, inside the house however. They stayed and played for a good half hour, just while I was there, they had been there long enough for me to drive there when Ann called. I hope she posted her video of them on the trampoline, it was so fun to watch.

More Montana pictures

2009-09-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would post some more of our Montana pictures. It's a beautiful place and we camped at a beautiful lake. Hope if gives you some ideas on where to go camping sometime. It's well worth the drive.

There were two lakes right together, one was called Wade Lake, but can't recall the other one. It is on the way to Yellowstone, leaving from Ennis, MT, where we had spent the night. It was gorgeous. Can you see the color of the water. It was even warm enough to swim in.

Here is our camp site. Isn't it beautiful! That's us!

This is from the camp site.

These two pictures are from the top of the hill looking down as we were leaving.

These pictures below are from Quake Lake, made by an earthquake in 1959. You can see in the second picture below where the whole side of the mountain slid down onto a campground at about 100 mph.

See where the mountain came down? I can't imagine being camping and having that happen, 28 people died that were camping along that area. Can you imagine! It's kind of weird to see all the tops of the trees still out in the middle of the lake. It is 190 feet deep and 6 miles long. Pretty amazing. And very beautiful. You find Quake Lake from traveling along the Madison River towards, or from too I guess, West Yellowstone.

For some reason I can't get all my pictures to show. If I can, I'll post more, but really wanted to get these up. That day we arrived in Idaho Falls for Chelse's wedding, a couple of days early of course.

Another Testament

2009-09-22T13:18:00.000-07:00

Had to share this, hope you enjoy it. I did!

http://anothertestamentofchrist.com/

Montana travels

2009-08-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here waiting for Glenda to come get me and thought I would post some of the pictures we took on our way here. We decided to go through Montana, my favorite place in the whole world, instead of going the same way we always go to get anywhere. We have had a lot of fun camping and seeing old places I have lived as well as new places we definitely want to go back to. Just to let you know, the pictures really don't do it justice. We have been traveling through some amazingly beautiful country! I thought I would post some anyway. I hope you can see the beauty in spite of our lack of camera's ability to take awesome pictures.

Couldn't get the pictures to download for some reason, so will try again later.

It's now 9/15 and I'm just getting back to posting. Here are pictures of our trip. We both really want to get back. We loved it up there. Especially around Drummond, where we attended church.

This is in Drummond, MT. We thought it was a funny sign, but a beautiful little town. We continued to drive up the road, forget what it is, admiring the quiet beauty all around. We headed west off the freeway to find a campground for the night and just relax. Bill got excited when we saw this ski resort off in the distance.

Eventually (the next day) we started to go to check out the ski resort but the road was in horrible condition, it was pouring rain and lots of mud, so he decided not to do it, since we had the camper. Below are a couple of different pictures of the campground we stayed at. It was so beautiful, in spite of the hail that we had. That's Montana for you. August and hailing. Gotta love it!

We found out the next day that the lake was huge and very pretty all around.

Here is the view from the church. It was so serene I just wanted to sit for awhile. I guess it was still green because it has rained every day this summer, very unusual, but makes for beautiful green fields.

Then off we went towards Bozeman and the Gallatin Canyon, one of my favorite places. It is so beautiful. Here we are heading from 4-corners, which I have to say is barely recognizable it is so built up. It was kind of sad to see how much it has been developed, though the pictures probably don't show that, at least not here at the mouth of the canyon, but there were houses all over in the canyon that weren't there before. I know, it was bound to happen, but still sad.

Isn't it beautiful, even with those huge storm clouds!!! Those mountains. What a beautiful earth we have been given.

When we finally get to the Big Sky turnout, my mouth dropped open, I couldn't believe what I saw... A LIGHT!
I couldn't believe it. I hope it is temporary since there was road construction going on, but as we camped on the Gallatin River that night the traffic was crazy busy, so maybe not. Now for the really sad pictures of Big Sky. It reminded me of Aspen. It is so sad. I guess there is a place up there called the Yellowstone Club or something like that. It is a Billionaire's club. Heard about it talking to someone that works there. I guess it's horrible, though I'm sure beautiful. It's on some falls that we used to cross country ski to, it was a wonderful place.

Can you see all the condos and houses? There aren't even a fourth of what is now in Meadow Village and on the way to the Mountain Village. When I was there, there weren't any houses between the two.

At least this place is still there.

You know, sometimes it's best not to go back, keep it the way it was. I still love the Gallatin Canyon and I had a great time talking to my old boss, Mike Schultz, at Bucks T-4, but the changes were so drastic and very sad.

I'm going to start a new post with the rest of our Montana pictures. I'm tired of having to scroll down forever for every picture. Does anyone know how to make your pictures just pop right where the cursor is instead of all the way at the top and then adding tones of space between paragraphs? Would love to know if you don't mind sharing! Besides, forgot to add some of the Gallatin River, so will do that too.

Two More Elk Calves Tonight!

2009-08-05T22:28:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note, we had two new Elk calves out this evening, still had their spots, they were so adorable. The kept nursing, it was so fun, we love watching them. It was too dark to get a picture with my little camera, just another time I wished I had a good SLR and a good telephoto lens. Soon they will be out jumping around and playing, now that is fun to watch! Video camera? Need one of those too! Maybe these ones will play in the puddles too.

Current Projects

2009-08-05T11:39:00.001-07:00

Do you want to see some projects that I have been working on? Visit my project blog here. I'm trying to keep up with posting my projects, though admittedly, I'm not very good about it. If you see anything you want to do, come on over!

If I could just get the painting I want to do. I said I was going to do it "this summer", but it seems like I'm going to wait until fall or winter. The summer has just been too busy and besides, for whatever reason the thought of painting a wall or my bathroom really freaks me out. What's that all about!!! Want to come help?

cute little thing

2009-07-21T07:01:00.000-07:00

Note this cute little field mouse. Now, none of us really like mice, I understand that. But if you know me, you know my love of all animals and this little guy is pretty darn cute, right? I don't even mind the tail. Now let me tell you how he came into my life.

This is Max: (hold on, temporarily outside somewhere and late for the photo shoot).....

Okay, here is Max. Not a great picture, but he works hard and is taking a nap.

The other day as I was walking through my family room when I see Max coming up the stairs, officially called "the cat stairs" (since as you can see...

there is no way a human can easily use them, unless they are very, very thin, about 3" thin to be exact), so here comes Max with some grass hanging out his mouth. Now, grass I say?, that is strange. Upon further examination I notice he is bringing me a gift, I scream NOOOOOOO as he heads for the cat door. He turns around and runs away. Dead rodent in my house averted. Yeah!! Do you hear the cheers?

An hour or so later, now madly knitting to get a gift finished, I look up to see Max coming through the cat door...

with the rodent still in his mouth (I assume the same one as he probably just went out and played with it for awhile, which they are wont to do). As I scream NOOOOOOOO again, instead of just backing out the door, he freaks out, drops the rodent and ...... it scurries away beneath my furniture. IT WAS STILL ALIVE!!!!! He tries to follow it as it looks for different places to hide, then, looses interest. Yes, that is right, he lost interest in this gift to me, it was successfully delivered I suppose. I run to catch Mimi, not easy to catch a cat when you are running towards them, they tend to run the other way, especially Mimi. This is Mimi

(she is NOT cooperating with the photo shoot so it doesn't show her full beauty) Anyway, I finally get her, grab hold of her, turn her face to the last place this "CLG - cute little guy" was seen (much more cute when they are outside by the way and I'm going to assume it is a boy since I don't want visions of a mouse having 100's of babies in my house), try to get her to take the scent and... she does. She tries to get it, but of course can't fit under the arm chair or couch, or where ever. So, off I go for a broom, a mop, anything with a long handle to slide under the chair so it will run right into Mimi's mouth, perfect plan, right? Max is still not interested by the way. So, as Mimi waits patiently where she saw CLG last, (Cat's are so patient when waiting for little things that move), when to my surprise, slowly the CLG exits the under part of the chair and sneaks around the corner, Mimi still patiently waiting. Cats!!! When did their keen sense of smell and movement, let alone their hearing go? Can't she hear or at least smell it getting away! As I jump up to see where it has gone, I notice it running and trying to leap up each stair into our bedroom. Not an easy thing for a very small CLG. No way CLG, you aren't going up there and I throw the broom ahead of it, like a broom with a long skinny handle is going to block the way, right! Now, some of you might ask, why throw it above the mouse instead of trying to smash the mouse? Do you know me? It was too cute to kill. I couldn't do that!!! However, it startles CLG enough that he turns and runs, only to find me standing there, the only out...down the stairs into the quagmire of Bill's shoes. (It's a scary place, it has every pair of shoes he has down there in that abyss, I'll even spare you the picture, it is too horrifying). I go running before it gets into our storage never to be found again, he's jumping, I'm jumping (I don't want him on my feet, however CLG's fear of that might be a bit more than mine, but not by much) Finally I think. Hey, If I can get him into one of Bill's shoes CLG will feel safe, I'll feel safe, neither of us will keep jumping, afraid the other is going to land on the other, good idea. What a great idea actually. It worked, I held a shoe over him, he jumped into it (I'm sure just so this giant would stop chasing him), went into the garage, opened the garage door and shook him out onto the driveway and shooed him off, reminding him of what a lucky CLG he was.

The rest of the story? The next day I come home from errands and find barf, specifically, cat barf. In the cat barf? One CLG tail. I hope it wasn't the one I chased. We kind of bonded.

Oh, one more thing. Don't tell Bill I caught a mouse in his shoe...he might not be too happy about it!

Catch Up....Again

2009-07-18T20:17:00.000-07:00

I can't believe this summer is already half over. I have been so busy it's crazy. It's all been good stuff, you know how it is. I can't remember a weekend that we didn't have obligations, mostly church stuff, except on a weekend in The Dalles, OR visiting our DIL and granddaughter. Now that was fun!! We also got to enjoy Amanda's sister Marie's, wedding. Milan was the flower girl and so adorable. Check this out. This was on the dance floor. This girl loves to dance! She had a hard time keeping the dress up, but that didn't stop her. She would just pick it up, since it was too long, and keep dancing.

Isn't this just the cutest picture of her!
Because the dress was a little big for her, it was pretty long, she would pick it up just like a little princess and go running with the kids. Could it have been any cuter? I don't think so. Every once in awhile the dress would get the better of her and down she would go. As you can see, it didn't bother her much.

While at the reception I spoke to the grooms grandmother who had made these wonderful pretzels. They were so yummy! She adds spices to them.

It's hard to tell they have spices, but they do. All you do is combine a bottle of Orville Redenbacher (sp?) butter flavor popcorn oil, 1 package of Ranch Dressing mix and a heaping T. of Lemon Pepper. Mix that all together and pour it over 2 bags of pretzels and stir until it is all coated. Keep it out on your counter and keep stirring every time you walk by for a day or two, until it all gets absorbed. You don't bake it or anything, yummy. If you like pretzels, you'll love these.

On Friday before the wedding we took Milan for the day so the girls could do some final prep. We took her to the park . I think one of her favorite things to say is "cheese".

I love this picture. I have it as my wallpaper on my computer. Every time I turn it on, there she is swinging and smiling at me. It makes my heart sing!

Look at these adorable freckles! I'm not sure you can see them very well, but they are there and as cute as can be.

This was the view from the park of the Columbia River Gorge. Actually much prettier in real life, of course. Besides, I don't have a great camera.

We also took her to McDonalds for lunch and sometime during the weekend we took her swimming.

We just had a great weekend with her. Each night we got to take her with us to stay in the camper. It was such fun. We went for walks in the park and did lots of swinging and she just liked to be out walking. She even just loved staying close to camp and playing with the camp kitty and just talking and keeping busy. This has to be my most favorite picture for the whole weekend. I absolutely just love it. This is how happy she was each morning.

How do you beat waking up to this every morning. Did I mention how much fun we had with her?

We have had a busy weeks since then as well. More on that tomorrow (??). As for now, I'm going to go sit and talk with Bill about our schedule coming up. We just got home from a Youth Temple Trip and I'm tired. It was also my Temple weekend so I've been gone all weekend, I love the weekends I get to work at the temple, but I started working a 4 am on Friday and haven't stopped yet, (well I did get a few hours of sleep last night but it was so stinking hot in the house I stayed at that, well, it was just so hot it was hard to sleep. Beautiful old farm house with no insulation and 104* weather, must have cooled though, to at least 90*. So ...I'll be right back to share what a wonderful weekend we had last weekend on a Stake Trek. Totally amazing!

A Camper, finally

2009-06-12T08:44:00.001-07:00

Well, we finally found a camper we wanted. We have been looking for a couple of years actually. Bill has wanted a Big Foot and they are not easy to find. But we held out and finally did find one. Here it is at the place where we bought it and also getting it on. I didn't want a big one, and this isn't, but is sure seemed big once it was on the truck. We got a camper so we could pull a boat or 4-wheelers.

We were so anxious to go camping and then we had church commitments every weekend for a month, between Stk Conf, which was wonderful (with Elder Johnson coming), out of town speaking assignments, temple trips, etc. It's just been busy. We finally got to go, it was kind of spontaneous (isn't that the joy of having a camper) when I realized I didn't have to work on Monday, so after we attended a funeral on Saturday, we came home, scrambled to get things ready and off we went. We had a lot of fun. We didn't go far, just up the McKenzie River, but it is one of our favorite places to be. The first night we stayed at Belknap Hot Springs, but got there kind of late in the day, early evening actually. Bill tried to fish, but the water current was so fast there was just no way.

This is the camper from across the McKenzie River our first night.
Bill fishing, of course. Below is a picture just up the river. It's so pretty up there.
Here is a picture of Bill's new friend that he made while there.

Then someone came along and insisted she get a picture of us both, ugh!

Sunday morning we got up and drove into Sisters for church. I can't believe I didn't get a picture, but seeing that the parking lot was full and realizing that we were late just didn't think of it, then or after. It was so fun seeing Nyle (Emily was in Az), Diane and Rick. They have a great little branch there and a very nice building. Nyle, who is the Branch President, said that they were working on the next stage of the building. I told him about when we were trying to get a building here and Floyd went around all the campgrounds playing Come, Come Ye Saints. It brought every member out of the woodwork. He would stop and ask them to come, no on cared that they didn't have typical church clothes, everyone just wanted them there. Because of that, we now have a building ready for 2 wards. I told him that when he picked his months to count, to let us know and we would try to get the whole ward there. Well, maybe the whole ward couldn't come, but a bunch of us could take turns and go all summer. (Good excuse to go camping too, right? Yeah, I'm thinking!)

After church we stopped at my favorite place, Suttle Lake, and had lunch. We stayed until thunder and lightening started and just a few drops of rain.

Met a new friend, shared our lunch with him, (or is it a her?)

or at least our Cheez-It's, and then off to find a place for the night. At Suttle there were 100's of these butterflies flitting about. They were so pretty. Just that time of year I guess, seriously, 100's.

I think we both wished we would have just camped at Suttle, but we didn't and that's okay. (Bill likes to move around) We stayed that night at McKenzie Bridge campground. We were about the only ones there. Seriously, I think there were about 3 campers that night, but it was very nice and quiet. I sent Bill to get pictures, but have no idea where they were, since they aren't on the camera. So, no pictures of that either. Oh well. It was relaxing, just BBQ'ed some steaks and zucchini and had a salad. Bill was boiling hot (for once he know how I usually feel, I was not hot, which is a miracle) and I had asked him to start a campfire. He thought I was crazy, but did it anyway, Good Husband! and within an hour it was cooling off and we had a beautiful night talking by the fire. Is there a better way to spend an evening?

Chip called and decided to meet us to go fishing the next day, so we got up early and met him, I don't know where, some park where you put in, he brought over the drift boat and they floated the river the next day and had fun fishing. They had a great time.

Here are a couple more pictures of them fishing during the day.

I just headed home after visiting Zach on the way and stopping at the garden store. Yes, I drove the truck/camper home all by myself. I'd only driven the truck once before so it was kind of weird for the first mile or so, but then it was fine, just big. I'm used to my Camry. All in all it was a great trip and we are excited to go again. Want to come along?

after 25 years...

2009-06-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

On May 4th Bill and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. It doesn't seem like that much time has passed, but then we think about our kids, who are now adults and of course, time has passed. We went out to dinner and talked about how much we love our life and our family. We are so proud of each of our kids and who they are. We have got great boys that are just nice people. It is fun to be around each of them and our best days are when we can be with them and their families. Certainly it's harder when they live so far away, but we constantly look forward to the time we can go and spend time with each of them. We also talked about how happy we are together, we talk about this often in fact. There have been rough times over the years. Sometimes we wondered if we would make it. But there is staying power in these covenants we make that go beyond this earth life and it's challenges. (if you want to know more click here) One of the things I hope we have taught our kids is that when the going gets tough, hang on and don't give up, keep living what and how you know to be right, pray and do all the other things that we have taught them. It may be easier to walk away, but it isn't usually the best way. Honor the covenants you have made, work hard and hold on.

So, if you know me, you probably know that I LOVE the movie Fiddler on the Roof. I love everything about it. The morning of our anniversary that song that Tev sang to Golde'. "Do You Love Me", you know the one, popped into my head. Now I know there are some differences. We don't have daughters getting married (does a niece count?), there is no trouble in our town, (just in the whole country), I don't think he's upset, he can't come inside or go lie down (he's currently mowing our lawn that takes 2+ hours to mow). He might have indigestion. Sometimes he acts like a fool, but only for fun. Yes I know, it's sounding more and more like there isn't much we have in common with this song (I have been trying for weeks to just get the short part of this song in a format I could post, to no avail). For 25 years I've washed his clothes, (well, he's been doing his own laundry for I can't remember how long), cooked his meals, (well, most nights), I've cleaned the house (we clean it together now) we did raise three boys, I haven't milked his cow (does a goat count?) Well, there are some similarities, right? We didn't meet for the first time on our wedding day (we had known each other 4 months). I was feeling a little shy, I don't know about him, nervous, maybe. I know I was. His parents were at our wedding, but I think they figured he already loved me, neither my mom or my dad were there. For 25 years I've lived with him, fought with him (should I admit that :), we haven't starved. For 25 years my bed is his; if that's not love, what is? "Tev: Then you love me?, Golde: "I suppose I do. Tev: Then I suppose I love you too.

It doesn't change a thing, but even so, after 25 years... it's nice to know.

Oh, did I mention, we are singing this every day of our 25th year...just for fun.

Never see deer

2009-05-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

We never see deer here. In fact we were just talking about that with some friends the night before. We see herds of Elk, bear occasionally, I've heard mountain lion but have never seen them, coyote more than I want to with cats and chickens around, but very rarely deer, maybe one other time in the 24 years that we have lived her, at least as I remember correctly. So, much to my surprise, I walked into my kitchen this morning, looked out the window and this is what I saw. Two young deer. Sorry, didn't zoom in enough, but here they are anyway.

I think this one is going to check out the horse. Decides it's quite a bit larger that he/she is and heads back to his/her sibling.

Now the horse wants to check out the deer. Gotta check out those foreigners you know. (they think nothing about a herd of elk in their pasture, but these little foreigners...gotta get to know them)
Now that darn horse is getting to close, so they decide to leave. Have no idea where their momma was, couldn't find her anywhere. Off they go into the trees. See the horse on the right side of the picture?

That was the last I saw of them all day. Timing is everything! We haven't seen much elk this spring, much to our dismay. Usually the babies come out and play in the puddles, it is such fun to watch. We need a camcorder to record it when we see it.

Just to make you smile

2009-05-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know I'm putting two YouTube links on back-to-back, but really, you have to see this.

It looks sooo fun. It may be added to my goals and even top my wanting to learn the Thriller dance. Wouldn't this just be a blast to do somewhere! I wonder where you hook up with people doing this kind of thing! (in this country of course)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UE3CNu_rtY

Simon what's his name?

2009-04-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

Just need to say, this Simon guy drives me nuts! He is so rude! I don't watch Idol or whatever it's called, but my sister told me about this lady that she saw on the news (she doesn't watch the show either) and I had to share it. I hope it works. If not, search on YouTube for Susan Boyle and look for the long version, about 5+ minutes. It will be worth it, seriously! But the link should work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk

This unassuming woman that just goes about her day, taking care of her family and friends, hiding a huge talent. I had to watch it a couple of times. It brought tears to my eyes (I know, I'm a boob!) Hope you enjoy it. I hope she wins!

Easter

2009-04-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note because I wanted to share this video, it is awesome and taken from Elder Holland's General Conference talk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0dAduc

We had a small but great Easter. Bill was still sick, so stayed home from Church, but Bud, his dad is here for awhile and so it was nice having him here for Easter dinner. Zach and Stefani came as well. We missed the other kids tons and wish we could have all been together. I wish we all lived closer so we could get together more often.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Why Cows don't jump on trampolines

2009-03-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

This is Jeffery.

Emily named Jeffery, before Emily saw him, his name was "Cow". He was just the neighbor's cow that lived in our pasture. The other day Bill went out to leave and Jeffery had decided that the grass under the trampoline was the best grass in the pasture and had somehow gotten under it, so here is this cow standing with a trampoline on his back. Suffice it to say, Bill did not get a picture, he thought about it, but didn't. I would have loved to have seen it actually. Oh well. Today Jeffery decided he was going to try out the top side of the trampoline.

Now, this is why cows don't jump on trampolines.

I'm up in our bathroom window looking down, so to get his attention, I just yelled "COW!". (He knows that name more than Jeffery)

Then I realize that his little legs are in the springs and he could trip and break those legs. So quickly I take another picture or two and then keep trying to get him to walk towards me to see if he can get himself out without breaking any bones.

Again. . . COW! And out he walked, safe and sound... of course! You know me. I worry about these things. So, don't ever let your cow (or the neighbor's cow) jump on your trampoline. It just doesn't work. The trampoline is now at the dump and the Jeffery? Well, on Wednesday morning Jeffery is being taken to the that place where all good cows go, he'll be back though, just all wrapped up in yummy juicy packages of steaks. Thanks Jeffery, you've been a good cow.

Do you have a cow?

Cupcake Pops

2009-03-30T11:16:00.000-07:00

Last week I was cruising blogs I follow and found these cute little cupcake pops. They were adorable. Since we were having a small supper before the YW Broadcast on Sunday I decided it might be fun to make them as a desert. Of course, it was hard to even find any of the things I needed in our town, but finally found them in Eugene and went to get what I needed. Here is a picture of the finished product.

Aren't they so cute? These ones are without the stick, obviously, but they are still so cute, and pretty yummy too. Below are the "cupcake pops".

I didn't have a way to stand them up, no styrofoam to stick them in, so you can't see the stick very well. Sorry about that. Trust me, they are really cute. Here is a link where I got the idea and recipe. They were originally found on The Pioneer Woman's web page. Bakerella is where I got this, she was even on Martha and has a video of it.

Here is a link to Pioneer Woman's page on it: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/03/back-to-the-sweets-bakerellas-signature-cupcake-pops/

and here is Bakerella's blog link.
http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/04/make-your-cupcakes-pop.html

Have fun and give them a try. Bakerella has since posted all different types, chickens, bunny's, all very cute. Let me know if you try them, I want to see pictures!

oops

2009-03-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

I just went on to a blog I am doing for projects, not a very active blog I might add (I keep forgetting to add things I'm doing there), but noticed that I accidentally put a Christmas blog on there instead of on this blog. I don't know how to move it from one blog to another, my guess is I can't. It has a picture of Chip and Andrea for those of you who were wanting to see their picture, so you will have to go there to look. The address is http://myoceansidelife.blogspot.com/. Again, if any of you know how I can transfer it from one blog to the next, let me know please.

Did you notice her hat? That went with the spiral scarf I mentioned on that blog as well (and the picture of mine in different colors). I love that hat. I think I need one. Just need to find the right color. Her scarf was in purples and pinks that went with the hat color. By the way, that is a self taken picture, can you tell? :)

El Charro Cafe

2009-03-10T09:04:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would quickly upload some pictures of what is now our favorite Mexican restaurant. It's a shame that it is a two day drive to go.

El Charro Cafe - Sonora style Mexican food. Yum!

Their patio dining. Just reminds me of something in Baja, Riviera Maya or the Cozumel area, a few of our most favorite places.

Here are some inside shots, as well as a picture of all of us before we left.

If you are ever in that area, don't forget to stop by and give them a try. The food was amazing, the service great. They were written up by some travel place that it was worth going out of your way to try. Pretty good huh. I even went online to see what they offered and found a cook book, they don't sell them anymore, but I did find one at Amazon.com that I ordered. I'm excited to get it. It should be here when we get back. I think I'll try to find a Mexican grocer that I can get some local chili peppers and spices while I am there, if there is time.

Last night I was talking to Bill about which hotel to stay in while we are down there again this week (Tucson, AZ), his vote was the one next door to this place, and it wasn't about the quality of the hotel, I can tell you that. So, you see, it's not just my weirdness, it's both of our weirdness. At least we have each other. :)

Billie Madelene Scott

2009-03-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

Late in the afternoon on February 26th we got a call from Bill's brother James that their mom had a massive stroke. I jumped on the computer and started looking for flights to Tucson Arizona, eventually found one, packed a few things and headed out to Portland. It was a long drive, made longer by freezing fog and the fact that we had both been up since 5 am, worked and it was now 1:30 am Friday just as we headed out. Bill had been driving all day at work, but on we went. After 4 hours we arrived safely, parked and got checked in. All was good, our flight on time and we arrived in Tucson at around 12:30 Friday afternoon. I know seemed like a long time to fly so close, but we had a layover in Las Vegas. It was all good though.

Carrie, Jim's wife, picked us up at the airport, apparently she had been waiting for an hour. We told her 12:30, I guess that was our time, not theirs. Sorry Carrie, really, I'm so sorry. Just didn't think about it. Can I use sleep deprivation as an excuse? She was very gracious and wonderful about it. Thank you!

We checked in to our hotel quickly, washed our faces and off we went to the hospital. Carrie filled us in on the way, Madelene wasn't doing well, she couldn't speak or swallow, but could understand everything and knew everyone, which we would have confirmed within a few minutes. When Bill walked in and went to her she threw up her left arm and squealed with delight. (Her right arm paralyzed) It was so fun to see. She just grabbed onto him and wouldn't let him go. She laughed and tried to say some things which of course we couldn't understand, but we knew she was a happy camper. That whole evening she wanted to hold Bill's hand or mine, James or Carrie's and of course Bud's, her faithful husband of over 63 years. We sat with her for the rest of the evening and into the night, happy to be there for her, with her. During the course of the day and watching how she was doing, hurting, we found out she had what the Orthopaedist called a sheared pelvis and broken in three places. They had found a spot on her lungs the size of a tennis ball during a CT scan in the ED and then of course, the stroke. This woman had every reason to moan and complain and all she could do was smile and laugh with us and be happy that two of her sons were there.

We took a break and let her sleep a little bit and went to James and Carrie's house for awhile, then leaving to freshen up and grab a bite to eat before heading back to the hospital. Now I know it has been awhile since I have been in good weather, but it was about 80* there, so we rolled the windows down to enjoy the early evening. As we came to the street that our hotel was on the most wonderful smell started getting stronger and stronger. Bill and I both looked at each other and said, "where is that coming from". As we followed our noses we found a restaurant called "El Charro Cafe". Oh my gosh, it smelled soooo good! Lucky us, as we turned the corner, there was our hotel, just next door. So, guess what, you got it. We got cleaned up and walked immediately over to experience probably the best Mexican food I have ever eaten. Seriously, ever! Later James would tell us that it was called Sonora style Mexican. Will I ever be happy with any other kind again? I just don't know. We just had simple enchilada's but they were absolutely to die for, and the salsa.....oh my gosh! Everything about it was wonderful. The restaurant made us feel like we were in Mexico, the staff was wonderful, food amazing and we were only staying next door. Could it get any better than this!!! We had to eat, right? Suffice it to say, we went every day, trying something new each time and never being disappointed. That restaurant alone could convince me to move there! Yum! If you ever get the chance, you have got to go. You friends in Phoenix, well worth the trip for a Saturday afternoon drive, seriously! (Picture to follow)

Okay back to Bill's mom. Saturday brought Paul and Diane, another wonderful moment when one more of her boys showed up. We all sat around the hospital and visited, getting to know each other (I had only met James and Carrie once, 19 years ago or so), laughing, taking care of any needs we could see of Madelene's and enjoying the time together. Every once in awhile we would try to be quite so Madelene could sleep and someone would say something funny and we would all bust up and Madelene would be laughing right along with us. More than once we told her we thought she was asleep, but she wasn't, she would lay there and revel in the fact that her boys were together and the family surrounded her. Roger also flew in, so all her kids were together, what more could a mother want. She was so happy. Every time another son showed up she would squeal with delight and hold their hand forever, kissing it. In time she was able to express two simple things, "uh huh" and "I love you too".

During this time this wonderful woman never complained. For the longest time the doctor would only give her Tylenol 650 mg (until the sheared pelvis was confirmed), but even in excruciating pain she never really complained. She seemed happy and content, all because her family was together. We did finally get her more pain medication, but never really enough and she would groan when she was moved or shifted for any reason, but I was amazed at how well she was. Eventually she got an infection and we knew her time would be short, for any of her four medical problems. Hospice was called in and she was transferred to their care facility, Pepe's House, on Monday. Monday night Bill and I and Paul and Diane went to say goodnight after being gone while she got settled in there. She seemed quite agitated and was picking at her clothes. Bill said "lets sing to her". So, the four of us started singing some Primary songs and other hymn's. She immediately settled down, it made us smile. After six songs or so we stopped and up popped her good arm and started leading us to do more, not just waving her hand back and forth, but in 4/4 time. It was hysterical. So, we started singing again. What a woman! It still makes me chuckle. It was so funny. Later that evening as I was sitting by her side she started to get agitated again, so I started singing again, after a couple of songs I stopped and she did it again. I'll never forget it, we'll never forget her, or this great, last, visit with this wonderful woman.

Bill and I, Paul and Diane flew out the next day, Roger on Thursday. This morning we got a call that she had passed away, and I know she did so content and unafraid. She had her family around her while she could still remember, laughed with us, sang with us in her heart, listened to the boys talk about childhood things with fond memories and knew that she was surrounded by people that loved her, knowing that we would meet again. I'm so grateful for the Gospel in my life. For the knowledge we have that death is just a beginning and that we can all be together if we but do our part. Sad? Sure, we are sad and will miss her. At the same time. No, because we know we can be together, that the pains she has suffered for so many years are now gone. I'm sure she is loving the reunions of family and friends and to be free of a body wracked with aches and pains.

Now, I need to say something about her care at the hospital. She was in St. Joseph's Hospital, Neurology Department. I can't say enough good about the nurses and aides who attended her. They gave her great care, they were always kind and loving, never short toward her or any of us who might have been overly concerned about her pain. They only showed us kindness throughout the stay, even with eight people in her room nearly 24/7. They never hinted that we were in their way, but always made us feel that we were welcome any hour of the day or night. They were wonderful! Also, Pepe's Hospice Care Facility. Wonderful! What a great bunch of women. We are so grateful that she had such good care there as well. It made it so much easier to leave, knowing she was in their hands. We would call for updates and always be told to call back any time, day or night.

All in all, it has been a wonderful 10 days or so. We have been blessed by the Spirit which has comforted us, testifying of the truthfulness of that great Plan of Happiness, we have visited with family, have bid our farewells, expressed our love to the Matriarch of this family, laughed with her, sang with her, thanked her for all that she shared with us and we have each had our quite moments with her. She left this world knowing of our love and sharing her love for us. We look forward to the day when we will be together again.

Madelene, we love you!

February already?

2009-02-02T12:58:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's already February. Before it gets away from me I thought I should make a quick entry. Not that much as been happening, but I have these great pictures of the trip to the Temple. I didn't take them all the way down (since I was driving), but just a few between Reedsport and Sutherlin. This can be the most beautiful drive, even once I get on the freeway.

I just realized I have already been working at the Medford Temple for over two years. Time has really flown by. I love working there, just wish it was closer. I hope you people that live close to a temple, attend often. It's 3-1/2 hours to ours. Anyway, here are some pictures I took last month on my way. I don't know why they didn't transfer as close as my original pictures. I had some really good close ups, who knows.

A young Bull Elk

Half of the ladies enjoying their morning.

The other half of the ladies

I thought this was a pretty picture, nicer if you could see it up closer like the picture I took, but still nice. I know, I shouldn't be taking pictures while I am clipping along on the highway, but I couldn't resist. I promise, I stopped for the pictures of the Elk.

just more pictures
It's just a pretty sky. Actually it was a great day. I was on my way to spend two whole days serving in the Temple and there were blue skies. Who could ask for more!

My friend Suzanne, who lives in Central Point, and who I met because she housed me for awhile when I came to work, just got three dairy goats. Anyone who knows me probably knows I LOVE GOATS! I don't mean I like goats. I mean I LOVE GOATS. Whenever I see a herd of them I just want to run into the pasture with a can of cob and have them all to myself. I'm tellin' ya, I LOVE GOATS! I forget what these are. I should remember, but I don't of course. She is milking them and making cheese. Sounds wonderful. Oh, La Mancha. They are La Mancha goats. Aren't they cute.

Almost kissed, dress nibbled, times three.
Look, they only have tiny little ears, almost none at all, at least not big ones that hang down. I had never seen these goats before. I guess they have yummy milk, not the stuff we used to get out of our goats. That was nasty stuff. I'll have to try some of it some time and see if it really is as mild as they are saying. Did I mention that I LOVE GOATS?

We used to have four of them, well, we had two or three when we first moved here and were still citified people. We milked Maggie. Then we got rid of those and a few years later got two Pygora's, (which are goats with yummy wool) Parley and Brigham. They were as cute as can be. I'll have to look for pictures of them. Then we added an Angora goat (Mohair) that was pregnant, so we got her baby. Another one that was cute as a button. Eventually we decided that we had better get rid of them. Time for them got shorter, but I sure loved them while I had them. Would love some again some day too, or some sheep, probably something that can feed us. But they do take up a lot of time.

Did I mention I LOVE GOATS?

December Vacation

2008-12-28T20:03:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I've had time to update my blog, but I'm going to try to do better.

Last Spring Bill and I decided to wait until this winter to go see my Dad in So. Calif. I'm so glad we did. We loved it, not only because we got to be there for my Dad's 88th birthday, but because the weather was nearly perfect, there were no crowds and it wasn't 120* in Palm Springs when we went to see my mom. We had a great time walking on the beach, biking down to Balboa and having lunch at the Fun Zone. In spite of a mishap with my dad's finger, on his birthday and needing 10 stitches, it was a perfect trip. It has been years since Bill could come with me. It's hard for him to go in the summer, since he can't just sit in the sun for hours, he burns to easily, but this was perfect. We sat on the beach and watched the Dolphins and Seals, the surfers and just relaxed, besides the fact that the beach was nearly empty. It was wonderful!

It was about 68* to 70* every day, perfect for Bill. I love that we can walk everywhere.

The Newport Beach Pier from a distance, notice the crowds? It was like having our own beach.

Another picture of the Newport Beach Pier from 33rd Street.

Each evening, to keep with tradition and because it really is fun, we play Aggrevation and "31". We really had a lot of fun. I don't know how he does it, but my dad is the CHAMPION. I don't know how he does it, but he does. I thinks he lets us win once during the trip just so we won't feel back, but really, he wins all the time. It is so fun and the evenings are full of fun and laughter.

Dad in action, I'm sure he won this game as well. Notice the bandage on his finger. Luckily it is healing well.

Another fun evening

Yes, the T-shirt made it official, he is the Aggrevation Champion!

Bill and I rode the bikes down to the Fun Zone and had lunch. It was a beautiful day and so nice without the crowds. I used to ride a Moped (remember those?) down to the Balboa Island ferry to work on the Island.

It really was a beautiful day!

We took a day and drove to Palm Springs, the weather was beautiful there too. We had a great visit with mom and all went to lunch at Appleby's. We even got a Blondie. Yum!

Just one more picture. The Seals were out in force, as were the Dolphins. Every time I tried to take a picture of the Dolphins they disappeared, but we saw them nearly every day as we sat and relaxed on the beach. But we did get a picture of the Seals.

We had a wonderful time and have decided this is when we will try to go every year, probably not before Christams, as it made things very hectic, but we are thinking of January for next year. Bill's folks live in Tucson now and we had hoped to go down there, but we found out that we need to be there in April to help out, so decided to skip it this time. Hopefully we will be able to work that into our trip in January 2010. (that sounds so far away, doesn't it!). We will stop and see mom and dad again in April on our way to Tucson, but will only be able to stay one night. Bill's brother needs us to go and stay with Bud and Madelene for a week while they are in Germany, we are dividing time between all the brothers. But even one evening of Aggrevation will be fun.

Time for more fun

2008-11-24T20:46:00.000-08:00

Where does time go? It's amazing how fast the days go by. I need more weekend days to be able to get more done.

My newest happening is that I got a new calling, or should I say another one since they didn't release me from teaching my class (Gospel Doctrine, which I do every other month). I've been called back to YW, can you believe it! I'm the 2nd Counselor, Go Beehives!!! With all the new young people in our ward it took me totally by surprise. That said, we are going to have a great time! Maren Evans is the President. She was the YW President in Reedsport when I was serving in the Stake YW, so I know her well. Tammy Holmes is the 1st Counselor. She is also incredibly awesome. For those of you who know our ward, Nola Xavier is the Beehive Advisor and teaches the lesson on Sunday. She is a great teacher and a wonderful woman. Marianne Wherity is the Mia Maid and Laurel Advisor and Erin Felt is the PP Leader. They are also great women. So we have a full house, except for a Secretary, but Tammy loves that kind of thing and is wonderful at it, so that will wait.

We had a fun activity last Wednesday. We did a Service Scavenger Hunt. It was so fun. Each act of service had a different number of points. I'm just getting a blog up and running for the girls, so I'll let you know when it is a go and you can see pictures there. Hopefully it will be in a day or two, if the days slow down. Actually Beth is working on a blog banner for me and I've been trying to get all the girls together in one picture, well, that' s not going to happen. So I'll have to add them as I get them.

Last Saturday we had a Temple trip to the Medford Temple. I will share a picture of that. We didn't have everyone there, but we did have a great time. Aren't they a great looking bunch, the kids I mean! Brother Wherity is on the far left, he is the YM President, Brother Larson is one of his counselors and then on the other side, next to me, are the Suckows. I'll go over the kids names on our YW Blog.

During our Presidency meeting today we started talking about the new DVD that just came out "Reflections of Christ". My sister Alana sent it to me before the DVD was out and so I might have forwarded it on to some of you. If you haven't seen it, it is wonderful. I'll try to get it on here so you can watch it. If any of you hear of them touring anywhere in Oregon, Washington or Northern California, would you please let me know. Reflections of Christ:

http://mabrystudios.typepad.com/reflections_of_christ/2008/03/reflections-sli.html

If this doesn't work email me and I'll forward it on to you. I hope you like it as much as I do. If anyone can tell me a better way of sharing it here, let me know.

Chip and Andrea

2008-11-11T20:18:00.001-08:00

Chip and Andrea came over a few days ago to visit. We love it when they come over, we have a lot of fun visiting with them. It doesn't happen often enough, but we love it when it does. I FINALLY got Chips socks done and gave them to him. He found my camera and messed with it. He now officially knows how to work it better than I do. Because he had the camera all night he is the one who took the pictures. Here are some pictures of his socks, which fit perfectly I may add (yeah!): I actually took the first ones of both of them, you can tell the self portrait ones.

Don't they look nice, and notice the fit? They seem to fit perfectly. They were a lot of fun to knit, especially since I constantly thought of him while doing it. They took me forever to finish, but that was because I knit them twice. I got all the way to the toe and realized they were way too big. Well, I knew that before and kept mentioning this to my knitting guru and she kept saying, no they will be fine, no problem, they'll fit. I kept looking at them and saying Chips legs just aren't this big around. Well, I should have trusted my gut because by the time I got to the toes (1-1/2" to the end) I realized I was right AND I ran out of yarn. Not a good thing. So, ripped them all out and started over (good practice since these are just my second pair of socks) and these went way faster and fit. Yeah! He seemed to like them. I'll call him in a day or two and see if he has worn them much and see if he still does. I think Andrea would like a pair, so I will make her some too. I'll post them when I get them done. For those of you who don't know Andrea, here is a picture Chip took of her when goofing around. We really love this girl. She is so fun to be around. She is easy going and so busy with work and school. I love both of my daughters-in-law actually, they are great gals!

The other part of their family is Lucy, but I don't have a picture of Lucy, wait, I might if I can figure out how to get it out of an e-mail...

I can't believe I figured it out. I had to copy it to my jump drive. Really, I don't know how to do anything like that on my computer.

So, this is Lucy. Isn't she cute! I love her bark, if you can call it that. It kind of sounds like a bark with a cold, kind of part bark, part howl. It makes me laugh whenever I hear her. I just wish I had 1/4 of her energy, though that might be too much. She's calming down a little bit as she gets older, but she is still excited to see people. She is very friendly.

Well, better get off and finish something else. I may add, I got everything done on my list today, it was a good day, storming like crazy, but good. Oh, here are the cookies I made today. (Not even on my list) They are the most yummy cookies and usually are the only ones I make. They have chocolate chips, oatmeal and peanut butter in them. I don't eat cookies usually, but the family likes them.

How do you like the tray? My sister Alana sent it to me for my birthday. Isn't it great! Thought I would show you my pumpkin pillow I made a few years ago since it was sitting right there.

Hope you have a nice night! More happening of life continuing on while I'm sick in the next day or two.

Okay, so when I posted everything was all jumbled up, so I hope I have it fixed now. Let's see.

Well, it didn't quite fix. So here is a question for all you people that know what you are doing. How do I make the part of my blog where the posts go, wider? I would also like to know how to make it a three column so I can add a calendar of events to a blog. If anyone knows how to do this or where there is a tutorial is, I would appreciate it. If it is a long thing, you can email me at luscott@peacehealth.org. Thanks. I need help! Might as well as one more thing. I want to know how to put like a 9 patch of pictures together and then when you drag your curser over them the one gets larger. Do you know what I mean? How do I do that?

Ward Carnival

2008-11-11T14:55:00.000-08:00

I'm back and I have a couple of things to share.

First, I have been sick! It hasn't been fun, let me tell you. It was only a cold, I think, but it took me down for days, not even able to work. Then even a week later I was getting such bad chills my ribs hurt, if any of you know me, I do not get cold, ever! For days I was so chilled I couldn't get warm. But I'm back and have lots to say, surprised? While I was sick life continued on, as it does for us all.

I was called to help with the Fall Carnival in our ward and I couldn't refuse, she couldn't find anyone to help, so I rounded up Bethany and Lyn and we got it all done. It wasn't really a "Halloween Party" but the kids still dressed up. I just took a couple of pictures before my battery died, but I'll share these. Now just so you can appreciate this picture let me explain it a little bit. This is Calista and Mia. Calista was one of my Beehives 10 years or so ago. I tried like crazy to get her picture, over and over again and all I ever got was the back of her head running away or an arm up over her face. I NEVER got a picture of her. So, when she sat here and I asked if I could take her picture I was SO VERY HAPPY that she just simply said, yes. It's amazing what a baby does to change our outlook. I LOVE this girl and it has been fun watching her grow up to such a beautiful wife and mother. Now you can look at her little burrito. Yes, I said burrito. Isn't she the cutest thing, all wrapped up in a tortilla shell with lettuce, cheese and tomato. I think I have a close up of her, hang on.

Okay, here it is. Isn't she adorable. I guess Carissa made it for her. (Calista's sister)

The carnival was a lot of fun and we had a ton of people show up. It was called Wally Wonka's Most Excellent Carnival, (Wally is our Bishop's name) or something like that. You can see more pictures of it on Bethany and Lyn's blog.

Well there is the first part of my life while sick, more to come soon. I've got to get the rest of these cookies made and get a card made, so I'll be back later today or tomorrow or...as soon as I can. :)

2008-10-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

It's fall on the Oregon Coast, well, it's fall everywhere, but you know what I mean. I love it! Last Saturday, oops, I guess it was the Saturday before that, anyway, Bill was outside to pull in the last of the branches and finally burn the pile that has been gathering all summer long. We can officially burn our burn pile. It's just one of the fall things we do here after we get our first good rain, and boy did we have it. I can't believe I'm actually saying it, but it was kind of nice for a change. Seriously, did I just admit that the rain was kind of nice? I'll reevaluate later this winter after our first 30". Anyway, back to "the burn".

I'm not sure Bill likes me taking his picture while he is out doing his normal stuff. He just doesn't get the whole blog thing yet, but he's coming around. Besides, he is the major thing that makes my life so good, so he has to let me, right??? So here are two more pictures of the man at work and his fire.

It actually got really, really tall, but I had to run to town and missed it. I think Lane, Shay and Todd, three of my nephews, could really get into this. I hear they love doing monster fires. I kind of like it too, though it seems I rarely have time to just go out and sit and watch it burn, when it finally dies down enough to enjoy it. I've been trying to get a fire pit in my yard for years now, don't have one yet, but we will some day. Until then, we have the fall burn, and I love it.

Here is another reason I love fall here.

Mutsu Apples! I love Mutsu apples. They are crisp and tart, but not too tart. I love them! Here is the whole tree.

Something happened to another of our apple trees (we have 3), but we can't figure it out. Bill thinks it was 50 mph winds we had a few weeks ago. I think it was either a bear or elk trying to eat the apples, which happens every year.

I don't know if you can see this or not, but a whole branch is broken and just hanging there. I'm sure some large animal was either leaning on it to get higher, or climbed up and thought it would hold his 500 lb bear body, who knows, but we lost a big limb. Honestly, we don't take great care of these trees, I keep forgetting to get someone in here in January that can prune it and spray it for blight, or whatever apples get. We really need to do better, cause they are yummy. Why don't you all come visit next October and have one!

Our Temple Weekend

2008-10-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

One weekend a month Shirley Kilmer and I serve in the Medford Oregon Temple. It is one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. I knew I would love doing it, but never really realized how much it would actually change my life. My only wish is that we lived closer than 3-1/2 hours away and could go more often.

If you want to know more about Temples--click here

I have met some wonderful people who have opened their homes for us to stay the night, as well as those I serve with in the Temple. We work Friday evening shift and then early Saturday morning shift before heading home. It is actually in Central Point, Oregon. My life has been blessed by serving there. I can't even begin to explain it, but it is a choice experience that I hope will last a lifetime, in which ever temple we are living near. Here is another picture of it.

When it was first being built Lyn Winona and I would take our kids, Zach, Maddie, Dustin and Jenny Eichelberger and Hailie Mulder. We went to the ground breaking, corner stone. I can't remember all of it. I'll try to figure out how to copy a 12x12 scrapbook page I have of it to show some pictures. Does anyone have any idea on how to do that?

The Portland Oregon Temple is closer to us by about 1/2 an hour, but because we live the farthest north in our Stake (which goes from Florence, which is about at the Central Oregon Coast point down to the California Border), the Medford Temple is closer for everyone else. I keep trying to tell people we need one centrally located on the Coast and that Florence would be a wonderful spot. We just happen to have a few acres for sale next door. Why won't anyone listen!!! :)

It is a wonderful weekend and is always hard to leave. We have a great time and just chat up a storm about so many things going there and back. It has been a fun thing to do with Shirley.

Here is a try at scanning an 8-1/2 x 11, but it came out short for some reason, but I did get it in. It had trouble reading the SD disk. Anyway, you get the idea.

Afternoon walk on our beach

2008-10-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went for an afternoon walk on our beach. We have to walk down this trail on a cliff north of us to get there.

We are so used to being the only ones on "our" beach, so it was very strange to see people there. What's with that! We must have seen eight people. I know, we're spoiled. I can't say I blame anyone. It was a gorgeous day, the tide was out, though not quite far enough to reach the cave, but it was very nice. I just walked around in a T-shirt most of the time. We did get a picture of us which was kind of nice, I guess. Dare I put this up!!!

Quick, scroll down! Usually when the tide is out this far we find tons of sand dollars, so we were excited and both brought our own bags to gather. There weren't any! Not even one! We were so surprised, there were no shells of any kind. There have been times when we have picked up 35 at a time, for 3 days in a row, or some crazy number like that. It isn't usually that good, but last year it was. What there was however, that was also very different, are those sand crabs. You know, the ones that come in on a wave and dig down into the sand. In Newport they are just tiny, these were all pretty big, maybe 1.5" long. Big things. There were hundreds of them, all looking like dinner for all the seagulls lurking about. I took it on myself to "save" as many as I could see. Some of them couldn't dig down deep enough to be hid because the sand was to compact. They were like kids that hid their heads and thought no one could see them. The picture is a little blurry, but you can see how big they are. This is just his hiney.

When I was a little girl my dad used to put me on his shoulders and we used to go out in the ocean in Newport Beach, CA. He would reach down and bring up these same crabs but they were almost as big as his hands. I have to tell you, it freaked me out, they were HUGE! So, I spent the afternoon digging up a bunch of them and putting them in pools of water that were everywhere, where they could dig deeper into softer sand. There were so many I finally had to just not look down anymore. I think Bill thought I was nuts. So what's new.

We also saw some star fish, I know we are supposed to call them Sea Stars now, but whatever.

Here are a couple more pictures of the day. See, people on our beach! :)

These are all over the side of the cliff. You can walk by them and they are making spitting and popping noises.

Relaxing on the cliff with the warm sun on my face. It felt so good!

You should all come with us next time!

I love my life

2008-10-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

I have a great life! I live in a beautiful place, even if it does rain a little to much for me. I have a great husband who loves me, wonderful kids (3 boys), awesome daughters-in-law (2 for now) and the most beautiful granddaughter in the world. I have two sisters that are THE BEST, the most incredibly awesome nieces and nephews and wonderful friends that make me laugh until I either cry or wet my pants (my sisters have been known to cause this as well). I have 2 cats that love to sit on my lap, elk in my yard, a beautiful view of a pasture full of horses, a bear every now and then, chickens in the yard, a cow in the pasture, a flock of Canadian geese and a beautiful coast line close by. Who could ask for more, and yet, there is so much more that makes my life wonderful, which will probably be brought out in the future.

In spite of all of that, I live a pretty boring life. Pretty much the same day in and day out, not too much drama (though we haven't been totally exempt from drama). This is what makes it hard for me to imagine anyone wanting to read about my life. However, it looks so fun and I like to read about what all my friends are doing, so I thought I would give it a try. So, if you find yourself bored with my life, that's okay. I get it. Sometimes I am too. :) Nonetheless, I have a great life and I know it! I am grateful for that and try to express it every day of my life.

Because I am new at this, I have a lot to learn about how to even do it all. I only got this up and started because a great friend, Bethany, was patient as I sat next to her today and kept asking her to tweak this or that, over and over again. This was after she and I emailed back and forth more times that I want to admit. Did I mention she is incredibly patient with me? I promised her that I would learn to do it myself, though she will have to teach me. In the long run, I think it will be worth it to her. I hope! What a great gal she is.

So, here goes. Let's see if I can do this