Friesen Family Fun

Any Ideas?

2011-09-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

I've thought a long time about if and when I should start up my blog again. Should my focus be different? I don't know...have any ideas?

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T14:53:00.000-08:00

RIP Uncle Steve

2010-12-14T13:39:00.000-08:00

Steven Sackie

Dec. 16, 1931 - Dec. 3, 2010

You will be missed!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-27T09:13:00.000-08:00

I promised mom that we would have Thanksgiving at our house this year too. I must admit, it really does work out well here with a crowd when there is one.

For some reason, we were a lot more organized this time around. I decided to start cooking the night before. So in, went the 21 lb. turkey. Gobble gobble. Thanksgiving morning, I made the rolls. Early afternoon, I made the gravy. I found the best recipe for green beans and bacon online. Spruced it up a bit and it was very yummy. Definitely a keeper! Everyone who was able to make it brought a part of the meal and it worked out great. There seemed to be a lot of time to relax....how DID that happen!? It was wonderful!

We totaled 10 this year. A little smaller than usual, but we had

a great time together and enjoyed each other's company.

Afterward, we plopped our full bodies down and just visited...

and laughed a lot.

Cousins.

Brittany brought out her lap top and we watched some funny
videos on You Tube. Mom really got a kick out of them! It
was almost more fun watching her reaction than the videos
themselves!

A November Old Columbia River Gorge Scenic Hwy. Trip

2010-11-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

Lamar had Wednesday off, and it was so nice out that we decided to take advantage of the fall color and head for the gorge. It really was a beautiful day. I think we missed the peak colors of the gorge by probably a week, but there was still plenty of beauty everywhere! Here are just a few pictures.

The first stop was the Vista House...boy,was it ever windy!

Then, we started driving the old scenic hwy. Now, this, I'm almost ashamed to admit, but we have NEVER stopped at Shepherd's Dell. From the road, it looks like it's just a small canyon with rock walls with no water, so we'd always just pass it up because we would want to see the different falls. Well, this time, last second (we literally backed up the car) we stopped and boy, were we surprised! There is a beautiful path with a waterfall cascading down. Don't miss it like we've done all these years! It's worth the stop!

We grow the leaves big out in the gorge!

On our way back home, we stopped at a park...don't know which one, but it had a boat ramp. The river was really wild and beautiful. Before we left, two paddle boarders went into the river. It was so windy, they could hardly get their board into the water.

It was a good day. I've posted other pictures on facebook, so if you want to see more, just go to this link.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/album.php?aid=295818&id=668558938

Weekend With The Friesens

2010-11-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

Lamar's brother, Mahlon and their whole family came for the weekend. It was such a special weekend.

Here's just one picture of the four Friesen cousins.

Andy, Brittany, Melissa and Matthew

Maui 2010 Day 7

2010-10-31T22:57:00.000-07:00

We knew it would go by fast....our last day on Maui had come. Having a condo the whole time is really the way to go. We were able to eat most of our meals at "home" and relax every evening after a full day. A typical breakfast....fruit and half a costco muffin with oj or Maui coffee.

Most of the time we stayed, we were able to park underneath in the garage where it was cooler, but one night we got back too late and had to park on top. Even the parking structure was pretty...with the blue ocean in the background...

and the palm trees and flowers all around.

Brittany shot a few pictures of Lamar and I...our last time in the water.....sigh.

Here are a few shots of our condo. It was very comfy and even had all the beach equipment we needed for playing in the sand and water.

Our last Maui sunset....this one from our balcony. Ahhhhhh

Then we ran across the street (literally) to the beach to see the sun's final light of the day.

Maui 2010 Day 6

2010-10-31T22:11:00.000-07:00

Happy 20th Birthday to Brittany! We started the day off by getting a massage...she made me go too. I know....sacrifices. This was taken after our side by side mssages. Can you tell we are really really relaxed?!

We spent time on the beach...of course...mostly snoozin. :-)

Later on, we went up north again to Lahaina and had dinner at the Melting Pot. Yum!

Afterwards, we just walked around town. We stopped by the Old Lahaina Lu'au grounds after one of their Lu'aus and took some pictures since it was so interesting and pretty. Brittany had some fun with it.

At the end of the evening, we went back to the condo and had a piece of birthday cake and just relaxed. I think Brittany will remember this birthday for sure.

Maui 2010 Day 5

2010-10-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

We weren't planning on going on the road to Hana again, but left it up to Brittany. So, we ended up just driving that way with the intention of just "playing it by ear" on how far we'd go and when we'd turn around.
Another gorgeous day to enjoy another part of the island.

The mountains that are on the middle of the island are so beautiful. The clouds hugging them all week made them even more beautiful, I think.

There are lots of sugar cane fields on the way...

The old Cemetaries along the Maui shores are....ugly. Very different than we would have here. No grass, just lots of sand and tomb stones. And if you're lucky, a tree.

Our first stop along the road to Hana was the bamboo forest. You just park along the road (which may or may not be too safe). We didn't stay very long, so we didn't get to the big bamboo because it was pretty muddy and we didn't want to leave our car there too long, but it was pretty cool. Here is just a sample of all the windshield glass along the road where we parked...

Here is a couple of the beautiful views along the road to Hana.

About a third of the way down the road you can turn off on a side road that takes you to the little town of Ke'anae . It has the oldest church on the island. The shoreline here is all lava rock and is just beautiful.

That's as far as we went this time...Brittany wasn't too keen on the windy and "very dangerous" road to Hana. On our way back, we saw lots of activity in the waves. Fun to watch!

After we got back home, once again we regrouped and headed for our favorite beach.

Maui 2010 Day 4

2010-10-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

We knew that when we went back to Maui, we would do the Molokini Snorkel Cruise again. But, this time we decided to take a different boat, which was the Four Winds II. It was nice to have the variety. My sister, Lori took this one when they went seven years ago, so we decided to give it a try too since it got such rave reviews! This one had a bigger glass bottom (room) for viewing, which is where we spotted the Ray which was very rare, so we heard from the staff on the boat. Morning cruises are the best ones because the winds are usually calmer in the morning. That means, you start pretty early. We got there at 7 a.m. The Bay there is the 2nd windiest bay in the world! And it didn't let us down. We almost thought that we wouldn't be able to go to Molokini Crater because it was that windy, but it died down by the time we left. Yay...that would have been really disappointing!

Sunrise from the bay over the mountains of Maui.

Four Winds II

Lamar and Brittany in the water.

The view that we had from the water toward the boat.

Here are some shots underneath the water. We splurged and rented one of their digital underwater cameras that came with unlimited pictures and a disc. Thought it was worth it...this time. :-)

It sure was cool swimming around with the fishies.

Lamar got cold after awhile, so he went back on the boat. But, Brittany and I stayed in the water. Who would have thought that two girls who are a little afraid of the water, would be one of the last ones OUT of the water!

Sea Turtles!

Back to the harbor...

and back to the wind!

After our snorkel adventure, we went back to the condo, regrouped and headed back to the beach! What can I say?

Maui 2010 Day 3

2010-10-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

On our third day, we drove up north a ways and stopped in Lahaina, the oldest town on the west side of Maui. The Harbour is beautiful and peaceful.

In Lahaina, is the famous Banyan tree. It takes up the whole block. These trees grow roots from their branches and then it makes additional trees. It's pretty amazing. We were here on a Sunday, so there was a market going on underneath it all, which kind of took away from its glory. Behind the lady in the middle is the original trunk of the tree. Everything else going down to the ground are roots and babies. Kind of creepy looking, but very cool!

We have found that the sunsets are always so beautiful in Lahaina. Although, they are tend to be gorgeous wherever you are on Maui!

Maui 2010 Day 2

2010-10-28T22:02:00.000-07:00

The windblown Maui look.

The Maui Banyan in Kihei where we rented a one bedroom condo. We stayed here the whole time and it was great!

Maui 2010

2010-10-28T18:10:00.000-07:00

It's been a very busy couple of weeks since we have been back from Maui. Here are just a few pictures to wet your apetite.

Hawaiian airlines....the only way to fly!

Notice we didn't even change our clothes from the plane to the sand?!

Brittany making the most of our first day on Maui.

Maui Posts On Their Way....maybe

2010-10-16T22:56:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. Why is it taking me so long to post our trip to Maui?! Well, we are down to one computer, Brittany's lap top, so I have to share! Our home computer is being brought back to life somewhere else. I also wonder if anyone really looks at our blog...so, let me know if you want me to post a bunch, will ya!

Me? Kayaking?

2010-08-19T21:29:00.000-07:00

Some people are surprised when I tell them that I am afraid to go Kayaking. I think I've watched one too many movies in which the kayak tips over and the person gets trapped upside down and can't upright himself....and then drowns. Just didn't sound fun to me.

Lamar and Andy went kayaking years ago. I bought them rentals for Lamar's birthday so they could have a father/son memory. They had a blast and Lamar's been trying to convince me to go ever since.

For some reason, recently, I somehow lost my fear and decided I'm going for it! Don't ask me what changed. As far as I can tell, nothing.

But I will say, I wasn't really fearful today, but I was a little nervous. Not of being on the river, but getting in and out of the kayak itself. No matter how you do it, it's not pretty or graceful. And you know what? I didn't care! I just decided to have fun with it. We all laughed at each other and it was good. No, I drew the line at getting any photos of us making fools of ourselves or at least publishing them. But, I did give my permission to take a picture of me afterwards...I was pretty darned proud of myself! :-)

About a mile down the road from us is Hwy. 30 and across from the highway is Scappoose Bay and Multnomah Channel which goes into the Columbia River. We have lived here for 22 years and I am ashamed to say, this was my first time on the river in a Kayak. Lamar and I borrowed two kayaks from our friends, the Wards and Brittany and her friend, Brittany (yup, it's true) borrowed two from her aunt. So, we were set to go!

As soon as I was in the kayak, I knew I'd like it. It was so easy to do. OK, Lamar, you can tell me "I told you so" now! Easy to do, yes, but tomorrow, I have a feeling my arms will be screaming!

We couldn't have picked a more perfect day. It was cloudy this morning while I worked. By the time we picked up the Kayaks at 1:00, the clouds were just starting to burn off. By the time we got in the water, they were fluffy white cottonballs. The water was calm. Perfect!

We headed out of the bay and into the channel towards Scappoose. It was fun seeing everything from a different perspective! We live in such a beautiful place!

We followed the main channel until we saw a "street" going left...so we decided to see where that led. It went on and on forever, but it was so cool to be somewhere that was so quiet and beautiful. We felt like Lewis and Clark discovering new territory. But,finally, it was time to turn around. We'd already been out for almost three hours. I actually was disappointed that we had to get out of the kayaks. I don't know when we'll do this again, but...

I know it definitely will be soon!

Dad

2010-07-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

Dad's birthday was Sunday. He would have been 79. We all miss him dearly. Thought I'd share some happy memories in honor of a wonderful man.

Irvan Earl Stanton July 18, 1931 - 2003

Sunny Oregon Beach?

2010-04-21T18:59:00.000-07:00

How often do you get to go to the Oregon Coast

and get a gorgeous day....or two?!

Last weekend, I headed to Manzanita with the ladies of Warren Baptist for our annual Spring retreat.

Hard to believe it has been six years since I've been on a retreat. It's always a great way of getting to know others that you see every Sunday, but really don't know that well...just a little bit better. It was a very relaxing weekend.. much needed!

Friday was cloudy, but really nice. On Saturday, we had a smattering of showers, but we were able to get a couple of walks in...inbetween them.

Then, Sunday, we woke up to blue sky and hardly any wind. Lamar spent the night in Lincoln City by himself and then drove up the coast to pick me up so we could spend the rest of the day enjoying the beach together. That was definitely a bonus!

Happy 25th Birthday, Andy!

2010-03-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

Our son, Andy, turned 25 today. I still remember longing for a baby for what seemed like forever. I remember getting that unbelievable call from our caseworker telling us that they had a baby boy just for us. We loved him the second we laid eyes on him. God brought us all together. He made us a family.

Happy 25th Birthday, Andy!

Friesen Family Together Again

2010-02-24T20:46:00.000-08:00

We had a great weekend visiting with Lamar's family. Lamar and I had the week off, so we were able to spend even more time than we normally would have with them all. Mahlon and Darlene flew up from S. Cal. Mahlon was a speaker at a ministry conference in Portland, so we all took advantage of them being here. Their daughter, Melissa and her husband, Todd drove down from the Bellingham, WA area, most of all to see their parents, but also to see all of the rest of us here in the Portland area.

Friday, the three sister-in-laws got together for a Starbucks visit and Olive Garden lunch. It was a really nice time to just sit and chat and catch up on our lives. We've never (in all these years) ever done this before, so it was really special.

Saturday afternoon, we all got together for an early dinner. We met at Lamar's parents' home and visited there for awhile before heading over to the Home Town Buffet in Portland. Seems like we were eating

all weekend!

Sunday evening, Mahlon, Darlene, Todd and Melissa came over to our house

to spend the night before heading back home on Monday.

We'll miss them. It was so nice to have this unexpected visit this time of year!

And it was so nice to have the unexpected beautiful weather while they were here!

Bonus!!

Mom's Baptism

2010-02-22T13:04:00.000-08:00

Mom was baptized on Sunday at our home church, along with two others. It was pretty cool seeing my mom make that step of faith at 75!

Pastor Winslow and mom had "a chat" up front telling everyone her journey to this point in her faith.

You can just see her anticipation on her face! She was pretty excited!

And she made it out of the water, to her delight!

Afterwards, our family gathered to have lunch at our place. Yumm!

Lincoln City Beach Time

2010-02-18T19:41:00.000-08:00

Boy, we had a great two nights staying at Lincoln City. Thank you Uncle Bob and Aunt Lynn again for letting stay at your place!

After we arrived and unpacked, we went to Mo's to eat some yummy lunch.

Then, of course, we had to hit the beach, especially since it was soooo beautiful outside!

What a great surprise to find clear skies and mid 60's temperatures! And, most of the time, we had no wind on the beach, which is so unusual for Oregon beaches!

In between beach walks, we also spent some time at the outlets. I found some great bargains

on clothes for all the grandkids! Woohoo!

And with the gorgeous weather, brought spectacular sunsets each day!

God gave us so much beauty on this earth for our eyes to see!

Tuckered Out

2010-02-15T14:51:00.000-08:00

After playing outside, it wasn't long before the kids (and Papa) were ready for a nap.

But, that didn't last long, for Rile', anyway. She found herself a corner to play with Hunter's pirate ship...in her tutu, of course!

Hunter, on the other hand, took exactly 15 seconds to fall asleep right where he was. Magic!

Outside Fun in February

2010-02-15T14:15:00.000-08:00

Ahh, when the sun finally decides to shine in February, that means that we go outside!

And at our place, there is always lots of exploring to do...

and treasures to find.

Raegan - One Month Old

2010-02-09T17:52:00.000-08:00

Our granddaughter, Raegan turned one month old (27th of January)! Her

mommy had some pretty cute pictures taken, don't ya think?!

A Weekend of Blessings

2010-01-31T23:10:00.000-08:00

This weekend Lamar and I took advantage of his long weekend and drove over to central Oregon. Our friends, Dean and Lorraine Marsh are in the process of moving to La Pine, so we took a few straggler boxes over for them. We were blessed to be able to stay at the Inn at Eagle Crest for two nights. It was nice to get away and do something different.

We were blessed as we drove the pass over Mt. Hood. The roads were clear but I

must say I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more snow

along the highway. This was actually taken inbetween Bend and La Pine.

When we woke up, it had snowed a little bit, so we were blessed with a pretty drive.

Lamar and I met up with Dean in Bend to unload their boxes and

then drove to La Pine to have lunch. We ate at a local Mexican

Restaurant that was really yummy. Dean showed us around La Pine

a bit, and then we drove back to Redmond. We were blessed

with a great visit! We're going to miss having Lorraine and Dean

around!

But, on the way, we decided to look around Sunriver. One of the

gates was open, so we drove in and drooled over the beautiful

homes and grounds. "I could live here"...."I could live here"....

"I could live here"....was about all that would come out of my mouth.

This frozen pond was inside the gated community and we were reminded

how we are blessed with God's beautiful creation around us. As we circled

around the grounds, we made our way out towards the entrance

and our hearts stopped (briefly) when we saw that the gate

was closed. Uh oh....oh, thank you God...it

automatically opens when you leave! That would have

been really embarrassing! :-)

After the rain and snow stopped, we were blessed with blue skies. Ahhhh.

We took a long walk Sunday morning at Eagle Crest before we packed

up and started for home. It felt so good.

On our way home, we hit some patches of fog. Not enough to

be a problem, so that was good!

Going over the mountain, we were blessed with a rainbow!

And at the end of our trip, we stopped by to see

our newest granddaughter, Raegan and her

mommy, Kelly. A little blessing for sure!

Another Beautiful Sunrise!

2010-01-19T07:53:00.000-08:00

I love waking up, looking out the front window to see the sunrises. We live in the perfect spot where we have full views for great sunrises and out back for sunsets. Ahhhhh.

Basketball At The Rose Garden Arena!

2010-01-16T12:18:00.000-08:00

No, we're not talking about the amazing Trail Blazers, but the Scappoose Indians Varsity team who played at the Rose Garden against Yamhill-Carlton on Thursday night. It was fun. It was exciting. It was Scappoose! Woohoo! Close game all the way, and we won at the end, which always makes it better! Our nephew, Jason, #44, played great. Good memories for his senior year, for sure!

Raegan and Baron

2010-01-15T10:03:00.000-08:00

I know I posted this picture on facebook, but there are still those who don't have facebook. This picture was just too good to pass up. Kelly took this yesterday. Raegan was sleeping and her dog, Baron was making sure she was having pleasant dreams! I love it!

Oma Meets Raegan

2009-12-31T18:20:00.000-08:00

This afternoon after I got off work, Lamar, Brittany and I picked up mom so we could all go and visit little Raegan. My mom hadn't met her yet and she was anxious to see the little beauty in person. Andy met us over there and we had a nice visit with Kethe three of them. Although, Raegan had just eaten and was fast asleep. There was no waking her up either. She slept through the whole visit. We're hoping that she eats lots and lots today because she likes to sleep more than eat and she needs to gain a little bit of weight to make her doctor happy. Here are a few pictures from the visit.

Notice Raegan's hair color is the same as her mamma's! We likee. :-)

Mom's 75th Birthday

2009-12-31T17:19:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was my mom's 75th birthday. After work, Lamar and I took her to see her good friend, Maria who had recently fallen and broke several bones. She has been at a care center healing and getting therapy for her recovery. This facility is across Portland up on Capital Hwy., so we decided it would be a good time to go and let Lamar do some of his gift card shopping at Bridgeport Village which is a few miles away from there. After visiting a little bit with Abe and Maria, Lamar and I left mom to do some more visiting. While we were looking for parking at BV, we noticed the first snowflakes come falling down....slowly...slowly. We thought, oh look...it's snowing! How pretty. By the time we got out of the store (which really wasn't very long...maybe 15 minutes), the ground was white with a fresh coat of very wet and slushy snow. Hmmmm. Then, as fast as it started, it stopped. OK... it's turning into rain, so we may as well eat a bite. A half hour passes. What a difference a half hour makes! We could barely walk on the sidewalks, they were so slick and the traffic was already pouring out of the mall. Yes, the rain turned back into snow and it was coming down fast and hard! We'd better go pick up mom! So, we started our journey...our long journey back to get her and then on home. We barely made it up the hill that the care center was on. Coming down was fun too! We actually slid down the hill, coming to rest against a curb between a telephone pole and a fire hydrant. Thank you, God, for sparing us damage to the car...or worse...us! It was a very slow go home. I'm guessing from there it's probably 35 miles maybe. It took us 2 1/2 hours to get home. There were cars in the ditches and cars abandoned along the roads and highways. This was a surprise storm for the Portland area and it was a very fast storm too! We were glad to finally make it home. Although, we dropped mom off at her house instead of going to our house for her birthday party. She wanted to stay home and relax. At least, that's what she said at the time. I think she regretted later being alone that evening for her birthday because we heard about it several times over the next day! :-)

But,one thing she did do before we left her that evening...she made herself a 75th birthday snow angel!

I'm afraid the picture isn't that great because it's off my phone. Didn't have my camera with me since we didn't know it was going to snow!

The next morning, Lamar drove me to work. His car has studded snow tires...mine doesn't. It was a beautiful drive. Reminiscent of last year's snow storm, but not nearly the anount of snow. Lamar happens to be off this week and boy is he glad!

So, we decided last minute to have a birthday party for my mom at her house, since our drive wasn't very driveable even after a day. We had a few more inches of snow at our place and it was pretty slickery. Lori and her family and Lamar, Brittany and I had a nice time celebrating mom's 75 years and she was happy that she could have her little party after all.

Auntie Boo Meets Raegan

2009-12-28T19:33:00.000-08:00

What a difference a day makes. Last night when we met Raegan (a mere three hours old), she still had the oily drops in her eyes and her little cap on. I tried to peek to see her infamous hair, but then she started crying, so I quickly covered her little head back up.

Today, we drove back to the hospital in Milwaukie with Brittany. She was working when Raegan was born, so she missed out on the early introductions. Raegan was quite comfy all snuggly wrapped up in her blanky. Her eyes were clear, although we didn't see them nearly as much as we did last night...and her little cap was off, so we could see her gorgeous hair! What fun. Brittany (Auntie Boo) is quite smitten with her new little niece, I must say.

Raegan Grey Jones Makes Her Debut

2009-12-27T22:00:00.000-08:00

Raegan Grey arrived today at 4:10 pm weighing 7 lbs. 10 oz. and 21" long. She had a rough start with her cord wrapped around her neck and arm, but all is well and she is beautiful! She has her mamma's red hair and daddy's mouth and feet! :-) We all think she is pretty special. Auntie Boo will get to meet her tomorrow. More pictures to come for sure!

Stanton Family Christmas 2009

2009-12-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

Last night, the Stantons gathered around mom's Christmas tree to celebrate Christmas.There were a lot of us! I'm thinking we're not going to hold many more of us at moms. May have to make it at our house sometime in the future!

There was plenty of food and lots of laughter. The place was hoppin', that's for sure! Here are a few of the highlights of the evening!

Our Family Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T11:34:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was a wonderful day. We picked up Rile' and Hunter from Vanessa's. They were so excited to start their time with us. Rile' was so excited, she couldn't take a nap...which she regretted later, because by the end of the night, she was one tired girl! Rile', Auntie Boo and Nana made no-bake cookies. The plan was to have Hunter help too, but he wasn't very interested. Although, he stayed pretty close to us doing his own thing.

After we were done in the kitchen, I got the crock pots going and the rolls in the oven. The kids stayed busy playing from one end of the house to the other.

Lamar and Rile' started a fire in the fireplace....although we ended up with a house full of smoke because the damper wasn't QUITE open all the way. The kids thought it was pretty funny when all us adults started fanning pillows up in the air to try to get the smoke out of the house. That made it a little better :-).

Once Andy and Kelly came from Portland, we ate our Christmas table full of yummy food. Mmmmm...it was all so good.

Then, for the finale'...opening the presents! There's just something about little kids getting so excited with every little gift. We were laughing at Hunter, because after all the presents were opened, I gathered all his clothes and put them in one bag. He found the bag, and started to take everything out again...all with the same excitement. Throughout the evening, he got out the same pair of jeans about five times with a big smile and a "ooooh" every time.

So, from our home to yours, Merry Christmas!

Christmas, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2009-12-25T09:47:00.000-08:00

Christmas...the most wonderful time of the year! Sometimes, though, the "leading up to Christmas" can be very stressful. Maybe that's why the Emergency Rooms this time of year are always full. We can put so much pressure on ourselves. Why do we do that? We tried harder this year to not let that happen. Although, Lamar has had a rough time of it. On top of all the extra stuff that comes with being a mailman during Christmas (he had a record 120 packages to deliver on Monday...a record for his route!), his shoulders are killing him. 30 years of carrying the mail, starting with 15 years on a walking route, I'm afraid has taken it's toll. So, he's at the start of figuring out exactly what he needs to do or not do to give him some relief. Doctor appointments, physical therapy appointments and special exercises at home have begun. Something, he wishes he did NOT have to deal with.

The Christmas programs, and most parties have come and gone with all the excitement that goes along with them. The rush of finding that perfect gift is past. The hours in front of the stove are pretty much done too.

Now...it's time to REMEMBER why we celebrate this season. As I'm sitting here looking at our Christmas tree, so bare after all the presents have been unwrapped, I feel a peace. Peace knowing that we have a God that loves us so much that He gave us a gift. His Son...here to this complicated and stressful world, to save us. Peace knowing that this same God wants us to be close to Him, to have a relationship with Him, to love Him back. He is our peace and strength when we just can't do it on our own.

As we all do our own traditional things today, I hope you have a chance to just sit down, look at your Christmas tree and feel that peace too!

Waiting....Not One Of My Strong Points

2009-12-17T14:30:00.000-08:00

I'm really looking forward to getting our computer back in tip-top shape. It's amazing how much I depend on the thing! Boy, things really change over the years, don't they!? I have been so limited in what I can do on Brittany's laptop. Not having all my photo albums handy is the pits! I feel restricted. I feel trapped! Waiting has never been very popular with me. There is so much to wait for in my life. Why is that? Maybe God is trying to teach me something! Hmmm.

We are looking foward to Christmas and all that it brings. Hoping to have a baby granddaughter by then, too. We thought that was going to happen, but now she has decided she wants to WAIT and stay in that warm, cozy place a little while longer. So, in the meantime,

I'll keep on lovin' up those adorable grandkids that we have already and patiently keep waiting for her beautiful arrival. :-)

Catching Up

2009-12-05T08:42:00.000-08:00

Well, the last time I tried to change my blog face, I got a trojan/virus, so I'm a little hesitant to try again. Plus, there's the fact that I'm not working on my own computer until it gets fixed! Uggh. The frustrating part...we were supposedly "protected" and the site I went to was the actual site that you see here in the background. So, it's not like I went anywhere where I may have been in dangerous territory or anything. And, beware, this trojan disguises itself as an anti virus program...pretty much making it so you can't do anything unless you pay for their stuff. It's called Anti Virus Pro. DON'T GO THERE!

So, since I can't do anything that I need to do on my home computer, that includes not being able to do anything with pictures that have been piling up. Do you know how agonizing that is when you do soooo much with pictures on your computer!?

I'm sitting in the living room this morning, looking at our beautiful Christmas tree that we decorated last night. It always amazes me how beautiful it always ends up being. But maybe it's because it is filled with so many beautiful memories of my married life. We're calling this our family tree and it stands as the center of attention at our house. We have played with the idea of changing the decorations on it, but we just can't do it. Like I said, there's just too many sentimental visions that we get whenever our eyes see a particular ornament.

So, we made the deccision to get a second tree and put it up in the family room. Annnndddd, it's going to be a real.....live.....tree. Well, that is until we chop it down. :-) Brittany misses the fragrance of having a real fir tree. I must admit, it sounds so nice. We have a few reasons why we don't have a live tree anymore,but one of them is, I believe I'm allergic to something in the live trees. Because every Christmas, I would get sinus headache after sinus headache. I guess we'll see how it goes this year. We plan on decorating it totally different with matching bulbs and flowing ribbons. I'm kind of excited about it all. Lamar has to work, so Brittany and I are actually going to go down the road and get one. Should be interesting and fun.

We're hoping to get our computer back today all fixed up and virus free. Then, I'll post some pictures for your viewing pleasure! Until then, may the reason we celebrate this season override any stress and anxiety that this world puts on you. And may you ENJOY this beautiful CHRISTMAS season!

Thanksgiving 09

2009-11-27T22:38:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was at our house this year again. I wasn't really looking forward to it and to tell you the truth, I had a really bad attitude about it to begin with. But, as the day grew closer, I really believe that God changed my heart and by the time Thanksgiving Day arrived, I was actually looking forward to it all.

So, we got up early to put the 18 lb. turkey in the oven, made the mashed potatoes, set the table and got the house ready for family to arrive. We even had time to relax. Everyone else brought another part of the feast and it was deeeelicious! Yum! Yum! Yum!

Lori and her family came. Their daughter, Stacey was home from college (in Spokane)so it was nice seeing here too. Dan and his family and my mom all arrived around 3:00. My brother, Raymond, was hunting somewhere in Oregon and Andy had to work. Our grandkids celebrated the day with Vanessa's family. So, there ended up being 12 of us around the table.

After dinner, we cleared the table, put as much as we could in the dishwasher and gathered in the living room for some fun games of Pictionary. We had never done that before. Usually, we just sit around and visit. But, Lori suggested that we play a game or something. We thought that was a great idea too! It was a riot. I'm sorry to say that none of us will ever be artists. At least not if we were under the same tremendous pressure to draw something remotely lifelike as we were this evening! :-)

Even mom got in on the action. It was hilarious and it was good to laugh!

Four Generations

2009-11-09T17:08:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, four generations of us girls headed south to Kelly's baby shower. It was a horrible drive and I almost turned back. The rain was coming down so hard, that the drainage systems on the freeways just couldn't handle all the water. There was water everywhere. When you are driving down the freeway (at 35 mph) in the center lane and you look over to the right lane and see waves splashing up against the cement barrier, you know it's pretty bad! When you get hit with water from splashing cars, but it doesn't go away for a full three seconds and you're totally blind, you know it's pretty bad! But with the calmness that could only come from God Himself, I trudged along, determined to reach our goal. I never felt like we would get hurt. I knew we'd be OK. I can't explain it. I just knew.

The shower was lovely and it was great to meet Kelly's family on her mom's side. She got so many beautiful and fun things!

Kelly made Rile' a special Hannah Montana blanket and Kelly's mom bought her the cutest knit dress to wear when the baby comes. They really went out of their way to make her feel special too!

Raking' It In

2009-11-02T11:19:00.000-08:00

Now that most of the leaves are off the trees (sniffle, sniffle), it's time to rake them all into neat little piles, gather them all up and haul them over the bank where they can decompose...and this is only half of it from our one large beautiful Maple. Well worth all the shade it gives us in the summer heat!

Thank you, Brittany for doing this big job!

More Autumn Leaves

2009-10-24T15:44:00.001-07:00

The first half of our day here was in a blanket of thick, gray fog. It was gloomy. It was depressing. I couldn't take any more. I climbed under the covers and took an afternoon nap. But, when I woke up, to my delight the sun was shining and everything outside seemed to say, "It's OK! Look, how beautiful!" Even with the long shadows of the late afternoon slowly taking over, it was beautiful.

The ground is covered in a blanket of color after the hard rains and wind that we had yesterday. The leaves are sprinkled with the glistening,unevaporated drops of last night's rain. How can I NOT find myself walking around exploring the possibility of new autumn pictures? Ahhh, I'm starting to feel better already. God is good!

October Birthdays

2009-10-13T21:32:00.001-07:00

We have three birthdays that we have celebrated this month. Octobers are always busy around here. And since Lamar and I were in Hawaii for part of that time, this last week has been full of celebrations!

Our granddaughter, Rile' turned four on October 1st! How can that be?!

Lamar turned 53 on Maui on October 6th! How can that be?!

Brittany turned 19 today! How can that be?!

Autumn Color At The Friesens

2009-10-12T21:37:00.000-07:00

I love Fall!...I just don't like what comes next. So, I'll just focus on the beauty I see right now. :-)

When I was exploring the fall colors in our secret garden, look what I discovered! Yikes...guess Lamar will be taking care of this pretty quick!

The Road to Hana/Our Last Day in Maui

2009-10-07T00:24:00.000-07:00

Wow...did our time fly here! Sad to say that this was our last full day on the Hawaiian Islands. But, boy did we have a lot to celebrate! Not only was today Lamar's 53rd birthday, but the main purpose of our trip here was to celebrate our 30 years of marriage. Yay!

Today, we drove north to take the famous "Road to Hana". This is the VERY windy and narrow road and the ONLY road that takes you down the East Coast of Maui. It is very picturesque. The road itself reminds us a lot of the old Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway. But, you would have to throw in 617 turns and 56 one-lane (and I mean, ONE lane) bridges. The road goes high and the road goes low. It takes you past waterfall after watefall, bamboo forests and coastline that is abolutely gorgeous. We left later than we should have, so we couldn't stop at all the places we would have liked to. It just gives us more reasons to come back and explore the island somemore!
It's been a full day. We're packing, getting ready for tomorrow's flights, so I will just post a very few pictures of The Road to Hana. Then, when we get back home and settled in, I'll post some more! Aloha!

Molokini Island and Turtle Town

2009-10-05T23:44:00.000-07:00

This morning, we boarded the "Pride of Maui" for a 5-hour Snorkel Cruise complete with breakfast and lunch. I have never snorkeled before in my life. Not even in a pool. I've used a mask before, but never a "breathing stick". I was a little nervous, especially when they had already started the "beginners class" by the time we got on the top deck. I didn't like that. But, it was time to get in the water and I had a floatie-belt, so I felt safe enough. We used a cheapy underwater camera, so you won't see any pictures of all the pretty fish, since it wasn't digital. What did we ever do before digital?!

But I did take a few pictures here and there. Look at this water! It was perfectly clear. Where we set anchor, we snorkeled in 30 feet of water. Again, perfectly clear. Those are fish in the water in the first picture. It was so beautiful. Just like a National Geographic Documentary! Molokini is a left-over crater of a volcano. There are only three of these particular kind in the whole world and this is the only one you can snorkel at. There are two natural vents from the volcano that keep the water "filtered" and crystal clear all the time. You can see 200 feet away!. It was really amazing and I'm so glad that we had this experience. I would highly recommend it!

It was fun to share this special treat with Lamar and it was fun watching him being a fishy too!

After going to Molokini, we headed for what the locals call "Turtle Town", which basically is where the big old sea turtles hang out off shore. Here, the water wasn't as clear, although you could still see amazingly enough. Seeing all the coral and sea life down under was really cool. Seems that the turtles were hiding under the coral cliffs, although most everybody saw at least one. We did see one. He was really close and gave us quite a show! Did you know that only 1 in 10,000 of these sea turtles make it because of all the prey that eat them when they are itty bitty babies?! But, when they do make it to adulthood, they can live up to 300 years old! To think that we may have seen one that was alive when our nation was born! Wow!

Tuesday is Lamar's 53rd birthday. We hope to go to the east coast of Maui and drive the "Road to Hana". It is a very windy, narrow road with lots of one-lane bridges and lots of cliffs. Just my kind of drive! It's supposed to be gorgeous though and have lots to see along the way. We're looking forward to it. It will be our last full day before hopping on a plane for home. Ahhhh, it's been good.

Maui, Day 9-A Day At The Beach

2009-10-04T22:29:00.000-07:00

Our time on the Hawaiian Islands is going by way too fast! Today, we wanted to spend the day playing in the water. Yesterday, we scoped out the beaches in the area and the one we picked to be at today was Wailea Beach, south of Kihei in Wailea. This is the la tee da area of Maui which houses the Grand Wailea, the Four Seasons, the Fairmont, among others. But 100% of the beaches on the Hawaiian Islands are public. No matter who occupies the land in front of it. So, that's good news for us!

I'm pretty chicken when it comes to water sports of any kind. But, our condo has boogie boards and we brought one along for the ride. I got up enough courage to be OK with making a fool of myself trying to ride the baby waves with it. And you know what? I had a blast! There were some good waves too (at least for me!)...This one here...a baby wave. When I was able to catch a few bigger ones, boy, they really can pound you. I've never had so much sand in my swim suit!

I DID NOT want to get out of the water, I was having so much fun. Lamar spent his time snorkeling farther out behind me. We both had a really fun time!

We ended our day with another beautiful sunset. This was taken down the road at Kam III Beach, short for Kamaole III. Not to be confused with Kam I and Kam II. :-)

Tomorrow, we go on a Snorkel Cruise to Molokini Island and Turtle Town. Woohoo!

Goin' South

2009-10-03T22:22:00.000-07:00

This morning, we left our condo in Kahana and traveled south. Our plan was to go to the Maui county fair before settling into our condo in Kihei. But, when we got there, the traffic for parking was soooo bad, we decided it wasn't worth it. It looked like it was very well attended, but it was pretty small and the line for parking was at least a mile long. At least, it seemed like it! No, thank you! We'll just keep heading south.

After eating lunch in a big mall that we found, we did a little window shopping. But, I ended up with another swim suit. (I know, I didn't NEED one!), but for 6.99 at 85% off, I couldn't NOT get it. See, you can even find bargains on Maui! :-)

We found our condo with no problem. We really like it. Very comfy and homey and we got another great view out our Lanai!

So, after settling in, we headed south to scope out the beaches for tomorrow!
There are a lot of beaches on Maui, but they are all great for different reasons. Some are good for swimming. Some for snorkeling. Some for fishing. Some for surfing. So, you have to know what you're looking for.

Last Day at the Royal Kahana

2009-10-02T20:14:00.000-07:00

We're on our last full day in Kahana on the NW coast of Maui. Next, we're headed down south for four more nights in the town of Kihei. It has been so relaxing and fun being able to spend hot days in the warm ocean or pool. Today, that's exactly what we did. After talking with our grandkids on skype, we took a dip in the pool. We had the whole pool to ourselves! Cool!

Then,we came back to our unit,had lunch and headed out to another beach. This time, we found one right past the Old Lahaina Lu'au property. It was a great swimming beach. We could tell right away because of all the little kids in the water.

So, in and out of the water we went, all afternoon. And,there was so much to watch!

Skypin' on Maui

2009-10-02T12:27:00.001-07:00

This morning, we had a Skyping date with our grandkids. What a treat! I just love technology (when it works!).

Old Lahaina Lu'au

2009-10-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

Later on in the day, we drove a bit south to the town of Lahaina and experienced our first Lu'au. It was pretty cool! Before we even got through the entrance, we were greeted by traditional Hawaiian music to set the mood for the evening.

It was a really great experience. They treat you like royalty, the roasted pig in the pit, the buffet, the entertainment, the atmosphere....everything was wonderful! Spendy, but we're glad we did it!

We had two bonuses for the evening. One was that we sat with newlyweds, "Rad" Brad and Michelle who just got married on Friday. "Rad" because they misspelled his name on their entrance ticket :-). We found out that he is a Pastor of discipleship at a new church plant in Michigan. Fellow believers! It was cool!

The second bonus...the beautiful sunset right before the festivities began!

A Relaxing Day on Maui

2009-10-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

This morning, we drove a little north again to find a place to swim. But, there was a high wind warning and with that comes, "I wouldn't get out in the water if I was you". So, we opted to let others go in and brave it and we just plunked ourselves down in the sand and read. It was nice and we stayed there for about an hour and a half before the sand blowing in our faces forced us to leave...for now.

Hmmm, by these pictures, the surf looks calm...believe me, it wasn't!

Maui-Day 5, Lahaina/North Coast

2009-09-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

Today,we did some exploring on the NW Coast. We found a better beach to swim down the road in Kaanapali. The water was so nice and warm. Unbelievable, when you're used to your toes getting numb and falling off in the cold Oregon water!

We also went to the historic town of Lahaina where the world's largest Banyan Tree is. The tree grows humungous roots from every huge branch and then they go straight down into the ground looking like it's a different tree. But it's all one tree. It takes up the whole block!

After coming back to the condo to eat lunch, get all the salt water off of us and relax for a couple of hours, we did some more exploring. This time, we went North. We found a great open air restaurant, The Sea House, right on Napili Bay. Great food and a great view of the bay!

I have to tell you a funny story. Lamar called the restaurant ahead of time to get directions just in case we decided to stop. On the piece of paper, he wrote, turn left at P House Street. When I asked him about it, he said that the person was foreign and it was hard to understand him. When we stopped at this intersection, we both started cracking up because we realized that this was the street we needed. P House Street ended up being Napilihau Street. :-)

Mokuleia Bay-North Coast

Napili Bay Sunset...Good Night!

Comments

2009-09-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

I was just told that you may be having problems leaving comments. Hopefully, I have solved the problem. Let me know if it's working or not! I'd hate to miss you!

Hawaii-Day 4-Kahana, Maui!

2009-09-29T00:27:00.000-07:00

Well, we arrived on Maui around lunchtime. We couldn't check into our condo until 3:00, so we spent the next three hours fixed on food. First, we went to Costco, right outside the airport. We will be spending nine nights in condos here on Maui, so we needed to get some things to ease the cost of feeding our faces. -) After that, we ate lunch and then continued on to the town of Kahana. Five minutes before arriving, we spent more food money at Safeway. It had to be done. I'm sure it will save us quite a bit making our own meals, although we're finding that the prices over here really aren't that much different than any restaurants at home! We've been surprised, really. We thought they'd be a lot more expensive. Yay!

Our condo here in Kahana is beautiful. We are beach front with a wrap-around lanai (balcony) since our unit is on the corner. We're already a lot more relaxed here having a condo to spread out and make ourselves at home...and I'm in heaven being able to sit out on our Lanai working on our pictures of the day! Here, I'm working...(really,it isn't work at all) on pictures before the sun sets.

After we got settled in, we went down to get our feet wet. Oh, the water is so nice and warm! Just like pool water. And while we were walking, we got a special treat and got to watch three manta rays playing just feet from the shore. I think they liked all the attention that they were creating.

I think we could get used to this every night!

Our Last Night in Honolulu, Oahu

2009-09-29T00:08:00.000-07:00

After driving around the island, Lamar and I walked down to Waikiki Beach, a short few blocks away from our hotel. There was no shade, so we opted to just sit under the shade of the Banyan trees in the picnic area right off the beach. There were a lot more people on the beach this time, being the weekend. But,we found that most people were already on their way out while we were just arriving.

After that, we went back to the hotel room and ate our dinner only to go back out again to see our last sunset on Oahu.

Afterwards, we walked somemore to enjoy the night lights of the city. It is really is a pretty city both in the daylight and after dark.

Hawaii-Day 3-Oahu Drive

2009-09-27T22:45:00.000-07:00

We decided that our third and last full day here on Oahu would be better spent driving around to some other part the island. So, that's what we did. We drove west out of the big city and headed north through the center of the island. Our original plan was to go directly to the North Shore and stop at different beaches along the way back using the same road. But, we found out that making the loop around the whole island really doesn't take that long. So, we did that instead. Before we reached the North Shore, we stopped at the Dole Pinapple Plantation. We were planning on staying just a little while just to check things out, but we weren't even allowed on the grounds because they weren't open yet. So, I just took a quick picture of the front and we were on our way. Too bad, because they really had some pretty grounds that would have been fun to explore.

There were many small beaches along the way and they all had their own personality.

Most of the beaches we passed, we just stayed briefly, but we did stay at the Bonzai Pipeline which is where a lot of the surfers go. The waves were actually pretty tame today, but it was fun watching these men and women of all ages in and out of the water.

Once we left the North Shore, we not only saw the beautiful mountains of Oahu, but we also saw lots of...bicyclists on a major race. NOT a good thing.
The highway along the coastline is narrow and windy,alot of it without much of a shoulder for them to get out of the road. So,it ended up being a frustrating drive instead of the leisurely one that we had hoped for. Because they were making it so hard to get in and out of side roads, we decided not to go to some of the places we would have gone otherwise. Stupid race!

After driving back to the hotel, we took a little break and then went again to Waikiki Beach. I'll post more on that tomorrow. Good Night!

Hawaii-Day 2 Hanauma Bay

2009-09-27T00:58:00.000-07:00

Need I say more?!

Hawaii Day 2-Pearl Harbor

2009-09-26T23:43:00.000-07:00

Today, we visited Pearl Harbor. Hearing and seeing more details of this historical event was pretty sobering. Just one more reason to remember and appreciate the service of our military!

Hawaii-We're Here!

2009-09-25T22:32:00.001-07:00

We're here! We left PDX at 10:15, arrived on Maui five hours later. Then, we caught our connecting flight to Honolulu an hour after that. Seeing the beautiful waters of Hawaii from the air for the first time was a thrill. Although, it was cloudy and gray when we arrived, it was beautifully warm and the skies did brighten up a bit before long. We got our rental car and drove to our hotel in Waikiki. It definitely is the big city around here. This place is hoppin'! It took us almost an hour in traffic just to go about seven miles. Looking forward to seeing some countryside, even though it's always fun people watching too.

We got situated in our hotel, and both decided that we were starving, so we headed out the door and found, of all things, Planet Hollywood. Hey, we were hungry and it was close by! We'll do the more traditional food...maybe tomorrow!

After dinner, we walked another block to....the beach of Waikiki! Woohoo! The sand is very tannish-brown. Not like our gray-brown that we have on our Oregon beaches. Very pretty. A little coarser than ours too. Not soft at all.

We ended our long day watching our first sunset on the island of Oahu. Walking back to the hotel, we discovered a Cheesecake Factory and guess what they had?! A 30th Anniversary Chocolate Cheesecake! It was just meant to be! Sorry, I'm too tired to download the picture that I just took of the cheesecake. You'll just have to use your imagination!

Aloha for today!

Packing

2009-09-22T22:00:00.000-07:00

Packing for a trip is always exciting to me. It's just one of those last things that you've got to do leading up to the big day that makes it more real. Because we've been planning our trip to Hawaii for so long, it seems wierd that it's actually only three days before we leave. Since this is a longer-than-usual trip for us and because of where we are going, we're packing differently. In the last week, I think we've made four trips to the store just trying to think of all we need to pack. And, as usual, we probably won't need half of what we think we will need...but that's OK. We can always bring it all back with us.

Ultrasounds

2009-09-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

Ultrasounds are amazing! To be able to see that little baby growing inside, wiggling around. It is so cool. Friday morning, Brittany, Rile' and I joined Andy and Kelly at the clinic for an ultrasound appointment. When we got there, the doctor ended up being in surgery for an hour, so we drove to Denny's and had a yummy breakfast first. It was fun to see Rile watching baby Harlow moving around. She acted shy, but was almost always smiling. Afterwards, we drove to see the baby's nursery in the works. Someday, I'm going to have bedroom furniture as nice! :-)

Dean and Lorraine

2009-08-31T12:19:00.000-07:00

Our friends, Dean and Lorraine Marsh are moving to La Pine. They will be missed! They moved here right after we did and have been a wonderful part of our church family every since. Saturday evening, they took all the Elders (and wives) on a little hike to their favorite spot on the river. We had a great time of visiting and enjoying the beautiful setting. We wish them God's best in this new adventure!

Friesen Reunion

2009-08-31T11:18:00.000-07:00

It has been a very busy weekend! Sunday afternoon, Lamar's brother, Mahlon and Darlene, along with their daughter, Melissa and her husband, Todd came for a special visit. Mahlon will be turning 60 tomorrow, so we decided to mark the occasion by inviting family over for a birthday potluck.

So, aunts, uncles and cousins came from near and far. We had the Friesens, of course, to represent Mahlon's side and then we also had the Scofields and Moores to represent Darlene's family.

For some of us, it has been years since we've seen each other, so it was really nice to visit with everyone!

Hunter Turns Two!

2009-08-31T11:07:00.001-07:00

Saturday was Hunter's Birthday. We all went over to their house to celebrate. He had a Carnival Themed Birthday party with lots of happy kids bouncing around the yard going from this toy to that carnival game to munching on their "carnival" wiener wraps and fries to....well, I'll just say they were all VERY busy! It was great.

Stanton Picnic '09

2009-08-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon, we met my side of the family at Grant Park in NE Portland. On the way there, I scrunched myself between two car seats. Rile' and Hunter thought it was great to have Nana so close by! There was no way that I could REALLY fit between the two seats in our Corolla, so I basically leaned forward the whole way from St. Helens to Portland. Actually, it was pretty comfortable, considering!
Now, getting out was a different story. I thought I was going to be stuck in the backseat, but I managed to gracefully (NOT!) twist my body in an unnatural way to get out. I should have had Brittany take a picture so you could really appreciate what I'm talking about. I'm really surprised that I landed on my feet getting out of the car.

Anyway, the numbers were small at our picnic, but we had a wonderfully great time visiting with family including cousins, Beverly and Debbie. Daughters of my dad's oldest brother, Ernie,we haven't seen them in nine years. It was good to have them there along with everyone else!

We made sure we were close to the restrooms and close to the playground. The park had a great play structure and they both played hard! Needless to say, the ride home was very quiet. :-)

Next Sunday, Lamar's brother, Mahlon and his wife, Darlene are coming up from California. Their daughter, Melissa and her husband, Todd are driving down from the WA/Canada border to meet them here. We decided to make it a family reunion/get-together too. It's going to be at our place and we're really looking forward to it!
So, I guess this is the month for family!

Zoo

2009-08-16T12:34:00.001-07:00

Lamar had a long weekend, so inbetween making two trips to bring our "new" entertainment center/wall unit home and doing yard work, we got the chance to take our grandkids to the zoo again. They were excited as usual. What we didn't realize was that the big Joan Baez concert was that evening, so we fought the enormous crowd at the start, but then we didn't have to wait in "their" line, so then we moved on with no problem. Wheew. That was a close one!

This time, we focused on Africa. We saw Giraffes, Monkeys, Hippos, Rhinos...among others of course. And, we had to see baby Sam, the Elephant too before we left. He's so cute! But, little Sam just wouldn't show his face while we were there. Mostely we saw the other end. Got lots of pictures of the other end. :-)

It's funny how kids will not only enjoy the main attractions, but will always find great excitement in the little things too...like the mistings that you get running...oh, did I say running, I meant walking, through the jungles of Africa. They thought that was too funny!

30 Years and Counting!

2009-08-07T22:51:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 4th was our 30th wedding anniversary. How does 30 years go by that quickly! Since we will be doing our major celebrating the end of September by going to Hawaii(49 more days, but who's counting), we kept it pretty simple. After Lamar got off work, we went to Hillsboro's Jenkins Estate and listened to one of our favorite Portland artists, Michael Allen Harrison with his band. It was perfect outside. We ordered Applebee's Car Side to go for dinner and had a picnic while listening to great music. And like the 30 years behind us, it went way too fast.

This is one of my favorite wedding pictures. Could I have been any more covered up!? Good grief. That was the style though, in 1979. I had a very "in" dress. :-) And yes, I was roasting in it. After all, it WAS August!

Popcicle Days

2009-08-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

How do we enjoy this hot summer weather? Hammock + popcicles = ahhhhhh! Now you're talkin'!

Dragon Bee

2009-08-02T20:30:00.001-07:00

While the grandkids were over on Saturday, they spent the evening playing in their little purple pool. Rile' spotted this little guy sitting on top of a metal plant stand.
In her words..."Papa, is that a Dragon Bee?" :-)

Stain

2009-07-23T16:29:00.000-07:00

We finally got the back deck/porch stained. We originally wanted to go with a natural stain, but decided it looked too yellow, so we changed our minds and went with a Red Cedar Stain. We love the way it turned out and it's nice to be able to go out the back door again (even if it's only been a couple of days).

Rile'-Girl

2009-07-13T17:06:00.001-07:00

Rile'-Girl = Funny, leader, smart, inquizative, energetic, beautiful, helpful. That's our little Rile'girl!

Hunter-Boy

2009-07-13T16:59:00.000-07:00

Hunter = Loving, curious, mischieveous, energetic, deep thinker, sweet, smart. That's our little Hunter-boy.

An Evening With The Kiddos, Part 2

2009-07-13T15:42:00.000-07:00

One thing I always appreciate about little ones, is that you can give them something so simple, and they will have a ball with it!

After getting wet in the little pool, we hung up their suits and towels in the evening breeze that we almost always have here. I LOVE hanging stuff out on the line. As I was sitting in the grass, watching the kids look for another adventure, I said, "look at the towels blowing in the wind....can you catch them?!" The next thing I knew, they were running back and forth under the wash, their little laughs echoing through the fields. We are so blessed. :-)

An Evening With The Kiddos, Part 1

2009-07-13T08:03:00.001-07:00

Friday night we picked up Rile' and Hunter for an evening at Nana and Papas. We had a fun time. We mostly played outside since it was so beautiful out. They are such a delight.
Lamar wasn't home from work yet when we picked them up, so Brittany had some special Auntie Boo time with them first.

When Lamar did get home, we headed to the barn and got out the "baby pool" so they could at least have some fun getting wet. Hunter didn't even give me a chance to get him changed into his swimsuit before he stepped right into the thing and plopped himself down. But, even before that, he found this old German garden gnome and put him into the pool. For some reason, he latched on to that little guy and carried him everywhere. And when he was done with him, he found the perfect spot and made sure he was placed just right before moving on to the next adventure. He should be in a Travelocity Commercial!

I don't know what it is about chairs, but Hunter will find their kid chairs and incorporate it/them into whatever they happen to be playing on or in at the time. Rile' is always quick to jump right in.

Rile' asked if we could put the little slide into the pool, so we did. They really did have a blast...but we need to get a bigger pool! They aren't babies any more!

There is a lot more to share about the day, so I promise I'll add another post soon!

Fourth Happenings

2009-07-04T23:23:00.000-07:00

We had a busy fourth of July. Lamar and I drove to Scappoose this morning for the Scappoose Firefighters Doernbecher Breakfast Fundraiser. It was really good!

Then, for lunch, we went to the Harley's home. They are good friends from church and they invited anyone who wanted to come, to do just that. It was a great barbeque. We had fun watching the kids play in the pool and had great visits with several others from church.

After going home to re-group, we then headed to the St. Helens waterfront for the fireworks. We took mom along and met a bunch of friends, again from church, and visited until it was time for the show. It was much better this year, for sure!

Lincoln City

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

Wednesday, we packed up everything at Depoe Bay and headed to my Aunt and Uncles little place in Lincoln City. It is so wonderful to be able to stay there when we have the time!

On Wednesday, it was still very windy out, although not quite as bad as Depoe Bay.

But, by Thursday, the wind had practically disappeared. We took a nice long walk in the morning and it was oh, so wonderful!

We were going to stay two nights, but ended up only staying one. We're kind of glad we came home early because today we hear that the coast is totally socked in by fog and the traffic and crowds are terrible for the fourth! Ahhh, there's no place like home. There's no place like home!

Depoe Bay

2009-07-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

Lamar and I have the week off, so Monday, we packed up Brittany and my mom for two nights at the World Mark Resort at Depoe Bay. We had never been there before. It really is a beautiful setting.

The skies were blue, but because of the heatwave in the valley, the winds were very strong and COLD! So, we really didn't go out much because it was freezing! BUT, we still really enjoyed our time there. The first night, we had an amazing sunset. Ahhhh.

Tuesday, we traveled south to Newport...just to get out. We braved the wind and cold and stopped along the way to a few of the viewpoints and parks. We do live in such a beautiful state, don't we!

Father's Day at the Zoo

2009-06-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we picked up the grandkids, and headed for the Oregon Zoo. We hadn't been there for years! It was so much fun to see those little eyes light up at every turn. Andy met us there and so the whole family was together! Yay!

Ugly as they may be, the zoo strollers are the best ride in town! These things are so easy to push, you can hardly believe it. Well worth the few dollars and we're so glad that we got a double-one for both. I wish they made one my size! :-) You can always count on a lot of walking at the Zoo!

The first stop was to grab some lunch. That was a challenge. The kids didn't eat much. I think they were too excited about moving on to the animals. Next stop...potty break...didn't want anyone to have an accident in the middle of the Elephants!

The kids were so good. They loved every minute of it. We decided to get a Zoo membership this year, so that we can go back several times. So, with this in mind, we didn't see EVERYTHING, but we will definitely go back and see a little bit more each time we go.

It was pretty funny how we spent the most time with the Farm animals...something that we're surrounded with here at home. But, it was still fun. :-)

The last stop we made was to the big grassy area where they have concerts. It was the best place to let the kids run around and get some energy out...and that they did! It wasn't easy to corral them up so that we could go home. For some reason, they didn't like that idea too much.

But, our plan worked...by the time we hit the freeway, both the kids were in lala land!

Graduation Party

2009-06-15T08:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we had friends and family over to celebrate Brittany's graduation. Our friends, Andy and Candace Beebe drove from Eastern Oregon to join us the night before. They were SOOOO much help! It was a really fun time getting everyone together.

Pretty Much Done!

2009-06-10T21:16:00.000-07:00

Well, we're done...pretty much. We still need to put a clear/near clear stain on, and then put vertical boards underneath as a "skirt", but we won't do that until after this weekend. We've been working hard to get the patio area ready for the pea gravel. Tuesday, Lamar was off and we got two guys from our youth group to help haul and unload it all. It was well worth it! We are happy with the results of our "temporary" patio area. We decided that we are not going to change the porch. We just like it that much! Everything turned out a lot better than we had envisioned...which is always a nice way to end a project, don't you think?! Now, we have to come up with a plan (and moolah) to do a permanent extended patio area for next year! That'll be fun!

Graduation Day!

2009-06-07T09:51:00.001-07:00

Saturday, June 6th was Brittany's graduation day at Scappoose High School. The weather cooperated nicely and before we knew it, she was walking across that stage.

And It Begins...

2009-06-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

This week was Senior week at Scappoose High School. Brittany's finals were Tuesday. Wednesday was senior check out. Thursday was free. Today was full with a Senior breakfast served by the staff, commencement practice, senior awards assembly, lunch and getting her cap and gown. Tonight, we went to the Baccalaureate. It is always too bad that more seniors don't actually go. Who doesn't like a little encouragement?! Afterwards, they had a refreshment time in the cafeteria along with the poster boards that each Senior made of their life in brief. This is Brittany with her best friend, Amy. And of course, I'll be posting some pictures of tomorrow's big day...graduation day! Woohoo!

2009-06-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

The back deck/porch is looking good. We basically need to get the post caps on, finish the bottom with some fence boards and then stain it. Hoping to get it done this week along with trimming the patio area out and filling it all in with pea gravel. So much to do, so little time...as always!

What Next?

2009-06-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

We are in the middle of getting the new little deck up. Like I said before, we are going to just put down some pea gravel for this year for a patio area. But, while we were at the beach, we had to stop in Home Depot (one of my favorite dream stores) and I found a great patio idea book there...so I got that for a birthday present.
Mom came over later on in the evening and we were having fun getting lots of ideas. Love it!

A Quick Trip

2009-06-01T13:17:00.001-07:00

Lamar and I woke up Sunday morning and decided since I didn't schedule myself to be on the worship team, that we would take the opportunity to run to the beach for the day. It was nice just to have a change of scenery since Lamar has been home all week with a kidney stone. Now, that's passed :-) and he is drug-free, so he can drive again. It was clear, but cool at Seaside...but that's OK! We still had a great day!

Decked Out

2009-05-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

With summer almost here and summer weather already here, we had to make the decision to tear down our back deck off the family room before someone fell through the thing. The deck was built when the house was, so it is 31 years old. It was never a pretty deck. I never have liked it, but it was great to put a table on and eat under the shade of the big maple tree. It just wasn't safe any longer and we didn't want any accidents happening, for sure!

How come tearing something down or ripping something apart is always so satisfying!?
This was no exception, although I must admit that Lamar did most of the grunt work. I ended up loading up wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow full of old rotten cedar and adding it to our already huge burning pile.

Since, we have other expenses this year, we've decided to just get something small enough to get down to ground level. For this year, we'll just put down some pea gravel to clean things up underneath. Next year, we'll decide what kind of patio area off the deck we'll end up with.

Visiting Great-grandma and Grandpa

2009-05-22T19:06:00.001-07:00

Last week we took the kids to see their great-grandma and grandpa in Portland. We were planning on seeing them and found out we could bring the kids along with us the night before, so we surprised them. We had lunch at a buffet place which is great for little ones!

After that, we went over to Andy's and spent some time there. They had a lot of fun, of course, with their daddy.

By the end of the day, they were pooped and so were we...but in a very good way!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-11T07:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you mother's out there! I know this day can have a wide range of emotions depending where you're at in life and your situation. May God bless you in a special way.

We went to church in the morning. Afterwards, we came home to regroup and then go over to my mom's for lunch. Lori and I thought it would be nice to bring mom lunch, so that was the plan. But, Lori and family got stuck in Wilsonville at a baseball tryout and couldn't join us. So, Lamar, Brittany and I brought some subway sandwiches over and had a great visit with mom. It was nice enough to eat outside on her patio, which was a bonus. What a beautiful day it was!

Mom always love flower baskets, so it has become almost a tradition to include that for her on Mother's Day. She looks forward to them every year. This year was no exception. She was thrilled.

Andy and Kelly came over at five and everyone pitched in to make a taco dinner. I didn't have to do a thing! Yay! We visited for awhile and laughed a lot. Of course, we needed something sweet to tame all those spices, so afterwards we made the last minute choice to go to Dairy Queen for ice cream. I called mom to see if she wanted to join us and she was tickled.

It was a great Mother's Day, for sure!

Spring Has Sprung!

2009-05-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

Yay! Spring is in full bloom and now that we're getting a little break from the storms we've had over the last couple of weeks, we can actually enjoy some of the new color that surrounds us!

I'm likin' it!

Prom 2009

2009-05-02T21:55:00.000-07:00

A fairy tale...that's what it seemed like to me as I watched my baby girl's dream come true. What could be better? Her boyfriend, Matt, flew in from Toronto, just so they could go to her Senior Prom together. Everything came together perfectly.
As a group of about 20 started to arrive, the weather turned ugly with wind, rain and even a little thunder. But, as we waited for everyone to show up, it all cleared just as fast as it had come! So, outside we all went to take some pictures. The umbrellas that I had bought earlier in the day weren't really needed, although we used them for some of the pictures.

Then, before we knew it, they were all back in their cars and on their way. Brittany and Matt stayed a few minutes longer, but then, they too had a destination that was calling them away. First, dinner at Stanford's-Riverplace in Portland.
Lamar and I met them down by the river after they ate. (We also decided to eat in Portland, so we went to Roses-yumm!) It started to rain on our way to Portland, but by the time we got there, blue skies were showing once again! A little cool, but sunny! We couldn't really ask for more than that.

The Mirror's Up!

2009-04-27T12:23:00.000-07:00

My friend, Lynnette and I went to IKEA and it was the perfect time to get the mirror for over the couch. It was a bear to put up, but we're pleased with how it looks. Brings a little more light into the room, for sure! I'm still looking for that perfect storage unit to put on the back wall for toys, books, albums, etc. I did find a couple units that I liked on Craigslist, but they were too far away to be worth it. We''re not giving up! I know there's a deal just for us!

River Time

2009-04-21T13:32:00.000-07:00

Oh, haven't the last few days been wonderful here in Oregon?! Blue skies, high 70's low 80's, slight breeze. Perfect for going to the Columbia River here. We have a few different spots we can choose from if we want to go to the water. In old towne St. Helens, there is a riverfront park. Now, just down the road, they've added another teeny-tiny park. Just enough for a couple of picnic tables and a bench or two. But a beautiful setting just off the docks and rows of boat houses. Across the river is Sand Island, another park that you can only get to by boat, of course! Since we don't own a boat, we haven't been there in years, but we enjoy looking at it from afar.

Down the road a little ways, if you go to Columbia City, they also have a nice small park, called Pixie Park. It's a nice little sandy beach. You can't swim, but you can get your feet wet and the kids can play in the sand and throw rocks into the river. Yesterday, we did both. We picked up the kids and headed to the river. Then Andy called and said they were coming to pick up his fish tank. We told them that we were down at the river, so they joined us. It was a great time. The kids had a blast and so did we...soaking up that sun!

Easter 2009

2009-04-13T14:20:00.000-07:00

What a busy day! First, we went to church and had a yummy brunch, and then stayed for the Worship Service. I was pretty nervous for the first part because I wrote myself in as doing a (very small) solo part on one of the songs the worship team did. But, after giving it up to God (it was either that or throw up)and letting Him have control of it all, I was fine.

After church, we settled in at home. I even took a little nap! Boy, did that feel good! Later on in the afternoon, we went over to mom's for Easter dinner. We had a great time. I think there was 20 of us and that was with a few missing! Andy, Kelly and the kids met us over there. Rile' and Hunter played, and searched for a few more easter eggs and had a fun time even though they were tired. They were so cute in their Easter clothes from Nana and Papa. Andy says they conked out as soon as they hit the car seats. I wish I could have got a picture of that. Sounds sweet to me! Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter too!

Clearing the Bank

2009-04-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

No, not the bank with all our money (what money?), but the bank at the edge of our property. We started this last fall when we hired a guy to come out with his Kabota. We had a bunch of small scraggly trees that we still needed to chop down. So, we got the Keim boys to come with their chainsaw and go to town. They got a lot done in an hour! Now, we have another nice big burning pile ready to go up in flames!

Andy's New Pup

2009-04-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

Andy and Kelly got a new puppy. His name is Diesel. He is half Boxer and half German Shepherd and has the sweetest disposition. Isn't he cute?!

Happy Birthday, Andy!

2009-03-21T08:48:00.001-07:00

Andy is 24 today. He's not liking getting "older". You've got to be kidding me! We met Andy and Kelly at the Olive Garden and had a delicious meal. Afterwards, we went to the apartment to open presents and play Wii. My mom really had fun with that!

Happy Birthday Baby Sis!

2009-03-14T16:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my sister, Lori's 46th birthday. We went over to their house last night to celebrate. Their daughter, Stacey, surprised her by coming home from Whitworth University in Spokane just for the weekend. My other neice, Rena', who also lives in Spokane, wanted to come visit, so they arranged it to come for my sister's birthday and surprise her. Boy, was she surprised!

She also surprised her by bringing home a puppy. They've been looking for a new puppy and Lori's husband, Jason, found her on the internet. It worked out that Stacey and Rena' picked her up in Spokane and brought her home. My nephew, Jason, and Jayda are new best friends already! She's a cutie, for sure!

Before and After....SO FAR!

2009-03-10T19:44:00.001-07:00

Well, I found some "before" pictures of the family room. They weren't the ones I wanted, but they will do. You get the idea. You'll probably need to click on the collage to really see it.

We aren't done decorating yet either. Let me tell you what we're thinking. In the top picture, we're going to get a large black mirror for above the couch on the red wall. The idea is to bounce the light that comes from the only window in the room (the patio door). I also need to figure out what to put on the back wall and what to do with all the grandkids' toys in the back left corner next to the computer desk. I think I'd like to get a little wood table and chair set and some kind of storage for the toys. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

In the center-before picture, the small green cabinet is in the process of being painted. I also would like to do something different for the top of the entertainment center. What is on top there in the before picture is not what we had there before. There were some dried flowers in a basket, some books and I believe a wooden crate with pinecones inside. Also had a quilt draped over the side. Very country and dated. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

In the bottom picture, I need to fill the bottom shelf of the small bookcase. I also have some framed pictures to put on top of the shelf. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

So, there you have it so far. We're really happy with how it's coming together and have enjoyed the warm colors. Thanks for coming along in our remodeling journey!
Any comments would be greatly appreciated! :-)

Disappearing Act

2009-03-10T16:11:00.000-07:00

I have had requests for some before and after pictures of the family room. But, I am trying to find my "before pictures"...they've disappeared...they must be hiding in the same place as the curtain rod hardware! Again, how does this happen?!!!
I'll keep looking and hopefully will have them for you soon!

Monday with our Grandkids

2009-03-09T21:25:00.001-07:00

This afternoon, we picked up Rile' and Hunter for an afternoon at our house. It was a lot of fun, as usual. They kept us hoppin'! Although, they both have colds. Hunter is getting over it and Rile' is just beginning, so she was extra sensitive. But, they kept us laughing all afternoon. You just never know what's coming next! They haven't been over since we've been working on our family room. The first thing Rile' did was point and say, "You have a red wall!" I'm not too sure if she liked it or not, by the expression on her little face!

Rile' enjoyed playing with her dolls...

Hunter really enjoys his spaghetti!