They were here....

The Elmore family arrived about 2 days ahead of their eta... and I am happy for every minute they were able to be here!!! Evidently they didn't spend as much time traveling as I thought they would!!

While they were here they accomplished all sorts of things.... Thanks to Shawn and company at D&R Traditional Builders - the studio was finished in time - Tim got himself out of the camper - and there was a place for them all
to sleep!! Yay!! So now, - the studio is done, my kitchen is finished (except for the stuff that I haven't decided what I want done yet!), and the garden is growing! Rod and S'te mowed the lawn, made sure the garden was weeded, shopped for a vehicle, and stripped, textured, and painted the kitchen walls. On Saturday we had company from Powers and Myrtle Point. Aunt Nita, Uncle Jim, Susie and her Husband, and Linda all came bearing food.... Amanda and Jason brought the kids and a homemade potato salad (that was totally yummy!) and we had a great time catching up. Amanda brought me the cutest handmade invitation for Danika's 2nd birthday. These girls.. they are such great Mom's! I was really suprised that no other family or friends came - I am sure that it is their loss, I know we missed seeing them. The weather was not really wonderful... it was overcast, windy, and usual June Coos Bay weather.... but that is why we planned it for so early to start with! LOL... So we had enough food left over ~~~ that we sent a bunch of it away.

They had themselves and the 3 oldest kids packed up and were on their way to Washington by 1 pm on Sunday - and were waylaid by backlogged traffic due to an 'incident' on the bridge in Portland - so didn't make it up there until really late!

So I have the 3 youngest for a few days, or so. We are having great fun playing in the yard and taking care of the garden. Mak has been picking the ripe strawberries for me, Tetee and Mak helped to weed the garden and thin the carrots today... Tetee has been busy helping me water every day... Maybe tomorrow I will get a bit more done.

I was going to post pictures - but I can't make my 'puter behave, so you'll have to go to Flickr to see the final result on the studio.
The studio

Destini's Birthday

S'te and Amanda with their 'almost 2's"!

Really cool hand crafted invitation!!

And Naner and Jayman in my freshly painted, new cabinets, and floored kitchen!!

Live is wonderful ~ ~ you just have to be patient ~ ~

Just Waitin'

Workin' hard watching the guys :) getting the bathroom revamped so it will be really useful this summer! The old rotten bathroom next to the studio is being refurbished! I know it's been awhile.... the toilet we took out said 1947 on the lid.... Habitat for Humanity looked at it when we took it over. The took the toilet - but the sink wasn't all that great.... so it went to the dump... as well as a lot of rotten wood. I'm sure the bugs that like rotten wood will have to find new homes.... LOL

Keith is visiting his Mom in Indiana and will attend his 50th Class Reunion later today. I will miss not being there to share it with him - but April and the kids went over with him. It will be a really nice family time. Maybe I will get to go next year!

Later this week S'te and family should be dropping in for a short visit on thier way North to Washington. I am just so excited!!!!

The weather has been typical Coos Bay, cloudy and misty in the morning but sunny and really warm in the afternoon. I'll be jinxing it by saying this... but I hope it continues for awhile. The garden is going great... should be out there weeding now... but .... well.... you know how it is>>>> :-)

At 9 tonight it will have been 32 years since my precious baby girl
was added to the blessings of my life...

And I don't have the Senior Picture
or
the Navy Great Lakes Picture
or
the Brand new Mommy Picture
but I do have....

I mean 13th... (oops)

Thank you Lord

Kitchen Project Complete!

Hooray hooray!! All done - well - except for the walls (they just HAVE to wait for S'te) The table came today so I'm all done with the kitchen until later when something is figured out for the walls and ceiling. There was 4 layers of wall paper over the wall-in-a-wall and painted paneling over that!! We took 2 loads to the dump!! But it's done and it's beautiful - even if I do say so myself!!

Lookee Lookee!!!
From this

to this!!

And it all got done before the Elmore's come to visit in 2 weeks! And Keith will be getting here just before they come - so I'll have my blessings all in a row! I'm so happy!! Just wonderful. I'll be so glad to see him - it seems like forever since I left him in San Diego and came up here to get things ready for the family visit. And he is traveling to 2 more states before he comes back to me. But he will be here soon!

Happy 37th Birthday

On this day 37 years ago I became the proud Mommy of you! As I do every year, I have spent this morning happily nostalgic with the many, many fond and silly memories we made together... You were one of the greatest highlights of my life....
All these people and many, many more are wishing you were here today to celebrate!

Your sister, S'te

Aunt Sharen, Grandma Judy, and of course, MeGrandpa Doland and Your Nieces and Nephews

May God be with you, wherever you are!

Spring 2009!

The Apple Trees have bloomed!

A bit of the garden has been planted - but still much to go!
The cabinets arrived
And I think they are beautiful!
Of course ~ best laid ideas (LOL) ~ a water pipe in the kitchen is leaking - so it needs to be fixed before install~~ and a couple of sockets need to be moved.... but it will be done.... and it will be great~~~

God is Good~

Happy Birthday Dad!

Historical events on your birthday!!

2006

The newly installed Nepalese government votes to strip the King of Nepal of his power leaving him with a largely ceremonial role.

1994

Michael Jackson marries Lisa Marie Presley.

1991

Helen Sharman, at the age of 27, becomes the first Briton in space.

1980

Mount St Helens' volcano in Washington state erupts killing at least 100 people and creating a cloud of ash 2,500 miles long and 1,000 miles wide.

1969

NASA launches Apollo 10 - its mission is a rehearsal for the Moon landing flight later in the year.

1950

In London, NATO formally establishes it charter.

1944

The Second World War: Allied troops led by the Polish Army, finally win the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy.

See, it was a special day for many!!

Not much.....

going on here. Tim and I are tearing down a wall and getting the kitchen ready for my 'new' (to me) cabinets.
I was browsing through Craig's List to see what kind of good deals were being offered. I happened on a fellow selling the cabinets that he had hoped to put into his house. I got a new sink, fixtures, the stain (they are unfinished), delivery, and install all thrown in!! Not a bad price either. What a great deal for me!! I love to browse Craig's List - it is way better than the 'shoppers' and you can go to any state, any neighborhood, and specify just what you are looking for - or just look at all of it!!!
So we had to hurry the process along a bit more than originally planned. LOL At least I'm pretty sure it was more than Tim had planned..... He crawled up into the attic to see just what was going on up there..... and I started taking off the top layer - paneling ... then we went to the second layer - 4or 5 layers of wallpaper, then to the third layer - plywood, then to the 4th layer - lap siding on both sides of the 2x4's, and finally, the frame which was attached pretty much to nothing! It was anchored into the floor really well and the plywood was wedged into a groove in the ceiling. Amazing! There was definately a lot of wood that went into the trailer!!

So today I need to clean out the 3 cabinets that I now have in the kitchen, stack everything in the back room, and slide these out the door - probably to the deck for the time being, and wait for 'my' new oak cabinets!!! Yay!!!

Keith is still at S'te's - and I miss him. It's only been a week since I left and he won't be home for another month.... I will be so glad to see him again!!!

North to Oregon!

I've made it! I did take a rather round about way to get here but I've learned a few things.

The Golden Gate Bridge isn't Gold!

That little stick of a telephone pole dosen't hold a
candle to a Giant Redwood

And the Pacific is always beautiful!

So, I've made it back to Coos Bay, in good health, in great time, and I can enjoy myself, all by my self. LOL

I had wonderful weather for driving and sightseeing. Sunshine and nice temperatures made for a really great trip. It dripped on me a little bit going through Bandon - but Bandon always drips!! The sun was shining when I arrived and I've gotten busy getting ready to get busy on my projects.

More Mother's Day

The girls got up really early this morning... to prepare a wonderful Mother's Day breakfast of eggs, bacon, pancakes, and french toast sticks for us. Keith got to participate in the breakfast event by going to the store for them and bringing home supplies.... and he got to eat too.... hehee!!

After breakfast the younger ones took turns giving S'te and I facials, foot massages, leg massages, pedicures, manicures, thoroughly giving us the royal treatment as we relaxed in our seats.

After our spa treatments, they prepared lunch for us - burgers and home fries were enjoyed by S'te, Keith, and I. They also finished the laundry, straightened the downstairs, changed the baby, ran the scooby, and did the dishes. Ty came over bringing a personalized card and a HUGE chocolate for me and an adorably cute card for S'te - signed by all! It was a great Mother's Day morning! I do have pictures - but the card reader is packed ... so they will have to wait....

Then I had to get ready to leave... boo hoo!! We got the car packed and said our good-byes - Keith walked me to the car - and off I went!! I only made it about 50 miles before the first stop - San Juan Capistrano - I didn't see any accident - but we traveled very, very slowly for many miles before getting back up to speed. Then coming down the north side of the Grapevine there was a small brush fire that had the southbound traffic stopped (not my side - thank you Lord!!) for at the very least, 10 miles!!! By the time I got to Buttonwillow, I was sleepy, still full, and ready to stop! So here I am.....

It's morning and I am most ready for us to take off again - I am headed over to 101 to travel up the coast and thru the redwoods. At least, that is my plan at this point. The best part of traveling alone - is that I don't really have to have a plan.... hehee. If and when I get lost - if I keep going North - I will at least be headed in the right direction!!!

So now I am - northward bound!!

Mother's Day

I want to honor all the Mother's everywhere.
Not only those who have the title by 'birth' but also
those who have come by the title thru love.

Those who are Mom's in all the ways that count!

Happy Mother's Day to you!!

I've had a really special celebration already! We've had
our Mother's Day a little early this year....
So far today .....

Went to Brayana and Jaleel's football game really,
really early this morning! And they got
their first touchdown of the season...
and then scored again before the end of the game!!

Then
My oh-so-crafty little baby girl gave me this special treat this afternoon!
My favorite animal...... wolves
along with my most favorite of all....
my family!!
A throw pillow made with a portrait of my most
favorite people in all the world!!!

Then
we went on to watch 'Lil-Mak' play his
lil heart out at flag football.

The guy in the blue is Mak! They guy in the white
was their opponents today!
And they tied the game!!!
Horray!!

And to top the day off!!
We had some of the best pizza~

So I've had a great Mother's Day!
How about you?

San Diego

Thanks to all of the help from friends and neighbors - we got all packed up, closed up, and on our way West!

We arrived her at S'te and Rod's home yesterday afternoon. We had a very nice and pretty uneventful travel day. There was quite a bit of turbulence - not unusual for cross country this time of year - but I've definitely been in worse! We waited a little over an hour for our rental car to get ready - but then Keith got a credit for the long wait - so that worked out well!

I was really glad to see the kids. As always they have grown by leaps and bounds. They just keep on growing and maturing!! I can't seem to do anything to stop it! Brayana is now taller than I and Destini is a real, real close second!! I haven't seen Ty yet and Rod is off to his training in Virginia - I won't be here to see him when he returns - but I will see him next month when they stop to get his car!

I plan to be here thru this week and head North on Sunday. Sharen said it is hot over in the desert - so I doubt that I will get over by way to see Dad on my way!

So I look forward to spending the next few days here - helping S'te get ready to move North and enjoying being with my dear family!

Visit is over

We had a blast having Sharen and Jack visit. Well, they probably had a better time.... but we sure enjoyed them. Jack was only able to stay a few days as he had to return to Oregon for training sessions - but Sharen got to stay for the whole 2 weeks.

They did some exploring, and some scuba diving, and some touristing, and had lunch with some friends of Jacks that are out here in this area, and spent some time on the beaches.... all before Sharen took Jack to the airport... The first day of any kind of weather was the day Sharen had to come back down I95 by herself. There were regular rainstorms with the lightening and winds. Several tornados touched down up around the Orlando area - so she hung out and waited until the weather cells passed over - got on the road and got some good old gullywashers as she came down the Interstate! She worried that she hadn't researched driving in our little storms - and made it back here in good time and completely safely....

We did some aquacises with Peggy a few of the remaining mornings and we went up to finish up the 2nd day of their Kennedy Space Center tickets. Buyer beware!!! The tickets say 7 days - but they are counting the day of purchase.... You do not have 7 more days to use the 2nd day portion.... And we took a couple of little side trips - making wrong (or not making) turns and looking for the closest parking space - so we missed all but the final viewing of the movies she wanted very badly to see. The movies are about 45 minutes long so you have to be there by 3 (not a second later - they close the doors) to see both of them. We did see a very interesting and history filled movie about the moon walk and Apollo missions. It was in 3D and it was very good. I totally enjoyed it. We spent some time in the NASA store (of course) and there was an astronaught doing autographs. Of couse, we couldn't get anywhere near him - and then they had another fellow dressed up as one - and we were stuck in a line and couldn't get out there for pictures with him either - so we settled for pod pics....



Sharen gave up on me and my lack of interest in my surroundings and went up to the Treasure Museum alone - she gathered groups of shells to make 'things' with from her beach walk. She was the bunny.....
for the Easter Egg hunt....
and before she left we took her down to the Riverside Cafe for her first taste of grouper. It is a neat little waterfront cafe that sits right at the water's edge and has it's own little boat dock for the customers that show up via water....

We took a little tour and showed her the marina, yacht club, boat ramps, gazillion dollar homes, and other little odd things. Like where Keith's favorite Mexican Restaurant on 20th is.

We had some really good visits and she has an idea of what all will be ready and what will need done when they return in October. It will be nice to have the house used.... and fun to have a friend close.

So, as Sharen is probably just boarding the plane . . . . safe travels and we'll see you in summer!

5 Years!!

I know this does not sound like much for you 'old timers' - but we are now, today celebrating our 5th Anniversary!! Thank you to the friends that called to wish us a Great Day!!

We are so happy to be out of the motor home that we decided that we would just stay home and chill!! Of course, we did our aquacises first thing this morning! As I type, Keith is stretched out in the recliner and watching a Western. I've just finished scanning some photos for Nettie's Celebration of Life that will be held this coming Saturday, and life is good. The sun is shining, the birds are singing..... Sharen and Jack are headed this way next week for a nice long visit. What could be better this 4 day of April, 2009!!