Family

On Saturday we went to Robin and Rick's for dinner. It is the first time I've ever seen or been in a geothermal house. It is great. The floor heating and the solar hot water. Truly amazing. McKaley and kids came down from Philomath, Kerry and Mat brought Aunt Peggy out and we had a wonderful dinner of ham, criossants (McKaley made them), all sorts of other goodies, all topped off with one of Robin's cakes. We had a great time catching up and renewing our ties with relatives that have been far apart for a really long time.

Here is Kerry with her little granddaughter of 4 months

On Sunday, Grandaughter Amanda brought her two georgeous babies up to see us. Here is Danica, Amanda, and Koby! We went got acquainted again here at the house and then took the kids to the Outdoor/In to play and eat.

We had a wonderful time and I look forward to keeping all of my family a little closer........

Tomorrow is Tuna Day!!

Keith's Birthday

We (at least I) had a blast for Keith's birthday. On Wednesday morning Keith, Tim, and I hurried around and got our "chores" done. I finished moving most of the gardening and yard "stuff" up to the barn and got that set up and organized. I thought I had most of it out before - but you know how it goes! Every time I moved something around - I found some more!!




Tim ready for hot tub (shorts, sweatshirt, jacket, boots, and hat)

Then we got into the car and went down to the Mill for Keith's birthday - we got into the hot tub (ahhh! it felt so goooood!) and I swam for a bit in thier new pool. We had a room there for 2 nights so I headed up to get ready for dinner while the guys soaked some more. Clint and Sallie met us and we headed for dinner ~ somewhere in the transition from the pool to the restaurant we lost Tim ~ but that isn't all that unusual. LOL
We had a great dinner - good food, great company, and a lot of laughs. Sallie and I both hit little jackpots on the way into the restaurant ~ so all was great going. After dinner, they went on home but we stayed around for awhile. I hit another little "real" jackpot and now am invited to the "Winners Circle" buffet at the end of the month. Tim later hit one - so he has an invite too! Looks like I know what we are doing a couple of days before we leave.

We spent out 2 nights there while enjoying the wonderful weather we've been having. Oh, it rained on Thursday, but soon the wonderful sun came out and we had another great day!

Happy Birthday Keith!!

The Shed is DONE!

After finally getting a pro to complete the building part - IT IS DONE! Tim and Keith are now doing the inside part of the completion. I hope it gets done in time to "move in" before we head south!! It is a very, very strong building - It'll be there long after our house falls down :-)

In other news - Cousin Robin called today with the news that our tuna is going to be available for pick up on Monday so we will be canning tuna next week. It will be the first time I have tried to do it myself but I plan to "practice" by helping Sallie this weekend with hers. Everyone needs to wish me luck!!

I hope to see Amanda and her children sometime this weekend - if not - at least before we head south! I haven't seen her since Brayana was a baby - so it will be a wonderful thing to see what a woman she has grown into and it is so hard to believe that she is a Mom herself! But I do know that we have all grown up (or in my case - out) in the last 11 years! Yeah!!!

Rod will be home from his deployment tomorrow - I know that S'te and the kids are all waiting as impatiently as they can - It will be great for them to have him home again. I know they all missed him very much.

We will celebrate Keith's birthday tomorrow - we will have dinner with Clint, Sallie, and Tim so fun and laughs will be had by all of us. I am looking forward to it.

Since we are "short timing" it right now - I doubt that we will have any other guests during the rest of our time here this season. I have gotten all the "kid stuff" cleaned up and put away for the remainder of this year. We had a total of 9 littles stay with us - 3 for respite and the rest either returned home or to relatives. What a blessing!! Some have trouble understaning the reasoning behind having our guests with us - but are very supportive during the acutal processes. We all really enjoy "our" kids!

So that's my update for this month. What's yours?

The Shed

The Shed

Click here for slideshow

After almost a month, 2 sides are done and the plywood is on the roof. At this point we have given the project over to a "pro" who will complete it. Hopefully, next week will see it all done. The guys have worked hard and with only a single "indident" when Tim left a hammer on the top of the 8 foot ladder and it came off and hit Clint. This completed the part they are doing! I sure wish that Sharen's son Caleb lived close enough to come do the work for us - but alas, we are in the little town that every one leaves to find work.....

The garden is coming to an end - things are ripening and I've blanched, frozen, and eaten all sorts of fresh veggies!! Next will come the apples that are ripening as I type.

Sister Sharen came to visit last weekend and we had a wonderful visit. She took some lettuce and apples back with her - as well as one of the cauliflowers. I sure had more than enough of all 3!! We went to visit Powers with a stop in Myrtle Point to see if we could catch up with any of our old acquaintenances there and we found one to give us an update of many of our old friends. We spent a little time at the Mill and then it was already time for her to head home. They are planning to visit us in Florida next April and it will be wonderful to show them around that area!

We now have 2 new little houseguests. They are only staying with us for a short time - as our time in Coos Bay will be coming to an end shortly. Keith has planned for us to visit S'te and family before heading back East.

I spent several days following Ike and have heartfelt sympathy for the victims of that horrible storm. I remember all to well waiting for the "all clear" back in 2004 after both Francis and Jeanne and again in 2005 waiting for Ivan to clear out and the infrastructues to be repaired enough to go "home" again!! It is for the newest victims that I pray that all the missing be found and the necessessities to be repaired enough for them to return home safely.

The "Shed" Progresses

I'm not sure what day we are on now... We had a couple of days when the wind was blowing to bad to work on it and even a couple of days that rained pretty good - not big time rain - just enough that they didn't go out! Clint came by yesterday morning and they worked out how/what they were going to do with the roof. This being a learning experience (hmmmm) there has been a lot of "re-building" going on. Anyhow, Clint will be done for the next few days so - who knows what is happening.

It is pretty going pretty well, the framework is up, the windows are in... Time is cutting the boards for the roof.....

Labor Day

On Labor Day we actually took part of the day off (giggle, giggle) and took Tim on a mini tour of the area. Of course, after checking all the news and weather stations for any word on the hurricanes. After I was satisfied that there wasn't anything I could do that would make a difference, we set off...

We took him down to the "Basin" for lunch - He had a cheeseburger (smiley!) while Keith and I both had fish. As usual for the ocean - the breeze was getting really into it..
Afterwards we took a drive out to Bastendorf Beach and then over Seven Devils between Charleston and Bandon-by-the-Sea.
After that, we stopped by the Halfway and introduced him to Flo before heading back to Coos Bay.

I told Keith we should have really gone on a tour and took him to Powers to meet Aunt Nita and Uncle Jim ~ Keith didn't think that Tim was quite ready for that just yet!! Go figure!!

Shed Framework

Shed Framework
Originally uploaded by Amah

It is off and running!! Like a herd of turtles..... Keith and Tim decided that the lawn tractor and the mowers need a place to rest... and the cistern and pump need a "house" before winter.... They got this far and then today they decided to take it apart and lower it 3"!! It will be really nice when (and if LOL) it gets done!!

We had a couple of days of rain - about a week of cloud cover (normal in Coos County!) and yesterday afternoon the sun came out beautifully and it is out this morning already!! We will definately enjoy the sun while it is here!

I pulled a couple of carrots and picked a few cherry tomatoes this morning - I've been cutting lettuce for a couple of weeks now - and it is showing no signs of going away.... Hopefully it will last until some of the big tomatoes get ripe - some huge ones on the vines but still really, really green! Come on sunshine - ripen those babies!!!

Not much else going on - just enjoying each day as they come...

Nocturnal??

8-4-2008 11-42-57 AM_0001
Originally uploaded by Amah

Click on photo for more!

Each morning I go out back and check out the roses and the trees (we have some new fruit trees just planted) to see how much damage our nocturnal visitors have done... Since we live within the City limits these beautiful creatures are protected and they seem to know it~~

So they don't even wait until the cover of dark!! I took these from my front yard after driving by them, parking the car, going in the house to get the camera, and walking to the edge of the yard! They didn't move until the Baby squealed with delight ~ after he finally noticed them. LOL

The Fence is done!!

How's that for a good lookin' fence?

We have matching ones

on the other side of

the garage

and on the little

side of the house!!

And we have a new set of babies singing for their supper~

And we have tomatoes, peppers, squash, carrots, and cauliflower all growing like mad. We had a bumper crop of radishes that mostly went to seed. I didn't bother to ask anyone if it was a "preferred" food before planting ~ so what I didn't eat and/or give away just gave up. I put jalepenos and .... oh well.... something else there ~ I guess we'll have to just wait and see what grows.... hehee

Late but . . . .

For Father's Day this year Keith got another special picture from Elizabeth and Brennan. It arrived here when he was in California to bring S'te and family for their visit. He opened it immediately and we hung it on the wall - but then I got busy with company and the holiday, then they left, I lost the camera, and I just went and got another one.....

So here is the best art that any Grandparent could wish for. The first art to show in this home. Keith was wonderfully pleased!

But not to be outdone~ The next day (the day after they arrive here) Ty presented me with some more art to bless our home. He knows very well that wolves are my favorite animal ~ so he painted this for me! Isn't it wonderful?

Also amazing is how different thier styles become in the years between 8 and 18!

Thank you both! They have both been lovingly added to our collection ~

It's great to be a Grandparent!

Introspection

Here is a wonderful photo that S'te took at Simpson Beach, at the "Shore Acres Gardens, during her visit here. It is a formation of mussels on a rock formation on a Pacific Coast "beach" - for lack of a better description. Total nature and beauty. She is such a great whiz with the camera!

I've been looking at it, mulling over it, and it has provided much food for thought over the last several days. This was a natural phenom - not arranged by the kids, only by God. And it is perfect.

I have so many dear friends, family, and people that I really love and care about that have so many difficulties facing them, of so many different kinds, in the next few months ~ it has caused a lot of thought for me. And a real definate recounting of all the many, many blessings I've been the recepient of!!

So to all of you (and you know who you are), please think of the others, and if we all pray for each other as well as ourselves, for the mercy only God can show us, then we will all have many prayers going in each of our behalf's ~~ you know where I'm trying to go ~ and not getting there quite the way I wanted too~~

But always remember, as Barb says,

Today is the day

that you were

worrying about

yesterday

~~

My House is So Empty!

Today is the first whole day since they've been gone! sniff, sniff It really seems empty with just me and the babies here. S'te, the kids, and Keith took off yesterday afternoon about 4 and arrived in Spring Valley about 11 this morning. They made really good time! Both ways!! Coming up they were about 20 hours on the road but going back they gained an hour!!

While they were here we had lots of fun and they saw many places and did many, many things. The kids were amazed at how different it is here ~ all the way from homecanned veggies, jams and jellies, freezer wrapped meat, and seperating garbage between burnables, compost, and actual throw-away stuff!! They hiked trails, went to Shore Acres Gardens, Gold and Silver Falls, the Myrtle Point Skate Park, a big family gathering, and met lots and lots of people! They tried many new activities, all the way from sheep sheering to clam digging in the mud flats, including a memorable great fun float from Siltcoos Lake to the Pacific shore! This fun activity was orchastrated by my sister Sharen who came over with her husband, brought their camp trailer and spent several days with us over the 4th weekend! S'te took some beautiful pictures of thier many new memories! I am amazed at how much they have all grown and what beautiful children they are. We spent 3 weeks (minus 2 days) with 14 people here in this little house - and for the most part it all went really, really great. I'd do it again in a heartbeat :-)

The only drawback to the entire visit was that Rod (S'te's husband) is still overseas serving our country and couldn't join us... but for sure he will be on the next trip north! He kept in contact via email and the phone - but we sure missed him. All of the kids brought thier "Daddys" so he was close in our hearts!

I will watch S'te's Money Pit to see the links to her great photos! She is a wonderful photographer, designer, and most of all the most patient and wonderful mother any child could have ~ and I'm lucky to have such a wonderful child to be proud of! God had given me a real blessing.

I will post more on some of the special activities as I have time. BTW - the photos here were all taken by that special daughter of mine - I couldn't even begin to do such an artistic thing - -

Yippee!

As of this evening - they are actually on thier way!! Keith said they had almost gotten as far North as the Grapevine already!! I am soooo jazzed! I miss my baby - Keith - he has been gone 5 whole days already! He has taken on the job of riding back up I5 with S'te and all the kids. I'm here to tell you - this will be one full, happy, lively house for the next few weeks!! Yippee!! I can't say it enough...

As things alway go.... we have 2 little guests that arrived today... So our house will be REALLY full.... LOL They are little cuties and are welcome to share our home and family . . . as our little guests always are...

I look for the big van to pull into the driveway somewhere around dawn with a few (hehee) very, very tired peoples in it.

We have planned a family reunion of sorts for a Saturday in July. I am hoping and praying that as many of our family members as possible make it. This will be the first time S'te has been to Oregon for several years... I certainly hope that it becomes an annual trek. . .

We also plan to visit Pendleton, my Mother's resting place, and as many other places as she wants to go. With 11 children in tow (her 9 and my 3 - - she's mine too!) you'd be suprised at what we can do... I know we will have a wonderful time...

Pray for their traveling safety please. :-) The Lord has certainly blessed us!

Friendship Bread

For those who have run out of friends to bless the starter with I have a couple of "hints" or rather ideas that have been tried by others - and Horray! they work!!

If you only want 1 starter left over: After adding the 1.5 cups of "stuff" - measure out your cup of starter and put it in a bag. You should have 4.5 cups left. Take 2.25 cups (2 1/4) and set it aside... Complete your recipe with batter in bowl. Use the additional that was set aside for another batch - complete recipe as usual. And you have only your one bag of starter... Of course, if you don't want to bake 4 loaves of bread - just throw the extra 2 1/4 cups away... Until someone asks for starter and you can "friend" them a couple! LOL

If you want a pudding flavor that only comes in the small packets: Use 2 pkgs of pudding mix but cut the flour back by 1/2 cup.

If you are using aluminum (throw away) loaf pans: Use the spray but don't flour...

Adding nuts, coconut, raisens, poppy seeds, etc: Add them before your pudding or flour to make it easier to mix them in.

I use a complimentary extract: lemon for lemon poppy, coconut for coconut cream, peppermint with vanilla pudding, you get the idea! If I'm doing chocolate flavors I still add the vanilla... Don't know if it helps anything - but you can let me know~~

Flavors that have gone over really well in my house: Banana nut (with a real sliced banana in it) with walnuts, chocolate chips with vanilla pudding, lemon poppy, pistachio with pistachio nuts, chocolate fudge pecan (I got a bag of pecans in GA and need to use them!), vanilla pecan, butterscotch chip with either vanilla or chocolate puddings and of course, the regular, original is absolutely wonderful to use as the "shortcake" in strawberry shortcakes... The uses just go on and on!! I absolutely love the stuff! hehee

A hint for those with milk allergies!! I began using Soy milk several batches ago... I've found that it works very, very well. And it is really convenient too - since Soy doesn't need to be refridgerated until opened... and I almost always use the whole carton up anyway! I don't know for sure how many batches it will take to get all of the milk product from the starter.... but I'm hoping that it is gone now. Several of the Jell-O puddings do not have milk products in them! It states right on the box under the ingredients "No milk". So that's good news for my Grandson! Most of the store brand instant puddings that I have found - do have milk products.

The Cistern

We've been busy our few weeks here on the South Coast! I've been clam digging a couple of times with Clint and Sallie. Keith likes clams well enough that he even got some rubber boots and rain pants and went with me one day. The clam tides were really good last week - so we took full advantage of them. I'm sorry to say that I just can't dig a full limit... If I get 8 or so - I'm done.... I also cheat and let them clean themselves out overnight before I do the chore of cleaning them and getting them ready for the freezer. It takes a couple of digs for me to get enough for a meal. If only I were younger, stronger, and in better shape!!! It's tough work . . . my admiration for those who go out and get full limits every day of decent tides is insurmountable!!!

We didn't get rid of our excessive water problem last year, so we tried it again this year. Digging deeper and putting a concrete storage cistern in... From the looks of it - this may work! Thank the Lord!! Clint cut the top off of the old cistern and put gravel and dirt in it for a raised strawberry bed!! I'll be a farmer yet :-) Click here for other pics.

We've also been busy getting the "guest room" ready for S'te's visit! The camper has had "issues" that were never taken care of before . . so we've had to replace the furnace and get the water heater fixed. Of course, lots and lots of cleaning!! I don't know how some people live in total filth - but obviously - they do!

My project while Keith is gone to get the kids is to clean up the yard, get the freezer stocked, and finish up in the camper. Sallie has loaned me enough towels and washcloths and Donna showed up yesterday with an inflatable bed, sheets and all!! Sharen and Jack plan to come down from Klamath and all the rest of our Family has been invited to a BBQ/birthday celebration July 4th weekend - so we will have lots of fun and good visits then. I am so looking forward to our upcoming events!! and to being able to relax in the newly dried out back yard!! I am so totally and completely blessed - the only thing I could possibly ask the Lord for now is to bring someone to give us news of Jeremy.... that would so totally complete my life.

So that is my news for now....

Happy Birthday S'te

I hardly believe it's been a whole year!!

And there has been so many additions :-)

Our Arrival

Camper
Originally uploaded by Amah

When we arrive back in Coos Bay we found this in our driveway. I knew it was not a small camper - but it takes up the whole driveway!! We will need to move it ~ and soon!!

Actually soon came really quickly... the very next day Clint was showing us what had been fixed, changed, and upgraded since we've been gone1 We now have 4 new fruit trees, the lawns are all green and look beautiful! Several problem spots have been filled in... It all looks really wonderful!!

On Saturday we went and got some lawn furniture and began the chore of putting everything together.... We could have certainly been on Funniest Videos... but . . . no. On Sunday, Clint decided that it would be a good time to move the trailer to a better spot. Since we have to go under a tv cable line and around a tree - we need to do it while Sallie is home - so she can also assist!! Talk about wonderful friends!! Never would have happened without them!

It took the entire afternoon to get this done to Clint's satisfaction and it looks really good. Now all I have to do is clean it out and get it ready for a new floor covering. It is rather dirty.... like.... caked mud in quite a few places.... but nothing that can't be cleaned.... it just takes time.... lots of time....

And I go back to the lawn furniture. Got it done except for the "dome" on the canopy. It split a seam so Sallie is going to sew it for me - again what a great friend!

And that was our first weekend back in the Great Northwest... now when we fall into bed (or, in my case, chair) . . we are both exhausted and sleep really soundly!! Oh, it's great to be back!!

From Pendleton to home!

We drove across I84, North to the Columbia River - more of Oregon scenery that I've never seen before. I hate to admit that I lived in Oregon for so many years and never saw so much of it!! I've read history along the way and found so many things that truly amaze me. I may be amazed easily - but every trip thru different parts of our whole country - - well, God did a really awesome job when he created all of the different parts is all I can say.

So we traveled most of the northern border of Oregon along the Columbia River. I have actually known for years that the Columbia is the Oregon/Washington border - but I never realized how huge the Columbia was, nor did I ever realize just how many dams are on it - and how different the scenery is from the highest part - towards Pendleton - and the lower parts of it - toward Portland.

We did take a detour and see the Multinomah and Horsetail Falls. Magnificant!! Pictures of them are on the Flickr Badge. Of course they don't even come close to doing justice to either of them. Today had been a rather murkey day for the most part....

We went from I84 to I5 around the Portland area - so we didn't really even get close to the City. We headed south with the decision that we would cut off at Corvallis, spend the night, and go down the coast the next day. Keith has acquired a rash that won't seem to go away. He soaked in the hot tub and got in the pool at the Holiday Inn in Pendleton and that just seemed to make it worse. I'm rather concerned so we will call it a day a little early.

At Corvallis we checked in to their Holiday Inn Express and checked out the rash again... It's even worse than this morning.... and no clue what it is!! he hasn't been out in the woods, sitting on the ground, or much of any thing that I can think of to cause a rash. No different laundry soap, regular showers, not too hot... What could it be? So off to the ER we go! Believe you me!! It was the shortest ER visit in history!!! I've had waits at the Dr.'s office longer than this one!! 55 minutes from check-in to check-out!! And they apologized for the wait! And you'll never guess - - - - - Poison Oak!! Absolutely no idea what or where he got into it!!

So now we know what is itching him... got him some medication and good old calamine lotion . . . so he got a good nights sleep so he can hold on while I drive down the coast.

We headed that way after breakfast and were amazed to see several people on bicycles traversing the same road! Up the hills and around the curves... just pedaling away. Amazing! We got to Hwy 101 and headed south towards Coos Bay. The last leg of our trip! It has been a fast forward several days but the end and our little house is at the end of this day! We made several small stops - at one of my favorites - Devil's Churn - we didn't walk down the paths to any of them - it was a very grey day and misty - I was afraid it would be slick and don't need another trip to the ER! We stopped at several places to look out over the Pacific Ocean as well as at Sea Lion Caves. My amazment at our world is still with me~ I reminissed about other trips down the same road - Most especially the one with S'te right as she was learning to drive!! Now that was a trip!! She nailed the brakes and and stopped at EVERY wide spot in the road where she thought there might maybe be something she wanted to look at :-)

About noon we rolled into our front yard. Clint and a friend were looking at the newest purchase - a used Salem travel trailer to use as a guest room. So we did hugs and welcome homes and caught up on current happenings as we unloaded the car.... and then just spent some time relaxing. It's great to be back!

Back to the trip

Sorry about that . . Jeremy's birthday always throws me for a loop.... it's really hard to grasp that I really do have a son whose 36th birthday just passed and all I can do is miss him.....


So back to the end of our trip.... I think I left us in Idaho.. We headed out from there early on Wednesday morning - so no sightseeing there either - but this time was really for a reason... We could get up to Pendleton and see Gerald for the afternoon visit session if we did. So I was all for that...

So off we went.. Right up the Oregon Trail.. We went from watching the snow on the hillsides in the Grand Tetons and the Rockies to the Burnt and Blue Mountains with snow right to the side of the highway!! And this was end-of-May!! It was a beautiful drive tho' All of the trees up to the treeline and the green and the blue sky!! Until we got close to Pendleton .... the mountains were so high the cars in front of us looked like they were driving right off into the clouds!! It was awesome!! The clouds are really dark so you can really see where mountain meets cloud!! It was probably not one of Keith's favorite parts... but it worked for me!! We made it to Pendleton just after lunchtime - so we tried - and failed to check into our room early so we went to Wally's and then had a quick sandwich before heading off to our visit....

It is not a fun place to visit... I have never done a visit in a place like that.. I have probably watched way to many movies LOL Everyone was exceptionally nice to us. Even if I did forget the rules and had to go into the bathroom and cut the wires out of my bra to get thru the metal detectors (and yes, Chaplan had even specifically warned me beforehand). I met both the Hospice Coordinator Shaw and Chaplan Swartz. We discussed Geralds status, health, issues, and the protocol if I change my mind and want to go back for the "vigil". At this point it is not something I am inclined to do... but we discussed it. I was amazed that they would take time to see us and to spend enough time to thouroughly explain things to the point that I had no questions that even attempted to get thru the fog. I am not supposed to be burying my younger brother any more than I should have lost my son!!

So, back on track, the 2 visits we did were great. Gerald looks ill - but not terribly. Sounds weird... and it is weird... to see someone that isn't going to live long and they almost look normal... a little pale, a little jaundiced.... they are taking great care of him~~ He's spacy to talk to.... definately medicated.. but not at all scary ~~ Nurse Shaw and Chaplan had already explained it all to me... We had a great visit ~ actually 2 ~ we went back for the morning visit the next day, before we headed out... God Bless you and may your suffering be short, May He have mercy on you Gerald!

But on this stop - I did some shopping!! I have heard about "Pendleton's" all of my life and never wanted to show my ignorance in asking just what was so special - so we went to the Pendleton's Store. Beautiful stuff.... Georgeous!! Absolutely Wonderful!!!! I bought a jacket for Keith. Arms were long enough!!! It is a well-fitting nice jacket.... (about 500 miles away I found a "made in China" sticker inside ~~ I'll never go back ~~ my own fault, I assumed that the items in this "LOCAL" Oregon Store with the solid rep would have Made In America items on their label!!) I was definately annoyed!!!! I made Keith go away from the register after he did his routine questioning - of which this time he got very few answers - so he snapped this photo of me coming out of the store... I think he likes his jacket - he wears it often - I'm sure glad :-)

The ending of our trip on the next post. I will also upload pics onto Flickr - all you have to do is click the badge on the sidebar and it will take you there!!

My Son

Happy

Birthday

Jeremy

This is a hard day to get thru -

even after 21 years of

being without you.

I want you to know that we love you.

This is from your father,

he sent it to me,

and I am posting it.

Your family