Fall arrived!!!

 Chaito really feels the cooler weather.  He is such a funny little guy!  He seems to always find something that he can burrow under. He would rather 'wait' than go out in the rain!  He definitely has his comical times.  Keith bought him a really fancy cable knit sweater that he will wear if ABSOLUTELY necessary... As you can tell.... it's not his favorite clothing item hehee!!

 Now with the cooler weather I've had time to finish a lot of the little things that I started over the summer.  I have quite a little 'stash' from Amah's Attic (S'te named my product line) to fill in bare spots in S'te's little shop.  I have a whole box to to take up Thanksgiving!

 

Jaleel crocheted this when they were down visiting.  I finished it up and put it into the 'stash of things to go to Bremerton.  I have lots of little things to go up - for some strange reason!!

 Sidewalks from the deck to the gate to the back studio door to the camper door... You can walk the whole way without trudging thru the wet grass.  We may not be doing it all at once but... it is getting done.  Tim's learning curve is producing quite a nice trail!  I love it!

 And here is what happens when you don't 'get a roun-tuit'  before your agreed upon time is over.  Tim played around for several days - and then the weather turned on him .... so here he is trying to finish up the sidewalk up the garage side... in the pouring rain! 

 And some more pouring rain....

And I'm getting a really dirty look! There is still a segment between the studio door and the gate that is laid out but not complete.  It will be really great soon...

So anyhow, this project is supposed to be finished before we get back.  And before he starts anything else LOL!!

Okay,,, here we go...

It has been a nice summer.  A few bumps in the road, but generally nice.  I have so much to be thankful for but will try to hit the high spots so I can catch up!  I got to see Gerald twice this summer and got to visit twice each time, and I am so glad for that as he finally gave up his fight on November 12.  He was many things to many different people ~ but he was my little brother ~ and I was actually no better prepared for him to pass than I was when others that were so very close lost the battles they fought.

Little Chaito made himself right at home and has been the best little guy!  He is definitly a Daddy's boy - and we have been well entertained by him.  The best picture we ever saw on the internet!

We fostered 3 little ones this summer.  That was quite a few since we didn't make it to Coos Bay until the middle of July!  We had a little fellow that we did respite for - the cutest little redhead you ever did see too!  And we got a newborn 4 pound infant right from the hospital.  We had her until she was well-established and went on to work her way thru the system.  Wishes and prayers for the best of luck went with this little one - another little cutie for sure!  Then we had a little chubby cheeked baby girl come to visit for a bit ~ until it was time for us to get ready to leave.  So I stayed very busy with these little guests - just adorable babies.... Gifts to me.  I loved their little hugs, kisses, smiles, and just holding and cuddling these little darlings... It doesn't get much better that that! :->

 Rod and S'te brought the van down to us ~ and they brought the kids with them too :->   They seemed to have a great time hiking up to The Falls, swimming up at Daphne Grove, visiting with old friends and family.  They stopped in Powers and visited with Aunt Nita and Uncle Jim for a bit on their outing up that way.

Amanda, Jason, Coby, and Danica came over for a fun BBQ and they went down to Bandon to visit them after a day of horseback riding in Coquille.  I think they had a good time...

 I got photos of every one but Destini.  She seemed to make herself scarce every time I had the camera out... hehee!!

I didn't have a garden this year but still found time to do a bit of canning.  I made several canner-loads of jellies, stews, tomatoes, applesauce, and fruits.  I enjoy doing it - we just don't seem to eat enough to go thru it fast enough!  I am so glad that I have so many people that humor me by taking the 'fruits-of-my-labors" off of my hands.

Dad was close for the summer and into the fall - so I stopped by to see him each time I made the trip up to Powers to see Uncle Jim - and he stopped by to see me a few times too.  I so enjoy having family around and close enough to visit!  It is just so heartwarming to me :)

Now, let's see, what did I miss ... ... ...

Oh, just before Labor Day I braved the traffic and made a jaunt over to see Mom and Teri.  And managed to make a mid sized donation to the wonderful CHP's on the way back home.  And I tried to hard to avoid all of the speed traps that they have around there. . I just had to go to the restroom.  Geez... the best laid plans..

Tim stayed busy all summer fixing, puttering, and helping get all the things that the contractors did half way (or skipped them all together) and generally being quite a big help ~ and it helps him out too ~ gives him a few extra spending dollars ~ Helps everyone out.  I do wish that the contractors had done as good as it looked like they'd done ~ They were paid in full for all sorts of 'short-cuts' that they too - as well as out and out not doing a few things properly.  And I know it is (was) my own fault for not being close to supervised more directly.  But I do love my little house and beautiful yard... It is getting better every summer~  this year Tim is putting in sidewalks... another step in the right direction!

So... it has been a great summer.

Gerald - May You Rest in Peace

This is a very old photo of my baby brother, Gerald, and my son, Jeremy.  It was taken in Reisterstown Maryland in 1972.  Gerald was 10 years old and Jeremy was probably about 4-5 months old (Jeremy is amazed by his hand).  Now, both have left us. Both deserved a longer and better life.  I am not here to say what life choices should have been made differently, or by whom, or if any choices would have made any difference in God's plan for either of them.  I know that this is the time and way that I wish to remember Gerald.  Before life, regrets, and many miles came between us.  I have other photos, much more recent ones.  They show the ravages of time and the disease that finally took his life and were not the happy ones that this one is. 

Although he spent most of his life in a  not-so-good way he deserves to be mourned.  It is sad that this will probably be his only tribute.  The list of people to contact is very, very short.  Life just shouldn't be that way.  I do have to thank all the people that assisted him in this last journey.  The Hospice workers and the Chaplin were so very nice.  They all went out of their way to make sure I could visit whenever I could get over to Pendleton, making special arrangements when necessary.  Even fellow inmates were accommodating for our last visit.  The Chaplin said Gerald passed quietly in his sleep much quicker and more mercifully than expected.  There was no real warning that he was this close to the end of his time.  Although we all knew it was getting closer ~ well ~ I guess I  wasn't ready for it to be it.  I was planning to visit again in just a couple of weeks and sent a card just 2 days ago letting him know that I was thinking of him.
 
Although we still don't know for sure about Jeremy, I am sure that Mom (and probably Jeremy to) was waiting to welcome Gerald with open arms.  May you rest in Peace Little Bro' - keep watch.

I love you.
 Gerald Dean Smith
April 9, 1962 - November 12, 2010
Born in Portsmouth, Ohio and died in Pendleton, Oregon
Son of Jack and Betty Smith, brother to Diane (Bland) Beatty, Sharen (Bland) Rea, and 2 estranged brothers, George and Randy Smith. Gerald had 1 son, Nicholas, and a grandson whom I never met.  His nieces and nephews included S'te Elmore, Brett, Michael, and Caleb Bettin.  He was preceded in death by his Mother, Betty, and  most probably his oldest nephew, Jeremy Bright.    He spent his early life in Maryland before moving to Myrtle Point in 1974.  He then went to school in Myrtle Point and afterwards lived and worked all over.  At one time he coached the Tubby's baseball team (including his star player, Jeremy) to a winning season, making the front page of the newspaper!  He worked in the logging, construction, fishing, and food industries for several years before becoming ill.  Gerald had many life struggles and with God's mercy, they are now behind him, he is without pain, and, hopefully, he was able to make his peace with everyone as he did me, I hope he is finally at peace with himself.

My Favorite Halloween Story

To give just a tad bit of history, about the time of this picture  I did a short summertime stint not working and being home with the kids and did massive amounts of work in the kitchen.  I learned how to can, freeze, make jelly and jam, and loved the baking until Ole asked me to 'knock it off' as he was gaining as much as I was.  I promptly got my feelings hurt and didn't bake anything that I hadn't bought in the store (no more homemade bread or rolls, cookies, cakes, pies, NOTHING).  But I never made any sort of Christmas Candy and believed others when they described how difficult and time consuming and boring it was.  I, like Grandma Betty, always had trouble with my weight, so she never made it and so I never learned.

About the time school started, I went back to work at Ms. Malia's there in Myrtle Point.  Among my loyal customers was Mr. Caudle who, along with his dear wife Burl, were friends as well.   Mrs. Caudle (who Jeremy lovingly called "Little Caudle"; another story) baked Christmas candy each year and sent it over for the kids to enjoy.  And enjoy it they did.  S'te was a bit young (but now I'm thinking it must've been a bit later as I do believe she was about 3)  so she didn't realize that this was a real treat quite like Jeremy did. 

Anyhow, to get back to my story, Jeremy (God Bless his heart, where ever it is) was about 8 (I think), so that would have made S'te about 3, (remember this is in late October and their birthdays were in late May and early June) when Wayne (Mr. Caudle to the kids) came in and asked what kind of candy Jeremy and S'te would like for Halloween.  I forgot to ask that evening but the next afternoon they stopped in after school and Mrs. Caudle was there to ask them what they wanted.  Jeremy thought for quite awhile before piping up and announcing that he had made his decision.  Now, you have to picture this,  Jeremy was always just loving being the center of attention and a bit on the dramatic side, milked this 'decision' for all it was worth while S'te just grinned and chatted away with everyone, she was such a cutie with those big blue eyes!!!  So anyhow, Jeremy finally came to his decision and announced in a huge voice that he wanted some of Little Caudle's special profanity for Halloween.  Everyone just stopped.  Now, Mrs. Caudle was every bit the lady.  She didn't have any profanity, nor would she have used it if she did.  After a good bit of questioning - a light finally started glimmering in my head.  So I asked him to describe it.  He did and Mrs. Caudle  made Christmas Candy a couple of month early that year.  Jeremy wanted profanity and Mrs. Caudle made him a huge batch of it for him and S'te to share.

Can you guess what Jeremy's profanity was?  His description was white, fluffy, with nuts, and it melts in your mouth.

I'll bet you've come up with it.  Jeremy just loved 'Little Caudle's'



DIVINITY!!

So, how's that for a great funny story?  To this day, every time I see Jeremy's profanity, I have a special little smile that hits my heart.  :-)

Photos from our July stop in Bremerton!

Of course, it's real easy to tell where I fit in with "tallness".

My pesky battle

I had to pick up yet another prescription while in Pendleton.  A uti had been haunting me since St. Louis.  After picking up different meds there and in Yellowstone, I got a prescription for Cepro to assist in kicking this pesky, painful, nasty, annoying, haunting, blasted, (and as many other words as I can't think of right now).  Weeelllll~ the Cipro kicked me.  Right out of the ballpark.  As usual for me - I didn't read all the side effects - I don't generally get any side effects from anything.  I  am bull-headed and bound that I am going to get rid of this annoyance.  Since the kidney stone incidents in June ......

So anyway, I took the pill and didn't feel so well.  Thought maybe the stress from seeing Gerald and all the traveling had caught up with me.  I took to the bed and slept between the nausea.  Then the cramps hit... boy I was one miserable puppy!!  Until late that night this kept up.

But morning came and all was better!  Yay, that little bit of flu or stress was over.  Ate a bite of breakfast and took another pill before getting in the pickup to head for Washington.  {  ]  (  :(  Ugh.  We didn't make it 100 miles before I had to ask Keith to drive.  I couldn't enjoy the scenery, I couldn't do anything,  Just be miserable.  AGAIN. . .

When the nausea got so bad that I couldn't stand it any more Keith decided that we needed to make it a really, really short travel day and stopped at  the Best Western just beyond this gas station (that had a chapel right in the parking lot).  I was so ill that I was tempted to go in - but to sick to get out of  the pickup!

So our plan to drive straight over to S'te's was thwarted by this 'bug' that I seemed to have caught.  While calling to tell my sweet daughter that we wouldn't be there as planned - she looked up this 'different medication' that I was taking and learned that not all folks react to it very well.  Ok... so I went to lay on the bathroom floor with my pillow and didn't take any more Cipro.  I went back to the antibiotic that I was taking before.  Just to be taking something I guess.  I really got to feeling like a human again after many, many hours and it looks like we were going to be able to continue our trip - tomorrow!

We made it to Bremerton, a day late, but feeling better for the most part.  We got straight out of the pickup and into the van to go see what Keith saw on the internet - that he wanted and that S'te checked out for us.  We got to the place and found that the particular item that Keith had his heart set on had been sent to a different place.  To makes ure that no one else ended up with this particular item - they called ahead and had it held for us and S'te took us STRAIT there to get it.

and

And

Here is

And he jumped right into Keith's lap and hasn't left it since! :-)

Keith has changed the pronunciation of his name and he is now called 'Kako' but we've left the spelling alone... after all, who cares?

A great choice, they bonded immediately, and have remained fast friends!

Thank you S'te, for finding him for Papa!

Couldn't have done it without you!

Another stop on our trip

The ending of out trip out contained little to actually write about.  We did meet up with my sister, Sharen, in Pendleton, OR  She drove over from Cultus Lake where she was camp hosting for the summer.  We went out for dessert and a great chat and then met again in the morning to go over and visit our brother, Gerald.  He is looking pretty well considering all things.  He is back on Hospice and I believe he has made his peace with God.  The hardest part is so, so, still in front of him.  His health is still doing a yo-yo, he rallies a bit and then it's 2 steps back.  I look forward to his letters - but then cry after reading each one of them.  But, back to the visit, it was a good one.  We had a few laughs, remembered a few old times, got pictures taken, ~ Gerald actually had some licorice and asked for a cola - I'm not sure he is "supposed" to have them ~ but at this stage - what difference is it really going to make - so he had what he wanted.  After Sharen took off to head back into the hills I went back for an afternoon visit.  We had to cut it a bit short as he really wasn't feeling that great.  I did get to meet his physicians' assistant and the head of the hospice care - so it was another greatly productive visit.  I gave him a huge hug since I know it will be another year before I see him again.

Visiting Gerald is always very bittersweet.  I love my little brother, hate some of the history he has, am compassionate about his disease, emphasize with his decisions about medical treatment, AND want him to be here to visit next year, but also know how much pain he is in, how long it has gone on, and know that his own wish is for it go be over.   I really do pray for God to be merciful.  That is about all that is left.

Cody and Yellowstone photos

Here are some select photos - but for the WHOLE shebang... Check out my Flickr set 2010 East - West Trip!  There are probably more photos than anyone would really want to look at! :)

Just passing thru today!

Cody, Wyoming - the only town we saw

I just loved the way this looked.

East entrance - via Wyoming

Three Bears Lodge ~ A great place to stay!

                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Some really, really hot mud! 

Boiling hot water to go with the snow on the ground!

 

  Old Faithful taken from the deck at the Lodge

South Dakota photos a wonderful tour!

Made it to the Black Hills in South Dakota

Amazing

Crazy Horse - a granite mountain being blasted into a memorial.  Amazing feat!

Keith after lunch.

A tunnel between Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore in the Iron Mountain

Mt. Rushmore from the peak of Iron Mountain

Another Iron Mountain tunnel.

 A campsite near the road.

Mt Rushmore - Awesome!

The rainbow showed up just about back at the hotel.

Home again after a long day!

Troubles......

My favorite laptop is down - it has all of my photos on it that go with my intended posts of the rest of our trip across the country.  At this time I can only give a synopsis and then ~ if time and interest allows ~ I can go back and re-post.

We went to Yellowstone National Park and stayed at Three Bears Lodge in West Yellowstone.  The package we had included a wonderful, scrumptious dinner for 2 (I had the prime rib, Keith had shrimp), full menu breakfast for both mornings of our 2 night stay, and a great tour of the "Lower Loop" which was an all-day tour with a huge lunch at Old Faithful.  I wish I had the photos!  It is amazing what God has done with this Earth!!  I don't know why us Americans go abroad (us too!) and spend our money when we have so many unique things to see right here!!!  The geysers were amazing!  We got up close and almost to personal with elk and bison (right on the side of the road!!) and the views from Yellowstone's own "Grand Canyon" and falls are awesome!!  All of this was included in the tour as well as the history of the park, fires, wildlife management techniques~  Our guide was great!!

After Yellowstone we headed westward again towards Pendleton, Oregon to meet up with my sister, Sharen, and to go see our brother.  We (pretty much I) loved the scenery on our drive thru Montana, N. Dakota, and Idaho.  The views at the 'viewpoints' are amazing.  During part of our 'Montana drive' the skies were rather overcast and you could see all the layers of the huge,huge clouds.  And at times, we were so high in the mountains it seemed like I could reach up and touch them!!  Our small time in Idaho was all mountains and huge green trees.  It was like crossing into a different country when we crossed over into Eastern Washington.  It was hot, dry, and way, way barren.  After all the huge green trees and animal sightings of the last several states, it looked like we'd crossed into desert - which in reality, we had.  High Desert in fact!

So that pretty much takes care of a little update to get closer to where we are today.