Home again, Home again!

We have been safely ensconsed back in Coos Bay for a couple of weeks now!  We brought Brayana and Jaleel back down from Washington with us.  They are earning some spending money by helping the contractor who is 'doing up' the new addition to our house. 
Since we sold the biggest house we had when we sold out in Vero - we had to have someplace for all of our prized personal possessions.  We both pack a load of 'stuff' that we have become very, very attached to~  kid pictures, gifts from kids, crafts kids made, cards from kids, albums for kids, photos and keepsakes from our travels, and then there is the legal crap that we seem to need at every single turn, old tax returns, birth certificates, etc.  So we decided to add on a room.  Then that room became a master bedroom with bath - then it became a whole new addition!  So now - finished in just a short few weeks - will be our 1,000 sq ft addition to our 812 sq ft house! LOL

It is going to be sooo neat!  We have also been able to fix may of the issues our last contractor, that fixed the flood damage, left undone or did very, very sloppily!

Meanwhile, the Elmores came down for the 4th of July (and to pick up Jaleel) weekend and we had a great time! We went to Powers for the White Cedar Days (of course we missed the parade) and had pot luck with Evelyn's Model A Club.

Destini, Dad, Evelyn, and Me at the Pioneer House Grove in Powers

Cavelle had a blast!  Red Snowcone, lots of fruit, and in the old Koontz Dairy Model A~~ What more could an almost-4 year old boy want!

 From there we went up to the County Park to see Amanda, Jay, and kids!

Makkiah, Taniyah, Danika, Cavelle ~ from oldest to youngest!

Just us "Girls" at Powers.

Then came the Birthday Girl!!
And she's 15!!!

from there Keith and I went to pick up Chato from his Grandaddy - who stole him from the pot-luck :-)

and we had another BBQ at Yellow Creek

We finally made it home just before dark - and boy were we tired!





Celena's Pizza and Best Western Hacienda

First my rant and if I have time I will recap our trip!  And that will more than likely be in a different post as I'm pretty ticked right now!!!

We left after Church on Sunday and flew to SD for several reasons - one being me needing the dentist rather badly - It worked that the contractors really wanted us out of the house so they could get thier work done - but - that's still another story!! LOL  I know, I do tend to run around the track a bit -
But to my rant!

I've been 'dentisting' all week.  My mouth has been to sore to eat since Monday morning!  Tonight she finished up everything (amazing in itself!) and it all feels really, really good.  And I'm hungry!!.

Keith and I walked down to Coldstone for a snack.  It's Friday night in Old Towne and everything is crowded - and long lines everyhwere - so we decied to come back and order from the flyer that we found in our room...  Celena's Pizza.

Boy, If you are ever in San Diego and find a flyer for Celena's Pizza - just use it for tp or something!!!
The flyer says "FREE DELIVERY TO MOST AREAS", as well as offering a 10% Military Discount, and $2 off if you have to use your cell phone.  The menu has a pretty good variety of pasta and pizza.  So we decide on the Pasta for 2 for $20.00 which included 2 salads, garlic bread, and 2 cokes.  Keith decided that he also wanted a piece of cheesecake - so ok....  Still not bad.  He got the spaghetti and meatballs and I ordered the lasagna.  It is announced that the total is 36.95 and 45 min to 1 hour.  It took a minute - (and after the hangup) for me to realize he hadn't gotten the credit card number either.  And I was still trying to figure out the total price.  So I find in little bitty words on the back - 'delivery charge $5.50  So.. still I am confused - but then again - that is normal... hahaa!!

So our food gets here and we give him the credit card - he says - give the number to the man on the phone - so - ok - and the man says there will be an additional charge for using the credit card!  and the free delivery is only in "most areas" -- so I ask several times where 'most areas' are and completely get the run around before he finally says, it must mean downtown... and then he wants a tip.  I know it's not his fault - but I just got ripped off for his tip by his employer!!  $10 for taxes, delivery charge, and credit card payment charge!!  and he wants a tip too???  Well, I left that part up to Keith - don't really know what he did - but GEEEZZZZ!!  And I looked up the place and it's in Mission Valley - a scant mile from here.  Talk about a total rip!!!

And we open our now lukewarm food - Keith has no meatballs, the lasagna is watery,the salads are wilty lettuce, no parm, the garlic bread was put in the bag with the cokes, and the portions are so small that Keith ate both of them... and the cheesecake was the size of a matchbox. 

So that is what you get from Celena's Pizza menu that is in the hotel room at Best Western Hacienda!!  So very disappointing ~ and so sad that yet another person just practices a rip off!

So, now I'm over my rant and feel all better - and hope to save some other sucker from being the same suckers we were!

June Gloom!

On June 1 we went up to Washington to watch the older 3 kids participate in the District Track meet. Destini didn't end up qualifying at the end, and right before the meet - Brayana didn't either - she was 1% below the allowable grade in one of her classes ~ and not enough time between the grade check and the meet to do anything to bring it up - so we all went and cheered Jaleel on. He did the Javelin thro - 108 feet (or somewhere close to that) - his team placed 1st in the 2x200 (which gave his team 1st place in the state) and 3rd in the last relay of the day. Their team was affected by an injury which necessitated a last minute substitution ~ but made up a lot of ground and finished well anyway. We had a blast at the track meet.

Here is Jaleel winning the 1st relay:

We also attended Tetee's t-ball game.  She reminds me sooooo much of her mother at that age!  'Nuff said there! LOL

 She loves getting her uniform on and all the preparation~

But the rest of it gets a bit boring for her! LOL

Since we were there for S'te's birthday I thought I'd work with the kids to bake a cake for her ~~~ It wasn't one of our finer outcomes - to say the very, very least! Being unfamiliar with her ovens - I didn't realize that neither of them (she has 2) heat evenly or tay at a temp well...

So needless to say.. the cake looked rather terrible! I went to stack it and .... welll....

I did find enough of a piece to put her flames on!  Boy what a volcano!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!

Spring in Coos Bay

We have several projects in the works again this summer! I spent Jeremy's birthday staying quite busy. Tim drug out the roto-tiller and we tag team tilled and piled the fresh mound of dirt that has really made our garden quite a site. Since it is all fresh dirt - we decided to plant potatoes and just a few other items - and when they are done - maybe we will level it out a bit more.

Buiding a pile of dirt for the garden!

Cleaning up a bit!

Leveled out some!

Tim and Keith built the terrace up some before the rototilling ended.

So after all of that preparation - we (Tim and I) planted some 'taters, tomatoes, lettuce, and a few peppers.  I left him with a bunch of seeds - so we will see what he accomplishes while we are gone haha....

It has been colder than usual and really quite wet - so we were really late getting much of anything done.  The berries have a lot of blooms and the fruit trees had a lot of blossoms on them - but so far - no fruities are showing up. 

We had a little guy come stay with us for about a month - which was pretty neat in itself.  I always enjoy being busy!

Our biggest project has been an addition to our house.  and I will post more on that when it is complete.  It has been a big, big learning experience watching those guys put it together.  An amazing project!  I am excited about seeing the finished project!!!

Easter Sunday - Our Lord has Risen!

It's Easter Sunday!  It's all rainy and cold here in the Great Northwest but that didn't stop us from donning our raincoats and heading out to Church to celebrate this wonderful day.  We took our little guy and visited the church up here on the corner - someday I will get motivated enough to investigate a little more and see if we can find a church to attend on a more regular basis.  We (at least I) have gotten totally out of the habit - and I miss it.

I was really truly blessed when I found that S'te had taken photos!  So here is the 2011 Album of the Elmore's at home.  The only one missing is Ty - he is still in SD and doing wonderfully - at least from what I hear - he is!  He has grown into an awesome young man - Rod and S'te can be very proud of the part they played in shaping this man's life.  With thier influence he has learned much that he may not have ever been exposed to if he hadn't traveled the road that he did.  My hat is off to you Ty (and to you Mom and Dad)

Mom and Dad - LOL - aka Rod and S'te

The kids that are still at home!

Ladaria (19)

Brayana (14)

Destini (13)

Jaleel (13)

Makkiah (10)

Taniyah (6)

and last but not least
Cavelle (3)

 And here is our baby with the bunny dog cookie that his Aunt Sallie gave him to celebrate with - and with him is his 'Sallie bear" that he plays with and guards constantly.  NO one is allowed to play with Sallie Bear except for Chato.

And here is what the Easter Bunny brought for our little guy.  He is napping so I didn't get him in this - but want to make sure he is included!

And here is the King of this Castle - ready to go celebrate the King of Kings.

And not to be left out - April and her family were able to go over to Kentucky to spend Easter with Grandma Beatty and Aunts, and cousins.  From the sounds of things, they had a fantastic time too!  Family is everything!



Brennan, Great Grandma, and Elizabeth



Bethany, Elizabeth, Aunt Dolores, Brennan, and Ariel



April and Aunt D



Elizabeth, Aunt Joy, and Bethany



The twins, Bethany and Tim



Happy Easter to All!

New Project - Week 2

We had some good weather for a few days - and then it decided that it was payback time!  

 We laughed and teased about our new swimming pool - fortunately the skies stayed in good shape for most of the ditch digging.  There was a LOT of dirt moved.  Chris and Greg did an awesome job.  I truly enjoyed sitting in the window and watching Chris manuver that huge piece of machinery like he was driving a volkswagon around! 

 There were a few times that everyone headed into the garage except for him - he could just shut the door and stay rather dry.  In one single day they could choose any kind of weather - we had sun, rain, sun, hail, sun, more rain, more sun, and then towards the end of the day - it just turned blue skies - like that was what it wanted to do all day to start with!

 This is the pile of dirt that we wound up with (and a whole dumptruck load went out to Robert's on top of what you see here!) ~ my new and improved and expanded garden spot!  Thankfully, Chris and Greg took turns flattening it out and making it all pretty before they called it a good job and loaded the equipment.  There is STILL lots of work to do on it.  Lime,  and rototill, and some more lime, and some good mulch, and maybe some stuff oout of our compost pile, and then some more lime to be tilled in - and maybe we will have a garden in a few years.... LOL!!

 And this is what we ended up with as a footprint.  Chris even walked that big trackhoe across the front sidewalk without so much as putting a chip in it.  I do love to watch men work! :-)

 And I got to see a lot of it for the rest of the week.  I couldn't guess how many forests had to be chopped to get enough wood for the massive forms for the foundation pour!  I watched it take shape - so much more quickly that I could even imagine!  And being right here - I can ask questions and get answers as things go along instead of trying to play catch up like I did with our last project.  And by the way - I finally had to get the Contractors Board involved with that - as we just kept finding more and more issues! But that is a totally different story.

 By the end of Week 2 - we had a great start going.  Rain, hail, and sun - these guys just kept right on showing up and working - just so wonderful!

So this is how it looked when Monday Morning rolled around.  Mighty fine progress.

And in the midst of all of this - we got a little guy to visit for a bit - so we are having fun now! 

Another project - Week 1

Here is the yard between the house and the studo without the Magnolia Tree or the old-growth Rhody that had to be removed.



Rutledge Construction's "job dog", Kit, and Chato play tug of war in the back yard, believe it or not - they did not even tear old "Raffy"!



Keith is busy in his 'temporary work quaters".  It will be a bit crowded for the next couple of months= but still more room than we have in the Bounder or the Catalina... LOL

Chato is teasing Kit - they love to play!!



The beginnings of the excavation that will put lots of really black dirt into my garden.  I may even try for some green beans again this year!!

When we get all done - we should have a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath home complete with a large family room to relax in!

I love the plans!



From Arizona to Oregon

 Dad had an appointment on the 7th - so we waited until he was back from it to complete our 'load-up' and leave sequences.  It was quite the trip!  We traveled thru several different 'weather zones' in just our 1st night of travel!  Our first stop was in Barstow - where Keith purchased a much needed windshild wiper (I turned them on and the driver wiper just shredded to bits!) and while trying to install that ~ It HAILED~~ on us...  In the desert - in April!!  So we got the wiper on - rested a bit - stoked up on a huge cappachino and headed back out.  I turned on the vcr for Dad and Keith to watch since it had gotten dark and there really wasn't much scenery to watch...

Our next weather system was the blizzard that we drove thru on the Tehatchapie Pass.  I was amazed at the huge, giant snowflakes that absolutely coated our windshield - and was doubly glad that Keith got the new wiper installed for us!  Dad dozed and Keith laid on the couch  - and by the sounds that reached me - I think he dozed also!  Of course, Chato was in his element for the whole trip!

Along about Modesto or so there was an accident that took us completely off of I5.  I followed a semi to a dead end - took a long, long time getting turned around again - and then followed another down a bunch of country roads - and wa-la!!  came out back on I5 - north of the accident (at least I'm assuming so since we didn't see it again) LOL

Along about 5 I pulled into a Flying J - got my face washed and laid down for a bit.  Dad tried to crash on the couch - boy - that had to have been really uncomfortable - I wish I'd been awake enough to pull out the bed for him - I honestly didn't even think of it!!

About 8 am or so - we were back on I5 - apple fritters and coffee for us - a snackie for doggie... all happy if not sore and tired campers ;-)  Dad took care of walking the dog at each stop - it gave him a chance to stretch his legs and have a cigarette or two.  He didn't even bring up the subject of having one in the Bounder - we brought one of his smokeless ashtrays just in case - but it wasn't necessary! 

 Keith had work that he needed to get done - so he spent several hours on his computer back at the table while we put away the miles! 

 Dad and Chato just kept each other some great company!

 I'm not absolutely sure - but I think they may ha been growing rocks here in this field up in the Siskiyous..

 There was evidence of snow - there had been snow warnings - but we were terribly blessed in that it was on the all clear for us!

This is the slide that closed Hwy 42 between Camas Valley and Myrtle Point for several days.  You can't see the boulders that are still waiting to be blown up - but there are some there bigger than the Bounder!!

And we dropped Dad off at the scales in MP at about 6 pm - just a scant 26 hours and 1200 miles after we left Bullhead.  We got the car off of the dolly and he was gone before I could give him his things that we'd stored in the sink (a favorite storage place of mine, at least while traveling!)

We went on for home - makeing Coos Bay at about 7 or so - unloaded just enough to make it thru the night and just cozied up in the nice warm house that Clint and Sallie had opened for us.  Good friends are such a blessing!  Fridge on, door unlocked, hot water all ready to have a nice shower with... mmmmmm.... wonderful after a long hard journey!  Got the knots out of my shoulders and slept like a baby!!

So glad to be done traveling!

Until July anyhow!