Lincoln City

Lamar and I decided to spend a couple of days at Lincoln City. Brittany opted to stay home and have some alone time too since she'll be leaving for the Mississippi Missions Trip Friday night. It was nice to stay at Uncle Bob and Aunt Lynn's place once again. We enjoyed the blue skies, but it was pretty windy and cool which kept our actual beach time to a minimum. We got to go at low tide, so went for a walk on the rocks that normally are covered in ocean water. It was great!

Welcome To Oregon!

This was the first week of our vacation. Instead of going somewhere out of state, we had out-of-staters come to us! My Tante Dorle (from Dover, Delaware) and my cousin, Tom (DC area) and his family (wife, Marci, daughters, Kimberly, Emily, Katie and baby Noelle) have been planning a trip to come visit us for awhile now. They arrived Monday night and we've been going ever since! But, the best part was that they surprised me with my cousin, Monica coming along! I'm glad that they didn't detain me at the airport, because when I finally saw her (I was too busy hugging and kissing the other seven of them!) I screamed really loud. Something you probably shouldn't do at the airport.

TUESDAY...We all met at mom's for a bbq. My brother, Raymond came. He hadn't seen Tom since they were 9 or 10! My sister, Lori and her daughter, Stacey came. They were all surprised when they saw Monica! It was a nice time together.















WEDNESDAY...We drove up Hwy. 30 to the coast. Started at Cannon Beach and backtracked to Seaside. It was a cloudy day, but not very windy and NOT rainy, so we didn't complain! We ate at Mo's. Always a fun place to eat.


















THURSDAY...Columbia Gorge, here we come! But first, the older girls went to the Lloyd Center in Portland to shop. We met up with them at Lori's shop where she showed everyone around. Grabbed some Subway for the picnic we would have once we got there.











The Gorge Vista House was our first stop at the Columbia Gorge. And the wind was perfect! Just enough to cool things off, but not too much that it would blow us over as it so often has done!








Waterfalls On The Gorge! The weather was so perfect for this! The sun came out, but with all the trees, we were very comfortable. The light hikes were just right having only so much time and so much to see! The grand finale' being Multnomah Falls was great. It was fun to see Tom and his family's response to everything they were seeing. Made us proud to be part of Oregon!

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After seeing the gorge, we all went on over to Lori's home where we had dinner and more visiting.












My sister, Mona and her daughter, Rena flew in from Spokane and met us there at Lori's.












FRIDAY....HAPPY 4TH OF JULY! The morning started out going to my brother Ray's floating home that he's been working on. It was fun to see how much he has done!






Tom and family then went on to Lori's for an afternoon on the boat. We then all got together at our house for a bbq. This was Andy's first time to see everyone, so that was special too. Last time he saw Tante Dorle, he was 15.








Then, of course, we went to St. Helens on the river to watch the fireworks. Unfortunately, they could have been a lot better. I don't know what happened out there, but it wasn't the usual wonderful show. Oh well, we still had a good time together!





















Then, before we knew it, it was time to say good-bye. Always a hard thing to do, but Lord willing, we'll see them all again soon! Next time, we'll come their way!
Thanks, Tante Dorle, Monica, Tom, Marci, Kimmy, Katie, Emily and Noelle for such a wonderful time together!! You were a real blessing! Love you all!

Done...well, almost!

Well, our front flowerbed project had to be put on a hold for almost two weeks because the transmission went out on the truck and we had no way of hauling the stuff that we needed. The truck is fixed and the first thing we did was go to the local landscaping place and get some rocks, boulders and wood. It was fun to start creating. Brittany said (as I was having Lamar and her move the boulders to "just the right place", that it was worse than rearranging furniture in the house! "A little more to the right....no, too far...now forward a little bit....no....no....THERE! Just right! Thank you, Lamar and Brittany for all your help! Now, we are waiting (in the fall) to put in a little tree or a bigger grass. Haven't figured out which one I want yet. :-)

Good-bye to Annie

We put Annie, our Golden Retriever down today. It was a hard decision to make, but it was time. She's been a good dog. Such a sweet girl. Always wagging her tail to the very end. We got her from some friends of ours. The kids wanted a dog so bad and we hadn't had one for a few years. Andy was nine and Brittany was four! Annie was two. She lived 16 good years. That's pretty old for a big dog! We'll miss her.

Father's Day '08

On Father's Day, Andy and the kids came over. Add to that my mom and Lamar's parents along with the three of us and this is what you get.

Any Ideas Out There?

OK...so we got the mugo pine out; got some new top soil blend in, got the barkdust waiting....any ideas on what to put here? The sidewalk to the left leads to our front porch (just out of the picture). We were thinking a couple of boulders with maybe a very small tree. Marci gave me a couple of ideas. I'm going to look more into japanese maples. A shrub? Perennials? All of the above? Brittany suggested a bench looking toward the porch, but I would rather look out instead of looking at our porch. I can totally picture that, but think something else might be better. Let me know what you think...and if you have pictures of a certain plant/tree/shrub...shoot them on over email lcfriesen@msn.com. Thanks!!!

Am I That Old?

Yes, it's true...I turned the big 50 on June 1st. It still wierd for me to say,..."I'm 50"... but I actually kind of like it! A lot has happened in these first 50 years. Hopefully, I am a little wiser with each year that does pass by. I know there is still a lot that I have to work on. The good thing is that I know God won't give up on me along the way! I do look forward to all the wonderful things God has planned that I don't even know about yet!


The Friday before, Lamar invited a few close friends to share in a meal at a local restaurant. Yumm!


On my actual birthday on Sunday, it was nice to celebrate...just me, my wonderful husband, kids and grandkiddies.


And then on the Tuesday after, my mom had my family over for a bbq. And yes, we ate outside, even though it was JunUARY...FREEZING outside! It was really nice to get together.