Change Of Plans

Brittany was supposed to leave for Mississippi last night. It was a short-term missions trip that our church has been planning (along with other churches all across the nation)to help in the continued need to clean up and rebuild after Katrina. Well, unfortunately, the night before, she started throwing up and did so continually all through the night. The morning was a little better...until she sat up. Then everything started all over again. She basically was down, flat on her back all day with bouts of the icky stuff. There was no way that she was going to get on a plane. So, the rest of the youth group left without her, to her dismay. And now, her suitcase sits on her floor, ready to go, but no place to go.

We were given the opportunity (which was really generous) to have her go in a couple of days and join up with them all then, but Brittany made the decision to just stay home. She said, if she couldn't go with the rest of them, that for some reason, God didn't want her to go at all. So, we respected her decision to not go.

Today, she is feeling a lot better, although she still has the typical side-effect of the flu. But, we can all see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Thanks to the rest of the team who were all willing to "baby and take care of her" while she got better, if she chose to go on the plane. You're the best!

Little Additions To The Bathroom

I've actually had these for a couple of weeks, at least, but since I posted the new look of our main bathroom earlier, I thought I'd show you what ended up on the walls.
The wall hanging is actually metal in a distressed look. If you can't tell, it's a starfish in the center. The clock...we've never had a clock in a bathroom. Why is that? Aren't you always wondering what time it is when you are getting ready for...whatever? I always end up getting out my watch to lay out on the counter. Anyhoo, it fit with the rest of the decor, so up it went....by the way...Brittany's wonderful idea!

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.