The Last of the Beach Photos

Ah, he loves his Mama. Kelly 'wands' some bubbles at sunset for Marcus's pleasure.

Melissa frolics with Brianna. She is a fairly serious mother, so watching her PLAY filled me with unspeakable joy!

Alana LOVES her mood ring.

We all love to feed the squirrels.

I'm unendingly grateful to have had this significant time with Kelly and his family before he goes off to war.

My heart wavers sometimes when I think about it, so I don't often think about it.

My son-in-law is home from Iraq and is weaving his family together with some time off before he goes back to the job his boss saved for him.

In fact Chris was offered a $3/hour raise,

a cushy route. and some ready cash to sustain him until May 10 when he returns to work.

We serve an awesome God!

Filled Up

When my son and grandson visited just after school was out time stood still. They are a delight to me, and it was fulfilling to watch them interact with cousins/siblings. There was a marshmallow roasting contest, a four-wheeler race, eat fests, and time to look at and enjoy small children discovering caterpillars crawling on the forest floor. When they whisked themselves off for Kelly's new job at Coke I got 'down' with dear ones and a big painting project. The pictures below do not do justice to the green on the right or the Italian texture on the red wall. I love it!

As soon as the painting was finished I packed up for a trip west to see my son's family, my daughter's family (minus the hubby in Iraq), my sister, brother and mother. Whew! It was a whirlwind of travel in Oregon and Washington. Below is Isabella helping me pack the car when I left to return. Don't you love how little girls will dress themselves up. She wanted to wear her Barbie heels to shop with me, and she did; but I don't know how she remained upright.

This is the view from my son's home in The Dalles, Oregon where we watched a pirate ship (used in the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean) go through the locks at the dam. As it docked at the marina, we drove down to look closely, question the crew, and marvel at the smallness of the ship. It is a replica of one used for early exploration of the Pacific Northwest. When you click on the picture you can get a better view of the ship itself.

On returning home I brought along three of my grandchildren for a week's visit. Oh, my, what a passel of fun they were. Two girls and one boy livened up the house, meal-time, and daily activity level. When we returned them half-way, in Walla Walla, Jay's daughter Lovella and grandchildren accompanied us because the kids loved each other's company so much. Evan was devastated when we had to turn around to come home. He was tired of riding a long way, he was missing the kids, and told us sadly and sweetly he'd " being needing a puppy."

I had bought river shoes on sale for the grand kids because it is hard to explore rushing creeks in flip-flops. The shoe store in town had a sale, so I bought three pair. On our first outing to the Snake River, Brianna (above) lost one. I was so disappointed! So I prayed that when we returned the next day the Lord would reveal it to us. He did!! Orion was feeling on the bottom for rocks and came up with the shoe and a big smile. I gave him $5 for that treasure. He bought himself a meal at MacDonald's.

Which reminds me: While at Kelly's I was awarded the pleasure of taking Marcus on a trip by himself to visit some old school-teaching buddies in Wasco. On returning, and hungry he saw a MacDonald's out the car window. His response was to suck in a big breath and announce, "Look what I found, Grandma, a MacDonald's!" It was so cute that I stopped for an ice cream cone.

I'm not going anywhere in the very near future, but will get on with painting more of the house. My studio is the exception when it comes to vibrant colors. The upstairs will be serene shades of blue.

Pittsburg Landing Date, Part 4 (The Ranch)

There used to be a working ranch along the river, and we poked around looking at all the fascinating parts. This is the solar weather station. We thought perhaps the Forest Service used the ranch and would need weather data.

The chicken house was in disrepair, for sure, and I won't publish the picture of the tiny 'solar' outhouse. It was merely a tiny outhouse with clear, hard plastic roof!

The house has been used recently with mugs still hanging in the kitchen. We peered into windows to see bunks set up in two rooms. You can see the above-ground rock cellar at the back right of the house. It was a beauty!

The pond close to the corrals was so still I did not see that it was water and missed a picture of the coot floating about when we first arrived.

My sister Barb and I used to enjoy the frivolous occupation of imagining we live in places like this. I began speaking to my husband about how romantic it would be to live here; he pointed out the realities. This frivolous occupation is more fun with a sister who understands you will never really take up such a living; I think this kind of imagining frightened my husband! You have to admit going out daily from the little house could only bring more awe and reverence for God in such a scenic setting.

Pittsburg Landing, Part 1

On Friday after Thanksgiving my Dear Husband asked me out for a date! We decided on Pittsburg Landing for the scenery, landscape and hiking potential. After driving down White Bird grade to the Salmon River, we headed up to the top of the Seven Devils Mountains for a breathtaking view and some lunch. The above picture was directly in front of us as we ate our turkey sandwiches in the warmth of the car. You cannot see the Snake River as it lays itself down at the very bottom of the canyon.

This was the view to the right of us. You can see the terraces of rock. There was a pretty good forest fire two summers ago in here, and the trees have not been harvested so they are abundant and burned black in the bark with orange branches of needles, being mostly pine. In the next post I will show you the Snake River and treacherous trail we hiked only a bit of before deciding to poke around an abandoned farm with a magnificent pond.