Family
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Acquiring New Skills
As one of our Enrichment Activities our Ward started a Quilters Group last year. The first picture shows the first project we worked on. To view it you will have to tilt your head though because the picture is rotated for some reason. This was a pattern that our group leader and her sister designed. It is a wall hanging but I use it for my dining room table. From there we went on to do placemats and pillow cases. Then I decided that I was going to do a for real quilt. I used an Irish Chain pattern and made a queen size quilt. I took it to a lady who has a quilting machine in her home to have it quilted and I am really happy with the final outcome. The other picture shows the quilt. I am now in the process of finishing up a fall colors table topper and a cute baby quilt with 3-D hearts. The next big project will be a twin size quilt for Ashlyn for Christmas.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Oregon or Bust!
After many years of listening to Mom and Dad report on their visits to Marco and Lorries we decided that we would ride along with them this year. We originally planned on going during Spring Break (I was a working girl then and had to take
vacation when the kids did) but there was a snow storm and Lorrie said not to come. It seems they go without power when there are bad storms. Disappointed at not being able to go as planned, but glad not to be driving in the snow, we rescheduled for July 3rd. By the time we finally left Jeannie and Kerry decided to follow us up .
Our first stop was to see Ronnie and Ginger in Cedarville, CA. What a neat experience. I had not been to visit them since about 25 years ago. Shame, shame. The town of Cedarville has one main street. There are two tiny grocery stores, one restaurant and a few miscellaneous businesses. The gas station recently closed down because of the rising costs. Ronnie lives about 1 1/2 miles from the "town" area. It is very close to the hills and very scenic.
Not far from Ronnie is a dry lake bed. We enjoyed taking the ATV's out riding there. The picture is of Jeannie and Kerry riding beside us. They of course have the picture of Wayne and I. I was driving our vehicle. Jeannie opted not to drive.
The girls had a great time playing cards. Jeannie had remarked on the "antique" deck of cards that Ginger had but they weren't old at all. Ginger likes to play solataire and it was just a very well used deck.
We had a great time just visiting and catching up with a brother that I do not see enough of. It was good seeing him in his own environment. I really learned a lot about him that I had not known.
From Cedarville we headed to Medford, Oregon. It was about a 3 hour drive and it was beautiful. We took our time and stopped for breakfast in a picturesque place named Lake in the Woods. It looked like it was a popular camping place.
I knew that Lorrie lived outside of Medford in a wooded area but I was really surprised when we got there. Her house is in a somewhat mountainous area and has a creek running along behind the house. They have 17 acres and are filling it with animals. They have goats, ducks, chickens, dogs, cats, a Macaw and a couple of parrots. They have planted a garden and definitely are no longer city folk.
We went on a little hike the day after we got there and saw just how neat it is to live in the woods. We went along a river trail and up to a waterfall. Jeannie had asked Marco if there was poison oak (something that they have had a problem clearing off their own land) and he answered that there wasn't any because there was not enough direct sunlight for it to grow. On our way back down the trail he discovered that yes there was enough sunlight since he pointed out some poison oak just off the trail. Thankfully we had not touched it.
The next day the girls took a little trip into Ashland and then met the guys for lunch at a really good Mexican restaurant. Marco then took Wayne and I all over town looking at roofing jobs he had done. He is going to help us re-roof this fall and was showing us the different colors.
Before leaving Oregon we took a day trip to Grants Pass to go on a jet boat ride down the Rogue River. What a blast. We had a great guide and made a stop along the way for a wonderful Bar-b-que dinner. Everyone else had made the trip before but they all seemed to really enjoy it again.
We had a really good time and appreciate all that Lorrie and Marco did to make us feel at home. We look forward to their visit to Clovis for Thanksgiving and can't wait to make another trip up to Oregon. It was just a great time!
vacation when the kids did) but there was a snow storm and Lorrie said not to come. It seems they go without power when there are bad storms. Disappointed at not being able to go as planned, but glad not to be driving in the snow, we rescheduled for July 3rd. By the time we finally left Jeannie and Kerry decided to follow us up .
Our first stop was to see Ronnie and Ginger in Cedarville, CA. What a neat experience. I had not been to visit them since about 25 years ago. Shame, shame. The town of Cedarville has one main street. There are two tiny grocery stores, one restaurant and a few miscellaneous businesses. The gas station recently closed down because of the rising costs. Ronnie lives about 1 1/2 miles from the "town" area. It is very close to the hills and very scenic.
Not far from Ronnie is a dry lake bed. We enjoyed taking the ATV's out riding there. The picture is of Jeannie and Kerry riding beside us. They of course have the picture of Wayne and I. I was driving our vehicle. Jeannie opted not to drive.
The girls had a great time playing cards. Jeannie had remarked on the "antique" deck of cards that Ginger had but they weren't old at all. Ginger likes to play solataire and it was just a very well used deck.
We had a great time just visiting and catching up with a brother that I do not see enough of. It was good seeing him in his own environment. I really learned a lot about him that I had not known.
From Cedarville we headed to Medford, Oregon. It was about a 3 hour drive and it was beautiful. We took our time and stopped for breakfast in a picturesque place named Lake in the Woods. It looked like it was a popular camping place.
I knew that Lorrie lived outside of Medford in a wooded area but I was really surprised when we got there. Her house is in a somewhat mountainous area and has a creek running along behind the house. They have 17 acres and are filling it with animals. They have goats, ducks, chickens, dogs, cats, a Macaw and a couple of parrots. They have planted a garden and definitely are no longer city folk.
We went on a little hike the day after we got there and saw just how neat it is to live in the woods. We went along a river trail and up to a waterfall. Jeannie had asked Marco if there was poison oak (something that they have had a problem clearing off their own land) and he answered that there wasn't any because there was not enough direct sunlight for it to grow. On our way back down the trail he discovered that yes there was enough sunlight since he pointed out some poison oak just off the trail. Thankfully we had not touched it.
The next day the girls took a little trip into Ashland and then met the guys for lunch at a really good Mexican restaurant. Marco then took Wayne and I all over town looking at roofing jobs he had done. He is going to help us re-roof this fall and was showing us the different colors.
Before leaving Oregon we took a day trip to Grants Pass to go on a jet boat ride down the Rogue River. What a blast. We had a great guide and made a stop along the way for a wonderful Bar-b-que dinner. Everyone else had made the trip before but they all seemed to really enjoy it again.
We had a really good time and appreciate all that Lorrie and Marco did to make us feel at home. We look forward to their visit to Clovis for Thanksgiving and can't wait to make another trip up to Oregon. It was just a great time!
The Big Hiker
Wayne has gone on several hikes this summer.
The first was an overnighter with Jason and Preston. I had been impressed years ago when Wayne and his Dad took Jason (age 6) and his cousin Scott (I think he was 7) and went on a little backpacking trip. I was a little sceptical when they decided to do this little hike with Preston since he just turned 4 in January. Not to worry though he did great. They did have to make a game of it though because Preston really did not want to walk so much.
The second hike was made with Wayne's hiking buddy, Mike Hart. They hiked to the top of Yosemite Falls. Both had a great time.
The third hike was just last week. Wayne, Mike Hart, Jason and Jason's brother-in-law Steve hiked 5 days to Margaret Lake. They fought mosquitoes and hail storms along the way and came back with lots of pictures. Of course there were pictures of flowers included.
The first was an overnighter with Jason and Preston. I had been impressed years ago when Wayne and his Dad took Jason (age 6) and his cousin Scott (I think he was 7) and went on a little backpacking trip. I was a little sceptical when they decided to do this little hike with Preston since he just turned 4 in January. Not to worry though he did great. They did have to make a game of it though because Preston really did not want to walk so much.
The second hike was made with Wayne's hiking buddy, Mike Hart. They hiked to the top of Yosemite Falls. Both had a great time.
The third hike was just last week. Wayne, Mike Hart, Jason and Jason's brother-in-law Steve hiked 5 days to Margaret Lake. They fought mosquitoes and hail storms along the way and came back with lots of pictures. Of course there were pictures of flowers included.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Back to shool
Wayne started this blog almost a year ago and has not touched it since. Since I am once again unemployed, I am going to try my hand at blogging. I enjoy reading all the blogs of children and nieces and nephews and I have decided that this is a wonderful way to journal. We have had an interesting and fun year since Wayne's attempt at blogging but I will not go back and cover it all. I do want to highlight my major activity of the year though. We went on a Carribbean cruise in April of 2007with a group of friends. They decided that they were going to do another cruise this year, this time to Northern Europe. Since Wayne and I are going to China for 21days in October he did not want to spend the money on the cruise. He also did not want to take two weeks of vacation time from work since he is getting ready to retire Oct 3rd.
I have a friend who is a widow and I knew she would not go on the cruise with all the other couples. I decided that if I could find a job to pay my way I would ask her if she would like to go with me on the cruise. I did get a job and we went to the Baltic countries on a Princess cruise in June. It was great but the thing I wanted to highlight was the job I got. I spent the school year as an Instructional Aide to 7 beautiful 1st through 3rd graders who have Autism.
The picture is of "my kids". It was a very challenging year. I have learned a lot about autism and suffered a bit of physical abuse while working with the kids but I really enjoyed the experience. I am going to miss the kids next year. I have so many trips planned the end of summer and this fall that I have told them to put me on the Sub list for this next school year. I hope that I will be able to still work with them now and then.
As for the cruise, we had a wonderful time. There were ten of us and we saw some amazing things. The picture was taken in Russia where we had two full days with a Russian guide who ran us ragged. We saw a wealth of cultural and hisorical things in Denmark, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Sweden and Poland.
Shortly after I returned home from the cruise Wayne and I went to Oregon with my parents to visit my niece, Lorrie, and her family. We also visited my brother, Ron, on the way to Medford. We had a wonderful time and it was great to see where they both live and the beauty around their homes. Lorrie had lots of chickens, ducks and goats along with the Macaw, parrots, dogs and cats. We had a great time watching 9 year old Lauryn take care of all the pets. We spent a great day on a jet boat going down the Rogue river and hated to have to return to the 112 degree weather at home.
This week Wayne is backpacking in the Sierras with Jason and a couple of friends. When he returns I am sure that he will have a hundred pictures or more that we could post.
I have a friend who is a widow and I knew she would not go on the cruise with all the other couples. I decided that if I could find a job to pay my way I would ask her if she would like to go with me on the cruise. I did get a job and we went to the Baltic countries on a Princess cruise in June. It was great but the thing I wanted to highlight was the job I got. I spent the school year as an Instructional Aide to 7 beautiful 1st through 3rd graders who have Autism.
The picture is of "my kids". It was a very challenging year. I have learned a lot about autism and suffered a bit of physical abuse while working with the kids but I really enjoyed the experience. I am going to miss the kids next year. I have so many trips planned the end of summer and this fall that I have told them to put me on the Sub list for this next school year. I hope that I will be able to still work with them now and then.
As for the cruise, we had a wonderful time. There were ten of us and we saw some amazing things. The picture was taken in Russia where we had two full days with a Russian guide who ran us ragged. We saw a wealth of cultural and hisorical things in Denmark, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Sweden and Poland.
Shortly after I returned home from the cruise Wayne and I went to Oregon with my parents to visit my niece, Lorrie, and her family. We also visited my brother, Ron, on the way to Medford. We had a wonderful time and it was great to see where they both live and the beauty around their homes. Lorrie had lots of chickens, ducks and goats along with the Macaw, parrots, dogs and cats. We had a great time watching 9 year old Lauryn take care of all the pets. We spent a great day on a jet boat going down the Rogue river and hated to have to return to the 112 degree weather at home.
This week Wayne is backpacking in the Sierras with Jason and a couple of friends. When he returns I am sure that he will have a hundred pictures or more that we could post.
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