Summer Fun 2010

Wow, what a great summer I've had.  I've played golf in at Sandpines twice; have taken two golf lessons; have remembered what fun it is to play with thread and fabric; Bought a new sewing machine; Had craft day with the girls in Eugene and Jeri from Maui; Have spent time with my Dad and brother Jason; Spent many nice days in Florence with Randy; have played in pools and lakes with the local family, the east coast Motes and the Portland Motes; went "camping" and had the "Great Motorhome Disaster" on the way home; have been to karate Spirit Camp, traveling with a great bunch of "girls" to Donnelly Idaho; Saw Johnny Limbo and the Lugnuts, Huey Lewis and the News, and Sawyer Brown in concert. The Rods and Rhoddies Festival, an America concert, "Suessical the Musical", and a trip to Sisters, are still to come.  The house has been fixed up this summer as well with a new paint job, front door, garage door and light fixtures.  Earlier in the year we replaced all the windows too. Whew! That explains why the yard is a mess and there is no garden to speak of.  That explains why I just spent the WHOLE day cleaning out my room because it turned into a "dump and run" station.  Overall, I wouldn't change a thing.

Sawyer Brown in concert.  Great seats, what a show he puts on!

Grammy and Devan at Foster Lake base camp.

The Siuslaw River bridge closing after the barge passed by.

Santiam River from Yukwah campground

Relaxed now.  Camping is good.  Driving is bad.

How "she" packs for vacation.

Spirt Camp in Donnelly Idaho.

Devan with Brianna and Annie. Dustin and Derek too.  Pool fun at the Harrisons

More Birthday Celebrations.

N.A. lead singer looking to leave group.

NExtra has learned that Notorious AARP lead singer and hottie, Candi-tone, is looking to start up her own girl band. While celebrating her 39th birthday at local fab hangout Elmers, family members overheard Candi-tone and drummer Christi discussing the singers plans. One blonde guest vying for her place in the new band, sang Happy Birthday to the singer. K.B. Jo, the bands keyboarder was present at the party and seems to remain close to the singer, despite rumors of Candi-tone being seen with a much younger man last month in Virginia. The absence of popular bass guitarist Rand, at the party caused further speculation of the bands demise.

Candi-tone's manager Carl and glam stylist Granny, were present but declined comment.

Notorious AARP first hit the scene on August 9th, 2005 with a successful concert at Experience Music Project in Seattle Washington. Since that time the group has toured the Northwest, but have yet to have had a second concert.

Mother's Day, Here and There.

Mother's Day was Sunday and I split my time between Beaverton and Corvallis.

I drove up to Beaverton that morning and hung Mom's beautiful flower basket, then we went to brunch. I called Jason up, he was headed to Mom's anyway, and had him join us. We had a nice meal at the Village Inn, just the three of us catching up. Jason also gave Mom a hanging flower basket and I brought that home with her. After spending some time with Mom and Dad at home, I headed to Corvallis to hit the party on the other side of the family.

Candi hosted the Mother's Day party and it was just getting to the good part when I arrived. No mexican food Brianna, so I didn't call you. Candi and Joe BBQ'd fanastic steaks and burgers with plentiful adult beverages. Randy was happily salivating over his plate of steak, sauteed mushrooms, garlic toast and pototes. There was salad, but no room for it. It was a perfect meal. After dinner on the patio, we started up a competitive game of badmitton. You know how brutal those can get. And it did. One added feature was the blowing of the cottonwood trees seeds -- it looked like it was snowing at one point. Annie was a new player and was slow to get started. It's apparent though that she is going to be killer once she gets this down. We'll just keep reminding her that badmitton is not a contact sport. After we were hot and sweaty and had humiliated our opponents, it was time for the strawberry shortcake truce. Yum! Both teams were losers, there were no winners. Players included Randy, Candi, and Brice vs Derek, Annie and Chris.
Who was there besides anyone already mentioned?...Carl & Granny, Tom & Wendy (Ashlyn was at work). We all missed Betty, but she wasn't feeling well. We sent food and hugs home with Carl for her. We missed Dustin & Brianna as well. Hope your first Mother's Day was super special.

Granny's Birthday Bash Pictures

I'm still waiting for pictures of the whole group, but here are a few candid moments.

April means: Spring and Birthdays!

Yesterday we celebrated Granny's 90th birthday with a party at the Hilton Garden Inn in Corvallis. Family and friends traveled to Corvallis from California, as well as Stayton, Albany and Monroe, to spend time with Granny and enjoy and nice meal. While it wasn't a surprise to Granny that she was having dinner out with relatives, she didn't know the details of "who and where". I think she was pleasantly surprised, especially to see her cutie pie great granddaughter Cameron. I'll post group pictures when I have access to them.

See pictures posted on May 5th, 2009

Randy gave me one of my best birthday presents ever. After shift I walked into the house to smell chocolate chip cookies baking! Yummy, my favorite food of all time. I wish I had thought to ask for warm chocolate chips cookies many, many years ago. Perhaps this can become a tradition?!

A new family member will join Granny and I with an April birthday on Monday or Tuesday. Dustin and Brianna are expecting their first child, a boy, to be born during that period of time. We are following his life journey closely at The Motes blog.

This past week I traveled to Florence to deliver my stamps, over a 100 of them, for the used stamp sale at Inkspirations! It was good to be back in town. The Rhododendrons are starting to bloom and should be in full bloom for the Rhodie Festival on May 16-17th. It was beautiful day in Florence, windy but sunny and clear. I am looking forward to my first river kayaking trip this spring.

Gut-Buster Birthday Bash!

Too much food and many good laughs, that's the kind of get together it was at Candi and Joes' tonight. We were celebrating the Birthdays of Derek and Carl with food and merriment. Candi made a feast of a wonderful mexican foods. Yummy appetizers of guacamole, chips and salsa with Margarita's started the party off on the right foot. We watched the basketball civil war, and rooted the Beav's on. They won, Yippee and HA HA Uncle Phil! Present this night, besides our Hosts and honoree's, were Granny, Kris, Randy, Chris and Annie. Annie is Derek's girlfriend, and this was her first introduction to the family. I'd say it went pretty well. She's a beautiful girl and fit in perfectly. I bet we didn't scare her off and I look forward to having her join us again in the future. On to the main course....The three or four different types of enchildada's kept us all busy for dinner, with only a select few able to make it to the taco/burrito bar. Even though we were all full, we gathered our forks up and finished the evening with the choice of cheese cake with fruit or coconut cake. Both YUMMY!! Now I'm too full. Time to sit and let it all digest. Dustin and Brianna, and little E, we missed your presence and look forward to your upcoming visit.