Inside My Snow Globe

Winter at the Reagan's

2012-01-20T13:44:00.000-08:00

Then came the snow

Time for a walk

The glow of the lights of Woodinville

Coming up the hill

Coming down the hill

Down

home again

There is now 8 inches of snow out there
and I didn't take any photos...It's just lots and lots of white!

Lilly was an Angel what was your child?

2012-01-15T00:37:00.000-08:00

If you attended the Monroe Christmas party you saw the lovely Christmas story acted out

by the children and youth of the two wards.

Here you will perhaps find your children in the photos I took.

Please help yourself by clicking on a photo to enlarge and then just "save image as"

If you have problems collecting these photos send me a comment and I will help out!

Nothing like a fall pumpkin hunt on a clear day

2011-10-26T01:07:00.000-07:00

Did she grow any this year?

2011

grabbing those little moments, when they come.

2011-09-29T20:11:00.000-07:00

Bleach boy and I are impromptu people. We hate to miss those little moments of escape when they come. Last evening it was a last minute bike ride 9 plus miles on the Slough trail. No photos of that, but I was riding my new colorful bike. Trying to work into a comfort zone with this bike....

Today it was over 70 degrees so I bought sandwiches and bleach boy came home from work really early and off we went to the beach......Those little moments can't let them pass you by....REALLY

Yes the best place to play hooky!

a little sun dog in the sky
you can click on the photos to see them larger
they are pretty.

The tide was behaving

excuse the "dots" all over the photos

some are moisture from the beach and some are

dust on my sensor.

The sea gull seemed to like our company

no matter what came through, kids, other birds, the tide,

he seemed to stay next to us.

see how close he gets, that's my feet on a big log

A perfect dinner view!

HOWEVER

The tide began to rise

And we sat there.

The boaters began to head for home

The tide got closer......

The little boats head home

wow were they paddling fast

The tide starts to move the logs near us out to Sea........bye logs

The log on the far right is now free floating

and we have had to DASH for higher ground

Picnic bag, lawn chairs and camera all in tow.

SPLASH SPLASH

Good-bye sea gull

Good-bye boats

Good-bye ocean

Good-bye sun

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day everyone

Did you know that many people don't know this holiday celebrates

our Independence from England

and we declared it 235 years ago in 1776.

My family might be PROUD to know that you had family

who fought for this freedom in 1776

As you know since we had our DNA done bleach boy and I have

been really working hard on family research and WOW

have we learned a lot about our family.

Let me tell you about the Knight family.

They were in the Massachusetts Bay Company and

loyal to the King. Things changed and they quickly

understood what a risk they were taking.

An ancestor of ours in leadership was running

a meeting where the Boston Tea party was being

discussed and he was asked to stand

down for this discussion and he willingly did.

When all was said and done he had two sons who served

in the revolutionary war and one was killed.

This was Samuel Knights family I believe.

So we do have a reason to ponder

our part in this US history and

be Proud of the

Knight family bravery.

The early Amish settlers in the US.

On Another note Some of our research has lead us to the Amish of the 1700's and our Gardner/Roth family was being persecuted horribly in Europe for worshiping as Amish.

Melvin Gingerich's book, Mennonites in Iowa gives us a bit

of our families history in Europe.

These Swiss refugees of 1671 and 1709 were the ancestors of many of the Iowa Amish and Mennonites. During the years of persecution, the Burgomaster of Zurich said they got rid of the Mennonites by killing, imprisoning, forcing some into the French Army, selling some as galley slaves, and executing the rest. The rest for such oppressive measures was because authorities believed refusal to bear arms and to take the oath of allegiance would endanger their National Militia. They depended upon Militia rather then mercenaries to comprise their armies.

The Mennonites in the Palatinate were merely a tolerated people. To enjoy the privilege of worship, they were forced to pay protection money as well as special taxes. They were kept out of the cities and could not legally own land. Marriage with a non-Mennonite was strictly forbidden. It's not surprising our ancestors found a further migration necessary. In addition, after the Napoleonic wars, it was practically impossible to obtain release from compulsory military laws of Europe. In Alsace and in Bavaria, members of the Amish families came to America when their sons reached military age. The compulsory military training laws of Europe were an important part of the Amish immigration from 1815 to the American Civil War. A migration which almost depopulated the Amish communities of Alsace, Lorraine, Bavaria, Montbeliard, Hesse and the Saar."

Our family came from Alsace and I found their port of entry

and their passenger records show several families traveled together into New York

and then up into Canada and later Iowa where my grandfather was born.

The migration of the Gardners & family seems to match the history above.

There is still so much to learn about this group but they clearly are the people the con

There is a big empty spot in my side yard!

2011-06-27T16:40:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce the removal of

the horse trailer project.

It is now an empty space

ready for some plants

or some lovely

something.

Some one sure worked hard

this week-end!

Good going.

TSA denies having required a 95-year-old woman to remove diaper

2011-06-27T13:39:00.000-07:00

Which would you rather I take on a plane?
a Knife or a yogurt?

Okay here we go again.

It's time to STOP the kind of harassment that we are receiving in line
for flights. Yes this OLD women was given a choice
"don't fly because your Depends is wet, or Go out of line to a rest room,
get in line again and then you may fly without underwear.

She had dementia and was 95 years old.

I flew again two weeks ago. I take medication that requires me nearly two hours before I can eat. I tossed in some yummy expensive very thick yogurt, a napkin

and a spoon in a lunch bag and headed out
for my early flight to the east coast.

Last time it was my little bit of coin for the grand kids this time it was my yogurt.

They kept saying it was a Liquid, I said let me open it and show you it is a solid.

I even begged this time because it was going to be over 5 hours in the air and no food.

I was near tears, I was sure a tiny Greek yogurt was a solid.

Well they tossed it once I retrieved my spoon from the bag.

I got on my plane and to my surprise, while rooting in my purse for

my i-pod I found my Knife. Yes I carry a knife but usually take it out when I fly.

SHOCK and By golly they thought the "Liquid" yogurt was

more important than my knife!

NEED I SAY MORE!

PS I was thinking of taking my knitting, goodness
what would they say about my size 00 knitting needles.

TSA clean up your act!

What I love about Washington DC

2011-06-21T23:42:00.000-07:00

First I should start with what I don't love about Washington DC and that would be humid Heat! Yes we arrived to 110 degrees and 80 percent humility. I don't think my skin would survive three showers a day but that is the LEAST amount I would need to take to live there.

Far away daughter, not so far away, picked us up in her nice air conditioned car. That was a relief and she worked to make our whole trip comfortable. We really appreciated that.

I don't have any photo's for our first day in DC. We arrived after a very bumpy flight. We got the car washed, my first trip to a car wash in my 50 something years.

That evening we met Meagan (Lyndy's friend for as long as I can remember) at the famous Gadsby Tavern 1770. They were wonderful to us and we didn't even have a reservation. If you are ever in Alexandria look them up, make some reservations and enjoy the history and great food, George Washington did and so did some other historical folks. We loved the peanut soup, the service was the best ever and the candle light was soft and lovely for catching up with old friends & a daughter we don't get to visit often!

The rest of the trip I have photos for so I will let them help with the story.

Friday was a get up get going day...Off to the many security stops on our way to the certificate ceremony.

The comments were encouraging, the certificates were given out, a formal photo taken with Raijiv Shah, head of U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, and then this big group photo. I was not using flash so as not to interfere with the formal photographer so my colors are slightly off.

We enjoyed meeting the families of the other new foreign service officers

and I can say with a smile, those were the best

little cupcakes I've ever had and I'm sorry I only tried two!

I'm sure my family doesn't know this but I LOVE old buildings

I think my time in design classes gave my eyes a sensitivity to design in everything including buildings. This is outside the window at the Reagan building. I don't know what was in that beautiful building but I had a great view from the USAID window!

Nothing like a bunch of Reagan's pointing at the Reagan sign on the Reagan Building!

Now I had goals, goals I had on my last trip that never worked out. Everything I wanted to see most was closed due to the 9/11 attack. After the ceremony we headed out into the heat and humidity armed with water bottles! First lunch at a Potbelly sandwich shop. It was noonish and lines were long, you had to know what you wanted and be willing to quickly say so. Ask for extra peppers they are so tasty and you must have a shake... This was good food to arm ourselves for a long day.

Here we are! At last! Finally I'm going to get to see the National archives.

We picked up the only tickets left (for late in the day) for the Ford Theater

and decided to pass our time here.

It was breath taking to see these actual documents of freedom.

The Declaration Of Independence, The Bill of Rights, The Constitution, all there, protected in a lot of glass and very dim lights. I know why, the ink is nearly gone, faded and weak looking but the words we know them, I hope, I had to memorize many of them in school. It didn't seem real to be looking at them.

The Ford's Theater tour was done by the National Parks Dept. Most all the theater has been redone, Seems that what we consider important "stuff" to save was not always the case in the course of history. Yes I think that is true today also. It gives me pause to even see a redone baloney that held President Lincoln.

My hair looks terrible in hot and humid weather!

We made it over to the American Indian Smithsonian.

My spinning friends know what these tools are.

I was too tired from the heat to really enjoy this museum. There were lots of stories of the native people and their lives today. We did manage to read everything about the native Americans of our state but soon headed back to the subway hoping for an air conditioned subway car!

Spinning whorls from South America

This is the mall area and as you know if you live where there are subways

You must look for a way down, or under the ground level.

We know there is one along here somewhere.

This is looking the other direction, that tall tower in the back ground is the Washington Memorial. You can see it from all over the place! It's a landmark you can use to...............get lost I think.

Okay that's the first two days more on the rest of our trip later

Enjoying Alexandria

2011-06-19T09:03:00.000-07:00

We ate breakfast in Alexandria's Farmers market, selling good stuff since 1753! Even George Washington sent his produce to this market. Getting up early was worth that fragrance of amazing fruits I caught a block away.

Oh the peaches, oranges, veggies, bread all of it amazing. Wow I'll tell you heat is bad for such lovely eatables so this market starts early and they go away with the sun.

We had fresh squeezed orange juice, oh my childhood returned and chocolate chip scones that were better than most scones! We couldn't leave without some fresh bread and veggies to go on pizza. What you don't put veggies on your pizza? Why not?

The day toyed with thunderstorms and we bought our tickets

for a Potomac River boat tour.

And now for the photos from the river

heading out from the Alexandra dock

US Naval research lab

The Capital building...Looks just like the Washington state Capital

For the first part of our boat trip I was taking the photos under an umbrella
it was a trick to hold the umbrella and take photos and keep the camera dry.

I think this is the National Defence University
Far away daughter once worked for The NDU.
Fun times!

This is the National Cathedral
Our only Gothic building.
click on the photos to make them bigger

So the Potomac has some brackish water that feeds into it
that means it can rise with the tide and today was one of those
times, it was high enough we had to cheat our way under an
up coming bridge. Antenna were laid down we all went to
the lower level and slowly we went under the bridge.
The fun part is we got to do this both
coming and going.

Now we pass all the memorials
Washington Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Jefferson memorial

There are some great bridges on this trip and the
ride helps you get an idea on where everything is before you
do it on foot. Which I have done!

Now on into George town
I hear the water is the best way to visit this area
guess traffic and parking is not fun. So Take the boat!

Lots of places to eat and the cupcake shop
our cupcakes were said to come from!
Wait I don't even like cake but these were so good.

Everyone know what these are?

I do love the bridges

now back to Alexandra and on to Thai
food dinner and meeting Meagan
for the Ghost Tours! OOooooo

Great tour! Thanks

A sad loss of a dear Family friend

2011-04-08T00:20:00.000-07:00

Good Bye Ed

The sadness so over takes Bleach boy and I

It's hard to say what we love most about Ed K.

He had a joke for everyone. He loved something funny to tell

Ed also knew all the silly, crazy things his son Mike and bleach boy did as kids

You will never hear such funny stories told about those two boys! I will miss the way Ed Knew just when to tell a story on the boys!

The wicked smile he'd use in the telling.

And thank you Dear Ed for teaching our son Clint at age three to eat

cream of wheat with

Jalapeno peppers.

Yum Yum

We will miss your calls, your kindness, your salty what's right is right
what's wrong is WRONG cowboy side!

We will miss you!

There is no replacement for someone who has known you and

loved you for most of your life. I know Phil will feel a deep hole in his heart.

He's lost a dear friend, a fellow telephone man who understood the lingo

who cared what was happening in the industry
because Phil was living with it.

Someone who knew you as a kid, a boy,
a man and still loved you in spite of yourself.

If only we could have shared just one more phone call,
just one more e-mail joke.

GOOD BYE DEAR FRIEND

Spinning Spinning Spinning

2011-04-05T00:52:00.000-07:00

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this week-end away with friends.

Enjoy our photos

Oooooo

Seeing dear ole friends from long ago.

laughing all the way home!

A fun rainy afternoon at Jump Planet

2011-04-05T00:06:00.000-07:00

Oh Spring in Northwest Washington can be a tease.

You see the pink and white bosoms all over, you sneeze with the mass amount of pollen. It gets warmer but still it rains and the clouds sit on your head & you find....

an afternoon at Jump Planet saves the day!

Lilly didn't know what was going to happen when we promised to take her to Jump Planet. This is her first amazed look into the warehouse of big balloon jump toys.

Even mom gets to slide down one big slide

She shows no fear no matter how high the slide is!

See Lilly way up high

So go visit the Bothell Jump Planet

http://www.jump-planet.com/

Check their calendar for drop in times.

TSA officers arrested after allegedly stealing $40,000

2011-03-08T17:59:00.000-08:00

So this headline brings up my recent airport experience.

Bleach boy and I flew to Burbank California in Feb. to see a new grandson

I haven't flown in a while and certainly not since the new x-ray machines

showed up at the airports.

Before I tell you my story you need to know that I am a seasoned flier.

I had my first flight in early 1972
in a small plane with my husband to be flying it.

We loved flying and used to make the 4 hour drive to the San Fransisco airport

on the week-ends to catch the midnight flier. The midnight flier was a cash only, $10, first come first serve midnight flight to L.A. We loved waiting to see if we'd get on that plane. There was always a guitar or two in the line (they didn't care what you brought on board the plane, however a foil covered, very heavy carrot cake

I baked, to take home, did unsettle them once) and music abounded.

I've not flown as much as far away daughter but I've been far and wide with pleasure, until now and THERE IS NOT MUCH PLEASURE IN THE ACT OF FLYING
ANY LONGER.

Here goes my story. Bleach boy and I were calmly in line at Seatac airport, very early in the morning but very busy. I take off my shoes, coat, and unload my carry-on for viewing. They were curt, move it here, don't push it, do push it. Oh well you know how some people get if they think they are in a position of power, even if it's only power over the little plastic buckets at the screening zone.

Then I am told I have randomly been chosen for the MACHINE. Yes x-ray time.

At this point my computer, camera and purse are in parts unknown because they move me over to a machine three lanes away from my stuff. Still I am calm, I think bleach boy is over there UN-dressing (those darn belt buckles) and will watch my purse, camera, and computer.

They decide after the x-ray to do the frisk thing, Now I'm not calm I'm pretty unsettled because as they move me out to a pad to do this pat down I notice one of the workers across the way has pulled everything out of my purse and is going through my travel money. OK I'm not noticing the pat down I'm saying "Hay that's my purse you're going through" and I've raised my voice because the gentleman is three isle's away.

Are you with me here?

Mean while at the pat down zone they are finding my tiny little gold watch on my wrist is troublesome and want me to take it off. It has a latch that I rarely can open alone. I look at this, barely speaking English little women, with a don't cross me lady that's my purse over there, look and she decides that she will pat my watch and let me go.

When I finally get over to my purse they hand me a wad of bills to hold and take the coins to run them, the loose contents of my purse and my camera through the machine again. The older man doing this is kind but going way over the top with the fact that I have some coins.

I had a few quarters for my grand kids to put in the gumball machines. They tell me not to carry change on the plane any more, and suddenly everything is dumped on me....my shoes, camera, coat, suitcase, computer loose, my change purse empty and my purse all taken apart and me with my hands full of bills. I am at a loss how to proceed when they tell me to quickly step aside. True I did make a face when they said to take my items and step aside. With this a TSA worker says "you are safer on your flight because we checked your change" Is that so!

YIKES do I really think that was a random x-ray, and pat down?

Do I really think

that taking me a long ways from my purse and items was random?

And do I think my catching them with all my money in hand as I left the x-ray pat down was expected?

Remember beach boy, well he is over trying to get dressed again and put his c-pap machine back together.

So if you are flying and they separate you from your purse don't let it happen. Because money is just too tempting to a lot of people.
And of course don't carry any coin!

SHAME ON YOU TSA!

Does this look like a bomb carrying terrorist?

Does this look like too much change to carry?

Is this reward at the end of the flight worth the effort?

P.S no where we have flown has been as bad as Seatac

A fast trip

2011-03-08T00:57:00.000-08:00

Life offers many interesting adventures but you have to grab on and take the ride.

This week bleach boy had a meeting in Portland and I could go along and spend the day with youngest daughter and the three grand kids.

I acted fast and off I went. Here are the results

A quick hug and off to the meeting

leo's hair cut

2011-01-31T17:15:00.000-08:00

Doesn't he look sharp!

He has a red neck tie!

Bethany Faith

2011-01-26T00:23:00.000-08:00

I think she has been through a few too many pokes and pricks and tubes everywhere but look at her now...Wondering what is up...How lovely she looks in pink.

Baby photos

2011-01-05T00:38:00.000-08:00

Far away daughter is longing for a better peek at the baby. I know youngest daughter has some to post so here are a mix of photos that might be enjoyed.

This is a darkened room with the tiniest of light and no flash is allowed. Hope you can see them alright

We checked out little feet

Counted the fingers

And checked to see who she looked most like!

OK your turn who does she most look like?

We haven't gone much above freezing for several weeks

The ponds behind the house are frozen and each day the tiny spot the ducks can float in

gets smaller and smaller

But still we must walk the dogs several times a day.

Papa aka bleach boy walks two dogs and two grand kids while I take photos.

Even though our hands are frozen stiff

Natalie's hand were very cold too so we walked back for mittens. But before we could walk back.......

Papa got really cold and started to hurry back so fast.....

we could not keep up!

Moral of the story: Carry wool mittens in your coat pocket like me

and wear a down jacket and a woolen vest like me.....

Are you getting the point? I was really warm walking with a bunch of wimps. oops

Playing in the snow

2010-12-30T13:12:00.000-08:00

This little posting is for far away daughter.

In that hot place she is in she just might like to see her little dog enjoying the snow.

Still some maple wings on the tree out front now frozen

Our house blends in with this snowy day

Pure snowy fun

Penny finely got brave enough to join us

but as soon as we started running she dashed

for the house. As a deaf dog she only comes

out with a lease on...

The clouds lifted and the sun stuck his neck out and we party

2010-12-13T20:50:00.000-08:00

In a quiet moment, that not many of you heard, Tiny expressed her love for all of us. She told us how dear we all are to her. I echo her feelings. We all should have had a toast to the long relationships of love that we share within our group. What would we do without each other and our monthly luncheons? It is the richness of life to have friends, dear and long. So as you look at these party photos know that there is a lot of magic when we get together. Thank you Tiny for your kind words also.

Dorothy's holiday gathering Dec. 2010

remember to click to enlarge photo for viewing

The yearly favorites were there, lemon curd and cranberry scones and a treat from Hawaii Dolores brought back. She says get your macadamia nuts from the swap meet! The yummy candied orange peels Dorothy treats us to and many tasty goodies!

Hi Renee' welcome back from school it's wonderful to have you with us!
She's making Hello Kitty hats wow!

What's this? The first gift from our handmade gift exchange has been opened. This year we worked with the theme "Vintage" this should be interesting.

A basket of kitchen tools, all of it looking very vintage. Corky put some felted hot pads and a neat little cook book in the basket etc. Dolores is a good cook she will love these kitchen tools!

Oh if you want my vintage hot pad pattern find it at the end of this posting.

Dorothy got a very interesting and soft............well we're not sure what to call it but Jackie is showing her how to put it on....

That looks very warm and toasty

Just what we need with this horrible weather

Tiny's turn. Anna Rose made the most wonderful gift...Oh dogie wants to see too.

A beautiful photo made from a glass print. This is Anna Rose's family in Scotland way back in time. It's a most amazing photo and would be great on any Spinners wall!

As we eat and open we still work on projects, we are ever industrious!

Now it's my turn. Everyone thought I was too slow

What a really fun vintage apron Dolores made.

We have all kinds of fun old favorite symbols on the fabric.

I know I'll really like this fun apron.

Oh yes we miss you! It's your smile that we need.

Pat made some very smart heavy duty shopping bags

and I know Anna Rose will put them to good use

Dorothy knows some old movies we have never heard of

I hope Corky has a movie night so we can all come watch

Oh I have nice new leather couches why don't you all come over?

I wish I could remember the name of the movie....hum

Mildred got the package I brought.

Phil boxed it so carefully and tightly we had

to use scissors and a stapler remover to get to Frosty

It was a bit like doing mini surgery!

I was really happy to hear Mildred had a snowman collection.

I made him from air drying clay

Jackie opened a nice wood turned ornament from Mildred.

The wood was a smooth as silk very pretty.

I wasn't close enough to get a photo but it appeared to be

a ruffly neck item. I believe a collar.

Until next....Happiness daily to you all!

hot pads

Sugar and cream cotton and about a g or H crochet hook

Make a chain that is about 9 1/2 inches long
single crochet down the chain and then along the back side of the chain
After this first round it gets much better to handle. Just go around and around.
keep doing this until you have made a little boat that when folded corner to corner
the seam touches. I do one more round and then tie off and stitch the seam closed and crochet a little loop for hanging.

BOO!

2010-11-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

Here's a peek at our halloween

Party at the church with Lilly
She is a Robot

There were lots of booths and she tried as many as she had time for

Now for some fishing...Yes that's a Dingle girl

She had her choice of chocolate donuts or white.....

Every year I'm ready for the neighborhood kids but some years there is no one.
This year we waited and waited. No one, 5pm, 6pm 7pm......1 little group......8pm, 9pm....9:15 Yes at last!

We heard all the new kids came between 3pm and 4 pm and we are in church until 4pm So sadly we missed all the new kids!

Here is what we did get

What a surprise to get a little group from Maltby

What will we do when these two grow up?
Hope they keep coming even when they are teens!
I will always have candy here for them.

Visiting son and the pumpkin patch!

2010-10-15T21:59:00.001-07:00

Click on any photo to enlarge

So family and friends our oldest is here with his family. We don't see them often as Clint is busy down in Southern Ca. working on one movie after the other. Right now he is in between jobs and making a visit.

As things would go he brought some sunshine from sunny Calif. and we added some cold air to make a perfect blend of good fall weather. This put us in the garden planting shallots and then off to the pumpkin patch.

I'm going to put these photos up fast for far away daughter who can't get e-mailed photos because of the far away place that she is. I'll add names and funny captions later. he he

Lilly 3 years old and cousin Flynn 4 years old are working together
to pull the Pumpkin wagon

It looks like a pumpkin procession,
Cheryl, lilly's mom, Flynn and at the rear Eden, Flynn's Pregnant mom!

Lilly really wants to pick this pumpkin up....watch below...

Oops she slipped a pumpkin under her top....or did she? Due in Dec.

This is our son Clint and Penny who just woke up
naps wait for no one!

family photos never an easy thing!

who's missing?

He does not want to be in the photo

finally we choose our orange beasts and load up the wagon

What a perfect fall day!

It's a yearly event for Lilly to get her photo at the tape measure and now
Flynn has a photo record of how tall he is.

Wow Clint you look like a real farmer

Penny looks curious to find she napped by this big field of pumpkins

Bon Odori Olympia 2010

2010-08-01T19:26:00.000-07:00

At the beginning is grandpa Stokes in the baseball hat, very American of him, then Logan,
and grandma Stokes who lovingly provided the kids outfits, little Natalie with her daddy Jared.
We were manning the cameras!

We love a chance to see any of our grand children. Saturday evening was one of those lucky chances. We drove 2 hours south and they drove 2 hours north and we all joined together for the Olympia Bon Odori dance celebration. The dances welcome our lost love ones and gives us an evening for thinking of them. The candle light boats we put in the Puget sound lights the way home for our ancestors to leave us and return.

Enjoy the photos of this warm summer evening, filled with the scent of cooking meat and warm noodles, the sound of foreign song, drum, fans, the hugs and kisses of dear children and conversation with people you love!

first we get dressed for dancing

We dance some......

Natalie is half asleep, she's happy to walk with her dad

Then we eat noodles...............

Logan is convincing Papa he can go to get the noodles too.......

Logan points toward the food booth.

Yummy noodles, Natalie smarty eats some of mine, some of her mom's and some of her own. You can do anything if you're cute!

some taiko drumming to get us in the mood for some more dancing

Ooh time for shaved ice...we can count on some tasty flavors at all the Japanese festivals! yummy

The sun is sinking in the western sky. It's time for the fan dance and one more favorite, the dance of the fisherman, and then it's off to put our boats in the sound.

Natalie passes on the dancing and goes for some snuggle time with papa

Soon we have our chairs put away and we load into the buses that will take us to the other side of the water to put our lanterns in the Puget sound.

We write the names of our departed who joined us for the evening and will now go home. My parents, Papa's parents, some aunts and uncles and a dear friend's names go on our lantern.

The sun is nearly set as we step down to the water to put our lantern boats into the water. Logan is shocked as his floats away.
Not what he had in mind for the candle lite boat.

See the Washington state capital building in the background.

Olympia is our capital.

What a sad face, Logan really didn't understand putting such cool boats
in the water to send them off!

Logan's grandma Stokes didn't know what his head band said but a lady at the water told Logan it said he was Ninja kid and he suddenly became one! Natalie not to be out done tried to do the same Ninja face.

Can we tell her that her face will stay that way
if we don't get a nice family photo?

Oh well we tried,

Shall I tell Lyndy it gets harder the larger the family gets?

Na let's wait.

It's nearly 10:00 pm and Lyndy is pregnant and it gets very hard to feel good in the evening so she will put a lollipop in her mouth to keep her tummy settled. She carry's enough to share and Natalie cashes in on the deal! Can you believe I'm still not shooting with a flash....
Love the bright evenings in the Northwest summers.

As we return from our bus trip and enter the street where we had just been dancing we are overcome with the beauty the lanterns have left us.
So we play under them for a time.

The Street will soon open to traffic and......

At last the hour beckons us to get in the cars and go back our two hours each way home. Good bye cute family. We love you!

Another adventurous day

2010-07-14T23:24:00.000-07:00

Oh yes Tues was a very adventurous day. We did do some more bike riding. We took Mirishana on a really big ride. A lot of exciting things happened, even a bat who was startled by the sun hitting his sleeping spot flew right into Mirishanas bike. She kept her cool but lost every thing in her bike basket and everyone on the trail stopped to see what to do with the shocked bat.

So here is our travel plan: village to Meadow park, over the hill to Lost Lake.

When Mirishana was much younger bleach boy and I took her on a long hike and this was a mural she posed at back then. It will be fun to find the old photo

There are a lot of signs on this post
We can go many places from here...

I don't get many photos on biking day but the flowers are very pretty on this trail

We stopped at a pond and guessed at a movement in the water, duck or muskrat?
The two ladies joining us in the fun offered to take our photo.
Nice to have all three of us together.

We made it up that giant hill and treated ourselves to barbecue lunch at Lost lake.
They have a food stand at this lake and were we ever glad
hungry hungry

We ended the day with a walk through the village and some swimming in the pool below us.

Cooler by a bit and nice too

Monday was biking day

2010-07-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

Mirishana has a bike and beach boy has a BIKE and I have a bike. So off we went on Mirishana's first day of trail riding. She tells us she learned to ride on gravel so these paved trails we'll take today should be easy for her.

There is some city riding she is worried about but I'm sure she will master it soon enough. We went from the village to Meadow park in the North and on to Rainbow park in the South.
One end to the next!

Here we go..............

we start the day at the elevator.

It lives on the 1st floor and we live on the third so we wait...and make faces and adjust everything and wait.

The next issue of the day is collecting all the stuff from our bikes. We have had so many things stolen from our bikes in the lock up. Now we undress our bikes and leave everything in the car and take bare naked bikes to the lock up! So it took a while to get smart....

At last on the trail!

right after meadow park we run into a closed trail.
The days of high heat here has been melting snow

Oh good a detour map!

We go through a neighborhood and Mirishana gets some more street practice.
And we make it to the lake but we missed the lovely board walk along the lake...
So...........

not here....

But here we lift our bikes over the you know what!

OK so a crazy biker tells us how it stands in the flood area and we learn the board walk isn't under water.

There goes papa and Mirishana down the board walk

Papa decides to take the flood route

Mirishana takes a look at the flood site
I have new very expensive walking shoes on and so I decide..........

NOT to........

Mirishana decides NOT to take the flood route
and we go back the detour route to meet papa at the beginning

Once again at meadow park and we notice how much the water has risen.
It's over the grass

As we walk along we can see part of the park is really under water

We take a snack brake, some gorp Mirishana made for us
and then it's back to the garage to reverse the process.

It was a great ride!

A day of rest

2010-07-12T10:08:00.001-07:00

This is down stairs from our place we had to pose with everyone else who passed

This is the plan for the area right outside our deck.
We studied this closely and find it is mostly grass and trees.
Nice

Sunday is our day of rest. We don't swim, shop or party. After a peaceful morning we started our walk to rainbow park and a beautiful lake. This is our favorite place to spend Sunday afternoon the views are so heavenly. Poor bleach boys feet can no longer tramp these long trails so he drove the car to the park and Mirishana and I walked. Here is our Journey!

yes walking we only see the back of our companions
and remember bleach boy is driving over so he's not in any of these photos.

Mirishana is learning to master her way around she really has a good memory for landmarks

Today she mastered the signs. Everything here is posted but when you want to go home that Yellow village sign is most welcome. Today we are following the rainbow park sign

I don't usually hurry my hikes, I love the out of doors too much to rush but this heat is killing us!

Here is a sign that is telling us we are getting closer.
We have learned with metrics you figure if the number is getting smaller you're good.

Finally we made it to the lake, we are so very hot!

We did some drawing and some reading
Mirishana made Gorp so we munch it as we enjoy the day.

The park began to fill up

Everyone is always amazed when they see their first BIG skunk cabbage

We make a regular pause to check Mirishana's thermometer
we learned when hiking in the sun it was nearly 90 degrees F and hiking in the shade dropped it to 85 degrees.
Give me the shade then!

Yes the trail is long but we made it back almost 4 miles each way!

Come on vacation with us

2010-07-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hi family

It's free Internet and free long distance phone this year in the unit. What luck! So here I am with the Whistler report.

First off let me say HOT HOT HOT...someone turn things down 20 degrees. Sorry I don't know what that is in metrics a small number just doesn't express the 95 degrees we had today.

The first thing we do is look out the deck to see what has change and WOWIE ZOZZIE Look at this new play ground. Behind it is the awards venue from the Olympics but it will be turned into a really pretty lawn area.

That's Mirishana coming down a slide that is a whole bunch of rollers
It's wild to watch the tiny kids bounce down it.

This fun spin toy kept tons of boys busy all day long and at night the older kids use it
Everyone seems to have a lot of fun going around and around.

This is a swing disk

Right now
We are trying to cool down a bit and Mirishana and I have nearly doubled our 10,000 steps today and we are beat!

First the hard work of walking in the heat to the lake

Then the reward a nice cool lake

Or not!
you decide your own reward..

Today included: swimming at Lost Lake, a walk through the village to hear all the music acts, Namimo bars and another trip to the grocery store. Yes that little last minute camping trip beat out a proper meal plan for this week. Tonight was Pioneer Woman's sesame noodles yummy.

Tomorrow is Sunday so after some morning scripture video's we will walk to one of the lakes and Mirishana and I will take our art supplies and see if we can put some of this beauty on paper.

Have a nice Sunday.

mom/grammie/Fonnell

Photos so old it takes your breath away!

2010-02-14T01:34:00.000-08:00

Isn't it amazing how we can capture time in a photo?

we are pretty sure we found this house before the family reunion here

We, bleach boy and I, were looking at old photo's tonight. One popped up on my screen saver and it peeked our interest. The Reagan's have a long and old history in the Seattle area and these photos prove it. So family enjoy figuring out who they are. Your grandpa is a baby in some of these. Tomorrow I'll try to add names...Enjoy

Now you can see the family bleach boys middle name came from

Looks like it's right out of little women! Love it

I believe this is at the famous world expo in Seattle, No not the one in the 1960's

It was held on what is now the UW campus...Our family was there! wow

Don't you just love those hats! only at the turn of the century could they manage such big hats.

Bill Watson, Mrs. Claude Shaw, Mother Reagan (found written on the back, long ago)

above

We think this is Alki beach long ago

above
This is long lake, love the suits!

Bernie is the little boy being balanced by his dad in the upper left hand, he is in the front where you can see them nicely

Can you name all the Reagan boys?

John D. Reagan Sr. Margaret Tresselt, Earl Reagan, Margart Ashworth, Jim Bready? and Mame Reagan

Margart Ashworth, Will Ashworth, and Mayme Reagan

The backs of these photos like to spell mame's name differently each time

All I know is her smile, her charm, her delight in life comes out in the photos I've seen.

A person I'd like to have known.

I hear the family liked to camp up in the mountains of Woodinville.

Wonder if this is where they are.

Left to right: Mrs jinks, aunt Emma Hartley (Aunt Maybelle's mother Reagan) Mrs. May Wholin, Grandma Maime Reagan and Bernie and Jack the dog!

new years day

2010-01-01T13:47:00.001-08:00

just testing everyone this is shan's grand daughter Samantha

a peek at gift opening for you L #2

2009-12-31T00:26:00.000-08:00

Lilly loves the hat Yoko made!

an interesting gift....a Yahtzee family game

who is this on our game pieces?

Ha Ha it's us!

Lilly invents new game rules

Lilly has already put this color book to use when we went out to eat

and the food was slow in coming! Get clean idea, the pens only work on the paper.

Wishing all a Merry Christmas and a Happy new year!

2009-12-23T12:05:00.000-08:00

Phil and I are very blessed people.

In a year of hardship we have seen kindness, mercy and love all around us

We are very grateful

For all of you we are grateful

Kodak gave a bunch of us some free product. I choose Christmas cards for my freebie and

here it is lovely and nice. If you didn't get a card your's is here, twenty cards don't go very far

Merry Christmas everyone

Please celebrate

We have a glorious reason to do so!

(Give Kodak your online business I've always been pleased with every order and they ship very fast if you are needing one of those photo books as a gift.)

Our first holiday craft sales in a good many years

2009-12-16T02:24:00.000-08:00

I was a big crafter from the beginning! I loved to sale my bears and dolls and baskets. I stopped some years ago when my kids got older and I got too busy to make dozens of the same thing.

But now I can join Phil and help him with his sale of beautiful wooden tops. Here are the photos of his first event. Clint made our great sign, thanks a bunch.

Awe yes on those cold, in the teens, dark mornings

you just can't go out without your reindeer antlers and sunglasses!

what happens when 11 cousins all meet?

2009-12-07T00:22:00.000-08:00

HAY COUSIN!

Thanksgiving was amazing.

We had all 11 of our grand kids together for the first time.

Photos were hard to take. Someone always had a problem including the person pushing the timer on the camera and running to get into the photo. So enjoy how we all look believe me we know it's pretty crazy.

Reindeer lilly

Everyone except far away daughter!

Little boys cutting down trees

Little girls cutting trees down

Our son #1 kiddo

Our daughter #4 kiddo

Our daughter #5 kiddo

Our daughter #2 kiddo

good luck Clint...now get all four of them to smile!

Natalie, Flynn, Logan now who are brother and sister?

Papa's hand, Clint's hand, Flynn's' hand

Three generations playing in the frost :]

Ooh some nice fountain ice

too pooped to pop!

mom's and daughters

papa and the grand kids

I think this is a trust issue

A big loud machine

But he always wanted to get on it.....

I trust you papa!

Bye for now!

Oh what do we do in the fall the fall................

2009-11-12T15:59:00.000-08:00

Oh you guessed.........We fill the compost bins full!

Good-bye Oct Hello Nov.

2009-10-31T02:13:00.000-07:00

It has been crazy! I don't under estimate! Not a day goes by when I don't feel that day was too full, too complex. I don't mean to say it hasn't been fun. Yes here are some photos to prove it has been fun.

Traveling daughter was here for a visit. She proves that you can dress in too many layers

Her arms won't even go down to her sides!

She was up and down the West coast doing college higher education fairs for The University of Geneva. A couple of days in each city and as life would have it she has family in all those cities, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland. It works but the visits were short.

Hello Laureen Good bye Laureen and Leo good luck!

Then we were off to see youngest daughters new home

And of course make a trip to the pumpkin farm

I think there are life lessons in the straw bale maze.........

some paths work

Some do not!

Logan has nearly gone under in this end of the maze. See him in the middle of the photo? Barely

Some how the song from the jackalop short from Pixar kept going through my head......

"And when you're up you're up and when you're Down you're down!.........or something like that.

So on to the straw pyramid

UP!

The top!

More to follow...........

Now Sometimes you're up and sometimes your down

when you find that you're down well just look around.........

Get your head in the right place and hay your complete.......

you can reach great heights in fact you can soar

you just get a leg up and you slap it on down....

you'll find that you're are up in what's called a bound........bound bound bound and re-bound you

bound bound right up to the sky...............................

I like to record the moment

2009-09-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

I like to catch people or events in tiny moments.

I used to go around the house and take a photo of each family member doing what they were doing at that moment. Those are some of my favorite family photos!

So this fair the time was moving so slowly on the last day. It was raining hard and it was hard to figure out if there were people around or not as they came in waves. If it rained the barns would fill, as soon as it stopped everyone was GONE!

This is one hour before the fair closed at 7 pm. Superintendents all wait differently so here are those happy people waiting for the end and what they were doing at exactly one hour left!

At the back door is our wine and home brews super he looks like the waiting isn't bothering him!

Linda is over the educational posters we know her from all our years in horse 4h

She doesn't like her photo taken at all!

She is spending her last hour behind the displays...now that's an idea.

This little person came through my end during one of the rain squalls she looks ready for anything. Way to go!

This is the needlework's superintendant

I've watched her grow up so I can tease

you will see some more of what she did in her last hour

Our new lace super, right between Rene and I

Boy did we give her a work out this year

She is also over the food contests

Busy lady now is this last hour bugging her or what?

rumor is they are out of her favorite food

Here are my two most devoted demonstrators.

They are with me from the beginning all the way to the end.

What are they doing in their last hour?

Another great find from the reclaim Queen.

She never lets anything go un-recycled

Beautiful quilt!

Now Rene does some needle punch she will get full use of this last hour

The spinning and weaving and basket Super is off doing what I am

Say "Cheese"

Oh the poor tired livestock super

looks like he's visiting my department in this last wet soaking hour

Looks like bleach boy is heading back to the animal barns

But not without a check on those rain catching buckets

over the needle work tables

I made it to the spinning dept and they had a lime green thing going on

My first car was this color!

Wow even the spinning demonstrator is in lime green

What's going on here

A little last hour madness!

What's the spinning super up to?

I wonder

A lot of us go for our favorite foods in the last hour

Looks like it's Carmel apples for the canning super and the fine arts super

I sent out for Carmel corn!

A quick photo of a very cute jeans apron

Looks like Rene is back to writing

frog who has been busy doing good and bad antics all fair has joined her along with her mom who is the Heritage display super, she is just lost in this last hour.

Do you think those paper towels are for that leak over their heads?

I've been cleaning up my office which I share with lace

Most of the fair it's full of sewing machines and suitcases of projects!

We can barely walk in here most years

And so we close this hour with Rene back at the needle punch

I flip the lights a couple of times

PULL the big doors closed

Lock them and turn

and yell

WE ARE CLOSED

And everyone claps and begins taking everything down for returns the next day

Wow another great fair gone by

Catching up on Fair

2009-09-24T12:18:00.000-07:00

Young Pygmy goats

The Evergreen State Fair ended on Sept 7th and I gave everything back on the 8th and 9th. When I got home I had a full pear tree of canning to do, a lot of pickles to make and rhubarb to can. Happy to say they are all finished and looking pretty in my shelves. Now I can add my fun fair photos. These are for my friend in Canada, who was a sheep rancher before they retired. She will enjoy seeing these 4-H sheep barns. Maybe you will too!

It was hot during fair and I know what heat does to sheep's wool so I question all these coats!

For my spinning friends I'm not telling you any breeds you have to figure them out

Hows' this for confirmation stanch?

Ooh these ladies are nice and cool!

it's either lunch time or they are giving me and my photo taking a message!

These are nice big barns.

I took my photos on a trip back to see bleach boy he was the livestock manager!

The baby goats are picking up moms spilled lunch

OK off to the cow milking contest.....now these are fast paced and fun!

The contests are all held in the arena in the middle of the animal barns

when I can't find bleach boy I look here.

He has set up and take down issues with each contest.

Warm up the cow, milk the cow fast fast fast

switch cows and do it again

You are looking at the winner of the milking contest!

The milk is then added to the first bucket and weighed for a winner!

I'm now leaving the arena (you are looking at it) and heading down the fairgrounds

to the quilt barn

At exactly 10am Tomorrow I open my doors and....

2009-08-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

Yes Tomorrow is opening day at the 101st Evergreen State Fair!

At the moment 10 am hits I open the front doors to our open class building.

Here is my portion of the building in photos. You get an early peek.

Also in building is the lace, knit, crochet, needle arts, floral, bee's, photography, hand spinning, baking, canning, homemade brews, educational displays, the historical booth and the local granges put out a beautiful display of the produce grown in our area.

Here we are in my dept. Sewing and Quilting

Looking in the front door down the west bay of building 500

This is the glass room, usually it holds a wedding dress or two but not this year

This on the right just as you walk in

We hang the quilts down both sides of the center

one facing front, one facing back they go all the way down the hall

That's my table where I sit with my own little fan

I don't get to sit too often but there is a lot of paper work before people get paid. I am right next to the glass room

This glass case is next to my office and that display on the right as you come in the door

The two tables there hold lots of demonstrators

I run three groups a day for four hours each

This display is next to the demo table

This glass case holds all my small entries, little things to be carefully displayed

We hang quilts in every nook and cranny

This center three tables hold quilts this year, we guard them with a stapled sheet of plastic

I have three big bins to display the clothing in

On each item is a colored card. The violets, greens and blue are children, White is adult, pink is expert, gray is challenged, cream is over 70. The kids do a lot of the garment sewing.

This is on the wall of that first display area at the door

My office the hot spot for sewing machine storage

Haven't taken photos from the other end of the hall got called away to another Department and never got back for the rest of my photos so latter...................

I'll have a purple cow for you, eat an elephant ear, and drink lots of lemonade!

Update on Phil

2009-08-19T23:23:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Tons of appointments, classes, tests, now waiting for the bills. However it all told the Cardiac Dr. that Phil was doing good and could go back to swimming yesterday. He's a happy fellow now.

We are in our work season. Fair opens on Aug 27th. It's hard work so I'm not sure how often he will get out to swim but he felt really great on his first day back.

More later after a few more tests. But all is looking much better than a few weeks ago and we are marking major changes to our diet mostly very easily.

Rainbow fairy has a home!

2009-08-08T01:12:00.000-07:00

The yellow spots are from an egg we did some polish painting on and one year it bursts all over the place!

I owed my sister a fairy top.

She was our first purchase many months ago. I let her have her pick of all the new ones and Auntie Georgia still choose the original one she saw when we first started these. Who would know I was in the mood for a rainbow when I painted her fairy.

It felt wonderful to be painting again.

My old worn brushes felt like dear old friends in my hands. Not the same hands as when I first bought some of these in college. I remember switching to night classes so I could think and finding that art just flows from my hands at night. I should try that again. I don't know if the paintings on the walls of my house were more fun or if these tiny fairies are the hardest, there by more fun. Something about capturing a face, a personality is ever so much more interesting.

I did a series of pencil drawings of women in all kinds of times and places and I love faces. Every now and again I ask myself "why am I not drawing?" Got too busy I guess. Sitting in the critical care unit hour after hour was made better by drawing fairy face after face on paper.

What are you forgetting to do that you love?

Maybe we should calendar it in so it's part of our schedule. I did that with the piano, I love to play and never gave myself any time. I have a beautiful studio grand and it should be played! Miss Lyndy are you giving yourself time to play? You are a very talented lady don't let it go......

So Monday I'll bundle up Rainbow Fairy and send her to her new home.

I painted fairy tops

2009-08-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

Time has been short but when I think about it I know why. All these extras I've been doing, like sewing fabric leaves for fairy skirts and then painting all these tops. Hope you find one you like, they were fun to paint. I don't use those skills as often as I'd like.

Rainbow Fairy above and below

Cherry

Butterfly Fairy

Rose

Mum

Two faces on this fairy for watching behind her

Black eyed Susan

Bag of instructions and display stand

Yes bleach boy makes all the wooden toys

I'm only the painter

Phil is doing much better

2009-07-28T11:57:00.000-07:00

Taken Tues at noonish talking to the hospital

Some of you wanted to see how Phil was looking

Great now!

He is the proud owner of a couple of stints in his heart arteries

Everyone should clap their hands for the emergency folks at Evergreen Hospital

They were calm, professional, and fast!

Even at 2 am everyone seemed to get everything Phil needed even a C-pap machine!

His surgeon was amazing and put up with all of Phil's curiosities

The nurses are the kindest people in the world I think. They work so hard.

I was grateful that the Critical Care unit is locked (few visitors)

and you have as much privacy as a glass room can allow.

God held our hand though this one

Phil welcomes heart healthy recipes

Lets hear it for vegetarians!

Logan has a beat in his soul!

2009-07-19T01:05:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went to the Japanese Bon Odori. A festival that features dancing to honor your dead. There were fan dances, and clapper dances, and lantern dances and baseball dances (to help Ichiro イチロー,win his game) and tiko drummers a plenty. But most of all was how much Logan and the kids loved the music. Logan didn't miss a chance to dance!

Logan joins the dancers in traditional Japanese dance

Dad helps Logan learn how to dance

time for a fan dance

Lilly and logan play a cousins round of drums

Logan really gets down to the drum beat!

More fan dancing

celebrating the 4th of July

2009-07-07T09:39:00.000-07:00

It's the 4th of July, Independence day, and we are off to the Bothell City parade

The wagon is decorated, hastily because Lilly will be in the pre-parade

It's very hot and Phil wants to be in the shade but I am out in the sun taking all the photos!

The flashing lights of the police motorcycles signal the beginning of the kids parade

You can see the first little Hot wheels right behind the policeman

There are a lot of kids and families doing the kids parade this year.

More than I can count.

Oh look! Cheryl has talked Christine into being in the parade with Lilly

This will be Christine's first U.S Independence day and here she is in the parade!

See wagon in the middle of this photo

As they get closer I enjoy watching parents making fast repairs to bikes and decorations.

It's a charming event I hope Bothell always does.

As Lilly, Cheryl and Christine pass I see that Lilly is pounding a drum. She seems very hot but enjoying this odd thing she is doing.

There was a special award this year for being in the parade. It's Bothell's 100th birthday and Lilly will have this nice ribbon to remind her she was there for the 100th birthday.

Done with her walk of fame Christine cools off

Lilly turns the decorated wagon into a bed to nap in

and the parade goes on!

The oppressors!

The Oppressed (us!)

The Pipers

The Pirates! Yikes

Boom Boom

Looking for tossed Candy

finding the tossed Candy

Our neighbor girls float

Our neighbor girls gym group

All done, too much heat and heading home

Until next year, Happy 4th of July and Happy 100th birthday Bothell, our home.

Becoming a two year old takes a party!

2009-06-15T01:34:00.000-07:00

Lilly had a party

there was lots of fun and sun and food and friends and cousins!

Here are the photos to prove our efforts.

A princess party requires a well decorated crown!

Lots of sparkles to glue on our crowns

Everyone gets a crown but it's so hard to stand still at two years old!

max will be two just 11 days after Lilly. What fun to be cousins

I did say everyone gets a crown

The cakes must be decorated before we can sing.

Choose a sprinkle

Bomb drop it on the cupcake

What dazzling cakes, fun to make

not fun to eat!

Birthday candle is lite and everyone is singing

And with straw in hand Lilly blows out her candle! Yeah! Clap Clap!

Lilly was a perfect birthday girl all day and evening long!

what wonderfully fun gifts for Lilly

After the childrens party was over the grandparents and Auntie arrived for another round of fun and food. But that will save until tomorrow's posting.

family adventure with little people

2009-05-31T21:03:00.000-07:00

I'm visiting youngest daughter. She has two little people in her house and I had forgotten how tired you get with the schedule you must keep for little people. I will need some R & R when I get home. The schedule I'm talking about starts a bit before 6 am and is non stop all day. So here are some photos for you to enjoy. I've had such a fun time here. It's only 3 hours away but I don't see them near enough!

I came by train, my first U.S trip by train. Not only was it well priced but they were very nice and it was only $5. for me to take a big wooden garden box on the train! That was after I had already put 3 large bags into check in for free!

I sat down in a cozy seat, started knitting and before I knew it I was there.

Let me say "Take the Train!"

The family waiting by the tracks and watching the metal recycling plant crushing big trucks.

Click to enlarge and see that great pile of metal junk

Wow

we got all the bags and surprise garden box all in the car

and it's time to take Grammie to the house. The trip wasn't without event

A large truck carrying what appeared to be a large plane body tried to make his way through town, not easy to do and we watched

Papa had made a gardening box for the family and after naps we put it together.

Nothings more fun for little people than tools. Big people love tools too!

The next day we made our soil.

It has been into the high 80's since I got here so work is really hard in this kind of heat

So is play as we found out a day later

She looks trapped doesn't she.

This is a neighborhood wood hunt we went on.

Found tons of bits of wood all over. Still lots of building going on here.

Natalie and I practiced our "Raspberries"

The next morning while it was only warm we went to the park right by the river

We tested the slides

We tested the river water

We laughed

Picked the wild flowers, and met a Fairy furniture maker

Logan took mom on a wild slide ride!

Then mom took Natalie on a wild little slide ride

We steered the boat one way

We steered the boat another way

And another way!

As the heat grew we kicked around the cotton wood fluff, sneezing....

more and more Cotton Wood

We traveled the hot, very hot river trail looking for rocks to toss in the water

Looking up and down the river full of fly fishermen

The pure joy in finding the rocks and the river

Sitting on the fallen log as promised

We hiked back in the heat and sought comfort under the cotton woods

Hope that Claritin holds on.

We even poised for the camera propped on the picnic table

More adventures with the little people tomorrow.

nothing makes me sadder

2009-05-16T20:44:00.000-07:00

Today we buried my last goat, Gracie. I keep looking out to the lean-to to see if she is standing there. I think I will do that for a long time. My upstairs bathroom has a window that looks out over the whole property and I loved looking to see where she was peacefully nibbling.

I love goats and they will keep a soft spot in my heart forever. Smart, clever, and such a sweet goat was Gracie. We don't know what she died of but it clearly seems possible it was age problems. She wasn't eating well all week so I began making a moist gruel. I added baking soda and a fresh mineral block. She still wasn't eating her hay and very little of the mash.

Gracie and I had some really nice time together this week sitting by each other, she wanted her neck rubbed and she seemed very under the weather. It was a surprise to find her dead but then that is always a surprise isn't it!

Our ever kind neighbors helped with what needed to be done. Everyone should own a backhoe don't you think? It was a beautiful sunny happy day and the contrast of feelings today were hard.

Just had to say how much I loved this goat! What really good times I've had back in the pasture with her. How nice it was that she thought I was her herd and always looked for me in the kitchen window, and kept her ears tuned to my voice. If I called out "Gracie" she'd look up and give that kind look she had. I will sure be missing her.

Bye Gracie

yes she always knew where the goodies were!

Crash and burn fun

2009-05-06T00:29:00.000-07:00

It was our last day to visit the Santa Clarita family.

Just a few hours and we needed to get on our plane and go home. It is the custom with youngest daughters family to take a walk before we leave for home. Something to transition the act of saying good byes.

So off we went with Flynn and Penny, papa (bleach boy) , grammie (me) and mom and dad.

It was a big adventure! The boys running and chasing each other with monster like cries!

Eden and the baby were playing their own peaceful game.

Flynn is a master at jungle gym escapes!

Watch out for the monsters....

The adventurers poise for a brief moment

Then the battle continues!

It's wild, it's crazy. Who will win? Who will die?

It's a chase!

But here at the wall it ENDs.

I hear a crack,

I see blood,

there are tears and our son picks up little warrior and home we head.

As it turned out no teeth were sacrificed in the battle, but now we know why everyone has lips.

They are to protect our teeth when we want to bang them into a brick wall.

Flynn was still so upset when we left for the airport. Even several cold pops didn't make him feel much better. However a ride in the car put him right to sleep.

Sadly we missed saying our good-byes

So kisses on sleeping cheek was all we could leave Flynn with.

Bye Bye little man

A day at the beach

2009-05-02T00:22:00.000-07:00

Thurs we packed a lunch and hopped into the two cars, ladies and baby in one, men and three year old in the other. It is an hours drive to Ventura beaches. You drive through such dry brown hills. Avocado's and oranges are the only colors that reach past the brown. Every where you look there are little stands selling fruits and honey. As we pulled out of the hills and suddenly saw the beach my heart beat so hard it seemed to match the crashing waves. What excitement to once again be on the Southern California beaches. Bleach boy once surfed the Ventura county line but this was my first time to this pretty northern beach.

Of course the children were all asleep after the hours drive

There was plenty to explore and we stayed all day

If you click to enlarge this photo you will see a sea gull eyeing our lunch fixings!

Too bad. No surfing today nothing but windy chop!

The baby was very upset with the loud crashing of the waves so mom kept her bundled and away from the water until she fell to sleep again

Only son got an important phone call for work and he is under the baby blanket trying to see a pocket P.C screen in this bright sunlight

Bleach Boy and Flynn

I was testing the waves seeing if they would brake near but not on me.

Flynn decided to join me

Soon the tide began coming in so I stepped up higher and took this photo of Flynn almost too late to run away!

Lunch
Oh remember I told you my son liked to make wild and crazy looking shirts? His favorite has always been Hawaiian shirts so if you find one to pass along he'll wear it to the studio for work I'll bet!

Flynn had been throwing sand in the water to see it splash all over,

His dad is trying to show him the wonders of tossing one little rock

Ready....Set......

TOSS!

Looked to be some grand parents playing with their grand kids

They didn't know what sea weed was good for so Only Son showed them the wonders of sea weed, at least he didn't show them how to eat it as he had while living in Japan

A big wooden play boat was discovered!

It had a rope swing that everyone had such a good time on!

Bleach Boy catches Flynn on the end of the ride.

The silver on the water is warning us we still have an hours drive home

Good-bye pretty beach

I asked Eden how she found such a lovely beach. She said she went online and looked up pretty beaches!