July 20 - August 30, 2014 (Mehama, OR)

Boy does the time fly.....I can't believe it's been over a month since I've posted to our blog.  A lot has happened over the last month, the best thing is that we are the proud grandparents of a healthy little boy, Elijah.  I'll try and recap the last month the best I can.......

People and places we've seen:

We got to attend a "Thursday night group" at my friend Judy's house.  This is a group of friends that have been getting together for around 16 years or so on Thursday nights, either at people's homes for a potluck or an outing at a local bar/restaurant.  It was fun to catch up with everyone, it has been awhile since we've seen a lot of them.  I didn't capture everyone's picture, so sorry for the ones I left out.

Rick & Marilyn

Gene & Harriett

Judy



Carolyn & George

Jan & Richard

Judith(in blue), Gene & Judy (in foreground)
Harriett, Marilyn, John & Rich (in background)

Harriett & Ben

Dave & Tom

Another event we attended in July was a pig roast that was hosted by our new son-in-law, Norm and our daughter Amber to celebrate their wedding which was in April of this year. 

Pig roasting - this was a labor of love because this is a manual crank and took over 24 hours to roast the pig

Norm (leaning over the pig) removing the wire which held the pig on the skewer....it's finally time to eat some roast pork.

This is the view of the surrounding countryside, they were harvesting this bean field in the foreground the day of the pig roast.

The next day I drove my mom to Silverton to attend her side of the family's yearly reunion.  I got to talk to several of my cousins that I don't normally see much, so that is always fun.

Uncle Dave, my mom, Aunt Lorrie & Aunt Joyce

 
The next weekend, my mom and I hosted a baby shower for my daughter Amber.  We had a lot of fun seeing all the nice gifts she received for baby Elijah.

Amber's Grandma Mae (center)



Kim (mother-in-law) & Amber



Amber & her mommy  =)

My mommy and me  =)

Then when I woke up the morning of August 11th, and checked my phone, which I had forgotten to take into the bedroom, there was a message from Amber around 2:15 a.m. letting me know they were headed to the hospital as her water had broken.  Oh rats, how could I have forgotten my phone.  Rich assured me that I wouldn't be too late for the babies birth.  I gave a quick call into Amber and told her I was headed her way.  Rich dropped me off at the hospital about 9:00 a.m. and I arrived in Amber's room to find that yes, we still had plenty of time, her contractions were still a ways apart.  She had lots of visitors throughout the day, family and friends stopping in for a quick hello and to wish her and Norm well.  This is their first child, so it was a very exciting time.  By early evening everyone but Norm and I were gone from the room, things were starting to get a little bit more exciting.  I'll just recap and say that it was a long night and Amber was a trooper, she did a great job of bringing little Elijah into this world at 7:31 a.m. on August 12th.  This was the first live birth I've got to witness and it was a very emotional and special time.  Thanks Amber & Norm for letting me be a part of it.  Elijah is a beautiful and healthy 8 lb 3 oz bundle of joy.  I love nothing better than to sit and hold him and just stare at him. 



Grandma holding baby Elijah at one day old



Great Grandma holding baby Elijah at one day old

Needless to say over the last several weeks I have been taking many trips into Amber & Norm's to hold little baby Elijah.  Babies are so special and precious.

The other adventure that we had was that we took my mom to the State Fair.  We had a lot of fun walking around and checking out the sites and people watching.  I think people watching is my favorite.  We ate pronto pups which I find I prefer corn dogs which have a cornmeal batter versus pronto pups which is more a flour based batter.  We shared an elephant ear and the best treat of all was ice cream from the red dairy barn.  The only ride we all rode was the chair lift which takes you across the fairgrounds.  Rich was hoping that he could talk us into a swing ride or a ferris wheel ride, but mom and I were party poopers.  I just wasn't up for the nauseous feeling that I get when I ride carnival rides, especially the ones that go in circles. 



Me & Mom on chairlift

 

Eating ice cream cones

Mixed into all this adventure we have spent some time with friends.  One evening we had Ben & Harriett up to our 5er for dinner.  It was a lovely warm summer evening so we got to sit outside and enjoy an evening of good food and conversation.  

 I had lunch with my friend Jan at Trexlar Farms which is a quaint little restaurant in the area and we had a nice long visit.  Then one afternoon Jan hosted lunch at her house for Judy and me and we spent a long afternoon visiting and catching up.  The time sure flies by when you are spending time with good friends.  =)

We've also found a small local restaurant that we like to have breakfast at once a week.   It's called the Country Kitchen and it's just full of all the locals getting together and drinking coffee and having their breakfasts.   The food for breakfast is really good, they have yummy hashbrowns and Rich says they have really good gravy. 

We eat almost every dinner at least 5-6 nights a week with mom and usually have been getting to eat out on her deck.  It is so relaxing listening to the creek and seeing all the beautiful scenery while eating some really good meals.  My uncle Richard has been supplying us with lots of fresh veggies from his garden.

Rich and I even spent one day freezing up about 24 bags of corn (off the cob).  I went with mom and picked a bunch of fresh blueberries which we froze most of them.  Rich and I picked some blackberries which I froze.  It's been really fun being around all this fresh produce.

Of course, we have been doing lots of projects around mom's place.  We just recently got our camera back so hopefully we'll start taking more pictures.  We've worked on clearing out a lot of brush around the place.  We've both gotten real familar with the weed eater.  Rich has worked on fixing a leak in the big pond and getting more water to flow into the pond.  Rich has made some firewood.  He spent quite a bit of time trying to get my mom's pump in her springhouse to work, but have found out from the plumber that it is broken and no good....that's a bummer because the pump was only 2 years old.  We waxed the pickup and the 5er which is a huge undertaking but boy they sure look good.  We waxed my mom's car.  We've worked on a small decorative pond.  We've spent a couple afternoons playing in the creek.   Rich has spent lots of time doing lots of little fix it type projects for my mom.  It sure is nice that he's such a handyman. 

Here is our beautiful setting in the woods.  I don't think you'll find a much better spot.

View of pond from our table and lounge chair

View of our camp site - notice how shiny the 5er is after the wax job!

Today is only the second day that we've had rain since we've been here, so I thought it would be a good day to stay inside and get caught up on our blog.  Our next big adventure is we are going to take a week off soon and head to the coast and play on the beach.  Then we'll be back here at mom's.  Right now it is looking like, God willing, that we will be here until late October and then if nothing changes between now and then, we will be heading south for the winter again. 

Stay tuned and God Bless you all!