Wild Rumpus R-fam Style

We have the R-fam branch of the grandchildren staying with us for a few days.
I took them over to Emanuel hospital to see their mom.
While there we checked out the Children's Garden.

This picture epitomizes to me time spent with this group. They rarely are focused all in the same direction and tend to bounce off into their various directions of choice without any notice.

I have only ever seen this garden through the windows. It is so pretty.
Wyatt wanted to know why there was a robot there. I think it's time he saw the "Wizard of Oz".

Danika found something interesting along the yellow brick road.

Focused on the fountain.

Miss Imp

Balancing on tortoise sculptures. Amazing workmanship.

Another feature I found cool were these birdhouses.

Sometimes you wonder what is going through a little kids mind. Wyatt is a Wonder himself.


We came home and had lunch and then it was time for naps.

Wyatt is resting in a "boy" tent.

Genevieve is resting in a "girl" tent. And Danika is a Travelin Tot in the port-a-crib.

They are all sleeping so quiet is reigning at this moment.
It will be brief, I'm sure.

Capturing a moment of beauty

Most of you know that Portland is a beautiful city.
It's roses are known far and wide.
The Rose Garden up at Washington Park is visited by thousands every year.

There is another rose garden that I think is every bit as lovely as the busier one.
Courtney's Portland Community College campus is just blocks from this place.
I picked her up there yesterday and noticed she was taking a picture with her cell phone so I offered her my camera and she took off for 5 minutes of capturing the beauty that is emerging in the Portland area.

I have a picture of my Mother sitting by this fountain. It is also the backdrop for a few of Alyssa and Logan's wedding photos taken in December of 2005.

In a few short weeks this place is going to be bursting with color. I think it looks lovely in this cocoon state too.

The Portland Parks department does such a marvelous job with their maintenance.

These climbers are on many of the corners.

Promise of color.

Yellow roses are so friendly.

There are a few mature blooms out there already.

This is one of the few roses that you can smell. It is so fragrant.

I took a picture of a little blossom this morning too.

She didn't object too much to a bit of a bath first thing. Looks like she is going to be too big for Gramma's sink pretty soon.
Looking forward to bathing a new little guy in that sink in the fall.
Can hardly wait!

Happy Birthday Har!

Today is Harlan's birthday. I made plans for an overnight stay at a local hotel. So last night we left our home in the hands of our children and the college aged church group that was meeting there.
We stayed at a place that we always said "We should go there sometime." It was a nice place.

We couldn't go out of town because Har was on call for work. He has been on this new schedule of oncall rotations since January. This is the first time he has been called in!
He spent a total of six hours on his birthday solving the problems of somebody that needed him.

It's what he does. He is a problem solver.
We did manage a brief visit to Sears. Doesn't he look like he belongs in that department?

He has been a big fan of Burgerville for as long as I can remember. So we were at Burgerville for a late lunch.

Tillamook Pepperjack Cheeseburger basket!
YUM!

Here is a new favorite picture of Har.

Doing what he does best....serving God and country. Possibly just God.
He is a good sound guy. Place the emphasis wherever you will.

While we were at the hotel this morning I came up with a new project for him.

Wouldn't it be lovely for this fountain (it is around 5' tall and maybe 15' across) to be replicated in our backyard? I'll have to start gleaning river rocks from somewhere.

And what birthday post would be complete lately without a picture of the blanket made for the occasion.

Harlan's quilt has various fabrics depicting his various interests. Musical intruments, notes, clocks (history), wood and earthtones. ( We are giving it to him this evening. Hope he likes it)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARLAN!

Danika dolly and friends.

Danika got to spend the day with us on Friday.
It is quite novel for her to be here on her own.

She got to swing with her dolly.

Rock with Gramma.

Got to go to Target with Grampa and Gramma.

Swing with her cousin "Row".

and goof around with Aunty Krystle.
She is such a cutie.


We had a busy weekend as we had Rowan with us for a couple of nights as well.

On Sunday we went over to Sarah's house to wish her a Happy 23rd Birthday.

I think she liked her quilt.


And look at this happy little group.

Welcome home.

Happy Birthday Jan

My friend Jan is having a birthday tomorrow. She is a wife, mother, teacher, encourager of the brethren (in my case the sistern?) and a wonderful friend to many.

I am glad that she was able to take time from her busy life to have a bite to eat with me.

We had the cheap food and pop at Newport Seafood Grill (aka happy hour).

The dessert is so yummy. I should have brought a candle for the cake.
I had to take a picture of her with her present.
Jan, hope your actual birthday is more than you ever imagined it could be.
Have fun with your family.
Tell David to jump, jump HIGH!
Happy Birthday.

Quick trip North

This week Alyssa and Rowan went home after their Oregon adventures.

The boys and I traveled up too to help her tackle a few things. They thankfully have internet so school wasn't totally ignored.

I love the welcome flag. I think it wants to live at my house.

We have had more rain than sunbreaks for the past week or so. Those sunbreaks did their job in causing anything green to grow like crazy. Wednesday's rain with no breaks didn't make it look too promising for any yard work to get done.

But Thursday started out sunny. The boys got up and went to work.

The rain saturated roof looked like it was smoking.

After raising the mower to the highest cutting level Hayden started it up.

Cam mostly weeded under the trees and in the flower beds.

And he got the birdfeeder filled and back up.

After several hours of hard work these guys deserved a treat. We took them to Norma's (the best hamburger place in their area) for a late lunch.

We really needed to hit the road to get back to Portland for Bible Study.

But there were a couple of things that we still needed to do.

I had to thin out her rhubarb and take some off of her hands :)

Rowan needed his hair cut too so I did the honors. He actually was more co-operative than this picture implies.

The Uncles and Mom were cutting a dead section out of the lilac bush so he was relegated to the back yard with Max.

Alyssa and her little guy ready for a nice Mother's Day weekend.

Fun times in Lacey.