Under construction

Harlan is a problem solver. He has been challenged over the years to construct various items to serve a specific purpose. He thinks spatially and has used mathematical equations to solve many a design issue.

Desks for the boys

I looked into his notebook and took a few pictures. Most of the pages look like something that Leonardo DaVinci might have come up with. The above sketch looks almost exactly like what it turned out to be.

Hayden and Cameron each have their own computer. We needed someplace on the main floor for them to be able to access them. They needed to face away from each other as the boys including some of the sons-in-law like to play games against one another and prefer not to have visual access to the other's screen.

The finished product. Space saving and innovative. I really like them!

Har's birthday present for JESS

I made a quilt for Jess for his birthday.

Har wanted to build him a locking storage unit for his handguns and rifles.

I didn't find the drawings pertaining to this particular piece of furniture but I do have photos of the final assembly.

The outside of the case is one piece with a locking door. The carousel unit slides up inside and is bolted from the bottom.

This is the customized space for his Ruger handgun.... felt lined and perfectly fitted.

Final ajustments on the installation of the light.

It does a nice job of lighting up each of the sections.

It's just like a refrigerator light. I goes off when you shut the door.

There are spots for 4 pistols and 4 rifles in addition to bins for ammo or holsters or whatnot.

Finally finished!

Being oooohhhheed and ahhhhhed over by Gary Duckworth.

A stand for Miss Katelyn's Moses basket

The drawing board.

The beginning of the project purchases.

Some of the first cuts.

I will post pictures of the finished product soon. Hopefully it will have a little baby girl enjoying it!

Pizza from "scratch"

Made pizza from scratch for a change. Looks picture perfect to me. It was pretty tasty too!

One of the fun parts of homeschooling.

Taking a break from the computer to work on his monkey skills and have a few jelly beans.

I love my school kids!!!!!

A different kind of "construction" happening...

Our girls that are "infanticipating".

Aren't those beautiful bellies?

Can't wait for these new little ones to be here.

~Life is good!~

Splashes of Spring...

My own flowers aren't quite ready to bloom and I happened to have my camera with me at Fred Meyer this morning....

Spring color is everywhere! It is coming on in the budding trees in the neighborhoods and it's really hard not to ohhh and ahhh over all the Easter dresses in every store I go in. I rarely purchased new dresses for my own girls at Eastertime but the pull to get something for those "Grands" is almost too much to resist. But resist I must!

Courtney and her new wheels!

Courtney got a super cool bike for her birthday. I don't have a great picture of the whole thing but you can see that it is an awesome orange. Logan ordered fenders that Harlan put on it this week. It is a terrific set of wheels!

The Cat Whisperer

Rylan has had a way with animals for his whole life. Especially cats. He can find them all over the place. He would send me pictures of himself with dumpster cats in Korea. There are those that are dog people and then those that are cat people.

Rylan is one of the cat people. I got this picture from my blog archives of him and Cherise and his cat Sabre. Sabre was a love! He was one of the best cats ever. Of course he allowed Ry to hold him upside down or sideways and never made a peep or meow.

We currently have 3 cats. Two of them are sisters (Peanut Butter and Ninja) and have been pictured on my blog in the past. The other one, Chloe, was one we got from the pound. She is a skittish indoor/outdoor cat that is pretty much a loner that doesn't tolerate the other two.

That said... the other day Rylan walked into the dining room and I had to snap the above photo.

I don't know how he does it.... Chloe (on the right) acted like she had no clue that Peanut (on the left) was in the same room let alone immediately next to her.

I think it's because Rylan is a cat whisperer.

For my family that's sick of snow

a bit of spring...

Click on any photo and put it as your wallpaper. Spring is on it's way in spite of all the white and not so white anymore stuff that is around your houses.

Not many more blog posts before we have pictures of a new grandbaby! It's almost March!

Valentine's Day-tona and fun times

I took a picture of Krystle's new lunch bag.

Cute hey?

It's been a little more than a week since I last posted an update.

We've had some fun times....

Logan, Alyssa, and Rowan!

Rowan is so cute.... he loves rockin' with any sort of guitar.

He is so happy to have his dad back.

Logan isn't working out of town at this time. We are thrilled that he is home and will be able to be around for the birth of their little girl. Katelyn is due to arrive in a couple of weeks.

They have been able to be at our house for the past couple of week-ends.

Before they went home a week ago I was able to go with them as Logan got a haircut and Rowan did too.

Here are the before and after shots of Rowie.

Courtney's Weekend Outing

Courtney made plans to have a bunch of her friends go to the zoo with her. Nicole went with me as I drove up to re-new our family's zoo pass and the rest of the group came on the MAX train.

It was a bit chilly there but it looks like everyone was ready to hit the trails and have a good time.

Nicole couldn't stay but she is coming back this week to spend more time with us! I love having her around.

A couple of birds

The "kids" took so many pictures that it was hard to pare it down to just a couple. This "couple" looked like they were having a great time with their friends from the southern hemisphere.

"Gentlemen start your engines!"

The start of the Nascar season means we have to get together with the Zywickis to watch the race.

We had our first Nascar brunch last year for Talladega. This year we wanted to start the season with a brunch. Thomas is a most excellent omelette chef. He had such a spread of ingredients it was hard to decide what to choose.

My omelette had shrimp, green onion, mushroom and cheese.

Yum!

Happy Birthday Courtney! 18 years old!

Courtney loves tulips!

Our "baby girl" is an adult now. She is lovely woman and we are so proud of her. School is going well, she has a wonderful boyfriend and is making really good decisions all the way around. She got a GREAT bike from Logan and Alyssa, some clothes and other gifts.

All in all I think it was a fun weekend for her and it's not over... she is having a special dinner with Charles and his family tonight and tomorrow she has plans with Nicole to go to a movie & out to eat. The celebration continues....

Catching up with friends...

My friends Shela and Jan and I got together for lunch today.

I'm so happy that we did. I think fellowship is such an integral part of being a part of the church body.

Thanks for spearheading this time, Shela!

~I'm feeling very blessed to have you in my life~

Super Week and Weekend!

The week started out with a visit from Harlan's sister Naomi and her husband.

They stopped by to drop off a computer for Har to check out and left us with two loaves of her homemade bread.

It was picture perfect and tasted better!

Thanks Nomi!

We also got to go out to eat with them. We have to make a point of getting up to Goldendale and trying out their new sauna!

If that isn't a drawing card I don't know what is!

Aren't they cute together!

St Patties Day ... early

I found these shirts for Genevieve and Danika at the mall this week. I picked up a t-shirt for Wyatt to match. Joylynn happened to have on a white hoodie with a green accent so we got an almost complete family pic for St Patrick's Day. We'll have to photo shop Jess in and we'll be set.

Cousin!!!

When Sebastian was little he had a hard time keeping track of all of our kids. He knew they were all his cousins so he would come and our kids would exclaim "COUSIN!!!!" So we sometimes refer to that long ago time by repeating the phrase when we see him or his dad.

Weird .... I know.

Quilts o' the week

I finished a couple more quilts this week. The one on the left is actually prettier than it looks. The pink doesn't pop out nearly as much as the picture indicates. I like the one on the right too. It is going to be ideal (I hope) for the young lady I had in mind for it.

Roma

Harlan and I have a new grandniece. Her name is Roma and we got to meet her finally. She is the daughter of our niece Tiffany and her husband Jeff. They came to Portland for a visit to allow some of the family to meet their little dolly. I'm so happy for them. She is beautiful!

Congratulations, Jeff and Tiffany. You are doing a great job!

~Bless you and your little Roma~

Sons, grandsons....Daughters and granddaughters.

This past week I got my hair cut. I don't have any good photos of it but perhaps in the week ahead I'll manage to post one.

On Thursday we went to

Lacey, Washington

We stopped for a bite of lunch before we went to Logan and Alyssa's house.

I had my camera so I made Hayden and Cameron humor me.

They weren't super amused.

Rowan loves everything about nature and usually finds some sort of stick to pretend fight, a rock to throw or something to explore.

Goofy fun

Courtney was goofing around and put Rowan's hair up in a hair tie.

Have you found that sometimes little boys like to play with stuff like that? Especially if they have older sisters, aunties or mom's that mess with their hair and makeup.

Time to say good-bye

Rowie is so sweet! He always gives kisses and hugs when he is coming or going, nap time and bedtime.

Soon to be Momma of TWO!

Had to get a "belly" pic since Alyssa has about a month to go until she is due with Miss Katelyn.

Spent time with the local Grandkids

Wyatt is looking so much older these days and is learning so much in school. It is fun to listen to all that is going on in his life.

First and foremost he is the "Big" brother in his family.

Genevieve has all the personality traits of the oldest girl. Danika is the baby but not for too many more months.

Joylynn's 20 week ultrasound is this Wednesday.

Sure wish I could be with her to "peek". Some people (like me) really like to know what to be anticipating in the way of gender. Makes it easier to shop ahead of time.

Whatever that new baby is... boy or girl... I know it is going to be amazing.

Time spent with these guys always is.