Birthday/Baby Blessings

I am doing my official birthday blog of Hayden and a later date. After I get photos put together. However, he did turn 15 yesterday. We were not able to spend the day with him because we were summoned to travel to LaGrande.... for a very good reason.

This is what Hayden wanted for his birthday. A new cell phone. Notice the time we were presenting it to him? Yup, before 6:30 in the morning.

Hayden was a good sport about it all.

Harlan and I were off to meet...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HENRY!

About 1 hour old he is letting me know that he wants his Mom and her provision.

Harlan stayed away from the house during labor and delivery but he was back and ready to meet his newest grandson.

He is the boy of a million grimaces, grins and other goofy faces at this point. He is a real content little guy.

Welcome Henry! We are glad you are here!

Find us faithful

A couple of women that were such a integral part of my early life as a mom and wife and I have reconnected.
Facebook is amazing! I wonder how many other people are reestablishing friendships and just reaching out via that "social network".

Paula, Karen and I got together for coffee this a.m. .... almost 4 hours later we had learned a lot about each other and things that we are going through and have gone through.
I came away realizing that my affection for these women has never gone away.
"A friend's a friend forever if the the Lord's the Lord of them"
How true!

I also am amazed that in the 78 combined years of mothering we've collectively done for our total of 17 children, we have not lost our vision and dedication to those kids and our calling.
This Steve Green song "Find Us Faithful" came to mind and I sang it on my way home.

the chorus is:
"Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful"

I thank God for faithful friends.

Birthday weekend

I know the weekend isn't over and there are plenty of photo ops to come but here are a couple that I'd like to post.

Cameron is 11 years old!!!!

I think he had a good day.
He chose where he wanted to have his "one on two" birthday meal out with Harlan and I. He decided on Chang's Mongolian Grill.

There is a similar place up by Logan and Alyssa's that Cam really likes so this was a great choice.

He wanted a birthday pie. It's a little difficult to get candles supported in pie crust but we managed to do it.

This was during the singing so it's not super great of anyone but the birthday boy himself.



Logan, Alyssa and Rowan had to head back tonight. We were pleasantly surprised to have some friends stop by with there darling little girl.

Rowan is a little over a month older than Ophelia. They posed for a picture on the swing.

Ophelia knows why her Daddy has those big chops... so she has a good handhold to plant a kiss on him.
Thanks for stopping by Michael, Sarah, and Ophelia. Do come again.

While Logan and Lyssa were tiring Max out by having him do laps in the house. Rowan wanted to take a walk with Gramma.

Here he is just strolling down the evening sidewalk with his bare feet and his fish.

Courtney waved goodbye from her perch up in the dieing maple tree. It will be sad if we lose that tree. It is great for climbing and has a matching tree on the other side of the yard.

Just leaving with this picture from a week ago Sunday after our Starbucks run. Logan and Alyssa put their drinks on the Subaru to be able to get Rowan in the car and again say goodbye to all of us. So everybody joined in and turned the vehicle into the ultimate drink carrier.

Yum!

Another week....another birthday. Happy Birthday Cam!

Didn't want the day to get away from me before officially blogging a

Happy Birthday to Cameron!

11 years old!

Huzzah!!!

I'll edit this tomorrow after I upload pictures and do an official b'day recognition.

Until then...

Hope you had a great day.

Doing fine at 29!

29 years ago today Harlan and I became parents of an amazing little boy that has turned into an amazing man. We are so glad God entrusted us with rearing him.

He has been joined by 5 sisters and two brothers but he was the start of this great clan that has now grown to include another generation.
Here are four members of the 2nd generation of the Harlan Hilman family.


We had a nice family party.

We missed Krystle, Kiel and Cherise and Bob, Lalita and Simon though.

Ry isn't much for cakes or pies so we give him a birthday watermelon.

Alyssa commented that he turned 29 in 2009. Notice the two zeros in the cantaloupe?

I know weird...

Danika is the only female member of our branch of the family to have an August birthday. All 3 uncles, cousins Simon and soon to arrive, Henry all have August b'days.

Danika will be 2 years old on the 29th.

She and Genevieve watch Uncle Rylan open his presents.

I'm closing this post by showing you the quilt I made for him. It turned out really nice and understated just like he likes.

I recommended he make a list of things he wants to do or see before he turns 30.

Any suggestions?

Happy Birthday Ry!

Birthday season is soon upon us... in the meantime

I have been very neglectful of my blog.
I have also not taken near as many pictures as I usually do.
But I do have a few from the past couple of weeks to share.

Joylynn's kids have been coming over to our house a couple of days a week when she is working. Wyatt is notorious for bringing some sort of toy or treasure along with him.
Last week it was a back pocket full of crayons.
He was "Rainbow Man".
I am always amazed at what is going on in his head.

Last Sunday we got to go to celebrate the birthday of one of Cam's buddies.
Levi Markham turned 13.

Here are a couple of cool guys. Levi (13) and (Cam almost 11).


The "kids" got here earlier than usual yesterday so we were able to take them to the free movie at the mall.
We spent a couple extra hours there afterwards to avoid the extreme heat of the day.

Genevieve enjoying her pretzel.

Danika enjoying her pop.

We took them to the children's section of Barnes and Noble.

Wyatt quickly found a book about one of his favorite shows "Yo Gabba Gabba"

Genevieve still enjoys Dora.

Hayden showed Danika a book that had different textures featured on each page.


After the mall we came home and got into swimming suits and headed for the "Water Park", at least that is what Wyatt and Genevieve call it.
It's our local park and there is a water play area... thus waterpark.

Last but not least...
It's back to school time. Hayden's curriculum came in the day before yesterday and Cam is scheduled to get his tomorrow.
Too bad we can't use some of this stuck in the house avoiding 106 degree temperatures to get a head start on the year.
Alas we cannot.

There is one subject per carton.

I think this is going to be a favorite.

I'm sure we will appreciate it when it comes to insuring this young driver a year from now.

Stay cool. Stay in school. & Swim in a pool.
or something....

Thirty years of marriage... or Har & Tam's Big Adventure!

Thirty years ago today we started on a journey together. We are still having fun, thank God! Our anniversary was spent exploring an area of town we rarely get to so it was like going away on a bit of a vacation.

We went out for breakfast and then spent a some time at Clackamas Town Center. I used to really dislike that mall and Har really liked it so I decided it would be a good thing to go there together today. Marriage is like that sometimes. We do things together even if one of the people isn't super enthusiastic.

We walked the mall and went to a movie in their theater and spent some money (notice the new pearls around my neck?). It was surprisingly nice there today. We didn't have crowds to fight and their new addition is really well done. It was like being in a totally new place.

We did some more exploring and had van related adventures. Fun stuff.
Dinner at the Olive Garden was lovely as was coffee and dessert at the Reinlander.

Here are a few pictures we took today.

Beautiful landscaping...

Stopping on the road to Caver.

I love this picture.

Produce purchase.

We have been to Rocky Butte many times to sit in the van and eat lunch together...
but this is the first time we walked up to the park at the top.
It was a beautiful day even though it was a bit hazy.

I took dozens of pics of vegetation...

Bougainvillea climbing a fence.

We had daisies at our wedding.

Our day couldn't have been nicer. We are now home and will kick back and watch a bit of television and "hatch and plan" for the next decade.

Fourth of July weekend

We got to spend a 6 day holiday week with Lyssa and Logan and Rowan in Lacey, Washington.

Of course when in Lacey you must go to Norma's for a burger.

It is one of the most patriotic restaurants I've been to.

They support our troops all the way.

Hayden orders the "John Wayne 'Duke' Burger"

Yes that is a slab of ham on there.

What would the 4th be without watermelon...

We picked a good sweet one.

The rest of the week was filled with good food and fun times. Here is a peek at some of it...

They have the coolest wading pool. It is great for kids and adults.

The water was chilly. Straight from the cold hose faucet.

Rowan still had to do chores even when company was there. Here he is washing Dad's car.

He is such a great helper.

The guys getting the tribal fire going.

The girls sun and shade batheing.

Logan and Alyssa have set up a place to practice archery. It is very cool and right up Harlan's alley. Wish we had a big yard for him to be able to shoot his bow.

He used to shoot quite a bit when Rylan was a little guy and we had a huge yard in Aloha.

Nice grouping...

He's not all that rusty after 27 years.

Our vehicles have been giving us nothing but problems.
The car intermittently refuses to start. It happened a week before we drove up and happened again while we were there.

Logan trying to persuade it to start.

We ended up leaving it up there and driving Logan's rig down. They got the car started yesterday and brought it back to us. It is a real puzzle.
We have to get it out of it's temperamental mood. We have a baby arriving in the next few weeks that we want to go and see.

Adventures and more adventures to come.