Phil 4:19

Ministry by the Body

When trials come it's such a comfort to have friends that step in to provide in practical ways.

THANK YOU and BLESS YOU for the yummy meals.

Big Sister Helpers

It is obvious that Garrett is adored by his siblings. Grampa got Garrett's cradle finished and assembled and the girls were providing the rocking assistance.

The Aunt Invasion

Courtney took Genevieve for the day and took her to Charlie's house and then to a bridal shower. Krystle took charge of Danika. They walked down to the mall and rode the bus back. That was a BIG DEAL for a little girl.

Genevieve came back from her time with Aunty Coco all bright eyed and glowing from the one on one attention.

Wyatt spent the afternoon with the Uncles pulling weeds. Not the most exciting thing but he did get some fresh air.

...the invasion continues...

Aunty/Grandma/Godmother Cousins

Special visit by Joylynn's godmothers, our nieces, Janette and Maila. It was Maila's first time meeting Garrett as she lives in California. Janette got to see him for the second time.

The girls were especially happy to have someone to "chalk" with. Janette is very creative.

Two on two time

Courtney jumped in and took Wyatt and Genevieve this morning so we were left with the two little ones. Danika was disappointed to not be going with the big kids so I asked her if she wanted to go for a walk with Grampa and Gramma. She was all for that. Lacking a sling, front pack or carrier for Garrett I improvised a carrier by layering an extremely stretchy top over my tanktop and VOILA... I was one of the new trendy "moms" who wear their babies in this type of carrier.

on the other side of the state on this weekend,

Henry turned 11 months old

Henry is getting so big! He turned 11 months on the 17th. Exactly 15 years ago on that day we had pictures taken of Hayden for his "official" 11 month photograph in Anchorage, AK. So far each and every one of our kids an grandkids have had pictures taken on the day they turned 11 months. Thank you, Cherise for keeping the tradition.

We are learning a lot these days. But nothing as important as this:

"In everything give thanks."

31 years of Wedded US!

I have been serenaded by this song for years and it's still true.

"I hear the cottonwoods whisp'rin' above

Tammy! Tammy! Tammy's in love

The ole hootie owl hootie-hoo's to the dove

Tammy! Tammy! Tammy's in love

Does my darling feel what I feel

When he comes near

My heart beats so joyfully

You'd think that he could hear

Wish I knew if he knew what I'm dreaming of

Tammy! Tammy! Tammy's in love"

Today on our mini anniversary trip I found this cottonwood flower pod. We see the cotton floating all over the area especially near the river but I have not gotten to see the flowers before.

Heading out of P-town

I love this picture of us. I think we are still cute together. I like the copper heart up in the corner of this photo. Yup we may have met in Minnesota but the Copper Country is where it all really started.

Our travel plans this week were for a drive up to Goldendale and a leisurely scenic drive back home.

Our B&B for the night

Our hosts for the evening, Naomi and Mike! We have been wanting to get up to see them in their new location. We finally made it.

They have a right pretty little homestead. A nice yard and out buildings too.

In the back portion of the garage they have put a sauna in. It may not be totally finished but it is totally functional!

Harlan and I enjoyed our first sauna since we were in Michigan 6 summers ago. Makes us anxious to get going on the plans for our own.

Mike and Naomi have quite a few Finnish touches in their dressing room and steam room.

If you haven't had a real sauna bath experience you can't believe how clean you feel afterward. I told Naomi that after I got out I couldn't even talk dirty!

Journey back to Portland -

First stop Centerville

I took a few pictures of familiar scenes from our early marriage. Mt Adams (left) was something we could see from the folks' living room window every time we visited. The wheat field on the right reminds me of all the drives out to Centerville to church.

We drove by the church too. It has been there forever and was such a huge part of Harlan's childhood and our early married life. The current congregants have done a wonderful job of renovation and landscaping. It is beautiful and serene.

The Dalles Mountain Road

Naomi encouraged us to take The Dalles Mountain Rd over the hills from Centerville. I wish my camera could give a better representation of the vastness of the landscapes up there. The picture above shows Mt Adams and Mt Ranier.

I took a shot of Mt Hood with Mt Jefferson as well but preferred to display this one of the Columbia, The Dalles and

Mt Hood instead.

True sage green and growing before it matures and becomes a tumbleweed right out of the old west.

I'm sure all of the vegetation we saw and the rocks themselves have not changed a whole lot since this was untamed land.

It's easy to imagine what it was like back then when you come upon wagons like this one and see crosses on hilltops notice craggy cliffs with scrub brush hiding who knows what type of critter. As we crossed the river, I glanced back and saw a couple of fishing platforms. The Native

Americans have used platforms, such as these, since they lived along this river hundreds of years ago.

We have never driven on the old scenic highway along the gorge.

So we remedied that today. We stopped at many touristy places and took our sweet time. We didn't do any hiking this time. Just wanted to see what was there.

We saw Horsetail Falls, Wahkeena Falls and Multnomah Falls. If we were dressed for hiking we would have gotten to see Bridal Veil Falls as well. Perhaps next time.

There are miles of beautiful stonework through out this area.

This bridge is at Horsetail Falls.

This is Vista House. We have been here before but at the time we couldn't go inside. It was renovated in 2004 and is simply lovely.

We went out on the balcony to look around.

The pictures do not do it justice.

It wasn't super windy or hot today so it was an enjoyable visit there. We walked through the gallery on the lower level and did something I've wanted to do for years... we bought 2 coffee mugs that were made by our former brother-in-law, Dan Stevens.

We took 5 hours getting back to town. We went out to a movie and then on to Gustav's for dinner. It was a perfect ending to a very relaxing day. We have a few things that we'd like to accomplish in the year ahead and there isn't anyone else I'd like to be planning and working along side than Har.

It was a good couple of days of celebration. Thirty-one years and we're looking forward to more!

Running around town

I had several places to go this week. One of the first was to drop Krystle off down at Bridgeport Village Shopping Center. We took the opportunity to spend a bit of time shopping there as well. There was an outdoor concert in the center courtyard but it was 95 degrees that day and it felt hotter in the sun so we didn't stay. It seemed like a foreign country to us that are used to our little corner of NE Portland.

Babies in Black and White

We got to spend a brief few minutes out at Joylynn's place. I got to hold Garrett almost the whole time and of course I had to take a couple of pictures.

Danika (left), Genevieve (right), and Wyatt & Garrett (below)

Aunty Coco got to buckle the little boy into his carseat.

He is getting to be such a cutie bug!

Brief stop at the river

The boys and I went with Rylan to Costco to get his eyes examined and order new glasses. We were on our way home along Marine Drive and I decided to stop. They climbed down the hill and threw rocks in the river.

I am amazed at how different their hair is. Rylan has a bit of a wave to his and he's getting more gray in that dark brown each year, Hayden has hair very like my Dad's was, though it's brown and Cam still has straight and light brown hair. Genetics are fascinating.

Mt Hood was out and lovely.

I love this little area near the Sea Scout Base.

It was quite a steep climb down and back up.

Only in St Johns...

I know a lot of people have chickens like these neighbors of the Domina's. But we saw this goat just standing on the sidewalk on the side of the road with no people in the area. I hope it found it's way home!

With all this urban livestock no wonder Farmville is such a popular thing. Or do you think it's the other way around?

FRIENDS!

I'm glad that Nathaniel's summer stint as a camp photographer lets him come home on weekends. It had been too long since Hayden got to hang out with a friend.

Nathaniel's family got a new laptop this weekend and an iPod Touch. Har and I got each other an early anniversary gift... an iPad.

I LOVE IT!

Would a post be complete without a flower picture?

Debbie's hydrangeas are so beautiful!

Next update: our 31st anniversary!