Out and About

We started our journey on Friday night-the roads were clear and the sun was setting in our eyes. Jon took a great many fun road photos that I am not putting in the blog--there were a LOT! Trains, more windmills (the one below is amusing because it shows two types of technology in the same photo!), and cars of all kinds.



When we finally reached Portland, it was dark, but Jon was able to shoot an icon. Yup, the Portland sign with the deer. It used to be an advertisement for something, White Stag, I think it was. Now, it just heralds the Rose City. At Christmas they put a red nose on the deer, which is always great fun!

Saturday, we had some time before the wedding to visit the Trask River again. This first picture is of the 'dam hole', a great fishing spot!

We chatted for quite some time with friends at our old home and then took a nostalgic run to the park. Jon took photos of the paths and the place he used to play and capture tiny fish to hold in containers til it was time to go home.

I particularly miss the English Daisy flowers that grow wild on the coast. Here, in the east, we have violets in the grass. I adore and love violets, but wish we could have both! Jon picked me a flower and I saved it, hoping it will seed and spread lovely little English daisies all over the yard!

Although, there were some changes along the river, there were a great many things that have not changed one bit! This tree has grown quite a bit since we moved in 2007. We were glad to see it was still there with the strange weather everyone has had.

Webbed Ones

The Oregon Coast has a variety of winged creatures, but you just have to adore the antics of the gull. While we visited, I was sad because I remembered several bits of bread I had at home. While we lived in Tillamook, we always took bread to the beach and if we didn't have time to get to the beach, we tossed it out for the crows. I love crows!!!! Jon took all these pictures. I particularly like the surfing gulls!


This crow was investigating an old crab shell the gulls were playing with.



If anyone is familiar with The Rescuers, this bird in take off mode reminded us of the albatross the mice took as they launched off into adventures unknown.

This made us laugh, mostly because as a sentry bird, gulls are very good. They even deposit remarks on motorized vehicles that are obeying the sign!


Male Mallard ducks are so pretty. These were at Arlington and the first picture we dubbed, Ninja Duck!

Marching On

Ok, this is really strange. I have not put up a blog in ages and now it is all very wierd. First, these crocus from the start of March were not taken sideways! So, that is bizarre! I hope that when it gets published, they fix themselves!

On March 17, Jon earned his Life Scout rank. It was also a great party to say good bye to a man who has done Scoutmastering in the area for a long time. He may not do BSA stuff, but his love for the boys has taken many of them to places they never thought they could. Jon put together a neat little winter camping slide show to the tune of Summer in the City.

One of the things Jon wanted to do this month was play 'real' Monopoly--not the kid version we have that takes less than an hour to play. This one took us several days and we only stopped when I went bankrupt and Jon raked in the dough! One night Moses decided to help me. At least, we called it that!

Nana's birthday was fun. We still have not called her yet (there are still a couple days in March!) but we had cake and ice cream anyway! Jon blew out the candle on the cupcake for her...since she was at a concert with a friend AND not even in the same state!

I also made cookies..this one was sort of interesting as it had a smiling face on it! Jon did add one 'eye' as it appeared lopsided, but the rest of it was all baked in! Jon said it was delicious!

The day after spring break ended we got snow. It was not sticking hard, but it was sticking. Very droll as it was SUPPOSED to be after spring break! The poor daffydowndilly was not impressed and my read of The Secret Garden was much more fun than seeing my poor flowers get snowed upon!

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

Monday, the last day of January, we got a box addressed to Jon. It was full of goodies from Nana! A new brown snap up 'fancy' shirt, an itty bitty knife (Jon said it had to be small, it was a Gerber!) that was very cool, and a chocolate fish were among the treats. (it was a mixture of Christmas and Birthday stuff)

Jon's BDay just happened to also be the big half time show with the pipes and drums band at his school. So, we did NOT get to eat pizza and watch movies. However, when we got home Jon found this stuffed critter on the table. Yup, he finally got a turkey. He decided, after deliberations, to call him 'Phil'. The ammo was much appreciated also.

Saturday it was nice enough to head up to the mountains to go shooting. Jon took his camera and shot these critters. Can you believe how many elk there are up there??? Wish they had been around during the season! Jon also found this track. He is pretty sure it was a wolf track. They saw a LOT of elk that afternoon. It was like being in Tillamook!

Since it was pretty close to Jon's birthday, Saturday we had pizza and watched movies. We watched Ground Hog's Day since we had been busy on Wednesday and that is where the turkey got his name. If you are familiar with the movie, you remember that the prediction takes place on Gobbler's Knob by a rodent named Phil. And there you have it! We also had pizza and I made an ice cream cake for Jon. It was a bit more work than I thought it would be, but not bad at all. I did discover that it is not really a good choice for small families as it is not something that can go in lunches!

It is hard to believe this itty bitty 3 year old is now 17.

We love you, Jon-Jon!

Snow Scouts-one foot at a time

Books not to read before a snow camp: Into Thin Air. Jon's been reading this for English and snow and wind and cold toes were not good things to think about when experiencing it first foot!

They left on Friday night and it wasn't snowing....yet. It started snowing a bit after they tucked up in the tents and was still snowing when they came home on Sunday. Saturday, Jon's toes were pretty cold, but after rubbing them well, he was ready for a snow shoe hike.


Tents in the snow-just a little taste of home. And the boys thought they created a new snack, but if you visit 'Living the Travel Channel' you will see that Karla and Paul have already consumed beverages with noodles overseas!

Shoeing with Cameras-


It snowed for the entire hike, creating some really nifty snow shots!

A couple of the scouts took skis, but the majority were on shoes. Most of them went back after they reached a trail marker...but some continued on in the snow! (Jon was one of those)

Jon's cocoa was so hot it melted the frost around it. You can see how cold it was by the frost on the propane tank! More feet, resting after the hike.

Sunday the trees were beautiful, the snow was beautiful, but the boys were looking forward to warmth and dry toes.

Moses curled up next to the discarded shoes and socks on a thermal jacket liner when Jon got home. Jon curled up on the couch with a hamburger and polar fleece!

December!

December is over, but the memories are not! We had snow and no snow and then snow again. Of course, the snow that came while the kids were here ALSO arrived during our Christmas play. So, once again we had snow for the play. In spite of that, we had pretty good attendance.

Since we had some snow, Tony and Kym played in it. It was soft powdery stuff, but they made it work!

"it's not snowball snow...."


However, Tony's comment proved untrue as they tossed it all over the place.


Even inside the house-Welcome to all our friends!


The next day it was damp snow, perfect for a snowman and I made one. I did not get a photo of it earlier in the day, but by 9pm it was bent over in a goodbye bow! Yup, that snow lasted one weekend!


It all came back just after Christmas. A LOT of it. Poor Godfrey went from a thaw to being covered in fluff! We ended the year with a drop in temp that was not fun-in single digits!!!!!!

Snowvember Days

It is already December..and the weather is very much like it has been for the last few weeks. So, I'm going to post a few snow photos from LAST month. Just to get us caught up to December!

Godfrey was almost up to his knees. Thankfully, much of it has melted. Jon is our snowman!


Thanksgiving it was pretty snowy. The kids didn't get to come down and that was probably a good thing. We have continued to have snow and freezing fog!