My Pioneer Girls

Today our church celebrated 'Pioneer Day' by having the annual Pioneer Picnic.

 Andrea and her girls really got into the spirit of it this year and dressed the part.

 They girls enjoyed riding in a hand cart like the ones the "Mormon Pioneers' used to come cross country to Utah.

 

They also enjoyed getting their faces painted. You can't see Kaitlyn's painting very well on her cheek, but it is of a rainbow above clouds. Ally was transformed into a butterfly. The day was beautiful...not too hot or too cool....about as perfect as you could ask for. The girls enjoyed barbecued hamburgers/hotdogs, watermelon, elephant ears and sno-cones. It was a fun event.

Smelling Good!

When Nathan's girls were here spending the night, we harvested the lavender in the back yard. I told them that I would make some sachets for them to put in their dresser drawers. I have been working on them off and on. Last night, Andrea's girls came over and helped fill them as I made the bags and then closed them up.

Today I finished off the unfinished ones by putting little ribbon bows on the fronts. Andrea's girls took their sachets home with them last night. I will put the ones for Nathan's girls in the mail on Wednesday. Emily will get hers when I see her in a couple of weeks. My girls will be smelling good!

Oooooo Yum!

As anybody who has followed this blog knows, I enjoy canning season. I have made it my goal to try new things each year. This year I decided to tweak our family blueberry syrup recipe for canning. I managed to do my first batch this morning as an experiment....I foresee another batch in the near future. Yummy!

Vacation Ends

First of all, we couldn't have ordered better weather for the last two weeks. For each day we had something fun schduled to do with the kids it turned out be a beautiful day. This last Wednesday we went to the beach. We browsed the shops and then spent a couple of hours on the beach while the kids played and we had a picnic lunch. The only thing about that day which could have been better is that the wind was a bit much and a bit on the cool side....but one could still go without a jacket. It just made for a very sandy experience with sand flying everywhere. Nathan's girls were with us yesterday and late night. Grandpa took them to the 'Car's' movie and then we all went to Red Robin to eat. After our meal we shared a slice of mud pie, as the girls had never had that before. We came home for a while. The girls wanted to watch 'Penelope'. So they did and then played on the little carts we have here at the house. In the evening we took them to a new park not far from here. They loved it. It has things to play on they had never seen before. Before bed, the girls helped me harvest some lavender in the back yard. I told them that I am going to dry it and then will make them some sachets for their dresser drawers which I will send to them soon. It was sad to see them all go today, as we realized we wouldn't be seeing the kids again before they leave to go back to Virginia. It broke my heart as the girls expressed how they didn't want to go and then had tears as they got into the car and left. I have to admit....it was all I could do to hold back my own emotions until after they were gone. I just pray that they will have the same wonderful memories of all the fun that I personally will cherish. Ksenya, Crystal and Kylie, we love you!

4th of July

  We have lived here in the area since 1976 and in this house since 2003. We are within walking distant to a rodeo, yet we have never gone to it. this year we decided it would be fun to go on the 4th of July. It was a beautiful day in the 80's with a nice breeze. We also thought it would be another great new experience for the granddaughters to enjoy. Four of the girls seemed to enjoy it, but our dear Kylie was asking when it would be over. It wasn't her thing. She was a trooper, though. She only asked once and sat there without complaining.I really enjoyed the patriotic moments with the many different special flags flown.

We had reserved seats that had a great view of all the activity. The rodeo clown had a ball he would throw into the crowd. Andrea caught it one of the times. I enjoyed going, but have to admit that I really don't have the desire to go again. There is so much time between each event that it is hard to feel very excited about it.

The moments that do have excitement are such fleeting moments that they are easy to miss.

Mt. Hood Adventure Park

Last Friday we made a trip up to Mt. Hood with Nathan and his family and Andrea and her family. None of us had ever been down the Alpine Slides or had even been on chair lifts. We all had fun racing down the tracks on the little carts. I found myself in full throttle...even in the curves! Wheeeee, grandma had fun! :-)

After we were done on the slides and ate lunch, we decided to take the granddaughters up to Timberline Lodge. This was the view from the parking lot. It was a gorgeous day!

 Looking outward, you could see Mt. Jefferson to the south.

 The girls had fun throwing snowballs in the warmth of summer sun.

 At the Adventure Park, the girls enjoyed riding the ponies.

The two older girls enjoyed riding the Indy cars with their dads.

Over all it was a great day with several first time experiences for not only the girls, but the adults, too. We did have a very weird thing happen. when we took the girls to the children's 2 story playhouse, The girls went to take off their shoes and my daughter-in-law, Christine was going to sit down when she noticed a machete leaning against the wall behind  a bench about 6 to 8 ft. from the entrance! How scary is that!!! Over all, we were not impressed with the Adventure park for the kids, although the girls did have some fun there. The best part of the day was the slides.....We will have to do that again!

Grandma Has A Little Elf

 One afternoon while Mya and Brennan were taking their naps, I happened to go into the living room and find that Mya had decided to add some color to the decor.

This morning I decided to add a half of a banana to my instant breakfast drink. I opened the cupboard door to get the blender out and discovered that Mya had already filling the blender with some building blocks.

I love finding the little surprises she leaves behind. It puts a huge smile on my face.