Merry Christmas Everyone!!


Come to Bethlehem and see 
Him whose birth the angels sing;
Come adore on bended knee, 
Christ the Lord, the newborn king!


(Angels we have heard on high - 3rd verse)

Looks like Terry WILL be home for Christmas!!

Counting blessings

I have been counting my blessings this week - the main one being that Terry has been home and will be here for Thanksgiving. We have decided to have Thanksgiving at our house this year so I also get the blessing of having Terry do most of the cooking! He is a very good cook. We are enjoying each other's company and have done shopping and visiting friends and playing card games (I won 3 crump games in a row - a first for me) and watching TV together. The dogs have enjoyed having an extra lap to take naps on and extra snacks from dinner. We also are thanking the Lord for sustaining us through 28 years of marriage, giving us wonderful kids and grandkids and loving brothers, sisters and mothers and great friends.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Awesome Help

I received AWESOME help from TJ yesterday. He spent part of his Saturday helping me bring wood into the garage. I have a good supply inside now so won't have to get it out of the wood pile during bad weather. We worked 3 hours with one short break. It sure is great to have a grandson willing to help!! The money I paid him for the job didn't hurt either! We had a nice day together and topped it off with a late lunch at Dairy Queen.

Emergency plumbing training

Yesterday I was trying to blow out the sprinkler system. To do that, I had to take a cap off the pipe at the top of this other pipe (but it would not come off) so put all my weight into twisting the cap and all of a sudden I was DRENCHED from head to toe with COLD water. The pipe had broken off at the bottom of the "T" and water was gushing out of the pipe. Took me a few seconds to figure out what was going on and then how to shut the water off. Had to "dive" down into the gushing water to get the big red lever to turn to shut the water off and it was really tight so had to "dive" a couple more times before I got the water off. So, then had no water in the house. I am getting better about handling these mishaps because I did not cry!! I just assessed the damage and called Terry (who was on his way to Indiana) and asked him what to do to be able to get the water running to the house again. I sent these pictures to him (what would I do without cell phones?) I thought at first I would have to get brother Jim to come out to help me but with phone calls to Terry and Jim, I was able to find a cap to cover the break. It was harder to find the tools and plumbing things I needed than actually glueing the cap on. I waited 2 hours and then turned on the water and after 24 hours there is not even 1 drop of water leaking. It was a nerve-wracking way to get plumbing training!! Still need to figure out how to blow the sprinklers out and Terry will have his work cut out for him next sprink when he has to figure out how to hook the sprinkler pipe back up to the system since I really did a "good job" at breaking it!!

A year's work

After a year of working on this sweater (something I actually made for myself!!) it is finally done. I had to take certain spots out several times but with perserverance I finally got it done. Getting all those holes in the right place is harder work than I expected!!

Today - clear skies

Today we finally have some clear skies!! There have been several BIG forest fires in Central Oregon and the smoke from them hung all over the area for several days. You could not see the hills and mountains and could smell the smoke. I had to keep the windows closed so the smoke would not get into the house. It did provide some nice sunrises and sunsets though.

Nice surprise

Had a nice surprise when Terry's load from Edmonton, Canada took him through Prineville on his way to Santa Clara CA. I had to work Monday but he spent the day at home and mowed the lawn, finished weeding the front flower bed I had worked on all weekend, knocked down the weeds growing in the back yard and fixed dinner! He had to leave that night about 9:00 but we had a nice evening and it was so good to have some help with the chores. The dogs enjoyed having home too and got to do some extra "hunting" while Terry was doing the outside chores.

Ed

This past weekend we got together with Ed Rountree's family and friends for a Memorial golf tournament and dinner. Ed was one of our golfing buddies and a very, very special friend that became part of our family. We had a fun time at the tournament and the team I was on tied for first place (we had Terry and his brother Tim on the team). It was a "scramble" so I was able to contribute by making a few nice chips and a couple of long putts. Several of Ed's family flew in from back east and put on the dinner. It was a nice time to remember Ed who was always cheerful and had a wonderful laugh. He never met a stranger and was truly interested in everyone and everything. He will be GREATLY missed and we are thankful to the Lord for letting him be in our lives and hearts. He was 84 (I think).

40 years

This weekend we had our 40th class reunion for Redmond H.S. This time I got more involved and was part of the planning committee. I put all our information into a little database and created the lists, flyers, and name tags that we needed. It made it so much more fun to be involved and I made new friends with classmates I didn't know that well in school. One of my "jobs" was to hand out the name tags and so that way I got to talk to everyone at least once. I also "flitted" around taking pictures and talking to people. We had a Friday no-host get-together. We also had a float in the Deschutes County Fair parade and then Saturday we had a Saturday dinner and auction with items donated by classmates. Also had a raffle and I won 2 prizes - a lava lamp that I think is really cool (it does not take much to entertain me!) and a picnic cooler full of goodies. Here a few of the pictures -

Road trip pictures

On our road trip to Minnesota to see all the kids and grandkids, we went through Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Tetons and saw Mt. Rushmore. Here are a few of the better pictures. It was a great trip.

Snapshot memories

We had such a wonderful time visiting the kids in Minnesota and taking our road trip that it is hard to figure out which pictures to post. I have looked at them about a dozen times already so am just posting a few for now...

Seeing the babies

After a wonderful road trip from Prineville OR through Idaho, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Mt. Rushmore we have made it to Minnesota to see all the kids and grandkids and new twin grandsons. Here are pictures of the twins and the blankets, sweaters and booties. We are being spoiled by getting lots of hugs and snuggles and having fun with all the kids and grandkids. Tomorrow taking the big kids to a water park. Last night saw 4th of July fireworks. It is so fun being Grandma and Grandpa!

Getting stronger

Updated pictures of my newest grandbabies! The are getting stronger every day. Hope they get to come home soon. I am looking forward to our trip back east to see them. Counting the days!!

Praising God for each of our grandchildren
(13 of 'em).

More anniversary presents

Our identical twin grandsons were born on our anniversary June 17. Thomas Allen was 6 pounds even and born at 9:02 a.m. and Troy Alexander was 5 pounds 7 ounces born a minute later. By the providence of the Lord, Terry got a load to Anoka MN so he was able to help Eric with baby sitting duties. The babies are having little bit of breathing trouble but have only had to have the CPAP breathing machine a few times and spend overnight in NICU. Michelle and Eric have gotten to hold them a few times. Here are some of their first pictures.
Thomas and Troy

Anniversary presents

We are going to celebrate our anniversary on June 17th. Terry was home over Memorial Day weekend and brought early anniversary presents. We have enjoyed our 28 years together and hope to share many more!! Another awesome present expected to arrive on our special day is the birth of our identical twin grandsons!! Michelle's c-section is scheduled for June 17, since baby "B" (Troy) is breech and his umbilical cord is not in a good position for a natural birth. We are counting the days to their birth, our anniversary and then our planned vacation to go to MN and see all our grandkids (and kids) there. Terry's anniversary gift from me is that he gets to go too!!!
Some of the adventures Terry and I have had - driving straight through from Redmond to LA in a toyota tercel with 4 kids and a dog (Eric and Holly traded off sitting on my lap the entire 18 hour trip!). Taking kids to Disneyland, SeaWorld, Universal Studios, Knott's Berry Farm, Magic Mountain, Grand Canyon. Visiting Reno and Las Vegas multiple times. Going on cruises - Western Carribean once, Western Mexico - twice, Cabo San Lucas, JAPAN, Alaska, Minnesota, the Oregon beach, camping, fishing, Scuba Diving in the Bahama's, building a house. We have loved our wonderful kids (Holly, Kurt, Ryan, Eric and Amy) and grandkids (Lance, Liam, Shella May, Heaton, TJ, Skyler, Keon, Christi, Becca, Sam, Dan and soon Tom & Troy). Oh how we have been blessed by the Lord!

Broken toe and other things

Somehow Bogey has broken his toe!! Even the Vet did not know how he could do it. Now he has to wear a little cast for 3 1/2 weeks. He is starting to get used to it. When he walks on the linoleum it sounds like click, thunk, click, thunk.





Some other things that are going on is that I finally got a pepper off a plant I have been growing from two years. It was pretty small but tasted good.











Had a frustrating day and a half dealing with the mill's physical inventory. We borrowed 8 scanners from the mill in Idaho and only 3 worked at our facility. I worked several hours searching on the internet to find what settings needed changed and then another hour comparing settings between the one that worked and the one that didn't. Found nothing that would fix it so we did the inventory with only 3. Went to work at 4:30 this morning and didn't get home until 4 p.m. Long, long day.

Starting to get excited about heading back to Minnesota in July to see my grandkids - by then the twins should be born and I will be in full grandma mode for almost two weeks. I hope to fit in lots of baby holding and game playing (maybe they will let me win a few games this time!) This picture was taken a year ago. Time goes by too, too fast.

Easter Sunday

Today is EASTER - Jesus has RISEN!! Had a wonderful church service today about Jesus' resurrection being the first fruits of our own resurrection and is what gives us true life here on earth now and the promised life of eternal joy in heaven. Terry's Mom joined me in church today. We went to Chan's for a nice lunch and then I headed home. It was typical Central Oregon Easter weather - rainy, cold, and windy. Since Easter is sometimes even in different months of the year, you would think the weather would cooperate sometimes. But truely, it is rare to have a warm sun shiny day. However, it turned out to be a perfect day for the dogs to chew on their bones and for me to take a nap!!!

Signs of spring

It was a beautiful day today and got up to 70 degrees!! Terry was in Portland OR this morning and sent me a picture of the wonderful daffodils in the Willamette Valley. Later I took a walk and found these 2 crocuses blooming in our back yard. You can see that the High Desert of Central Oregon is significantly behind the Valley in the race for Spring, but the crocuses give us hope. Unfortunately, another storm is coming tomorrow - on a Saturday - which is so typical of our area.

Eastern Oregon drive

It is a 5 hour drive between Prineville and Ontario via Burns. Most people think the drive is flat, straight and boring. But I don't think so. On the drive over I saw 3 bald eagles, a flock of snow geese and a rabbit. Many times I see deer and antelope and once in a while a coyote. Here are some pictures of the drive.

Kid-sitting

I am kid-sitting our 3 Oregon grandsons this weekend. They are spending the night tonight at Gramma's house and tomorrow night I will be at their house. We had fun playing a new board game - Richard Scarry's Busy Town and playing video games. Keon was able to keep up with the older boys pretty well. We had scrambled eggs and ham for dinner and toast. It was delicious and they all ate good. No fights all evening and the little ones went to bed without a fuss. Gramma spoiled them and let them stay up an extra hour and read Dr. Suess' Red Fish Blue Fish to them. It was a very nice evening. Bogey and Birdie were busy keeping track of all 4 of us so now are taking a much needed "pre-bedtime" nap. James and Amy are at a retreat until Sunday afternoon.

Mini-vacation

Terry and I had a mini-vacation (which was really just a long weekend). We traveled to Reno for some much needed R&R. The roads from Silver Lake, Lakeview and Alturas were packed snow and sometimes slushy. We stopped in Lakeview to have lunch with Aunt Marcie & Uncle Glen. The slushy roads made the snow and ice cake up under the tire rims and it got so thick we heard it grinding when we made a turn so stopped and tried to knock it off. It was extremely hard but we were able to get enough off so it wouldn't grind. After we got to Reno, it took two days for it to finally melt. We stayed at the Nugget and I found a John Wayne penny machine that was pretty fun and I won some on it. We also played Pai Gow Poker and I even tried Let It Ride Poker. I like Pai Gow better. Terry got a royal flush in Pai Gow but as usual I was not playing when he got it, so I missed seeing it (I did get to spend some of the money later though!!)
Terry also made some points with me by taking me to see the Nevada State Museum in Carson City but it was his good luck and my bad luck that the Museum was closed on Mondays. Oh well, he tried!! So he gets credit for that. Another nice thing about the trip - I did not worry about work this time, since our plant is now using the corporate software system I am not the sole support, and so there are other people that can help if someone gets stuck on something. Quite a different feeling after being the only one that knew our old system. So, for the last 6 1/2 years even when I was on vacation I still had my work laptop with me and checked e-mails and got phone calls. This time I did not have to "stay in touch" so it was quite a refreshing change.

Happy Birthday Terry!

Today is Terry's birthday. He is out on the road so all he gets is this picture of his birthday presents. And a trip to Reno at the end of the month. (I get to go too!!)

We have had snow three days this week:

2" Tuesday

3" Wednesday

1" Today

It melted each day so has not accumulated. Not very impressive compared to what the kids get in Minnesota and Alaska get!!!