This week has been filled with the usual Christmas things. We did some last minute shopping and then stayed home away from the crowds. A few weeks ago Joyce and I "bought" a goat and a rabbit in Kenya in Josiah's and Lilly's names. These are animals that are given to villagers to raise for breeding, milking, and raising more of the same for (don't tell Lilly) eating (i.e. rabbits). There are quite a few organizations that do this -- some, in some countries, have a wide variety of animals. We went through Free Methodist Missions for ours... er, Josiah's and Lilly's, I mean. Okay, so we did this. Now, how do we communicate to a 3 year old and 6 year old what really happened and what it means? We found a small plush goat and rabbit at some company online so we ordered these for the kids. Then I wrote a story about a boy and girl in Kenya who got a goat and rabbit from "the missionary lady" so they could help their family with income. I printed this into a nice little booklet with pictures, a map of Africa with Kenya highlighted, and a flag of Kenya to color. We gave all of this to the kids on Monday. We read the story and explained what it all meant. Then we had a Kenyan dinner. I'm not sure about the authenticity of the dinner but I got it online from a "Kenyan recipes" website. I picked the easy ones. The main course was mashed potatoes mixed with pureed peas (the result was green potatoes) and kernel corn. Then some meat is cut into thin strips, fried and mixed with a gravy. This is poured over the potatoes for a meal. The dessert was "ice cream" made from mangos and whipping cream, then frozen, and finally topped with a pineapple-brandy concoction. It really wasn't too bad. The kids "helped" make all this -- as much as they could. We had a good discussion about Kenya, that some people there are very poor and probably didn't even have as much to eat as we did. We also bought a can of goat's milk for everyone to try a sip. But, alas, we forgot to bring it out so it still awaits our eager (???) paletes. Maybe we'll try it tonight.
Christmas eve we went to one of Korak's brother's apartments over in Covina. All his immediate family were there except for one brother who lives in Portland. All the cousins enjoy playing with each other. There were probably 30 people in the house. He had a simple meal ready for us and then the family opened gifts. They had exchanged names so everyone had a gift and no felt like they needed to buy everyone a gift (a very expensive proposition). It was fun but it was 1:00 before we got back home and to bed. These old eyelids don't do night shifts like they used to!
Our Christmas morning was a slow, laid back time with the kids enjoying a big pile of Santa's favors. Sure didn't look like we're in a recession to me. Between two sets of grandparents, their own parents, a neighbor lady, and friends at church they did pretty well. That evening we all went to see "The Tale of Despereaux" -- an animated movie about an unmouse-like mouse.
Remember those pumpkins with the kid's names carved in them (pictures back around the end of October)? Well, we carted them down to LA so the kids could see them up close and personal. After we cracked them open, Josiah and I dug out the seeds for roasting. The roasting didn't go very well. The seeds were big and old... and I roasted them too long. They had a good taste but the chewing residue was kind of woody. We did salvage some of the pumpkin itself and I made two pies out of it. They really tasted good but were kind of ugly -- too thin and not cooked evenly.
Sunday we did church at Marina Christian Fellowship, then went out to eat at Islands. It is an Hawaiian flavor type restaurant -- mostly hamburgers, chicken burgers, and salads. Very good food and lots of fun. In the evening Jana, the kids, and I drove over to Pasadena to attend the FM church there. It is being re-created under the leadership of the Marina church. There were not very many people present but we had a good Bible study.
And now I sit in a dentist's office waiting for Jana. She was having a tooth problem so they are seeing what needs to be done. Trust you had a very good Christmas and will enjoy a happy new year.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Happy Birthday to Me
What a great week this has been. Last Tuesday we traveled from the "real strange" RV Park in San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles -- and got to see Josiah and Lilly. Our plan was to store the RV at the Marina Church where Jana and Korak attend and live in their back room. But the area where we would store the RV is rented out to the school district so we couldn't get in there until Saturday morning. So we camped at Dockweiler RV Park near Playa Del Rey -- about 6 miles from the kid's house -- until Saturday. So this what we did. The RV is now at the church and we are Korak and Jana's.
But we had what I call a "typical" welcome to LA Tuesday night at Dockweiler's. We watched a program on TV, turned it off at 11:00 and went to bed. I had just drifted off to sleep when Joyce woke me up, "Gene, there are police out here." I looked out the window and decided to get dressed. Right outside our RV was a fire truck, an ambulance, and enough police to hold a convention. I went outside and they wouldn't tell anything but wanted to know if I had heard any noises. Answer: just the lady next to us slamming the door to her RV a couple times. The police were very interested in a car parked in front of an RV two spots down from ours. I noticed they were working with someone in the ambulance, then drove away. We went back to bed and finally asleep. A couple days later I found out a man committed suicide (or tried to; he was barely alive when the ambulance took him away).
Thursday was my birthday. Ginger and Jana gave me a gift certificate to a day spa. I didn't even know men went to those things. This was in downtown Santa Monica -- what I would consider rather plush. It included a 25-minute massage, and as much time as I wanted in the hot tub, steam room, sauna, relaxation room and shower. I stayed there about 4 hours. They had white robes to wear around, cold wash cloths by the hot tub, lots of towels, bananas and apples to eat, magazines to read, and no one to hurry you along. It was a very good time. While I was in the area I walked down to Borders and bought a map book I wanted, and then had lunch at Barney's Beanery on the 3rd Street Promenade. Great birthday.
Wednesday was Josiah's school program -- pictures and a brief description are on the following blog. Friday evening was his and Lilly's Awana program. They attend at a nearby Baptist church. Today we attended worship at Marina Christian Fellowship. In fact, I went to both services (does that make up for not going to church last Sunday?) I went with Korak to the first service then Jana, Joyce and kids came to the second service so I stayed for that also. After, we went to Soup Plantation for lunch. This is my favorite restaurant. All they have are salads and soups (plus some breads). Great place.
A word about the weather. While the rest of country is digging out of snow banks, we are enjoying nice sunny weather. In Ginger's part of Oregon, they are having snow and ice. In the Grants Pass area it also snow -- but not as much. I think we got out of town just in time. But the temperature here is cold -- maybe I better say, cool. In the 50s which is cool for southern California. However, tomorrow it is supposed to rain and then rain again on Christmas. So, enjoy your white Christmas while we enjoy our wet one. Merry Christmas everyone.
But we had what I call a "typical" welcome to LA Tuesday night at Dockweiler's. We watched a program on TV, turned it off at 11:00 and went to bed. I had just drifted off to sleep when Joyce woke me up, "Gene, there are police out here." I looked out the window and decided to get dressed. Right outside our RV was a fire truck, an ambulance, and enough police to hold a convention. I went outside and they wouldn't tell anything but wanted to know if I had heard any noises. Answer: just the lady next to us slamming the door to her RV a couple times. The police were very interested in a car parked in front of an RV two spots down from ours. I noticed they were working with someone in the ambulance, then drove away. We went back to bed and finally asleep. A couple days later I found out a man committed suicide (or tried to; he was barely alive when the ambulance took him away).
Thursday was my birthday. Ginger and Jana gave me a gift certificate to a day spa. I didn't even know men went to those things. This was in downtown Santa Monica -- what I would consider rather plush. It included a 25-minute massage, and as much time as I wanted in the hot tub, steam room, sauna, relaxation room and shower. I stayed there about 4 hours. They had white robes to wear around, cold wash cloths by the hot tub, lots of towels, bananas and apples to eat, magazines to read, and no one to hurry you along. It was a very good time. While I was in the area I walked down to Borders and bought a map book I wanted, and then had lunch at Barney's Beanery on the 3rd Street Promenade. Great birthday.
Wednesday was Josiah's school program -- pictures and a brief description are on the following blog. Friday evening was his and Lilly's Awana program. They attend at a nearby Baptist church. Today we attended worship at Marina Christian Fellowship. In fact, I went to both services (does that make up for not going to church last Sunday?) I went with Korak to the first service then Jana, Joyce and kids came to the second service so I stayed for that also. After, we went to Soup Plantation for lunch. This is my favorite restaurant. All they have are salads and soups (plus some breads). Great place.
A word about the weather. While the rest of country is digging out of snow banks, we are enjoying nice sunny weather. In Ginger's part of Oregon, they are having snow and ice. In the Grants Pass area it also snow -- but not as much. I think we got out of town just in time. But the temperature here is cold -- maybe I better say, cool. In the 50s which is cool for southern California. However, tomorrow it is supposed to rain and then rain again on Christmas. So, enjoy your white Christmas while we enjoy our wet one. Merry Christmas everyone.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Pictures
Here are the pictures I promised. My internet connection is still having trouble with pictures so I'm using Jana's high speed. This is our campground in the trees up in the redwoods the first night out.
I mentioned we went to the Charley Brown/Peanuts/Charles Schultz museum in Santa Rosa. The next two pictures are taken there. The background behind me is made up of a jillion tiny Peanuts comic strips.
.JPG)
I had to put in one picture of Josiah's "Winter Holiday Program" (as they call it). Actually it was pretty good but terribly unorganized. It included the entire school -- pre-kindergarten through 5th grade. Each grade performed two or three songs. There was a mix of Christian Christmas carols, secular Christmas carols, Hanukkah songs, Kwanza songs, and a non-holiday song (for those who don't believe in holidays, I guess). This is a dance song Josiah was in. He is the 2nd white shirt from the left (in case you couldn't tell!!!!!)
Sunday, December 14, 2008
...Go
Why is it that there is so much left to do at the last minute? But after 2 days of frantically doing the "Ready, Set" stuff we were able to do the "Go" at 11:15 Wednesday morning. For those who do not know the area or don't have a map, we went southwest out of Grants Pass on hiway 199 into California. Just north of Crescent City we hit hiway 101 and have followed it all the way (except for a little bit in San Francisco). We didn't make it as far as we thought we might the first night. It was getting dark and we were tired so we pulled off when we saw a sign indicating an RV Park. It was in Myers Flat along the south fork of the Eel River. We were the only ones in the park. Very quiet.
The next day we made it to Santa Rosa and stayed in the Sonoma County Fairgrounds RV Park. It is simply a big gravel lot with spaces and hookups. The next morning, we visited the Charles Schultz/Peanuts Museum. It is located there because that is where he lived last, had a studio, an ice skating rink, and a cafe.
All of this was in cool but sunny weather. A giant cold front was moving down from Alaska and slowly overtaking us. (There was a dusting in snow in Grants Pass today. We got out just in time!). As we entered San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge, the clouds were beginning to move in. I decided to "go straight" through town on hiway 1 (for most of the way it is 19th Street) instead of jostling the traffic on the Freeway. It was really very easy. Straight through town, a short drive on I-280 into South San Francisco, exit at Hickey Street, go downhill and right into Treasure Island RV Park. We stayed there two nights.
Saturday we rode BART (a commuter train system) over to the east bay to visit our friends George and Edie. George and I were in the Navy together and later he and Joyce were in the same church when she attended school in San Francisco. We had a great lunch and visit, then rode BART back. It goes under the bay in giant tubes that were constructed and then sunk to be in the right place. I have always wanted to ride the system, so here was my chance. It was about an hour ride each way. My reaction: a very efficient method of transportation, but noisy. The wheels, rails, motors, something make a zillion different high pitched sounds.
This morning we left about 10:00 and headed south on hiway 101. We had to do our own church because there wasn't one around we could walk to. I didn't drop the trailer so we couldn't drive to one. This wasn't my first choice but we have not missed attending church very many times in the last two years. We are now at Avila Hot Springs "Resort" in San Luis Obispo. It is mostly little manufactured home-type cabins; the RV park part of it is about 6 small dirt spaces, hard to get into. In fact, the whole place is hard to get an RV into. We'll probably stay here two nights and soak in the hot mineral waters.
Speaking of hot, it ain't!!! Instead of having temps in the 70s we now have temps in the low 50s. This cold front is supposed to last most of the week -- with no predictions after that. Thus we are welcomed to "sunny" southern California. Oh well, grandkids will warm it up.
Pictures? For some reason (probably my internet connection here) I can't upload pictures. I'll try again when we get to LA so check about Wednesday.
The next day we made it to Santa Rosa and stayed in the Sonoma County Fairgrounds RV Park. It is simply a big gravel lot with spaces and hookups. The next morning, we visited the Charles Schultz/Peanuts Museum. It is located there because that is where he lived last, had a studio, an ice skating rink, and a cafe.
All of this was in cool but sunny weather. A giant cold front was moving down from Alaska and slowly overtaking us. (There was a dusting in snow in Grants Pass today. We got out just in time!). As we entered San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge, the clouds were beginning to move in. I decided to "go straight" through town on hiway 1 (for most of the way it is 19th Street) instead of jostling the traffic on the Freeway. It was really very easy. Straight through town, a short drive on I-280 into South San Francisco, exit at Hickey Street, go downhill and right into Treasure Island RV Park. We stayed there two nights.
Saturday we rode BART (a commuter train system) over to the east bay to visit our friends George and Edie. George and I were in the Navy together and later he and Joyce were in the same church when she attended school in San Francisco. We had a great lunch and visit, then rode BART back. It goes under the bay in giant tubes that were constructed and then sunk to be in the right place. I have always wanted to ride the system, so here was my chance. It was about an hour ride each way. My reaction: a very efficient method of transportation, but noisy. The wheels, rails, motors, something make a zillion different high pitched sounds.
This morning we left about 10:00 and headed south on hiway 101. We had to do our own church because there wasn't one around we could walk to. I didn't drop the trailer so we couldn't drive to one. This wasn't my first choice but we have not missed attending church very many times in the last two years. We are now at Avila Hot Springs "Resort" in San Luis Obispo. It is mostly little manufactured home-type cabins; the RV park part of it is about 6 small dirt spaces, hard to get into. In fact, the whole place is hard to get an RV into. We'll probably stay here two nights and soak in the hot mineral waters.
Speaking of hot, it ain't!!! Instead of having temps in the 70s we now have temps in the low 50s. This cold front is supposed to last most of the week -- with no predictions after that. Thus we are welcomed to "sunny" southern California. Oh well, grandkids will warm it up.
Pictures? For some reason (probably my internet connection here) I can't upload pictures. I'll try again when we get to LA so check about Wednesday.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Ready, Set...
The Israelites left Egypt with less than 24 hours notice. And they were gone 40 years. Why does it take us so long to leave town for only a few months? Too much stuff, me thinks. All this week we have focused on getting the RV packed, chores done, ourselves ready, other stuff finished, miscellaneous accomplished, and this and that taken care of. We're almost there. We will leave this week and drive down Highway 101 -- We've seen I-5. Lots of times!
Wednesday we helped at Kids Klub with a craft. We had lots of frames so we took pictures of the kids. While I was printing pictures, Joyce was directing the kids in decorating the frames. These will be Christmas presents for their parents.
I concluded the last blog by mentioning a dental appointment. Actually it was for a checkup and cleaning. He did a very thorough checkup and told me I am diseased. I have periodontal disease! The word "disease" makes me feel like I have aids or cirrhosis of the liver or terminal athlete's foot or something like that. Of course he can fix it -- for a price. Just pay lots of money and they will do root scaling and checking and on and on. Whatever I decide to do, it will have to wait until we get back from our sojourn south. Any advice? Have you had this done?
Today we worshipped at Jerome Prairie Bible Church again. Pastor James asked me to do the Communion meditation. I think he would like to see us settle in there. After church "we" went to JJ North's for lunch. The "we" being the Lakers, Fiskes, Curpheys and us. It was a great time of fellowship (sorry, Sue. No pictures). This is part of the group who used to attend Allen Creek.
I'll blog next week if I can. Depends on where we are and if we have internet access. Love ya.
---
With a saddened heart I am adding a PS to this blog. One of our church missionaries, Ryan Bartlett was killed in a traffic accident in Malawi on December 2. A link to his blog has always been to the right of this blog. His wife, Katie, just added a note telling about Ryan and the accident. Even though he and I were not close, I felt like I knew him and considered him a friend. He and Katie were one of the missionary families supported by the Oregon Conference and they visited our church in Newport. Ryan and I were in email contact only two days prior to his death. A memorial service will be held for him in Medford but it will happen when we are in Los Angeles. I grieve for him but especially for Katie and their 3 girls, for the wonderful missionary work he was doing in Africa, and for the many friends he leaves behind in that Malawi.
Wednesday we helped at Kids Klub with a craft. We had lots of frames so we took pictures of the kids. While I was printing pictures, Joyce was directing the kids in decorating the frames. These will be Christmas presents for their parents.
I concluded the last blog by mentioning a dental appointment. Actually it was for a checkup and cleaning. He did a very thorough checkup and told me I am diseased. I have periodontal disease! The word "disease" makes me feel like I have aids or cirrhosis of the liver or terminal athlete's foot or something like that. Of course he can fix it -- for a price. Just pay lots of money and they will do root scaling and checking and on and on. Whatever I decide to do, it will have to wait until we get back from our sojourn south. Any advice? Have you had this done?
Today we worshipped at Jerome Prairie Bible Church again. Pastor James asked me to do the Communion meditation. I think he would like to see us settle in there. After church "we" went to JJ North's for lunch. The "we" being the Lakers, Fiskes, Curpheys and us. It was a great time of fellowship (sorry, Sue. No pictures). This is part of the group who used to attend Allen Creek.
I'll blog next week if I can. Depends on where we are and if we have internet access. Love ya.
---
With a saddened heart I am adding a PS to this blog. One of our church missionaries, Ryan Bartlett was killed in a traffic accident in Malawi on December 2. A link to his blog has always been to the right of this blog. His wife, Katie, just added a note telling about Ryan and the accident. Even though he and I were not close, I felt like I knew him and considered him a friend. He and Katie were one of the missionary families supported by the Oregon Conference and they visited our church in Newport. Ryan and I were in email contact only two days prior to his death. A memorial service will be held for him in Medford but it will happen when we are in Los Angeles. I grieve for him but especially for Katie and their 3 girls, for the wonderful missionary work he was doing in Africa, and for the many friends he leaves behind in that Malawi.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
An Interesting Week
It has indeed been an interesting Thanksgiving week. But let us regress for a moment. The opinion poll registered a stunning 5 responses. I asked how many blessings would you have if you could count all of them. One person checked the 100 to 1000 catagory. Two people indicated 1000 to 10,000 blessings. And two people felt they would count more than 10,000. Interesting. Not very scientific but it does remind us that we have a LOT of blessings for which to be thankful.
The week began with Joyce and I in Salem. Monday, we worked in the Conference office because the secretary was on vacation. We answered phones, I worked on some things for the MEG Board, and Joyce worked on some crafty things. On Tuesday, I was involved in a MEG Board meeting and a planning session with the Superintendent while Joyce stayed in the office and answered phones.
Then there was Wednesday. That's the day Joyce and I put up Ginger's new backsplash. Actually it is the backsplash behind the countertop in her kitchen. You know what I mean. She wanted to have marble or something exotic but two problems with that... 1) the wall is simple paneling -- too much give and backerboard would be a problem; and 2) too expensive. So she settled on vinyl flooring. She picked a nice pattern that looks like small pebbles. It sort of goes with her Tuscany theme. Joyce and I glued it up with contact cement because I was afraid regular vinyl glue wouldn't hold on the wall while it was drying. Well... we got it up okay and it looks good but next time I'll use vinyl glue.
We enjoyed a great Thanksgiving day with Ginger -- and watching football. Ginger cooked a delicious turkey with the usual trimmings. Oh, I better mention that Joyce helped. I helped eat it. In the afternoon we put together a new TV table, then moved Ginger's TV and DVD out of one of those old, tall entertainment cabinets. We also moved her computer into the living room. These are both good moves for her. The room looks friendlier and she is not confined to a tiny, dark room when she does her computer stuff.
You know what Friday was, right? Get up early and hit the sales. I went to Staples and Office Depot; Joyce and Ginger went to Shopco and the Craft Warehouse. Then... get this... Joyce and I drove home, hooked up the RV and went camping. Yes, we did! Mike and Joann wanted to take their new RV on a shakedown cruise and wanted us to go with them. We only traveled about 15 miles to a nice little campground near Hugo. It was fun and I helped them work out a couple kinks and everything is great. Saturday, we played with our new generators. I found out mine will power the microwave, a space heater, the TV, and the refrigerator -- not all at once. It was too cold to get the condenser in the air conditioner to kick in but it did run the fan and heat strip. Sunday we attended worship at North Valley Assemply of God where Joyce and I went a few weeks ago.
The University of Oregon/Oregon State football game started at 4:00 Saturday. For those of you not in know, this is THE rivalry of the year in this area. And this year Oregon State was headed to the Rose Bowl IF they could beat Oregon. Big If. Oregon was determined to dash those hopes. It was only broadcast on a cable TV channel and a local radio station. We didn't have cable at the campground (serious oversight). So I resigned myself to listen to it on radio. Oregon was winning but near the end of the first half, the radio station had to switch to a lower power for the night. All I could get was static and few words of footballese. I determined to head for a sports bar where they had a big TV and Mike said he would go with me. So we headed to Grants Pass. Guess where we ended up? Back home! Yep, we decided to just drive to my house and watch it in the comfort (and cold) of our house. I'm a die hard Oregon fan but I wanted to see Oregon State go to the Rose Bowl so I had mixed emotions as the game progressed. You probably know that Oregon won -- big.
Well, back home Sunday afternoon we got ready for company. Our friends, Loren and Sylvia, who used to be missionaries in Hong Kong and now retired live in Newberg. They stopped to spend the night with us on their way home from visiting family in California. In fact, they arrived while I was writing this blog so it is being finished Monday evening.
And I believe it is finished. The blog, I mean. This promises to be a quieter week. Just things like dental appointments. Oh boy. Love ya.
The week began with Joyce and I in Salem. Monday, we worked in the Conference office because the secretary was on vacation. We answered phones, I worked on some things for the MEG Board, and Joyce worked on some crafty things. On Tuesday, I was involved in a MEG Board meeting and a planning session with the Superintendent while Joyce stayed in the office and answered phones.
Then there was Wednesday. That's the day Joyce and I put up Ginger's new backsplash. Actually it is the backsplash behind the countertop in her kitchen. You know what I mean. She wanted to have marble or something exotic but two problems with that... 1) the wall is simple paneling -- too much give and backerboard would be a problem; and 2) too expensive. So she settled on vinyl flooring. She picked a nice pattern that looks like small pebbles. It sort of goes with her Tuscany theme. Joyce and I glued it up with contact cement because I was afraid regular vinyl glue wouldn't hold on the wall while it was drying. Well... we got it up okay and it looks good but next time I'll use vinyl glue.
We enjoyed a great Thanksgiving day with Ginger -- and watching football. Ginger cooked a delicious turkey with the usual trimmings. Oh, I better mention that Joyce helped. I helped eat it. In the afternoon we put together a new TV table, then moved Ginger's TV and DVD out of one of those old, tall entertainment cabinets. We also moved her computer into the living room. These are both good moves for her. The room looks friendlier and she is not confined to a tiny, dark room when she does her computer stuff.
You know what Friday was, right? Get up early and hit the sales. I went to Staples and Office Depot; Joyce and Ginger went to Shopco and the Craft Warehouse. Then... get this... Joyce and I drove home, hooked up the RV and went camping. Yes, we did! Mike and Joann wanted to take their new RV on a shakedown cruise and wanted us to go with them. We only traveled about 15 miles to a nice little campground near Hugo. It was fun and I helped them work out a couple kinks and everything is great. Saturday, we played with our new generators. I found out mine will power the microwave, a space heater, the TV, and the refrigerator -- not all at once. It was too cold to get the condenser in the air conditioner to kick in but it did run the fan and heat strip. Sunday we attended worship at North Valley Assemply of God where Joyce and I went a few weeks ago.
The University of Oregon/Oregon State football game started at 4:00 Saturday. For those of you not in know, this is THE rivalry of the year in this area. And this year Oregon State was headed to the Rose Bowl IF they could beat Oregon. Big If. Oregon was determined to dash those hopes. It was only broadcast on a cable TV channel and a local radio station. We didn't have cable at the campground (serious oversight). So I resigned myself to listen to it on radio. Oregon was winning but near the end of the first half, the radio station had to switch to a lower power for the night. All I could get was static and few words of footballese. I determined to head for a sports bar where they had a big TV and Mike said he would go with me. So we headed to Grants Pass. Guess where we ended up? Back home! Yep, we decided to just drive to my house and watch it in the comfort (and cold) of our house. I'm a die hard Oregon fan but I wanted to see Oregon State go to the Rose Bowl so I had mixed emotions as the game progressed. You probably know that Oregon won -- big.
Well, back home Sunday afternoon we got ready for company. Our friends, Loren and Sylvia, who used to be missionaries in Hong Kong and now retired live in Newberg. They stopped to spend the night with us on their way home from visiting family in California. In fact, they arrived while I was writing this blog so it is being finished Monday evening.
And I believe it is finished. The blog, I mean. This promises to be a quieter week. Just things like dental appointments. Oh boy. Love ya.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Thanksgiving Thankfulness
Matt Lauer got me thinking. You know... Matt Lauer on NBC. A few mornings ago I heard him report that people were preparing for Thanksgiving but they didn't have much to be thankful for. "Oh really?" I thought. We -- being the American people -- have nothing to be thankful for? Let's consider...
Yes, the economy has tanked, lots of people are out of work, banks and businesses are going bust, people are losing their stock market-invested retirements, their homes are being foreclosed on, and the immediate future looks more sour than sunny. Yes, these are bad things. And especially bad if you are one of the people directly effected. I'm not minimizing the personal impact. But let's look for something to be thankful for -- bad sentence, try again. Let's look for something for which to be thankful.
1) We don't live in Haiti. Devastated by a series of hurricanes the island nation is barely recovering. Just a couple months ago, people were still living outdoors or on the roofs of their houses because of the depth of mud brought in by floods. Food is scarce. Josette Sheeran, head of the World Food Programme said, "the misery index is rising daily and this will require a massive effort to help people stave off hunger and save lives."
2) We don't live in particular countries and in certain parts of other countries where people are being killed because they dare to be Christians. As examples: India, China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Somalia, and the list goes on and on. Freedom of religion is even suppressed in parts of Mexico.
3) Be thankful you don't live in the Democratic Republic of Congo where rebel fighting has driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and killed many innocent people.
4) Be thankful you DO live in the USA. We just elected a new president (whether he is your choice or not) without any shots being fired or anyone losing his life.
5) Be thankful you can worship -- or not worship -- any way you choose.
6) Be thankful you have something to eat. Consider: 923 million people across the world are hungry. Are you? Everyday, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes -- one every 5 seconds. Any of them yours? (I'm eating peanuts while I write this).
7) I'm guessing you have a car to drive -- even if fuel was -- WAS -- over $4.00 per gallon. Be thankful for that old clunker. (I saw gas for less than $2.00/gallon today. Never thought I'd see that again in my lifetime).
8) And you probably have someplace to live. I know there are homeless people right in the community where you live. As a side note, we attended worship at Emmaus Community Church in Salem, Oregon today. It is a Free Methodist church plant. It's not very large yet but one of their ministries is feeding the homeless in a nearby park. Be thankful you either have a home or have someone who makes food available to you.
9) Be thankful for friends and family and health. Yes, you DO have these. Even if it's not many or not much, it's a blessing and it's more than many in the world have. Take health for example. Even if yours isn't very good, your "poor" health would be much more miserable and possibility fatal by now if you lived in many places in the world.
10) You have a computer so you can read this blog -- and do all those other wonderful computer things. Isn't that something to be thankful for?
Please understand... I don't mean we should simply be grateful we are who we are and live where we live. If we stop there we are not much better than the man Jesus spoke of who said, "Thank God I'm not like this other man" (he was not on Jesus' good-guy list). So here is one more thing to be thankful for. Be thankful you have the capacity and the means to do something kind for someone else. You can get very involved to help end world hunger (at one extreme) or you can simply bless someone else with a smile, gift, or deed.
You do have something -- many things to be thankful for. There is a hymn that we used to sing around thanksgiving time. It has this line, "count your many blessings; name them one by one." I dare you to try. I don't think you can list all your blessings. Even you are in Matt Lauer's focus group. It comes down to this: be thankful this thanksgiving; you have lots of blessings to count -- whoever you are. (take the poll on the right -- let's see how it turns out).
Right now I'm thankful we are in Salem at Ginger's house. I have a MEG Board meeting Tuesday, Joyce and I will help in the Conference office Monday (and Joyce on Tuesday), then we'll spend Thanksgiving day with Ginger.
Here's one more blessing for you count: I care about you.
Yes, the economy has tanked, lots of people are out of work, banks and businesses are going bust, people are losing their stock market-invested retirements, their homes are being foreclosed on, and the immediate future looks more sour than sunny. Yes, these are bad things. And especially bad if you are one of the people directly effected. I'm not minimizing the personal impact. But let's look for something to be thankful for -- bad sentence, try again. Let's look for something for which to be thankful.
1) We don't live in Haiti. Devastated by a series of hurricanes the island nation is barely recovering. Just a couple months ago, people were still living outdoors or on the roofs of their houses because of the depth of mud brought in by floods. Food is scarce. Josette Sheeran, head of the World Food Programme said, "the misery index is rising daily and this will require a massive effort to help people stave off hunger and save lives."
2) We don't live in particular countries and in certain parts of other countries where people are being killed because they dare to be Christians. As examples: India, China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Somalia, and the list goes on and on. Freedom of religion is even suppressed in parts of Mexico.
3) Be thankful you don't live in the Democratic Republic of Congo where rebel fighting has driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and killed many innocent people.
4) Be thankful you DO live in the USA. We just elected a new president (whether he is your choice or not) without any shots being fired or anyone losing his life.
5) Be thankful you can worship -- or not worship -- any way you choose.
6) Be thankful you have something to eat. Consider: 923 million people across the world are hungry. Are you? Everyday, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes -- one every 5 seconds. Any of them yours? (I'm eating peanuts while I write this).
7) I'm guessing you have a car to drive -- even if fuel was -- WAS -- over $4.00 per gallon. Be thankful for that old clunker. (I saw gas for less than $2.00/gallon today. Never thought I'd see that again in my lifetime).
8) And you probably have someplace to live. I know there are homeless people right in the community where you live. As a side note, we attended worship at Emmaus Community Church in Salem, Oregon today. It is a Free Methodist church plant. It's not very large yet but one of their ministries is feeding the homeless in a nearby park. Be thankful you either have a home or have someone who makes food available to you.
9) Be thankful for friends and family and health. Yes, you DO have these. Even if it's not many or not much, it's a blessing and it's more than many in the world have. Take health for example. Even if yours isn't very good, your "poor" health would be much more miserable and possibility fatal by now if you lived in many places in the world.
10) You have a computer so you can read this blog -- and do all those other wonderful computer things. Isn't that something to be thankful for?
Please understand... I don't mean we should simply be grateful we are who we are and live where we live. If we stop there we are not much better than the man Jesus spoke of who said, "Thank God I'm not like this other man" (he was not on Jesus' good-guy list). So here is one more thing to be thankful for. Be thankful you have the capacity and the means to do something kind for someone else. You can get very involved to help end world hunger (at one extreme) or you can simply bless someone else with a smile, gift, or deed.
You do have something -- many things to be thankful for. There is a hymn that we used to sing around thanksgiving time. It has this line, "count your many blessings; name them one by one." I dare you to try. I don't think you can list all your blessings. Even you are in Matt Lauer's focus group. It comes down to this: be thankful this thanksgiving; you have lots of blessings to count -- whoever you are. (take the poll on the right -- let's see how it turns out).
Right now I'm thankful we are in Salem at Ginger's house. I have a MEG Board meeting Tuesday, Joyce and I will help in the Conference office Monday (and Joyce on Tuesday), then we'll spend Thanksgiving day with Ginger.
Here's one more blessing for you count: I care about you.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
How Do I Label This Week?
What is a better word than "boring"? I would say this was a boring week except that is not quite the right word because it's been a long time since I've been bored. My thesaurus in MSWord suggests I might use "lackluster." No, that sounds... well, boring. Maybe "unexciting." No, that's not right either -- it's too... unexciting. Maybe "Dull"? "Uninspiring"? "Uninteresting"? Nope. None of them are right. I think I'll choose "humdrum."
This has been a humdrum week. I have done things like odd jobs around the house, writing a check for the property taxes, and taking the drapes to the dry cleaners. Come to think of it, that was kind of exciting since they hadn't been cleaned since we put them up 16 years ago (I suppose I shouldn't confess that). We took them down at 7:30 a.m., picked them up late afternoon and had them hanging again before evening.
Hey, maybe this was exciting. On Tuesday I made zucchini soup. Notice I said "I." I'm trying to use up zucchini but this recipe didn't use very much. It was good, though. On Wednesday I made apple butter with some apples Joann gave us. Turned out pretty good, too. It was a recipe out of Joyce's Splenda cookbook. Then I helped Joyce make banana bread. Thursday we made zucchini bread. That is really, really good. So... me in the kitchen 3 days in one week. I guess that's kind of exciting -- in a gastronomical kind of way. Probably we'll make more zucchini bread next week to use up all the grated stuff we have in the freezer.
Friday night I took Joyce on a date. That's sort of exciting. We went to see "Madagascar: Escape to Africa." I even bought her popcorn (we sneaked ((snuck?)) our own soda in). We were sitting there before the movie started and a guy walked by, did a double take, stopped and asked us where our kids were. I calmly told him they were in LA. Oh... speaking of taking Joyce places. I took her to a tavern today. Now that should rank up there on the excite scale. We went to worship at the only church in Wolf Creek (about 15 miles north of Grants Pass). It is a Christian and Missionary Alliance church and I know the pastor from our days of praying together with other area pastors. After church we went to the Wolf Creek Tavern for lunch. However, they recently changed the name to "Inn." To sanitize it, I think. It is an old historic building dating back to the middle 1800s. It was a stage stop with food and rooms to rent (and strong drink to imbibe in). Thus the name "tavern." It is owned by the State of Oregon now and leased to someone to manage. Some of the better known guests have been Clark Gable, Mary Pickford, Jack London, Carole Lombard, Fredrick March, and President Hayes (sorry, I haven't stayed there yet!).
After lunch we stopped at the Applegate Trail Museum in Sunny Valley and then went to see the covered bridge. As many times as we have driven past (it is visible from I-5) this is the first time we have visited. It is a good representation of the Applegate Trail -- it's rigors and limited success. The area is historic in the early settlement of Oregon.
One other thing I did was get Joyce a new phone. Now she can send and receive pictures. Same number. I'm not sure what they will cost us so don't submerge us with photos. But a few would be nice.
So that's my humdrum week. Good for getting lazy, putting on weight, and staying happy. Hope you have some humdrum weeks, too.
This has been a humdrum week. I have done things like odd jobs around the house, writing a check for the property taxes, and taking the drapes to the dry cleaners. Come to think of it, that was kind of exciting since they hadn't been cleaned since we put them up 16 years ago (I suppose I shouldn't confess that). We took them down at 7:30 a.m., picked them up late afternoon and had them hanging again before evening.
Hey, maybe this was exciting. On Tuesday I made zucchini soup. Notice I said "I." I'm trying to use up zucchini but this recipe didn't use very much. It was good, though. On Wednesday I made apple butter with some apples Joann gave us. Turned out pretty good, too. It was a recipe out of Joyce's Splenda cookbook. Then I helped Joyce make banana bread. Thursday we made zucchini bread. That is really, really good. So... me in the kitchen 3 days in one week. I guess that's kind of exciting -- in a gastronomical kind of way. Probably we'll make more zucchini bread next week to use up all the grated stuff we have in the freezer.
Friday night I took Joyce on a date. That's sort of exciting. We went to see "Madagascar: Escape to Africa." I even bought her popcorn (we sneaked ((snuck?)) our own soda in). We were sitting there before the movie started and a guy walked by, did a double take, stopped and asked us where our kids were. I calmly told him they were in LA. Oh... speaking of taking Joyce places. I took her to a tavern today. Now that should rank up there on the excite scale. We went to worship at the only church in Wolf Creek (about 15 miles north of Grants Pass). It is a Christian and Missionary Alliance church and I know the pastor from our days of praying together with other area pastors. After church we went to the Wolf Creek Tavern for lunch. However, they recently changed the name to "Inn." To sanitize it, I think. It is an old historic building dating back to the middle 1800s. It was a stage stop with food and rooms to rent (and strong drink to imbibe in). Thus the name "tavern." It is owned by the State of Oregon now and leased to someone to manage. Some of the better known guests have been Clark Gable, Mary Pickford, Jack London, Carole Lombard, Fredrick March, and President Hayes (sorry, I haven't stayed there yet!).
After lunch we stopped at the Applegate Trail Museum in Sunny Valley and then went to see the covered bridge. As many times as we have driven past (it is visible from I-5) this is the first time we have visited. It is a good representation of the Applegate Trail -- it's rigors and limited success. The area is historic in the early settlement of Oregon.
One other thing I did was get Joyce a new phone. Now she can send and receive pictures. Same number. I'm not sure what they will cost us so don't submerge us with photos. But a few would be nice.
So that's my humdrum week. Good for getting lazy, putting on weight, and staying happy. Hope you have some humdrum weeks, too.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Phoenix Was Great
I think I'm becoming addicted to warm weather. The temp in Phoenix was about 80 -- really nice. The only thing... I was in meetings most of the time. This was for Ministerial Education and Guidance Board leaders from 8 conferences our Bishop is responsible for. There was a lot of good discussion and information -- and planning. We will change the way we are doing things in the Oregon Conference.
I woke up early Monday morning so I got up, showered, dressed, checked a few last minute things and decided I might as well leave. My flight was to leave at 7:25 and I got to the airport at 5:30. You do NOT have to be 2 hours early at the Medford airport but I wasn't sure where to go. They are building a new terminal and the long term parking is far away from the present terminal. It was raining a little and I expected to be drenched by the time I found the shelter of the correct building. I parked, shouldered my bag and took about 10 steps when the shuttle bus approached. I didn't know they had one! She took my right to the door -- I was the only passenger. It took about 1 1/2 minutes to get my ticket and there I stood with an hour and a half until flight time. So I bought a muffin and a cup of coffee and took looooots of time eating. Finally I decided to go through security and then set and read a book I brought. It took about 3 minutes to go through security. You can see why I say, "you do not have to be 2 hours early at the Medford airport." So I read until they made the announcement that our flight was delayed because of weather problems at San Francisco. No problem, I had a 2 hour layover in San Fran. More book reading. Finally we boarded, took off, had a great flight -- if you can call a 2-engine turbo prop vibrator a good flight. I kept wondering how many hours one of those things can fly without the vibration popping all the rivets.
But we made San Francisco okay. On the way we had a beautiful view of the angel's side of the clouds. I didn't see any angels but the clouds looked so fluffy it seemed like a person could just step out of the airplane and bounce around on a fluffy playground. In one place I could look ahead and see a chasm coming. When the plane flew over, it was an elongated crater in the top side of the clouds. It didn't extend to the ground -- just a deep pocket with steep sides going down into the cloud formation. Really strange. When we landed, I hiked to the next concourse to get my flight to Phoenix -- only to be informed it was delayed. Something about a computer in the plane not functioning. So instead of leaving at 10:55 we left at 1:30. Nice lunch at Burger King. More book reading. Finally, it was time to board but we didn't board. More plane trouble. Another 20 minute delay and we were off to Phoenix -- wondering if they had fixed the problem.
I was supposed to arrive in Phoenix about an hour ahead of our superintendent and another guy from Oregon. Instead, I arrived about 1 1/2 after them. They waited patiently and we made it to the first dinner and meeting on time. Tuesday was a full day with a group dinner. After, the superintendent, Dave, and I visited Ken and Sally who have a "snowbird" house in the Phoenix area. They are from Eugene and we all know them. Since Tuesday was election day, we were at Ken and Sally's when Obama was declared the winner.
The flight home was more routine -- almost. I still had to go through San Francisco -- with a 4-hour layover. So I ate dinner, waked around, and read more book. I was scheduled to get into Medford about 9:30. We boarded another one of those little 2-engine vibrators and the pilot said, "welcome to flight (whatever it was) to Medford. We are overweight and need to people to take the later flight." I volunteered. I figured late was late so a couple more hours couldn't hurt anything. And I got a free flight voucher for it. Anywhere United flies in the continental US. I'll probably use it in February to fly up for a Board meeting. But maybe not. We'll see.
I sold my pickup canopy. When I bought this pickup it came with a nice canopy. But of course, I can't use the canopy with a fifth wheel so it has been sitting beside the house waiting for me to decide to either use it or sell it. Sell it won out. I put an add in the Nickel and two people called. One guy bought it.
Yesterday, Joyce and I attended worship at Jerome Prairie. Then, all afternoon we were in a meeting teaching us to be marriage mentors. We had previously taken the Prepare/Enrich marriage survey. I had used the Prepare part the last few years in pre-marital counseling. But this was the first time I (we) had taken or used the Enrich part -- for married people. It was quite interesting. We are still compatible. No big problems. During the training we practiced on another couple and they practiced on us. The other couple is the pastor at Jerome Prairie. It was a lot of fun as well as informative. We did all this, so we can help mentor other couples when we return next spring -- if we decide to and are needed.
Well... fall has fallen. Or maybe winter has won. At least our nice weather seems to be over. It didn't rain today but has most days and is supposed to for the foreseeable future. Our high temps in the daytime are in the high 40s or low 50s. Brrrr. I'm ready to head south.
But not yet. Got things to do, so better get at it.
I woke up early Monday morning so I got up, showered, dressed, checked a few last minute things and decided I might as well leave. My flight was to leave at 7:25 and I got to the airport at 5:30. You do NOT have to be 2 hours early at the Medford airport but I wasn't sure where to go. They are building a new terminal and the long term parking is far away from the present terminal. It was raining a little and I expected to be drenched by the time I found the shelter of the correct building. I parked, shouldered my bag and took about 10 steps when the shuttle bus approached. I didn't know they had one! She took my right to the door -- I was the only passenger. It took about 1 1/2 minutes to get my ticket and there I stood with an hour and a half until flight time. So I bought a muffin and a cup of coffee and took looooots of time eating. Finally I decided to go through security and then set and read a book I brought. It took about 3 minutes to go through security. You can see why I say, "you do not have to be 2 hours early at the Medford airport." So I read until they made the announcement that our flight was delayed because of weather problems at San Francisco. No problem, I had a 2 hour layover in San Fran. More book reading. Finally we boarded, took off, had a great flight -- if you can call a 2-engine turbo prop vibrator a good flight. I kept wondering how many hours one of those things can fly without the vibration popping all the rivets.
But we made San Francisco okay. On the way we had a beautiful view of the angel's side of the clouds. I didn't see any angels but the clouds looked so fluffy it seemed like a person could just step out of the airplane and bounce around on a fluffy playground. In one place I could look ahead and see a chasm coming. When the plane flew over, it was an elongated crater in the top side of the clouds. It didn't extend to the ground -- just a deep pocket with steep sides going down into the cloud formation. Really strange. When we landed, I hiked to the next concourse to get my flight to Phoenix -- only to be informed it was delayed. Something about a computer in the plane not functioning. So instead of leaving at 10:55 we left at 1:30. Nice lunch at Burger King. More book reading. Finally, it was time to board but we didn't board. More plane trouble. Another 20 minute delay and we were off to Phoenix -- wondering if they had fixed the problem.
I was supposed to arrive in Phoenix about an hour ahead of our superintendent and another guy from Oregon. Instead, I arrived about 1 1/2 after them. They waited patiently and we made it to the first dinner and meeting on time. Tuesday was a full day with a group dinner. After, the superintendent, Dave, and I visited Ken and Sally who have a "snowbird" house in the Phoenix area. They are from Eugene and we all know them. Since Tuesday was election day, we were at Ken and Sally's when Obama was declared the winner.
The flight home was more routine -- almost. I still had to go through San Francisco -- with a 4-hour layover. So I ate dinner, waked around, and read more book. I was scheduled to get into Medford about 9:30. We boarded another one of those little 2-engine vibrators and the pilot said, "welcome to flight (whatever it was) to Medford. We are overweight and need to people to take the later flight." I volunteered. I figured late was late so a couple more hours couldn't hurt anything. And I got a free flight voucher for it. Anywhere United flies in the continental US. I'll probably use it in February to fly up for a Board meeting. But maybe not. We'll see.
I sold my pickup canopy. When I bought this pickup it came with a nice canopy. But of course, I can't use the canopy with a fifth wheel so it has been sitting beside the house waiting for me to decide to either use it or sell it. Sell it won out. I put an add in the Nickel and two people called. One guy bought it.
Yesterday, Joyce and I attended worship at Jerome Prairie. Then, all afternoon we were in a meeting teaching us to be marriage mentors. We had previously taken the Prepare/Enrich marriage survey. I had used the Prepare part the last few years in pre-marital counseling. But this was the first time I (we) had taken or used the Enrich part -- for married people. It was quite interesting. We are still compatible. No big problems. During the training we practiced on another couple and they practiced on us. The other couple is the pastor at Jerome Prairie. It was a lot of fun as well as informative. We did all this, so we can help mentor other couples when we return next spring -- if we decide to and are needed.
Well... fall has fallen. Or maybe winter has won. At least our nice weather seems to be over. It didn't rain today but has most days and is supposed to for the foreseeable future. Our high temps in the daytime are in the high 40s or low 50s. Brrrr. I'm ready to head south.
But not yet. Got things to do, so better get at it.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Trip Coming Up
The opinion poll was 6 to 1 -- six people being very, very, ready for the political ads to end. One person was simply ready. If you are in a place where you go to the polls Tuesday, it is almost time. If you are in a place where you can vote early, I hope you already have. In a couple days we'll have a new president and then we'll start a new round of name-calling.
In my tag responses I listed 5 things on my "to do" list. Well, I got 2 1/2 of them done. First, biggest, and best is that I finished the gel coat on the RV. That was a big job. I'm glad it's over -- until the next time it needs doing. The second thing I finished was the memorial service for Lois in St. Helens. She was the pianist for the church for 30 years and certainly for the 9 that I was there. She was our treasurer and then assistant treasurer, and she gave our girls piano lessons for a year or so. Joyce and I drove to Ginger's Friday evening, then on up to St. Helens for the service on Saturday and back to Ginger's last Saturday. We got to see lots of friends. It was a good time of reconnecting with people and rejoicing in Lois' graduation to heaven. It was held at Sunset Park Community Church. The pastor and I shared the service and the graveside. I preached at Lois' request. The weather was kind of rainy off and on, but off when we needed to be outside. On the way home we stopped at Corvallis and worshipped at the FM church there.
The thing that I have half done is the shelf. I figured a new way of doing it and have gotten all the parts together. I'll finish it next week. But for now the focus is on the next 3 days. Tomorrow really early, I leave for a MEG Board leaders training meeting in Phoenix, AZ with the Bishop and other leaders from the western part of the US.
So I've got to go to bed early tonight. Good night.
In my tag responses I listed 5 things on my "to do" list. Well, I got 2 1/2 of them done. First, biggest, and best is that I finished the gel coat on the RV. That was a big job. I'm glad it's over -- until the next time it needs doing. The second thing I finished was the memorial service for Lois in St. Helens. She was the pianist for the church for 30 years and certainly for the 9 that I was there. She was our treasurer and then assistant treasurer, and she gave our girls piano lessons for a year or so. Joyce and I drove to Ginger's Friday evening, then on up to St. Helens for the service on Saturday and back to Ginger's last Saturday. We got to see lots of friends. It was a good time of reconnecting with people and rejoicing in Lois' graduation to heaven. It was held at Sunset Park Community Church. The pastor and I shared the service and the graveside. I preached at Lois' request. The weather was kind of rainy off and on, but off when we needed to be outside. On the way home we stopped at Corvallis and worshipped at the FM church there.
The thing that I have half done is the shelf. I figured a new way of doing it and have gotten all the parts together. I'll finish it next week. But for now the focus is on the next 3 days. Tomorrow really early, I leave for a MEG Board leaders training meeting in Phoenix, AZ with the Bishop and other leaders from the western part of the US.
So I've got to go to bed early tonight. Good night.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Tag! I'm It!
This a new game to me but looks like fun (and using a lot of remembering). Carole is the one who tagged me. I'll think of something for her. So here goes.
10 years ago I was...
1. Starting my 7th year as pastor of Allen Creek Neighborhood Church.
2. We had just had the Continental Singers at our church. We were able to get them as a last minute arrangement because some other group cancelled.
3. Preparing (with others) for the Harvest Carnival at church on the 31st.
4. I was on the Community Development Corporation Board involved in securing low income housing in Grants Pass. This was my "community involvement" ministry.
5 things on my to do list...
1. Finish the gel coat on the RV.
2. Organize the storage compartments.
3. Prepare for a funeral in St. Helens. This will be Saturday for a lady who was our pianist.
4. Make a shelf for the RV that will go next to my chair.
5. Fix the backdoor (on the house) so it closes easier.
5 snacks I enjoy...
1. Mixed nuts.
2. Peanuts.
3. Ice cream.
4. Popcorn.
5. Tortilla chips.
5 places I have lived... (in reverse order)
1. Grants Pass, OR (2 houses)
2. St. Helens, OR (4 houses -- that is along story)
3. Newberg, OR (2 houses)
4. Cottage Grove, OR (1 house)
5. Roseburg, OR (3 houses)
This happens to be the places where I pastored (in Newberg, I was the Director of Christian Education).
5 jobs I have had...
1. Pastor/Minister
2. School bus driver
3. Furniture mover for Mayflower
4. House inspector for insurance companies
5. Carpenter
3 people I tag...
1. Chuck and Susy H.
2. Jana T.
3. Kim B.
Day By Day
It seems our week has been focused on the RV -- with a little extra thrown in. Thought I would give you a day by day...
Last Sunday: attended church at Newman United Methodist. It is an old historic building in Grants Pass with a high steeple and a pipe organ. The worship was more liturgical than we're used to but still good. The minister is a lady. She had a good sermon.
Monday: did some more cleaning on the inside of the RV. Joyce's brother, Don came to pick up our old washer and dryer to give to a friend of his. Watched Monday Night Football.
Tuesday: went to Rascals -- that is the old people's computer group. Had lunch with James Downing, the pastor of Jerome Prairie Bible Church where we attend sometimes. Gave away our old freezer through a free ad in the paper. We weren't using any more. Cleaned the carpets in the RV. To rent a cleaner would cost money and they are too big to do a good job in the confined spaces of the RV. So I reasoned I could do it just a well with a scrub brush and a wet or dry vacuum. It was a lot of hands and knees work but it is a thousand per cent cleaner. I just mixed up a little carpet cleaner in some water, brushed it on, brushed it a lot, brushed some more, vacuumed it up, rinsed it, and vacuumed that up. Then let it dry... which took two days. Sure picked up a lot of dirt and sand.
Wednesday: washed the outside of the RV. gave away our old entertainment center via the free ad (I still have a food dryer no one seems to want). Most of the above work I did by myself while Joyce was inside working on crafts for the Daycare. In other words, she was inside earning money while I was outside playing with the RV! She finished November's crafts today so we took them to the Daycare.
Thursday: Joyce and I waxed the rear and street side of the RV. By "wax" I really mean applying a gel coat then wiping off the film. Lots of elbow work. I'm tired. Joyce worked for the Daycare's after school program at Allendale School -- about 3 hours.
Friday: cleaned the RV couch the same way I cleaned the carpet but with less water. Joyce and I gel coated part of the curb side of the RV until we ran out of the stuff. I applied Rejex to the front. That is a product that is supposed to reject bugs. Actually they stick, but will wash off easily (I hope). Joyce worked at Allendale School again.
Saturday: we went to Medford with Mike and Joann. We shopped at Costco and ate dinner at Appleby's. But the most fun was shopping for a new RV for them. It's the first time in my life that I got to buy an RV and it didn't cost me anything. But I did buy a generator to use with the RV. Roy: this information is mostly for you: I bought a Honda 2000 because it fits in my toolbox -- a 3000 won't fit. The 2000 will recharge the batteries and give power for everything except the AC (not sure about the microwave). If I feel I need to power the AC I can buy another 2000 and use them in tandem.
Today (Sunday): We attended worship at Jerome Prairie Bible Church then went to lunch with Fiskes, Lakers, and Curpheys ... all friends from Allen Creek.
The weather has been beautiful this week. In fact "beautiful" hardly describes it. Cool mornings; bright, sunny days. Fall leaves changing color. Gorgeous. Hope your week has been just as good.
Last Sunday: attended church at Newman United Methodist. It is an old historic building in Grants Pass with a high steeple and a pipe organ. The worship was more liturgical than we're used to but still good. The minister is a lady. She had a good sermon.
Monday: did some more cleaning on the inside of the RV. Joyce's brother, Don came to pick up our old washer and dryer to give to a friend of his. Watched Monday Night Football.
Tuesday: went to Rascals -- that is the old people's computer group. Had lunch with James Downing, the pastor of Jerome Prairie Bible Church where we attend sometimes. Gave away our old freezer through a free ad in the paper. We weren't using any more. Cleaned the carpets in the RV. To rent a cleaner would cost money and they are too big to do a good job in the confined spaces of the RV. So I reasoned I could do it just a well with a scrub brush and a wet or dry vacuum. It was a lot of hands and knees work but it is a thousand per cent cleaner. I just mixed up a little carpet cleaner in some water, brushed it on, brushed it a lot, brushed some more, vacuumed it up, rinsed it, and vacuumed that up. Then let it dry... which took two days. Sure picked up a lot of dirt and sand.
Wednesday: washed the outside of the RV. gave away our old entertainment center via the free ad (I still have a food dryer no one seems to want). Most of the above work I did by myself while Joyce was inside working on crafts for the Daycare. In other words, she was inside earning money while I was outside playing with the RV! She finished November's crafts today so we took them to the Daycare.
Thursday: Joyce and I waxed the rear and street side of the RV. By "wax" I really mean applying a gel coat then wiping off the film. Lots of elbow work. I'm tired. Joyce worked for the Daycare's after school program at Allendale School -- about 3 hours.
Friday: cleaned the RV couch the same way I cleaned the carpet but with less water. Joyce and I gel coated part of the curb side of the RV until we ran out of the stuff. I applied Rejex to the front. That is a product that is supposed to reject bugs. Actually they stick, but will wash off easily (I hope). Joyce worked at Allendale School again.
Saturday: we went to Medford with Mike and Joann. We shopped at Costco and ate dinner at Appleby's. But the most fun was shopping for a new RV for them. It's the first time in my life that I got to buy an RV and it didn't cost me anything. But I did buy a generator to use with the RV. Roy: this information is mostly for you: I bought a Honda 2000 because it fits in my toolbox -- a 3000 won't fit. The 2000 will recharge the batteries and give power for everything except the AC (not sure about the microwave). If I feel I need to power the AC I can buy another 2000 and use them in tandem.
Today (Sunday): We attended worship at Jerome Prairie Bible Church then went to lunch with Fiskes, Lakers, and Curpheys ... all friends from Allen Creek.
The weather has been beautiful this week. In fact "beautiful" hardly describes it. Cool mornings; bright, sunny days. Fall leaves changing color. Gorgeous. Hope your week has been just as good.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Little Jobs, Big Success
We're getting them done. The little jobs, I mean. It is fun to be able to cross off another item. This week I washed the walls on the inside of the RV and took down all the drapes and removed the screens. Joyce carefully washed the drapes and I scrubbed the screens -- some of them twice. Then I washed the windows, and cleaned the inside of the place where the windows and screens sit. Whew! Dirrrrrty! I think there was some Alaska dirt still stuck in there. But it looks a lot better and smells so clean. I also installed a new door handle and lock. The reason... well, remember we bought this RV from my brother. One night a burglar broke a side window, reached in and unlocked the door, then packed out the TV, microwave, etc through the open door. He set about making sure that would never happen again so he broke the inside lock. The only way to lock the door "from the inside" (as for the night) was to use the key on a lock on the outside. Confusing, huh? Especially in the dark, in the rain, barefoot and ready for bed. Anyway, I decided we had paid our dues to the old lock and bought a new one.
The garden is now history. After the freeze last weekend we bagged up all the vines ready for the city to pick up this week. The tomato vines are still there but the green ones aren't turning red very fast. They will disappear in a few weeks also. It is that time of year when leaves are turning color. We have friends in Indiana and on the east coast who are seeing a spectacular array of color. (Check out Carole's News and Husted's Happenings on the right). We have a little in our area but not much around our house. But of course that means I don't have to rake leaves either! When we drive down by the river we can see a lot of changing color and it is indeed beautiful.
This weekend the weather has changed from cold at night but sunny during the day, to cool and cloudy and dreary. It is supposed to rain tomorrow and then we'll get some more nice weather. I sure hope so. I'm not ready for winter. I am ready for the elections to be over, though. The commercials are getting to be redundant. If people haven't made up their minds by now, they aren't paying attention. So what do you think? The poll on the right is just for fun. Let's see how it turns out. Have some fun this week. And take care of some little things.
The garden is now history. After the freeze last weekend we bagged up all the vines ready for the city to pick up this week. The tomato vines are still there but the green ones aren't turning red very fast. They will disappear in a few weeks also. It is that time of year when leaves are turning color. We have friends in Indiana and on the east coast who are seeing a spectacular array of color. (Check out Carole's News and Husted's Happenings on the right). We have a little in our area but not much around our house. But of course that means I don't have to rake leaves either! When we drive down by the river we can see a lot of changing color and it is indeed beautiful.
This weekend the weather has changed from cold at night but sunny during the day, to cool and cloudy and dreary. It is supposed to rain tomorrow and then we'll get some more nice weather. I sure hope so. I'm not ready for winter. I am ready for the elections to be over, though. The commercials are getting to be redundant. If people haven't made up their minds by now, they aren't paying attention. So what do you think? The poll on the right is just for fun. Let's see how it turns out. Have some fun this week. And take care of some little things.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
We're Home Again
After a few daddy-do's at Ginger's we arrived back home Wednesday late afternoon. The days since have been mostly recovery and cleanup from the trip. We traveled 1600 miles and saw 34 people on our friends and family list. That counts Ginger but does not count the people on the MEG Board or strangers we met at church. The most we spent for diesel was $4.09.9 in Gig Harbor, Washington and the least was $3.73.9 in Salem. Fuel prices are always cheaper in Salem. It must have something to do with being so close to the state law makers!
Our garden was in good shape when we arrived home but the cucumbers and zucchini were HUGE. Friends picked some, but not enough. And the tomatoes were almost over-ripe. We managed to salvage a few. There are still many green tomatoes on the vines so we covered them with a tarp the last two nights. The temperature dropped to about 27 both nights. Yes, that is unseasonably low. A cold front from Alaska blew across the northwest but is mostly gone by now. Monday the high is supposed to be 73. I think we saved the tomatoes but there won't be anymore zucchini or cucumbers.
Our garden was in good shape when we arrived home but the cucumbers and zucchini were HUGE. Friends picked some, but not enough. And the tomatoes were almost over-ripe. We managed to salvage a few. There are still many green tomatoes on the vines so we covered them with a tarp the last two nights. The temperature dropped to about 27 both nights. Yes, that is unseasonably low. A cold front from Alaska blew across the northwest but is mostly gone by now. Monday the high is supposed to be 73. I think we saved the tomatoes but there won't be anymore zucchini or cucumbers.
Here are four pumpkins we raised. Obviously the one between Josiah's and Lilly's was fed the best. When the kids were here, Jana carved their names on them -- and then they grew. They would still be growing if the freeze hadn't gotten them. We'll take them to the kids when we go south at Christmas time. Right after this picture was taken Joyce gave the third one to the neighbor kids for carving.
The week ahead will be a lot of odd jobs taking care of the little things around here. So remember, take care of the little things before they become big things. I think I could write a book about that!
Monday, October 06, 2008
Friends and Family Tour, Week 3
The poll results are in. Obama has... wait... stop... wrong poll. The results of the "My Favorite Season" poll reveals an underwhelming preference for spring with 4 votes. Summer and autumn tied with 3 each and it seems nobody likes old man winter. Thank you for your participation. We'll try another one in a few weeks.
We also have the results of Week 3 of the Friends and Family Tour. What a great week it was. And tiring. I'll let the pictures lead into a brief explanation of each.
I closed the last blog with a mention of Joyce's cousins. After church Sunday -- which, by the way, was a gorgeous day in the State of Washington -- we met her cousins at Boston Pizza in Smokey Point (a little ways north of Everett) for lunch. Lots of good catching up on relatives. Pictured are Marla and Gordon, Pat, Joyce, Barbara and Brian. There are a lot more cousins in the area but these were the ones who could make it.
After the cousins lunch, it was on to Bellingham and Sharon's house. She is Joyce's older sister and right now her granddaughter, Audra, lives with her. Sharon loves to help others which has led her to a lot of experiments in growing food products with very little water. She hopes to someday be able to share what she has learned with people in arid countries. She also dabbles in ceramics and gave us lots and lots and lots of ceramic pieces (probably enough to overload the RV). Many of these will be painted by the kids at camp next summer as one of their crafts. Some were painted tonight by some of Ginger's clients. Some will be given away. I think Sharon was trying to unload a bunch of stuff. Anybody want a ceramic pig? We have lots.
Sort of looks like the beginnings of a bathroom doesn't it? My project was NOT a storage shed this time. It was a bathroom. This is in Sharon's basement and she wants to make a small apartment down there. So I plumbed and partially framed this important room. To go into detail about how the intricacies of this small project caused it to last all week are too complicated to go into now. Ask me in person some day.
Sharon lives on a hill. There is no level ground on which to park an RV. The most level is up this driveway, around a bend, past a ditch, between a car and a bus -- don't ask! -- and as close to a van as possible. Backing up! I deemed that impossible for my limited skills so we parked in a wide spot part way up hill. I got the front as high as possible which still wasn't totally level. We found some concrete blocks to put in front of the wheels. For six nights we slept with our heads downhill or turned our beds around.
Galen was my youth pastor in Grants Pass for about the last 5 years. He married Rylee a few years ago. This past summer he moved from Grants Pass to Vancouver, B.C. to attend a Bible College. Being that close, Joyce and I HAD to go up and see them. We got a tour of their apartment (500 square feet!) and the school. Then had a wonderful meal with them and returned to Bellingham. By the way, he is loving school and Rylee is the manager (and only employee) of the coffee bar at the school.
We left Bellingham on Saturday, arriving in St. Helens, Oregon about 6:00 that evening. St. Helens is where Joyce and I pastored for nine years prior to going to Grants Pass. The church has since closed but we still have a lot of good friends there. Sunday we attended church at Warren Christian Fellowship with Tim and Connie. Unexpectedly we ran into Bob and Joann and all of went to lunch together at Sunshine Pizza. Pictured are David, Connie and Tim, Bob and Joann, and Joyce. David is Tim and Connie's youngest son. He was born while we were there and now he is as big as his dad. Time sure causes them to grow, doesn't it? These people were so important to our church. They taught classes, served on boards, and Bob was our song leader.
Barbara and Jim were teachers and wonderful supporters. One of their daughters was born while we were there and she is now married and living in Everett, WA. If we had known, we might have been able to look her up while we were there.
Shirley was our organist. It seems she has not changed a bit in the intervening years.
Jerry and Shirley were always active in the church. One thing that stands out is Jerry's participation in our annual Halloween Carnival. He developed the "scary" stuff in the "fun house" aspect of the event. In fact he still has those items stored in his garage.
Edith has a little beauty shop next to her house and was the one who kept Joyce's hair looking lovely. She still works part-time in that shop. I married her son and daughter-in-law. He was a fellow school bus driver and bought our house when we left St. Helens.
We also have the results of Week 3 of the Friends and Family Tour. What a great week it was. And tiring. I'll let the pictures lead into a brief explanation of each.
I closed the last blog with a mention of Joyce's cousins. After church Sunday -- which, by the way, was a gorgeous day in the State of Washington -- we met her cousins at Boston Pizza in Smokey Point (a little ways north of Everett) for lunch. Lots of good catching up on relatives. Pictured are Marla and Gordon, Pat, Joyce, Barbara and Brian. There are a lot more cousins in the area but these were the ones who could make it.
After the cousins lunch, it was on to Bellingham and Sharon's house. She is Joyce's older sister and right now her granddaughter, Audra, lives with her. Sharon loves to help others which has led her to a lot of experiments in growing food products with very little water. She hopes to someday be able to share what she has learned with people in arid countries. She also dabbles in ceramics and gave us lots and lots and lots of ceramic pieces (probably enough to overload the RV). Many of these will be painted by the kids at camp next summer as one of their crafts. Some were painted tonight by some of Ginger's clients. Some will be given away. I think Sharon was trying to unload a bunch of stuff. Anybody want a ceramic pig? We have lots.
Sort of looks like the beginnings of a bathroom doesn't it? My project was NOT a storage shed this time. It was a bathroom. This is in Sharon's basement and she wants to make a small apartment down there. So I plumbed and partially framed this important room. To go into detail about how the intricacies of this small project caused it to last all week are too complicated to go into now. Ask me in person some day. Sharon lives on a hill. There is no level ground on which to park an RV. The most level is up this driveway, around a bend, past a ditch, between a car and a bus -- don't ask! -- and as close to a van as possible. Backing up! I deemed that impossible for my limited skills so we parked in a wide spot part way up hill. I got the front as high as possible which still wasn't totally level. We found some concrete blocks to put in front of the wheels. For six nights we slept with our heads downhill or turned our beds around.Galen was my youth pastor in Grants Pass for about the last 5 years. He married Rylee a few years ago. This past summer he moved from Grants Pass to Vancouver, B.C. to attend a Bible College. Being that close, Joyce and I HAD to go up and see them. We got a tour of their apartment (500 square feet!) and the school. Then had a wonderful meal with them and returned to Bellingham. By the way, he is loving school and Rylee is the manager (and only employee) of the coffee bar at the school.We left Bellingham on Saturday, arriving in St. Helens, Oregon about 6:00 that evening. St. Helens is where Joyce and I pastored for nine years prior to going to Grants Pass. The church has since closed but we still have a lot of good friends there. Sunday we attended church at Warren Christian Fellowship with Tim and Connie. Unexpectedly we ran into Bob and Joann and all of went to lunch together at Sunshine Pizza. Pictured are David, Connie and Tim, Bob and Joann, and Joyce. David is Tim and Connie's youngest son. He was born while we were there and now he is as big as his dad. Time sure causes them to grow, doesn't it? These people were so important to our church. They taught classes, served on boards, and Bob was our song leader.
Barbara and Jim were teachers and wonderful supporters. One of their daughters was born while we were there and she is now married and living in Everett, WA. If we had known, we might have been able to look her up while we were there.
Shirley was our organist. It seems she has not changed a bit in the intervening years.Jerry and Shirley were always active in the church. One thing that stands out is Jerry's participation in our annual Halloween Carnival. He developed the "scary" stuff in the "fun house" aspect of the event. In fact he still has those items stored in his garage.
Edith has a little beauty shop next to her house and was the one who kept Joyce's hair looking lovely. She still works part-time in that shop. I married her son and daughter-in-law. He was a fellow school bus driver and bought our house when we left St. Helens. Well, after all this visiting we left Monday noon for Salem. We are now at Ginger's doing some more "daddy-do's" and expect to travel home tomorrow (Wednesday). We have had some rain -- it starting raining again last Thursday -- but considering that this trip has been the last part of September and the first part of October, the weather has really has been good. But the fellowship, visiting, reacquainting, and eating together (we did a lot of that) has been really good. Now we look forward to being home again.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Friends and Family Tour, Week 2
In my last blog I promised some pictures of Chief Miwaleta Campground. Here is one. Mike and Joann's RV is on the left, ours is on the right.We left that blog with Joyce and I at Ginger's in Salem. Monday I rebuilt her closet so it is a little more user friendly. The old clothes bar was mounted so close to the shelf that she had to turn coat hangers on their sides to get them on or off. On the left one third of the closet, I cut the shelf out and installed two bars, one high and one low. In the rest of the closet, I put in a new bar with a larger space between it and the shelf. There were a few other "daddy projects" like changing the furnace filter, fixing her door bell (new batteries), and securing the cat perches so they won't fall off. Joyce did some weeding outside and being my go-fer.
We had a good MEG Board meeting Tuesday taking care of some routine business and interviewing a man about becoming a minister in our conference. That evening we went to the home of my niece, Kandy for a delicious crock pot stew dinner. It was very special to be in her new-to-her home and we had a great time visiting. Wednesday we had breakfast with our friend JoAnn at Neufelds in Sublimity and then it was off to Washington (the state, that is). Do you have your map handy? You'll want to look at the Olympic Peninsula, the Seattle area, and north.
We arrived at Ron and Joan's house near Hoodsport on the Hood Canal in a light drizzle. I guess 
that is to be expected since this IS the northwest and this IS autumn. I new Joan when we were both in the same church as kids in Eugene. Her mom was our junior boys Sunday school teacher and her little sister was my girl friend for awhile. I was a candle lighter in Ron and Joan's wedding but through the years we had mostly lost track of each other. There were a few contacts, especially after her sister (not the girl friend -- another sister!) moved to St. Helens to partner with a local chiropractor. Her mom showed up in church 
one day to say hi. I was shocked but delighted to see her after so many years. Anyway, a couple years ago Ron and Joan were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and trying to find all the people who had been in their wedding party. We simply reconnected and once again enjoy our friendship. They live on a hill overlooking Lake Kokanee -- well, trees block most of view but you can see it from their deck. Thursday morning Joan and I hiked down to the lake in a light rain. It isn't far horizontally but is about 600 feet vertically. Wow! The hike was worth the view. Beautiful! You can tell which picture that one is!
that is to be expected since this IS the northwest and this IS autumn. I new Joan when we were both in the same church as kids in Eugene. Her mom was our junior boys Sunday school teacher and her little sister was my girl friend for awhile. I was a candle lighter in Ron and Joan's wedding but through the years we had mostly lost track of each other. There were a few contacts, especially after her sister (not the girl friend -- another sister!) moved to St. Helens to partner with a local chiropractor. Her mom showed up in church 
one day to say hi. I was shocked but delighted to see her after so many years. Anyway, a couple years ago Ron and Joan were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and trying to find all the people who had been in their wedding party. We simply reconnected and once again enjoy our friendship. They live on a hill overlooking Lake Kokanee -- well, trees block most of view but you can see it from their deck. Thursday morning Joan and I hiked down to the lake in a light rain. It isn't far horizontally but is about 600 feet vertically. Wow! The hike was worth the view. Beautiful! You can tell which picture that one is!From Hoodsport we drove to Gig Harbor -- a little over an hour away. We
parked ourselves at the Gig Harbor RV Resort (nice place but it is interesting what is referred to as a "resort"). Our friends from college and seminary, John and Jan, live in Gig Harbor. He and I were room mates for 2 years at Seattle Pacific College, and he, Jan, and a bunch of us all attended Rainier Avenue Free Methodist Church. He and Jan graduated a year ahead of me and they married the same summer as Joyce and I -- 1966 for the record. Then we were at Asbury Seminary at the same time. John is a United Methodist minister and retired last year. Through the years we kept in touch with each other -- mostly via Christmas letters and a few visits. We enjoyed a nice lunch together and visited for a few hours.
Friday we drove to Auburn and parked in front of Bess and Rick's house. They live in a mobile
home estate and can get permission for an RV to park on the street in front of their house for a day or so. Joyce and Bess were best friends in high school. I think Joyce sort of tolerated Rick as he courted Bess. Well, they married; Joyce and I married; and eventually we ended up in Seattle at the same time. Joyce and I lived in Seattle during my senior year of college. For my birthday that year, Joyce decided to have a party for me -- Rick and Bess, Joyce and I. She directed me to their house where we had a great 
meal, cake, balloons, etc. and then we went to my all-time favorite movie, "Dr. Zhivago." Anyway, we got to their house about 2:00, talked a lot, then they took us to Anthony's, a really nice seafood place on the Des Moines marina. It was a beautiful warm evening with a beautiful dappled sky. Rick and Bess both retired from Boeing and are now into photography. They do very nice work and are trying to teach Joyce and me. I'm not sure you'll ever see the results of their efforts in our work but we can always try and hope. This is one of the products.
parked ourselves at the Gig Harbor RV Resort (nice place but it is interesting what is referred to as a "resort"). Our friends from college and seminary, John and Jan, live in Gig Harbor. He and I were room mates for 2 years at Seattle Pacific College, and he, Jan, and a bunch of us all attended Rainier Avenue Free Methodist Church. He and Jan graduated a year ahead of me and they married the same summer as Joyce and I -- 1966 for the record. Then we were at Asbury Seminary at the same time. John is a United Methodist minister and retired last year. Through the years we kept in touch with each other -- mostly via Christmas letters and a few visits. We enjoyed a nice lunch together and visited for a few hours.Friday we drove to Auburn and parked in front of Bess and Rick's house. They live in a mobile
home estate and can get permission for an RV to park on the street in front of their house for a day or so. Joyce and Bess were best friends in high school. I think Joyce sort of tolerated Rick as he courted Bess. Well, they married; Joyce and I married; and eventually we ended up in Seattle at the same time. Joyce and I lived in Seattle during my senior year of college. For my birthday that year, Joyce decided to have a party for me -- Rick and Bess, Joyce and I. She directed me to their house where we had a great 
meal, cake, balloons, etc. and then we went to my all-time favorite movie, "Dr. Zhivago." Anyway, we got to their house about 2:00, talked a lot, then they took us to Anthony's, a really nice seafood place on the Des Moines marina. It was a beautiful warm evening with a beautiful dappled sky. Rick and Bess both retired from Boeing and are now into photography. They do very nice work and are trying to teach Joyce and me. I'm not sure you'll ever see the results of their efforts in our work but we can always try and hope. This is one of the products.
We left their place at noon on Saturday to meet Milt and Patty at an Allenby's in Kent. They were part of the group that attended Rainier Avenue and they sang at our wedding. One
Christmas a couple years earlier I stayed at college during the break in order to work. They closed the dorms during that 2-3 week period. Milt and 3 friends lived in an old, yellow two story house near campus and invited me to stay with them. I slept on the couch. Everyone had their own schedules going and coming and everyone did their own meals. The kitchen table was piled high with dirty dishes and utensils. When you wanted to eat, you dug through the pile until you found what you wanted, washed it, used it, and left it for the next person. Simple plan. Milt and Patty are educators in the public school system and are looking forward to retirement. We enjoyed a few hours of visiting and then it was onward north.
Christmas a couple years earlier I stayed at college during the break in order to work. They closed the dorms during that 2-3 week period. Milt and 3 friends lived in an old, yellow two story house near campus and invited me to stay with them. I slept on the couch. Everyone had their own schedules going and coming and everyone did their own meals. The kitchen table was piled high with dirty dishes and utensils. When you wanted to eat, you dug through the pile until you found what you wanted, washed it, used it, and left it for the next person. Simple plan. Milt and Patty are educators in the public school system and are looking forward to retirement. We enjoyed a few hours of visiting and then it was onward north.We camped at Lake Goodwin RV Park near Smokey Point Saturday evening. We didn't get a lakeside site (too expensive) but walked down to the dock and took lots of pictures. It was a lovely, warm evening. By the way, the rain stopped Friday and we've had beautiful weather since. Tomorrow is also supposed to be nice also, then... typical Washington again. Sunday morning we attended worship at Arlington Free Methodist Church. The pastor, Verlin Elmore, and I have known each other for many years through our meetings at various pastor's conventions. After church we met a group of Joyce's relatives and then traveled on to her sister's in Bellingham. More about that next week when I can post some pictures. So ends week two. Friends and family are precious. memories are cherished. Create them; relive them.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Friends and Family Tour
The fall adventure has begun. We left home Thursday at 12:45 with Mike and Joann right behind us. They also have a fifth wheel RV. We only traveled about 40 miles to a brand new campground named after Chief Miwaleta -- whoever he was. It is part of the Douglas County Park system and sets on the bank of Galesville Reservoir -- a flood control lake on Cow Creek. The campground is small but we had sites overlooking the lake for a real nice view. We found out they had only been open 3 weeks which explained the tables and camp stoves not being level. The host said they simply dropped them off the day before the camp opened. We leveled our own table but the park people know they still have some work to do. The lake has dead trees in the water along the banks -- upright trees, that is. I'm not sure why. It makes the lake look like it is guarded by white spears. Maybe a picture next time.
On the way there we stopped for a late lunch at a restaurant called Heaven On Earth. It has really good food and lots of it, but is a little high priced. Joyce bought a WHOLE no-sugar-added berry pie. We are still enjoying it!!! We stayed with Mike and Joann until Saturday then they went back home and we headed north. Right now we are at Ginger's. This morning we went to church at Salem Alliance. It is BIG -- three services and lots of programs, ministries, and Bible studies. Tomorrow I'll work on some "daddy projects" like redoing the clothes hanger system in her master closet, fixing the door bell, and renailing some lattice. Mostly simple things.
Our weather has changed. We had been having it hot and dry. On Friday it changed to cool and cloudy. Today it rained. Of course, we are continually moving north and this weather is to be expected. We packed lots of warm clothes even though it was 90 degrees when I was doing it. I think I will miss the summer. That is my favorite time of the year. What is yours? Use the poll on the right to register your favorite.
We have the RV parked at Aldersgate so we drive back and forth -- about 8 miles one way. But the "RV Park" is cheap -- simply a donation. Tuesday I have a MEG Board meeting and then Wednesday we leave for Washington. We expect to see approximately 15-20 friends and family in 7 different places before we get home. So stay tuned and keep your Washington State map handy!
On the way there we stopped for a late lunch at a restaurant called Heaven On Earth. It has really good food and lots of it, but is a little high priced. Joyce bought a WHOLE no-sugar-added berry pie. We are still enjoying it!!! We stayed with Mike and Joann until Saturday then they went back home and we headed north. Right now we are at Ginger's. This morning we went to church at Salem Alliance. It is BIG -- three services and lots of programs, ministries, and Bible studies. Tomorrow I'll work on some "daddy projects" like redoing the clothes hanger system in her master closet, fixing the door bell, and renailing some lattice. Mostly simple things.
Our weather has changed. We had been having it hot and dry. On Friday it changed to cool and cloudy. Today it rained. Of course, we are continually moving north and this weather is to be expected. We packed lots of warm clothes even though it was 90 degrees when I was doing it. I think I will miss the summer. That is my favorite time of the year. What is yours? Use the poll on the right to register your favorite.
We have the RV parked at Aldersgate so we drive back and forth -- about 8 miles one way. But the "RV Park" is cheap -- simply a donation. Tuesday I have a MEG Board meeting and then Wednesday we leave for Washington. We expect to see approximately 15-20 friends and family in 7 different places before we get home. So stay tuned and keep your Washington State map handy!
Monday, September 15, 2008
John 19:30
Thursday was the day. We got up early and tackled the last bit of painting before it got too hot. The day before I had scraped and wire brushed the barge rafters (the rafters at each gable end) and primed the the ones over the garage and at the north end. The ones on the south were in the sun and too hot to paint. So Thursday morning we got an early start and primed the south end. Then we put the final paint on the other two. I was thinking I would have to finish Friday morning but decided to try to paint the south end with the final coat. It was late morning but it worked! We finished. It is done! Finis! Over. That is what Jesus said. It is finished. Then he died. I felt like dying. Up and down the ladder. Up and down the ladder. Up and down the la.... well, you get the idea. And standing on ladder steps isn't easy. And reaching out behind me at the top of the ladder wasn't fun. So I was tired. The next day we cleaned up and put away all the paint stuff. And decided to play.
Sunday we worshipped at North Valley Assembly of God. I know Pastor Curt and wanted to hear him preach. After church we kept on going... to the coast. We didn't want to stay in Grants Pass anyway because it was supposed to be 97 degrees Sunday and 102 Monday. The coast would definitely be cooler... and more fun. We stayed at the Motel 6 in Coos Bay. Would you believe they have a hot tub at this Motel 6? We didn't do much exciting... it was just good to get away. This morning we were going to go see the final cleanup of the New Carissa but it was too foggy. The New Carissa is a ship wreck just north of the jetty at Coos Bay. It wrecked a few years ago and a company is removing it piece by piece. Anyway, since we couldn't do that we drove to Bandon for brunch and nosed around in the little shops.
Our friend, Liz lives in Bandon. She was on our worship team at Allen Creek, then moved to Bandon to be the principal of the grade school. We decided to surprise her and stopped by the school for a short visit. She is now married to a man who owns a shop that makes beautiful things out of myrtlewood, redwood, and Alaska birch. So on our way out of town we stopped at his shop, got a tour of the factory, and Joyce bought some myrtlewood beads to make ear rings -- or something.
We drove on toward Brookings, stopping at a beach to walk and comb. You know... beach combing. Since it was almost supper time when we got to Brookings, we decided to look up our friend John. He is the manager at a bank branch and was also in our church in Grants Pass. We had dinner with him, enjoyed a nice visit, and headed for home.
Korak and I pressure washing the deck. He is doing the work, I'm giving advise. Isn't that what fathers-in-law are supposed to do?
He had onlookers. If you fed them Popsicles they were easy to get along with. We couldn't get much work out of them but they did offer encouragement.
I don't have a good "before" picture but this is a "during" picture. You can get an idea of the old color from the garage. We changed it a lot. Now it looks clean and fresh.
This is what we have been up to. This week we'll leave for Salem and points north. More about that next week. Stay tuned.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Can You Say, "Paint?"
I think Joyce and I have used the word "paint" at least a zillion times (well, more or less) in the last two weeks. First it was "what color will we paint it?" So off we went to gather color chips. One thing we knew, we didn't want green and we preferred to stay away from blue. Our old color was a blue-grey and we wanted a change. So after looking at all the new houses in our area, comparing color chips, and consulting with our color advisor (daughter Jana) we finally choose... green. It is called cactus garden. The trim around the windows was to be a lighter shade but after looking at it on the house, it was sort of blah. So we switched to a darker shade. It is called wreath. Guess what it looks like? So now we live in a replica of the Sherwood forest. The gutters, end rafters on the gables (they're called barge rafters), the garage door and the front door are all white. Or at least they will be when we finish.
After deciding the color of paint, then it was getting it ready for paint. While Korak was here we pressure washed the house and masked most of the windows. Jana and family left Monday, Roy and Twyla arrived Tuesday. He and I finished preparing the house for paint -- a little more masking, moving the RV, covering the neighbor's RV, taking down light fixtures, caulking holes and cracks, and (I hate this part...) scraping, wire brushing and priming (i.e. paint) the bad places. There were lots of bad places. The whole south side should have been painted two years ago so it needed a lot of help.
Then it was actually doing it. Bright and early Tuesday morning Roy starting spray painting. Roy, you remember, is my nephew who lives in the Eugene area. My sister, Beth is his mother. About half way around the house he said we needed more paint so I made a flying (but sane) trip to Fred Meyer for another gallon. As it turned out, we put on 6 1/2 gallons. Notice I said "we" even though Roy was doing all the painting. He said it would take 2 hours and 2 hours later he was finished... with the house. Then it was on to the underside of the deck roof. That was white and I had 2 1/2 gallons for that. About half way through he said we needed more. So I made a flying (but sane) trip to Bi-Mart (I figured white paint was white paint). When that project was finished we went down the street to Mike and Joann's. Remember the shed I built last year? Not painted yet. So we (there it is again, we) put on four gallons of white primer. And then it was clean up everything and eat pizza for dinner.
Roy and Twyla left Wednesday. Then Joyce and I began the endless task of painting the trim. Finally we have the window trim done and the door trim is finished except for the garage door. The gutters are painted but they will need a second coat. The barge rafters are still waiting their turn. I plan to have all this done this week so we can play next week. But it goes on and on and on and on. When the painting is finished, we get to clean up all the stuff, put the deck back in order, and resume normal living. I hate painting.
I'll post house pictures next week when the project is finished. See with what confidence I say that!
As you have noted, our lives have been consumed by paint. Except for the memorial service I conducted Saturday afternoon. This was for a guy who attended our church years and years ago. This morning I had a graveside service. This was in response to a call from the funeral home. This man lived in the Portland area but had relatives in our area. Sunday, we went to the "relaxed" service at First Christian Church. That means they meet downstairs in the fellowship room, sing choruses, and eat goodies. Good service; good goodies. Oh! In the middle of all this Joyce worked Friday at the daycare and is frantically getting crafts ready for October.
So now, wait with baited anticipation (or is it bated anticipation?) for the pictures of our newly painted house. How many times did I use the word, paint? I don't know. I didn't count them. But its not as may times as Joyce and I have used it. What a life. When the most exciting thing is a freshly painted house. Can you top that?
After deciding the color of paint, then it was getting it ready for paint. While Korak was here we pressure washed the house and masked most of the windows. Jana and family left Monday, Roy and Twyla arrived Tuesday. He and I finished preparing the house for paint -- a little more masking, moving the RV, covering the neighbor's RV, taking down light fixtures, caulking holes and cracks, and (I hate this part...) scraping, wire brushing and priming (i.e. paint) the bad places. There were lots of bad places. The whole south side should have been painted two years ago so it needed a lot of help.
Then it was actually doing it. Bright and early Tuesday morning Roy starting spray painting. Roy, you remember, is my nephew who lives in the Eugene area. My sister, Beth is his mother. About half way around the house he said we needed more paint so I made a flying (but sane) trip to Fred Meyer for another gallon. As it turned out, we put on 6 1/2 gallons. Notice I said "we" even though Roy was doing all the painting. He said it would take 2 hours and 2 hours later he was finished... with the house. Then it was on to the underside of the deck roof. That was white and I had 2 1/2 gallons for that. About half way through he said we needed more. So I made a flying (but sane) trip to Bi-Mart (I figured white paint was white paint). When that project was finished we went down the street to Mike and Joann's. Remember the shed I built last year? Not painted yet. So we (there it is again, we) put on four gallons of white primer. And then it was clean up everything and eat pizza for dinner.
Roy and Twyla left Wednesday. Then Joyce and I began the endless task of painting the trim. Finally we have the window trim done and the door trim is finished except for the garage door. The gutters are painted but they will need a second coat. The barge rafters are still waiting their turn. I plan to have all this done this week so we can play next week. But it goes on and on and on and on. When the painting is finished, we get to clean up all the stuff, put the deck back in order, and resume normal living. I hate painting.
I'll post house pictures next week when the project is finished. See with what confidence I say that!
As you have noted, our lives have been consumed by paint. Except for the memorial service I conducted Saturday afternoon. This was for a guy who attended our church years and years ago. This morning I had a graveside service. This was in response to a call from the funeral home. This man lived in the Portland area but had relatives in our area. Sunday, we went to the "relaxed" service at First Christian Church. That means they meet downstairs in the fellowship room, sing choruses, and eat goodies. Good service; good goodies. Oh! In the middle of all this Joyce worked Friday at the daycare and is frantically getting crafts ready for October.
So now, wait with baited anticipation (or is it bated anticipation?) for the pictures of our newly painted house. How many times did I use the word, paint? I don't know. I didn't count them. But its not as may times as Joyce and I have used it. What a life. When the most exciting thing is a freshly painted house. Can you top that?
Monday, September 01, 2008
The Party's Over
Today Jana, Korak, Josiah, and Lilly left for home. It sure is quiet around here. The party's over and I'm tired. We had a great time camping, going places, playing, and working. Josiah learned to ride his bike, his first tooth came out, and he got to attend his first kid's camp. 
This week he will begin 1st grade. It hardly seems possible that a little over 6 years ago he was laying in a preemie incubator fighting for his life. God is good.We celebrated Lilly's 3rd birthday (it is actually tomorrow) and Joyce's ?? birthday on Saturday. Of course it was primarily a party for Lilly but we could only find adults to attend. The weekend was a little chilly and windy so we opted to not set up the water slide. Lilly didn't care, neither did Joyce. We missed the picture of Joyce an Lilly wearing their crowns but this shows them enjoying a toy Lilly received. I know I'm somewhat prejudiced but she is developing into a wonderful little lady. She has her obstinate moments but she is a precious little girl with quite a vocabulary. We were walking through Target and I had her in the child seat of the cart. We strolled down the toy aisle and she spotted a big plastic tea pot. She picked it up, looked at me and said in a perfect British accent, "would you like a spot of tea?" I just burst out laughing. God is good.
While Korak was here (he arrived Wednesday evening) I put him to work. We reinstalled the fluorescent light in the garage and added an outlet for the garage door opener. He crawled under the house -- I don't do that anymore -- and ran a string to hold up the insulation that was beginning to sag. Then we prepared the house for paint. We pressure washed, scrapped some bad areas, and applied primer. We even put Josiah to work. Before I would let him leave today, we cleared the deck, washed to deck ceiling, and covered the windows with heavy paper. We now live in a dark house! My nephew, Roy is coming and Wednesday he 
will give the house a new look with his paint sprayer. I'm tired and we are only through labor day. Too much labor, I guess.Sunday we all attended worship at Jerome Prairie Bible Church. For lunch we drove out to Galice. They have a deck overlooking the Rogue River and you can sit there and watch the rafters drift by. But it was too cold and breezy for the deck so we ended up sitting inside.
Thanks for taking the opinion poll. And thanks for your vote of confidence. We'll do another one pretty soon. Well, time for bed. I've got a big week ahead of me? How 'bout you?
Sunday, August 24, 2008
God Is Good
It's Sunday evening and I'd better get back to my regular blogging routine. Since getting back home on Wednesday we have been recovering -- washing mounds of laundry, getting the garden back in shape, moving the lawn, etc. By the way, the new grass is doing great; I've mowed it twice and the sprinkler system does a good job of hitting all of it.
Joyce and Jana took the kids out to a small farm. It is the property of a lady Joyce works with but they have a horse, sheep, chickens, etc for the kids to pet, feed, and so on. We also got their wadding pool set up and so they can splash around in the water. It is a "pirate ship pool" we bought for Josiah about 3 years ago but we have put it away each time they leave and it still works. It has a cannon, flag, treasure chest, sword, and I don't remember what all. But I do remember it has a jillion (more or less) valves for inflating! The kids also loved going to the river to feed the ducks leftover bread. Then they were able to wade in the river at a spot where it is not very deep.
Today we went to Allen Creek Church. It was Galen and Rylee's last Sunday. He grew up in this church and became the youth leader while he was still in high school. That was about 6 years ago. Along the way, he got married, became the full-time youth pastor, and determined the Lord was calling him into youth work. He is now a Conference Ministerial Candidate and is leaving to study at a Bible school in Vancouver, BC. I was asked to say a few a words and pray a blessing for he and Rylee.
After church we took the kids to the Railroad Park in Medford. It is run by some model railroaders. They have some old cabooses to walk through and some small trains that they give rides on. It is very well done -- and all free. They ask for donations but the only thing they charge for is the sno-cones and hot dogs. Afterward we went to Marie Calendars for dinner. Kids eat free. That was the attraction. Pretty good.
And so now we're home watching the closing of the Olympics. Korak arrives this week. We will all be glad to see him -- especially the kids (well, maybe Jana, too). Our world is pretty full right now. God is really good.
Oh, a new thing... since this is the season for opinion polls, how about taking my opinion poll. It is on the right. Just click on a circle. Thanks.
Joyce and Jana took the kids out to a small farm. It is the property of a lady Joyce works with but they have a horse, sheep, chickens, etc for the kids to pet, feed, and so on. We also got their wadding pool set up and so they can splash around in the water. It is a "pirate ship pool" we bought for Josiah about 3 years ago but we have put it away each time they leave and it still works. It has a cannon, flag, treasure chest, sword, and I don't remember what all. But I do remember it has a jillion (more or less) valves for inflating! The kids also loved going to the river to feed the ducks leftover bread. Then they were able to wade in the river at a spot where it is not very deep.
Today we went to Allen Creek Church. It was Galen and Rylee's last Sunday. He grew up in this church and became the youth leader while he was still in high school. That was about 6 years ago. Along the way, he got married, became the full-time youth pastor, and determined the Lord was calling him into youth work. He is now a Conference Ministerial Candidate and is leaving to study at a Bible school in Vancouver, BC. I was asked to say a few a words and pray a blessing for he and Rylee.
After church we took the kids to the Railroad Park in Medford. It is run by some model railroaders. They have some old cabooses to walk through and some small trains that they give rides on. It is very well done -- and all free. They ask for donations but the only thing they charge for is the sno-cones and hot dogs. Afterward we went to Marie Calendars for dinner. Kids eat free. That was the attraction. Pretty good.
And so now we're home watching the closing of the Olympics. Korak arrives this week. We will all be glad to see him -- especially the kids (well, maybe Jana, too). Our world is pretty full right now. God is really good.
Oh, a new thing... since this is the season for opinion polls, how about taking my opinion poll. It is on the right. Just click on a circle. Thanks.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Camp and Camping
During the past seven days we have gone from Family Camp at Aldersgate to camping at Detroit Lake State Park. Family Camp has been a tradition in our family since the girls were babies. This is an annual event sponsored by the Oregon Conference of Free Methodist Churches at 
Aldersgate Conference and Retreat Center near Salem. The dates have varied, the length has changed, the focus has shifted, but it has always been there. We have lived in tents, borrowed RVs, an A-frame cabin, our own 15 foot trailer, a newer trailer and finally our fifth wheel. Years and years ago we made a little enclave with our trailer and Harper's trailer parked door to door with a tarp strung between (remember the name Harper; it will come up later in this blog). People from the church would gravitate to our RVs and it became a hangout at camp. Years pass, kids grow up and move away. Jana had not been at Family Camp since she lived with us about 17 years ago (wow! that sounds like a long time). She wanted to attend again and give Josiah and Lilly the chance to be there.So we did. It began
Thursday evening and ended Sunday afternoon. She actually met some friends she knew from years ago and the kids loved the experience. Josiah loved the slip n slide but best of all, he learned to ride his bike without training wheels. The only negative to the event was the heat -- temperatures hovered around 100 and just sucked the energy out of you. Fortunately our RV's air conditioner worked great which made sleeping bearable but the tabernacle where the evening service was held was not -- just a bunch of big fans. Well, better than nothing. We survived.Sunday afternoon we traveled about 40 miles up the Santiam River to Detroit Lake State Park
Campground. We had a great site right on the lake -- but far enough away that we didn't have to worry about the kids. There was an old root on the beach that made a great setting for pictures -- as you can tell. Joyce posed Lilly and she became quite the model.On the Wednesday and Thursday before Family Camp began, we moved Ginger into her new (new to her) mobile home. It all went well and everything was moved in about 5 hours. We used the rest of the time to help her unpack and do some maintenance things on the house. While we
were at Detroit Lake we wanted to see her one more time so we decided to meet at a fun little restaurant not far from where we were camped. It has a display of live birds right next to where the patrons sit -- separated by glass of course. But alas, the restaurant was closed and the only other place we could find was Pappa Al's, a little mom-n-pop cafe that apparently has had some semi-famous people eat there -- as attested to by their signatures on the wall. Well, the food was good and we enjoyed getting together again. Auntie Ginger is really good with the kids.Anyway, our camping was great. Probably the highlight was Josiah's tube ride. Remember the Harper I mentioned earlier? Our family and their family were really good friends and our kids grew up together -- at least while we were in Newberg. Harpers have two children, a daughter Rhonda
who is a missionary in Japan and Brian who lives near Salem and has a cabin on Detroit Lake. He came over with his boat (and family) to take us for a ride. His kids like to ride a large inner tube-like thing that he tows behind his boat. He asked Josiah if he wanted to ride. Of course, the answer was of course! After some instructions he got on and the smile never left his face. He even smiled when the thing flipped and he went into the lake. His mom and I were a little worried but the life vest bobbed him to the surface and he wanted back on. I think this kid is having too much fun!!!
We came home today (Wednesday). Last night it began to rain and this morning we broke camp in the rain. Not too pleasant but we certainly need the moisture. We drove to Belnap Hot Springs and swam in the warm waters for awhile -- in the rain. Kinda fun to be in nice warm water with little, cold drops falling on your head. Here at home it is not raining yet but there are clouds and they might produce something wet. We need it here, too. Hope your summer is going great. See you in the next blog.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Fir Point Camp and Pictures
.JPG)
I noticed I started the last blog by declaring, "I'm tired." Well I felt that way all week but today hasn't been too bad. We just spent the week at Fir Point Camp which is the camp for Free Methodist kids in southern Oregon -- actually some come from northern Oregon, too. Joyce and I presented the Bible story each day. The camp used Group Publisher's Power Lab material so it made the Bible lesson easy and interesting. The campers were divided into two groups so we had two presentations each day. Jana, Josiah, and Lilly arrived at camp Monday so we had Jana's help also -- plus our grand kids there. It's amazing how tired we were after only "working" two hours each day. I think I'm getting older!!Okay. Let's brag a little. Here are some pictures of Lilly and Josiah at camp. Josiah was too young to be an official camper but he did join a cabin group for the morning rotation and a few of the other activities. Lilly liked the singing and loved to dance to the music.
.JPG)
Enough of that. Before they go home at the end of the month there will be plenty of opportunities to post more pictures. I didn't blog last weekend because we just barely had an internet connection. The week before was spent getting ready for camp, getting a sermon ready for tomorrow (I preach in Eugene), and getting the garden ready to leave for 5 days. Last Sunday Joyce and I attended worship at Rivers of Life Four Square Church, came home to finish packing, and left for camp. We took the fifth wheel to live in and that made things a lot easier.
Today was sort of a recovery day. I returned the items we borrowed for camp, did some shopping and finished the day with a picnic at Whitehorse Park with some friends who were camped out there. Nice. Restful. Fun.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Family, Family, Family. Wow!
I'm tired. We have had a full weekend of family. They are all wonderful -- everyone of them. Joyce and I are so blessed to have such great families. I'm sure it is because God's hand of blessing has been on our families over the years. Even though not every individual has expressed a personal faith, the family as a whole has believed in God and honored him. He is a good God.
Jana, Korak, Josiah and Lilly arrived at 8:00 Friday morning. After a few hours sleep and a visit by Joyce's brother Don and wife Myrna, we were on our way to Eugene. The first stop was to see part of Joyce's family. Her sister Sharon, two nieces (Audra and Charla) and a cousin (Pat) were down from Washington visiting Joyce's brother Jack and wife Luwayne. A little side-note here to help you put all this family stuff together... Audra is Dean's daughter. Dean is the guy I went salmon fishing with while we were in Alaska. His boat is named after his daughter and she often goes out with him as his deck hand. And Jana got her middle name from Jack's wife, Luwayne. Okay, back to the story. All 13 of us crowded into Jack's house and out onto the patio for a great meal of tacos. Oh... Ginger drove down from Salem to join us.
Here is part of Joyce's family: L to R: Sharon, Pat, Jana, Charla, Josiah, Audra, and Lilly..JPG)
.JPG)
So after a short visit we were off to my side of the family. Jana, Korak and the kids stayed with Roy (my nephew) and Ginger, Joyce and I stayed with Beth (my sister). Saturday was the BIG day for first reunion of the descendants of my mom and dad. It was kind of exciting for everyone because this was the first time we had ever all gotten together. Everyone was there except one great grand daughter and her family who live in Florida and one great grand son who lives in Taiwan. We had 48 family members in attendance (including spouses). This gave us a total of 32 people in the direct blood line. There was one set of twins 15 months old and the youngest in attendance was Aiden who is a little over 3 months. He is also the only male to carry on the Mumau name in my dad's linage. He is a great, great grand son of my mom and dad.#
In all the preparation and excitement, one of the things I forgot was my camera so I'm dependant on others for pictures. I'll get some and post them later.#
We used the facilities of the Veneta Alliance Church. This is where Beth attends. So this morning a bunch of us all went to church there. Including Beth and some others, there were 16 family members there -- 7 of us were visitors. And, if that wasn't enough, we drove to Betty's house after church for more family and food. She had her side of the clan there and invited my side to join in. What a day! (Betty is my sister Doris' daughter).#
It has been really great getting to meet some family members that I had never seen. I know that some families get together often but others never get together. We didn't want to be in the latter group and our goal was to set an environment for people to get to know each other. I think we succeeded. More grandkid pictures next time. We'll be at Fir Point Kids Camp next week so the next blog will be late.#
After dinner at Betty's, Jana and family (along with Ginger) headed to Seattle for their family vacation. Next weekend they will drop Korak at the airport and then Jana, Josiah, and Lilly will spend time with us at Fir Point Camp, Family Camp, just plain camping, and who knows what else. Stay tuned. Lots of fun coming up.#
Blessings.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)