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?

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.

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.

Fir Point Camp and Pictures

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.

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.

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.

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.

Lumps and Stuff

What a nice relaxing week. I mean the rest of the week after we got the sod in. I didn't do much at all. Joyce worked about 4 hours each day. I took the fifth wheel to Siskiyou RV to have a couple things repaired. They fixed a faulty heater. I know... it seems kind of strange to get a heater fixed when it is 95 degrees outside but one has to plan ahead you know. They also pulled the air conditioner and replaced the gasket that sealed it to the roof. That will solve the leaking problem I had last spring.

But the biggy thing this week was my surgery. I have to put it like that so it sounds really awesome. Actually, the doctor removed a substatious cyst from the back of my neck. I probably didn't spell that correctly but it was simply a cyst from below the skin surface. He had removed this thing a few years ago and it grew back so I decided to get it out again. He sent it to pathology but it will not be anything serious. Right now I have a big incision on the back of my neck with a lot of stitches and Joyce gets to nurse me every morning and evening with a new bandage. I reward her with a kiss. She's a good nurse.

This morning we went to St. Luke's Episcopal Church. Pastor Jim has been a friend over the years and we have often prayed together. It was an interesting service because they were having a picnic afterward so everyone dressed informally. Even Jim was wearing shorts -- along with his green stole. The service was good but too much liturgy for me. I like a little but not that much.

We started a Bible study this evening. Mike's and JoAnn's work schedules make it hard for them to get involved in most traditional Bible studies so we decided to start one on Sunday evenings. Others are invited but it is okay if it is only the four of us -- as it was this evening. We are studying 1 Timothy and know that we won't be able to meet each week.

Jana and family are coming this week and then we have a family reunion so we're anticipating all that. And that's what is happening at the Mumau homestead. Not a whole lot.

Almost There, But Now a Rest

Yes, I know this is Tuesday. I could have blogged Sunday but I didn't. No excuse. I could have blogged Monday but I didn't. However, I have a reason. I realized we were going to get the sod laid Tuesday morning and I wanted to post a picture. So here it is.

Ta da.... the almost finished project. This is our funny shaped grassy area with the new sprinklers going, about 5 minutes after we finished laying the last strip. The circle of rocks in the right center will be a mound of dirt with plants of some kind and either a bird bath or a garden pot with whatever Joyce plants in it. On the far right where it looks like nothing... that is because it IS nothing. There will be a walkway there -- probably wood, maybe stone. In the near foreground is the old "lawn" which will get replaced -- sometime. Just for reference, here is a "before" picture:

But now we need to turn our attention elsewhere. There are grandkids coming and that is very important. We have a Mumau family reunion to get ready for -- my job is the family tree. Then Fir Point camp for the kids will happen in August and our responsibility is the Bible lesson so we have to prepare for that. So The Backyard will get a rest ... and so will we. It seems it has been all consuming for so long. We started in May. I just checked the calendar and I rototilled the area on May 12. I guess being retired means you don't have to work fast. But for so long we have been working on it or thinking about it or talking about it or buying something for it or feeling guilty that we weren't doing one of the above. We'll finish it off later -- maybe September.

Joyce is working about 3 hours each day this week at the Day Care. In addition to that she has been a big help with The Backyard. I have been fiddling with the water from the Grants Pass Irrigation District pipe. We used it for about 3 weeks with no problems, then the other day they got a lot of gunk in the system. This stuff looks like little bitty twigs and pieces of wood. It plugs up the hose filter too quickly. I bought a bigger filter that I'll try this afternoon. The water we get comes from a dam on the Rogue River about 8 miles upstream. Then it flows through ditches to all parts of the city and surrounding area. Somewhere just above us the water is forced into a pipe and is under enough pressure that we can run sprinklers -- if we can get it clean. That seems to always be the problem with GPID water. But we're paying for it so I figure we might as well use it.

From time to time people have told me they read the blog but don't know how to leave a comment. I love the comments and leaving one is easy. 1) click the word "comment" at the end of the blog; 2) type your comment in the box; 3) type in the letters for the word verification -- this is to deter spammers; 4) check a box. If you have a Google account, use it. Or you can sign up for one -- no cost, no obligation. Or check the "anonymous" box. I'm pretty sure that works on mine. I have used it on a friend's blog but I can't test it on mine because it recognizes me and puts in my name. If you use anonymous don't forget to add your name so I know who is leaving those nice comments.

Sunday we attended worship at Parkway Christian Fellowship. I sure like their spirited singing and I like Pastor Dennis' preaching. He has a great way of presenting the truth. Well, I'm off to the next project. I'll meet you on the comment page.

Up North and Back Again... Again

This has been a fun week. I'll take you through it and we'll end with the exciting part... and the reason I didn't blog yesterday. On Monday we planted some grass-like plants along Joyce's river and I ran a drip system to them for water. But didn't do much else. Joyce had a doctor's appointment scheduled for Monday. This was just a call back to check her blood work to be sure the meds were doing what they were supposed to do. Her doctor has her own lab so we showed up early for the lab work -- to find the lab is not open because someone called in sick (there's something ironic about a doctor's office lab being closed because of illness!). Anyway, no use seeing the doc if the lab work isn't available. So she had to make two appointments -- one for the lab on Wednesday, and one to see the doc on Thursday.

Tuesday was our anniversary (42 if anyone is counting). So we celebrated by going out to work in the yard early in the morning, then lazing around the rest of the day. Late in the afternoon, Marilyn and her mom, Polly, stopped by. They are the friends we visited in Prescott, Arizona. Marilyn used to live here and 3 of her kids still do. So after visiting for awhile we went down to Abbey's Pizza for dinner. Nice laid back fun day.

We didn't do much on Wednesday. Worked in the yard a little and I worked on my sermon for Sunday. Thursday I was the speaker at a memorial service for the husband of a lady that used to attend Allen Creek. A cousin handled the rest of the service. So I spent a little time in the morning preparing for that. Joyce's doctor's appointment went really well. Her blood sugar and cholesterol are down so she is real proud of herself. Every couple of weeks we have dinner with Mike and JoAnn so this week I let Joyce pick the restaurant. Of course, she picked Chinese and Mike and JoAnn were okay with that. We ate at the China Hut and ordered lots so we would have plenty of take home.

Then came Friday -- the 4th of July. Can you believe we got up early and met Marilyn and her family for breakfast? It was fun because we got to see the boys and their families that we usually don't get to see. It was a little cooler during the day so we worked on the rock border around one of the features in The Backyard. Then in the evening we went down to the church. Every year "they" -- somebody, right now it is the Lion's Club -- puts on a fireworks show at the fairgrounds. Allen Creek church is less than a mile away (as the crow flies -- actually, we have blackbirds around here). So for many years the church people and their friends and people we don't even know gather for a potluck or snacks and then watch the fireworks. They were doing that the day we moved to Grants Pass. We arrived in town on July 4. Some guys from the church showed up to help us unload the truck and then told us about the potluck and fireworks. So off we went to the church for a great meal. I told them I thought it was rather awesome that the whole town put on a fireworks show to welcome us to Grants Pass.

Saturday we didn't do much. I worked on a PowerPoint to accompany my sermon and shoveled a little gravel in the evening. Sunday morning the trip up north began. I preached at Springfield again and we ate lunch with Joyce's brother and wife, Jack and Luwayne. Then drove to Larry and Cheryl's in Newport. They were in our church at Agate Beach. They now attend the Nazarene Church which was having a Luau on the beach. So we went. And got blown away. Literally. The wind was so strong we ate sand instead of potato salad so we didn't stay long. We really enjoyed our time with Larry and Cheryl. Monday morning we had breakfast with Ellis and Kathy, saw Pam at WalMart, saw Willy at the church (I asked him if I could have the trophy we won in the parade over a year ago). Have I mentioned that the Agate Beach church is closed? Willy is working on a new church plant in Newport. Lunch was with Warren and Carol in Lincoln City then on Salem.

We met Ginger at 4:00, toured a mobile home for sale in the same park she lives in, and by 5:30 we bought it. Actually Ginger is buying it but we are fronting the money with some help from her Uncle Don. She is excited. It is a 1973 model, in good condition, and comes with all the appliances including a dishwasher and washer/dryer. It has new vinyl windows, two outdoor storage units and a big covered deck. That is our exciting news. Well, it's exciting to us and to Ginger.

Her's is the one in the middle. Her dining room is in the front and looks out over this pond which has ducks and a fountain.The proud owner.

We arrived back home last night a little after 10:00. And that about covers our week and our marathon visit-the-friends-and-relatives trip. We're staying home for a few weeks now. Gotta work in The Backyard. Except the temp is supposed to be 104 today and tomorrow.