Monday, September 1, 2008

Reflection



Well, summer is drawing to a close. Darker days and colder nights are coming...



It seems like summer was too short. It doesn't feel like we got many hot days and it was definitely wetter than usual. I'll miss the sun until next year...



We did have a pretty great season, however. We did a lot and had some awesome visitors.



Our first visitors were Auntie Tami and Uncle Marlon. Tami, Meadow and I took a day to pamper ourselves and each other. We went to tea and had tiny sandwiches and some yummy tea called Evening in Missoula.





We visited a local beach when the tide was very low and saw some marine life. Marlon was excited to have crab in his hand as well as on his hoodie.






We went to breakfast with my dad.



Marlon is from Cuba and hasn't seen the same kind of wildlife as we see commonly in the Northwest. He got very excited to see the deer that come and eat all the plants in our yard. It actually gave me a new appreciation for thing around me that I often take for granted. Now, whenever I see un venado, I smile remembering Marlon's excitement. This picture is pretty blurry but I had to capture the moment. If you look closely, you can see un vendao through the window behind the guys.



We went to a local park.

And visited the Village Green.



And a Japanese Sculpture garden








Last Wednesday, I received a message from a friend that I went to midwifery school with. She told me of an adventure she and her husband are on and asked if I had time to have coffee and could they pitch a tent in our back yard. I immediately responded that I no longer live at the house with the awesome yard but if they didn't mind staying in a guest room, we'd love to have them over for dinner and to spend the night. And so they came over to our house on Thursday evening. They're riding their bicycles from Vancouver, BC to Santa Cruz, CA. They rode 50 miles the first day in the rain. I was so impressed and excited to have them come and stay with us. At this point they must be getting close to Oregon. They were thinking that 60 miles per day was what they'd average, which would put them between Olympia and Portland tonight. Here are Dana and Greg as they were leaving our house Friday morning.

Poker has been my weekly ritual this summer. I play with three to six other ladies at a friend's place. We have lots of fun and talk lots of shit.





My good friend, Addie is getting ready to have a baby. She is 26 weeks pregnant tomorrow and has had a little bit of a rough go of it, complete with nausea that just isn't letting up! She's positively glowing, however, and I was thrilled to take some photos of her a few weeks ago.





Jeremyah is playing football again this year. But this time it's tackle football and he's so excited. Such a little man. He had his jamboree this last Saturday. Here is a shot of the football boy with a couple of friends from last year's team.



These next couple of shots are from two years ago. I think they were taken exactly two years ago today. I was on a road trip with my now former friend Bree. We drove from Boise to Boston in two weeks. We stayed at my cousin's place in Colorado before heading to Chicago; Niagara Falls; Seneca Falls, NY; New York City; Cape Cod, MA; and finally to Boston where I stayed the night, went to Cheers and headed home.


Here is an awesome trumpet player in Battery Park

So, summer is coming to a close. The kids are both starting new schools this year. Meadow is going to middle school and we moved out of range for Jeremyah to continue at his old school. I'm excited for them to go back to school. They need something to occupy their brains instead of TV and bitching at one another.
Ruby and Sprocket got the most out of summer they could. Here they are, resting after a day of frolicking.

Couldn't resist throwing this one in. Meadow and Sprocket!

Hope your summer was delightful and here's to next year!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Jam

Jam:

Noun
Singular jam
Pluralcountable and uncountable; jams
jam (countable and uncountable; plural jams) A sweet mixture of fruit boiled with sugar and allowed to set, often spread on bread or toast or used in jam tarts. Blockage, congestion; as a traffic jam, paper jam. (popular music) An informal, impromptu performance or rehearsal. (basketball) A forceful dunk. A difficult situation.

For several years James and I have been talking about putting up some jam. And I mean years! Well, Friday was James' birthday and we spent an awesome weekend hanging out with friends and family. (Sorry, Emily and Dave, to have missed your party...we'll catch you on the next time 'round). Today James and I took Meadow and Jeremyah out to a local u-pick berry farm and loaded up!

Thirteen pounds of blueberries!
Nine pounds of strawberries (that's how much each of the kids weighed when they were born!)!




And 17 pounds of raspberries!

Then we went to the grocery store and picked up some essentials and some pectin and went home to embark on our first-ever jam making session.




First batch done!

No, we didn't add any mustard or anything but we did take a break to eat hamburgers.

James and the kids picking the stems and leaves out of the blueberries.


Meadow gets a turn stirring the berries as they cooked.



Jeremyah stirring the berries.

JAM!!!



There I am ladling the hot jam into the jars.


The small batch in the back is strawberry jam, the small bach on the left is blueberry jam and the large batch on the right is raspberry jam.


James relaxes after a satisfying birthday weekend.

James' birthday pavlova.

Meadow, James, Jeremyah and James' mom, Kathy



My dad went on a roadtrip with some of his biker buddies a week and a half ago or so and got in a little scuffle with a deer. He was going about 60 miles per hour on his Harley when he hit it and went down. He flew off the bike and rolled and skidded down the road a ways and into a ditch. By some miracle he walked away with zero broken bones or internal injuries. However, he's going to have to grow a lot of skin back.

James and I stopped by to see daddy on our way out to James' folks' place and I took a few pictures of my papa.




Big tough guy, my dad. He's so burly at 63 that he can walk away from an accident like that and come home joking about it. No, he didn't keep the deer.

Note the lovely red circles on his knees. Protect those patellae!

I'm so thankful that he's OK. He said he wants to go on another ride when he gets his bike back from the shop. During that ride he's going to decide whether or not to give up riding. We all think he should keep doing it as long as he's not freaked out by it. It's his absolute favorite thing to do and it's not like he was drunk when he crashed or a feeble-minded old man. He's in great shape and has great reflexes. The doctor told him, after doing some x-rays, that he has the body of a 55 year-old and if his back muscles weren't so strong he likely would have broken his spine in two places where there was some twisting.

As long as you love it, Papito, keep riding. I love you.





Monday, July 21, 2008

Busy Summer

Well, it's been a very busy spring and summer! Here are some highlights...


Jeremyah and James having lunch at the Village Green


Jeremyah and Meadow with our friend Alloquois in Portland


James playing guitar
Hank chillin in the hot pink
Ella twirling in her fancy skirt

Meadow and Ella being fancy girls


Hank!


Jeremyah Hendrix


She's fashionably lean...and she's fashionably late...


My family walking down a Portland street

The teeter totter at Kenton Park


Ice cream at Cool Moon in Portland


The boys riding the Max


An owl at the Portland zoo


Calliope gets a ride from her papa at the Portland zoo

Kisses from my Meadow


Portland's Chinatown, home of Hung Far Low


The BEST Thai food I've ever had...Typhoon in Portland


After dinner...and drinks!


Heading home, nice and toasted!

Gene loves Emily


Ruby!


Calliope!


Best friends! Fourth of July in St. Helens, OR.


Pooped Ruby.

Me and my Boo.


Tha girls.


Explosion!


Natasha (my niece), Meadow, Jaden (my nephew), Jeremyah, Kenyon (my nephew), Tyson (my nephew), and Latrissa (my niece) at the water slides.


My brother, Brett on a sucide mission...

My brother, Clay on a suicide mission




Pooped kids!


James at the PSE company picnic at Lake Tapps east of Tacoma

Jeremyah mid-air hopping to the velcro



Father and son battle!
Grumpy ice cream girl


Martinis and a cigar after a long day

Discovery Park


Fisherman's Terminal




Anyone know what kind of flower this is?

I've been much too busy to write any kind of substantial blog. I promise more will come...