Washington, My Home

I never can get these pictures where I want them. Oh well. These are the blueberries we hoed and picked endlessly while we lived on Hayes
Route in Woodland.

This is the house across from the blueberries we hoed and picked endlessly on Hayes Route in Woodland. We moved here when I was 12.

We moved into this house when I was about 17. It was a great house downtown in Woodland. We moved from this house to GrandView.

Good ol'e Woodland High. I graduated from here so many years ago that I can't believe it is still standing.

Woodland High School--Home of the Beavers!

This was the house we lived in when we were in Battle Ground. It was a great place and the place I think of when I remember my childhood.

Another shot of the house

This great barn went with the house in Battle Ground. I can still see the horses and cows in the barnyard. Those windows on the right are by the horse stalls. Believe it or not, I helped clean those stalls. It is not my fondest memory.

The beautiful Portland Temple

My elementary school in Battle Ground

Beautiful Washington.

Battle Ground Lake. It has no bottom so it freaked me out to swim there.

Floyd came to Portland to work on the temple and I joined him last Friday. It has been a wonderful experience to be here, since I spent the first 19 years of my life in the Portland area. Saturday we took the pilgrimage to Woodland and Battle Ground to see my former homes and schools. Everything is so green, and there are flowers! I forgot about that. It has been delightful and almost convinced me to put that For Sale sign in the front yard, after all.

Home Again--At Last!!!

After three long months in Las Vegas, Floyd is back home. He is so happy to be here and I am thrilled that we are together again. Floyd has been away so much through the years. He has felt like Dorothy in Oz, only when he clicked his heels together and said "There's no place like home", nothing happened. He will be going to Portland to work on the temple for two weeks and then we are hoping that he will be going to work on the Hoku project in Pocatello. For now, Floyd is home, the pickup is parked where it is supposed to be, the trailer is in its place, I'm baking bread, and he is outside on the working end of the snowblower with Lucy at his heels. Just as it should be.

Danny's Birthday Party-A Real Blowout

Debbi's son, Danny, had his birthday party on Saturday. We all met at Deb and Justin's house, had dinner, played Guitar Hero, watched the kids have a great time with the Wii, and had an all around wonderful evening. Since Floyd is still in Las Vegas (this is month 3), I stayed overnight with Deb's family. I loved every minute of it! The best part of all was watching the adults take their turn with Guitar Hero. And for anyone who might think Miriam is reserved and sedate, this will blow that theory wide open. The kids made great backup singers (thanks, Jo and Deb), and terrific drummers. We missed Josh, Kacy, and Ben, Steve and Sarah, and Matt and his family. Maybe next time. Of course it is never a real party without Floyd, who will finally be home on Friday night. Maybe he can stay for awhile this time. Thanks, Family, for a terrific time, and a special thanks to Deb and Justin for hosting all of us. Love you all!

The Great Hunters

Fall is my very favorite season. I love all of the colors, textures and smells of the autumn. I was both born and married in the autumn, so there are great memories associated with these golden months. Fall also brings hunting season, which is much more meaningful to Floyd than it is to me. Today Debbi, Justin and their family, and Joanna and Gracie came to visit. Floyd, Justin, and Trevor went hunting and the rest of us watched movies and enjoyed the day together. Just after sundown, the guys all came home. They were empty-handed but had a great time. the best things they shot were pictures of their trip, which I am happy to share.

Tagged! Who? Me?

Our grandson, Trevor, tagged me, so here we go. Thanks Trev. Watch your back.


1. I always wanted to be in a Broadway show. In fact, when I had to write about my biggest dream in high school English, that's what I wrote about. I would still love it, although playwrights don't write too many parts for, um, mature chicks.





2. I love to cook and bake for my family. The best thing I can think of is to have everyone come home for the weekend and bake enough cookies, cake, and bread and cook enough Italian food for all of them to eat their fill and take a bunch home.




3. I really love books and I really, really love cookbooks. I have about 200 of them. I love to read them, just like a Grisham novel. I usually cook at least one recipe out of each one to justify having them.




4. I dream about chocolate. Not chocolate cake, or chocolate chip cookies, just chocolate. Preferably Guitard chocolate. Cookies and cake are a waste of good flour and sugar. Just bring on the chocolate.



5. Neil Diamond was my first love. My husband just had to get used to it. I still play all of his music--the old stuff, the new stuff, the Broadway covers, whatever. My children and I danced to all of the golden oldies while they were growing up and they all probably knew his songs before they were born. I think Miriam's first words were Sweet Caroline. In view of the last three thoughts, when it comes time for me to shuck off this mortal coil (in about 42 more years), I want to be dipped in chocolate and buried in the basement of a Barnes and Nobel with Neil Diamond music piped into my crypt. Forget such pretenses as eternal flames, just pipe in Neil's golden tones.



6. I love to take long, hot bubble baths and read in the bathtub. I have books and magazines in the bathroom just for that purpose. It's another justification for all those books I keep buying.



Okay. Now I tag Josh and Kacy because they always have something fun to say. Besides, they need to get their blog started and join the fun.

Wait for us!

Well, thanks to our brilliant daughters, we're bloggers. Nothing like jumping head first into cyberspace. We're looking forward to checking in from time to time to share our lives.