We spent a long weekend with Dennis and Abby last weekend at their place in Winnetka, California. We flew in on Saturday, Abby's parent's, Lanie and Terry, were there when we arrived from the airport and had Abby's salsa and Dennis' BBQ steaks and chicken for dinner. The next day we went to Oxnard for an 80th birthday for a family friend. MaryJane has been Cleo's friend since they were little girls and we were so happy to have been invited to the party. It was so fancy! Almost like a wedding except we sang 'Happy Birthday' instead of hearing vows. We spent Monday with Dennis and Abby around town, then back to Oxnard and spent the day with Bob and Cleo and Jimmy. Wednesday, Dennis went in to work, while we were still in bed, we met him for breakfast, (you should have seen the crepe and pancake choices!) and then Abby had the duty of occupying us until Dennis got off work. She took us for a drive through the canyon, ending up at the ocean and we walked around in the tide pools. A PERFECT place for me! I have some fantastic pictures of pelicans, seagulls, sea stars (my new name for them, thanks to Abby), shells, mussels, waves, sand, you name it! A really really nice day, then we had dinner out and were dropped off at the airport. Heading back to PDX, we had to stop in San Francisco...well, as our plane was coming in for a landing, the wheels were down, then suddenly, we heard them go back up and the plane started rising up, the captain came on and said that he had lost visual with the airport and we had to circle. It seemed perfectly clear out to us, maybe just a little cloud or two, but anyway, we landed and then waited and waited at the gate. Finally the captain came back on and said we were waiting for somebody to bring the ramp way over to the plane. In the meantime, we missed our connection!!! So we got to spend the night at an airport hotel and made it home the next morning. In spite of that we had a really really great get away.

Happy belated Valentine's Day! John's two sisters and one nephew spent a 4 day weekend with us. Mary and Danny drove over from Fruitland, Idaho and met up with Martha, who drove up here from Port Orford. We have not seen each other in a couple of years, so it was a nice meeting up point for everyone, especially us, since we didn't go anywhere, but got to enjoy seeing them. We went shopping, I bought some clothes that were not LOFT for the first time since I went to work for LOFT a year and a half ago. I am normally not a shopper, which was part of the reason people were amazed when I announced I got a job there. Going from not shopping, to being in a store for hours at a time was kinda strange for me when I first started. Anyway, we went shopping and out for lunch and did more shopping two days in a row! We had long visits in our pjs while we drank coffee in the mornings and topped it off with an excellent dinner out to Tad's on Valentine's Day. Actually, we kinda forgot it was Valentine's when we decided it would be nice to all go out for dinner. We showed up with no reservation, but only had to wait a tiny bit and had a fantastic table by the window to see the river as the sun set. On the drive there, we were treated to a beautiful vivid double rainbow! Danny was riding up front with John driving and so I tossed Danny the camera and he snapped off a couple shots while John kept on driving.

I've been back to my outdoor workouts...going for walks outside is so much better than the treadmill...for one thing...once you are half-way out there...you have to finish...you can't just hop off the machine and go do something else. I have not been taking my camera with me because there just isn't that much to take pictures of this time of year. But the other day...there in the middle of the road was the cutest little salamander! I was so much wishing for my camera...but then I realized I DO have a camera with me...my cell phone! I pulled it out and got some shots...not too bad for a cell phone, huh?

I also have to tell about the most fantastic dinner I made the other night. Well, fantastic to me...John was not impressed. Chicken Pot Pie...it is awesome! I am so glad he was not thrilled with it because that gave me plenty of left-overs. I had some for breakfast yesterday even and then had it again for dinner last night. There are two more servings left and I can't wait to have them!

Just in case you want to try it, here is the recipe:

CHICKEN POT PIE
Filling:
1/4 cup butter
2 3/4 cups chicken broth (I use water and bouillon to make my own)
1/2 tea. pepper
1/2 tea salt
1/3 cup flour
a chicken breast or two, cooked and diced up (depends on how much chicken you want in it)
1 10 oz. package frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 cup chopped celery
one large potato, diced up

Pastry:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
3/4 tea salt
4-5 T. cold water

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat, add the flour, stirring until smooth. Cook a minute stirring constantly. Gradually add the broth, using a wire whisk and cook over medium heat stirring continually until the mixture is thick and bubbly. Stir in the salt and pepper, chicken and vegetables. Pour into a 12x8x2 inch baking dish. In a bowl, combine flour and salt, cut in butter until it resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle in the cold water and mix until just moistened. Shape into a ball and then roll out into a rectangle to fit the top of the baking dish. Place over the mixture and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.

I prepared it all in the morning before I went to work, covered it with a towell and then when I got home, it was sitting there all ready to bake.

OK! Time to go have breakfast...mmm...pot pie, here I come...hope there is time for a workout when I'm done.

Today we went to watch Joshua play basketball. It was a fantastic show...complete with darkened gymnasium and a tunnel with smoke coming from it as each player's name was announced and he ran out, taking a lap of the gym, slapping hands of everyone lining the walls in anticipation of a great game.

I am so impressed with what a great player he is. He really knows where he should be and what to do. He is so fast and is a great shooter...look how high he jumps to make the basket!!!You can see how even his coach is excited! After the game, we all went to a room where the team gathered for some wrap-up words from the coach. Joshua was given an award for the most Christ-like player...well, I didn't even know Jesus played basketball...but if He did, then Joshua did a good job imitating how Jesus would have played, he is not a ball hog, makes sure that if he sees somebody else in a better position he passes it on, he encourages other players and is always looking for ways to improve the game. I am proud of him!

Emily has found her own way to get through the game...her new passion...TEXTING! Go Emily!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!!!!

 





I never get tired of waking up to this!!!

Well, it has been a week of questions. Hello? an earthquake? a tusnami may be on its way? are you OK? when is the next flight OUT of there? how far are the mountains? how many can you fit in your car? do you know for SURE that it is not going to happen? moving on to...how can we help Haiti?

So many people have asked what can they do...most know that they can not do anything on their own, but they still want to help, they want to help NOW and know that the money is ALL going directly to the Haitians...after repeated questions of how can they get money to her, after calling her bank and mine to try to set up accounts, Jessi decided the fastest and easiest way was to set up a Paypal link on her blog site (link to her blog is to the left of this article). The response has been amazing! I don't know if she wants me to publish the amount received so far, but she and Ariel went into Santiago last Saturday and loaded up a truck with all the things they know that can be used NOW. A group of people from her church that actually know people right there in the earthquake torn areas have already been there and back and will be headed down with another load on Thursday. They know how to get it there safely and how to deliver it directly into the hands of those in desperate need of it. They will continue to make deliveries as long as the need is there and there are supplies that they can deliver.

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

She wants to go so badly, but also knows that the risks are so high right now. She has assured me that unless she has a group to go with that she would not just hop on over there on her own. Right now, after calling the hospitals, she has been told that there is no place for her to stay, food and water are scarce and that she is more of a liability. She knows no French or Creole. So even though she has the nursing skills ready and willing, she is staying put. In the meantime, the organization that she works for, Kids Alive has been asked to take on 50 children orphaned by the earthquake. It is just a temporary need, they will take in the kids for 6 months while the Haitian branch of Kids Alive builds a place to house them back in Haiti. So for now, she is content with knowing that there are needs right there that she can help with, giving love to the little kids...ages 3-8, who have seen so much already that we can barely imagine...and with being a go between for getting supplies into the hands and mouths that need it so much. Thanks so much for your love and prayers!

View Untitled in a larger map

Wow, what a day!

Not a whole lot has happened the past while to write about, just the same old busy busy busy…and then WAM!!!

First a text from Jessi that she had just had an earthquake...oh wait...go back...I was at a movie with Bonnie...phone on vibrate in my purse. (yes, I get it…earthquake/phone on vibrate) I get out of the movie...a text from Jessi about the earthquake, then I see I have missed repeated calls from her, John, and my Mom...oh man...panic set in, I could not even think of who to call back first...but to save me from decision...in came a call from John. Yes, there had been an earthquake, Jessi had called him also, she was OK, but trying to reach me to have me get on the internet to my Red Cross weather site to see what I could find out about a predicted TSUNAMI!!!

OH, man...the panic I had just felt went into something else, I can't even describe it. I was not crying or anything hysterical like that, all I knew was that I had better find a place to sit down. John had said Jessi needed me to check on the internet, Bonnie had a great idea....there used to be a library at the mall...she asked around, while I called to Rachel’s cell, knowing she would be home...she was not...but John was at home with the grandkids and so he said he would check it...meanwhile I tried to call Jessi's cell, since she had told her dad the home line was out. No answer...over and over and over...all the while I am walking back to my car. (no library at the mall anymore) Bonnie gave me a big hug (thanks Bonnie!) and off I went for home...still getting calls trying to figure out what happened...or was about to happen, that was the worst thing, thinking there still might be something worse COMING. I got home, by then Jessi had called me...she was fine...and it was looking like the tsunami had been called off, but still nothing definite. She had sent an email to my Coast Guard admiral friend, Ron, for an official report, like who would know more about the potential threat than the Coast Guard, right? and he sent one back to her saying that it was not going to happen after all, it would have happened within 2 hours of the quake, if it was going to happen. But they are still having aftershocks and so the fear is still there…what if? What if there is a bigger quake? What if it causes a tsunami?

I can't believe how fast these things happen...from one moment, enjoying a movie with a friend...to panic. I am now feeling such a sense of relief, but I feel so worn out.

The map above shows the island where she lives...she is on the north there in the Dominican Republic by that blue arrow...the other one is where the epicenter of the earthquake was...in Haiti. You can click on the arrows of the map and it will enlarge or shrink or move it around by dragging the mouse, so you can see exactly how far it is from Florida, etc. Reports are that many lives are lost, so even though there is no immediate loss for me, there is sadness for those who are dealing with it all.

CHRISTMAS HAS OFFICIALLY LEFT THE HOUSE! I packed up Christmas and put it all away today. It is always so much fun to get out everything and fix it all up for the holidays, but so nice to get it back to normal again too. But it is not quite as much fun putting it all away as it was to get it out. I use this time to really get things clean...instead of spring cleaning, I do after Christmas cleaning.

Last Christmas, I put a bunch of photos on here of my decorations. There was one decoration I didn't add last year. I don't know why. Some years are like that, maybe I didn't add my little eggs to the tree last year. I made these the first year I got married. I thought it was pretty clever of me blowing out those eggs and fixing them up. John had to eat a ton of scrambled eggs that first year. I remember being pretty proud of them. Looking at them now...they pretty much look like grade school art class...well, OK, primary school art class. After we got the tree decorated that first year with all my crafty eggs, stings of popcorn, bread dough art, thistle mice and nut angels, etc, etc, etc...John and I went in to do some Christmas shopping and I was so ticked off at him! He BOUGHT some red and blue balls to hang on the tree! I was so mad that he was not quite as impressed with my eggs...all 4 dozen of them, as I was. But now....looking at the remaining dozen...I can see WHY he wanted a few uncrafty decorations on the tree.

Here is my favorite Christmas photo for this year. Christmas night, over at my parent's place, Jessi wanted us to get on Skype for a little chat. We have done Skype before, but never in a group on a holiday before. From now on, whenever one of my kids is unable to make it home when all the rest are there, we are going to do this again. It was second best to actually having her home, she and Ariel got to talk with everyone there and we all got to see each other. It is the closest my boys have come to meeting their new brother-in-law. I can't believe such an amazing program is free and we were able to talk endlessly and do silly things, like take a family photo, hold up the gifts we sent each other and all kinds of things to make it seem like we were really all together for Christmas. Hopefully NEXT year we really will be!!!

Emily and Joshua are here! I get to have them for three days while John and Rachel are at the beach to celebrate their anniversary.

Last night we went to see Christmas lights. Emily has her own camera and so she and I were taking pictures of everything, then Joshua wanted to try taking a few. I thought it was more fun watching him take pictures than it was to take them myself. It was even MORE fun when I got home and put them on the computer to see what they ended up with. This way I got to see it through their eyes. I love those blurry pictures too!


Emily has been giving us all daily email updates on how many days left until Christmas. So she was pretty excited to get the picture of the snowman with the countdown going.


It was such a fun night driving around, singing all the Christmas songs we knew, walking around and taking pictures. We came home and warmed up with hot chocolate.


Joshua's pictures are the top collage, the bottom one are Emily's.

Last week, we had a really cold spell. Because there was no snow or ice to deal with, it was the prefect chance for me to go to Multnomah Falls to get some pictures of the frozen water. I have always wanted to do that, but usually the road conditions make it impossible to get up there. I called Mom and Dad to go along with me and we took the old hwy up there, stopping along the way to get some shots of the other falls too. It was so worth the drive up there, I could not believe how beautiful they were in real life. And of course, we had to take time for lunch while we were there. It was a great day!
This one was taken at the bridge, looking straight down as the water fell over. From the bottom, it looked like a volcano crater, from the top, the color of the water was so blue.

BRRRRR!!!! It's been cold here! Wood stoves are going and everyone is doing all they can to stay warm. The other morning, it was only 7 degrees when we woke up. It has been sunny and clear skies. This morning we woke up to a thin layer of ice over everything. My sister was trying to get to work this morning, and rolled her truck, totalling it out. We are very thankful that she was given an 'all's well' when she was checked at the hospital. Two days after Thanksgiving, I woke up to phone call at 3 am, from the Red Cross. I headed out and was shocked to discover upon arrival to the scene, that it was one of my good friends! None of the classes I have taken or teach say anything about how to handle things when that happens. Normally we get the client into a hotel and help with some temporary food and clothing. Well, there was no way I was going to send her all alone to a hotel in the middle of the night. I told her that if she wanted, I would prefer to take her home with me. We gave her the Red Cross options and the neighbors were all inviting her to stay with them. I was soooo happy when she took me up on the offer. She is thankful that her house and keepsakes were saved, even though she will have to live elsewhere for a few months while the insurance repairs the damages.

In case you are wondering, I have had a ton of trouble getting onto Blogger to post anything, so that is why I have not updated much in the past couple of weeks. I am trying to work it out, right now it is just a bandaid to get on, gotta figure out what is really wrong.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

A Psalm for Thanksgiving.

Psalm 100

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness, come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God, it is He who has made us and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with Thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good, His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.

John, Dennis and Jessi will be happy to know that I have found an outlet for my love of taping packages. My job. One of my jobs is to package orders we get. That means I get to use tape...lots of tape. Over the years, they have all made comments on the amount of tape I use to package something. I come by it naturally, my Grandma McCool was famous for it. She would not even send a card without taping every possible opening. You would have to go get scissors to even open it.

Joshua is 8!!!!

I am so proud! I have been officially published! My very own first calendar of my photos. My sister asked me if she could have a copy of my favorite photos from last year. I didn't know what she was going to do with them all, she said that she might use a few of them on the print shop calendar that they make and give out to clients every year. I had no idea that the whole calendar would be my pictures!!!

FALL...yes, they are falling...the leaves this year are spectacular!The colors are so amazing! I thought I had enough pictures from last year, so I really didn't plan on taking many fall shots this year. But I could not resist. Somebody told me they are prettier this year because we had such a dry summer...I have no idea, but they are excellent. I think I said that last year too!
This is a pond closeby, I just like how the picture turned out, kinda fall, but a really nice reflection of the colors.

So today is Halloween. Last week, I stopped off at a local pumpkin patch to take a few pumpkin pictures. I know that all these pumpkins were not chosen in time to go home with some little kids to be carved out and lighted up...isn't it sad that they will not have a home?

I guess there is hope that somebody will still take one home and make pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving...

HAPPY FALLTIME!!!

Yesterday Emily and Joshua were in a cross country meet. They run a 1.8 mile course. They are both in different divisions, separated by age and sex, but they ran their race at the same time. Emily was ahead of Joshua while they were in our sight, then they headed into the woods, when they came out, Joshua was right behind her. He kept getting closer and closer to her and as they rounded the field for the final stretch, he kicked in and passed her. It looked like she was just going to let him beat her until they hit the track. Then she kicked it in and it was if they were the only two racing...they were in a sprint for the finish. It ended up he beat her by 1/10th of a second. To anybody else watching it must have seemed no big deal, but for us who were family watching it was pretty hilarious. We didn't know who to hope would win. They both had their best times ever.

When I was in the third grade, my family moved from Portland out to the Sandy area. We went from being city girls to farm girls. We had acres of property to play on, with forts and horses and a raspberry field. We moved in the fall. One of my first memories of our new place was all of the caterpillars crawling around. I don’t remember if it was the first time I had seen one or not, but I remember suddenly we had all these orange and black fuzzy critters crawling everywhere. We used to put them in jars along with leaves and grass and wait and wait to see them become a butterfly. All they became was dead. A couple of weeks ago, Emily and Joshua were here and sure enough, they found the caterpillars and the first thing they wanted to do is put them in a container and add some leaves and grass. Some things never change.

3 years ago, for my 50th birthday, John sent me to Antigua, Guatemala to work on my Spanish. I stayed with the same host family and attended the same school that Jessi had when she studied there a few years earlier. I was gone for 6 weeks. It was an amazing trip. My host mother is the same age as me and we got along so perfect and have so much in common. She would sit with me for hours talking in Spanish. I went to class in the morning and then spent my afternoons volunteering at a hospital for children with severe disabilities. I got way more out of my time spent at that hospital that I gave. While at the school, I met a woman from Sweden. Her name is Kajsa (pronounced k eye sa). We traveled around together when we had some free time and spent a long weekend at Lake Atitlan. We decided it would be perfect to meet up on the east coast sometime, so that neither of us travels so far. That is what happened last week. We met up and spent a great time together, eating in fancy restaurants, visiting art museums, going for walks, laughing and talking and talking. It was a great get away and time for relaxing. We can't wait for the next time!

Last week, Bonnie and I went out to the Swan Island Dahlia fields. I was afraid that it might be too late in the season to get good pictures, but it was still really pretty. As far as your eye could see there was color, so much color that you could not take it all in. My eyes were on color overload.











I didn't realize how attracted to dahlias the bees are, until I was out there. Maybe because the flower season is almost over and there are not many choices for the bees to choose from. Anyway, it seems I took more bee photos than just flower photos.














I also was pretty proud to get the ladybug on the purple salvia.

I have a confession to make. A few months ago, I moved my herb pot on the back deck and in the process, I saw a tiny little frog hopping away. Well, that is not so bad, what was bad was that he had one of his back legs dangling. I had crushed it when I moved the pot. I didn't know what to do. I felt so bad for maiming him. I thought maybe I should catch him and end his suffering, but didn't really think I could do that (catch him OR finish him off), but before I could really figure out a plan, he had hopped right off my upper deck and was gone. It has bothered me ever since, whenever I water the plants out there, I think of him. Well, the good news is...HE IS ALIVE! Last week, I was just below the deck caning out my berries and saw something hopping around. It was my maimed little frog! I watched him for a while and then ran in to get my camera. He actually seems to be just fine in spite of missing a back leg. He hopped right over to safety from me and hid in the blueberry bush next to where I was working. He hops so fast that it was really hard to get a picture. This is the best one I got. I don't blame him at all, after our last encounter, he probably thought he was a goner for sure.

Catching up on Summer before it is gone

Before the summer is over, I need to go back and catch up on what else happened. First off, the 35th class reunion that I was working on. It was so much fun! I really didn't want to work on it, let alone go and it ended up being a really good time. That is how I felt five years ago, when we had our 30th. I had heard rumors there would be one. I got an email from a few classmates about going, I said I was not sure and then one thing led to another and I had the checkbook with my name on it, and "since my sister owns a print shop" (do you think that is why they got me involved?), I did the invitations, reminders, name tags and update book. We ended up with an amazing turnout...which did not happen this time around. I guess the curiosity factor was gone from 5 years ago and it was just too soon for everyone to go through it again already. But it was a good time to chat and catch up for those who did go. It was so sad to know of a few classmates who died...two of them within the month before the reunion. I know that there are going to be more who can't make it to the future reunions, so actually, even though I was reluctant to be working on it, I came away glad that I did. I was afraid that those who made it would be disappointed that there were not more there and leave as soon as we ate, but everyone stayed and stayed. Everyone left saying they for sure want to have a 40th and promised to help get the word out and round up the missing ones. I sure hope they do!
Here is the group shot of the classmates who showed up. The top is the classmates from Sandy High school. The bottom one is the 5 who made it from grade school. We only had 20 in our 8th grade class. 14 boys and 6 girls. Last time around we had a Cottrell reunion the night before, all but two girls and 6 boys showed up. We will make sure they ALL make it for the 40th.

A few years ago, my sisters and I decided that it would be fun, instead of shopping around for a gift for each other, that we would pick a restaurant that we would like to go to with each other and then get a $25 gift card for each other to that restaurant. We each pick a restaurant and buy 4 cards, one for each sister and of course we include one for Mom and Dad and ourselves. But the rule is we keep the name of the restaurant a secret until we all open the card, and we go together to use it and the person who bought the card picks the night we go and makes the reservations. When the bill comes, we all toss in our gift cards and then split the remainder of the bill between us. It does not have to be an expensive place, just one we think would be fun for us all to go to. It has turned out to be a fun gift that we enjoy all year long and it gives us a chance to try places we might not have gone to before. My parents take part also, but they kick it up a notch. Last year it was a trip to Seattle for dinner (including train fare and hotel), this year we had a dinner cruise up the Columbia on the Sternwheeler. It was really nice. A perfect day for it, sunny and warm and we could not even feel a breeze while we were out on the deck. The food was fantastic too! The summer always ends with Emily and Joshua getting to spend a few days here at my place because John has to go back to teacher's inservice days at school. This year was no different. We made churros, hunted caterpillars, bought school clothes, went ice skating and had one last time in the pool. And I do mean the LAST...Great Grandma and Grandpa have decided that they have to remove the pool. It is due for too many repairs and with the few weeks of use it gets, it is just not worth the work to get it all up to par again. We have had so many good times there and made a lot of memories, but it is time to move on. Mom reminded me that it was my kids who were the first to get to swim in it 20 years ago and thought it coincidental that it would my grandkids who were the last. They will begin tearing it out this week and will do some sort of landscaping in its place. Maybe leaving it sunken in places with a fountain. Joshua suggested maybe a huge bridge over the hole. They will have to get back to him on that.