Mother's Day #1  

We were invited to Salem for Mother's Day Brunch cooked by Emily, Joshua and John (son). They cooked for Rachel, Rachel's Mother, Debby and Me.  It was a really nice time sitting on the patio chatting with the Tripps and having a special breakfast cooked for us. As we drove up to their house we were greeted by this street chalking written by Joshua.  It says 'Happy Mother's Day Grandma Dixon, aka Vicki and Grandma Tripp, aka Debby and My Mom, aka Rachel.  From their place, we drove back up to Boring to my Parent's place for dinner.  Jessi and Ariel met up with us there. Of course Dennis called and said Happy Mother's Day.  I have gotten used to having long distance celebrations with the kids. 

   Here is the latest 4 generation Mother/Daughter photo:  Mom, Me, Jessi and Baby Girl.

Mother's Day #2 (unplanned a week later)

Dennis had to be in Seattle for a conference over Memorial Day.  He was pretty well booked up the whole time, so we decided that even though he was close enough for us to drive up, it would not be worth the drive to not even get to spend any amount of time together.  I felt kinda sad about having him so close, but not getting to see him.  Well, Monday morning, as I was putting on my slippers, the phone rang.  It was Dennis saying that he had the day free after all, he had rented a car and was going to drive down!  He made it here before noon!   We made quick phone calls to John and Jessi and Grandma and the Aunts and everyone jumped in their cars and came over in time for dinner. The only thing missing was Abby and Gabe.  

I don't know why it is that Moms love to have all their kids at home at one time.  What is it about that, that gives me such a thrill to see them all three together?  There is just something about it, something that feels so complete, that makes me feel so content.  

I can not thank God enough for all the blessings!

3 John verse 4

"I have no greater joy than this, to hear of  my children walking in the Truth."

The week before last, I met up with my Swedish friend, Kajsa, in New York.  Since we both have been there before, we decided to go someplace we neither one had been before.  So we hopped on the train and went to Philadelphia!  It has been a couple of years since we have met up, so the train ride gave us the perfect opportunity to catch up on all the things we don't say in emails.  

One of the top things on my list was to go to LOVE Park.  I had seen this LOVE decoration so many times and was really wanting to take my own shot of it. I took many, as you can imagine!

Our first day we woke up to fog.  But that was not a problem.  We hopped on a tour bus and took a ride around town.  So glad it didn't rain, that way we could ride on top and I could get all the shots I wanted.  Below is a shot of us on the bus...it is reflected in a sculpture along the route.  I like how it reflected the city name and that is me in the turquoise and that is Kajsa on the other petal in front walking back towards me.  Pretty tricky self shot, huh?   

 We saw everything I wanted to see from the bus, what a perfect way to see a city.  We stayed on for the whole ride, but if we had wanted to, we could get off and spend time along the way where ever we wanted to and then just hop back on the next bus that comes along.  Here are the famous ROCKY STEPS at the art museum and a statue of a boxer.  This was made famous in the Rocky movies.  Living in this house, we saw a LOT of Rocky...so I had to make sure and get a shot of it.  We also saw the Betsy Ross house, Ben Franklin's place, his grave, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, so many things that I have only read about. It is so awesome to actually see them in person.

 

Day two we woke up to clear blue skies.  I really wanted to go inside to see the Liberty Bell up close.  Now that was a real surprise for me.  It was SO SMALL!  I don't know why I expected it to be bigger.  They have it in a building to protect it, but it is situated so nice so that you can see out the huge window towards the tower it once hung in.  In the afternoon we had High Tea. In the evening we went to hear Chamber music.  That was a first for me...I thought it was going to be a symphony...so was kind of surprised when we sat down and there was only a piano on the stage.  When the pianist and soloist (baritone) came out, I kept waiting for the rest of the musicians to show up.  They never did. It was all sung in German.  The Kimmell Center where it was held is gorgeous!  That is it in the collage...the one with all the curves and shapes and lines. 

The next day we headed back on the train to New York.  What a funny thing to step out of our hotel and there on the corner was the LOVE sign!!!  We walked all over taking in the huge buildings, window shopping and enjoyed a cappuccino while we watched people.  We ended up the day at a revolving restaurant overlooking the city as the sun set, lights twinkling over the river all the way to the horizon , so beautiful!

Notice the plane in the sunset and above the skyscrapers?  I could not help but think of 911 each time one flew over.

I had only been past Central Park on my last trip there, so I wanted to spend some time walking around to see what was there.  I had NO IDEA!  It is huge!!!  There is not only a ball park, there are many ball parks, and not just baseball, there is a soccer field, basketball, lawn bowling and croquet....and many of each of those too.  There is a huge field for concerts, pools and ponds and waterfalls, sculptures and duck ponds with baby ducks and geese, there is a turtle pond too, but none of them stay in their own ponds, there were turtles in the duck ponds and ducks in the turtle pond.  In on section there is a special place called Strawberry Fields, and it has a memorial (the IMAGINE photo) to John Lennon who was killed just on that edge of the park.  There are gardens of all kinds and people of all kinds doing all kinds of things, running, walking, skating, biking, sitting, eating, sleeping.  When I first arrived there was a half marathon going on...from the center of the park, I could see huge rows of runners on both sides of the park.

My biggest surprise there was that the park even has it own CASTLE!  A beautiful romantic one, right on a pond and I took full advantage of getting shots of it.  I think I took as many shots of the park that day as I had the whole time in Philadelphia.

And then it was time to get back home.  Here is a shot from the plane.  You can see the new tower that is almost finished as a memorial to 911. It is going to be the tallest building in New York.  (don't forget that you can click on the pictures to see them bigger)

HAPPY MAY DAY!!!

I am not sure why, but an old memory came back to me this week as May got closer.  I remembered how my teachers in grade school would have us make a little basket and fill them with flowers to take home to hang on the door on May 1.  There were all kinds of baskets, all kinds of arrangements.  Some got pretty fancy, using those white paper doilies, some were really simple like the one in the photo.  Most of the time we made tissue paper flowers to go inside them, sometimes we used Kleenex to make the flowers, or there were shredded up crayons melted between wax paper and then cut out in flower shapes.  All included pipe cleaner stems that we got to twist into twirly designs.  One time we grew seeds in the window of the classroom using our little milk carton boxes from lunch.  They had not bloomed out yet, but we put a handle on the box and carried them proudly home.  

So this morning, inspired by my memories, I rolled up a few quick cones, stapled on a handle and ran to the store for some flowers...no time to make tissue ones...then I delivered one to my Mom and Dad, my daughter and a close friend, Irene.  I managed to put each one on the door handle and get out of there before they discovered I was there. It was so fun!  Oh, the crazy things we do!!!

 ANOTHER YEAR!!!!  

The plans for my birthday did not include a trip to Oxnard.  I was supposed to have lunch with my family and birthday shopping and later on go out to dinner and the next day there were plans for a pedicure and another dinner out.  But sometimes things happen that we can't control and the best made plans are set aside as we move ahead with another plan.

 The Sunday before my birthday, we got word that our sweet friend MaryJane had died.  We flew down with John's parents. MaryJane has been best friends to my mother-in-law for 70 years or so.  They lived next door to each other, sometimes they lived with each other, they grew up together, got married and each of them had 8 kids, almost to the year.  She was as close or closer than family to the Dixons.  Of course I met her way back, but it was not until the past 10 years that I really got to know her.  She was genuine. She had the sweetest smile and was sincerely caring for those she knew.   Everyone was welcome in her home and you better be ready to have a meal! She was so fun to be with and always made you laugh.  She loved to plan parties and go on cruises.  She was not afraid to tell it like it is and I guess that is why so many laughed because not many people have the confidence to speak it as they see it.  You knew where you stood.  I know, when people die, everyone goes around saying all kinds of good stuff about them.  Well, the things they said and remember of her are so true, I know that so much was left out. This woman was definitely an inspiration to me!  

   We stayed at Uncle Jimmy's place, a home that his grandmother lived in before he was born.  It began as a tiny garage, then little by little it was added on to as the family grew.  He even built on some of the rooms himself when he took over ownership.  I also took a picture of the palm trees that line the street by his home.  They are nearly 100 years old.  Since we were so close to them, Dennis and Abby and Gabe got to spend time with us while we were there too. Abby came down alone with Gabe the first day while Dennis was at work and they all came back again the next day.

 

 On Sunday we all drove up to Winnetka and had a barbecue at their place.  

So even though it was not the birthday I had planned it ended up being a celebration of life. The life that MaryJane lived, her example to live it to the fullest.  The reminder that we are all growing older and we never know when it will be our time to go.  What will I leave behind? What memories will others have of me when I am gone?  A reminder to not put off what needs to be done while I am still here to do it.

 HE AROSE!  

Do you see the head profile at the left hand of this photo?  I thought it looked like a face looking heavenward in awe, with a little puff of breath coming from the mouth as Jesus disappeared into the sky.

 We celebrated Easter a little different this year.  Dennis and Abby and Gabriel drove up to Medford and meet John and Emily and Joshua and John and Me. The kids all listen to sermons on CD by Jon Corson, the pastor of Applegate Christian Church.  His church is near Medford, so the boys thought it would be really nice to hear him in person for Easter.  Rachel had a huge pile of homework from her first week of Master's studies to deal with, so she took advantage of a quiet house while the family was gone, even though she really would have rather gone too.  Jessi and Ariel  decided that it was too long of a drive for Josiah for such a quick short amount of time, so they didn't go either.  But the rest of us met up on Saturday afternoon, had dinner together and stayed up late talking.  The next day we had breakfast and off to church it was.  John and I headed home and made it in time for the usual dinner and  Easter Egg Hunt at my parent's place.   

I made these little deviled egg chickens instead of the usual deviled eggs.  You can probably guess that I found the idea on Pinterest. 

 Mom's daffodils are always so pretty!

 Every now and then it just hits me at how much time has past since my kids were little...that happened to me on Saturday when we went to pick up a few things at the store.  Emily and I were walking behind John and Dennis and I looked up and realized that my little boys were MEN!  

Here are a few of the other sights from the weekend.

   Mom's white magnolia.

 Ducks...one of my favorite birds...we found a whole pond full of them, it was so pretty with the cherry blossoms reflecting on the water.

I am not sure how it happened, but I just love the bubbles on that drinking fountain below...

I hope your Easter was full of blessings and good memories too!

My latest little find has been PINTEREST.  http://pinterest.com/

It could be really addicting, but so far, I have managed to keep myself reigned in.  It is hard to describe what it is all about, I have tried and to those I have told about it, they just don't get it.  I guess it is just something you have to check out for yourself to see what I am talking about.  There are pictures, you can click on the picture and see the recipe, knitting project, book, funny quotes, travel destination, craft idea, fashion, decorating, remodeling, it is ENDLESS the ideas people have pinned there.  If you really like it and want to save it, you 'pin' it to your 'board'.  You make 'boards' of anything you want to name them so you can save them in files and come back to them when you want to.  You can go and see what others have pinned and pin from their boards into yours.  Anytime you are surfing the Internet, you can 'pin' a photo or idea from there.  (sometimes you need permission)  You can pin your own stuff too.  It is really easy to figure out.  

So I know, I just didn't quite relay it right, so just go see.

Here are a few things I have pinned along with a picture of my version of it when I tried it.

 right is my version, different, but I still liked it.

 my finished glitter eggs...glad I tried them, but they were terrible to peel and got glitter all over the egg once it was peeled.  I guess it would be best to blow the yolks out and glitter the shells only

 The Pinterest version of these cinnamon rolls was way cuter than my version.  But the grandkids liked them anyway.  It used canned cinnamon rolls, really quick and easy.

Easter Bunny Peep S'mores. I thought this idea was so cute for a gift, but it was even better just as an Easter recipe. The original version was so sweet, even the grandkids said it was too rich.  I cut down the sugar and it was better the second time around.  I will use this again for another holiday that they have peeps.  I think I saw some ghosts and pumpkins at Halloween and something Christmas too, but who really needs a new recipe at Christmas?   Here is the recipe if you want to try it.

Easter Bunny Peep S'mores

1. Reduce 1 sleeve graham crackers to crumbs, mix with 2T brown sugar. Put mixture in a baggie and secure shut. 2. Pour 1-1/4 cup Easter M&M's into quart jar. 3. Place 8 marshmallow bunny peeps standing up, facing out around the inside of the jar. Press them up against the glass, but don't squash them. 4. Place baggie of crumbs on top.  Place lid over it all.

Attach a gift tag giving the following instructions:
1. Empty the jar contents into a bowl. Snip the bunnies into bits with kitchen sheers or cut up with a knife. Return the bunny bits to the mixture. Mix well. 2. Melt 1/3 cup butter; add 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour this over the dry ingredients, mixing well. Pat into a greased 9" square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool and cut into bars

For my recipe at home, I used 18 bunnies and left them whole.

THE HUNGER GAMES

As with the Twilight series books, which I just did not think I would like, but was persuaded to read and then was amazed at how much I liked them, I was again persuaded to read another series called The Hunger Games.  The first book in the series was so captivating that I could NOT put it down, I read and read and READ and finished it in ONE DAY!  I could not wait to get my hands on the second and third books.  They were good, but not as good as the first one.  Then began the countdown to the movie premier.  Almost everyone I know has read the books, including Emily and so I told her that I thought that we should get a whole bunch of us together to go see it when it came out as a movie.  A couple of weeks before the premier date, she called me.  "Grandma...don't you think we should go see the midnight showing so we can see it as soon as possible?"  My answer was of course..."YES!"  We had quite a group... my grand daughter, her good friend, me, my daughter, my friend, my sister AND MY MOM!  Yes, I think we were the only adults in the room.  We showed up about 2 hours early, even though we had tickets already in our pockets, we wanted to make sure and get seats together.  With all the cold and snow we have had, we bundled up and were ready to hunker in and tough it out to get a place.  To our surprise, the theater let everyone wait inside...and not just inside, they had the auditoriums open and ready for us to wait in our seats.  8 auditoriums were showing a midnight Hunger Games!  Jessi and I went and looked and every one of them was full!  

Now, normally when you read a book and then see the movie, it is a little bit disappointing.  But this time, I am happy to report, they really did a great job.  The actors really were close to what I had pictured in my mind and even though they had to cut a lot of the book out to make it fit into a movie time-frame, it was a good job of keeping with the story line.  It was one of the best book made movies I have seen!  

Emily and her friend got to stay the night, as well as Joshua who had not gone to the movie, but had stayed home to keep Grandpa company.  It was a short night, we didn't get home from the movie until about 3am.  After sleeping in we celebrated with a special breakfast and I drove them back to Salem.  I could hardly keep my eyes open on the drive back home alone.  Maybe I am too old for this kind of thing...but don't tell Emily!!!

 Lindy and I walked in the Shamrock Stride for St. Patrick's Day.  It was predicted that we might have snow so we bundled up and prepared for it, but we made it to the finish with only a couple of drops of rain on us.  It is a fun event to be in.  A fundraiser for the Doernbecher Children's Hospital. All the participants dress up in green.  There is a 15k run, an 8k run, a 5k, the 3.5mile stride that we did and a leprechaun lap for the kids to run. Of course we had to do it with our maiden name being McCOOL!  And YES, it was COOL and WE ARE COOL!

Spring has arrived!  But nobody has told that to Spring!  After a winter of barely any snow, we have woke up to snow every morning this week!  One day we had so much hail it piled as high as snow and lasted all day and was still here the next morning covered with the night's snowfall.   

 It is pretty rare to get flower and snow photos, so I have been taking advantage of that.  Kinda pretty huh?

 My poor daffodils don't know what to think!  I go out every morning to brush them off so they don't break off.

Well, for us here in Oregon, the old saying "March comes in like a lion' held true.  March 1st, we woke up to one of our biggest snowfalls of the year.  So late for snow, but it was still an exciting sight to wake up to!   

Jessi and Josiah were staying with us for a few days while Ariel was still in the Dominican Republic, so I got the fun of taking pictures with him in the snow.  He just loves to be outside, it does not matter what the weather, but you better prepare yourself, because once he is out, he does not want to come back in.  The snow melted off by afternoon, but the next morning, this was what we woke up to.

Everything was covered with hail.  It was so pretty with the sun rising, it looked like diamonds sparkling.  I wish I could capture all the glitter in a photo.

So from snow on the buds to the buds bursting out, we have had quite the start to the month.

Last week, Josiah came to visit and it was so warm and sunny that he was out there with no shoes or coat on.  What a dramatic change from the first day of the month.