We started the month of August with a wedding reception for my high school best friend, Terri's daughter.  I love that we have kept in touch through the years.  

 I always think it is hilarious how even birds know about personal space.  They space themselves out so perfectly with only gaps left by one who flew off.

There has been a wasp nest forming high in one of the trees by the sand pit where the kids play at the park. I have been watching it get bigger and bigger.  Unless it is a hazard, they leave nature to itself there at Blue Lake.  I like that.  

About 3 weeks ago, we had a wind storm and it broke off another tree's top in another area in the park.  When I walked through the park, there in the remaining branches of that broken tree was this huge huge swam of honey bees.  The inside of the broken part of the tree, that was laying on the ground was full of honeycomb, layers and layers of it all stacked up.  It ended up that the park had the whole tree removed because the core was full of bees and honeycomb.  With it broken like that and really close to some picnic tables it was not safe to be around it.  The park had an official bee keeper come and remove the bees.  I wish the photo showed how big it really was.  The bottom photo of the hole in the tree is another tree that they call the 'honey bee tree'  It is a huge old tree that they have built a little wooden fence around to keep people from it, but it allows the bees to carry on. Double click on the photo and you can see those bees a lot better.

 Josiah and Arianna are pretty excited that my little goose family has now begun to eat from their hands too!  

 Our Christmas gift last year from my parents was a family trip to the Alison Spa.  We enjoyed our time together as always, first with an awesome massage finished off with an amazing dinner.  It is the best of gifts to get time together.

 Emily and Joshua came for a couple of days for the annual school shopping trip. This year it turned out to be more of a shopping spree than the usual new school outfit.  So much fun to spoil them! One of the nights they were here we rounded up Josiah and Arianna and went to the old Hood Theater in Gresham and saw the movie 'Pixels'.  It is nice to be able to take the kids and not spend a fortune on tickets and popcorn.  A ticket is only $4 for adults and $3 for kids.  A huge popcorn is only $5. Sometimes you even get a double feature for that!

Gabe and Daniel are doing great with their brotherly bonding.  Abby sent me this one to my cell phone. What an age we live in! To be able to see photos in just minutes after they were taken.

John and Joshua were all signed up to do a run in Ashland.  The Mt. Ashland Hill Climb.  John has done it before, it is brutal.  13.5 straight up!  I don't know why they call it 'hill'.  Anyway, their whole family was down there for the run and a couple nights before John got painfully sick. He ended up in the hospital emergency room.  So the big decision...go home or let Joshua run alone.    I am so proud of him!  He finished the run straight up Mt. Ashland in good time.  He sent me this text when he was done.  Here is a photo of the final stretch with him almost crawling it was so steep.  Rachel took these three shots.

It blows me away to even think about how old she has become. Emily went on her first college tour!  I know she still has her junior and senior year to finish, but they are rolling around so fast!

We ended the month of August celebrating Arianna's 

 3rd birthday!  

 She did it in style with her favorite character, Minnie Mouse.  I have never seen a kid enjoy opening her gifts as much as she did.  Each gift, no matter how big or small, set off sequels of excitement. After looking it over, she stood up and walked it up to each person sitting in the room to take a closer look at what she had just received.  

I ended the month shooting the Blue Moon with Bonnie and The PDX Nightowls.  It was really hard to get the moon to show its craters and all and not end up looking like a little sun.  I need to figure out how to use Photoshop and layer up some exposures so I have it right.  But until then, this is what I have.

We shot downtown at the waterfront by the new Tilicum pedestrian bridge.  It is also for the Max Line and bicycles. 

 I spotted a heron catching a bull frog for breakfast.  It took forever to get it down.  Three times he got it down and had to spit it back in the water before it finally stayed down.  I felt a little bad for the frog, but realize it is part of the cycle of life.

I found a set of raccoon triplets the other day.  By the time I spotted them, the mother had signaled them and they were heading up the tree.  She stood at the bottom staring me down.

It has been so hot here...this squirrel was on our patio all spread out trying to cool off.   

 Mamma Goose is now eating from my hand. It is so cool how those three see me and head right over to me.  Even Baby Goose is starting to take a quick bite from my hand.

 Jessi heard about Preschooler Days at Oaks Park.  She invited me along with her.  It happens all summer long, every Tue and Wed,  $7 a kid to ride all the rides they want, followed by storytime and milk and cookies.  

 Josiah and Jessi rode the Tilt a Whirl...they laughed the whole time.  So Arianna decided she would try it too.  She hated it.  When she got off, she came up to me so mad and said "That was NOT Funny!"

We don't get to have them overnight very often, but finally I talked Jessi out of the kids.  We didn't do a whole lot, just ride to the park and play, but there is just something so special about getting to tuck them in and be there when they wake up.  Of course Jessi could not part with Lina overnight yet, but we did get to keep her for a day while they all went to the Air Show.  I took her on a hunt for my baby goose and then did a little photo shoot.  I am sure she was wondering what all it is the older kids like about hanging out with Grandma.  Just wait Lina, you will figure it out soon.

 Arianna started ballet.  It was just a little one day sample class, but I am pretty sure it was a hit and she will be taking real classes soon!  

Mom and Dad celebrated their 60th year anniversary. 

They are a true inspiration for every one of us in this McCool family.  

 They don't like to be the center of attention, so we knew we could not throw them a huge party.  But of course we could not let it go by and not do anything.  So we planned a family gathering to surprise them when they arrived back from their trip to Vegas/Reno.   It just happened to be right in the middle of Dennis' visit up here, so it worked out so awesome that they got to be part of the party too.  We missed having David and Beth and family with us, but they live in Colorado and had already just been here for Christmas, so were not able to make it.  

 Dinnertime

 The Toast

John is such a natural in front of everyone, so we asked him to give the toast.  We used tiny shot glasses and everyone got a kick out of it.  The kids had cider and were so excited toasting and refilling, not really knowing why, but what did that matter?

 The Cake 

Emily put on Great Grandma's wedding dress.  Pretty amazing that she is now the same age as when Great Grandma became engaged!  Arianna modeled the veil.  

I could not let a whole family gathering go by and not get a photo of my whole family together!! 

 I have been blessed to overflowing!

 Yes, I could not be prouder of my little family, but also,I have a pretty amazing set of parents and sisters.  We always have so much fun together.  I think those two sisters of mine have become my closest friends. 

Nothing beats spending time with your whole family!!  Dennis and Abby brought Gabe and Daniel up for a visit.  They wanted Daniel to meet the rest of the family.   It was a short visit, but we packed a lot in!  Of course we started out their visit with oatmeal pancakes.  Always a family request when we all get together.  Then off to the park we went for swings and sandpit.

 Saturday, John and Rachel and Emily and Josh joined us for a BBQ.

 We spent some time over at Jessi and Ariel's for pooltime and ice cream.

 And out to Great Grandma and Grandpa's too. 

I sure wish there was a way to live closer so we could always be together.

30 years ago, we hosted our very first exchange student.  Suyako Sakai.  It was an excellent experience for our family.  She taught us Japanese customs and cooked us Japanese food and brought us matching Japanese clothing that she and her mother made.  She put on her traditional costume and did a Japanese dance for us with her fan.  Quite a few years later, I finally was able to visit her family in Japan.  They treated me like royalty.  We have continued to keep in touch through the years, once even, her Mother and two friends came to stay with us.  Well, for the first time, we were so happy to have her stop in for a visit with her husband. They were on their way to Mississippi for a job he has there for a while with his company. They only had time to stay for a day, but it was a fantastic day with them.  We drove up the gorge to the falls and ended with dinner at Riverview while we watched the Sandy river pass by.  It was so nice to see her all grown up and to know that her time with us has meant as much to her as it did to us.  

It was such a good experience for us that we ended up hosting students from all over the world.  At last count, we had had 65 internationals live in our home.  That is including the students themselves and also the times that the student's family or friends came later on. (For example, our Italian boy came back with 4 friends and his brother and stayed about 2 weeks.) Some of them stayed a full school year, some only three weeks.  Each one was so special to us and enriched our family.  I am still in touch with almost every one of them. 

It was a Very Happy 4th of July!!!

We started off the day with the kids at our place, then met up with Matt, Karely, Bane, Great Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Lindy over at Jessi and Ariel's place.  

 Fireworks...always a favorite pastime.