A Little Summer Decorating

The hot weather has driven me indoors so I think I'll give the living room a cool update. Teal and green always remind me of summer, partly because they are cool colors and also because teal is the color of a tropical ocean!! Ah! Yes! (But would you believe that it never gets this hot in Aruba?) So in lieu of sitting on that white beach I'll do a couple of other favorite things-decorating and snapping photos .

My favorite method for a quick and inexpensive update in a room is to change the accent color. I like to keep my basics fairly neutral ( the walls appear brighter in these pictures than they actually are) so that I can change the feel with a few accessories in a new color to match the season. The trick is to get the chosen accent color several places throughout the room or area being decorated.

I have plenty of accessories waiting in the wings ( i.e. stuffed in random closets and cupboards) to rotate several times a year!

I love teal and sometimes think I could leave it out all year, but come September I'm usually in the mood for something warmer like orange. :)

Shall We Gather At The River-One More Reunion

Our next and last reunion of the summer took place on a huge ranch with an extensive frontage on the Columbia River. This was a class reunion entitled " The Fabulous Fifties" from the small Christian High School that my husband's Grandfather founded. This year all the graduates from the 50's were included, and quite a few attended. The weekend involved much visiting, eating, singing gospel favorites, and enjoying the scenic panorama of the river.



This Beautiful location is owned by one of the class members who told the amazing story of how she and her husband acquired this land. They love to share by letting others enjoy it and be blessed as well.

Out And About

While heading towards our next reunion event this past weekend we decided to make a stop at an air museum that happened to be near our destination. So here are a few photos I snapped. I seem to be getting far off the subject lately! ( Treading on moss? I haven't seen any moss for some time now~not in this heat!)

Aeronautics confers beauty and grandeur, combining art and science for those who devote themselves to it. . . . The aeronaut, free in space, sailing in the infinite, loses himself in the immense undulations of nature. He climbs, he rises, he soars, he reigns, he hurtles the proud vault of the azure sky . . .
~Georges Besançon, founder of the first successful aviation journal 'L'Aérophile,' February 1902

The facts are that flying satisfies deeply rooted desires. For as long as time these desires have hungered vainly for fulfillment. The horse, and later the motorcar, have merely teased them. The upward sweep of the airplane signifies release.
~ Bruce Gould, 'Sky Larking,' 1929.~

Friends-Catching Up

Catching up with old friends always makes me puzzle over why we don't get together more often- make the effort to see each other. It just surprises me how long it's been, but then how you can almost start up exactly where you left off, like a train just leaving a familiar station. Jack and Donna and John and I almost raised our kids together and now our grandchildren played like they too had grown up camping together and seeing each other constantly.
Michelle, who was a college friend of Jeff's, (Jack and Donna's son), lives out of state and comes back once a year with her 4 children, to visit family. She was the reason for our impromptu get together. Jack and Donna and their family have also moved out of state, just not quite so far.

It was a very warm day when we met at Heidi's so the adults sat under the willow tree, visiting, and the children had a lovely time getting wet, some with all their clothes on. If the pool or the slide had been just a little larger I think some adults might have joined them :) .

After dinner, we were summoned to the side porch/stage, to be the audience for some skits the kids had energetically rehearsed. Well, after all, it's no fun to do a play if you have no one to watch is it ?

This one must have had some Shakespeare thrown in. ( Methinks that's why I didn't understand what the heck was going on!) Yup, someone must have died at the end! But we all clapped fervently after each. (We could tell when they were over by the bowing.)


The evening came to a close too quickly but with lots of promises to not let so much time go by until our next reunion!


Michelle, you have the prettiest babies! Thanks for instigating this get-together. See you next year.

Family Reunion

Our Family Reunion each year is held on a weekend in July at the home of my husband's sister Dawn and her husband Al. They live on the Willamette river, and graciously host this enjoyable
and much anticipated event.
Although the parents of this clan are now gone, their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren ( who together number over 70) still consider this event so important that most of them come if they possibly can. Everyone gets along so well and shares the strong bond of this marvelously supportive family.


We eat wonderful food, catch up with those whom we've not seen in a year, meet the new babies, marvel over the changes in the children, play in the river (or just take pictures of those who do) ,enjoy a game or two of volleyball and visit, visit, visit!




There is always some new and interesting gadget/toy brought for the kids to enjoy. This wonderful balloon rocket was a huge hit. It must have gone 60 feet in the air after the 100 pumps it required for blast off.

The long ramp to the dock on the river gets a work out. ( Actually it's not the ramp that gets the work out. Whew! :)

But it was no sweat for the kids who love the activity and fun of the river. The weather was marvelous for swimming and Ron and Al were good enough to give many rides on the jet-ski and boat.

I understand the water wasn't warm but it was definitely refreshing!

Thanks to everyone who participated and a huge thanks to Dawn and Al!!

Watermelon

WATERMELON
It is the chief of this world's luxuries, king by the grace of God over all the fruits of the earth. When one has tasted it, he knows what the angels eat.
~Mark Twain~ Pudd'nHead Wilson

Feet - At I Heart Faces?

Bare Feet in the Summer! What's better than that?

Instead of faces, the photography web-site, *I Heart Faces* is focusing on Feet this week. Check out all of the other fun entries as well.

Sisters

She is your mirror, shining back at you with a world of possibilities. She is your witness, who sees you at your worst and best, and loves you anyway. She is your partner in crime, your midnight companion, someone who knows when you are smiling, even in the dark. She is your teacher, your defense attorney, your personal press agent, even your shrink. Some days, she's the reason you wish you were an only child.

~Barbara Alpert~

A Summer Day

I don't know why I only get pictures of Drake when a project is being done. Maybe It's because he loves to help and actually would rather be busy working on something than sitting around talking, which is what the rest of us love to do over-much. But Drake is a man of few words and loves a job using anything with a motor or special tools. It's a guy thing, right?

Therefore, when Ilex and Drake spent a couple of days with us,
a task was tackled by Drake and Poppy, that has needed to be done for a long time. Errant cherry and maple trees and blackberry vines, that had sprung up in a long rose hedge bordering the front of the property, were sawed, hacked and chopped out and hauled away. It was a huge job, took two days, but actually required only one trip to Home Depot. ;) How did that happen??

Later on we were joined by Holly and Ivy to finish off the evening listening to a great concert in the park.





Ivy, looking adorable, in her brand-new hair cut.

I Heart Faces-Sports & Pets

This photo will be my entry for *i heart faces* contest this week. The theme is sports in action .

Here's Leif learning to climb this wall.He ended up doing it many times and loved the challenge.
I don't know if wall climbing is a *sport* but I love the effort and slightly goofy capture in this photo.

Check out all of the fun entries in the sports edition this week.




And here is a sweet (but old- I know it doesn't have great quality) photo for my pet entry. Our granddaughter, years ago, clutching one of our cats- and I do mean clutching.

Things got a little confusing here when I decided to remove another photo but still had my name in the pet catagory-sorry. :)

Great Grandma Time

When Mom was here she wanted to spent a little time one-on- one with Levi and Luke. The boys each read to her. She loves that, and not just because she can be knitting at the same time. ( No photos of that unfortunately.) I did manage to get some cute pictures of them together though, and of Luke and her having some rousing games of UNO.

I think they played it over and over about 10 times. He reads well and loves the game with all it's twists and turns, draw 4s, and bright color changes. UNO is the perfect game for him.

Butterflies, Poets & Children

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.
~Maya Angelou~

I saw a poet chase a butterfly in a meadow. He put his net on a bench where a boy sat reading a book. It's a misfortune that it is usually the other way round.
~Karl Kraus~


We must remain as close to the flowers, the grass, and the butterflies as the child is who is not yet so much taller than they are. We adults, on the other hand, have outgrown them and have to lower ourselves to stoop down to them. Whoever would partake of all good things must understand how to be small at times.
~Friedrich Nietzsche~

Grown-ups love figures. When you tell them that you have made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?" Instead, they demand: "How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?" Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince,
1943, translated from French~

Married For 62 Years!

Today is my parent's anniversary. They have been married a whopping 62 years!! We honor and love them for their commitment to each other and for being an example to our entire family.

We enjoyed their recent visit to our neck of the woods. Lots of dinners, and visiting about their trip to Luxembourg, time with great-grandchildren, and outings. Even a Civil War reenactment in 90* heat. And Mom says she really relaxes when she comes here!? Well at home she has a huge garden and there is always something that needs doing. I know how that goes. ( Only I just don't do it ;)
They are driving home today after being gone for a month, so will see this tonight or in the morning.

Love you Mom and Dad!