~Our Family~

Quintin's 5th birthday

2011-07-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, now I am on a roll. Here are pictures from Quintin's fifth birthday which was December 13th, 2010. I am catching up!!! Quintin wanted a snake cake that had worms inside it so that when people bit into it they ate them. Here are pictures of what I came up with. Happy birthday to my Q man!

Welcome back Vicki...

2011-06-30T23:21:00.000-07:00

I have been so bad at updating this blog, but I am trying to get back on track. I realized that I forgot to add Lady Kinleigh's FIRST birthday pictures. Her party was not too long after I had my sinus surgery, and I just totally forgot to post it, so I will start with those pictures and continue with the remainder of 2010 & then will post new posts for 2011.

Here she is: our granddaughter, Kinleigh ShaeAnn's 1st birthday party weekend:

Happy 2nd birthday to Miss Peightin Linn~

2010-12-09T22:06:00.000-08:00

I am finally feeling better after my sinus surgery I had on Oct 7th, and just got through making Peightin's 2nd birthday cake. She is in LOVE with dogs, and calls them dog dog, so I made a dog cake and her own little "paw" print cake. Here are some pictures of the process. Also, Mel and I went up to Moses Lake and met Jennifer, Kai and Kinleigh to exchange Christmas gifts. It will be sad to not be able to celebrate Christmas with them this year. They will have all 6 kids, so would be hard to come down, and Mel has to work. So we will probably just go over to Jared's for awhile.

Here are pictures of Grandpa Mel trying to win a toy for Kinleigh and Kai...no success.

And pictures of Peightin's 2nd birthday. You will notice her licking the frosting on her cake. Well, her brother, Quintin came along and pushed her head into the cake. Therefore, you will notice frosting on her forehead in most of the pictures.
Til later...

Update on this awesome year!

2010-10-17T22:38:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted on this blog. I am ashamed of myself! Life has been like it is in fast forward mode.

Since April Mel and I have celebrated our 33rd anniversary on May 26th, Jared and Tammy celebrated birthdays in July, Kaeden celebrated his 8th birthday Aug 29th and Kailer celebrated his 5th birthday Sept 8th. Then we just celebrated Kinleigh's first birthday this past weekend. It was 12 days before her actual birthday of Oct 28th. Tatum celebrated her 10th birthday in July, Triniti her 9th and Riley his 8th both in August too.

Mel and I are going to be blessed with a 4th grandson, Paxtin Lee around February 2, 2011. Jared and Tammy are the expecting parents.

Then in June of this year Jennifer, Kinleigh and I got to experience a once in a lifetime trip to El Dorado Springs, Missouri for an awesome visit with Kinleigh getting to meet her Great Great Grandma Velma Irene Smith. We did 5 generation pictures while there. We also had the pleasure of Pam and Aimee's company while there. My parents were already there when we got there. It was Pam and Aimee's idea to go back and we are glad they invited us to go too!

Kaeden started 2nd grade, Kailer started Pre-school and I enjoyed making them a Toy Story Birthday party that I think they loved.

Mel and I have enjoyed several weekends at our beach house in Lincoln City. We can say we are sure loving our second home there and are proud of the work we have accomplished there.

I just had sinus surgery Oct 7th and am recovering from that.

I will post some pictures...it will be SO hard to just post a few, as so much time has passed since I wrote here.

Busy life...

2010-05-05T21:18:00.000-07:00

Mel and I at the Luau in Kona, Hawaii

Mel and I at the Kiluaea Volcano

Aaron & Peightin at the park:

Kaeden's fish:

Steven & Kailer with his fish:

Lady Kinleigh:

Gramma Vicki, Kaeden, Kai & Kinleigh:

Peightin in Jared's rocking chair:

Aaron, Quintin and Peightin

Quintin fishing with Great Grandpa Curt and his daddy, Jared:

Jen & Steven's gang:

Tatum & Kai Kai:

Steven's oldest, Tatum & youngest, Kinleigh:

Kaeden and Triniti:

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted a new message. This year is 1/3 over! We are loving life and feeling good. Mel and I started on a weight loss program on December 7th (yes, we really did start right before the holidays!)We have been pretty successful. I am down to my goal weight and Mel has lost over 65 lbs. He is within 10 to 15 lbs of his goal weight too.

Our grandkids are so awesome. Aaron is now 14 & living with Jared and Tammy full time, Tatum is 9 and is so tall and sweet, Triniti is 8 & also tall and sweet. They are the best big sisters! Riley is 7 & gets to go over to Steven and Jen's quite often. Him and Kaeden are a lot alike. Kaeden is 7 and is growing into such a great kid & doing well in school. He knows to have an answer whenever I ask him "What did you learn today?" Kailer is 4 and always the little comedian. He LOVES having his picture taken with his baby sister, Kinleigh. Quintin is also 4, and you NEVER know what he is going to say...Quintinisms are so entertaining. Peightin turned 1 in Dec. & is our little sweetie. She is a mommy's girl, but does warm up to us when there aren't a lot of people around. She loves drawing and looking at books. Then there is our little Lady Kinleigh-6 months old. She is sitting up now, has her ears pierced and is so loved by all of her brothers and sisters!

Mel and I just went to Hawaii with Gary and Linda. It was our first time there, and we really enjoyed it. There was a lot to see and do. I LOVED snorkeling and swimming with some green sea turtles. I have always loved the water. Maybe because I am a Pisces. We have also been enjoying going to our beach house as often as possible.

I have started a class on making a quilt block a month so that in 12 months I will have enough to make a full quilt. I am also still doing scrapbooking off and on. I love doing it, but just seem to be busy with other things, so don't do it as often as I would like to.

I hope to post more often on here.

Til later...

Happy 1st birthday to Miss Peightin Linn & 4th Birthday to Mr. Q

2009-12-19T18:57:00.000-08:00

Wow, time does fly by. We celebrated Peightin's first birthday on December 8th and then Quintin's 4th birthday on December 13th. I made both of their birthday cakes this year, and loved every minute of it.

Then we also took the kids along with their big brother Aaron to visit Santa. Quintin was right at home on his lap, and even was "lounging" on santa's leg with his own legs crossed. Wish they would have gotten a picture of that. Peightin wasn't too sure of him, but did ok sitting on Aaron's lap. Afterwards she did walk around and "Love" on the Elf that was by Santa's chair.

Here is also a picture of Jenny's kids visiting the Santa at their place. Kinleigh didn't mind the jolly ole man, and this was the first year that Kai wasn't scared of him.

When Jen and family were down for Kinleigh's welcoming party, we went to 60 minute photo and had these pictures done. I loved how they turned out. It was quite a challenge with this many kids, and we did forget to get some of just Jen's kids together and Jared's kids together...oh well, there will always be other times.

And finally...one of our Miss Kinleigh's first smiles

Til next time:

WELCOME Kinleigh ShaeAnn to the family!

2009-11-10T18:19:00.000-08:00

I am sorry it has taken me so long to update you my little blog. I have been busy playing with grandkids and welcoming a new granddaughter into the family. Jennifer and Steven had a little girl on October 28th and she is a doll. Her name is Kinleigh ShaeAnn (my middle name is Ann) and she was born via emergency c-section at 9:50PM weighing 6 lbs 3 oz and was 18" long. She has a lot of black hair & is a very good baby. I went and alternated nights at the hospital with Steven, as they were there for 5 days. Due to the Swine flu outbreak, Jen was only allowed 2 visitors during her hospital stay. We did have Steven's mom and I there together briefly-so glad that we got pic's with the both of us and Kinleigh there. I will post more information and pictures later.

Fun at the ocean...

2009-10-02T20:54:00.000-07:00

Jared, Tammy, Quintin and Peightin met us at our beach house the middle of September and we had a great time. It was the first time Jared had been over there since the house had been finished. They were last over there in Aug. 07. It was good weather part of the time and cloudy part of the time, but a fun time was had by all. I love spending time with my kids and grandkids and am so thankful for them.

Here are some pictures of the fun times we had while there-Not in any particular order...

Happy 4th birthday to my Cutie Kai Guy...

2009-09-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

My oh my, Kailer Steven is now 4 years old. It is hard to belive that he will be a BIG brother soon and no longer the baby of the family.

I didn't get to see him on his actual birthday, but did think of him. Here are some recent pictures of him.

Til later...

Happy 7th Birthday to My Little Man Kaeden and soon to be 4th birthday to my Kai Guy!...

2009-09-04T14:09:00.001-07:00

I went up to Jenny and Steven's last weekend and helped with the joint birthday party for Kaeden and Kailer. They had a big turn out and we had a great time. Their theme this year was "Disney's Bolt" movie. We ordered the big cake and I made the 2 lightening bolts for their individual cakes. I made a dog collar with Bolt dog tags and the kids played pin the tag on the collar. Then we blew up LOTS of balloons and put pieces of paper in each balloon. 2 of them had a lightening bolt on the paper, and whoever popped those balloons won a prize. And last but not least was the "Tough" pinata. We thought it would break easily, but it sure didn't! We finally had an adult tear it apart. A great time was had by all and here are some pictures of the fun.
Some collages that Jenny made:

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Jen's Baby bump-2 months to go! Doesn't she look cute?

Jennifer and her birthday boys:

Kailer, Kaeden, Triniti and Tatum:

Gramma Vicki decorating the lightening bolts...they were hard to frost!

The birthday boys:

A friends dog decided to help himself to the cakes while everyone was doing the pinata, so the little cakes didn't look too good when we did the candles.
Jen lighting Kaeden's candles:

Jen lighting Kailer's candles:

Riley-the kid's half brother:

After everything was done:

Boys opening gifts:

Gramma Vicki made this out of cardboard:

Kaeden won:

Pop the balloons:

Kaeden with pinata-we even let them take the blindfold off and it still wouldn't break:

Kai with pinata:

Til later...

Glacier National Park...

2009-08-26T23:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from when Mom and I came home from Canada, going down through Glacier National park. Even though it was cloudy we still got some good pic's. Most are self explanatory...

Mom taking the next picture's picture

Til later...

Summer Fun

2009-08-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

This has been a busy summer. Most recently, Mom and I went to Canada to Scott & Pam's house. Then Mom, Pam, Aimee and I all went to Edmonton, Alberta and stayed all night at the Fantasyland Hotel at North America's Largest Mall. We literally shopped until we dropped, ate at the mall at a place called Jungle Jim's, then we sat in the jacuzzi in our room and drank wine coolers and beer. The next day we went to Wetaskiwin and got our Motel, then went to Camrose, Alberta Canada to a 3 day concert called The Big Valley Jamboree. Long story short...Sat evening a HUGE storm blew through (it was the edge of a tornado)and blew the stage down and killed one woman and injured many more. We rode the storm out in our seats. They cancelled the rest of the weekend's show, so we didn't get to see Kevin Costner, Tim McGraw and others. Kevin Costner was going to sing next & was on the back of the stage when it collapsed, but was ok. The picture of the damaged bus below is his bus. The following pictures are of our trip/experience. It was pretty freaky. I will post another post from Mom and my trip on home through Glacier National park.

Til Later...

The Grandkids...

2009-07-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some updated pic's of the grand kids. I love them all so much.

They are growing and doing some fun things.

Quintin's picture that was on the front page of the Hermiston Herald when he was taking swim lessons:
Kai being silly:

Jen and Kidlet:
Grandpa Mel feeding Peightin a cherry:
Aaron, Quintin & Peightin:
Kaeden playing on the computer:
Kai playing with the Tigger Kaeden gave him when he was born:
Gramma, Quintin & Peightin:
Peightin on Grandpa's couch:
Quintin sitting at the desk Grandpa bought:
Gramma, Kaeden & Kailer:
Jen and Steven's kidlet's face:
Til later...

Memorial day weekend in Lincoln City:

2009-06-28T01:03:00.001-07:00

We spent a wonderful weekend at the beach house with Jen, Steven, Kaeden and Kai. They hadn't been there in almost 2 years and it was fun to take the boys to the beach. We went to Newport and did several things: Went to Ripley's believe it or not, the waxworks museum, the undersea gardens, went to the dock and watched the sea lions, went to Nye beach and played in the ocean, went to the Yaquina lighthouse and the tidepools there too. Then we met Mel and had dinner at the Sizzler.

We went to the beach in Lincoln City by the casino, and then to the beach at the Siletz Bay at Taft. Later that day we went back there and built a fire on the beach and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.

It was just an awesome weekend and here are some pictures to share with everyone:

Kaeden and Kailer on the beach by Chinook Winds:

Grandpa Mel showing Kaeden how to play the pinball machine:

Kaeden helping me plant some new plants on Ivy Hill:

Steven, Jennifer, Kaeden and Kailer at the Cobble beach tidepools by the Yaquina lighthouse:

Jenny, Steven and the boys on Nye Beach in Newport, OR:

Mel and I on our 32nd wedding anniversary at Nye Beach:

Outside Ripley's:

Kailer on the beach at the Siletz Bay:

Kaeden on the beach at the Siletz Bay:

Gramma helping bury the boys:

Jen & Steven at the Siletz Bay:

Our wiener/marshmallow roast:

Visiting with Pam...

2009-06-28T00:35:00.000-07:00

Pam and Scott were down for a couple of days. Tammy, Quintin, Peightin and I went over to visit Pam, Bobbi, Lexus and Bailee. It was fun to watch Bailee (9 months old) and Peightin (6 months old) interact with each other. Bailee sure glared at HER grandma when she was holding Peightin. They are the same age difference as Kaeden and Lexi and the same age difference as Kailer and Quintin, so it is fun to see them together. Strange to think that they are all 3 months apart in age. Jen's new little Kidlet won't have a cousin 3 months apart in age, unless someone is expecting that we are unaware of.

We had a nice visit, and Q and Lexi had fun burying "beads" in the sand and digging up "buried treasure".

Pam and I with our grandkids...of course you can't get everyone to look and smile at the same time:

Great Aunt Pam and Peightin:

Bailee and her beautiful blue eyes and long lashes:

Lexus and Bailee:

Grandma Pam and Bailee:

Aunt Pam pretending to be a dinosaur and getting Q-Peightin thought it was funny:

Quintin taking Peightin down the slide:

Pam tickling Peightin:

The treasure hunters:

Bailee:

The girls checking each other out:

Mr Q playing in the sand:

Lexi hurt her mouth:

Til later...

Miss Peightin and the cherry tree...

2009-06-16T22:08:00.000-07:00

This is a video of Peightin feeling the texture of the cherry tree for the first time. She is 6 months and 1 week old. And in case you were wondering about the helmet on Q's head, he was riding a scooter that we bought last weekend for the grandkids to play with. He is being safety conscious.

Sometimes when you push the arrow under the video, it takes it a little while to "buffer" but once you see the line move to the end you can play it over and over if you want. Thanks for your patience.

The kids in the yard:

Mr Q on the scooter "backwards"

HAPPY 54th ANNIVERSARY Mom and Dad!

2009-06-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

Today is my parent's 54th anniversary and I love them very much. Just wanted to post a picture of them from their wedding day, and another one of them when they were young and so in love...just like they still are!

My how fun my grandkids are...

2009-06-04T23:07:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick post with a few updated pictures. Will try to post more later this weekend. I have been working a lot of overtime and haven't had time to devote to this blog like I would like to have. Jen, Steven and the boys got to spend Memorial Day weekend with us at the beach house in Lincoln City and we had a BUSY, great time. Then we watched Quintin and Peightin on June 3rd while Jared and Tammy went out to dinner.

Gramma let the boys play in the Pacific Ocean

Jen, Steven and the boys at the tidepools in Newport

Kaeden and Kai at the beach in Lincoln City, OR

Gramma let the boys wash the sand off in the jacuzzi tub

Miss Peightin "teething" on the stroller tray

Mr. Q & Miss Peightin after our walk around the block

Peightin ready to go for our walk

Quintin playing "tic tac toe" with Gramma's frogs and dragonflies gameboard

Til later...

Some Easter pictures...

2009-05-03T22:11:00.001-07:00

Sadly, we had a separate Easter this year due to some time restraints & other things. Jenny, Steven, Kaeden, Kailer, Mike, Lori and I all went to Mom and Dads in White Salmon. Jared, Tammy, Quintin & Peightin went over to Lance, Bobbi, Lexus and Bailee's, and also got to spend time with Pam, Scott, Rob & Aimee. We did stop and get a picture of Q & P before we went out of town. While in White Salmon we took Kaeden & Kai to 2 egg hunts, one in White Salmon and one in Bingen. Then we went down to Jewett Creek and the boys had fun throwing rocks in the creek. Grandpa Mel and I walked to town with the boys and he bought them ice cream at Heidi's.

Mel and Jared built this cross for our church. Each Easter Sunday people bring flowers and place them on it. When we came back into town we drove by the church and took a picture of it:

Miss Peightin, our little bunny:

Mr. Q showing me his riding skills:

Kailer, Gramma Vicki & the Easter Bunny:

Kaeden and the Easter Bunny in White Salmon:

Jenny, Steven, Kaeden and Kailer:

Mom, Dad, Mike and Vicki:

Vicki & Mike:

Mike & Lori:

Gramma Vicki, Kaeden and Kai at Jewett Creek:

The boys coloring eggs:

The boys with Grandpa Mel eating their ice cream on a bench in White Salmon:

My little man Kaeden with Great Grandpa Curt's wheelbarrow:

Kaeden and Kai trying to splash Gramma:

My Kai Guy on the log at the creek:

Kaeden and Kailer at Jewett Creek:

Aimee with Peightin and Bailee:

Lexus with basket:

Peightin dying her first egg:

Bailee with her Easter hat:

Til later...

WOW...EXCITING NEWS!

2009-04-25T19:32:00.000-07:00

As you can tell...we are expecting a new grandchild. Jennifer and Steven are expecting their third child around November 3rd, and she is just over 12 weeks along. They are very excited..Jen has been very sick, so some days she has to convince herself that she is excited.

I love some of her comments, such as, and I Quote from her facebook: I think my baby prefers I don't eat and feel miserable. He/She decided this morning after I got up and showered and actually dressed myself to go yard sale and then go watch Kaeden at the skate park as I was out yard sale shopping I had to go home as my breakfast was not planning on staying put. Baby decided to return my breakfast to me ... and deposit it in the toilet. Took a nice long nap and now feeling slightly better. Kept some lunch down (chicken noodle soup) and went to town to get a new light for the kitchen. Steven is kindly making dinner. And a more recent post from today: Thinking this nausea sucks. Grocery shopping while sick to the tummy really sucks. Ice cream was supposed to make it all better. Ice cream is sucky right now too.

This is exciting for us and we will love another grandson, or a second granddaughter. Jen is trying so hard to think she can wait to find out the sex of the baby til when the baby is born, but I am highly doubting that she can really wait that long.

Peightin's first stroller ride...

2009-03-29T14:08:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday Jared & Tammy brought the kids over and we watched them while they went to dinner. I was getting ready to go for my walk, so I took Quintin and Peightin with me. It was a nice evening and they both did great. It was Peightin's first stroller ride and she just sat there and took everything in. I was explaining to Quintin about the spring time and all of the new grass and flowers that were coming up. We saw someone with their sprinklers on and Q thought he could go and play in them. I told him it was still too cold for that and that the season for that was called Summer. I told him that when the snow was here it was winter. I don't know how much of it he will remember, but I tried to explain it.

Til later...

Miss Peightin is growing...

2009-03-25T21:56:00.001-07:00

This little lady is a hard one to get good pictures of. She is constantly on the move, and doesn't like to lay down any more. She also wasn't too happy having to sit by Q in this one picture. Hopefully she will get used to it one of these days.
Miss Peightin does like smiling and talking to Papa Mel:

In both of these she is smiling at Papa Mel:

Mr Q:

At least he had his helmet on:

Til later...

Thanks to Pam and Scott for the beautiful flowers!

2009-03-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was my birthday and Pam and Scott sent me these flowers. They really cheered up my day. It had started out very bad, as I had the flu Thursday and was throwing up until 3:30am on my Birthday. I went ahead and went to work feeling weak, but at least feeling some better. Then I got these and they made my day so much brighter! Then Quintin, Peightin and Tammy all met me for lunch. Q brought me a paper basket that he made during craft time at the library and they brought me a cake too. They came over with Jared that night. Mel gave me a sweet card with money...I love money, what girl doesn't?

My cake:

My basket from Mr. Q:

Flowers from one of my co-workers:

Thanks for all the birthday wished from everyone!

Til later...

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss...

2009-03-10T13:40:00.000-07:00

I was going to meet Tammy, Quintin and Peightin last Friday at the local library to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday, but they were done just as I got off work. Tammy gave me copies of the pictures that she took. She said it was a ZOOOOOO in there and they ran out of cake. These are a little blurry as she wasn't able to get up real close when taking the pictures, but they are better then nothing.

Also, Peightin is now smiling and cooing a lot.

Quintin's Popeye face:

Jen hasn't sent me new pictures of her boys, so unfortunately, I don't have new ones of them to post. I keep bugging her to send some, and she probably will soon.

Til later...

Busy days...

2009-03-01T23:59:00.001-08:00

I haven't posted lately, as I have been very busy with work. Mel, his brother Ronald and I went to the beach house a week & 1/2 ago. Here are some pictures of the pretty sunset we saw on our way to Newport for dinner one night.

I will post some new pictures of the grandkids soon. I took some of Peightin, Quintin and Papa tonight. We watched the kids while Jared and Tammy went to dinner.

Here are also some Hand molds of Kai, Kaeden and Quintin that Jenny and Tammy made for us for Christmas. They had Mom, Dad, Mel and I all get them sand from the beach, but we didn't know what they were going to use it for. We love it. I love anything homemade!
Gathering sand on the beach:

Here they are above the fireplace:

Here are some sunset pictures:

Til later...

If you knew not to eat peanut butter...what would you have done?

2009-02-11T22:08:00.000-08:00

Quintin and Meekah probably really didn't know that there is a recall of some peanut butter products, but none the less, they didn't eat it, they used it as FINGER PAINT for the kitchen wall. They thought that since they were under the table no one would notice them. After they were caught, Jared shut the power off to the breaker and had them "clean" on the wall. It looks like they actually made a worse mess, but kind of found out how hard it was to clean up. Jared had to end up replacing the outlet. MR. Q sure is Jared's son. Sorry Jared...paybacks are hell.

Here are also some pictures of the other kids:
Aaron & Peightin

Kaeden playing Guitar Hero
Kai with "Bowzer JR"

Til Later...

Getting to see Kaeden, Kai, Tate and Trini...

2009-01-25T22:00:00.000-08:00

I went to Ephrata last Friday to visit Jen, Steven and the kids. I was happy that they had Tatum and Triniti this last weekend so I could see them too. We didn't get to see them at Christmas, so it had been since Sept at the birthday party that I had seen them. Kaeden read some homework to me, I watched them play Guitar hero, we played with Jazzi's pups, put in a new washer and dryer, ate pizza and just had a nice visit.

I came back on Saturday to help Mel celebrate his birthday. His Birthday was Friday, but he had to work and I was gone, so we celebrated Sat. night. I got to give him a gift that I bought him for Christmas that I couldn't find...until 2 days before his birthday, so he got it late. It was a metal rocket bank that he found at an antique store. It was very unique and he liked it, so I sneaked behind his back and had the clerk wrap it for me. It isn't that often that I find something that he wants, so I knew I needed to get it then.

Til later...

Better late than never...

2009-01-25T21:30:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken before Christmas, but I hadn't scanned them to post until now. Peightin was just 9 days old when these were taken and Quintin had just turned 3. She was sure alert and looking around that afternoon. Jared borrowed Santa's jacket that he had "LEFT" at the photo studio so he could hold Peightin in the Santa one. We let Q pick out any prop he wanted, and he picked the reindeer and the little red chair. He was very helpful while doing the pictures.

Anyway, thanks for looking.

Til later...

Growing like a weed...

2009-01-21T21:16:00.000-08:00

Jared, Tammy, Quintin, Peightin, Jake and Sid were all over last Saturday for pizza. Jake was Jared and Tammy's best man in their wedding. Him and Sid got married and live in Brooklyn NY now. They were in town for a funeral. I was sad that his Grandpa died, but glad that we got to see them. We hadn't seen them since we met them in Time Square/NYC in April. Here are some pictures from the evening:
Peightin & Gramma Vicki

Look at how asleep Peightin was~Grandpa tickled her, blew lightly in her face, tried to stand her up, gave her to her Daddy to change her diaper (that usually works) and nothing seemed to work: Finally she woke up and we got a picture of her and Grandpa Mel

The group: Tammy, Quintin, Jared, Jake, Aaron, Sidorela and Peightin...in case you are wondering, Quintin was saying "CHEEEEEEEEEEEZEBURGER"

Some new pictures of the grandkids. . .

2009-01-12T23:48:00.001-08:00

As promised, some new pictures. I can't keep up with Q to get very many good ones, and Jen hasn't sent me any new ones recently, so I made up for it with lots of Peightin:

The Bonnet that Gramma Vicki made Peightin when she was born:

Guess who found the ink pad???

Q after his bath he took after he got ink all over himself:

Til later...

New pictures of the family to come...

2009-01-09T13:46:00.000-08:00

I have been busy, but will post a few of pictures with more to come soon. Mel is working tomorrow, so I am going to watch Peightin and Quintin awhile, and catch up on some internet things.

Some pic's from our trip to the coast:
Snow and rainbow in the Gorge near Lyle:

Mel got caught in the ocean:

Crab that our neighbor gave to us:

Trees between Lincoln City and Newport...the sun was trying to shine through the fog:

Me on a tree on the beach:

Til later...

We had a Merry Christmas...

2008-12-26T23:20:00.000-08:00

I don't really have time to post much right now, as Mel and I are headed to the coast in the morning early. We went to Jen's for Christmas and had such a wonderful time. Then we got to spend some great time with Jared's family too. We sure had fun with the grandkids and seeing all of their new toys and excitement. They are the light of my life. We told Jesus Happy Birthday too, as we do remember that he is the reason for this celebration.

Here are A few pictures to keep you going till next time...

Frosting cookies for Santa:

The boys in their new Mario Brothers jammies:

The boys hanging their stockings...you don't have to have a chimney:

What we came home to:

Quintin's train from Santa:

Peightin wasn't too sure about the holiday:

Mel & Peightin (17 days old):

Peightin's photo shoot with Gramma-3 days old

2008-12-13T18:16:00.001-08:00

I am sure everyone knew this was coming. I went over to Jared and Tammy's on Thursday and did some pictures of Peightin. She was pretty cooperative considering it was the middle of December and we were stripping her. The following are some of my favorites:
In the basket her Grandpa Mel slept in when he was a baby:

On a mirror that belonged to her Great Grandma Freida:

The special delivery bow & tag Gramma Vicki made for her:

She is our special delivery:

In the wicker baby carriage:

And one of my all time favorites, this is Jared & Tammy's rings on Peightin's toes:

WELCOME to Miss Peightin Linn Zumwalt...

2008-12-10T22:41:00.000-08:00

Peightin arrived at 11:14am Monday December 8th weighing in at 6 lbs 6.9 oz and 19" long. She has some dark hair, and is very precious. Not a lot bothers her at this time except having her diaper changed. I will post more later. Everyone came home today and is doing well. Tammy is very sore, and it is hard for Quintin to realize he can't just jump up on her lap.
Til later here are some pictures of her...will post more later.
Jared & Peightin:

Tammy's first look:

Big brother, Quintin & Peightin

The family:

Jared & Peightin watching TV:

After the nurse put Peightin's feet prints in her baby book, she put the extra ink off of her feet on Jared & Q's arms:

The back of her hair is dark & about an inch long:

At Gramma's in Jared & Jenn's cradle:

In the car for the trip home:

My Mr Q's 3rd birthday party...

2008-12-06T22:10:00.000-08:00

I got up this morning and started working on Quintin's birthday cake for his party. He wanted BUGS on his cake, so this is what we came up with, and also some party pictures:

The next time I post, it should be pictures of Quintin's new baby sister. Peightin Linn is scheduled to arrive sometime Monday, December 8th. Tammy is to be at the hospital at 8am for her scheduled c-section. Jen is coming down Sunday night and is going to Walla Walla with us. I am taking Quintin and he will stay with me while she is in the hospital. I am excited and happy for them.

Til later...

Great weekend...

2008-11-29T21:09:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I gave Tammy & Peightin a baby shower. It was a little crazy just before it started, due to the fact that when I went to pick up the 2 cakes from Safeway they had only decorated one of the two cakes! And it was only 1 1/2 hours before the shower was to begin. I scrambled and found some things to stick on top of it. Tammy brought over a rattle too.
Jen, Steven, Tatum, Triniti, Kaeden and Kailer all came down, so it was doubly a good weekend. Also here was Pam & Scott from Canada & Mom & Dad. It was a fun filled crazy weekend. After the baby shower we had 28 people here for a BBQ. It turned out to be such a good weekend.
This is the diaper cake I made for Tammy & Peightin. I made the 2 receiving blankets that are with it too (Below it and wrapped around the bottom layer:

The cakes:

We played a fun diaper game...you melt different types of chocolate candy bars in diapers and then people have to smell them and try to guess what type they are. I tried to use harder ones on some. I used whatchamacallit, reeses peanut butter cup, uno, 5th avenue & butterfinger. It was Very funny watching people smell them, and Jen even asked if she could lick one. Ha ha:

One of the outfits from Gramma Vicki & Grandpa Mel:

Here are some pic's of the fun-The kids helped Grandpa rake leaves...and then they just had to jump into them...

Grandpa Mel & Kai checking out the specials in the paper:

Kailer's cast:

Great Grandpa Curt, Triniti and Kaeden playing a new dice game called LCR (left, center, right)

My little man...toothless Kaeden. He really can ask Santa for a front tooth...and if he hurries and loses the other one, he can ask for 2 front teeth

Mr Q showing me his "toddler" shirt rules:

Tatum in the tree:

Triniti in the leaves:

My poor little Kai Guy...

2008-11-18T22:26:00.000-08:00

Kailer was coming down some steps in their back yard when his foot slipped and he broke his right tibia (the large bone in his leg). The Dr said it was a spiral fracture. Fortunately he didn't break it all the way through. When he first did it, they just wrapped it with a splint and sent him home. Then when he went to his Dr last Tuesday they casted it. He will be going back next week to have it x-rayed again and then re-casted for a while longer. He still isn't walking on it, but Jen said he is sure getting around scooting everywhere.

They are coming down this Friday so they can go go Tammy & Peightin's baby shower and to Lexus' birthday party. I am excited to see them.

I will also get to see Kaeden with his top front tooth missing too. He just lost it this last week. Pretty soon he might be able to say that all's he wants for Christmas is his 2 front teeth.

The first "splint wrap"

The cast on his little leg:

Jen giving him a bath in the sink so they could keep his cast dry:

The boys at the sink:

My Toothless little man Kaeden:

Til later...

My little Halloween gremlins...

2008-11-05T22:04:00.000-08:00

I never tire of Halloween. Here is the pumpkin Mr. Q helped me with:

Jared & Tammy brought Quintin over to Trick-or-Treat. Q had a good time playing with a toy that Papa Mel helped him with. He was doing great, and you sure wouldn't have known he had his tonsils out just 3 days before. He was a Train conductor.

Jenny sent me pictures of her Batman and frog. Kaeden wore this frog costume when he was Kai's age.
These are pumpkins they grew...they came up voluntarily by their driveway:

My Kai Guy tuckered out:

My Little man Kaeden refueling:

Til later...

"The Great Pumpkin"...

2008-10-30T18:53:00.000-07:00

Guess what it is...

Quintin helped me do it...

The finishing touches...

Topped off with a kiss from Daddy to Peightin Linn...

The painter and the painted...

The family, Tammy, (Peightin) Quintin & Jared...

We did Tammy's belly like a pumpkin when she was pregnant with Quintin, so had to do it again for Peightin. It is kind of crude, but was fun to do.

Til later...

The Great Pumpkin Patch...

2008-10-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

Last week Jared & Tammy called me about 10 minutes before I was to get off of work and asked me if I wanted to go with them and Quintin to the pumpkin patch. They said the last hayride out to the pumpkin patch left at 5:30, which meant I wouldn't have time to go home and change my clothes. I knew I wouldn't be able to go over the weekend, as I was going to be gone for the weekend to a scrapbook retreat in Meacham, and then the next Friday is going to be Halloween, so I had to go then, or miss going at all. So there I was in my dress and nylons from work. It was great, as we were the only ones there, so after Q picked out his pumpkin they let him sit on the tractor and "Drive" it. He was in 7th heaven. Here are some pictures of the fun night.

Poor Mr. Q is going to have his tonsils out tomorrow, Oct 28th, so may not feel like going trick or treating this year. We will have to wait and see. I am going to go over and paint Tammy's belly like a pumpkin, like I did when she was pregnant with Quintin.

Here is a scrapbook page I did this last weekend of Mr Q sitting on a pumpkin in front of the pumpkin patch:

This picture was taken tonight. Q helped me put my pumpkin together:

Til Later...

Our Beach trip and The Great Pumpkin Drop...

2008-10-20T17:51:00.000-07:00

What a fun weekend we had. I love doing things with Mel!

As you can tell...it was beautiful weather:

I put my girl scout lessons to work and built this fire on my very first try:

Mel and I on the beach making s'mores:

Him and I went to our beach house this last weekend. While there, we went to watch a thousand pounds of pumpkins (2 pumpkins) dropped from a crane onto a Jeep wagoneer. It was quite a site to see, and below are some pictures of it before and after.

We went down to the beach on Friday night and enjoyed BEAUTIFUL weather-calm, warm and so still. We roasted marshmallows and ate them between chocolate covered graham cracker cookies. An easy version of s'mores.

I got my seagulls put on the post outside the house. I got them while I was in Rockaway Beach with my Bunco girls the weekend before this weekend. A fun time was had by that bunch of girls! I was told that I couldn't discuss what went on there.

We did also do a little work, as we planted 10 blue spruce trees down in the yard:

My Monkey Tree is growing:
And the bees love my lavender:

Vicki and her seagulls:

Mel mowing:

Pumpkins being lifted, getting ready to drop onto the Jeep Wagoneer:

And the end result:

Til later...

More Nature trail photos...

2008-10-07T21:02:00.001-07:00

While we were at the nature trails, Jenny & I took a lot of pictures. Here are a few more of my favorites.
Steven, Sally, Jazzi & Kailer:

Quintin taking a picture of me taking a picture of him:

Kaeden climbing the concrete:

Quintin in the tree:

Kailer in the tree:

Kaeden by the Columbia River and McNary Dam:

Kai Kai throwing rocks in the river:

Jen pointing something out to Kaeden:

Quintin with the crawdad his Daddy found-they did put it back in the water after the pictures were taken:

Jen & Kaeden:

Quintin, Tammy & Kailer:

Aaron by the tree:

Mr Q throwing rocks in the river the easy way:

Kaeden in the tree:

Jennifer & Steven:

Q safe in Daddy's arms:

Aaron telling his brother Quintin a secret:

Til later...

My kids and Grandkids...

2008-09-30T23:10:00.000-07:00

My pride & joys in life:

Me and my 2 great kids!

Jen, Steven and the boys came down last weekend to visit. I love seeing them, and sure miss them when they go back home. Kaeden & I colored pictures in an "Underdog" coloring book Friday night. He is doing very well in school and can read pretty well. We were driving down the road and he read me some of the road signs. I love to read, so I am glad he is doing so well at it too. My little Kailer and I played soccer outside. He is sure a busy little guy. On Sunday I went with all of the kids down to the Nature trails and took some pictures. Here are some of the ones we took that I liked. The sun was almost too high in the sky, so I wasn't thrilled with the outcome of them. Oh well, better than none at all.

I helped Jared with a yard sale on Saturday and watched the boys while Jen and Tammy went to the Tri-Cities. They had to really twist my arm to get me to do that.

The group:

The group on the bridge:

Jen, Steven, Kaeden and Kai walking down the trail:

And when they turned around to surprise me:

Jared, Tammy, Quintin and Aaron walking down the trail:

Jared & Tammy:

Jennifer and Steven:

Jared, Tammy & Q by the Columbia River:

Jen, Steven and boys:

Til later...

Little Bailee Rae's photo shoot with Great Aunt Vicki

2008-09-10T23:01:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of going over to Lance and Bobbi's and taking pictures of Bailee on Monday. She was 5 days old and very cooperative. Here are some of my favorite shots. Thanks to Pam and Bobbi for helping me with my "props".

Til later...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY'S to my Little Man Kaeden & my Kai Guy!!!

2008-09-10T22:09:00.000-07:00

I had the greatest day off last Friday and got to go up to Jenny & Steven's to help with the boy's birthday party. It almost seems impossible that my little man Kaeden is now SIX (as of Aug 29th) and my Kai Guy is THREE (as of September 8th). Jen, Steven and I all contributed to the making of the boy's birthday cake and cupcakes. The theme was the Nintendo game "Mario Brothers". It was QUITE a challenge to do the cake, as I used fondant, and I have never used it before. I made it from a recipe I found online. It was easy to make, but more difficult to "design and make" Mario's body. Here are some progression photos of him and the cake.

Jen & Steven working on the cupcakes:

The cupcakes done like the game:

Making the fondant:

The fondant after we colored it:

The beginning of Mario:

His body:

His head & body:

Head, Body & Hat:

Almost there with the body:

Whew...body done:

Body on the cake:

Finally finished after SEVERAL HOURS:

Kai with cake and cupcakes:

The boys and their cake:

The pinata's Jen and Steven made:

The party was so fun, and the kids were all very well behaved. Jen and Steven made the 2 pinata's and did a great job. I love how Jen is up to jumping in and trying to make things.

Kaeden started Kindergarten this fall, and I got to see him get on the bus and get home. The bus picks him up right in front of their house, so that makes it nice for Jen.

Kaeden & Kailer with their 2 grandma's~Gramma Vicki and Grandma Bea:

Here are some pic's of the fun time we had:
Not the best picture, but one of the only ones of all the kids:
Kailer, Tatum, Kaeden and Triniti:

Kai had been asleep and when we checked on him later, this is how we found him. He didn't fall asleep like this the first time, so must have kind of woke up, started to watch TV and fell back asleep like this:

All 4 kids helping Steven with the treasure hunt eggs for the party:

Kaeden & his friend Bryce doing the water balloon toss:

Til Later...

Introducing my new Great Niece...Bailee Rae Hughes

2008-09-03T22:50:00.000-07:00

Welcome to this big world Bailee.

My nephew Lance, and his wife Bobbi had their second daughter this afternoon at 4:29pm. Her name is Bailee Rae and she weighed 7 lbs 1 oz and was 21" long. As you can see, she has a lot of hair and chubby little cheeks. She was so alert and looking around when I got to the hospital after work. She was about 1 hr and 15 minutes old when I got there. I am glad she decided to make her entrance while I was in town. Lexus was having a hard time understanding that she couldn't just pick her up and walk around with her. It will be interesting to see how things go once they get her home.

Here are some more pictures~
Great Aunt Vicki & Bailee:

Grandma Pam & Bailee:

Bailee showing what she really thought of this hard day:

Lance, Bobbi & Bailee:

Big sister Lexus Nicole, Bailee and Bobbi:

Look at that hair...I can't wait to see what it looks like after it is washed good:

Fun with my sister...

2008-08-27T23:03:00.000-07:00

Pam was in town waiting the birth of her second granddaughter, so was able to play Bunco with "our" old group. She was a member when she lived her, and hadn't played since moving to Canada in September 2001. It was so fun to have her back playing. She brought a lot of Canadian things down and everyone had a nice surprise when they got here and saw she was playing. We had Nanaimo bars that she made, and some Canadian candy. I needed 2 subs, so it worked out perfect. Pam played, and Tammy & Aimee traded off and on for the second spot. Bobbi came by to pick Aimee up, so we got to see her baby belly again. She is due any time, and was pretty miserable tonight. Hope she has Bailee before I go out of town tomorrow.

Here are some pictures from tonight. Mel was gracious enough to take a group picture for us.

The Girls:

Pam, Bobbi and Aimee:

Til Later...

My boys and summer things...

2008-08-24T12:31:00.001-07:00

Here are some of the newest pictures of my 3 BUSY BOYS! They make me smile and light up my days.

My little men Kaeden and Kailer at the park...

Quintin's shirt is so right "I make dirt look good"...

Kaeden with his cute smile...

Kai and his bottle of dirt...

Quintin looking so innocent and sweet...

I am sure Kaeden & Kai were off to a new fun adventure...

Quintin riding off towards a new venture...

Til Later...

Busy Summer Time...

2008-08-21T22:24:00.000-07:00

This summer is just whizzing past me! I keep thinking I need to update this blog, but always seem to be on the run. Mel and I have been able to spend almost every other weekend at our beach house this summer, and are loving every minute of it. When not down there it seems like we have other places to go. I went to the Oregon Jamboree this summer and got to see Randy Owen of the group Alabama. He is touring on his own now, but still sings a lot of the old songs, so I loved it. Jeanne H and I got to go backstage and see him and get autographs and have our pictures taken with him. That was the topping on the cake that weekend.

I have gotten to see Quintin a lot this summer too and love it. He is a very busy little boy, just like his Daddy used to be. And I love talking to Kaeden and Kailer on the phone. I called Kaeden while I was watching Randy Owen and let him listen to him sing. He was so excited about it, and also liked it when I sent him some pictures that I took. Kai Kai is always jabbering to me. Most of the time I can get the jest of the conversation, but sometimes Jen has to interpret for me. I love that she sends me pictures of them too. I am going to be going up to their birthday party soon.

Lance and Bobbi are expecting a new daughter any day now, so Lexus will be a big sister to Bailee Rae (unless they change her name). I went over last night and took some "belly" pictures for Bobbi.

I am attaching a few of my favorite pictures over the summer. I hope to be better in the future at posting on this blog.

Til later..

I have 3rd row, corner of the stage seats, but this year when Randy came on, a friend of mine who has 2nd row center stage seats, traded with me. She said she knew he was "my man" and knew how much it would mean to me. I thought that was so awesome of her!

Hmmm...look who had his arm around me...and mine aroung him. I saw him in concert for the 43rd time, and loved every one of them:

Randy Owen in Sweet Home:

We bought these bar stools the last time we were at the coast:

Jeanne and I with Mr. Sailor:

Mel and I with Mr. Sailor, our house mascot:

Ronald made Mr. Sailor for us right after we started building the house, so I had to have a picture of them together. I try to have a picture taken of the people who stay at the house with Mr. Sailor before they leave:

Tammy & Mr Q at the ocean:

Jen & Kai at the ocean:

The wall in our master bathroom. I love how it turned out. The little picture is Jen and Kai at the beach, and the picture on the counter is Tammy and Quintin at the ocean
\

Ken & Karen came down & Ken took me for a ride on his bike. It was fun

These are all pictures I took at the Oregon Jamboree from my seat:

Williams and Ree (The indian and the white guy) at the Oregon Jamboree:

Sugarland at the Oregon Jamboree:

Phil Stacey (Former American Idol Finalist) at the Oregon Jamboree:

Kelly Pickler (Former American Idol finalist) at the Oregon Jamboree:

Joe Nichols at the Oregon Jamboree:

Neal McCoy at the Oregon Jamboree:

We even got to see Glen Campbell...he is sure looking old, but still sounds good:

We even had fun doing these pictures at the Jamboree:

Announcing that we are going to have a GRANDDAUGHTER!

2008-08-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

While I was out of town Monday, Jared & Tammy found out that they are expecting a little girl. Jared called me while I was in Lincoln City and gave me the news. Quintin sounds so cute saying "I am going to have a baby sister".

Here is the U/S that isn't very graphic, but the words say it all.

I will post more later...

July Calendar

2008-07-13T22:53:00.000-07:00

This is the July calendar that I made. Jenny took the "fireworks" picture that I used as the background. Love how it turned out. She is quite the photographer. Here is also a picture of the newest additions to her family...Jazzi had 6 puppies and Sally had 3.

Sally the Dachshund had 3 males-all purebred, and Jazzi the Boston terrier had 6 puppies...3 boys and 3 girls. The father is a dachshund, and the puppies are "designer dogs" called Bo dachs (sounds like bow doc's).
They are starting to move around and have their eyes open now.

Til later...

Summer at the beach...

2008-07-13T21:57:00.000-07:00

Mel and I have spent 2 of the last 4 weekends in Lincoln City enjoying our home, and we are going back down again this next weekend. LOVE that place!

We enjoyed some cool weather down there over the 4th of July. It was 103 degrees when we left Hermiston, so the misty rain was a nice change.

Here are some updated pictures of things we've done.

The top of the bar: Jenny & Steven gave us some of the floats and Mom and Dad gave us some of them. They went perfectly up there.

The back of the bar:

The Foosball game we bought at a yard sale for $60:

Picture of Jared, Tammy & Quintin on the master bedroom dresser:

Picture of Jennifer, Steven, Kaeden and Kailer on the master bedroom dresser:

The dresser:

My new laundry sign:

And after I put some words on it:

The windsurfers in Hood River that we watched on our way home:

The kite room after I hung the valance up:

When we were at the ocean over the 4th of July, we went into a consignment shop and I found the largest picture that is hanging here on the bathroom wall. I fell in love with it, and knew it would go perfect in here, so I bought it:

Here are 2 pictures that are in the bathroom...Jen and Kai in the one on the wall, and Tammy & Q sitting by the sink:

These are the shelves in the master bathroom:

This is a picture Mel bought for me, and it is in the "friendship" bedroom:

Mel's brother, Ronald made Mr. Sailor for us when we first started building the house, so it was nice that I actually got a picture of him with Mr. Sailor:

Mel & I with Mr. Sailor:

Til later...

Summertime fun...

2008-07-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

We have been having a busy summer. A friend of mine, Pam Martin, and I took Quintin and Nathan to Hood River to ride "Thomas the Train" on June 28th. It happened to be the first HOT weekend in Hood River this summer. It was 103 degrees that day, so was a little hard to enjoy. Thy boys did like playing at Great Grandpa Curt and Great Grandma Marcelle's house before the ride, and the shaved ice we got them at the train station was a big hit. Here are some pictures from the trip:

Thomas the Train, Quintin's favorite thing at this time in his life:

Mr Q watching out of the train:

Nathan on the train:

Gramma Vicki & Quintin riding on Thomas the Train:

Pam & Nathan riding on Thomas the Train:

My BOYS...

2008-06-05T21:41:00.000-07:00

I make a new calendar every month to keep at my desk at work. I liked how this months turned out, so wanted to post a picture of it here. These are my pride and joys of life...my little man Kaeden, my Kai guy and my Mr. Q . I am thankful to my kids for allowing me to be part of these little men's lives, and I hope they know through life how much I love them.

Pictures from our Lincoln City home~

2008-06-02T20:07:00.001-07:00

My "Anniversary breakfast" made by Mel...it was a complete surprise to me. He made it while I was taking a shower:

Love watching the waves crash against the rocks:

I LOVE the ocean!!!:

Mel and I found time to enjoy the beach down on 26th Street:

Mr perfectionist making sure the "friendship sign" is level. I do appreciate all that he does for me. I like to give him a bad time though.

Here is how it looked when we were done. We call this bedroom the "friendship room":

Ivy hills new plants & 3 of the four windows with shutters. I forgot to get another picture after we got the last shutters installed:

Mel watering my newly planted flowers, bushes and ivy:

The Beach bar after we put the new sign in it, and added the netting & floats on top. Jen and Steven gave us the floats for our anniversary, and we love how they look:

The Bar sign close up:

Lavender in the front of the house:

My new ship kite:

Here is the first kite we bought for Quintin to fly last summer, & a new bird kite:

My "Kiteroom" bedroom officially has kites in it:

My husband does Windows, and here is the proof ( I sure love that man!):

The new plants just waiting to be planted on ivy hill:

Mel and his new lawnmower:

My stained glass and Mr. Sailor in my craft room:

Me planting the Lilac bush that my Mom and Dad grew for me at their house in White Salmon:

Our "Guest" that we woke up to:

Happy Vacation in Lincoln City...

2008-06-01T23:51:00.000-07:00

I guess it isn't really a vacation when you are going to your "other house". But it is a vacation if you aren't at work. We went to White Salmon on Friday the 23rd and spent the night with Mom and Dad. Then we got up early Saturday morning and headed to Lincoln City. We stopped at IKEA in Portland on the way and had a fun time shopping. We actually bought some Christmas gifts while there too. Then we stopped and picked up some new plants and some food for the week. We got to town and saw how tall our grass was. It needed mowing, but we needed a new mower first. It was Tuesday before the store was open that we bought the Honda lawnmower from. Mel called our friend, Jeff Greene in Hermiston to see if it was a good deal before we got it...and it was. We also bought a new weed eater. Mel mowed and trimmed on Tuesday, and I worked on planting my new bushes. I love how ivy hill is turning out. I took some more ivy from here and got it planted. Then we put shutters up on the back side of the house, washed those windows, put blinds up in 4 rooms, got 4 kites put up in the kite room, and got other odds and ends done. On Monday, May 26th, we celebrated our 31st anniversary. Mel made me breakfast. We just hung out and had a good day. It was Memorial day, so we didn't do much. Then on Friday we went to Chinook Winds Casino and went to a concert to see "America". They were a very popular band in the 70's. They played for 1 1/2 hrs, and it was a good show. On Saturday we met Mom and Dad in Hood River and they bought us lunch at the Hood River Inn for our anniversary. We had a nice visit with them before heading on home.

I will post some pictures from the week tomorrow. I am headed to bed now.

Til later...

Mothers Day 2008

2008-05-17T01:01:00.000-07:00

I had a GREAT Mothers day. It started out with Mr Q bringing me over a plate of cupcakes that he helped his mommy make for me...and Papa got one so he wouldn't feel left out. Then when I was least expecting it, Friday night Jen, Steven, Kaeden, Tatum, Kailer, Triniti, Sally, Jazzi & Lucy surprised me by showing up for the weekend! It was such a nice surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mel said they planned it while I was in St. Louis. We had a fun weekend. The kids wanted to do another egg hunt, but I told them I couldn't find my Easter eggs. So I hid "treasures" outside and they found them. I took toys from the toy box and hid them all over the yard. Then when they found them all, I gave them bubbles. They thought that was pretty neat.

These are some pictures from the weekend:

St Louis Missouri

2008-05-17T00:10:00.000-07:00

I went back to St. Louis Missouri to a meter training class for a week. We will be changing out all of the meters at the comany where I work. It is sure going to be a challenge at first, but should be very helpful in the long run. While back there, Connie, Stacey and I got to do some sightseeing in the evenings after class. These are some of the places we went and some of the things we saw. It was awesome going up in the Arch. The wind was blowing the day we went up, and it was swaying. It didn't bother me, but some people were holding on to the railings. Some of these pictures were taken out of the little windows at the top. It was something to be looking down and getting a view of the sides of the arch. The Mississippi River was flooding, and this one statue was so far under water, that it looked like Clark was swimming across the river holding his hat up to keep it from getting wet. I had to go online to look up the statue just so I could see what it really looked like. Hre is a small picture of it that I found online. We went across the Missouri River into St. Charles, and we fell in love with the charm of this town. We went back there several times to the little antique stores and restaurants. I got to meet up with my Uncle Wayne and Aunt Jean from Illinois too. It was only the 5th time in my life that I got to see them, so it was wonderful.

Looky...Looky...

2008-05-17T00:06:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce that we are going to have a new addition to the family. Jared and Tammy are expecting a baby around December 18th. When Jared called to tell me about the ultrasound, he told me it looked like a jelly bean with a heartbeat. So far, Tammy is doing ok. She is sick off and on, and tired, but those are good signs of a healthy pregnancy. Quintin says he wants a sister, but we will just have to wait and see what he gets.

Maryland, Washington DC and New York City trip

2008-05-16T23:13:00.000-07:00

Mel had to go back to Maryland for 4 weeks of training for his job. I took him to the airport early on Easter morning, and he didn't get back until April 18th. I missed him so much, but did get to fly back to spend 5 days with him. I flew back on Thurs Apr 10th and got into Baltimore about 5:30pm. Then the next day when Mel got out of school we drove up to Hershy PA to the Chocolate factory. That was fun. On our way back we stopped in a neat little town called Havre De Grace, MD. It is at the end of the Chesapeake Bay. We walked along a neat boardwalk and saw a lot of wildlife. Then we got up early on Sat the 12th and took the subway into Washington DC. Once there, we got a shuttle pass for the day and visited the war memorials, Arlington National Cemetery and the White House. We got very lucky. They only open the South lawn of the White House 2 times a year, and one of the times happened to be the day we were there. It was SO NEAT to be that close to the entrance. Arlington Cemetery is undescribable! I had always seen pictures of the headstones, but didn't imagine in my wildest visions how many there really were. There are over 300,000 people buried there!! Then the next day, we got up early again and took the Subway into New York City. That was quite an experience too! We went up in the Empire State Building and went down to Ground Zero. That was haunting to just try and piece together how horrible it must have been on Sept 11, 2001. We went down to Pier 17, and that is the picture with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. We got to meet up with Jake and Sid Sanchez. Jake and Jared are best friends, and he was the best man in Jared and Tammy's wedding. They live in Brooklyn now. Then the last day I was there, I did Mel's laundry and got his things all straightened up in his room. That is all just a SHORT version of what we did. Enjoy the pictures.

Easter 2008

2008-04-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

My family-Sad that Mel was gone~

All of my Grandkids and Pam's granddaughter~

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. I had Friday off, and my parents came from White Salmon and my sister & neice came from Canada. My nephew came from Moscow, Idaho and Jennifer, Steven, Kaeden, Kailer, Tatum & Triniti all came from Ephrata. Then Jared, Tammy & Q came over too. It was just a great time. The kids went to the Easter egg hunt at the New Hope Church and then came back and colored eggs at our house. We did 2 Easter dinners, as Lance couldn't come on Saturday and Mel left early Sunday for Maryland, and couldn't be here for Sunday's.

Jen and I got to bed about 1:15 & I had to get up at 3:30 to take Mel to the Pasco airport. I almost wish I hadn't even went to sleep, as I sure didn't want to get up. It was hard leaving him knowing I wasn't going to get to see him for 3 weeks. At least I know he will have a lot to do there, and he will have time to scope the area out before I go back to visit him. I came back after dropping him off and went back to sleep for awhile.

It was fun to watch the kids with their egg hunt, and then later when all of the kids got over here, Jen, Jared, Steven, Tammy, Lance & Bobbie all went out and hid eggs outside. All of the kids had an egg hunt around the house, & they had a fun time, while they all found a lot of eggs. The kids all got along great, and I loved spending time with them all.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

My "Family Tree"

Coloring eggs:

The Egg hunt:

Not sure the reason for 1 arm out of the shirt:

A neat bubble picture that Jen got:

Cute pic of the boys playing in the dirt:

Happy birthday to ME~

2008-03-29T13:53:00.000-07:00

The picture above was what Jen made for me, and I LOVED it! It was the best next thing to being able to see them in person!

Well, it doesn't feel any different being 50! I see it as just being happy to be alive, loving life & being able to enjoy my family and friends.

Mel and Dennis got me good. First thing, I got a beautiful bouquet of roses from Mel, along with a sack of my favorite candy bars, Snickers & some money...$50 for 50 years. Then, as I was driving out of the driveway, I saw balloons and a sign on the mailbox. Of course, I was running a little late leaving for work, so didn't have time to take them down. It did make me smile to think Mel was so thoughtful. Then I drove to the end of Joy Lane...and there was a piece of rebar stuck in the side of the road with more balloons & another sign...then, when I got to the end of Cooney lane, there was ANOTHER sign and balloons. By this time, I was laughing out loud. Then at Elm street...more balloons & a sign...Then finally, as I pulled into the parking lot at work, there was more balloons and a sign.

I laughted about it all day...and kept telling people what my husband had done... Only to find out when I got home that he hadn't done it,Dennis had. Well, Mel did have a small hand in it. He wrote up the signs and told Dennis where to place them. Dennis also brought me in a bouquet of flowers that had been spray painted black.

In the evening Jared, Tammy & Quintin came over and brought me a German Chocolate cake that Jared and Quin made for me. It was scrumptious! Jen and the boys made me a picture that I loved. Here are some pic's from the day. By the time Jared & Tammy took pic's of the signs and balloons, they were pretty trashed from the wind and rain we had during the day. That is what you get on the first day of spring...rain and wind in Hermiston.

The first thing I found:

Then on the mailbox & me with the sign after work:

Joy/Cooney Ln:

Cooney Lane (balloons were gone when they took the pic):

Elm Street (sign gone):

In the parking lot at work:

The balloons & flowers at my desk at work:

Here is my cake from Jared, Quintin & Tammy-the boys made the cake and Tammy put the frosting on it. She added whipped cream to the frosting and it was delicious! It had Q's handprint in the frosting.

My birthday kiss from Mr. Q:

Flowers from Dennis:

Til later...

March 2008 new house pic's

2008-03-19T23:11:00.001-07:00

Mel and I went to Lincoln City last weekend to take down the bar, the last mattress set, a coffee table and a couch. Dennis gave us his mom's coffee table and couch after she passed away last month. We were very grateful to him for thinking of us and giving them to us. We sure looked like the Beverly Hillbillies on the way down there. I wanted to put my Grandma's wooden rocking chair on top, hold one of Mel's rifles and have him take a picture of me, but I couldn't get it up there. Oh well. Mel didn't want to take the trailer, so we managed to squeeze everything into the pick-up. It was a tight fit. We also planted 2 Rhododendrons and 3 roses while there. It was nice to see 2 azalea's blooming that we planted last summer.
We got the last bedroom set up and the new comforter put on the basement "Kite Room" bedset. Now we need to start getting pictures etc put up.

We did get to enjoy a walk on the beach to look for agates and just enjoy the beautiful day too.

The pick-up loaded:

Me at the bar:

The bar:

The great room in the basement:

From the other direction:

Living room furniture:

The Kiteroom Bedset:

The Friendship room:

Planting roses:

The back of the house with flowers blooming on ivy hill:

Bubbles on the beach:

Vicki on the beach:

That is all for now...Til later...take care and thanks for looking!

School time with Kaeden

2008-03-13T21:15:00.000-07:00

Last week was Kaeden's "Special week" at his school. I was happy to get to go to Ephrata and go with him for the day. Steven's Mom also got to go for part of the time. We did a craft project with the kids. It was a 6X6 page with a flower, butterfly, sunshine & place for them to put a wallet picture on it. Here is what my sample looked like:

Kaeden & Grandma Bea making his craft project & Kaeden writing his numbers:

Then I spent Friday night visiting with all of them. Jen and Steven had Tatum & Triniti that weekend, so it was nice to see them too.

Here are some pictures from the weekend. It was a beautiful day and we played outside too. Then I came home and Mel and I worked on the bar for the basement of the beachhouse. We got it stained, and polyurethaned. I love the way it turned out. I am sure it will match the post in the basement, as we used the same stain. It might be a tad different, as the wood is a different type. Oh well, I still like it!

The boys outside playing:

Gramma pushing the boys:

My little man Kaeden:

My Kai Guy:

Tatum and Kai:

Triniti:

Gramma & the boys...Gramma was making a strange face:

Jennifer and her boys:

I haven't gotten any new pictures of Quintin, as they had been sick, so I didn't go over for awhile. However, Jared and Quintin were over a little while ago, and I got these cute pic's of Papa Mel reading "Peter Pan" to Mr. Q It was so cute, and he snuggled right in for a good story:

Here are the pictures of the bar finished & a picture of the room it will go in at the beach house. The open space in the back side to the right is going to have a small refrigerator in it, so that is why we didn't finish it like the rest of it. It looks kind of funny in the picture: