Meeting Master Owen

Cari and I drove up to Washington to meet Master Owen. We were so glad to get to hang out with Jessica and Gavyn as well.

Cari took off for a bit on Saturday, to get some 'outdoor time' and this morning she took me on a short walk to see what she came up with.

She'd taken several branches and created a hide-a-way. It was very cool.

I've hardly ever been to this part of the property, and I enjoyed seeing something different. And I liked what she'd come up with.

Mary Jo seems to rather adore this young man. Oh yes, she does.

Cari and Owen. Hanging out.

Megan and Owen. Hanging out.

Mommy and Owen. Hanging out.

Bampa decided that the sweet potatoes should not be set in front of him

"Bampa, put down the sweet potato or go to your room right now young man!"

Much better. You can now stay and have some of the amazing dinner Mary Jo created. And it was amazing!

Cari drove home. The traffice was light, and the scenery was wonderful.

Yesterday Mary Jo and I went to a Christmas Bazzar and we both bought cat beds. Lire and Deacon check her's out.

She did go inside, but so far she seems to perfer sleeping on it.

RMH

Today was a good day at the RMH. Okay, so I didn't take any cookies that show above. Someone gave the volunteers cookie cutters that look like a house and a heart, and of course I had to play around with them. I think I'll make some haunted house cookies here soon. It was fun playing around with different ideas.

Scary monster cookies. Right. And pumpkins. And candy corn. The cupcakes were really good!

I too some pictures of the murals. Hey, someone is missing!

Oh Grumby, get over it!

I love this mural. It's so colorful and the colors are amazing.

None of the rooms have a TV, so if the families want to watch TV they have to hang out in one of the TV rooms. This one is right off of the dining area.

A six year old boy decided to ask his friends and family to bring toys for him to bring to the RMH for the kids. These dresses are some of the gifts folks brought. How nice is that? He was pretty excited to bring everything and check out the house.

There are murals and paintings on all the walls.

Hey Bambi, tell your mom to stay OUT Of the meadow. Trust me in this one!

Oh my, someone is peeking in the window.

He's so cute!

This is another of the TV rooms and it's painted to look like a log cabin. Even the fireplace is painted: it's a warm and cozy room to hang out in. I think it's one of my favorite rooms in the house.

Time for the Pumpkin Patch

Do these kids look like they're having a good time? OH YES! Thank goodness my friends have wonderful kids that they're willing to share with us. I love hanging out with the three little rusts and Sunday was a perfect day to go to a pumpkin patch. And Cari came along, so a good time was in the works.

We decided to go to the same patch we went to as last year. Small, but basic.

Cate and the boys were playing in the hay maze when we got there. Go Cate Go!

Luke wanted to show me the monster in the barn. Cool monster my young friend!

Then it was time to catch a ride on down to the pumpkin patch.

Cate was checking everything out.

What a great view. Even the porta potty was colorful.

Cate found herself a pretty darn good pumpkin. That one, and she found many others. There were so many nice pumpkins!

I wanted to take Cari and Mark's picture. Maybe not.

Oh, there you go! What a wonderful picture.

Oh man, they're back at it. Give it up Mary, it will never end.

Caleb found some very amazing pumpkins, and this was one of our favorites.

Mark became the holder of the pumpkins. Knew we brought him along for something....

Luke was having a great time finding a pumpkin. He was running around, testing them out, and I had a great time myself just watching him.

Then Mark and I took Cari out for lunch at Fanno Creek Pub. Like I said, a great way to spend a Sunday!

Days off are good!

Woke up to a rather mellow weather day: overcast, but not chilly. I admit it, I like days like this! Perfect weather for running errands.

Across the street at the school the geese begin to gather.

I notice some of the flowers are beginning to take over new territory. Mark loves working in the yard, so I gave the flowers notice that they'd better enjoy this while they can. The sheriff is coming to town!

While running my errands I noticed this little coffee shop: Cheer Me Up! Coffee. How could I resist? And the gal in the shop was so darn nice, and yes cheerful, so I was go glad I went in.

And the coffee was very good and that cheered me up and that meant they meant what they said. Cheerful coffee was the order of the day.

At home I noticed the little tree growing next to our cherry tree out front. The big ole cherry tree just keeps hanging in there. It's bark is peeling off, it's growth has stopped all together, but the darn thing just keeps on keeping on. And now it has a little brother. Life. Ain't it grand?

More geese join the fold.

Pretty peaceful day on our street. By looking at this picture you wouldn't know the second largest mall in Oregon sits at the end of our street now, would you? And I love that the mall is there, except at Christmas time and I'm trying to drive anywhere: the traffic is NUTS.

And I LOVE my new car. Especially when it has coffee on it. New car and new coffee: loving it!

Once in the house I discovered Lire in two of her favorite places: in a box and on the air hockey table.

Not sure why she loves them like she does, but that's the way it goes.

I cleaned house, met some friends over in Aloha for dinner, and then picked up Doug from work. All in all a very good day!

For my mom

This is a poem from one of my favorite authors of all times. It says it all.


i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart) i am never without it (anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true) and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

e.e. cummings

CAKE at the RMH

When I got to the Ronald McDonald House on Wednesday they were filming different parts of the kitchen. I'm guessing it's for an upcoming Auction for the house (I'll be greeting folks at the door: sounds like fun!). I avoided the camera as much as possible.

One of the dads staying at the house was curious about the camera. Aren't the murals on the wall amazing?

The gentleman running the camera was so nice about answering his questions. I really liked that.

The Western Culinary Institute had a fund raising event where folks would have a meal, and then go into the theater and watch the movie "Julia and Julia". What a great idea! On this day they were bringing the check, and they had a CAKE that looked like a check to go along with it.

Hmmm...think he's waiting for CAKE? Oh yes.

Earlier he was hanging out with me, popping out from behind the island in the kitchen and trying to 'scare' me. He is adorable and he was fun to hang out with.

The official presentation of the cake. Man, I need a new camera. I'm waiting for the Christmas sales to come into being and then WHAM! I'm striking. Jennifer and Kseniya are helping me figure out what type of camera I need to get. Thank goodness for friends who know what they are doing!

The lady on the left created the cake. I loved the decoration, but I have to admit something: I do not like fondant. At least I've not met any that I've liked so far. Oh well, at least there's still frosting to be had. Today I'm going to a baby shower, I've been assured there will be CAKE, and if I'm lucky it will be a Costco CAKE. I do love Costco CAKE. Or at the very least the CAKE will have frosting and not fondant. A girl can only hope.

Ah, time for cake. He had an appointment, but mom was very nice and waited a couple of minutes until they could cut the cake and ensure he got the first piece.

Little guys like him are why I love baking for the house. I'm now working on learning to decorate sugar cookies. The more festive the treats, the more fun, eh???

Time well spent.

While in California Dad, Linda, Tom, and I went to lunch at Sierra Nevada Brewery. The last time I went there Mom, Dad, and I went, so I was happy to go back and remember how much fun we had. Mom liked going here, so it was something we needed to do.

I like it when breweries let you view the 'working's of their business. You can take a tour, but we didn't have time so it will have to wait until the next time I go down. Dad and I will have to suffer through another lunch and some beers. Oh my.

Dad and Linda check it out.

Nuff said.

Some poor folks were trying to leave, and they very nicely waited until we took the picture until they left. How nice was that?