Joseph rocks!

When I went to pick up Cari at the house she was staying at, I loved the 'thank you' note she left for Tom and Andrea.

How cool is this?

When we went to Joseph the first place we went in was a quilt store. I thought of Kathy of course!

And we checked out the art.  Lots of art to be seen!

Hmmm....wonder why I like this sign?

Joseph is a nice little town.  But boy, it is little.

We drove to the lake to check it out.

And Cari found a big ole chair.

We took a tram ride.  I was a bit nervous on the way up.  I admit it.

Cari LOVED it!  She really did.

It was a beautiful view on the journey up.

Cari and I hiked.

We saw mountains.

And chipmunks.

Now I was nervous on the way up, but on the way down I was just fine.  Go figure!

A wedding filled with love.

Cari and I went to Joseph, Oregon for the wedding of her friends Erica and Tyler.

The wedding was held at Erica's parent's home.  What a wonderful, loving, lovely, peaceful setting.

One of the nicest weddings I've ever been to.

Erica was escorted by her parents.  Isn't she beautiful?  And her parents were so proud and happy/

Erica's Dad shared a story on comparing a three legged race with a burlap sack and marriage.

Funny!!  And many true points.

Me and my lovely girl.  I loved very moment spent with her.

Liked the lighting in the tree.

The wedding party.

Cari signed as a witness.

As evening fell the lights came up and the party continued on. 

Much dancing, and eating (LOTS of PIE) and drinking and laughing and happiness took place.

The tables were planks from the floor of the barn.  Tyler put a lot of work into this and it showed.

Aren't country weddings amazing?

Breaking Bad Cari Style

Doug and I went to the opening of Cari's latest show 'Breaking Bad' in downtown Portland at

Doug was a good sport about letting me take his picture admiring some of the masks Cari created.

It was so nice to attend with Doug.   I love my kids, and getting to spend some time with him was a joy.

So I tried not being too much of a dork with taking lots of pictures.

I didn't get any of Cari. She was SO busy greeting folks, and chatting with the folks attending

that I didn't want to take pictures and betray someone's privacy.

But she was glowing, enjoying the moment, and I loved that.

She was working on these chains while we were in Amsterdam.

Mark and Cari discussed ways for her to fire the chains, and I know he enjoyed talking with Cari about her work

and he LOVED that she listened to him and cared about what he had to say.

A lovely memory to hold onto.

Doug and I didn't stay long because it was hot, and Cari was so busy meeting and greeting.

I had a great time:

I got to say hello to  Juliette, the owner of Nationale. 

I got to get a hug from Suzette (and we should do lunch sometime soon....just saying....).

I got to meet some of Cari's friends.

I got to hang out with Doug, and talk on the way there, and on the way home.  Loved that.

And I got to see Cari in her element. 

Wonderful evening.  Wonderful.

Life List

I'm putting together my 'life list' for my lovely new year of being 57.  So many possibilities!!!

How lucky am I???

• I love to bake.  I don't love to cook.  But I want to have meals that I can make that I not only enjoy, but aren't a pain to make.  Ha!  So my goal is to organize a cookbook with at least two weeks worth of meals that I like to make, and Mark and I both enjoy. 
• I love baking at the RMH, but I need to watch how many sweets I eat due to realizing that I may have problems digesting sucrose.  And I want to keep my weight down.  SO, I will put together a list of cookies and cakes that I can bake at all times.  These are my 'tried and true' recipes, and I don't need to taste them to know they're good.  Since I like to taste new treats I bake, I will not bake new recipes unless I'm at my goal weight of 150 pounds.  I don't want to give up baking new things, and tasting them.  So this sounds like a good way to 'have my cake and eat it too'  (sorry, couldn't resist....)
• I want to experiment with greeting card making, trying new mediums such as colored pencils, oils, etc.  Have fun with it! 
• I  finished the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in 3 hours and 18 minutes this year.  My goal in 2013 is to finish the maranthon in under 3 hours.  I know I can do it. 
• I want to learn to make small gingerbread houses.  And not just for Christmas:  I saw some cute ones for Valentine's Day.  What a fun gift to give!
• I want to use the library as much as possible, and be better about keeping my library books in one place, and turning them in on time!  I'm so bad about this!  I can do it.  I love, love, love the library.
• I want to use snail mail more.  I think people are tired of getting only bills and such in the mail, and getting letters only in email.  I need to have cards and postcards ready to mail off to parents, sisters, brothers, etc.  A letter is a fun gift to get.
• I want to learn more about star gazing. 
• I want to go to Crater Lake.
• I want to go to Mt. St. Helens.
• I want to go swiming.
• I want to go to a Portland State football game.
• I want to take a different leg in Portland To Coast. 

I think this is a good start.  Make it happen!

Happy Birthday to me!

Birthday parties rock!

I had my birthday party today and it was wonderful.  I have to say I have the BEST friends in the world.

And CAKE.  I had some lovely orange CAKE. 

With a penguin on it.  Does a birthday cake get any better??

This little cutie was waiting for some CAKE.

My kind of gal.

Oh and CAKE and ice cream.  That is the best stuff ever.

Happy Birthday to ME!

We decided to take a family picture.  Not bad! 

I think Grandma Jo will like this.

Oh, I think she'll like this one. 

Cause she loves us, crazy or not!

This one I'm not so sure about......

I really like this picture.  They're so cute.

Just hanging out.  Putting up with Mom taking pictures.

THAT didn't last long.

Oh Steven.  Why?  Why that face?  We were so close to a darn good picture.

THAT will teach you Steven.  Thanks Cari.

Doug wants to be sure the lesson is learned.

Flowers were involved.  So pretty.

Video games were involved.  So funny to watch.

I got a kick out of the kids playing 'pin the tail on the donkey'

Many wonderful gifts were gathered for 'Tucker's Toybox'.

And you know what they say:

it' ain't a party at the Vander Yachts

til a laundy hamper ends up on the roof'.

I wish they didn't say that.......

Yesterday it marked three years since my Mom died.  I decided I wasn't going to spend the day being sad: I was going to enjoy my morning coffee and read the paper (one of her favorite things to do!), and read an Agatha Christie book (she introduced me to this amazing series of books and I've been grateful to her for that ever since).  I'm so glad she was my Mom. 

Below is what I wrote on FB to celebrate my beautiful Mom.  Oh, and the book I read was 'The Seven Dials Mystery'.

I was very lucky. My Mother was very loving, and had a wicked sense of humour. Put those traits together and you are raised with laughter, hugs, jokes, home baked cookies, mystery novels, game show marathons, morning cups of coffee while reading the newspaper, and long talks on the telephone. For the most part I'm not sad when I think about my Mom: I'm so darn happy that she was my Mom and that we had such wonderful times together. I smile when I think about her, and that's what she would want. I miss you Mom, and love you more than I can say. And yes, I will read an Agatha Christie book today and think of you.