Looking Back...Busy 2009 Summer

We ran into Paul and his wife from my work at the annual Mountain Man get together in July. They were having a lot of fun with some of the people staying in teepees and tents. Pretty cool...

We kicked back on our friend, Cathy & Ross' patio with Gary cooking for the whole group. This is Rick and Deneen another horse friend.

Jen and Christine trying to keep the sun out of their eyes! Sure miss that sun right now.

In August, I reserved two tent spots at Bullard's Beach and all of us had a great time. Didn't get as many crabs as they would have liked and the weather was cold but still had a great time. Here's Chris and the dogs playing in the surf.

Michael and Kevin. Dig those high-water pants!

I am, of course, dressed for the polar region!

Kayla and Ashley messing around. I'm sure it was very boring for two teenagers but I loved our short time with them.

Here's the whole group except Troy and I. I think Troy sat on a log for most of that day :O)

The end of October Sue and Jeff came to visit Jeff''s Dad. I got to spend a day with Sue so we decided to go riding at the beach. Oregon weather didn't fail us as you can see. Talk about some drowned rats! Here's Sue and Cathy after riding for an hour in horizontal rain and at one point hail.

Sue and I at Bullards Beach. Sue was so wet that when she moved, it squeezed the water from her pants and filled her boots. Now that's wet!

While Sue was here, we went to visit Gram. Gram looks great although I can't say that she remembers a lot. It's very difficult for her to remember who we are but she visited with us anyways. Sue looks much better now that she dried out a bit.

Gram and I. Gram had no idea who I was or why I was visiting her but that's ok. At one point, she thought that Jerry was her oldest and couldn't remember her daughter Janette either so guess that's to be expected at almost 94.

Jerry came up to surprise Gram for her 94th birthday. Jerry, Gram, Gary, Sumi, Troy and I all went to Sizzler which is her favorite place to eat. Shawn & Chris also showed up but they were both sick so didn't want to pass on their germs.

Jerry, that was very sweet for you to surprise Gram. Such a long distance for so short a trip. By Sunday night he was back home. Love you, Jerry!

Well, this may be a lot combined into one post but sometimes you just got to do what you got to do :O)

Kevin Continues

Although this was not a happy time for us, having my family together was wonderful. I really miss seeing and talking with all of them so much. Hopefully, we will have a good turnout this coming summer Reunion.

This was taken during the horse riding weekend in 2007. Note Troy's fashion statement for riding! Lovely, huh and very typical for him.

Here's the horse riding group again. My don't they look excited? I think that they were just disappointed that they weren't riding yet. Note Kevin's foot attire?

Kevin & his "Girls"

This was such a great weekend. Hard to believe it was May 2007. The girls were, of course, being clowns, Auni at 16, Kayla at 14 and Ashley (with her tongue stuck out) is 13. Mary is the other "girl". Kevin and Mary were married on August 15, 1999. Kevin took on a ready made family and is way outnumbered. I know how he feels. I had three boys so counting husband, there were four. I had no clue what boys needed. I was the oldest of eight and the siblings close to me were girls too. As my sister Trish said in her blog at one point, they don't hand you instructions so it's by trial and error. I sure made a lot of mistakes back then and I seemed to take forever to get it right but hopefully I learned from those mistakes.

Auni

The weather was great that weekend and the girls really wanted to ride the horses. Miss Sudden San, better known as "Portia" was saddled up and trotted around her pasture. She was great with all of them and they had a wonderful time.

Kayla

Ashley

The amazing part was that even Kevin rode that day. I was in heaven. Mary decided to wait until another day. Which has not come yet, I might add. The boy's experiences with horses have not always been pleasant. The first time Michael rode, he rode bareback on my half-Arabian gelding on a lounge line. The horse decided he didn't like that little guy on his back and took off slinging Michael off. Luckily, he had no broken bones so we left for home to get him cleaned up. Driving by the Harvard exit, he says, "Mom, how come I see two of you?" Oops...that can't be good. So off to the Emergency room we go. A slight concussion they say and an overnight in the hospital. I don't think he's gotten on another horse since. Dang it! As many times as I've been tossed off, I still get back on them. Guess I'm still wearing my sign..."NUTS ABOUT HORSES"

4th of July in Utah

Hatfield Home in Utah

Allen & Betty's homeTroy's parents live in Utah in a beautiful home on a cul-de-sac. The weeks prior to our visit, they had 90 degree temperatures. While on our way there, it started down pouring in Idaho but slowed drastically once we got to Utah. The weather remained cool but somewhat warm during the day but not nearly the high temperatures they had previously been having.

Betty, Megan (Troy's niece) and Allen

Our booth on the grass

We set up our Mommy & Me Jewelre booth near Allen, Betty & Karen's SMD Kettle Korn booth at the 4th of July celebration in West Point. Our largest number of sales were from the many younger kids there.

Karen busy getting ready to try her hand at making french fries in the kettle korn popper.

Now that's a lot of kettle korn!

Besides attending a booth out of state and visiting his parents, this was the other reason we traveled to Utah. It took three strong guys from church and Troy to get this TV off the truck, up the stairs and into the house. We finally have a TV we can actually see the picture...LOL

Graduation Day - June 2009

Eric Vanderhoof

Troy's youngest son graduated from Cottage Grove High School in June as Co-Valedictorian and a 4.0 grade point average. He will be attending the University of Oregon in the Fall.

Eric & Troy

Eric, Troy, Amanda & Brittany

Amanda has been attending Northwest Christian University and Brittany is planning on attending U of O this Fall.

Troy & Cory

Cory is Troy's oldest son. Cory is in the Air Force and stationed in North Carolina with his wife Beth.

First Cutters

Portia and TJ at 4-5 months old.

We bought Miss Sudden San (barn name...Portia) one month before she foaled seven years ago. TJ was our first baby foal or to be more exact our first stud colt. He was a rambunctious, full of piss & vinegar little trouble maker. He was always into everything, playing & teasing his mother mercilessly. What he lacked in conformation though, he made up for it in courage, heart & athletic ability.

After we weaned TJ, I legged Portia up and had a couple of lessons and jumped right into my first show. Ok, so I'm not a natural but I had a lot of fun. I ended the show year as Reserve Champion having lost first place at the very end. I was new to riding cutting horses but it just seemed like Portia was having trouble. She was 18 when we bought her and she had been showed a lot in her earlier years. I gave her a couple of months off at the end of the season and when the new season started I was ready. Unfortunately, age had caught up with Portia and unknown to us, she had an old hock injury that would now prevent her from cutting without being in pain. So out in pasture she went and we bred her. I was now without a cutting horse to ride. Dang it...

When TJ was two years old, we put him into training. He was quick to learn and so willing to please. He still didn't have good conformation...in fact I still call him "giraffe neck" but like I said he was and still is very athletic. Ever seen a horse reach back onto his butt and bite at a fly? Not his flank mind you but to the top of his butt back by his tail on the very top? I have seen TJ do it & in fact it was last weekend. Now that's flexibility!

He was taken to his first show at the Washington Futurity wchacutting.com and came in second. It was awesome. We sent him to Ogden for his second show and this time he bombed. He was in total overload with grandstands going all the way around the arena, people & dogs walking over his head, lots & lots of horses and cows. The picture above is from a show the following year at the Running Y & one of the funniest I think. He looks like he is going to join the cow by going over the wall too.

When TJ was five, I started riding & showing him. It was really a struggle since he was young and very sensitive and I was not as far along as I probably should have been but he was so smooth and cowy it was great. Someday I hope that I will again be able to ride him on a cow. It's a feeling no one understands unless they try their hand at it. If you do....you'll be hooked!

I loaned TJ to a friend who rode him for a few months but now has been out in pasture for the past four months. I am planning on riding him tomorrow so wish me luck. He's fat and sassy so it's going to be interesting I'm sure.

Mom & Dad's 40th ...

It began with love and dreams. Eight children later and living in numerous cities in California to settling in Sutherlin, Oregon and later Crescent, Oregon, we gathered together to celebrate.

It was a beautiful summer day and we gathered together to celebrate Mom & Dad's 40th wedding anniversary with champagne, wedding cake, family and fun.

How young they all look...Gram, Uncle Don, Mom, Aunt Patsy & Uncle Jerry.

I made the wedding book which I now have somewhere in storage. Note to self...dig it out :O) I think that Sue made the cake, isn't it beautiful?

We celebrated Mom & Dad's 40th wedding anniversary at our house on Beacon Street it seems like an eternity ago. Everyone had such a great time. Aunt Evie played volleyball in her crushed red velvet dress, it was great! Sue made the comment that she stood on the side hoping that Aunt Evie wouldn't bounce out of her dress :O) It was such a great day for everyone.

Yard Work

Wagon from Mom's front yard
Planter cart from Mom's living room

Wire table from Mom's

Somewhere under those weeds are flowers!

One weekend we were on our way to town and the high school was having their annual plant sale. Of course we had to buy some. Unfortunately, for the next two weeks and weekends we were swamped with other things to do so they sat in their little plastic containers waiting patiently to be given larger living quarters.

This weekend I finally made time for the little guys and it's a good thing. They were sadly neglected and way too big for those little homes. Now they are happy and hopefully they will grow up nice and big and strong and give me lots of beautiful flowers to brighten my days.

My family will notice that I've utilized three things we brought from Mom's; the plant cart that sat in her living room; the wagon she had sitting outside and the small wire table. I think they add a nice touch and hope everyone likes what we've done.

Our Rock - Uncle Jerry

This is a picture of Uncle Jerry and me taken the Monday following Mother's Day. Jerry came down to see Gram (his mother) as a surprise on Mother's Day. He drove all night, picked up Gram to go to Gary's and had a BBQ there. He drove back home on Monday so he could be with Aunt Evie on her 60th birthday on Tuesday. Uncle Jerry you were our rock during our days of heartache when Dad passed away those many years ago and in January with Mom. I dont think I appreciated or showed you how much it meant. Please forgive me for that. Sometimes we don't realize how important someone is until they are gone. Thankfully, Jerry is still with us and doing as well as can be expected and looking great.

Sure were a beautiful child! Uncle Jerry, we love you with all our hearts and thank you for being there for us during our time of need and know that we are praying for you during your time of need with Aunt Evie.

We were living on Wallacot Street in Southern California. Jerry must have been in his late teens or early 20's and I was in the second grade. He was staying with us or at least was there in the morning. We were out of milk for our cereal. Jerry told us to use water and it would taste just as good. Ok, so I didn't believe him but what else were we going to use? So on went the water...gross! Don't try it, it really doesn't taste good at all.

One thing he did tell us how to make which does taste good is good ole peanut butter & jelly. Take a small bowl, put in some peanut butter and a small amount of jelly or jam and mix well. Yummy!

Jerry went into the Navy and served on a ship. If I knew all the details I'd put them in, but alas I was too young to remember them. When he was discharged, he split his Navy clothes with some of us cousins. Linda and I loved them! Bell bottom pants were great and just in style!!!

Florence Rhody Fest 2009

This past Thursday we traveled to Florence for the Rhody Festival for our booth Mommy & Me Jewelre. We got there early enough to check into our motel prior to checking in with the Festival official. I think we should have seen the signs. On Tuesday we found out there was no security at all for any of the booths. Lovely. On Wednesday we found out that we had to check in between 5 -7 on Thursday. Oh goody, so now I have to ask for additional vacation time to leave by noon on Thursday.

Now we're at the motel and guess what? They have no reservations for us. They had it on the next weekend. Luckily, they have a room (small) that has three nights available. Oh and it's $6 more a night because it is Rhody Weekend.

We got checked in and like the room. Very small but cute. Now we're headed to the Festival check in. We're on time and one of the first to check in. After a lot of confusion, we ended up next to the Boardwalk. The view across the boardwalk looks out over the Suislaw River with the mooring of a few boats tied up. It was one of the most beautiful views we've ever gotten to look at for three days.

Bikers started arriving Thursday and by Sunday there must have been 500 or more Harleys parking on the street. Talk about noise! It was really cool to see them all lined up and see the many different styles, paint jobs, etc.

Friday we went down to the boardwalk around 8:30am and did our two hour set up and then waited for our customers. And waited...and waited...and waited. There were lots of lookyloos but not many with money burning a hole in their pockets. We finally shut it down around 8:00pm. Ok, so now one very poor day done and two better? days to come. Saturday was very busy and thankfully we did very well. Sunday wasn't as poor Friday but nothing like Saturday. We ended up not breaking even but it was a warm beautiful weekend in the end. Our booth was safe and we had a great time.

Oh, did I mention that a guitar playing 55 plus hippy type decided to plant himself right outside our booth on the boardwalk on Friday singing (croaking) to the crowds? He really did try but he had a voice that sounded like he had had one too many cigarettes. Luckily, on Saturday he moved down a couple of booths. I enjoyed the music but he obviously decided he should sing all his songs directly to me. Troy thought it was hilarious.