Birthday Weekend

My youthful days are over Grandma, I am now 30 years old. Thank you for the card and birthday money.

Spencer and I went out to eat - all by ourselves!! He also brought me flowers at work that morning.

Then on Saturday we had a party in the gazebo behind our building. We had ice cream sundaes and Rachel put some candles in mine!

Raelee was really excited to sing to me. She also wanted to get me a card when we were at the store earlier but I thought it would be silly to buy my own birthday card. Then yesterday we had dinner at my parent's house. The table was really small without David there. Even Raelee sat at the table. Spencer made dinner with his new recipe for enchilada sauce. It tastes like it's from a restaurant! So even though I am really old now I had a wonderful weekend. We are looking for a time to come up and see you again soon. This time we will try to bring Spencer. We love you Grandma.

Stephenie and family

Senior Jokes

Hi Mom. Dorothy Goff sent me these senior jokes and I wanted to share them with you.
Love you.
Michelle


An elderly gentleman....Had serious hearing problems for a number of years.
He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a
set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100%
The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the
doctor and the doctor said, 'Your hearing is perfect.. Your family must
be really pleased that you can hear again.'

The gentleman replied, 'Oh, I haven't told my family
yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've
already changed my will three times!'





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A senior citizen said to his eighty-year old buddy:
'So I hear you're getting married?'
'Yep!'
'Do I know her?'
'Nope!'
'This woman, is she good looking?'
'Not really.'
'Is she a good cook?'
'Naw, she can't cook too well.'
'Does she have lots of money?'
'Nope! Poor as a church mouse.'
'Well, then, is she good in bed?'
'I don't know.'
'Why in the world do you want to marry her then?'
'Because -- she can still drive!'



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A man was telling his neighbor, 'I just bought a new
hearing aid. It cost me four thousand dollars, but it's state of the
art.. It's perfect.'

'Really,' answered the neighbor . 'What kind is it?'

'Twelve thirty..'

----------------------------------------------------------

Morris, an 82 year-old man, went to the doctor to get a
physical.
A few days later, the doctor saw Morris walking down
the
street with a gorgeous young woman on his arm.
A couple of days later, the doctor spoke to Morris
and said,
'You're really doing great, aren't you?'

Morris replied, 'Just doing what you said, Doc: 'Get
a hot mamma and be cheerful..''

The doctor said, 'I didn't say that.. I said,
'You've got a heart murmur; be careful.'

the beach

Last week a couple of my friends and I took all our kids to the beach at dash point state park... only a few minutes from our house! It was a gorgeous day, the sun was out, but it wasn't too hot and the breeze was perfect! The kids had a great time, we had lunch, played in the sand and dipped our feet in the water. Minus having sand EVERYWHERE, it was a perfect day!

here is blake lounging in the chair

this is blake's friend Ella.... they are pretty cute together!

he even has a pet name for her... he calls her 'ella bella'

adam was SO good, he loves being outside, he just sat in his car seat and made cute faces at me!

Arcadia Beach

Hi Grandma,

The singles ward had a beach trip a week ago and we went and took some pictures for you. The whole drive out there looked like it was going to be a typical cold, windy day at the coast but right when we got to Highway 101 the clouds broke and it was a beautiful day. It was sunny and around 70 degrees with only a slight breeze. We were just south of Cannon Beach and we had a BBQ and then took a walk to some tide pools. Here are some pictures from the trip:

Aren't we cute?

You couldn't dream up a more perfect day at the Oregon Coast!

There were lots of seagulls of course!

There were lots of pools of water from where the tide
had gone out and they were warm and your feet
would sink right in. I had fun walking through those!

The tide pools had tons of mussels, sea anemones and starfish
of all colors - red, orange, purple and green.

Did I mention LOTS of starfish?

Missy's first time touching a starfish!

We climbed this rock because I thought it looked like the
one in the movie The Lion King so this picture is for Blake too!

We tried to help Missy up but that didn't work out so well!

That was our day at the beach. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! If not, we will have to drive up and put some sand in your underwear drawer so you can get the full experience!

We love you Grandma!
Rachel & Missy

Stinky frogs and hectic packing!

HI GRANDMA!!!
I am so happy that your surgery went well. I wish that I had been able to be there for you.

Sorry that I haven't been posting on this blog, but I have been sooooooo busy at work. The picture above shows me demonstrating the use of our crazy new setup for galvanized wire coiling. Orgionally, we got the wire on big spools that we spun onto the macine that I am holding. My boss forgot to order more spools and we ran out! We got some wire but the only way to get the HUGE coil (it's under the ladder) to not bind up all the time was to use this crazy, jury-rigged contraption. the best part if the story is that later the same day the company's insurance adjuster showed up! It all worked out though. One of the worst jobs at work is making frogs...no, not live ones! Frogs are plastic parts that look like this:

These parts have ammonia in them so they smell...interesting (like a bathroom). Needless to say, I now shower when I get home instead of before I leave. Ewwww...
I am also trying frantically to get packed for college (6 DAYS. GAAAA!). There is so much going on right now; it's insane!
I hope that you are doing well. I love you!

Consider yourself Warned

I thought I was prepared when we decided to get a dog. I'd had them as a kid, no big deal. Nothing has prepared me for the white mess these two create. Don't get me wrong, I love them, but the "them" gets left everywhere! This picture was taken after I'd brushed ONE dog. I then cleaned it up, and got another pile a little smaller than this one. I can see it floating in the air again, so it is time to do it again - it never stops snowing at our house!

Melinda

Silver Falls continued

I didn't take my camera on our hike so I've been gathering the pictures from my friends. Here are some more pictures of the waterfalls. Now you can enjoy the beauty of the hike without the sweat and tired feet!

This is Upper South Falls.
We started here and you get to hike around behind the falls.

Behind Upper South Falls


There are lots of creeks from the runoff.

I think this is Twin Falls (not the one in Idaho!)
You can tell the water levels are down in the middle of the summer.

Speaking of lower water levels, this is Winter Falls.
As the name implies, it is MUCH larger in the winter time.

Hope you enjoyed the hike!

Love,
Rachel

MORE WEDDING IDEAS

Hi Mom,
I stopped at the store on my way home and found this fabric for Raelee's flower girl dress. What do you think? It's yellow with stars!!!!!!
Would you like to make it for her? (how about as a favor to me?!) O.K., I'll do it.
Thanks for all of your help with the wedding planning. It was a lot of fun.
I enjoyed being with you and hope to come up to see you again in a few weeks.

Love you,
Mitch

So I went on a bike ride with some friends yesterday. The trail was called The Route of Hiawatha. It was an old railroad path that winds through tunnels and cool dirt trails. The first tunnel is like a mile long and it gets VERY dark! We all had head lamps and lights on our bikes or there would have been no way to get through it! There were a lot of people on the trail which was fun. It was about 15 miles long but before you think I am all tough, realize it was all down hill!! :)
The view was spectacular! I think the trail was technically in Montana which was only an hour away. (Living in Idaho's panhandle really makes you feel like a traveler- nothing is very far away!!)
Here is a couple pictures of us on one of the bridges and then one of the view from the top looking down on all the trees.
All in all it was a very fun day. It did rain hard on us the last mile but we survived.
Lance and I also booked the Portland Temple for November 21. Mark your calendar!!
Love you Grandma!
Rosie Page

Silver Falls hike

Hi Grandma!

I've been trying to think of some fun things to tell you about but I was having a hard time so I had to just go out and do something fun last weekend just to be able to write to you! Don't you feel special? So, on Saturday I went with a couple of friends to hike around Silver Falls. It's down near Salem and we did about a 6 mile loop and saw 7 different waterfalls! Some of them you even get to hike behind the falls. It was a perfect day for hike so we took our time and took some pictures. I hope you enjoy them!

Love you,
Rachel

Hey Grandma! I am doing great. Today is my birthday so I am officially 5 years older than Lance. I figured you would be proud! :)
Lance and I are doing great, a lot is hinging on if I get a teaching job. I have applied for several and will keep applying. Our plans for the fall are up in the air as to where we are going to live and all that. But we did plan on the 21 of November for our wedding in Portland. Mark your calendar!
Here is another picture of the wedding dress I ordered and it should get here to idaho in about mid october.
I think the allergies are just going to have to be toughed through because no medicine I take does anything but make me drowsy! But like you said about the bee stings, this is somehow preparing me for marriage!!
P.S. this plate is just to give you an idea of my wedding colors.
I love you so much!
Rosie

Granny- too-snelda!

Grandma I miss you!
So one time my mom bought 5 chickens and wanted me to butcher them. And I did.
I am getting ready to start classes at Portland State soon, but I have to take a whole day and do Orientation- blech. Once I get that done I will get to sign up for all my classes and officially be a Viking- one of my favorite Barbarians as it so happens.
I have been doing a lot of family history and indexing- which I love! I will have to teach you how to do all of that on the new system when I come up next (hopefully soon!)
I also have some great stories about trying to rein in the sisters in Relief Society when I teach. OK, just a couple of them, but it is an adventure!
I love you Grandma!!!!!
Missy Beth

Uncle Jim, the Rubios, Aunt Mada & the Pughs

Hey--just thought this might be the easiest way to tell everyone that Uncle Jim, the Rubios, Aunt Mada & the Pughs are all coming to Oly.

• Uncle Jim & Aunt Mada will be here the 28th-30th if you want to visit them at Bill & Marilyn's house.
• The Rubios are just coming the 29th so if you want to catch them, you'll have to catch them at Bill & Marilyn's before our annual luau at 5:30--they're coming to that.
• The Pughs will be here the 28th-29th but are staying in a hotel. I don't have anyone's cell phone handy but if you want it, let me know.

:)

fun weekend

Last weekend we went up to Bellingham for our nephew Shane's baptism, some family time, and camping! we had a great time. It was fun to see Jonathan's mom, stepdad and sister (and her family) from New Mexico. Blake had a great time with his cousins! Camping was great, Jonathan and i have never been together, so this was a first for us. Most of Jonathan's family came with their kids, and we had a huge group site. It was at Deception Pass, which was beautiful, and the weather was perfect!

Blake's cousin Hallie turned 2 while we were there, they had a pinata... of course Blake loved it, hitting something with a stick, how could you go wrong!?


Jonathan had 5 days off.... a rare thing, it was great to have a mini vacation together!


Camping was right by the ocean, so we spent a lot of time by the water, Blake LOVED throwing rocks in, and having the waves get his feet.

This is Mishael, one of our nieces, she LOVED holding Adam, and I LOVED having her hold Adam!

The sunset was beautiful!

I was so hoping to come and see you this week, but we are sick. Isn't that how it always is with kids. You don't get to do the things you want, but you end up being able to do everything else?? :)
I thought if I posted a couple of videos that it would be like we were there..... almost.

We love you,

Steph

Grandma Beth - here is the beautiful flower from your garden!