Trip with Pat and Mel - Day 2

We left Baker City early this morning. Another leisure day. We stopped at a place thinking it was a restroom. Since it had no facilities, Virigl and I went on down the road. We couldn't understand why so many people there. Later we found out that it was the attraction Multnomah

Waterfalls. We missed the whole thing.
The picture here came from the Columbia River Gorge Forest Service website. sigh

We are now in a campground near Portland - Portland Fairview RV park. It is very nice. I will try to be more attentive to my surroundings in the future.

We went to Doug and Jessica's tonight then to the Olive Garden. It was very nice to see Haille and visit with Doug and Jess.

On the way back to the campground, I was stopped by a policeman for driving while talking on the cell phone. He didn't give me a ticket. That part was nice. It is against the law to talk on a cellphone while driving in Oregon. sigh

Trip with Pat and Mel - Day 1, August 8, 2010

We left Ammon, Idaho at about 9:00 with our destination being Baker City, OR. Virgil and I followed Pat and Mel, stopping whenever anyone needed a rest or break. It was an uneventful casual trip. It is nice to be unhurried in a trip - quite a new concept for me. I seem to always be fighting the clock when I go anywhere, so this was nice.

The campground at which we stayed in Baker City was very nice. It was designed around an old west style, had nice restrooms and shower facilities and was very clean and tidy. We ate at the Sumter Station restaurant. It was cute with a train going around and around the outside walls.

Virgil and I began listening to Free Men and Dreamers audio book. We had listened to it before, but it was 3 years ago, so of course, I had forgotten the story. It took a while to get it all sorted out, but is not very interesting. The romance part is a very common theme though - boy loves girl, girl loves boy. Girl sends boy a letter professing her love, relatives prevent the letter from being delivered, boy finds letter and goes to find girl, girl has given up on boy and is engaged to another. Same ol' story. But it is written around historical events during the War of 1812 .

Backyard Family Fun

Oh my - I'm totally exhausted - but a good kind of exhausted. My sister Pat and her husband Melvin are here from Tennessee. We had a cookout tonight and had 46 people in our back yard - including me and Virgil. It was absolutely wonderful!

Some of the folks here were Robbins folks - leaves on the branches of our family tree. That was exciting to me. Eddie Robbins is 88 years old. He laid floors for a living. He said he spent a lot of time bending over but it didn't hurt him a bit. He then proceeded to bend over and touch his toes! He and Virgil hit it off very well. Turns out they had worked together 30 years ago. They each believe the other to be the best in the business - Eddie the best at laying floors and Virgil the best at sheetrock and finishing.

We had lots of food - and it was all delicious. We had baked and grilled salmon, grilled hot dogs and barbecue chicken wings as well as lots of other yummy stuff. . . from crab salad to watermelon.

When the folks started leaving the girls jumped in and cleaned the dishes/kitchen and the guys cleaned and folded tables and the E Z up. It was just done before I could blink almost. They kids can't even BEGIN to know how much I appreciate their work. I was so tired I just didn't know how I was going to get it done. Gosh, it was nice.

It was a wonderful day- spent most of it shopping and getting things ready with my sister and the evening was spent eating and visiting. The friends I invited didn't come - one did send me a message though to let me know she wasn't feeling well. That was a bit disappointing. I'll post a picture of my Robbins kin when Melanie sends it to me.

Virgil and I are getting ready to go with Pat and Mel and do some sightseeing through the Northwest. I'll post pictures (hopefully) and notes on our experiences as we go along.

Memorial Weekend - 2010

It was a beautiful day today. A little cloudy, but that's okay. I worked in the yard and worked in the garden and thought about our freedoms. As I as working I said a prayer of thanks to Heavenly Father for allowing me to live in this beautiful country - Land of the Free, Home of the Brave. I have had such a mixture of emotions today. One minute I've been happy and excited to think I'm so privileged to be an American citizen. The next minute I'm a bit melancholy because there are people who don't appreciate that they were born and raised in a free society. I'm happy because I have a wonderful family. I'm sad because some don't understand that families are just that - families, even if we aren't all good. I like the quote that is appearing on facebook - "you may not like me, but Jesus thinks I'm to die for". I'm thankful that He loved me that much. I'm sad that sometimes I can't love so freely.

BUT - it's a new hour in a few minutes. I can try again. That's the happy part. No matter how many times I try and fail, I can try again, and one of these hours or days - I will succeed. Now see, that makes me happy. Yayyyy.

From this

to that all too soon.

My grandson Corey is now in Afghanistan. I can't even describe my feelings. Only a grandparent can understand my heart.

Day of Contrasts

A couple of weeks ago, we went to a funeral for a family member in Archer, ID. Jamie was a vibrant, hard working young man who worked in construction for a steel company. He feel 27 feet to his death and left behind a young family and many friends. That's the sad part.

Jamie donated three of his organs so that someone else might live or have a better quality of life. Even though the funeral was sad, Jamie left a good legacy.

After the funeral, we went to visit our grandkids who live in Archer. I think they were getting ready to "go into town" as they say on the farm, but the patiently delayed their trip to visit with us. It was a happy visit. We met Otter, Cody's new puppy. The kids talked to us aout their latest adventure in trapping and were all smiles. While visiting, Shelly rocked Otter to sleep. What a total mother she is!!!

On the way home, I thought, what a contrast we've had today. We started our day with sadness, but went to total happiness within just a few minutes. That house radiates sunshine and it warmed us, in spite of the snow and cold, for the rest of the day.

Disappointment

Ray and Nell, my oldest brother and his wife, were supposed to come to Idaho tomorrow. He called last Friday to say they couldn't come because Nell has a job and starts work today.

We were so excited about their coming to visit. We had planned to go to Jackson for a hay ride through the Elk Refuge and then to Ashton to the dog sled races. We had rearranged our teaching schedule to reduce the interference of time spent with them. Mostly, we were excited about them coming to visit us and are very disappointed that they are not coming.

The disappointment maybe comes from the fact that this would have been Ray's first visit without the other siblings so rather than a family vacation, it felt to me like a trip to visit me, his sister. It felt like a personal triumph that he wanted to come, and now it feels like a personal let down that he will not be coming. It's impossible to explain my feelings really. Ray has always been my hero.

Sabbath Day

I love the Sabbath Day. I love that it is a day to go to church and renew our covenants with God. I love that we draw strength and new resolve from the testimony of others as we see their happiness in serving God. I love that we learn through the hymns we sing - even though I sing like a frog.
I went to bed last night - and therefore arose this morning - fully frustrated and irritated at a relative. She is very much addicted to prescription pain medication. She is constantly in pain (which, from what I've read is part of the addiction) and lives her life in a drug-induced fog. She is sometimes hard to be around because her reasoning is skewed. All of that was on my mind as we left for church.
As we sat in our pew singing the sacrament hymn, the words were very powerful to me. "In humility, our Savior, Grant thy Spirit here, we pray. As we bless the bread and water in thy name this holy day. Let me not forget O Savior, thou didst bleed and die for me when they heart was stilled and broken on the cross of Calvary." The second verse then spoke to my heart and was something I needed to hear and heed. Fill our hearts with sweet forgiving; Teach us tolerance and love. Let our prayers find access to thee in thy holy courts above. Then when we have proven worthy of thy sacrafice divine, Lord, let us regain thy presence, let thy glory round us shine.
Obviously, in my frame of mind last night and this morning, His glory could not around ME shine!
In Relief Society, the lesson was on prayer. It was a beautiful lesson taught by a beautiful (inside and out) young lady. She said more things that I needed to hear. She quoted Bishop Peterson on several occasions about how to pray and how to receive answers. One thing she said was that we need to be in tune with the spirit. If we aren't loving and forgiving and living the gospel of Jesus Christ, how can we expect to hear Him when He answers us. Obviously, loving and forgiving and living the gospel of Jesus Christ weren't forefront in my mind.
Well, that's what going to church is all about. It's to remind us of those things we already know and to teach us things we do not yet know or perhaps have forgotten. Today was a good learning day for me. I'm so thankful for the opportunity we have to worship freely as we see fit. I'm thankful for the sabbath day which is a time to honor Him and refrain from wordly activities. It is a good day.

Christmas 2009 - New Year 2010

I can't believe I didn't take one picture at Christmastime. Well, I took two. But it doesn't represent the wonderful time we had. The first picture is of a hand carved Nativity set purchased through Braiden in the Phillipines. The second is what I think of as a Holverson Christmas although Virgil tells me to leave his deer alone. LOL
We had Thanksgiving with the Whited side, and Christmas with the Holverson side and Melanie and her family. So I had one son at Thanksgiving, my daughter at Christmas . . . I still have another son that needs to come spend time with his Mom. I wonder if children can possibly know how much their mother loves them and wants to be with them.

Anyway, we had a Christmas Eve dinner at Blaine and Kathy's house. It was lots of fun. All but one of Virgil's children was there and one of mine was there. Of course we had much good food in addition to the good visiting.

Christmas Day Melanie's family came over from Christmas dinner. I cooked my first prime rib. Wow was it good! Virgil thinks it was because I baked it in a dutch oven, I think it was good because of the way I prepared it. LOL

We had ham and black-eyed peas for dinner on New Year's Day. Jeff made the black-eyed peas. And we had fried okra - Wal-Mart made that. Melanie made a deelicious apple pie - she even made the crust. It was yummy AND pretty. Melanie and family were here, Wendy and Dan, Shannon, Brody and Jocelyn, Sherrie and Ambria. I love having a house full of family.

TODAY - we had a nice snowfall yesteray and last night. Clean up was a neighborhood affair. We live in the best neighborhood in the world. Virgil and Dan went out to shove the driveway, but help was soon to come. This is what I would call a beautiful winter day. And something funny - it's 32 degrees in Idaho Falls and 29 in Oak Ridge. I'd be willing to bet it feels a lot warmer here than it does there. :-)

Tennessee at Thanksgiving

I love being with family at the Holidays - actually at ANY holiday. We were blessed to be able to go "home" for Thanksgiving. Tennessee is home for me, a foreign country for Virgil. But he loves my family and they love him, so it makes it worth the trip for him. Speaking of being blessed - we are both blessed to have married into such wonderful families with so much love to give.

I was able to visit with three of my siblings. We missed the baby not being there. Of course the baby is 55 years old, but he will always be the baby of the family. There is always a missing piece of us when Gene isn't able to be with us.

We had a wonderful dinner with niece and nephews and Bo and his family. Even as adults, the kids are growing and changing constantly and it's so fun to see the wonderful people they are becoming. The grandchildren are growing also - especially in stature. Goodness, we couldn't believe how Logan has shot up just since last May!!! He's in the first picture beside his mother - he's only 13 and he's about 5'10" tall!!!! This is not bragging - it's just stating a fact. We have beautiful grandchildren...on both sides of the family.

Thanksgiving night, Bo, Pat and Mel, Ray, Danny and I went to see the movie 2012. It was really good. We left Virgil visiting with Tom, Tina's dad. Those two just seem to be best friends. They dont' see each other but about every other year, but they have a good, special relationship.

We went into the Smokies. Love is a mild word when I say I love the Smokey Mountains. I love the sights, the sounds and the smell. We walked up a trail for a few minutes, had lunch at a picnic table and just enjoyed being together.

Ray had an anniversary of one of his birthdays - I can't remember which one, maybe an anniversary of his 40th birthday. Nell did a wonderful job of putting on a celebration. She's pretty amazing. She's a great hostess and a fantastic cook. She's also a bit of a cupid, but I'll save that story.

This is getting too long, so I'll stop here. Suffice it to say, we have much to be thankful for and we are.