Goodbye to Another Uncle, Wedding Shower and Rap Music

Dave's Uncle Carl passed away and he, his parents and two brothers attended the funeral in Weiser, Idaho this past week. He got in late Thursday evening just in time for Kyla, Jill and Kelli and I to leave early Friday morning to attend a wedding shower for my niece, Amber in Baker City. We attended the shower Friday evening (Amber will kill me when she finds out that this picture is up).

Saturday we spent visiting sisters, Loretta and her family, Kristi and her family and Barb, who also came from Eugene to attend and help Kristi and Pat out with their little ones. Sunday morning we took mom and brothers, Jay and John and their families to breakfast before leaving for home....another lovely 8 hours in the car. Speaking of in the car.....the girls all made me listen to rap music....they think I am so out of it but I showed them my moves! We arrived home to dinner that Dave had prepared and Wade, Jed and Emmy were there to greet us.

Dave was busy all weekend spreading grass seed and fertilizer in the field, mowing our huge lawn and cleaning up in general. But all that work must have done him in....he is now sick.

Kelli got her hair cut and it looks very cute. I will put a picture up as soon as she lets me take it.

Sunrise, Feathered Friend and a Birthday Party

This morning I caught a beautiful sunrise. Because of the fog and cloudy days that are common to the area this time of year, I rarely get to see them. Later in the morning there was a red headed woodpecker outside the laundry room pounding away at a tree.

Last night was Kelli's birthday party. She invited a group of friends to have hamburgers and cake and then they went on a scavenger hunt. Each group had to video tape the hunt and we watched Kelli's tape the next day. It looks as though they had a lot of fun, maybe too much fun! Gram and Grandad Evans came as well as Wade and Charo and of course Kyla, Jed and Emma. All the girls came back home and spent the night with Kelli and the next day they went shopping. Kelli got some great gifts and although she was tired from watching videos half the night, she was happy.

Happy Birthday Kelli!!!

Kelli, The Birthday Girl!

Today is Kelli's 18th birthday. It is hard to believe that our youngest is just about to fly! We will celebrate her birthday Friday with the family and her friends. She has decided that she wants to cut her hair soon so we will update that later.

My sister, Barb and I drove to Portland to attend our Uncle Bill's funeral. We met up with two of our brothers, Jay and John. We spent some time at our Aunt Ellen's home and got to visit with our Aunt Mary and Aunt Ann and Uncle Cody, who John had brought from Baker. It was nice to see some cousins but as usual I wish we didn't have to wait until sad occasions to see everyone.

Planning a Rose Bed, A Frog, Egg, Bridal Shower and Goodbye to An Uncle

Last Friday Dave and I spent the evening visiting with Delpha and Max and then went to dinner at the Road House Grill. Sunday Dave had to work so I began digging up the sod in front of the garage so that I could plant a rose garden. Kyla, Jed and Emma came and so darn, I just had to quit digging and go in. So it is about a quarter done. After Dave came home, we fed the cows and found an egg. We also found a little frog which Emmy found very funny when he was hopping about.

On Monday Jill and I attended a bridal shower for Jena, one of Jill's long time friends. It was fun and she got a lot of nice gifts. We will be in Baker at my niece, Amber's, bridal shower during the wedding for Nick and Jena so I am glad we got to go to this. The sad news is that my Uncle Bill passed away Wednesday. He will be missed but I am glad he won't be suffering any longer.

Yesterday was quite a wind storm. It uprooted trees which downed power lines. We suffered no damage this year but it was an eerie reminder of last years storm and our new car. Speaking of new things, a co-worker's new home was smashed by a tree. She had just moved in a month or so ago.

This morning I heard some geese honking really loud. It sounded like they were in the trees outside our house. I went outside and there they were....on our roof. I managed to take a picture before they flew off.

Spring Lambs

Saturday Kyla met Aunt Barb and her cousin Kamisha in Springfield to buy some fabric for curtains from the Habitat for Humanity sale. After that she, Jed and Emmy went to Corvallis with the staff from Jed's office to enjoy a day visiting the OSU Sheep Center, where lambs are being born daily. The OSU Sheep Center hosts school children and other visitors interested in seeing up to 800 new lambs expected to make their appearance this spring. They got to see some lambs being born and then went to a co-workers home afterwards for hot dogs. Emma thought that the mother lamb was laying a baby lamb. I guess she has been around the chickens way too much!

Today I went to Portland with Barb and met with our brother John and his wife Lisa. We went to visit our Uncle Bill, who was in the hospital suffering with bone cancer. We met his step-son, Bob and spent several hours with Aunt Ellen and Uncle Bill. Seeing him so frail brought back many painful memories of dad before he passed away but I am so glad we went. While gone, Kyla, Jed and Emmy came to have dinner with Dave.

Valentines Report, A Weird Rooster, New Hens, Nutty Cows and Fun With Emma

Valentines day was fun for Kyla, Jed, Jill, Wade, Kelli and Isaac. The girls cooked dinner and made special desserts for their valentines and decorated Kyla and Jed's house as the "Tunnel of Love" with hearts and lips. The guys were all blindfolded until they were led to the door and when Isaac's blindfold was taken off, he said he thought it was some kind of Gothic decor until he saw the hearts and lips because the tunnel was a gray and black stone wall. They served them a candlelight dinner and then watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" after dinner. Jill and Wade went home after that and Kyla, Jed, Kelli and Isaac went bowling.

We (Dave and I) kept Emmy over night and had a great time with her as always. We took her to Alton Baker Park and fed some ducks and geese and we took a walk over to EWEB to see the fountain that sprays water up from holes in the ground. On our way back she picked the one spot to step in dog doo and so off came her boot and we could not get the stuff off. So that ended the park visit and we had to carry her back to the car. So we had dinner, went home and she helped Grandad feed the cows and collect eggs. We got ready for bed and read a couple of stories.

Kyla standing before the "Tunnel of Love"

Jill standing before the "Tunnel of Love"

Wednesday my sister Barb and I went to dinner at El Toritos and then to a movie, "Catch Me If You Can". It was nice to get out together. We don't get to do it that often since I moved way out in the country.

This past weekend was filled with the usual things. Saturday I cleaned house and Dave worked on replacing some outlets and light switches in our bedroom. We went to town to pick out new glasses for Dave and then went to buy three young hens that are laying to add to our chickens.

Speaking of our animals, we have the craziest bunch. I think I mentioned that we have had kind of a strange chicken that we really couldn't tell if it was a hen or rooster. It wasn't laying eggs, but it didn't look like a rooster and we never saw it crow. However, after Dave butchered the other three roosters when they began fighting, I would hear kind of a half hearted sound after the one remaining rooster would crow in the mornings so I was suspicious but could never really catch who was doing it. Well when the new hens arrived he definitely started showing that he was indeed a rooster. I guess he just needed his own harem. The other rooster is really bugging me. He attacked me and Dave this weekend and got a couple of good kicks from both of us. He may have to go! Then there are the strange cows. Little Oreo is such a small shrimp. He thinks he is a lap dog or something. He moos at us every time he even sees movement outside or even through the windows. Then there is the big brown steer that Emma named "Brownie". He is so crazy. Every time Dave goes to feed them, he just practically dances around and he bucks and twists when he sees us coming. Brian watched him chase a deer yesterday and I had watched him chase our neighbors when they were riding on their four-wheelers. Good thing they are all on the other side of the fence. I don't think he is being mean......he acts like he is playing. Of course that starts all of them running.

Kyla and Emmy came to have dinner with us in the afternoon and then Emmy stayed with us while Kelli and Kyla went to see Maya Angelou at the University of Oregon. Jed was meeting with his group from school and then he came and ate and took Em home. Emmy and Grandad spent most of the evening chasing ladybugs and playing hide and seek. The weather was crisp but sunny and we had a delightful time.

Happy Valentines Day

Kelli was in middle school I believe when this picture was taken on Valentines Day. She really got in to the spirit of things......little did she know that those pictures could be used later. Watch out Isaac.
Today Kyla, Jill and Kelli have something special planned for Jed, Wade and Isaac. I can't say what just yet because it might spoil the occasion. However, Dave and I will be taking Emmy out to dinner with us and she is spending the night....more later.