Labor Day Weekend

This was a picture poor weekend. So sad. You'll just have to believe me when I say it was another great time together!

Pictures may have been scarce but good news was not...Ben and Kristin are getting married! He called his mom to share the good news; we couldn't stop talking about it the rest of the weekend. So, so, so, so happy for them! Her sweet, gentle, confident nature is the perfect compliment to bigger than life Ben. You can see and feel their closeness and compatibly when they visit; makes me smile every time I look at them :)

Sounds like November 2013 I'll be traveling to Kansas. Last time I was there Shannon was about 3 years old; it was hot and humid and the ground was covered with locust that went crunch under our feet when we crossed the parking lot. Eeeww it was gross! I am looking forward to a completely different experience this time!

Love this photo of them.
Thanks to someone (?) for sharing it with me!

What a beautiful ring. Wow.
Thanks goes to Glenna for sharing this snapshot.

Grandma, Grandpa, Favorite Aunt Jody, Glenna, Papa, Lenny, Dakota, Morris and I arrived Friday. Jocelyn, Tyler and Drake joined us on Saturday and so did James and Tess. Yana (Tess' sister) and Tanja (Tess' mom) came on Sunday. Tanja was there for an afternoon visit but Yana stayed the night.

Worked on a few projects: Papa chopped wood for the winter; Joc and Tyler swept the roof of the little cabin; Tess and Yana swept the roof of the big cabin; Papa, James, Tyler and Joc hauled a bunch more dirt out from behind the little cabin and dumped it on the south side of Aunt Dorothy's (just like Ben wanted :)); more ivy got cut; rooms, closets, cupboards, shelves, nooks and crannies (inside and out) got deep cleaned and a big load went to the dump.

Mostly we spent lots of time visiting, reading and playing games. James won all 3 games we played of Catan Expansion; but I came this | | close to winning on the last one :) Days were hot and sunny, nights were chilly; James' big roaring campfires were most welcome before and after dinner.

Speaking of dinner - we tried hard to eat dinner around 7:00. I totally agree with the concept in theory but it is terribly hard to accomplish in reality. We came close most nights :)

One more of the many ways we put duct tape to use in our lives. This keeps the leaves from popping up when someone leans on the edge of the table. Yup, it really does work!

Lenny looking longingly at the point for that deer he just chased around the corner. Think he has found a deer to chase down the beach every weekend this summer; sure am glad the deer are lots faster than Lenny!

Our Favorite Aunt Jody is such a big kid at heart!

It was Shannon's 31st BD. Since her birthday usually falls on Labor Day weekend I think she has celebrated more birthdays at the beach than anywhere else - so it only seemed right that we should celebrate in her honor. She posted tons of great birthday photos to Instagram so I shared with everyone. There were lots of laughs, smiles and reminiscing over past birthdays. Glenna even brought a cake to bake!

Grandma ooohed and aaahed over the spectacular moon rise. I must say, they were breathtaking. Pictures never do it justice (at least my silly camera doesn't).

First night...

Second night...

Two BIG crabs were caught and bushels of blackberries were picked.

All in all a successful weekend in the beautiful Pacific Northwest! Even Mt. Rainier seemed to be saying goodbye to another great summer as we traveled home on the ferry.

James and Tess Entertain

Tess and James hosted dinner at their place for their families August 12. I love the layout of their apartment. I love how they have personalized it and made it feel so comfortable and homey. I love watching them attack a task together.

Perfect day. Perfect company. Perfect food. Perfect fan placement (that would be referencing me perfectly placed in front of a fan due to a sweltering heat wave).

Sadly, imperfect photographer. I only have two lousy out of focus snapshots. I missed capturing the chicken and veggies on the grill; the homemade potato salad (with and without tomatoes) and; a group pic of James, Tess, Brad, Tanja, Yana, Papa, Daniel and me.

Can I blame the heat? It addled my brain. Yup. Going with that.

Bad things happened in July

I planned to ignore the month of July on this blog. Bad things happened in July. 

The 5th of July was a very bad day for Grandpa. He fell, broke 2 back ribs, ended up in Swedish hospital for 3 days then on to Kline Galland Rehab facility for 2 weeks. The good that came out of this is medical care to help both Grandpa and Grandma address his balance and cognitive issues.

The 10th of July was a very bad day for Shannon. She and I stayed late at Kline Galland to help Grandpa settle in for the night. When we returned to her car around midnight the back window had been smashed in and her work computer and personal iPod were gone. I'm not sure what the good is that came out of this mess...maybe that she confirmed she has the world's greatest boss? He wasn't even a smidge upset and told her not to give it a second thought; they would deal with it when she returns.

But it occurred to me that if I didn't blog about July I would miss some great things that happened. Some really great things. So I'll blog. Because after all, journal'ing this journey of mine is my goal. Read on to find the good that July had to offer...

Ben's surprise arrival at the beach on July 3. He wasn't expected until the following week! I still remember the excitement and thrill of watching him walk through the door. It just wasn't going to be "the 4th of July" without him...and now all was OK :)

Shannon's arrival on July 4 after her week long road trip visiting friends and seeing the sights between CA and WA. I could hardly wait until she arrived home for a couple of quality weeks together. It took my breath away to see her (and brought a tear to my eye ;))

Time with family at the beach to logicate and cogitate, roast marshmallows, play games and soak up some Vitamin D. Gosh, I do love all these people!

The moon over Vashon.

Watch the very best 4th of July Fireworks Show on the planet. It was the perfect length and the perfect choice of boom, bang, color and pzazz. Ben and James orchestrated a smooth, beautiful, well coordinated display for our viewing pleasure (thanks boys!).

There was one problem that must be fixed for the 2013 fireworks show: two people just aren't enough. They were so busy running back and forth that they didn't get to look up and enjoy all their hard work. Next year there needs to be a 3rd and maybe even 4th person helping with the production (persons of their choosing of course!) It really is too good of a display to miss.

These photos do not do it justice.

Our trip to Suncadia on July 13 to celebrate mom and daddy's 50th anniversary. I'm not sure it completely belongs in the category of "good things" to remember about July but it did have shining moments of laughter, smiles and family time. I do cherish that family time. Mom and Daddy's absence was strong. For me it left a cloud over the days. The kids seemed to power through and enjoy; for that I was very grateful.

Mom and Jody's visit on Saturday was the highlight of the weekend; I'm so glad they chose to do that! Anna and Mauricio "joining" us provided many laughs - and a few squeals of surprise :)

Tess completes another etching. A second support pole on the fire pit bench gets etched with an eagle catching a fish as the water splashes underneath. Only 2 more to go!

A retaining wall in place behind the little cabin. Finally. Woohoo! That is something Grandpa has been wanting done for many years; he is pleased :) John, James, Ben and Jimmy drove pipe into the ground, moved dirt and placed boards to keep the hill off the house (Jimmy works for John - and is a good friend of James). As an added bonus they drove pipe behind the turnaround retaining wall too. Sweet deal. I'm working on a complete online album of this project but for now you can view a few snapshots here.

Two more trees down on the south side of the big cabin. Good timing. We are nearly out of indoor firewood. Next comes the hard work of splitting, chopping and hauling. Think we'll wait for the 80-90 degree weather to go away; sounds like a good fall project :)

The sleeping/tool cabin is complete (minus a few decorative details the boys have planned and curtains we've been assigned to find). This has been a collaborative effort over the past year; yeah team!!

Thanks to John, contractor Shaun, Daniel, Alex (Daniel's friend) and go-fer's Glenna and me, the roof doesn't leak, the front windows work and the walls and porch are solid and bug free.

The terrific team of Glenna, David, John, Grandma and me painted the tool room and the outside of the building.

The sleeping room received the expert cleaning and decorative dealings of Glenna, James, Kristin and Ben; love, love, love the blue/green motif and the fact that it comfortably sleeps four with ample room for personal belongings.

And finally, thanks to John, James and Ben, the tool room is now filled - so filled we may need to reconfigure the pump house and turn it into a garden center to get some things out of the tool room. Always another project around every corner ;)

Enjoy a pictorial walk down memory lane on this project (I need to get snapshots of the filled and organized tool room as well as the outfitted sleeping room - oops, thought I did that - I'll post them separately).