Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Jon Egan for President

This wouldn't post on the last blog, so scroll down for more on this. I got the idea for this when a mom in the band boosters made a sign that said "Jon Egan for President 2040"....she gave it to the band director and he apparently put it up in the band room. Jon never saw it....neither did I. So, I made my own to help celebrate his birthday:)

Jons Best Ever Birthday!!!

Well, that's to be debated, but it was funny!!! I put this on his bedroom door with streamers hanging down.Jon has been very involved in politics this year, and he is finally old enough to vote.....it all started a few weeks ago when we found a birthday card with Hillary Clintons picture on it with a sentiment about how there were worse things than turning another year older. It all ballooned from there. Jon is.... should I say.... NOT a Hillary fan and gets upset just listening to her (his youthfulness comes out). A coworker of mine thought it would be funny if we decorated his room as if he were her #1 supporter. (Sorry to offend any Hillary fans out there but...fun is fun).
While Jon was at work, we decided to do it up big. Josh made this huge poster saying "Clinton Headquarters"....I decorated everything in red and blue streamers.
Richard got in on the fun by printing off Clinton for President signs. If you enlarge this one it even has a picture that he found with Hillary's body and Bills face imposed on it....a "Billary" picture it was called....
This was about all the fun he had with us for his birthday. He got home from work at 11:30 PM (too late, but luckily he only has 27 more days of school) and found this. The next day (his actual birthday) he was in Ellensburg WA for the State Solo and Ensemble competition. He was in a Brass ensemble....they came in 2nd) He was gone for 2 days and then it was back to work. We didn't have a party or anything.... took him out to dinner Saturday night. And because of the lateness of the hour we didn't get a single birthday picture of him:(
HAPPY (belated) 18TH BIRTHDAY JON!!!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Beautiful Spring Day!!


It was a beautiful day here today. Got up to 78. Josh and Richard had a great day working in the yard. They got the stump out the other day, but figured I better not blog it or I may get some heckling for it. They worked long and hard getting the last of the roots out today and getting it all ready for whatever we decide to do with it. I want to go to some nurseries to look at different plants/trees. We'll put new barkdust in....before we had the red rock. I worked hard scrubbing the railing on the porch, and it looks so nice now. The dirt really sets in during the winter. I'm going to repaint the trim on the railing. It looked kind of dingy since the tree's not hiding it anymore.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

SPRING BREAK PART 1

I've finally gotten wise enough to blog in the right order. We are on spring break this week. Since we are taking a massive trip this summer, we ned to stay close to home for now. But....we've had a great week thus far. Last week we had some snow and hail to kick off our break. These are my daffodils out front just as it was hailing.We have Flat Stanley visiting us from Utah...our grandson Terran sent him to visit us. We have been showing him a grand time....so we take him places with us. (More about Stanley later...he's going home tomorrow.) Tuesday we went to Ft. Vancouver....which was the headquarters for the Hudsons Bay Company (British) beginning in the 1830's, which embraced present day British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Eventually it became American soil and by 1860 the Hudsons By company moved out of the Fort. By 1866 fire and decay had destroyed all the structures. Starting in 1947 archeologists have excavated the site of the original fort, recovering almost 2 million artifacts. The fort has been being reconstructed in it's original spot since 1966 and is a work in progress. It is a very popular site to visit in the Northwest. This is the actual fort, but the park is very large and on the 4th of July tens of thousands of people come down here to watch the largest fireworks west of the Mississippi.
As you can see, Stanley got in all the pictures. Joshua brought his friend Austin along with us. They had a great time. These are some cannons....you can see some of the fort in the background. During different holidays there are events here. At Christmas they have a candlelight tour and volunteers are dressed up in period costumes giving tours. There is a working blacksmith shop, a bakehouse, a trading post, a fur warehouse, a hospital, a carpenter shop, a jail and the home of Dr. John McLoughlin who was the head of the Company.
The 1845 Bastion was built to protect the fort...the top floor (3 stories high) held 8 cannons. The fort was never attacked, and the cannons were mainly used to return the salutes of passing ships on the Columbia river....which parallels the fort.
And finally....this is the oldest apple tree in the northwest. It is very old and the leaves have not come on yet. There is a great walkway that goes from just next to the tree (close to the waterfront of the Columbia River), across the freeway and over to the fort. We had a very fun afternoon!!

SPRING BREAK PART 2

Today we decided to drive up to Mt. Hood in Oregon. The weather has been beautiful. Josh has been begging us to go up to the mountain for months and it's supposed to start raining this weekend. Jon left this morning for Salt Lake. The priests and Laurels have gone with the Bishopric to conference. The trip has been planned as well as any band or choir tour I have seen. They will have a wonderful experience!!Mt. Hood is about a 90 minute drive from Vancouver. This first picture is taken from Timberline lodge elevation 6000 ft. The top of Mt. Hood is 11,245ft. Vancouver is near sea level and we can see the mountain in it's majesty from home. But here, we just see the summit. It is BEAUTIFUL!!
Most all of the ski lifts are only open on weekends now, but we found this spot at Government camp where they rented tubes. Josh and I had a blast! It was very warm....I had dressed in every layer imaginable, but shed layers as the day wore on. I didn't even need a hat or gloves, it was so warm.
After spending a few hours there, we found out there was a place we could take our sled. Sleds were prohibited at the tubing place....this is at a place called Snow Bunny. There were some great hills and we spent several hours sledding, wiping out, and enjoying the warm sun.
Richard finally decided that bad back or not, he wanted in on the fun. He was an excellent sled driver. He made it down 3 times as smooth as ice. After we got to the car we ate the Subway sandwiches we bought and had in our cooler.....The drive home was breathtaking. It was a grand day!!!