Camping Out

Now I really don't want anybody to get used to my blogging so frequently, BUT.......
Dad and Rose gave us a tent back in May or so, when they were cleaning out their storage room. Since we sold our travel trailer a few years ago, this is a wonderful addition for us! It's already been used by Richard and the boys for a campout, and now Josh has been camping out in our backyard.
Austin and Josh spent Tuesday night in the tent with all the comforts of home (well, almost.) They had cushy air mattresses, a television set and lamp....AND Austin brought his X-Box so they could play video games. I popped them some popcorn and took them some drinks and fruit snacks. I must say though, that I am a fraidy cat. I needed to leave the door unlocked into the house fo them and I was worried about the boys with NO protection, so I slept on the chair in the family room, with the window shades open so I could see them. I know Josh goes on campouts in the woods all the time without me, but it's a mom thing. I didn't sleep well at all (I kept checking on them), but it was a small sacrifice for my son to have wonderful summertime memories!
I unleashed a monster when I let him do it just one night, so it was hard to refuse him another night. This time we talked Jon into staying out with him (I told Jon he needed some bonding time with his little brother). Now tonight I can sleep in my own bed and I gave them a key to get in so I could lock the door. We plan on taking the tent to the Ward campout just before Debi and Melissa get here. Richard and I decided we could have our I scripture reading in "the tent". Jon refused to let me get his picture during scriptures so I got one of Josh. (The date is wrong on the picture it should be 08/01/07))

Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime?????

Our boys went on a pioneer trek after we got home from vacation. It was a real adventure! This was Jon's 2nd trek, Josh's first. They pushed handcarts up on the Old Barlow Trail on Mt. Hood. They pushed and pulled for 3 days and though the Stake isn't saying exactly how long it was, we heard it was about 35 miles, which averages out to about 12 miles per day. They crossed 3 bodies of water,and you guessed it....getting very wet in the process, but as Josh tells it, they dried off quickly in the heat. Each night they would gather around the campfire and have a program, one night staying awake for hours watching electrical storms off in the distance. It was a great experience for them. A little background....on Richards side he had family in the ill fated Willie Handcart company (Cunninghams) and my side we had family that was in the rescue party (Dalton's). So this experience was brought close to home for them. They were VERY dirty when they got home!!!
Some boys have been having a grand time swimming this summer. Here, Josh and Clint enjoy floating in our backyard pool.
Now, some people have very boring summers and tend to get into mischief when left on their own. Monday morning in the wee hours (1:30AM), I heard a huge crash against our bedroom window as I lay finishing up the latest Harry Potter adventure. I jumped out of bed (Richard was oblivious as he lay there snoring), threw open the window and yelled at the culprits. Yes, they egged our house as well as left this lovely suprise for us. We got up and washed down the the bedroom windows (where the eggs were) and then spent 30 minutes talking to a neighbor out front who had heard the crash and went chasing down the kids....though he didn't catch them. I finally got to sleep around 3 AM!!! These were not Jons friends, but some neighbor boys who have nothing better to do than bug us!So, now you know what some people do in the summertime......STAY TUNED FOR MORE EXCITING SUMMERTIME ADVENTURES!!!

30th Annual July Picnic

Each year for the past 30 years we have had a July picnic on our Dad's side of the family. I don't have any factual trivia, but through the years it has been held at various places and sometimes not in July. The crowd fluctuates....this year Richard counted 27. It started out on the Oregon coast and is now held at Lewisville park in Battleground Washington. For many years we all wore matching t shirts (there are still a few floating around)...there were matching hats and for quite a while we've worn buttons....each year new ones are designed. Last year we had crotched frogs made special by David. Our logo is a frog.....he's mutated through the years as well. This year the buttons were really awesome. There were 3 different ones, each with a different background picture of the park, with a cute frog in the middle.
Each year we also take a family picture. Someone usually stands out to snap the photo, we usually switch off so that everyone gets in the picture at some point.
Everyone brings their own plates and things and we all bring different food to share. There are lots of desserts and we have a program of sorts. Here Grandpa and Aunt Sue visit.

The Egan Boys and Girls.....

I would like to say the Egan men are lined up from youngest to oldest, but in this pic I had them line up from shortest to tallest. Except for Joshua (give him a few years), Richards boys are all taller than he is. Jon has a few inches on Jeramy, but Jeramy's truck (behind them) is bigger than Jons!! (hee hee)
And yes, the Egan girls made a trip to the grocery store. I had to experience pushing the shopping cart into the apartment and unloading the groceries in the kitchen.Well, that's it for our vacation.............till next time!!!

Our Day Hike in Utah

I promise I'm getting at the end of our vacation. (yawn yawn...) Logan wanted to show us this beautiful place up in the mountains where there was a waterfall. It was a short hike (about 30 minutes), albeit straight up!
Here's a picture of the view taken from part way up. It was quite breathtaking....don't you think?? There is some green in Utah even though it gets really hot.
I figured I would make it up, but was a bit terrified of getting back down again, but I made it just fine. Of course I kept my eyes and ears open for rattlesnakes, and cougars. Logan showed us the spot where he ran into a cougar one time.

Boating on the 4th of July.....

Brent and Shannon (Logan's parents) took us boating on the Yuba Reservoir. For this homebody family, it was a real treat!!
Shannon thought Jon looked a little bored, so Brent gunned the engine and took him on a wild ride. I was hanging on getting the ride of my life too!
Josh couldn't quite muster the courage to ride the tube (or whatever it's called), but Jenny got him to jump off the boat with her into the middle of the reservoir.Here, Jenny and Logan take a ride together.

You Know You're in Utah When........

We began our vacation by driving to Boise Idaho for a few days. We spent one day at a water park, keeping cool and enjoying the sun. On Tuesday morning we left for Utah to visit with Christophers kids in West Jordan. Like a dork we totally didn't get any pictures of the kids, except this one of Josh blowing bubbles for our grandaughter Serenity. What kind of grandparents don't get pictures of thier grandkids! I guess I'll claim memory loss on that one. We had a nice time with them, although much too short, as we were headed to Gunnison for that evenings activities that Logan and Jennifer had planned for us. The Gunnison Valley puts on a wonderful community July 4th celebration. To kick it off there is a big dinner in the park (Jenny and Logan treated us to dinner) along with a good old fashioned auction with quilts galore, as well as lots of other things. To end the evening there was a big fireworks display that we watched from Logans parents yard. There was even a youth dance at the park after the fireworks.I tried to bid on a leaf blower (Josh was begging me to bid).....and we thought we had won the bidding, but it turned out someone behind us was also bidding and they got it instead. But it was fun. Next time we go for the 4th, I'm going to plan on taking enough money to buy one of those beautiful quilts!
Okay, now in case you're wondering why I titled this the way I did here is our funny story.
Instead of redneck jokes, we decided we're going to begin our own collection of mormon idioms. We had to stop at a little store in Nephi Utah and on the mens bathroom wall instead of the regular graffiti, written on the stall door it said: "Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceassingly" and another wrote "AMEN".
Then, before the auction in Gunnison, they honored 3 people from the community for their service. In telling about one of the men, they told about what a good home teacher he was. WHERE ELSE but Utah would you hear someone being honored in a community setting for (in part) being a good home teacher!!!
Stay tuned for more on our vacation.............

Summer Vacation

We took our vacation to Utah to spend the 4th of July with Jenny and Logan. I was going to blog everything and so I started kind of backwards....but it just takes too long to blog on my computer. So, things are not necesarily in order.

Majestic Temples

We've been to many of the Temples in Utah throughout the years and this trip wasn't any different. This first Temple is The Manti Temple. This is Jenny and Logans Temple. It's 15 minutes from their house. It is so beautiful sitting up on the hill. It is the 3rd Temple built in Utah. It's building took 11 years. The Mormon Miracle Pageant which takes place each June, now attracts 130,000 people a year and began in 1967.The Provo Temple took 3 1/2 years to build and was finished in 1972. Jon asked to go to the MTC which is next to the temple. Kristie and Barth probably attended this temple many times as newlyweds!
Joshua asked if we were going to Temple Square (it wasn't planned) so we quickly planned a trip there. We were last there 3 1/2 years ago when we went to General Conference. Temple Square is a most beautiful and serene place. Salt Lake was the 4th Temple in Utah to be built. It took 40 years to finish and is just so magnificient!! One could spend 2 full days at Temple Square and not take in everything. We met an elderly sister volunteer outside in the 100 degree heat willing to share Temple stories with us. One of which is that before they placed the Angel Moroni on the top capstone (look how far up it is)... people were allowed to climb up the scaffolding that led to the top, to touch it.

Back in the Beautiful Northwest.......

As we drove into the Columbia River Gorge we were in awe (as usual) of the beauty of the trees, mountains and river. We stopped at Multnomah Falls, about 35 miles from home.

Josh's Never Ending 13th Birthday

This is a little late, but how could I pass up reflecting on Joshua's first teenage birthday! Trying to find the time for all the events was a challenge with so many things going on....so we just partied for a week.
Since the parade was the weekend before his birthday we had an afternoon/evening party. Josh invited his 3 closest friends and we went to Portland to an indoor water park. The day was cold and pouring down rain, so they got wet inside instead of out. They had a great time. The last time we brought Josh here for a party a few years ago, he was afraid of the slides and barely put his face in the water. He's made alot of progress this past year in overcoming many fears. I brought the boys home and they ate pizza, played video games, foosball and played the keyboard. By the time Josh got to bed that night he was one tired young man!
His actual birthday was on the following Monday. Since he had a band concert that night, we opened gifts and went to his favorite Mexican restaurant before the concert. We told him stories about how long it took him to be born and how his birthday should have been on the 10th instead of the 11th. He was slow then and boy was that a true of how he is now. We practically need to start waking him up the night before to get him up in time for school. (hee hee)
Well, this being his 13th birthday, we have the tradition of doing up the special book that Debi did for her girls (we do the boys version too). I had so much fun making it, then Richard and I went and decorated the motel room. Of course, true to form, everything I did had to be color coordinating. His book was covered with big black and white checkered racing fabric. So, I wrapped all the presents in red paper, black bags with silver and black ribbons. I got silver, black and red balloons and they looked really cool all over the room. Josh and Melissa had very similar reactions to the whole thing. Richard made up a story telling Josh he wanted to take him to get a bite to eat. As they were driving, I called and pretended to be Richards boss, asking him to go on a call to fix an ATM machine. We played it up really good. Josh wanted to stay in the car, but Richard finally convinced him to go up with him. It all seemed on the up and up because the room was right next to a conference room that had a long table with lots of chairs. We had talked about it on the phone, so when Josh saw the conference room he didn't think anything of it. Richard put the key in the door and started to go in. Josh tried to stop him telling him it was a private room and it was somebody's birthday. Josh wouldn't go in....just like Melissa!! It was very funny. Richard finally convinced him it was HIS birthday. Josh finally believed it when he saw Dad's shaving bag sitting on the sink. He called me right away to tell me thank you. He was so excited!! Josh and his Dad had a very special night, swimming, eating out, playing games and of course reading and doing the book. I was sad that this is my last child to do this for. Thanks Debi for getting me started on this!!! My baby is growing up..........

And Finally....(scroll down 2 blogs to get started reading this)

The reason we went to the parade.......our Jon!! Evergreen won the Sweepstakes award for the best marching band as well as other awards. We were the only band that followed the theme of the parade. We were assigned to represent the 70's. Not only did our music reflect the 70's, but our colorguard were all dressed like we dressed back then...the hippie era. Even our band parents that followed behind the band were all in 70's attire. They called us the "groovy" Evergreen Marching Band. Winning Sweepstakes in the Grand Floral Parade is a big deal. There are bands from all over the west coast marching.

Here are the "troopers"...Josh and his friend Austin. We had to get up at 6:30 AM to get to Portland to get a good spot. People start marking off places along the parade route days before. The parade started at 10AM. We walked to Wendys for breakfast sandwiches after we got all settled in our spot. We got great spots right up front. We went with our friends The Cooks. Their son Jeff is also in band. At the time, sitting in the rain, it seemed like we would never want to do that again.....but we will, we always do........ Josh will be there the year after Jon leaves.

Don't rain on my Parade!! (check out blog below first)

It is so hard to choose just a few pictures to blog. If I can't you'll just have to see them all. Some info...Each float must be covered completely with flowers, whether it be the stems, the petals, the leaves. There are other things that are accepted, but I can't remember. Anyway, here are some that I snapped for your enjoyment!
If you look closer, this first one has real fire around the outside of the circle.The ringmaster would get the crowd excited and then it would light up with fire.
It seems hard to believe, but on the Lewis and Clark float, the boat, the barrels and everything is covered with parts of flowers. There were alot of other countries represented in the parade. Tiawan is Portland's Sister City, and an all girls marching band from Tiawan marched. This float was made and represents Korea. There was a Vietnmese float that I took a picture of for Grandma Rose.

Rose Festival Parade in the rainy (but very beautiful) City of Roses

Each year in June, Portland celebrates the beauty of their roses with lots of fun filled activities. It's called The Portland Rose Festival. There are parades, a fun center on the waterfront, the ships come in and dock on the waterfront and people can takes tours of them (Navy, Coast Guard etc..), there's an air show, among just a few things. One princess is chosen from each Portland high school and then a queen is selected...they are the Rose Festival Court.
There are 3 parades...the childrens Jr. Rose Parade, which Jon and I have both marched in with his middle school band (very fun!!)...there is the Starlight Parade, which is at night, with floats lit up, marching bands, a fun run with thousands of runners dressed up in silly clothes that precedes the parade, (which Jon marched in last year), and the Grand Floral Parade, which is on a very grand scale, with beautiful floats made up of flowers, marching bands, horses, clowns and the likes. This is the 2nd time Jon has marched in this one. It seems to be a curse at the parades...it seems to rain on alot of them!! Actually the weather this year was beautiful for the first 2 parades, but the culminating parade was today...and of course it rained...again...and it was very cold....again! Oh well, it's all fun and we went to cheer on our boy.

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER..........

A few weeks ago, Jon asked Jesika Combs to Prom. Around here it's customary to do something fun to ask your date. Like in September when Jon asked his date during a football game in front of the band and the entire stadium. Asking Jesika was problematic for the fact that he had bought a big bunch of mylar balloons and used stickers to write in spanish asking her to go with him. She can't read spanish (he knew that, but she makes fun of his spanish). He took the balloons to early morning seminary to put on her car, but she wasn't there. (they go to different stakes, diferent seminary) So he tried all day at school. He finally took them to her house and left them on the front door then had Josh call her and tell her to look outside.
Jesika called the house a bit later that day and asked me if she could come over when he wasn't there to give him her answer. She wrote her answer in Japanese on a big foam heart and decorated his bedroom door with it. It was fun!!
The big night was on Saturday. Jesika looked beautiful in her dress. She bought it during spring break in Orem when her family went to general conference. If you look close enough you can see Jon's beard. He actually shaved it off on Sunday morning, but had been growing it for about a month.
On their date they went to an italian restaurant and the dance was in Portland. Jesikas dress had a bustle for the train, but even with that he said he stepped on her dress alot........but he had a great time. This last picture was taken in Jesika's backyard with the other couple they went with.

Day at the ZOO

We have the most beautiful zoo!! It's like walking into another world!! One of the teachers I work with planned a day at the zoo for her kids and their families. I went and took Josh and his friend Caleb. It was 85 degrees today, but the zoo was green and lush and very cool. We saw the polar bears, tigers, elephants, you name it we saw it. There's a wonderful rain forest. About the only thing I can think we don't have at our zoo are koala and panda bears.We loved the butterfly exhibit and the bird sanctuary. Our group stayed together in the morning and then we met for lunch in a huge open grassy area where they put on shows with bald eagles and hold outdoor concerts. Then the boys and I broke off and ventured out on our own. We were able to see everything before we headed home so I could take pictures of Jon and his date for prom tonight (will blog that later) Isn't this guy cute?? While he lives outside in the open, there are windows where we can look in. He just came right up to the window and looked at us.The animals have wonderful areas to live in. This giraffe is in the Africa exhibit. While in the Congo, Josh and Caleb went on a wild ride in a jeep. We traded the jeep in for train tickets (hee hee) and had a 35 minute tour on the zoo train, all around the park.

HAPPY RETIREMENT DAY!!!

Friday was Richards last full day of work. Jon asked him when he started working....around 14 he said....picking berries and mowing lawns. That would have been about the year 1959. In his lifetime he has worked unloading grain cars for Great Western Malt, was a rental agent and cleaned cars for Avis rent a car, worked for Clark County in the mapping and printing dept., worked for the Washington State Highway Department as a flagger (before his mission), worked in a machine shop, was a Sergeant for the Clark County Sheriffs Department as a jailer, then worked 30 years in vending (a hard labor job with long hours in the middle of the night), and most recently as a Customer Service Engineer (fancy name for a cushy job) for Pendium Corp....the largest ATM company in the country. It has been a LONG haul and I am so happy that he can relax and take it easy. He will still be working 20 hours a week, but will be able to be home and do lots of jobs around here for me (who said I was going to let him off the hook that easily?) We had a little party for him...cooked steaks (a real treat for us) and sipped sparkling cider. The boys helped me decorate with balloons and we gave him some cooking tools for the grill. CONGRATULATIONS HONEY!!!

Wedding Aftermath......

So, the excitement is over and I've been running around all week returning things. We got the last of the trees and other borrowed items returned yesterday and Richard cleaned up the garage for me. I can now park my car in it again!! There is barely any sign of wedding happenings here. The only remnants left are all the beautiful plants on the porch.
There is a little food left, but we've either eaten it or shared it with friends and family. I took some fruit and veggies to work and everyone ate them up.
The biggest job today is the 2 weeks of laundry I have piled up. But, I'm working on that and hopefully can get the house clean and back to normal.
I did want to share a few more pictures that I had taken on the wedding day. I can't wait to get the pictures back from the photographer.I will ever be grateful for my dear sweet Seester, braving the unknown and facing her fears to be here with us. She was so invaluable in keeping me together and being the social one to bring our families together. She cleaned, ironed, shopped....she was my list maker, the one I laughed with and cried with. THANK YOU SEESTER DEAR!!! For the next wedding we should be able to pull it off without a hitch. (We have lots of table cloths and wisteria and battery operated lights we can use). I hope you passed your final with flying colors and that you are getting all rested. I Love you!!!!

Jenny's Special Day

Today was Jennys first time at the Temple. It was a very rainy afternoon, but it was beautiful inside. Many family members from both sides were there. We went to Applebees for dinner afterwards. It was a wonderful day. I'm sorry, no pictures with my Sister, she was busy taking all the pictures. We will be sure to get alot with her at the dinner tomorrow and outside the Temple on Saturday and at the reception.

On and On and On.......

Today we set this up to see how we wanted our wedding garden to look. We will take pictures of the final product on Saturday. It is going to be beautiful!!!