Family Farkle

Have you ever played Farkle? Lorri, my cousin, introduced the game to us and we've been enjoying it. I do like games - I just don't like ones that take 3 weeks to complete. ::wink::

It's become tradition, when we visit, for Lorri to pull out the Farkle. Mom and Dad enjoy playing with us now too.  Farkle was a great way to bring Sunday to a close.

Dad won.

Mom was a close second.

Seasons are Changing

Today was our one full day to get things done while in Eugene. We had determined we'd go through the school books in Mom and Dad's garage and pull out what we need for our upcoming school year. We have a  big tub of books for each school year.  During this year of storage, they stacked on each other and several have broken down.  Michael bought some monster shelves and they are nicely organized now.

The kids took the opportunity to go through their things in the trailer and leave anything they may want to keep, but not have with them. We are constantly going through things to donate or store - one thing I love about living in a small space.  A year ago, Stacia had just turned 10 and these HAD to move into the Caboose....now....they are happily waiting in Mom's attic for Stacia to  collect them at a later date. The season is changing, Stacia turns 11 in ten days. Our baby is growing up!

These too....

We also fit in time for a visit with Sherri, games and visiting with my folks....a good day. 

Bella's New Tricks

Michael and Alex went over to Mom G's this morning. Alex is doing some watering and weeding for a neighbor and wanted to be sure to do it at the last moment before we left. Michael visited with Mom G  and put away a few things because - we are traveling today. Nolan, Stacia and I got the trailer totally ready for travel - inside and out. 

We are on our way to a VA appointment with a Neurologist/Movement Disorder Specialist.  

We were blessed by the generous hospitality of Mom and Dad's neighbor, Dennis and Suzie. We were able to boondock in their driveway. This allowed us to make the most of our limited time for visiting. We hopped over to the church to catch up with Bre and Bella. Bre and Izaak have papers due Sunday night so this was our one window to catch up....at the final night of VBS. 

Bella has learned all sorts of new tricks since we saw here a couple of weeks ago. She has audited Graduate classes with her Mom and Dad. She doesn't seem totally impressed with the subject material, though I'm sure she loves the professors from New Hope Christian College.

She was a huge help to Mommy during VBS. 

And most recently, she's learned to roll over!

Go, Bella! We take great joy in each new accomplishment....soon you'll be able to take out and put in your pacifier at will.  Bella will be 4 months old on the 12th of August.

Del Norte County Fair

A couple of months ago, local churches began selling tickets to a Jordan Feliz concert. The concert is a benefit for the local CASA program and the tickets also get one entrance to the Del Norte County Fair on 4 August.  

We bought our tickets about 6 weeks ago. Today, we are happy we did. We needed a break to play....we did a few quick things for Mom G in the morning and headed to the fair this afternoon! 

Always ONE.....

I'm not sure Stacia realized this would go UP - high. 

After the drop

 When asked what she thought about the ride, she said she'd left her stomach at the top. Understandable!

Michael won me a "moose" pillow pet - which we all agree looks more like a dog. ::snort::  The kids went on several rides.  Michael was having a hard day with both pain, from the Gulf War Syndrome, and balance issues, from the Parkinsons.  He's a champ. He found a bench nearby and sat as needed...I love how he simply keeps going. He gives much for all of us. We try to be sensitive to his needs as well.

My thought was  the kids could learn to drive our future Class A after I conquer the trick...as they reach the appropriate driving ages...but after THIS event....I am not sure I'd trust any of them behind the wheels of an RV.

I thought this  looked like fun....once you're buckled in, the arms go out and up and you fly along looking at the ground....Nolan found flip flops are not ideal for this ride.

Dinner time at the fair. We were looking forward to fair food...but what's a vegan to do? I didn't even TRY for nutritarian. I went to each booth and there really were NO veggies other than fries. No salads. No fruits. I opted for caramel popcorn and a funnel cake....obviously NOT nutritarian, but vegan. In my defense I did NOT eat this alone....and I have begun a fast until November.  I have GOT to remember to carry a bit of food with me as I did in Japan.

We moved over to the concert field after dinner. We made a few tactical errors. We didn't know the concert would be outside. We didn't know coastal fog often rolls in at night and makes a warm day suddenly freezing! We should have brought warmer coats....we were chilled hours later and still trying to get rid of the pins and needle feelings.  It was worth it.

We stopped and picked up some groceries for Mom G before heading back to the woods.  It was a great afternoon. I can't remember the last time we went to a county fair and this year we've hit two! This is what retirement looks like. LOL

If you'd like to "watch" some of the fun, click below.

Who Would Have Guessed?

Road construction continues - and today, we got stuck! 

But what a beautiful spot to be stuck! LOL 

After a 30 minute wait we continued across the river, around the bend and to Mom G's home.   We had planned for the kids to take care of some odds and ends today.  They pulled out a rototiller so we could see what we need to do to get it functioning. They moved some brush - that sort of thing.

Michael spent the day in the River Room, editing a graduate paper for Krista. He had a first hand listen at how the days go inside the house. ::wink::

I took care of some basic house-keeping chores, helped look for a few lost items, began clearing another corner, puzzled over the "WHY" of a few organizational dilemmas and visited.

This is our lunch spot. We look forward to our lunch times....and shortly after lunch today we cut the kids loose to spend the afternoon on the river. The days have been beautiful. We're trying to balance (for the kids at least) the need to get as much as possible done while the weather is good, and the desire to spend time exploring during summer break.

Mom G pondered today, "Who would have guessed God would give me a daughter in law with organizational gifts?"

Who indeed? I love the way God looked ahead and knew we'd need each other at this point in life.

Mom G tends to be a collector and I've become more of a minimalist over the years - especially now that I live in 268.5 square feet.  I AM still sentimental and we DO have a storage unit of things from which we couldn't part....but it's minimal. Enough to set up a tiny home should we decide to leave the road.

Today, I marveled at how God put us together....and how well it's working out...I'm learning anew that the race is as important as the finish line. I have had to adjust my pace to Mom G's - or I've chosen to do so. I can see our inside projects are  not going to be done before we begin school at the end of the month....but that's o.k.  I could have gotten more done; but the price isn't one I want to pay. I'll concentrate on each day and trust eventually, we'll finish, make the progress that others would like to see.

Successful Projects

Another day - more projects.

 The boys are busy clearing brush they've previously cut. This is the SE Corner. Note the leaning tree - it's an apple tree which was bowled over by the previous dead tree we removed.....we're hoping, after we harvest the apples, it can be pruned and persuaded to stand up a bit taller....we shall see. 

Look at this! We've FINALLY hit the neighbor's fence...The white is his garden. We discovered, as we cut through the overgrown brush,  the stuff in the middle was bone dry, brittle and dead, with a layer of green on the outside. We're still clearing it all out. It was a camoflauged tinderbox waiting to go up. That'll preach! 

Below is the 3rd garden spot...along this fence.  This is taken from the cleared area under the leaning apple tree.  See the brush to clear out of the spot....it was this thick all over the yard back here.  We would love to reclaim one of the 3 garden spots, but we're not sure which is the best. There are trees planted in each spot....

We're making some progress inside, too. I've not taken pictures as it seems rude to do so, but today Mom G said she thought I'd take a before and after shot...so I did.  ::grin::

 This isn't really a before shot. Mom has spent quite  a bit of time on this corner while I worked in another corner or outside. This morning, we'd already worked our way through one suitcase and lots of stuff on top of it when she mentioned a before shot.

Mom G is a trooper and the three of us are getting it done....an inch at a time. Precious finds and stories amidst the organizing....that pair of brown shoes above are the very shoes Dad G wore on his wedding day. I saved them with her dress and suggested we make a shadow box or some such thing. It sounds like a fun winter project.  

These two NEVER run out of topics of conversations - it's amazing. 

We bagged up a few things for St. Vinnies, we  created a couple of shelves for "old" pictures and two trunks for "1970s and newer" photos. That green trunk in the photo above, held Mom G's most PRIZED discovery for the day - all her Israel pictures and slides!

We all felt good about our accomplishment today. Mom G even found a bag of newborn clothes worn by the three kids. The lovely trunk below houses her childhood toys.

We labeled trunks,  hoping to  ensure her favorite things are easily found and retrieved for winter project days.

Our summer and fall project continues to be to organize, sort and spruce up. 

Work and Play!

Today's project was exciting and a fair bit emotional, too. Michael remembers helping Dad G build the greenhouse. He loved to putter in here.  He would start the plants here for the three garden spots he loved. We are at a place where we could tackle the inside of the greenhouse. All those spots were FULL of berries and trees. There are still some vines to remove and beds to build up....but look....light is coming in and the promise is there. I could imagine Dad's pleasure at having it nearly workable again. He loved tomatoes from his greenhouse! 

   There is still quite a bit of "growth" to the left and back of the windows....Nolan was tasked with clearing the back wall of the greenhouse!

Before

GREAT job.....

After

These garden spots are overgrown...before we're done,  we'll try to reclaim at least one of them. The other one was in the notorious SE Corner, which we are still valiantly trying to clear and reach a neighbor's fence. 

Alex trimmed the walkways, and did a bit of work for a neighbor too. 

Michael thinks we can clear this spot in a day and make a seating area with a great view of the river. Mom G is all for it....this is the "fern garden," though it seems the  fern needs to be uncovered and liberated from various other things that have gone "hog wild."  This spot is in front of the house - overlooking the river. 

Stacia and I did a couple of loads of laundry, folded and restocked laundry, moved trunks around, continued to work on organizing the front and corralled recycling to get it out from underfoot.  As with any other house, houses simply don't stay organized as long as a tree stays pruned....we take breaks to go outside and see the progress.... today on our break we captured this sight. It can get discouraging to put in 6 - 8 hour days, week on end, and feel  you're making very little progress, but when we step outside we see visible progress everywhere. LOL 

We played tonight! No work at all - we sat around the fire and enjoyed fellowship with a dear family from our last assignment! How fun they came to visit the area! We had s'mores, fruit pockets made over the campfire, laughter and great conversation....

Michael, Ed, Ben, Cherri, Jonathan, Alex, Nolan, Stacia

 It did my soul good to see Cherri! Sometimes you just need a hug from a friend who has been through some "life" with you....especially when you've not made a ton of new friends in your new location, yet.  

Me and Cherri

Benjamin was EXCITED to cook and SERVE marshmallows

Jonathan has gorgeous eyes! and a lovely inquisitive nature as well! 

I didn't take one photo of the fun camping tool they brought to share - but I found one on Google. It's a pie iron! We made fruit pies tonight at the campfire -  the possibilities are endless.  They brought the ingredients, and then  left them and the cast iron pie iron with us! I've been tired of s'mores for several weeks....Have you used one of these before? What kind of pocket or pie would you make? 

Via Google Images

It was a good day in every way! It's nearing midnight and we need to get an early start on the work tomorrow.