August Roundup

The season of preserving has begun: Tomato/Vegetable juice and Grape/Currant juice

Oceanside is the favorite beach this year. At least 2 trips in August, one with Gil and one with kids.

Josef and Michael moved out of their apartment in SE Portland with help from Jacob and Gil.

Josef rents an apartment in Ontario, Oregon for his new employment of teaching English to Freshmen and Juniors.

Kevan and I both got new bikes to pedal around.

July Travels

Gil and I took a road trip into Eastern Oregon. We stopped first at the Painted Hills, we saw a very cool shoe tree, the Elk Horn Mountains were very scenic and the Oregon Trail Museum just North of Baker City was very interesting, then we drove up through Hell's Canyon area and by Wallalla lake. On the way back through central Oregon, we saw a pretty cool rattle snake.

June 28 - Gil and Laura celebrate 34 years of Marriage

We are showing our age. We didn't do much, just a nice quiet day.

Gil in the mostly finished front yard. Still a pile of rocks to be arranged. Garden boxes partially planted. GrandKids toys scattered around.

I'm making some progress on the diet. It's been a couple of weeks, and the pants are not as tight. My belly bulge is a little less.

June - Dino painting at grandma's

Art projects have been a great part of this summer.

June - J & J's new house & William on Patio

Jacob and Jenn were successful in selling their house and found this one to buy in NW Hillsboro.

William in his bumblebee shorties flitting around the patio and exploring the new garden boxes. (lettuce growing in one!)

June - Patio work continues

Chris moved the rocks one more time. He organized them on the patio so we could decide where to use them in the landscaping. We started the project not knowing what all we were going to do, so he first collected all the rocks under this window, then moved them so we could put bricks there, then moved them again as we expanded. He was a very good sport about our lack of planning.

Grass is mowed short and ready for rearranging the dirt and filling in low spots and edges. The pile of dirt will be spread some and used to fill garden boxes.

Gil built the first grow box, then Chris built the next 2 and positioned them around the dirt.

2 of the 3 boxes in position and lots of dirt spread covering up the grass.

June - Tualatin River Wildlife Preserve

Gil and I found another place to go walking. It's just off of highway 99W East of Sherwood. During the winter months, a lot of it is under water. Many migratory birds use this as a resting area. Some very dedicated preservationists have worked hard to connect all the plots of land to create this and a very nice visitors center.