Hood River Fruit Loop

We are blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the northwest. Garth and I decided to go for a drive down to Hood River on Saturday. The local farms were celebrating their pear harvest. We invited Stew and Shellie Weed to join us. After a BOGO breakfast at Blue Moon Diner we were off to see what trouble we could find. ;)

Our first stop was at Rasmussen Farms. Stew and Shellie, I still think
you should have climbed on board. (hehe)
The horse was made of moss and wire- pretty cool.

Garth and I.




Inside the fruit and veggie barn. They had lots of different varieties of apples and pears.
And pretty much anything else you would grow on a farm.

I had "tunnel vision" for the Honeycrisp apples. Garth wanted McIntosh.

In keeping with the "pear" theme....who else but.....!?!! :)

Shellie doing a little taste testing at Packard Orchards.
It was fun sampling ones we had never even heard of before.




A totally cool swing (a two-seater) we discovered at our last stop.



What we came home with....

HEAVENLY!!!!

Christmas in September?

I came home Saturday night to find this on the counter....
Garth told me it was my Christmas present.
???????
"Open it now or save it till Christmas", he said.
(as though I were capable of waiting) ;)

Inside I found this....
an iPod Touch.

Sweet sister Lizzy, sing me a sweet song of joy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to my honey's excellent taste in gifts, I am floating on cloud nine.
I am only beginning to figure out all the fun things you can do with it.

This morning I woke up at 6:00 am to the sound of crickets (just one of the random fun sounds you can try) and after shutting the alarm off, I flipped on my "handy dandy" flashlight to find my way out of the room. Of course, on the way out I made sure to shine it in Garth's face and say "good morning". :):):)

Labor Day Fun

For the first Labor Day in as long as I can remember, Garth and I didn't make any real plans. Usually we have the kids over for a barbecue/ get-together since school starts the next morning. With Marissa already at college, we ended up with a free day. :):)
Our friends the Grimmetts, who had been down to visit their son and his family, were heading back to Spokane today. Since Richard always likes to stop at Powell's Books, we decided to meet up with them for a couple of hours.
Garth and I always enjoy bumping around in there for a bit too. They have an incredible selection of used and new books. We got out without spending a dime. The Grimmett's?
Not so lucky or should I say "very lucky"?!
They had a big stack of books!!



Afterwards, we walked about seven blocks over to Byway's Cafe for lunch.
The wait was about an hour but they told us if we got it to go, it wouldn't take as long.
We snagged a couple of picnic tables out front, borrowed two menus and decided what we wanted.
Unfortunately, we found out they were ONLY serving breakfast all day today.
Hmmm. No thanks.

Time for "Plan B".
Garth led us up the street to a place he had been for lunch with his work group before.
Henry's 12th St. Tavern (a bar and grill). Before they renovated it into the eating place, it used to be the Blitz-Weinhard Brewery. Apparently, the same group that owns this place also own Stanford's, Newport Bay and Portland Bar and Grill. That would explain the totally yummy food.



As we were heading back to our cars, I ran ahead of everyone so I could snap a picture.
You got a problem with that Nathaniel?!?!
Too late, I caught you before you darted out of the picture.
(hehe)
Nick was walking right behind Nathaniel with his nose in his new book. Money well spent by the way. He hadn't quit looking at it since we left Powell's.



It was fun to see you guys again. Wish we lived closer!!!
(we really did get Nick to look up for a picture but unfortunately Jeanne's eyes were shut).




This evening Garth and I went to the Valley Theater out on Beaverton- Hillsdale Hwy to watch "Up". I highly recommend it. Way cute....and so was my date. ;)

Bennett's Blessing Day

Our little grandson, Bennett Emerson Young, was blessed by his dad today in sacrament meeting at Danielle and Matt's ward. Garth and I were glad we were able to be there. Matt's parents, his sister and her family and Richard and Jeanne Grimmett (our special family/ friends from Spokane, WA) came also.

Bennett is wearing the same blessing outfit that his
older brother Ethan wore when he was blessed.

On a sidenote, several days ago Danielle brought Bennett over and we tried his Uncle Jason's blessing outfit on him. She was still in the "deciding stage" for what to have him wear.
Jason was such a big baby when he was born (11 lbs. 14 ozs.), we decided to do something a little fun for his blessing outfit. A "tux".
Bennett, you just fit. Uncle Jason would be proud.

View from the back-
Coat tails...
every bit as cute as I remember. ;)

Jeanne and I.
My "forever buddy".



It's a small world!
Jeanne recognized a couple sitting several rows in front of us that we both knew from our college ward back in Moscow, Idaho. The Rodemacks. Keri used to watch Shaun (Richard and Jeanne's oldest son) when he was a baby. What a treat to reconnect after all these years.



After sacrament meeting we all ( except for the Grimmett's) met over at Matt and Danielle's house. They had made cheese and chocolate fondue for everyone. To die for GOOD!!! I haven't had fondue in years. They had apples and sourdough bread for the cheese fondue and strawberries, bananas, marshmallows and poundcake for the chocolate fondue.



Carol and Matt.


Danielle and Bennett


Garth and Jim



Jenny and Eric


Tyler was showing me the kitchen appliances from the toy house that actually made noise like they were cooking.

Way fun.

Ethan with his favorite toys.
He is "obsessed" with pretty much anything with four wheels.

Thanks again for inviting us to be a part of Bennett's special day.

Emptying the Nest (part 3 of 3)

On Tuesday morning we transferred all our things over into Rick's Dodge Ram 2500 Turbo Diesel pick up. Rick and Andrea were kind enough to loan it to us so we could all ride down in one vehicle. Garth was one happy guy!!! Apparently getting behind the wheel of something that big and beefy sounding is about as good as growing extra hair on your chest. lol. He was grinning the whole way down to Provo.
After getting Marissa checked in it was time to start unloading. Because we checked her in a day early there were hardly any cars in the parking lot....and we had the whole apartment to ourselves to get her set up. (Well worth the additional $15.00 per day early fee!!!)

Each of the three bedroom doors had paper hearts on them with the girl's names.

Marissa was given a key to one of the closets in her bedroom. No choosing which side of the room but she lucked out with the one closest to the door. We finally got her stuff all inside and took off to have lunch over at CougarEat at the Wilkinson Center. Afterwards, we split up. Garth and Marissa went to pick up her books and take care of a few other things. Danielle, Ethan, Bennett and I went back to the dorm. We set up the pack n' play Andrea had loaned us, put Ethan down for a nap, and started unpacking. It worked out perfectly. By the time they got back to the dorm we were pretty much done and had figured out a few more things we needed to pick up at Wal Mart. Danielle was a real lifesaver in more ways than one since she had already been at BYU.
She had lots of suggestions and helpful advice for her sister. Thank you Danielle!!! :)

You're all set up "college girl". Is it starting to feel REAL yet?!!



Looking from the desks and beds back to the opposite wall. These rooms actually have a LOT of storage space. Including under the bed....which is a heaven sent bonus for Marissa since she's often teased about being an "Imelda Marcos" when it comes to shoes. Not to mention she has a ton of clothes. Danielle kept threatening to "borrow" a few to take back to Oregon.



The kitchen. There is a door on the left right before the fridge that goes out of the apartment. The doorway on the right (you can just see the edge) leads out into the hallway. There is one bedroom straight across from the kitchen and then two more along the hall on the right side (Marissa and Gabrielle are in the third one).



This is a reverse view of the kitchen . Kind of a visiting area of sorts.






On the kitchen side of the hallway, right across from Marissa and Gabrielle's room is the bathroom. This is looking in to the right....



and then to the left side. Can you just imagine SIX girls trying to get ready in here in the mornings?!!
Yep. Yep.
The four C's will be learned in this room, folks:
Careful planning
Common Courtesy
Consideration for others
(hehe) Sorry, I can't help but chuckle to myself since I've already been there, done that.



As you leave the girl's room and turn right you can go out the other door to the apartment. This opens into the downstairs lounge area with couches and a fireplace ( a nice sized room). To the immediate left is another door that leads in to the laundry room and storage area. Marissa, you scored big time because you don't have to go far at all to do laundry.
Here are the storage units. Each apartment has one cage where they can put suitcases, boxes, etc.



Looking the opposite direction... the laundry area.



Another view of the laundry room.
Also, you'll notice there is an exit on this end (pink sign on the door) that leads outside and an exit on the opposite end beyond the storage area.



Last lunch together before we leave to head home. This is in the Wilkinson Center. There's a food court to the right of this picture. Really nice. Some of the places I remember are:
Sugar and Spice (this looked like a "dangerous" place to stop) :P
Taco Bell
Scoreboard Grill (a favorite of Matt and Danielle's)
an Italian place
Freschetta (pizza)
Subway

hmmm...that's about the end of what I remember but I know there were more.
Bottom line- better than ANY high school cafeteria ANYDAY.


After lunch we made one last stop, The Creamery. This is a little grocery/ ice-cream store within short walking distance from Marissa's dorm. According to Danielle they have small quantities of stuff but a huge selection to choose from. And the best part is, the prices aren't bad at all. They also have an ice-cream parlor. Since Marissa doesn't drive, this will be a blessing for her when she just needs to buy a few things.
Sisterly chat time walking back to the dorm.


(Memories for mom). I love you two!!! Actually three ;)


Meeting their first roommate (Marissa and Gabrielle already knew one another).
Allie (from Gilbert, Arizona), Marissa and Gabrielle




Time for goodbyes... :(
Danielle, Bennett and Marissa

Mom, Marissa and Dad
(a bittersweet moment for sure)

We thought we had said goodbye, BUT when we stopped at Barnes and Noble on the way out of town, Garth and Ethan wandered next door to Office Max and ended up finding a laptop for Marissa at a "too good to pass up" price. So Garth called her up and said we had one more thing we needed to drop by.
Here she is coming out to the pickup to see us one last time.

Wait a minute! What is that?!!

"Thought you might could use this now instead of later".
(Marissa was under the impression that we were going to wait and see of she really needed one first and then her dad would try and get a good deal online for one and have it shipped to her).

She was pretty excited. What a cute expression!

"Bye everyone!!!"
"We love you Marissa!!!!!!!!"
(see you in December)

View from the freeway going through Salt Lake City.
I was trying to spot the temple.
(If you double click on this picture, you can enlarge it and see the landmarks).

Ethan, our perfect little traveler. He was so into the trucks that passed. Every time he saw one he would say, "Hi nemi. ..Bye nemi." Grandpa taught him to say that since before, everything was a "car" and the word "semi" seemed much safer than the work "truck" for some reason- haha. We heard those words a few (thousand) times between Provo and Portland. Priceless.

We stopped at Char Burger in Hood River for dinner before we got home on Thursday.
Ethan is enjoying some of mom's chocolate shake. Yum Yum.

We couldn't believe Ethan actually sat on the lap of this old timer for a picture.
They have been sitting in the same spot for as long as I can remember. ;)
Don't you just love her purse?!

Grandpa and Bennett sharing a bit of snuggle time before we got on the road again.
Such a sweet, good-natured baby.

Home sweet home! We got back around 8:00 or so.
A long but fun trip.
I will miss you Marissa,
but I am so excited for all the great adventures and opportunities you have ahead of you in life.