Ridgefield, Washington - May 25, 2015

 Jeff and I hiked two miles today.

 It was a cloudy Memorial Day.

 I was missing sunny California.

It is beautiful and green here.

Warrior Rock Lighthouse, Sauvie Island, Oregon - May 10, 2015

 We hiked 7 miles round trip.

 The flowers were beautiful and I enjoyed seeing them.

 Warrior Rock Lighthouse is a lighthouse on Sauvie Island in the state of Oregon, which helps guide river traffic on the Columbia River around the Portland, Oregon area. It is Oregon's smallest lighthouse, and one of only two Oregon lighthouses still operating which are not on the Pacific Ocean

 The clouds were beautiful.  Three rivers come together at this location.  It was an exhausting hike.

Mother's Day - 2015

I had a wonderful Mother's Day!  

Jason and Ashley gave me a wonderful new suitcase that I love!  Jason also called me and it was great to talk to him.  

Charity sent me some awesome gel socks that you freeze and then you put them on when your feet hurt and they feel so good.  I'm using them often and loving them.  Charity also called me a couple of times on Mother's Day.  

Nate and Misty sent me a lovely Mother's Day card that was really touching.  They also sent me a life story book so I can write my life history in.  I'm really excited to use it.

Casey and Jenna sent me a Kindle book that I'm eager to read.  They also sent me the picture above on the right with sweet messages from each one of them on each petal of the pink flower in the middle.  The smaller flowers are finger prints from each of the kids.  What a priceless gift!  Casey also called and told me how much they loved me.

I had a great Mother's Day!  I felt so loved by my children.

Falls Creek Falls Trail, Carson, Washington - May 16, 2015

 On the way to go hiking, we came across a herd of elk.  It was really fun to see them in the road.

 Jeff and I hiked 3.5 miles to the falls and back.

 You can barely see me in this picture since I blend in with my green sweatshirt.

 The water falls was beautiful.

Falls Creek Falls – a three tiered waterfall which drops nearly 250 feet into an amazing, moss-covered pool. 

Salmon River near Lincoln City, Oregon - May 9, 2015

 Jeff took me kayaking on the Salmon River near Lincoln City, Oregon.  This is a baby heron on the beach.

 We kayaked for 6.25 miles.

  We went up the river and then back down to the ocean.

 I was so tired.

 

  A heron on the beach.  We saw sea otters and lots of birds - Canadian geese, seagulls, etc.

The Salmon River empties into the mouth of the Pacific Ocean.  We kayaked to the ocean and then had a picnic lunch on the beach to the left - fried chicken, coleslaw, potato salad, and chips.  We had a good time.

After we got back, I hiked 3.3 miles at Lacamas Lake.

Gold Beach, Oregon - April 16-19, 2015

  

 Nate and family went to Gold Beach for the weekend for Nate to do volunteer dental work there.  They invited me to join them and I had a great time.  I drove to Grants Pass Thursday morning and then we drove to the beach that afternoon.  This is a picture of scripture time the first evening.

 The beach was lovely.  Nate and family - Elijah, Misty, Isaiah, Nate, Brielle, and Adalei.

 I was so happy to be there with them.

  

 Nate and Misty on the beautiful beach.

 We found sand dollars on the beach.

 Elijah

 Elijah, Adalei, Brielle, and Isaiah enjoying chocolate covered pretzels sticks.

 We saw a deer in the lawn at a local business.

 Nate doing his volunteer dental work.

 Adalei with her Legos.  She puts them together, takes them apart, and put them together again - over and over.

 Nate and Misty

 Nate with Isaiah

 We went to see the world's largest myrtle tree.  It is 88 feet tall, 42 feet in circumference, and 70 feet canopy.  The kids had fun crawling under it and on it.

 Brielle, Adalei, and Elijah with a smaller myrtle tree.

 Brielle running on the beach.

 Nate building a fire on the beach.

 Adalei on the beach

 Isaiah throwing logs on the fire.

 Brielle getting buried in the sand.

 Isaiah eating a potato.

 Misty and the kids with a totem pole near our hotel.

Brielle on the beach

 

The Prehistoric Gardens was just north of Gold Beach.  We drove there to see 23 life size dinosaurs.

 Brielle and Adalei with a dinosaur.

 Prehistoric bird with the kids

Prehistoric turtle with the kids.

We had a great time.  After the drive back to Grants Pass Saturday night, I left for home the next morning.  It was a really relaxing and lovely weekend.  I'm so glad I went.

Roseville, California - Allison's Birthday Party - April 11, 2015

 Allison is just adorable and now 3 years old.  I was excited to be able to be there for her birthday party.

Her birthday cake with the octopus was so cute and also so delicious.

Allison was so cute opening her birthday gifts.

Every single gift she said, "I love it!"  It was so sweet.

I got her a butterfly necklace, jewelry box, the Minnie Mouse shoes (above picture), and some clothes.

Here's the necklace

I found Dalton, Allison, and Audrey all sitting on a skateboard.  They are such good friends.

Audrey and Dalton on the slide.

The porcupine with fruit spears.  (I helped cut up the fruit.)

Casey - Isn't the dip cute?

Casey and Allison on the scooter

Handsome Dalton with his lunch

Joanna and Ashley chatting.  Emme and Audrey are in the picture too.

Paisley - I love her shirt.

Me holding precious Emme!  What a beautiful smile.

Another of Paisley's beautiful smile

The adults had a race around the park and the kids did too.  It was fun to watch.  I think Charity won the adult race.  (She did get a head start on everyone else though.)

Casey used Benson's toy sword to cut the cake.

Malcolm got this singing fox for Allison.  It was the hit of the party.  It sang the song, "What does the fox say."  Really cute.

The table was so appealing for this mermaid theme birthday party - octopus in dip with veggies, fish crackers, jello with Swedish fish in the middle, fruit porcupine, blue punch, and spinach dip with bread.  Jenna is so creative and always does an excellent job.

Ashley pushing Audrey and Allison on the swings.

After the party, we went back to Casey's for pizza.  It was so fun to be there for the weekend.  I had a great time.

I spent Saturday night and Sunday with Charity.  Unfortunately I was dealing with some medical issues and she had to take me to Urgent Care Sunday morning.  I always enjoy my time with Charity and wish we could have done the fun things we had planned.  Hopefully next time....