a few of my favorites

The past week was absolutely glorious. I'm not sure how to condense it down into a finish-in-a-sitting post. There were just so many lovely little moments, great lines by the Heasel, sweet "pease & 'kues" from the Sheasel, an anthropologie trip with my sister, golfing with Jerm. And I suppose to anyone outside my family, these moments mean nothing. But to me, to have Jeremy, Shara, the Heasel, & the Sheasel here was euphoric. I could spend a few hours typing everything we did, but honestly, it wasn't really what we did that I loved so much: it was the people I was doing it with.

 (I got quite the collection of family photos, but I'll let Shara share the really good ones. Here's a preview)

Heasel time: He has been talking about this trip to Oregon for months, mostly because the mode of transportation bringing them here was a plane, but I like to think part of it was me. During my stint at that horrible desk job, going to lunch at Shara's & seeing my niece & nephew was what kept me going. In fact, I have a confession: there were times my (unofficial) half hour lunch stretched into two hours. I just couldn't tear myself away from those two cuties! This time, he visited me. For seven blissful days it was normal to have my little nephew run across the breezeway first thing in the morning (that is, if he wasn't at our place sleeping under the coffee table, i.e. his "tent") for some marshmallow cereal or baby bagels.  My supply of sour gummy worms was diminished significantly. Heasel & Sheasel both fell in love with Riley, though She adamantly called him "Ty". They played in the creek together & fought with swords. He discovered the wonder of a slice of marionberry pie. My basket of children's books, (literally the only toys we have in our apartment) were much used--we read "Kermit the Hermit" a half dozen times as a prequel to going crabbing. Heasel learned how to golf, drive a boat, bait & pull a crab trap, eat salmon, & how cold the Pacific is. He told his mom, "You can go home. I'm going to stay here in our new house." He will go home & he will be fine in a day or two. He will still love his mother (as he should, that wonderful women*) & he will probably forget most of his trip to Oregon. But being half-Dotterer, with a fantastic memory, he'll remember parts of it. And he will want to come back, I just know it.

 (look at his feet off the ground, cracks me up)

(Isn't she just the epitome of sweetness? A little sand on her lip, a charming grin, & melt-your-heart eyes)

Sheasel time:
It's only been three months since I've been married, but I was in San Diego six months before that. The Sheasel is only twice that old. I was a little worried she wouldn't remember me. To have my nieces & nephews not know me is by far the hardest thing about moving 2,000 miles from home. But I needn't have worried. From the moment I met them at the zoo, she was the little Sheasel I loved so dearly, if a little more grown up. It was a job to keep track of her! Always on the move, walking around "as if she owned the place," just like her mama did years & years ago. She found my shoes & scarves & draped herself in them. I accepted that my neat arrangement of glass bottles & owls was going to be in disarray for a week. She played in the fountain, ran through the grass barefoot, smelled the flowers, waded in the ocean, chased seagulls, loved on Riley & Buck the Dog, endeared herself to Darwin. I already miss her chirpy, "Hi!", little hipswingin', pigeon-toed walk, her blond bob, little grin, & even her aggressive arm patting when she's tired. Sigh. Come see us again soon, my niecy, before you get too grown up.

feeding Buck the Dog straw--he loved it!

The parents:
And of course it was great to have my sister (& her husband) here: My sisters are the people that get me most. We are four of a kind after all. So for seven days, I pretended it was normal to have them living across the breezeway & we ate nearly every meal together, cooked together, wedged ourselves into one small economy car, talked creative & mundane, shopped, & were sisters again without all those bothersome miles between us.

when your brother marries your close friend

...it isn't so bad

 Carm & I have been friends for years. I'll be the first to admit when Alex told me he was going to marry her I was less than happy. She was my close friend; he was my brother. It was selfish, I know, but I didn't want to lose or have my relationship change with either of them. But I knew it had to. A less selfish person would've been overjoyed to have their friend for a sister-in-law. Sigh. Of course, looking back to a year ago now (what?! crazy), I had no idea of knowing I would marry her cousin & move halfway across the country, making her as a sister-in-law a sure way of cementing our friendship. God's so good. And so, here we were, sisters-in-law, cousins-in-law, having a high old time in good ol' Oregon. We had so much fun. Here's where not having a job has major perks: we gallivanted around, golfed in our backyard, threw barbecues, antiqued, & caught up on the past months apart.

 a barbecue in our sideyard, followed by a rousing game of golf. *smirkle*. Alex hit 9 balls in the pond. It was a situation where watching was much more entertaining than taking part. 

 trying to find 5 of the 6 golfballs that somehow made their way off the course:)

 So yes, if anyone comes to visit, we do have a 3-hole course in our backyard. Doesn't everyone? 

The rest of the photos are from our Mckenzie Pass tour. It was a really cool driving tour up into the mountains, past the lava beds, into Eastern Oregon & back. Our first stop was a mountain lake with clear water 40 feet down. We rented a little row boat & cruised around the lake in the crisp morning air, watching the fog rise off the water as the warm air & glacial waters met. There were hardly any others on the water & it was so still you could hear a paddle across the lake. 

 Our next stop was a waterfall where we ate our lunch by the thundering head of the falls. 

 (Thank goodness for self-timer!)

 We drove further up into the mountains & pulled over for a pit stop at some of the lava beds. If you've ever read a Louis L'Amour, this is the type of terrain that would shred the rugged man's cowboy boots as he was being hunted by the outlaw he'd embarrassed in the previous cow town. 

 Sisters, OR. We stopped and had some coffee to ward off the chill of the mountain air & perk us up. Unfortunately, we were back down in the plains & hot coffee wasn't very tasty in the now-90 degree weather. We walked the old western style streets, browsed the shops, & ate some frozen yogurt.

 We'd been told not to miss this attraction: the head of the Metolius River, which appears to start from a rock. Quite frankly, the river head wasn't that impressive, but the smell of the ponderosas as we walked to it was heavenly. I would go back simply to take a few deep breaths of that fresh, piney scent.

 Lastly, we stopped at a dam & walked out onto it. Then headed into Mt. Angel for some Glockenspiel German. It was a charming day. And one we probably won't ever be able to repeat.

It was just, mmm...I can't quite find the right word, perfect, perhaps? to have Al & Carm here. It was so natural, Carmen having spent some summers here, & finding her place in the Sinn's out here. 

(a sneaky shot taken with my iphone, heh heh)

Al & Dar were able to talk farm & I felt no qualms about saddling my stranger-shy husband with Alex. In fact, Carm & I were banished to the back seat of the Subaru during our McKenzie Pass tour while our men talked shop. Which was fine with us:). It warms my heart to know my family has accepted my husband & is willing to pay for a plane ticket to come & see us. Although, having a golf course probably doesn't hurt...

We sent off Alex & Carmen somewhat hesitantly; if it were up to all of us, they would've stayed a few more days. But life cannot always be golfing & waterfalls & fun western towns & heavenly piney smells, so off they went. And here I sit typing this, thanking God Alex had the audacity to marry my friend:). Come see us again, you two!

Salmon fishing

Let me clarify a few things before I begin: 1) I'm typing this on my brandspankin' new iPhone because my poor hp finally crashed after 4 years. So it won't be as profound as my posts usually are. 

2) I'm not crazy about fishing but it's one of the few things i've done lately where I happened to take enough i-photos of the experience for a post. 

Let's begin. 

We stayed in seaside at a nice location overlooking a river. There were quaint little shops and lots of good seafood restaurants. Aside from our sleeping arrangements, it was a wonderful experience, right Troy? 

And then it was out on the water. The area where we were is the most dangerous port in the world and it was full of hundreds of other fishing boats. I wouldnt have to go out very often, as much as I love salmon. And maybe if we would've caught more than one , & one we could actually keep, I'd be a little more eager to go again. A couple times it seemed like everyone around us had a fish on the hook except for us. Alex actually did have a big one on but he lost it. Really. The fog was just starting to roll away & the fishing started getting hotter when Dar realized our bilge pumpwasn't  working & the back end of the boat had so much water in it that the waves were starting to lap over into it. We made a fast exit for land. Dar did a great job navigating but I could tell he was more relaxed once we got back on dry ground. 

Here's the fish we had to throw back because it was a half inch too small. We didn't end up with any keepers, but a night on the coast & a day on the water  made up for it. 

lazy saturday

Last Saturday was the first non-Sunday Dar didn't have to get to work at the crack of dawn. So we took full advantage of it. It was blissfully lazy & deliciously unproductive. Breakfast for the two of us usually goes something like this:______. That's right. We don't have breakfast together. But this morning we had eggs with bacon, feta, onions, tomatoes, & basil. And then Dar helped me assemble my shortcake trifle for a picnic we were invited to that night. He is great in the kitchen.

Then we headed out to the farm (because even when he's not working, he's still working) & since Riley was gone we actually got to drive the new mule. We cruised around, making sure everything was in order, basking in the thought that we had a whole day to do this if we wanted.

When we came across an old shed on one of their farms that's scheduled to be torn down, I suddenly found all sorts of energy to comb through barrels of glass bottles, piles of junk, and musty old boxes. I was ridiculously excited. There is just something about digging through the cast-off belongings of a person that makes my heart pound with anticipation. What will you find? What kind of person were they? Why did they not keep using this, but couldn't bear to throw it out? And Dar sweetly dug through everything with me, bringing me odds & ends he thought might tweak my fancy. I came away with some sweet bottles, old books, & wooden chairs. Sometimes I expect everything out here to be newer, since I have this conception that Oregon is a younger state, so discovering old stuff was an extra boon. I only wish they had more old sheds for me to rummage through:).

In the afternoon, my uncle Lyle came calling. In a strange turn of events, we both moved to the PNW (Pacific Northwest) within a few weeks of each other from our prospective long-term homes of Illinois & Europe. So he got to see our two apartments & the workings of the farm. It was great to see him again, & we're planning to head up to Seattle some weekend this fall to see his neighborhood.

In the evening, we headed into Salem to a riverfront park to spend time with some couples from church. It was a gorgeous evening, full of hazy sunlight & a welcome freshness in the air after the past days of upper-90's. There was an old railroad trestle bridge converted to a walking path we meandered down as the sun winked its last rays through the foliage. It was a good day. A great day.