Our little guy goes to boarding school

Debby and I drove Joel to NE Washington to go to boarding school. The drive could not have been more beautiful; along the Columbia River Gorge and through golden wheat fields. It took about 6 hours on Saturday afternoon, but it only took a couple hours to move him in and unpack. Nice to have friends to help. The dorm room is quite small with two tiny closets and a sink w/medicine cabinet above. Showers down the hall. Lucky for Joel, he got a room w/new carpet.

September Book Group Pick - Peggy

Amazon.com: Zorro: A Novel (P.S.): Books: Isabel Allende

August Book Group Pick - LeAnne

Amazon.com: Everyman: Books: Philip Roth

White Coat for Dr. Jill

Pat and I went down to Southern Cal for earlier this month to see Jill get her White Coat. It was so exciting to hear about the medical students and see them all get their coats. What a great way to kick off the medical school experience.

Jill's graduation quilt

When I started this quilt

in 1999, I hadn't planned for it to be for Jill's graduation. I found the pattern in a Fons and Porter Quilt magazine and used Civil War reproduction fabrics. No two blocks are the same and I tried to make it look vintage by substituting a few scrappy background pieces in some blocks as if I'd run out of the fabric.

I had most of the blocks made in '99 but tired of all the small pieces, but periodically pulled it out and made another. In April, when the girls went to Sunriver, I brought it again and realized it was the perfect quilt for Jill. She asked for one that was red and gold like many of the blocks. What I didn't like were the backgrounds, they were all too light, off-white instead of beige. Took a drastic step and dunked them all in tea which toned them down and now they look wonderful.

During the weekend, Rhonda contributed fabric and Judy helped sew a few more blocks. About a week later, Judy helped me put the pieces together and voila! Found a great quilter, Sue Capell, in Newberg who did a great job with a feather pattern in each block and a wavy feather border.

Birthday Weekend

Jill and I went on a mini-roadtrip for my birthday. Started out having our favorite breakfast at Ste. Honore Bakery on NW Thurman; Almond Croissants and Latte. Instead of driving up the freeway, we found the Scenic Hwy to Multnomah Falls and took a leisurely drive, enjoying the sights along the way: Womens' Forum Viewpoint (strange name) and Crown Point.

For the first time, we hiked to the top of the Falls. The trail was quite crowded, but the view was worth it. Then on to Hood River for an afternoon of watching the wind surfers and kite boarders. Amazing!! We luckily found lodging at a great place; Mosier Bed & Breakfast.

Sunday was spent driving from Hood River to Timberline Lodge for lunch, with a stop for fresh cherries and raspberries along the way.

Early Morning Golf

A couple days this week, we got up early and instead of going to the gym, we went golfing. It's great to be on the golf course before the crowds show up.

Rafting

Joel, catch that ball!







































Lunch time at Clear Creek

Rafting on the Lower Klamath

We made the long drive to Happy Camp, CA (8 hours) for a fun, fun weekend of rafting, swimming, hiking and (of course) eating. Darla and Bill did a fantastic job of planning wonderful food and entertainment. Glad I wasn't responsible or we would have been eating cereal and hot dogs for 4 days.

Thought I'd post a couple of pics to get started. More to come later.

Disneyworld

After graduation, we flew to Florida to immerse ourselves in Disney.

Monday - Dinner with Heather, Jason & Sidney, Video games for the boys

Tuesday - MGM. Tower of Terror(2x), Rock n Roller Coaster, Lights Speed Action

Wednesday - Epcot. Not our favorite. 25th Anniversary Dinner.

Thursday - Magic Kingdom. Space Mountain (2x), Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Thunder Mtn. Met up with Heather and went to Typhoon Lagoon.

Friday - Blizzard Beach. Magic Kingdom for Splash Mtn, Haunted Mansion, Small World, Fireworks, and Space Mountain again.

Saturday - Animal Kingdom. Everest Expedition (2x), Safari Ride (awesome animals), Raft ride (got soaked). Lunch at Rain Forest Cafe. Back to MGM for Tower of Terror (girls only), Rock n Roller Coaster.

Jill, Sidney and Heather at dinner our first night in Florida.

So excited!!

The gang at Epcot.

25th Anniversary

Jumping for JOY!

Fun day at Animal Kingdom

Anxiously waiting for the Everest Expedition.

Our newly adopted daughter Sidney, (just kidding).

Revisiting the Magic Kingdom

All smiles after the Sky Coaster drop

Jill's Graduation

The Browns, Grahams, and Schmunks migrated to southern California to attend Jill's graduation on June 18, 2006. Thursday - Psychology Department Banquet, Friday Night - Consecration Ceremony, Saturday - Baccalaureate (which we didn't attend). We went to Crosswalk Church instead Sunday - Graduation.

I should mention that food was a prominent part of the weekend festivities: Italian, Asian Food at the banquet, Vegetarian food Friday for lunch, BBQ at Nathan's after church, then BJ's, and CPK after graduation.

Jill at the Consecration Service

Pat - The BBQ Master

The proud family with the graduate.

Back row - Michael, Bill, Darla, & Nathan, Cynthia, Pat

Front row - Lois, Cheri & Natalie, Jill Brown, Dorothy & me.

Happy 21st Birthday, Jill

Newest Sock project

Making these socks a little smaller than the last pair.

Girls' Quilting Weekend in Sunriver

Had a great weekend with my quilting friends: Darla, Stephanie, Rhonda, and Judy. We went to Sunriver and sewed, walked, ate, knitted, and talked...

Darla's quilt on the design wall. We all talked her into button-hole applique on the picture blocks. She got them all stitched by the end of the weekend.

Finished my socks and started another pair.

Rhonda started a vintage 9-patch quilt for her daughter Kelly's wedding. 140 5-inch 9-patch blocks in green, gold, black, brown and a little blue. Lots of work...most of the blocks were done by the end of the weekend. Stephanie is quilting one of the charity quilts we are donating. I quilted the other one.

Darla, Stephanie and Rhonda out for a walk. We walked 6 miles on Saturday and on Sunday and 3 miles on Monday. Judy is the pace setter. She walks so fast, the rest of us have a hard time keeping up.

Judy and Darla collaborating on the Moose quilt.

Our menu:

Darla made a wonderful Chile Relleno breakfast casserole served with fresh berries

Stephanie - Pasta Fagoli, salad and kalamata olive bread

I made German Pancakes with strawberries, turkey bacon, and pineapple

Rhonda - Chicken and vegetables served with yellow curry over brown rice

Judy - Homemade granola w/yogurt fruit