Ikea Curtains

We went to Portland on October 15th for Toni and Aaron's open house. While we were there we went to Ikea to buy new bookcases for the family room. We needed some kind of window dressing for the dining room. Bruce saw these curtains. They hung in the dining room for about a week before I hemmed them. I used the cut-off fabric to make a shirred cover for the rest of the curtain rod and the exposed wall between the panels.

I Love My Bosch!

I love my Bosch Universal Kitchen Machine. I have had it since before Drew was born (23 1/2 years). It only gave me problems one time and that was when it was dirty inside. Bruce opened it up, cleaned up the flour dust and crud and then it worked perfectly again.

Sometime in August the blender blades broke. I temporarily repaired it with super glue, but that didn't hold for long. I looked for a replacement blender (stand-alone) every weekend at yard sales until late September, but no luck. A Bosch blender for the machine was $65. Bruce didn't think we should spend that much for a new blender to go with an 23+ year old machine, so he started birthday shopping for me. He had a hard time deciding between a KitchenAid or a new Bosch.

This is what he settled on:




Thank you to Kate and Mike for the food processor and to Betty and Clark for the blender.

PS I sold my 23 1/2 year-old Bosch for $175.00 on Craigslist! These things hold their value better than a car!

Early Birthday Presents are Wonderful

The UPS man came today and brought two packages: one I was expecting; the other I was not.

Aunt Mitzi and Uncle Stan SURPRISED me with two dozen of the most beautiful roses I have ever seen! They even came with their own vase, but they were so huge, that one vase wouldn't hold them. I split them up and put one vase on the kitchen table and one on the dresser in our bedroom. I was able to see the lovely sight twice as frequently.

Thank you Mitzi and Stan...I love you (even when you don't send me flowers)!

Sunday Evening Walk to the River

Drew and Chrissy are here for a short visit. They arrived late last night (early this morning) and will be heading to the Oregon Coast tomorrow. One of our favorite Sunday activities is to walk to the Columbia River (a couple of blocks away) and use wrist rockets to shoot rocks into the river. It was a bit of a challenge to shoot the rocks without hitting boats or jet skis. Hot weekend days tend to bring a lot of people to the river.

Bruce, Kyle, Drew and Chrissy heading down Sherman Street.


This funny cat was laying on a tent trailer as if to say, "It's too hot to have fur."

Chrissy's first try at the wrist rocket.

Her second try was more successful.

Drew, showing us how to skip a rock. It skipped about five times with a 90 degree arc.

"...and this is how you hit a jet-skier"

Per Michele's Request

She will be receiving these when we take Kyle to Provo for School.

Don't Feed the Cat at Night!

Chloe said she wanted some food tonight. Since we haven't had a problem with skunks this summer, I have been giving her a bit of food at night, if she is begging. As I was getting ready to close the blinds, I thought I saw Chloe, still eating, out of the corner of my eye.






...but it wasn't Chloe! When I realized it was a little skunk I grabbed my camera which I happened to have nearby.

It's funny to see a skunk eating out of a BYU bowl. I'm sure Nate Cornwell would come up with a great comment or two.

The Noisiest Chip Bag Ever!

We bought these chips because of the bag.