Hmmm. . .

I'm tired. With good reason I guess. Instead of cleaning my house this evening, which is desperately in need of my attention, I sat on the couch and watched I Am Sam with my kids. It's good. The lyrics to the song in this video caught my attention. Good song. Good movie. Makes you think. . .

The Trailer Project. . . Slideshow With Commentary. . .

(Blogger cuts off part of the screen when it's embedded, so if you click on the title in the top left hand corner, you can watch it full screen on Youtube. In my opinion, it's well worth watching even though it might make you feel a little ill. . . )

Roseberry Slideshow. . .

Roseberry. . .

We spent the better part of a week up at The Roseberry Festival and actually survived it. It's a huge amount of work but the organizers of the festival take really good care of us so that makes it a little easier. The location is beautiful, too, so I'd probably have to say this is my favorite festival. I'm working on a slide show since there are way too many good pics to post but it will probably take awhile before I have time to finish it. I found a YouTube video of each of the bands that played at the festival. None of them are mine and none of them are from this festival but it's a good sampling of what my week was like:










This is a video of the band that we'll be working with this weekend. I'm looking forard to this concert but I'm looking forward to it being OVER even more. . .




I'm really tired and summer isn't even half over yet. . .

Closure. . .

When we lost Emma last month, it happened so quickly and unexpectedly that it just didn't seem real.

When we had to put our dog, Winnie, to sleep 8 years ago at age 16, we took her to the cabin and buried her in her favorite spot overlooking the river. It was really, really difficult.

We decided to have Emma cremated to save us the heartache of a burial, which I'm glad we did, but it made the whole experience seem even less real because we didn't have anything tangible to show for our loss when we left the vet that day. I think, subconsciously, I have been waiting for her to come home after being away for awhile.




When the vet called and told us that Emma's ashes were ready to be picked up, I put off retrieving them up for as long as I could. I knew it would be difficult. I just didn't realize how difficult.

So now I've accepted the fact that Emma is gone and we have a sweet plaster footprint and a swatch of her hair as a reminder of the place she held in our home and our hearts. I have closure. But I'd rather have Emma.

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words. . .

McKenna and Maxton. . .

Today Gloria spent the day with Grandma, Grandpa and McKenna. I had the chance this evening to hang out with the girls for a couple of hours so I took them to the fountain at Ann Morrison Park. . .

It was crowded but still fun. . .

We spent some time on the swings. . .

And then we waded in the river. . .

We eventually headed back down the greenbelt. . .

And after stopping for an ice cream cone, we headed up the elevator to see the newest addition to our family. . .

This is Maxton Lee!! McKenna is a very proud big sister! She told me he doesn't have any teeth yet and there are lots of things he needs to practice. He is very soft and very sweet!!

Congrats Matt, Marr and McKenna! We can't wait to hold him!!

Camp. . .

Last week was a little crazy. I guess it's always a little crazy around here but this was something new. Rob and I left for Sandpoint on Thursday but Gloria had to meet the bus for camp on Saturday. Camp normally runs Sunday through Friday but they are doing things a little bit different this year. I'm not opposed to change so I'm with holding judgement on the new camp routine until it's all said and done but it threw things off just a little bit this year. Fortunately we have Grandma Jeanie and Grandpa Dick who were more than willing to keep Gloria for a few days and then deliver her to the bus on Saturday morning. Zach held down the fort at home for 4 days and did a fabulous job but I only got to see him for 1 short day before HE had to catch a bus to camp. I dropped him off at Home Depot on State St. at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning. It was a little chaotic. . .

I know he's just 1 month shy of turning 18 so why is it still difficult to send him off to camp for a week without me??????? Could it be that I have the apron strings just a little too tight???


I was back at the same Home Depot at 5:30 p.m. to pick up Gloria. . .


For some reason I don't worry about her quite as much. Not sure why but I have my theories. I was a little sad to find out that she had to have a dose of middle-school-girl drama when one of the girls in her cabin convinced the rest of the girls to ignore her for a day just because she made friends with someone outside of her cabin. I think she handled it better than I did when I was in jr hi. . . I just told her, "Welcome to middle school. Get used to it." Really not looking forward to sending her to public school. . .



Lucy loves all of us but I think she holds a special place in her heart for Gloria. She refused to leave her side the rest of the day. . .

We'll all be back together on Monday when Zach comes home. It will be nice to get back to our "normal" crazy routine. . .

The Way Back Home. . .

I didn't spend much time writing about this trip due to lack of time. I knew if I didn't post pictures each day I would fall hopelessly behind and never catch up. There are too many interesting things coming up that will need posting to risk falling behind! Plus, I try to be careful what I say because you never know who might be reading!! So on a scale of 1-10, 1 being horrific and 10 being amazing, this trip was about a 6. I worked harder than I planned to, there was a bad coffee-in-the-mustang incident that nearly pushed me over the edge and the weather was mostly overcast and drizzly but other than that, everything was fine. By Monday morning I was more than ready to go home.

Speaking of the drive home, the mustang is pretty and fast and all but it's not really my cup of tea. I'm too short to see over the dash and Rob likes to ride the corners like he's on rails and with all of the winding roads, I spent most of the car ride not feeling well. On a positive note, we made a planned stop at the George's house on the way home. They weren't too far out of the way but the road to their house was even more winding than the highway! It was a beautiful drive, though, so that made it more bearable.



Gil and Louise are staying in a nice little house next to the church where they are pastoring. . .


It was so nice to just sit in the living room and visit. . .

There were many, many photo opportunities. . .

Gil and Louise took us on a ride around their new home town. . .

We only stayed for a couple of hours but it was just what I needed . . .

After we left Woodland, we headed straight for Quaker Hill in McCall. My friend, Judy, had put out a FB plea to see if anyone was coming through the area on Monday that might be able to give her husband a ride home. Ken's an old friend of ours, too, plus I knew I'd get to see Gloria who left for camp AFTER I left for Sandpoint so it was an easy decision to make this extra stop!

We totally surprised her and I think she was happy to see us. . .

It made me very happy to find out that Pam Aubrey was her counselor!!!

We didn't stay long, but it was fun to see a part of her camp experience. . .

We didn't arrive home until after midnight and Lucy was very happy to see us. I'm sure Zach was happy, too, but the first thing out of his mouth was, "Don't come in, you'll mess up the house." This was a solo 4-day weekend for him and he did great! I came home to a clean house, clean laundry and a freshly mown lawn. I don't want him to ever move out!

We have several more road trips coming up this summer but, thankfully, I'll be driving my pickup!! Next stop: Donnelly, ID for the Roseberry Festival. . .

Home. . .

It was a good weekend but it's so nice to be home. . .

4th of July With The Army. . .