AUNT COSIE AND UNCLE BOB'S DEPARTURE DAY

OK. I am beginning to feel like the only one out here in "blogger land". I understand that some of you are gathered in Florida. That means I expect lots of informative blogging from you when that fabulous visiting is done. Must be zillions of great photos.

As for us today was a sad one. Everyone left us. Aunt Cosie and Uncle Bob left very early this morning. (photo) We enjoyed having them ever so much. When May got up she and I walked to the Morning Glory for breakfast. I could get used to that place. Rick and Ron were watching football, of course. When we returned they were still watching football so May and I drove to Target where she picked up a couple of things she needed. Back at the house football was just ending and we had our traditional Sunday spaghetti meal. Ron grated the cheese today. (photo)

Only a little more football for the guys and some Sims game for May(photo) and Rick and May headed back to Portland. (farewell photo) When they left Ron and I took a short walk and now he is back at the TV. I sure miss all the wonderful people already. It is kind of too too quiet around here.

Hope to hear from some of you other bloggers sometime soon. Your blogs give the days such a fun touch. I look so forward to reading them.

AUNT COSIE AND UNCLE BOB'S VISIT DAY SIX

The day was beautiful and sunny once again today. After breakfast we all went to the backyard to watch some of us practice chipping. When that was done we took a drive to Starbuck's. From Starbuck's we went to a friend's house, Margaret Garrington's, to view her part of an Art Tour. Her paintings are among my favorite ever. My dream is to one day purchase one of her works.

Then Ron dropped Rick and May downtown. The rest of us came home. Ron and I walked while Aunt Cosie and Uncle Bob packed up. Sad, sad, sad. University of Oregon played USC this afternoon. Sad, sad, sad. Actually U of O gave them a good fight in the first quarter. During the game Aunt Cosie, Uncle Bob and I went to church.

For dinner tonight Ron barbequed top sirloin. We followed dinner with a game of "Scene It". However, Rick always wipes us out on that one. He seems to have seen most of those old 80's films. Thereby the rest of us don't have nearly as much fun. As Ron says, "It is difficult to participate".

May appears to be feeling so much better. Doesn't she look great? It is so wonderful having everyone here. It saddens me that they all leave tomorrow.

AUNT COSIE AND UNCLE BOB'S VISIT DAY FIVE

This morning the weather turned wintry although it is just the first day of autumn. Ater a trip to the Goodwill, the Dollar Store and the Bookwagon we snuggled Aunt Cosie and Uncle Bob up and built a fire.

This evening Rick and May arrived and we had pizza for dinner. At the present moment the men are checking out Fantasy Football and Aunt Cosie and May are visiting. I am trying to get this blog out.

AUNT COSIE AND UNCLE BOB'S VISIT DAY FOUR

Today was another full one. The men went to golf. Aunt Cosie and I headed for the mall. We shopped at Christopher and Banks mainly. I think Aunt Cosie has found a new place to find clothes. However, there are none south of San Jose. So, as she said, she may have to travel our way more often. Wouldn't that be nice? The men met us at the mall after golfing.

Then we had lunch at Tin Tin's. It's a fabulous Asian restaurant, buffet style. We all ate way too much. We went to Costco's and wandered around for awhile.

Back at the house we rested up for tonight's entertainment at the local Cabaret. It was "Five Course Love". Such fun! The action, song and dance, took place at five different restaurants. Each had a ethnic theme to support a search for love. German, Italian, Mexican, Texan, and 50's Diner. It was great!

What a wonderful time we are having with Aunt Cosie and Uncle Bob! I forgot my camera everywhere we went. So the only pictures we have are of us holding our play bills.

AUNT COSIE AND UNCLE BOB'S VISIT DAY THREE

Today we decided to drive to Grants Pass and have lunch at Riverside Park. While there we played a little on the real life size farm equipment. At least Uncle Bob and Ron tried it out.

From there we walked around downtown Grants Pass. There was a Bear Festival going on and all the stores had bears, designed by various artists, in front of their stores. So many adorable ones. I chose my favorite to include here. How could I resist a Bear that loved berries so much?

In the evening we attended another Green Show in downtown Ashland outside the Shakespeare Theater. This one was called "Kabaret Everyman". At home we watched my movie pick of the year, SPANGLISH. I realize I liked it especially because of the Mother/Daughter theme. But other people seem to enjoy it also. (Thanks, Ron and Amy.)

AUNT COSIE AND UNCLE BOB'S VISIT DAY TWO

Another totally enjoyable day! This morning while Uncle Bob and Ron golfed Aunt Cosie and I went to The Morning Glory for breakfast. This may be the best breakfast place in town. I had Moraccan (that means raisins, currants, apricots and walnuts) oatmeal and Aunt Cosie had French Toast stuffed with lemon- ricotta and drizzled with raspberry syrup.

After the men returned and had their lunch we drove over to Immigrant Lake and looked at the RV campground there. Such a beautiful day! We spent more time on the back deck visiting before dinner. So wonderful to have them!

AUNT COSIE AND UNCLE BOB'S VISIT

Last evening Uncle Bob and Aunt Cosie arrived. Immediately after dinner the men watched Sunday night football. Aunt Cosie and I sat and talked.

Then this morning Aunt Cosie and I went to Mass. When we came home we had a nice breakfast. We sat out on the deck and the men chipped (golf). We decided to go to Lithia Park for a picnic lunch. We even fed the ducks. Back at home in the afternoon the men chipped some more. They are getting ready for tomorrow's golf game in Medford. That was followed by double Monday night football.

Aunt Cosie and I watched AFI'S 100 YEARS, 100 STARS. I highly recommend this documentary for all of you who love the movies.

PORTLAND DAY EIGHT

We arose somewhat early this morning in anticipation of our departure. We packed up. Amy made outstanding fruit juice in her wonderful juicer. Ron, Grammie and I went to this state of the art bakery and brought back goodies. It was juice, coffee, tea and goodies and then goodbye.

Off to the airport. Mother's check in and flight went quite smoothly I believe.

On the drive home Ron and I drove out to the country to photograph a house for an appraisal that Ronnie is doing. The funny part is that the home was far off on a hill. The driveway was about a half mile long and closed off by a gate. We weren't sure how to get the picture. So Ron tried one with the telephoto lens, not good enough for me, so I went through the gate, walked up the driveway and took some closer shots. I didn't realize that the people weren't exspecting us. They never did come out. But it was a faux paux anyway, I guess. Sorry. I enclosed a picture of the driveway to the house that Ron took so you can see how far away it was. I also hope to include one of my closer snapshots.

We arrived back in Ashland around 5:00pm safe and somewhat sound.

PORTLAND DAY SEVEN

Today was our last full day together in Portland. This morning we went to Costco so we could develope all our digital photos for Grammie. She really wanted paper copies.

After lunch Ron,Grammie, and I went to Ronnie's place of business which is actually in a house. He had bought the house, fixed it up, made it into a place of business and wanted to share it with Grammie. From there Ron showed her Value Village, a thrift store that Ron gets a kick out of. Then we picked up Amy and went to Forever 21 so she could buy a few new things for her Hawaii trip. I even bought a couple of new skirts.

This evening Rick and May had us over for a delicious dinner on their deck. We were so happy that it was Thai food. There was Tom Yum Gai, papaya salad with tomatoes from Amy's garden, and barbeque chicken. We were all sad to see this lovely time coming to an end.

PORTLAND DAY SIX

Once again a lovely day. Grammie and I went to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows (better known as The Grotto) for Mass this morning.

When we returned to the house the men were already engrossed in Sunday football. I made a brunch of BLTs. Isn't that exciting? We did eat out on R & A's deck. The weather was perfect.

Our plan for dinner was The Portland City Grill. It is a quite fancy bar on the top floor of the highest building in Portland. The view from up there is fabulous. They also have all sorts of delicious mini-meals and an amazing drink menu. The foods consisted of items like: Dungeonus Crab and Bay Shrimp on brusetta, Beef tenerloins with onion rings and horse radish sauce on ciabatta, Gingered prawns on skewers, Tempura prawns with sweet and sour and hot mustard, Papaya and Cucumber stacks, Thai lettuce wraps, calamari salad, etc. etc. The drinks at the table consisted of Mohitos, Sidecars, Lost on the Beach, champagne with chambour and so on and so on. Am I hung up on all this food? Could be. Too bad I can't spell most of the entrees.

Amy, May and I went at the beginning of the fourth quarter of the Rams game to find a nice table. This restaurant doesn't take reservations in their bar, so it is first come, first served. Sometimes in the past we have missed getting a place at all. It is so popular. Anyway we did find just the right table with some of the view. We sat right next to the piano player and made several requests. The men came after the game with Grammie.

At the end of eating and drinking more than any of us needed (so very good!)they brought Mother a treat for her birthday. (We even sang the birthday song) Her dessert was listed as Fuji Apple and Hood River Pear bread pudding. The rest of us had French Chocolate Creme Brulee, Sorbet Trio with Almond Tort Cookie, White chocolate Frangelico Cheesecake with rasberry sauce and hazelnut crust. Ronnie ordered the house special dessert---six huge cookies baked as you wait with Hagan Das ice cream. That should have been enough to satisfy all of us but we kept "pigging out". It must be sinful. But how yummy!

Once we reached home again Ron, Rick, May, and Amy all took a walk. Are they smart or what? We older folk headed for the comfort of our pajamas and bed. It was a delightful day.

PORTLAND DAY FIVE

Today was a pretty laid back day. Or as May put it, "We chilled." Grammie got up and we sat around and visited for a while. Then we all coaxed her to prepare her famous Peppers and Eggs. From there we visited a little more.

We took Grammie on a quick drive through Camas, Washington. It is just over the Columbia River. Ron has often considered buying a home there because it is so absolutely beautiful and has some amazing homes for really reasonable prices. It is only a 15 minute drive from the kids homes. Ron needed to show his mother these deals. I believe she was impressed.

We returned from there and Rick and May came over to Ron and Amy's. We lounged some more in R & A's TV room in the basement. Jose and Diane had sent a DVD of Mother's birthday celebration in LA. So we watched that and felt as though we had a visit with everyone down south. Ron and I made sausage and meatballs with pasta for dinner. Rick and May made up an amazing slide show of all their foreign travels with music and everything. So we had a showing of that.It felt just as if we were on a little trip to Southern France, Madrid, Cabo, Bangkok, the UK and Paris. Actually we were on the UK and Paris trip. All their travels were most fascinating.

By the time that was over we had all had a full day and we are now off to bed. Goodnight.

PORTLAND DAY FOUR

Our first event for today after Mother woke up was to show her all the blogs. She loved seeing all your families, everyone. From there we went to Rick and May's so she could see their house. (Pictured) After that a Starbuck's stop was inevitable. (pictured)

The next sight on the tour was the famous Portland Rose Gardens. (Another photo) Then it was off to the Lloyd Center Mall for a quick lunch. We had Cajun food. We visited all three floors of the Mall before heading home for a break.

This evening Ron and Ronnie barbarqued sausage, hamburgers, and hot dogs. Amy's parents, Mike and Kathy, and her brother, Aaron joined us. (pictured) Amy has such a wonderful family. Once dinner was consumed we set up for a game of Apples to Apples. That is always such fun, especially with ten people.

The men concluded the night with a huddle around the computer to check out Fantasy Football.(picture)