TOURING ASHLAND

Amberly's first full day in Ashland was spent sleeping in for starters. When she got up we had a nice big breakfast. Then Lisa took her all around Ashland, the stores, a walk through Lithia park, the Shakespeare Theatre, etc. When they came home Amberly took a nap because she wasn't feeling very well. We weren't catching on too quickly. In the evening she said she felt better and we went to dinner at our favorite local Mexican restaurant, Senior Sam's.

From there we went to the Green Show at the Shakespeare Theatre. It is music and dancing that was absolutely amazing, so beautifully done. The choreography was great. The musicians and vocalist couldn't have been any better. We were all impressed. (Some photos included.)

However, after we returned home we found out that Amberly was running a temperature of 102. This morning we took her to Urgent Care only to find out that she has strep thoat. Her brother had this two weeks ago and she had hoped she had side-stepped it. Poor girl! She didn't! She is sleeping as I write.

And Lisa went to take her final Final for the summer. Wish her luck.

I am also including a funny picture of Yogi who prefers sleeping on our decorative pillows to his bed whenever possible.

AMBERLY ARRIVES

Life here has been very routine with Lisa in Portland. But she returned last night with Amberly, her USD friend from Texas. We are so happy to have her and Lisa looks forward to showing her some more of Oregon before they return to school. We began by feeding her spaghetti dinner. Hopefully, things will pick up from here.

Our only other excitement was when our visiting deer showed up with her fawn. Bambi in the flesh.

VINTAGE SLIDES

Today Uncle Ron spent much of the day trying to put Uncle Dave's old slides on CD. He wasn't too successful in that the slides came out quite fuzzy. At the family reunion we had thought it would be easier to do than it was. Here are a few samples. Sorry about the sideways ones. I really am not very good at this. But I hope to learn. Did you notice our family's two angels on the first snapshot? They are kind of fun anyway.

Lisa left for Portland this morning. Ronnie bought her a ticket to join him, Amy and Amy's brother, Aaron, for a Cold Play Concert tonight. She will stay in Portland until Sunday visiting her siblings. A friend from USD who lives in Texas is flying into Portland Saturday night. Lisa plans to show her Portland, Eugene, and then Ashland before they drive down to San Diego a week from Friday. Busy future for Lisa.

FAMILY REUNIION ---MORE PHOTOS

I am sure there are a few more pictures you would like. I'll try to find them ( and then go to bed).

FAMILY REUNION SATURDAY EVENING

Ron and I with the help of Kerry, Donna, Mikaila, and Christie set up the tables in the afternoon ing the Deanza Clubhouse. It was the larger clubhouse so there was plenty of room for everyone. The dinner started at 6:00. We had excellent barbecuers and a fabulouse potluck of side dishes.

But best of all was the company. After dinner we held hands in a prayer circle of 101 people and prayed for Aunt Jeannie. Just over the weekend we found out that she is having some trouble with her lungs. It has us all a bit frightened and tests are being run to find out what the problem might be. None of Mike Cosley's family attended as they are all supporting Mike and Jeanne. All of them were really missed.

I have included as many pictures of the event as I could tonight. It was quite successful I believe. Those who couldn't attend were dearly missed.

FAMILY REUNION 2005 SATURDAY MORNING

In the early morning Ron, Steve, and Dan went golfing. I wandered over to the campsite to check on everyone. People were only beginning to arise around 9:00, except those assigned to the babies.

Anyway we all eagarly awaited the arrival of Mom and Dad (Grandpa and Grandma) to some of you blog readers. It only seemed truly right when they arrived escorted by Uncle Dave. Now the picture was complete. The major part of the day was once again spent visiting. Even my mom's sister, Aunt Dorothy, joined us. So much wonderful family everywhere, young people, older people and absolutely everyone in between.

FAMILY REUNION 2005 FRIDAY

It is difficult to know where to begin. But I guess I will start with Friday. We left at 6:00 am. We hit McDonald's for lunch. Lisa brought a friend, Natalie. She's been nearly a family member for eight years now. When we arrived we checked into the hotel.

At the campground we found the Dicksons, David III, Kim, Chloe, Melissa, Matt and Angela all settled in. Lisa and Nat had lots of help setting up their little pup tent. Soon after Steve arrived with Ryan and Kim. We hung out and visited. Brad, Angie's boyfriend, drove down for the evening and we all loved seeing him. We roasted hot dogs, ate snacks, drank wine or beer depending on your tastes.

We missed terribly our absent loved ones and you know who you are.

PREPARING FOR THE FAMILY REUNION

Well it's Thursday here and we are getting ready to head south tomorrow. I'm packing. Lisa's grabbing her bag and Ron is starting to load the car. It should be a fun weekend. Lisa's friend, Natalie, will be joining us. We hope to leave early in the morning.

This evening we had dinner at the Mongolian Barbecue. Yummy! Then Lisa and I went downtown to try a new favorite ice cream of hers. It is called KahluaCrunch. Ashland on a summer night is just heavenly.

ONE RELAXING SUNDAY

Hello there. I am a little late getting this blog out.
I am also uncertain how to inject the photos and text and all. As you can probably see something changed this time. Anyway, yesterday a beautiful deer wandered into our back yard. That was just before Ron and Rick started their little chipping game. Ron has quite the layout set up there for many family competitions. While they did that May spent at least six houre on the Sims game.

In the evening when Lisa got off work we took everyone to the Olive Garden for Rick and May's anniversary which was last week. But we enjoyed celebrating anyway, as you can see. You and Ron are next, Amy. May loved the after dinner mints so much so asked for some extra and received 15. The rest of our night was spent seeing BUBBA HO TEP, a rather bizarre and still entertaining movie. I don't necessarily reccomend it although Ron burned a copy. He must have really liked it.

FUN DAY WITH RICK AND MAY

Rick and May arrived last night around 10:30. They had some pizza and we stayed up talking until nearly 2:00am. This morning we had coffee/tea at you-know-where. That's right, Starbucks.
After that we hit some Thrift stores. Rickand May are amazing in a Thrift store. They can find the best stuff. They have such flare and style. They always find some unique item that would be a zillion dollars somewhere else. I love watching them at work. Rick even finds things to sell on E-Bay.

Then this afternoon we attended a birthday party with some dear friends. It was a pool party at Dick and Sue Chambers for Dick's birthday. Rick and Lisa spent some time in the pool. The guy in the pool with Lisa is Dan Chambers, a lifelong friend of Angie's.

When we returned home everyone went to the family room to play computer and Playstation games and they remain there still. The computer game is The Sims and the Playstation is Maestro or any number of sports games. A good time was had by all.

A REALLY NICE THURSDAY

Today after Mass Ron and I took a walk through Lithia Park. This has to be my favorite local place for a stroll especially on a hot summer day. It is so cool in so many ways. When we were done we stopped by Starbucks. On my return home I did some light housecleaning. With that I had worked up an appetite so we headed out for some Thai food----Pad Thai, Thai ice tea and even a little very spicy Kung Pao chicken.

This evening Lisa is organizing all her stuff for her return to college. She heads south once again in three weeks. This saddens me, of course. It is probably her last summer at home. She hopes to travel abroad once she graduates.

Over due Pictures

Ok, I meant to post these sea lion photos once before. It may be difficult to see the sea lions because they are all asleep on the beach across the inlet. (Enlarging might help).

Also Ron wanted to share pictures of his Volvo convertible to those of you who might have missed seeing it. It is his mid-life crisis vehicle. And I must admit it the perfect car for driving along the Oregon coast. The experience was marvelous.

Other than that our daily lives have been pretty routine. We did see BATMAN BEGINS today. And actually that movie was pretty good.