Sunrise Service on the Deck

It seems to becoming a tradition at our little Church to have our Easter morning sunrise service on the deck. I think we figured that is must be the 8th or 9th year that we have done this. We skipped one year because it was an early easter and the weather reports said it was going to be cold...but it was a beautiful day so from now on...despite the weather you'll find us all on the deck Easter morning. We had a good crowd of 78 people attend (our record attendance was 89). We have a potluck brunch after
the services. You just can't beat it. One of the best parts
is the fact that we get people from all over who attend. This year
we had a family from Wisconsin who were staying in the area.
We always enjoy seeing our friends from out of town. We have
one couple who comes from LaGrande each year (Hi Cliff and Dorothy). And church friends who have moved away (good to see you Pam and Ryan).
If you are ever in the area this time of year you are welcome to join us!

Easter Preparation

It is amazing that we only have one small boy to hunt eggs this year, yet we colored and decorated over 70 eggs!! I would suspect that maybe we have too much fun! Lisa brought mimosas and we stained our fingers blue!!

The weather was perfect, we did the dirty work out side. We had so many eggs left over that I had to make a jar of pickled eggs. Not actually my favorite but I thought I would give it a try.

March 4-Wheeler Trip up Windy Ridge

We had a wonderful day with some great friends from Boise, as we took our 4 wheelers up Windy Ridge to check out the fantastic view and to hopefully see some wildlife. We took this picture of the Oxbow, and up on top we posed with this old car. We had fun speculating how and why it was up there! We had a picnic overlooking the snake river and even pinked our cheeks from the warm sunshine! We saw lots of deer, sage grouse, an owl and finally on the way back down the hill, we finally spotted a herd of elk across the Indian Creek Drainage. It was the most perfect day!!

The Best of Times!

Mostly this last year we did lots of boating on the river. This picture shows a summer shower in the evening on the river. Patrick is paddling one of the kayaks and is getting wet!! We spend as many evenings on the boat as possible. We have a pontoon party barge we have christened "The Don". (there is a story behind the name).

We fish for bass, crappie, bluegill, perch and catfish and mostly just have fun and relax with family and friends. Count this an your open invitation to go boating!! Come visit!!

Trip to Wyoming

We were able to take a motorcycle trip to meet Terrys sister Carol and her husband Ken in Wyoming in Aug/Sep of this past year. We met in the middle, so to speak, since Carol and Ken live in Des Moines IA. We stayed in Saratoga Wy and toured around that part of the state, then into Colorado by Steamboat then on to S.Dakota Sturgis, Mt Rushmore area, then to Devils Tower. After our tour together we headed home via Yellowstone. Terry and I ran with a herd of buffalo just inside the east entrance of the park. That was quite an experience, riding along eye to eye with the buffalo, you can see their breath as they huff and puff along. It was almost too close if you know what I mean. There isn't much between you and the buffalo when you are on a motorcycle. IT was as great trip and we enjoyed our time with Ken and Carol immensely.

More Fire Pictures

The planes flew over our house and dropped retardant to keep the blaze from reaching the structures. The house, shed, garage, all the outbuilding etc, were covered with red goo. The one picture show a friend who was helping fight fire running down the driveway. The fire crews wanted everyone to evacuate the "hot spot" areas. I evacuated the pets, and valuables and most of the vehicles down the road to the park. Terry and Steve stayed behind to water things down but when it got hot we had to run...The guys ended up on the deck when the planes dumped retardant and that pretty much cooled things down. We spent the night at the house yet, though the pasture was still flaming in spots but mostly downed trees etc that were left to burn. We struggled with this fire for 5 days as it ate it's way down the canyon to my mother's house, my grandmothers house, my sisters house and on down past Homestead where some family friend live. Each of us taking turns with hoses, fire lines and evacuation. Then when the fire passes our home, we breath a sigh of relief and start the process of getting things back up and running. We were without power (some of us) for about 4 days. It kinda plays havoc with your refrigerated and frozen stuff!! We had to replace melted irrigation and water lines and wait for new wooden power poles etc. It was quite the ordeal. But no structures were lost and no one was seriously injured.

Fire in the Canyon

We had such a terrible fire in the Canyon this last July. It was started by lightening strikes and by the time it was contained, it had scorched over 60,000 acres. It was burning right up to our back fences, and the smoke filled the canyon for weeks. You couldn't see down river or even across the river on some days. It was quite a terrifying experience, but the fire crews from BLM, Forrest Service and other Structure crews from all over the state were fantastic! Our daughter Melissa worked for the Northeast Oregon Fire Dispatch out of La Grande, OR during this fire. You could hear her over the radios of the fire crews as info was being passed on and directions given. It was a very anxious time for her as well, since she knows who lives in all these houses that the crews are fighting to protect.

I will post the picture of the B & B with the fire raging in the background.