The stories of August--Part 1

As you can tell by my recent silence, life has been a bit too hectic to blog. So I'll back up to the beginning of August and go from there. Luckily for you I have such a bad memory that even just a month ago is ancient history, so not too terribly many details will be included.

Below on the right is my nephew Lucas sitting on our back deck with his girlfriend Kristen and their friend Joe. They were on a road trip from Texas, by way of Las Vegas, and heading for the California Coast (esp. Monterey and Big Sur, Lucas' old stomping grounds), then to New Mexico and finally back to Texas in time for the next semester of school to start.




While they were here we did what we all do best--sit around drinking beer, telling old stories and eating good food. Meanwhile, Ben's other grandparents, the brave ones, had taken him off onto their own road trip, also to Monterey, where they moved here from. It was a chance for Ben to meet the rest of the family and to see his cousin Jakob. It was a chance for Maya and Eder to do whatever the heck they wanted, which included not watching Sponge Bob for an entire week.




Lucas, Joe and Kristen had spent the day playing frisbee golf at the Willamette Park, just around the corner from our house. And the day before they had gone up the coast, just west of Portland, and surfed all day. So they were tired bunnies.




And Maya has spent her days giving 65 employees her undivided attention, so for some reason, she was tired too. Go figure.




I love so much the big shaded comfort of our backyard. I love having space to have everyone over. It's wonderful having company drop in and share our lives for a while. Just about the same time that Lucas, Kristen and Joe were heading out, Courtney and I took to the road ourselves--off to California for his son Jer's wedding and a trip to Bloomfield. That story next,

Valori