First post of 2011........

Well, we made it through all the birthdays and into the new year! Not too much going on around here other than just enjoying life and waiting for some better weather. It's been cold with just a little snow. The last week or so has warmed up into the 50's with lots of rain.

I went out in the yard last week to get a few pictures of our feathered friends that have hung around through the winter.
Below a fearless little bird with a short song. The black capped chickadee.

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Below: We have lots of these, Oregon juncos or dark eyed juncos.

Below is the spotted towhee, one of the few birds with a red eye.

One of my favorites is the nuthatch pictured below. They dart in and grab sunflower seeds all day long.

Everyone is doing well. Lorelei went to see the dermatologist and she has one spot they are watching and they froze a few others.She is still subbing in the school district. Adam is doing well with his new job and his music. Jon is going to the local community college and still working at the grocery store in Amity. He is still considering transferring to Seattle Pacific. Cody is working hard at his chess game (I can tell you he is now a very tough opponent) the regional tournament is in a couple of weeks and he has his sights set on qualifying for the state tournament this year. I am still hobbling around the basketball court a couple of nights each week. I need to get some more trees cut in the coming months. The orchard needs some work and the garden needs some tending.
The chickens are giving us lots of eggs. Queenie is doing ok. She has a growth on her underside that has us a bit worried. We will take her in and let the vet look at it in the next few weeks.

That's about it for now!
Glynn Jr.

Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010 was fun and relaxing. Below Jon and Corina bake us up some cookies.

Lot's of chess playing. Below Adam and Jon locked in a close battle.

We played a game of Risk. We talked Pam into playing with us. She said "I don't know how to play". Yeah right! She whipped all of us and took over the world.

 

 Christmas morning, Pam is excited about the camera that Adam got her.

  Here I am with my new hat, Lorelei said it was about time I had a new one?? I like my old hat, but the new one is nice too. I also got a gun, some waterproof camouflage pants and a new basketball! What more does a middle aged man need?

  Lorelei checking out her new stereo.

  Jon with some tea.

  Cody got a new Bible.

 Adam and Cody having a juggling contest (you don't get the idea that we are competitive do you?)

Then it was time for a serious picture. Left to Right, Lorelei, me, Adam, Pam, Cody, Corina, Jon

And then someone got the idea of getting a picture of us jumping???

A fun day for sure! You can see all the pictures HERE

Birthdays and more birthdays......

Haven't taken any pictures for the past few weeks so I will dig up a few older ones to use here this time. Jon's birthday was the end of Nov. Lorelei's was the 4th of Dec. and Adam's is coming up on the 17th.

For Lorelei's birthday I took her in to Salem and we did Christmas shopping and found her a pair of shoes. We went to McGrath's Fish House for dinner. Lorelei had king crab legs....oh my what a fun mess she made!

Last Saturday we drove 40 miles to Tigard to watch Adam play in the band at church. Then we all went out to dinner at Newport Bay. Adam will be 21 on the 17th! The picture below is a few years old.

Cody is doing well in the 7th grade. His winter music recital is Thursday night so we are looking forward to that. He is also working hard at his chess game. He really wants to qualify for the state tournament this year.

Things around the place are progressing slow! Been cutting back and thinning out some trash trees and hawthorne's but I need to get some bigger trees cut also. I will get the calendars finished up this week so will give me some more time.

Animals are doing well and we are getting plenty of eggs from the chickens. A couple of weeks ago Lorelei decided Queenie needed a bath but it was too cold to do it outside so we put her in the bathtub.....wow what fun that was......not. Lorelei then got the hair clippers and started trimming her....well she was real clean and looking good until we let her outside.

That's about all for now!
Glynn Jr.

Thanksgiving 2010......

Not a typical Thanksgiving for us this year. The week before Thanksgiving I spent curled up in a ball writhing in pain with a kidney stone. After trying some internet remedies and taking one of my last pain pills, Lorelei laid her hands on me and prayed. I closed my eyes on that Friday night and figured that on Saturday I would have no choice but to check into the hospital. I awoke the next morning pain free and have been so since.

During the same week I got a call early one morning and my dad told me that my grandma had passed away during the night. It was not unexpected but it's always a blow to lose a loved one. My beautiful grandma was 95.

On Saturday the 21st my dad called to tell me the services for Grandma would be on Wed. in southern CA. My first thought was to drive so as not to be under the control of the TSA in case I had trouble with a kidney stone. But the weather for Oregon and northern CA was looking cold and icy so Lorelei went on the hunt for a deal to fly down.

So Tuesday morning we awoke to a frozen winter wonderland here in the northwest. Reports of icy roads on the radio prompted me to wake Lorelei earlier than anticipated in case we ran into trouble on the way to the airport. We loaded up and headed out before daylight. We actually made good time with only a few slow downs. We had plenty of time to relax at the airport and grab a bite to eat before boarding our plane.

Because of the storm there were some really cool cloud formations.

We flew into LAX, picked up a rental car and made our way through horrendous traffic to our hotel room in Orange CA. I still can't figure out where 6 stop and go lanes of people could possibly be going at 3:00 on a Tuesday afternoon?

On Wednesday morning we got up and drove to Laguna Hills to have breakfast with Lorelei's sister Penny.

The service for Grandma was Wednesday afternoon and what a wonderful service it was. Grandma was loved by all and there were many tears of joy and sorrow as we remembered her life. After the services we went to my aunt's for fellowship and dinner.
Below my aunt Cheryl and friends.

My aunt Jeanette and my cousin Mary Jo

Add Lorelei and I to the mix and you get the pic below.

Okay from L to R Lorelei, Glynn Jr., Cheryl, Bob, Jeanette, Glynn Sr., Franci and Mary Jo!

Mary Jo's husband Kevin was kind enough to take most of the pictures of all the family. Thanks Kevin!

Thanksgiving morning saw us roll out of bed early to make our way back to the airport. Our schedule was to fly out of LAX at around 12:30 to Seattle then a 3 hour layover and back to Portland arriving around 7:00 p.m! So our Thanksgiving meal this year was a pizza at the airport. We still stopped and said grace thanking the Lord for all that is ours. It wasn't the Thanksgiving that we had planned but we made the most of it and it was good to see family that we had not seen in some time.

At home we enjoyed the company of our three boys. Adam was home from Portland with his girlfriend Pam. We had missed Jon's birthday on Tuesday so we invited Jon's girlfriends parents and siblings over for dinner on Saturday night. Corina's mom and dad had all of our boys over for Thanksgiving and it was such a comfort knowing they were well taken care of in our absence. We had a great meal and good fellowship.

Glynn Jr.