Oregon Get-away: Letter to my sisters March 2013

OREGON GET-AWAY FOR SISTERS MARCH 2013

Dear Sisters,

We had a WONDERFUL, relaxed time at our little Oregon Get-Away this year, and I thought I'd re-cap it here--with my usual additional "add-ins"...   :)

On Monday morning, March 4th, we headed to the airport where we all checked in without incident.  (Well, Kathy and Jenni got held up for what seemed like an extra hour to them while waiting to go through Security so that the officials could straighten containers, but that didn't count as a "problem", really!) :)  The six of us traveling from SLC got seats on Southwest Airlines near each other, where we were able to talk with each other across the aisle--DeeAnn, Kathy, and Jenni in one seat, with Janell, Karen, and Darla in the other. 

We arrived in Portland about 10 minutes ahead of schedule and rented a 'cart' for lots of our luggage, then proceeded to the Enterprise Car Rental place where Darla and Kathy rented us a nice roomy Dodge Caravan minivan that we had reserved.  (It ended up costing quite a bit less than we originally thought it would, so that started us off good.)  Oh, and it was even RED--Darla's choice! 

Kamber was flying in from Boise to join us, and her plane came in an hour after ours, so we had a chance to go to a nearby shopping mall and get a few items that we were excited to get.  Kathy and Jenni and DeeAnn got some new luscious-scented Tangerine fragrance lotion and hand soap at Bath and Body Works--(which we were happy to try out for them and benefit from, once we got to our Lincoln City house.)   Darla got some cute things at Ross, and I, Karen, got myself a $74.00 swim suit at Ross's for only $23.00, and Janell found some cute clothes for herself at the Dress Barn.  OH, and Kathy and Jenni discovered some really nice skirts that they're thinking will work well for Julie's wedding!  So we used our time very well while waiting, plus Kamber called and let us know that her plane arrived early, too, so she was waiting for us outside the airport as we drove back over to pick her up.

Setting off for the Coast, we decided to look for someplace to eat and followed the GPS to a nice Olive Garden Restaurant, somewhat off the beaten path.  (It may not really have been out-of-the-way, but it sure SEEMED like it as we drove for 2 1/2 hours to get to our destination!) :)  The Olive Garden was a good choice for our lunch because it satisfied us all very well!  We sat across from some little "Red Hat Society" ladies, and then had a waitress take a picture of us just as we were leaving.

We really appreciated Darla driving us all the way there, and were happy that the rest of us didn't have to do the driving.  I LOVED the picturesque views as we drove--the rolling hills, the orchards and farms, the velvety-looking tree-trunks all covered in moss as we got closer to our destination, and the scenic tumultuous rushing streams and creeks we drove alongside.  

Upon arriving at our Shoreline Chateau beach house--which was VERY easy to find--we were all enchanted with the gorgeous view of the magnificent ocean just as we entered the house.  The windows were huge--all the way from the ceiling to the floor--and they provided many hours of ocean-watching for us during the days ahead.  I had examined the house "on-line" many times, so as I first entered it and looked around, I was a bit apprehensive--afraid that we weren't going to like it very well.  But after being there just a little while, I decided it was just as it looked on the internet, and it was just FINE.  I think we all really liked the house a lot. 

We had a nice, comfortable living room downstairs and even a quaint little living area UP stairs, complete with a microwave, fridge, sink, counters and cabinets.  On the main floor we had a very nice dining room--separate from the other rooms, as well as a convenient kitchen, bathroom and big bedroom, and a wonderful fireplace that looked inviting and kept us cozy.  Upstairs was a bathroom, a nice king bedroom, plus a queen bedroom just off a third bedroom that had three twin beds.  The arrangement worked out great for the group we had with us, and I personally really enjoyed my "room-with-a-view".  (That first night we were there, I got up at least half a dozen times just so I could look out the window and see that gorgeous ocean!)

When we first arrived on Monday evening around 4:30 or 5, we just relaxed and got settled in for an hour or so.  Some of our group eagerly scurried down to the beach because it felt good just to BE there--so close to the ocean with only 29 stairs to the sand. 

We decided on a place to eat that first evening and headed out to Mo's across town.  The atmosphere at Mo's isn't so marvelous, but the food is pretty good, and the VIEW is fantastic.  DeeAnn and I ordered homemade bread and we each received two GIANT thick slices of delicious homemade bread along with our clam chowder.  At the end of the meal, I shared a generous serving of blackberry cobbler topped with ice cream, and we all had a fun time being at Mo's.

We stopped at a grocery store on our way back to our home and loaded up on groceries.  I said to one of my sisters, "You know, we are likely going to spend about $75 on these groceries, so that will just make it about $10 each when we divide it up."  But we all chose important grocery stuff that we were going to want to use during the next several days, so our total bill came to OVER $150!!  It was a fun little shopping trip, but we were all so tired we felt like we were about to drop!  We bought popcorn, rootbeer, hot chocolate, crackers and cheese, lunchmeat and bread, milk and cereal, cookies and chips and all kinds of goodies!  We even bought a great big delicious German Chocolate Cake and GooGoo Cluster Icecream!!

Tuesday morning I was so excited to be there that I woke up at 6:00 a.m. and got dressed really quickly and put on my make-up and did my hair almost before anyone in the whole house got up.  I had looked out the window many times the night before, and I had watched a Helicopter go over the ocean several times.  The next morning I found that it was a Search and Rescue Helicopter, and it circled regularly while we were there.  The morning was nice and clear with a bank of clouds in the distance, and since I was all alone in the house, I took 43 pictures of the ocean and the inside of the house.  I then went into the kitchen and started breakfast but had to hold off on making it till everyone woke up.

Kamber woke up and got in the hot tub, so I took a couple pictures of her and stood out on the deck and talked with her for awhile.  That silly little thing got out of the hot-tub and ran down the steps to the beach in just her swimming suit and out to the ocean--where she got IN the icy water of the ocean, then ran back and got back in the hot tub!

That was too much excitement for me, so I went back inside and cooked some biscuits and gravy and Darla fixed some eggs and apples and orange juice.  Everyone came down and ate and we sat and talked afterward and had a very enjoyable 'first morning'.

The day turned into a drizzly rain, so we left around noon and took a fun long drive--first going to a nearby settlement called Neskowin where we got out and walked down to the beach.  Several of our group found a little cave carved into a big rock on an island, and after exploring the cave, we took off for Pacific City and Cape Kiwanda.  We took pictures of a great big Hay Stack Rock (and found that there is a Hay Stack Rock at Cannon Beach, also.)  We went into a little Thrift Store and found a few treasures, and stopped at a convenience store for a bathroom and goodies, then continued with our drive, enjoying the ocean and the sights as we drove.

We decided to try to eat our evening meals early rather than later so we would have more time left over in the evenings for playing games and watching movies, so we headed to Kyllo's about 4:30 or 5 and each of us had a delicious dinner there while observing the ocean out the huge windows.  I had fish and chips and clam chowder, with marionberry pie and icecream for dessert.  Everyone had a good time being there and enjoying each others' company, and we all really liked the food and ambience.    We had a waitress take some pictures of us, but the pictures turned out pretty dark and not too clear.

Even though it was still pretty early when we got back to the house, we all moved kinda slow like as if we were tired, but we were all enthusiastic to play a couple games and watch a movie.  So we played two games Janell had brought--one called "Spot It" and one called "Reverse Charades", and watched a Cary Grant/Irene Dunn movie before hitting the hot tub then heading to bed.  Jenni did not feel at all well this night, so she headed to bed early and got a good night's sleep and was able to get up and feel better the next morning.  Kamber and I didn't get to bed till after 1:00 because she sat and read to me a couple more chapters out of her "Rounds 1,2,&3" book--(which I very much enjoyed!)

Wednesday morning several of us got in the hot tub right off.  It was drizzling rain while we sat in the hot-tub, so even though I kept my hair in rollers, I had to use the blow-dryer on it when I got in the house.  Several of us sat and visited with each other as the morning went along and some went walking on the beach.  DeeAnn fixed us a lovely breakfast of waffles, bacon, fruit and juice and all kinds of good stuff.  Others may have helped her, but I'm not sure who, so I won't name names.  But I sure liked the way everyone pitched in and cleared off and cleaned up so quickly each day after breakfasts were over.

We used our mornings just for relaxing and 'doing our own thing', so we headed out about 12:30 for Newport.  As we were nearing the south end of Lincoln City, Darla said she wanted to go in a gun store for five minutes just to check on something, so Kathy went in with her and the rest of us sat in the car.  After about 20 minutes, they came back out of the store and we headed on to Newport.  (I just had to put that time-frame in because we all teased her about her "five minutes".)  :)

On the way to Newport, we stopped and spent a nice long time in Depot Bay where we walked down the sidewalks and checked out the little shops along the main street, shopping and buying souvenirs and fun gifts for ourselves and for each other.  We ate fries, nachos, hot dogs, and ice cream at a little shop we've been to before.  There's a sign on the outside of the shop that says, "Come in for Free Samples of our almost-famous Clam Chowder."  We all had free samples and thought it was pretty good, (but we tasted better while we were on the Coast...)

In Newport, the day was pretty cold and drizzly and windy so it wasn't very nice weather conducive to enjoying being out in it.  We did check out the sea lions on the wharf, though, and walked down the streets to the Leather Shop where some of us bought extra luggage, and to the Souvenir Stores and the candy stores, etc. and had a pretty nice time.  We ended up at Georgie's Restaurant about 5:30 or 6, and were seated by the window where we watched the ocean and enjoyed a wonderful dinner.  We started with appetizers, and I really liked the artichoke crab fondue with bread cubes, plus I had fish and chips again and delicious clam chowder and a fantastic marionberry pie alamode!  (The rest of you probably had really great stuff that you would like to have mentioned, but since I am the one writing this--I only tell about what I had!!  ...sorry!)  :)

Wow--I don't remember WHAT everyone did that night.  I know I got in the hot tub again, but it seems like we didn't actually do much together as a group that night.  Maybe we sat and talked, or something, but I think it was a bit late and no one played games or anything.  If any of you remember differently--be sure to let me know and I'll add that in here for future reference.  'k??  Oh--I just remembered one thing we DID do--we all sat around that beautiful big dining table in those heavy wrought-iron chairs eating luscious German chocolate cake and Goo Goo Cluster ice cream!!

We woke up Thursday to a beautiful, sunny day!!  I sat and watched the ocean for a nice long while, then got dressed for the day--putting on my make-up, combing my hair and finding the whole house still and quiet as a mouse.  All but Darla, that is.  I looked out the front door and could see Darla in the car about ready to drive away.  I frantically tried to open the door so I wouldn't get left behind, but I made it outside just as she was driving away and I thought maybe everyone had left me!  (I forgot that I had just seen Janell, DeeAnn, and Kamber sound asleep upstairs...)  Darla had just quickly driven to the store to get some pretty flowers to place in our vase and she wasn't gone for very long at all.  After bringing in the flowers and some items for smoothies, she went back to the store a few minutes later to get a gallon of milk and some hash-browns for breakfast.

Kathy and Jenni got up and went for a walk on the beach.  I think Janell and Darla did, too.  Kamber talked me into going on a nice long walk on the beach with her and we met Kathy and Jenni coming back from having walked to the little "mountain" that was over to the right of our beach, where they had explored the rocks for awhile.  It was such a nice beautiful sunny day, that people were removing their jackets and enjoying shirtsleeve weather!

After our walk, Kamber got in the hot tub and I think others joined her, but I went in and fixed some pancakes and hash-browns for our breakfast.  We sat and ate and talked for a nice long time and leisurely enjoyed our morning.  Our breakfast conversations were so varied and interesting that we didn't exactly like to get up and get moving.  While others were getting dressed and ready for the day, I went out in the front yard and called Dennis.  (Oh--there was one drawback to being in the house--our cell phones couldn't get good reception--so we all had to go outside to use our phones!)  Just as I called Dennis, he was going into the public library in Blackfoot, so he gave the phone to Janis, (who works at the library), so I could ask her about her daughter Hailey, who was in the hospital about to have a premature baby.  Janis told me that Hailey is just hanging on--hoping her little boy baby will hold on for awhile longer before getting born.

It was after 1:30 before we got away from our Shoreline Chateau.  I called the A-1 Beach Rental Agency and was granted permission for us to go down the 114 stairs to the beach and tide pools behind the Pirate's Look-out house where we've stayed in years past.  It was Low Tide so we were able to go way far out on the rocks to see the tide pools and observe little creatures in the water.  Kathy got a star-fish and held it up for picture-taking, then put it back where it came from.  Kamber helped me get out onto the rocks so I could be a part of the excitement, then she helped me back across the rocks when it was time to leave.  DeeAnn helped me a lot, too, and she even caught me just as I was ready to fall, so I certainly appreciated both of them working with me so well.  While we were all checking out the tide pools, Darla was back at the gun store, checking out guns for Larry.  (She took a little more than 5 minutes, so we were glad she had let us out at the tide pools...)  :)

Then we went to Tanger Outlet Mall where we each went our separate ways--shopping for whatever interested us.  The Van Heusen store had some great sales on womens' sweaters and things, so Darla and Kamber and I spent quite awhile there, trying things on and actually buying things.  Just as several were getting in the car to head to Walgreen's, I spied a $110 jacket that I hurried and bought at the Bass Store for Dennis for just $23.10!!  Wasn't that a great deal??!  We got a few tee shirts at Walgreens, then went back to the outlet mall and picked up the last of our group and headed to Depot Bay to eat at the Tidal Rave's Restaurant.

We had a wonderful seat at the Tidal Rave's--looking right out at the swirling waters of the ocean--with the cliff's over on our right--where the Inn at Arch Rock is perched.  We took several pictures of a gorgeous sunset out those huge windows and ordered our dinner just as the sun was going down.  Superior paid for our very expensive meal that night--for which we are all very grateful!!  I really loved my meal that night--but I would like to have had a bit MORE of it!  I ordered Mahi Mahi in curry sauce served over coconut rice with oriental vegetables.  And my dessert was just heavenly!!  Apple Nut Cake with Caramel Sauce rounded out my meal, and I just LOVED it!!  (I was perfectly fine without marionberry pie for once!) :)

We spent a long time dining and just enjoying ourselves, then arrived back at our home after 8:30.  For awhile we just lazed around, realizing that it was our very last night at our lovely beach-house, then decided to play a couple games.  We played "Spot It" and laughed a lot, then played "5 Straight"--even though we were really tired.  It got later and later, but Kam put on "Pride and Prejudice" and we sat and watched (or listened through dozing eyes), to the Proposal scene, then headed to bed or to various activities.  Kathy, DeeAnn, Darla and Kamber got in the hot tub around midnight and had fun talking and laughing and looking at the marvelous star-studded sky.  There were so many ships out on the water with their lights shining through the black night, that it looked almost like a little city out there on the ocean!   I went to my room and did most of my packing, and the others hit the sack.  I didn't get to bed till after 1:00 a.m. again, but I slept really well that night.

Friday morning Darla and others cleaned out the fridge and cupboards so we could leave, and everyone ate left-over items and fixed our own desired breakfast.  The day was sunny and bright and WARM--and it was the very best day since we had arrived!!  Too bad we had to leave!!

But leave we did.  We left the house about 11:30 and headed to Portland.  Along the way, we stopped at a little gas station and looked at a map and got directions for the airport.  Janell bought us some delectable little delicacies--lemon bars, tarts, and such, and they tided us over till we got close to the airport and stopped at a Sizzler for lunch.  Most of us ordered the Salad Bar for lunch, and we had a friendly little waitress named Kathy who took good care of us.

We dropped Kamber and Janell off at the airport a bit early.  Kamber had a plane out to Boise and it left a couple hours earlier than our plane to Salt Lake.  Janell caught a plane to California.  Her uncle had passed away on the very first day she arrived at the beach, so she flew into California for the Saturday funeral.  The other five of us went back over to the mall and let DeeAnn buy a new piece of luggage at Ross's so she could get all her carry-on's into a bag that could be checked.  We then went to the airport early and turned in our car and leisurely strolled through the Security line and felt glad that we had plenty of time to spare.  While we sat and waited for our plane, some of us enjoyed Baskin-Robbins ice cream cones.  I even got to have a Black Walnut ice cream, so I was in 7th heaven!! :)

Our trip back to Salt Lake went very smoothly and we all dozed or talked with each other or looked at magazines.  The airline hostess was kind enough to give us two   drinks each direction--on the way there and on the way back.  When we got to the airport, Jenni went on ahead of us to the carousel, and had pulled off all our luggage and had it waiting for us.  Our husbands all came really promptly and picked us up and even acted like they had MISSED us!!  :)

This concludes the write-up about our wonderful, fun, memorable trip to the Oregon Coast!!  I think we all really enjoyed ourselves and made great memories. I hope you all know that I appreciate so very much you putting up with me and with my peculiarities and unconventional behavior..  (I WAS going to say my idiosyncrasies, but I was afraid you wouldn't know what I was meaning....) :)  I know I say and do things "out of line" sometimes, but you are all really good to still like me ANYWAY, and to still help me with things and to still treat me good and friendly.  I love you all so very much and appreciate all you did to humor me and help me have a good time.  Thank you, thank you for being such wonderful friends of mine.  You are all just SO GOOD!!  I really enjoyed feeling of your sweet spirits!!

Lots of Love to you from your OLDEST Sister (and aunt and mother....),

Love, Karen                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Making new posts

Wade's showing mom how easy it is to make posts on her blog! woot! Soon we will be getting regular updates from our mother figure!

*wade.

Nothing New....

I just thought I'd write a little note to tell anyone who happens to go into my blog from time to time, that I'm very sorry I don't WRITE much in here. I don't remember how to insert pictures, and I figure that if I just write tons of stuff down with NO pictures, it'll likely be boring to people. Also, I've started to write things in here a few times and can't figure out how to actually POST what I've written, so I'm just about to 'throw in the towel' on blogging!!

Meanwhile, the main way I can get into OTHER peoples' blogs is by having a blog of my own, so---if you come into this site expecting to see something written.....Sorry.

(I AM having a good year, though, and I LOVE reading all YOUR blogs!!)

Trip with Sisters to the Oregon Coast

April 2, 2009 To anyone who's interested....I haven't done Blogging properly because I still don't know HOW! But during February this year, my sisters and I---all FIVE of us---went on a little trip to the Oregon Coast and I wrote a narrative about it, and decided to publish it here in this blog. I don't have any pictures available to enter along with my write-up, though, so if you're interested in seeing pictures, sorry......it's just words. (I didn't have a camera with me---what a bummer!!)Originally I sent this writing as a letter to my sisters, so they've all read it, but my son Wade talked me into putting it here, so he transferred it over onto my blog site so that HE can read it when he gets home tonight. We had a WONDERFUL time, so if you're interested in knowing what we did....here goes:

My Dear Sisters---Robin, Darla, DeeAnn, and Kathy….

Wasn’t our little Oregon Coast Getaway Vacation FUN?? Didn’t we have a GREAT Time??? What WONDERFUL MEMORIES we’ll now have, eh?? I just wanted to write a little letter and tell all of you THANKS SO VERY MUCH for putting this together and helping me have such a good, good time!! I LOVED it!! Initially, the trip was a little ‘get-away’ we were giving our sister Robin, but it turned out wonderfully fun for ALL of us!!

Our Kathy Rae sister originally came up with the idea of having the “Sisters’ Getaway”, I think, and I’m grateful to her (you, Kath) for putting all those fun ideas into our heads! And Kathy worked really hard on making sure we had 6 names temple-ready so we could take them through for their endowments, and what a LETDOWN it was that we couldn’t do the work for them!! That would have been SO GREAT!! (Ruth was going to come with us, but wasn’t able to right there at the last….Sorry we missed you, Ruth!)

I hope you all know that I LOVED being with you, and I LOVED where we were! Wasn’t it FUN?? Too bad we don’t do something like that once a MONTH, eh?? I started this little letter the very week we got back from being on our “Getaway”, but now it’s the last part of March, and I still feel like I want to kinda re-cap the trip we took, so at this point, I plan to write down the happenings of the whole thing, through MY eyes….(and if anyone wants to add to or take away anything, you’re sure welcome to do it! J) We’ll pretend like someone is reading this who had nothing to do with the whole trip..ok??

We started out on the morning of Tuesday February 3rd , having a little bit of a ‘fiasco’ at the Salt Lake City Airport. It was quite an ‘adventure’ all in itself!! Kathy had flown into SLC the day before, on Monday, from Nashville---bringing Mom home after having had her since Christmas time. Kathy was out at DeeAnn’s and they started to get in the car to head to the airport when Kathy realized she had misplaced her drivers license the night before when going to the Mortuary to see a former friend. Well, Kathy and DeeAnn (and the whole family??) searched frantically for over 40 minutes for the license---to no avail.

Meanwhile, Darla and Karen had picked up Robin and all three were waiting at the airport for the plane to take off. We called out to see if DeeAnn and Kathy were on the way and found out the situation. So we said a prayer together---(they’d been having lots of prayers also), and we started talking to people at the ticket counter and called out to tell the other two that they could come on in and use a different form of identification in order for Kathy to travel. So they came.

Getting through Security turned out to not be too big a deal for Kathy ‘cause everyone was very nice and understanding with her—especially seeing as how she was traveling with her 4 sisters who all vouched for her. Plus, she was able to use her state-issued library card and other stuff as identification. (She was SO CUTE, too—I’m sure that helped the authorities be so agreeable…) While we were all concerned about Kathy Rae’s predicament, we didn’t notice the trouble our poor Robin sister was going through—getting through Security. She hadn’t done air-travel for a long time so she wasn’t aware of all the security measures that have been implemented.

So first of all, she bought a great big coke and had to toss it away after only taking a few sips of it, cause they don’t permit us to take anything “liquid” on the plane unless it’s a tiny amount. Since that’s the rule---in her carry-on, she had things that ‘beeped’ and they took away from her a whole bunch of new cosmetic items like hairspray and lotions, etc. that she had just purchased special for the vacation. THAT was really sad, and we all felt bad about that! Plus, she ended up having to continue a searching process because of her bag beeping. (Come to find out later—it was due to a metal rat-tail comb that they never did find!) Finally, they let her come with us, but it seemed almost as though she had to go through worse trouble than Kathy!

Our airplane trip went without a hitch—with the five of us sitting in seats beside and across the aisle from each other---with us all gabbing excitedly to each other. We arrived in Portland and rode on a shuttle over to the Alamo car rental place where we changed clothes, dressing in our Sunday attire to go to the temple. The mini van we rented held 7 passengers, and there were only 5 of us, so it was very comfortable travel. Darla hooked up the GPS she brought with us, (we named it “Ruth”….cause Ruth wasn’t with us…), and at first we couldn’t hear the little lady’s voice very well, so right off the bat we missed our turn onto the freeway and ended up driving miles and miles through town---catching lots of the stoplights red. A couple miles before we got to the temple, we started wondering if they had a cafeteria at the Portland temple, so I called and got a recording that said the temple would be closed until the 24th of February. Too bad for us!! We then drove all around---“Re-Calculating”---looking for a way to get on our proper freeway (and I do mean ‘drove all around’! J), then finally found our proper street and headed on out towards Newport.

Robin spotted a billboard sign for a place called The Newport Seafood Grill, so we headed there and had our first wonderful dining experience. The food was indeed delicious and the atmosphere at that restaurant was very classy. We had a great time, then followed up our meal by changing from our temple-going clothes into more comfortable attire and finding a Wal-Mart where we bought a bunch of goodies (and replaced some of Robin’s tossed-away cosmetic items….) We drove up to the Portland Temple on our way out of town, and had a picture taken of the five of us in front of the closed temple, then headed on our way.

The drive on in to Newport was enjoyable, with Darla behind the wheel most of the way. She was a GREAT driver!! The road from Corvallis on to Newport was really a curvy, winding road, and took longer than we expected, but we arrived at the Embarcadero Resort in the early evening and just LOVED our set-up! The rooms were nice and comfortable with huge windows and a little balcony facing the sparkling blue water of the Bay, with the view of the majestic Newport Bridge in the distance. The room that Kathy and DeeAnn chose was upstairs---a nice kingsize bed in a little suite, with its own bathroom. Attached to the foot of the bed was a big round wooden life-preserver that said in red printing” TWO SISTERS”, so we knew we were staying at the RIGHT PLACE!! Downstairs was a living room, kitchen, dining area and separate bedroom with another kingsize bed. Robin chose to sleep on the futon couch in the living room where the t.v. was, and she had the gorgeous view of the bay out those big picture windows, and Karen and Darla shared the bedroom.

That first evening we arrived, Robin took a little nap while the other four of us went out looking for a place to eat. The hotel lobby had a menu posted for the upstairs dining room, but we didn’t go upstairs and see how perfectly ideal the dining room was for our evening meal, and we wanted a little ‘adventure’ for our first night there, so we drove down to a place that was recommended to us, called Rogue’s Gallery (I think), and ate our dinner there. It was a bit more rowdy than we were looking for, and the food wasn’t too great, but we had a good time laughing and just being together, so it was considered fun. Our trips just aren’t complete without Wal-Mart visits, so we ended by shopping at Wal-Mart for some breakfast food and stuff.

When we got back to our place, Robin was waking up, so we all went upstairs and received a fun gift that DeeAnn had brought for all of us—darling matching pajamas! They had black tee-shirts with a big ‘love heart’ in the center, with pink and black heart p.j. bottoms, and they were SO CUTE! It was just SO THOUGHTFUL of you, DeeAnn to do that!! We put on our matching p.j.’s and sat around in their room, talking till way late in the night—thinking of watching a fun movie, but enjoying our visiting too much to worry about putting in a DVD, (even though DeeAnn had brought a nice selection for us!)

The next morning, Wednesday, dawned bright and sunshiny and beautiful! Kathy had brought some quick-fixin’ sausage gravy mixes from Tennessee, so Karen fixed a delicious breakfast of biscuits and gravy and other fun stuff, and we all sat around the dining table, eating and having a wonderful time. Oh—that was after DeeAnn and Kathy went for a walk on the beach and around our establishment and got all set up for renting crab pots for our future evening adventures. (And maybe Darla went out walking, too---I can’t remember.) (Oh, on second thought….here’s the way I wrote it in the concise little journal entry I made: “Kathy and Dee left for Beach in car. Left Darla home. Karen made delicious biscuits and gravy breakfast.” hmmmm….did you get that….left Darla home. Hmmmm…) J J

This turned out to be a REALLY FUN-PACKED DAY! ☼ ☼ ♫
A little before noon we headed out for ‘parts unknown’, stopping downstairs at the office and gift-store to check out the crab pot, plus we went up and checked out the dining room too, determining that it was exactly where we wanted to come back for afternoon appetizers (when they would all be half-price!) We then took off for Nye Beach and parked the car and got out and walked and walked on the sand, right down to the water. Robin laid on a rock and let the sun shine down on her cause it felt so good and warm. The day was just BEAUTIFUL!! We drove around looking at the sights---finding other stretches of beach that looked gorgeous, winding up at the Yaquina Head Light-House, where we went in for a tour. A lady told us all about the history of the light-house, then we walked up all 116 steps so we could see out the light-house window (and get our “I survived the climb” button.) It was a fun experience and the view was gorgeous!

Meanwhile, Robin stayed out on the parking lot, just walking around seeing things because she didn’t especially like the idea of the light-house climb. She found a set of stairs that wound down to the ocean, and walked down there and explored the place and told us about it when we came out. My goodness—it was a fabulous stretch of beach!! It was 120 steps down, so we walked down all of them, then back UP when we were done. None of us had ever noticed that beach before, but WOW—it was Wonderful!! The tide was out, so the area was exposed, and there was more sea-life in that one big long reef than I’ve ever, ever seen !! We saw tons of colored star fish—bright colors and dull colors---very fascinating! And we saw lovely bright green sea anemones (or however ya spell it…), and little sea crabs and other fun stuff in little tide pools. The wood and rocks on the beach were all smooth and washed clean from being under water so much of the time. Robin picked up a lot of driftwood that looked like petrified wood. We were all pretty fascinated with the beauty of that beach!

As we were leaving the lighthouse area, we stopped at a stop sign and took several pictures of a statue-like seagull that was sitting on the top of the stop-sign. When we got out of the car to take a better picture, the seagull flew away. ( I only mention this to show that it didn’t take MUCH to enthrall and captivate us sisters---we were having so much fun just being together that EVERYTHING was exciting!!!)

After driving around looking more at the ocean and beaches, we headed back to the Embarcadero, and since Darla was driving, she stopped us off at a Thrift Store so we could do a bit of ‘shopping’…me and Robin and Darla, and we hit a good sale. (Yay Darla!) DeeAnn and Kathy drove on over to a Dollar Store across the street to do their ‘shopping’, but we all had fun. I got myself a nice pair of athletic shoes at the thrift store, for only $3.00, and a nice pink sweater, too. Darla got herself a few items to use on her Mediterranean Cruise that was coming up the very next week. Robbie was lost from us the whole time we were in there, and she ended up not getting much at all, but Kathy and Deed came back with a bunch of dollar store ‘goodies’ for us to eat that night.

We made it back to the Bridges Restaurant at our resort, in time to take part in the half-priced “Happy Hour Appetizers”. They were SO GREAT!! We sat in that nice dining room looking out at the beautiful Bay, just as the sun was going down on the water. It was SO pretty, and our food was SO good!! Most all of us ordered a nice big shrimp cocktail, then we ordered plates of the delicious hors d'oeuvres set in front of us so we could all share them----crusted prawns with apricot dip, spring roll (egg rolls) with apricot sauce, chicken wings in a sweet & sour sauce, and something else with a cucumber dip---( I can’t remember what everything was, but I just remember it sure tasted good!)

I guess it was at this point that we picked up our crab ring to go crabbing, because the fish that was to be used for bait, had been kept cold all afternoon. We went to our room and changed our clothes and went to the private on-site crabbing dock out back of the resort, and went Crabbing. (Rob didn’t feel too good at that point, so she rested while we had this interesting adventure.) DeeAnn is the one who had purchased the crab license, but Kathy’s the one who mostly worked with the crabbing. She put the fish out into the ring and tossed the ring out in the water and we waited for 10 minutes and eagerly pulled in the ring. The crabs in the ring were too little. The ‘keepers’ had to be at least the size of a dollar bill—stretched from side to side. A man who was on the dock next to us, kept telling us the rules. I guess we were supposed to figure out the difference in a male and a female, and just keep the males, but after SEVERAL 10 minute intervals of throwing out the crab ring, bringing it in and finding no keepers, we were finally excited to find that there was now a big enough crab to save…and we didn’t care what gender it was!

There were two big pots of water sitting on gas burners, and after the harrowing experience of figuring out how to start the gas burners, we got the water to boiling, tossed in our prize crab, and ran back up to our room to grab butter---using the microwave to turn it into ‘drawn butter’ for eating our delicacy properly. One crab doesn’t feed many, but it was sufficient to whet our appetites for dinner! The whole thing was really fun, but what I think I liked best about the whole affair was the lovely NIGHT that it was! The stars were out and the moon was bright---it even had a complete circle around it---and it was just a wonderful, beautiful night! Us four sisters stood on the dock, laughing and talking and just enjoying being together in the soft lights that surrounded us. Darla was all decked out in super warm clothing---a heavy coat, a big scarf, gloves, and a hat---and the rest of us were in our jackets, cause it was such an unusually warm night. (but Darla had been there just a week or two earlier with Larry when she about froze to pieces, so she was well prepared!! J) It was really a memorable evening. I think about it often, even now.

We ran back up to our room and grabbed our swim suits and went down to the pool and went swimming. But we didn’t actually ‘swim’. A man was there who talked with DeeAnn and Darla about how great God is, and before we knew it, it got too late to do much swimming. But the dressing room was really nice and pleasant, and the sauna felt great for the few minutes we were in it. Robin had stayed up in the room, and when we got back, she was all ready for us to head out to go to dinner. It was a late dinner, but we had a really good time---eating at “Georgie’s”. The restaurant has great big windows that face the ocean, but outside lights weren’t turned on and it was too dark to see the huge waves on the sand, but we could hear ‘em. The food was delicious, and we stayed and ate and talked right up until past closing time. Robin had a rib-eye steak, Kathy had shrimp scampi, Darla had a sautéed seafood combination plate, Dee Ann had mushroom chicken, and Karen had a fried sampler platter. It was all ‘fine dining’, and we had our fill!

We went back to our room and got in our cute little “love jammies” and took pictures of ourselves, by setting the camera up on the counter-top. Then we just laughed and talked and ate and stayed up late and forgot again, to take time to watch the fun movies DeeAnn had brought.

Now what we did this next day---Thursday February 5th--- is a bit ‘hazy’ to me. The weather was very typically Oregon Coast-type rainy weather, and was not nearly as beautiful of a day as we had had before. But it was okay. Our One Day had been unseasonably beautiful, and we were happy. We ate stuff in our condo and Darla took Robin over to get her hair done at a nice beauty salon---(it was a gift from all of us to her cause she said that sounded like fun to her….) and we also took Kathy to see about getting a replacement drivers’ license so she could maybe get on the plane easier next time. (That didn’t materialize, but the guy we talked with was nice and as helpful as he could be…) I don’t remember much of what we did until Robin was finished, but when she was, we went and picked her up and drove down to the bay-front and walked along the little shops there and went in and had a delicious clam chowder lunch at Mo’s. The clam chowder truly WAS wonderful, and we walked along---going into the little shops checking out the souvenir-type items there.

Darla, DeeAnn, and Kathy enjoyed spending lots of their time at the Leather Shop, getting leather products for nice low prices. They even bought extra suitcases so they could take stuff home. Robin and I spent lots of time in a souvenir shop, picking out things to bring home to our grandkids. Later in the afternoon we started for Portland---our stay at the Coast was over. But we had made the most of it, and we were delighted that we had had that whole wonderful time there. Oh, and as we were leaving the condo, out in the parking lot we met the man that had talked in the pool about how wonderful God is to us all. He and his sister and her husband were there, and they believe strongly in family ties, so DeeAnn and Darla gave him a Book of Mormon. He seemed really happy to get it.

We arrived back in Portland at the Residence Inn we had reserved, and after a few funny episodes of trying to find the right unit, we changed our clothes and headed out to the Rheinlander for dinner. Now, this turned out to be a pretty strange experience. Over 30 years ago Dennis and Karen had been to the Rheinlander and had taken Darla there when she was a teenager. It had been a very memorable experience back then, and we figured it was going to be SUPER ENJOYABLE this time!! So Karen made a great big deal of, “Let’s be sure to get back in time to go to the Rheinlander”….and all kinds of stuff like that. Well, we made it there just fine, and it truly was a beautiful little restaurant. But the Prices were exorbitantly HIGH, and the food had names we couldn’t pronounce….so after sitting in the little booth in the cozy German setting, we eagerly got up and changed to the adjoining restaurant…..Gustav’s….where we sat in a Bar-like atmosphere, eating not-quite-as-high-priced food that had weird names that sounded “exciting” for us to give a try, but didn’t taste quite as “exciting” once we dug in. I guess we’re just not German-ish enough to appreciate Genuine Authentic bratwurst, weisswurst, sauerbraten, buttered spaetzel noodles, braised sweet & sour red cabbage, and weinerschnitzel. It all SOUNDS “exciting”, but……hmmmm. I think we were all quite “unimpressed” with how it actually tastes, so I’d like to formally apologize to all you sisters for RUINING our last night there!!! L I’m truly SORRY! It just wasn’t up to our expectations!

Actually, our night wasn’t exactly ‘ruined’….We went back to our rooms at the Residence Inn and packed us up for morning and cooked some microwave popcorn and ate other goodies and had a ‘one-last-night good time’. The nice hot breakfast bar the next morning, served in the dining area of our hotel, sure was great. We enjoyed a somewhat leisurely breakfast and headed on across town for the airport. We left nice and early and didn’t have to rush, and didn’t encounter too many problems upon arriving at the airport. People were really nice with Kathy and let her on the plane without her driver’s license just fine, (but she almost had to produce her Fishing license as proof that she wasn’t a Terrorist.) J

Our flight back to Salt Lake City was rather uneventful. We didn’t all get to sit beside each other that time, and we had to pay $25.00 per bag for that extra luggage we were taking back, but everything went fine and we didn’t have any hitches with our rides home or anything. Shortly after Kathy got back out to DeeAnn’s house, her daughter Jenni said, “I’m going to search your luggage, Mom, and find your driver’s license cause I bet you had it with you all along.” Sure enough---she did! Jenni found it in a little zipper compartment right in Kathy’s purse, and Kathy said she didn’t even know she had that zippered compartment. (Kamber says she believes that angels just come along and put those little zippers in places where they didn’t used to be…..)

Our whole “Sisters Getaway Vacation” turned out to be gloriously fun. We just LOVED being together and seeing and doing all those things. We give sincere thanks to DeeAnn (and Superior Asphalt) for footing the bill for our Embarcadero stay (and to Imperial Asphalt for our Residence Inn stay.) The generosity of those two companies helped us feel lots more at ease about affording the trip. It turned out to be SO FUN, though, that we’re already in the process of planning another getaway like this for NEXT year!! (husbands, beware!!) :) Girls-keep your eyes out for just the RIGHT place for next time. THIS time we sure had the RIGHT place, eh???!! Lots of Love to you ALL---from your Karen Sister (the Oldest!!) :

Christmas Time is SO wonderful!!

Wow--I had to have my son Wade come and show me AGAIN how to post stuff on my own Blog. (They've thought all along that I was pretty 'ditzy', and I guess I AM!!) Anyway---now that I know how, I'll write more often! Today as I write, it's Dec. 23rd.

As for today--it's just a couple days before Christmas and I've had SUCH A WONDERFUL TIME being with all our family members these past few days!! Every one of us were together for a Saturday night Christmas Family Gathering--all 22 of us--and we had a really fun party, so it feels to me almost like Christmas is all OVER!! We ate a delicious cold-cut/appetizer meal--with our traditional Frappe' drink, had a fantastic program featuring all 11 grandchildren in a beautiful Nativity Scene while Grandpa Dennis read the Christmas Story from the Bible, then walked over to great-grandma's house and went Christmas caroling as a group to her and her husband, then came back and unwrapped a tree-full of Christmas Presents for each other. Here's a cute picture of the Nativity--with Moms getting kids ready. (While Grandpa Dennis was reading the story from the Bible, he kept looking up to see the darling children, and couldn't concentrate on what he was reading.)

As you can see, the whole process of getting "ready" , took lots of "doing"!

SNOW on October 11th!!

Well, we woke up to a White World this morning---snow all over everything!! I LOVE the snow, but it seems to me to have arrived a bit EARLY this year, so we'll likley be seeing LOTS of it for the next 4 or 5 months. A snowy Saturday, makes for a lazy-day-in-front-of-the-fireplace kind of feeling--don't you think?? Dennis was going to go hunting with Trent this morning, but he was so exhausted from all the hunting he did YESTERDAY, that he opted out of it this morning; so we are just lounging around, enjoying the warmth and cozy-ness of our fireplace.

(Trent DID, however, head out for a second day of deer-hunting, taking a couple 4-wheelers on the trailer, and I guess the trailer got two flat tires before noon, so it sounds like they're heading back already. There was 6 or 8 inches of snow up in the mountains where they went, and it was supposed to be pretty good for 'hunting trackability', but........maybe they'll get their deer NEXT week!)

Trent and Melissa and the kids stayed overnight last night and it was fun to have them. Josh and Sara say and do the CUTEST things!! Most everything Josh does, Sara tries to duplicate, and she does a great job of it!! If I knew how to put pictures in here, I'd put in some cute ones of the two of them. Also, Tristan and Ryan stayed the night with this Grandma Thursday night after Ryan's Flag Football game got over, and we made a whole bunch of Halloween cut-out cookies yesterday morning. Here again, pictures would be nice....eh?? At the football game, little Anna refused to come to me to sit on my lap, but after the game got over, when she saw that her two brothers were going to get to 'stay all night with Grandma', boyee--she scrambled over to me and climbed into my arms, and got all "happy-ed up" and wanted me to take her with me so SHE could 'stay over' TOO! What a 'fickle' little doll!!

Lance and Jen are in Salt Lake with Blaine and Lisa, and Wade's gone to California this week-end, so I bet he's enjoying much warmer weather than the rest of us around here are! Our 'high' temp today is just supposed to be 35! Well--Happy Snowy Fall Day to everyone!!

Well, I'm sure SLOW about this 'Blogging Stuff!'

I guess I'd better take time to put more information on my Blog, 'cause people may be checking in to see what I've written, from time to time. Now that I'm reading so many other peoples' blogs, I find that I have to use a 'blogging title' in order to even COMMENT about things they've said. So that makes my 'Karen's Korner 66' title available to other readers. But I don't know how to post pictures, so anything I write will likely not be very "entertaining" to anyone. (By the way--the 66 is not for my age---yet---but for a YEAR that's very dear to us.)

The thing that is most 'dear to us' at this stage of life is our FAMILY!! We LOVE being with our kids and with our grandkids. We have such a good, good time together. (If I knew how to post pictures, I'd put up a picture of each of our individual little families at this point....) We took a big week-long Family Reunion trip to the Oregon Coast the first of August this year, and all had a WONDERFUL time together. Now that Brian and Kam and their two little ones have moved back here to Idaho from living in London, England---I think we'll ALL be able to get together lots more often. I'm glad they lived in England for a time like they did, though, because it provided an opportunity for me and Dennis to go to Europe three different times during the 4 years they lived there. We even went just in April of this year, and it was SO FUN!

Three of our sons live within 25 miles of us here in Idaho, with their darling families and we have marvelous times being with all of them. And our other son, Blaine and his little family just live in Utah, 2 1/2 hours away from us. (Blaine and his wife, Lisa and their four kids just boarded a plane yesterday and flew to San Francisco; and I talked with him a few minutes ago as they were just arriving at Fisherman's Wharf for a day of sight-seeing. What a fun time they're having!)

I have lots of interesting things going on in my life, but without pictures, it'll likely be boring for anyone to just READ what I have to say, so I'm going to quit writing at this point and try to figure out how to put pictures in with what I write. I mean---how interesting would it be for you to hear all about me making lots of containers of beautiful strawberry freezer jam, without being able to SEE all those lovely little red jams??? (...too bad I don't know how to put cutsie little 'smiley faces' in here, either....) Anyway--General Conference is about ready to start, so bye for now.

Our Oregon Coast Family Reunion

My very own blog--WOW!!

Well, My son Wade set up a blogging place for me......Wasn't that WONDERFUL of him?! I've been reading other people's Blogs for a long time now, but I think I'm going to really enjoy having one of my own wherein I can write down my thoughts whenever I get a few minutes extra. My title: "Karen's Two Cents", likely ought to be "Karen's Ninty-Nine Cents" if it truly reflects how many thoughts I will have on different subjects, cause I ususally have TONS of thoughts---rather than just a minimal amount!

I'm supposing that Wade, Kamber, Blaine, Lisa, Jen, Melissa--and sometimes maybe Lance and Brian, will check in from time to time to see what my "two-cents spot" has written in it, but I'm betting my Trent guy never will! :) My dear friend Eva, who lives across the road, would just LOVE to be able to read and write on blogs, because she LOVES keeping up with the 'goings-on' of her loved ones, but she doesn't know how to use a computer yet. She sure loves the pictures and writings that I've shared with her, that OTHERS have sent, and I love to include her in all the fun things that "I" myself get included in!

On this first blog, I will write about the nice Relief Society lesson I was able to give today. I am delighted to get to give lessons in Relief Society again, because it's my favorite place to teach---(everyone is so very attentive and helpful and responsive and QUIET...so it's my most enjoyable setting in which to teach....)

I taught a lesson from a talk given by President Uchtdorf in the Nov. Ensign, called "Have We Not Reason To Rejoice", and it's a beautiful talk about appreciating the times we live in, loving to live the gospel, and enduring to the end. In it he said that when he was a young boy, he thought that "enduring to the end" meant that he had to try harder to stay awake until the end of their church meetings. He has since learned that there's lots more to it than that, so a whole lot of the lesson was dealing on what to do to 'endure to the end'---faithfully. And it was really fun to prepare and to give. I couldn't believe it, but I was so well-prepared that I wasn't even nervous today!

In the way of NEWS....our oldest grandson, Ryan Dennis, is going to have a Monumental Occasion take place this coming Saturday....he's going to be Baptized!! His baptism will take place Saturday morning at 9:30 A.M. in the Shelley Stake Center (the same building where their family goes to church....), and Ryan's dad, Lance, will be the one to baptize him. His Grandma Willyerd will give a talk on 'Baptism', and his Grandma Hone will give a talk on 'The Holy Ghost'. Ryan is pretty excited to get to have this nice event take place.

In the way of OTHER news.....We now have two brand new little Grandsons---Bryson Blaine, born to Blaine and Lisa on Valentine's Day, (in Layton Utah), weighing in at 6 lbs. 10 oz, being19 inches long. And eight days later----Spencer (something) Bishop born to Brian and Kamber on George Wasington's birthday, (in London England), weighing 7 lbs. 13 oz., 21 inches long. The Mamas of both little boys are doing fine and feeling pretty good., and the Daddys are being good helpers. The Grandparents are pretty proud to have these two new little guys in the family---making us now have ELEVEN gandchildren!!

Well, this is a lot of writing for my first time at Blogging on my OWN blog site, so I will bring this to a close, finally, and say goodbye for now. Happy new week ahead to you all.

Love,

Mom