Yellowstone National Park

My mother let me know that I should have put in my previous post that C is now constantly asking for a "broken" shirt just like Indy's. Time to head to my favorite Salvation Army store to see what I can find!

We are getting ready to go on a big trip to Utah with a segueway to Yellowstone National Park on the way home. Any must sees in the Park? I know we are planning to see Old Faithful, and try to see some of the fauna of the area, but anyone out there with kids, who've been to Yellowstone, let me know if there are things I need to make sure we see in the two days we've planned to stop there.

And since no post is complete without a picture, here is a gratuitous shot for you. Taken during our recent trip to the Oregon Zoo. In case you can't tell, H is running for his life. He's reinacting C's reaction to this particular exhibit. C's was genuine; I just didn't have the camera ready to catch the shot.

Meet the new Indiana Jones

C came to me yesterday and asked if I would unbutton his shirt so he can be like Indiana Jones. I just had to laugh and take pictures. Notice his "inspiration." Between the movies DH bought after seeing #4, and the Lego game for the Wii, we are all about Indy here.

More Tamron 28-300 shots

More later...

Tamron 28-300 with Vibration Compensation

My sweet DH bought me a new lens. It was something we'd been researching for about a year now. We (I, since I am the principal user--he's really the money man who'll enjoy the pictures) decided on the new Tamron lens for a couple of reasons--it had the zoom I wanted, as well as the macro I wanted. It seemed to take the place of the two lenses I'd been looking at. I also liked the idea of "vibration compensation." It arrived Thursday from Adorama Camera (who we chose to purchase from because B&H Photo was not accepting orders when we wanted to order and I've had successful dealings in the past from Adorama) and I got to play with it a bit yesterday evening. It should be said that I now have to pay my daughter $5 an hour to let me take pictures. Highway Robbery! (but at least it gets me the practice I need)
I used Picnik on this for post-processing. I just realized my printer is out of ink, so I need to make an emergency run to Staples or Costco so I can print out my handout for my class today. Usually my sweet hubby takes care of the emergency runs for stuff for me, but he's camping today with H. Off I go--more pictures later!

I'm Still Here!

The view from our condo balcony at Depoe Bay. Two of my kids actually saw whales passing through with a pair of binoculars.

Well, my job ended on Friday the thirteenth. We decided to take a quick mini-vacation that was a wonderful break on Mon-Tues-Wed. (two nights, we arrived Monday evening at Depoe Bay). We made it home about 5pm on Wednesday evening, where I then proceeded to whip out a baby gift for my friend's baby shower that evening. Thursday was errands, with Joel and H leaving for a father/son campout with the Tolman's, (both of them missed the Father-Son campout our church planned earlier this year, so they decided to do their own). So here it is Friday, my first real "break" day this month. And all I can do is sit around the house.
I'm nursing the worst sunburn I've had in over a decade (notice how my white shirt is nearly the same color as my skin tone), and I should be making the handout for my classes at Stampin'Cat tomorrow. I'll get to them. I just wanted to check in here first!

One of my Favorite Holidays!

In case you didn't know it, today is National Chocolate Ice Cream Day. It's one of my favorite holidays. Around here we celebrate with a little Tillamook Udderly Chocolate.

(photo courtesy of roadfood.com)

Mmmm. Some day's it's good to live in Oregon.

Anyone up for a Swap?

I'm toying with the idea of a postcard/cardfront swap. What I'm thinking about is a "Stamps-n-Scraps" swap; we'd use a neutral piece of 4x6 cardstock with the only other embellishments being things from our scrap stash and our stamp stash...in a summertime/happy theme.

What do you think? Could be fun! Let me know if you want some examples of what I'm talking about.

Marriott Courtyard Portland Retreat

The Hotel was beautiful!

The view from our window. That's the Columbia River in the background there. Lots of houseboats down that-a-ways.

The whole retreat was very delightful! Loved the beautiful hotel, loved the courtyard, loved the view, loved hanging out with this gal:

We realized that we've been friends now for just about 5 years. That's pretty cool in my book! We also liked that we can be around each other without having to be "guarded" in the things we say or do--meaning that we've been friends for so long we really understand and accept each other. It's a true treasure to me. So is she.

Our crop room. That's Cheryl's special office chair in the foreground. My table is on the other side of hers.

All in all, a great time. It even made me think that I might put a Cricut to use (I've been kinda anti-electric die cut machines---I didn't think I'd really use it. And if I'm not really going to use it, I'm not going to spend the money on it.). I'm looking forward to the next one!