Mom

Today is Mom's 87th birthday. It was a privilege and an honor to spend it with her. Mom can't see very good, hear very good, and is quite arthritic, but not much gets by her. We took her out to dinner this afternoon at Arrowhead. She enjoyed her salmon dinner. We came home to her house and I presented her with her gifts, both Christmas and birthday. We had planned on getting to Molalla before Christmas to see her, but the weather didn't cooperate.

We got her a couple pair of 4.0 reading glasses, and they may work. We told her they were only for reading and not to walk around with them on. I hope she will remember. She could read the dates and birthdays on the calendar. We got her a huge supply of books, mostly large print. She tried reading one of the small print books and she could with the glasses. I'm optimistic.

The basket was full of goodies.

Checking out her new jewelry with the reading glasses on.

She liked the calendar.

Our Story

Stewart and Stacey have been staying with us since the fire, through snow, power outages, and Christmas preparation. Stewart and Scott had planned to have a prime rib dinner for a long time. Scott went out the week before Christmas and purchased a 16 pound rib roast. It cost him about $70.00. They were so proud of their plans. Guess where the roast was! In Stewart's house. There was nothing left of the prime rib, even the refrigerator was disintegrated, so Scott barely made it out of town 2 days before Christmas and bought another one. We planned for a Christmas eve day celebration. Kathy had to work until 2:00, Jennifer and Dustin were supposed to be in Forest Grove at 5:30, and in Kelso on Christmas day, and Kathy's kids were going to Beaverton on Christmas day. So we worked it all out, dinner would be at 3:00, and we would have another dinner on Christmas day for those still here in Vernonia. Stewart got the prime rib on at 10:00 and I started the scalloped potatoes in the crock pot. I had salads made and most everything ready to go.

The first thing that happened was the green beans for the green bean casserole. I opened the package and it was icy and the beans were all shriveled up. We looked on the bag for the expiration date and it was June of 06. We put them back in the bag and we are taking them back to the store, not for the money so much, but for the carelessness of it. I open a package of peas.

Everything was coming along nicely when the power went out at 1:30. We left the prime rib roast in the oven and didn't open the door. We quickly put the potatoes in a Pyrex dish and put them on the barbecue and got the temperature up to 400 degrees.

Everyone came, except Marie, Daniel and Nicole from Eugene, and Stephanie and Logan from just over the hill. The roads were just too bad.

Nobody wanted to take off their coat, the house was cooling off quickly.

We had a wonderful dinner, great gifts, ( we finished opening them just as it was getting dark), and dessert by candlelight.

We tried to play cards by candlelight in the evening. Stewart and Mike are a team against Stacey and me in cribbage. At nine o'clock Christmas eve we went to bed to get warm.

Christmas morning Stewart suggested we get a motel in Hillsboro. We all headed out of town for Christmas morning breakfast at Sheree's. We had a wonderful breakfast and Stewart and Stacey went to get a motel. They called us when they were settled and we went to their motel and continued our cribbage tournament. I believe we are all tied up. Mike and I headed for home at about 4:30. Roxie was with us, but Kitty was home all alone. Mike dropped me off at the middle school and I enjoyed the warmth and good company of the people their. He came back down later, and watched "It's a Wonderful Life" for awhile. We went home and crawled into bed.

We got up yesterday morning, determined to go buy a generator. We joined Stewart and Stacey for breakfast. I had called Home Depot and Lowes and there were no generators. Stacey called Costco and they didn't have any either. We were sad because we knew we would have another night in the cold. We headed over to Costco so Stewart could order contacts, and we could pick up some batteries and a lantern. I was walking down the aisle and saw a generator on a cart being pushed by an employee. I asked if it was for sale and they said, "Yes. It is the last one and if you want it you'd better grab it." I grabbed it. We had a generator after paying $600, but we had been talking about it for years every time the power went out.

Stewart got some soft contacts that will last him until his others come in, we got a heater, lantern, and a generator. Stacey got a phone. Life is good!

We got home and Tim and Dustin helped get the generator set up and Stewart came with gas. Mike was happy, he could watch TV and I could get warm. We plugged in the freezer and refrigerator. Stewart and Stacey went back to the motel for the evening.

2:30 this morning the power came back on.

The green beans!
What was left of the prime rib.

Tim, Kathy, Tim, and Mike.

When the kids come, they always complain about our dull knives, so we got a knife sharpening kit from Tim and Kathy. Scott gave us a $100 of airplane miles. A cruise to Mexico sounds good. Stewart's and Stacey's gifts to us got burned up. Stacey told us about the neat bridge set she got me, oh well, we'll continue to play with used casino cards.

One of the gifts we gave each family were photos of them throughout the year. Stewart and Stacey don't have a wall to put them on, but will one day.

Scott liked his photos of his family, but it made him a little sad that they weren't here.

Tim's family.

Jamie is enjoying looking at the family calendar that I gave each family.

Jennifer is enjoying her Christmas eve day.

Kendall

This will be a Christmas that we all remember. Happy holidays to all of you, and God Bless You.

POWER!

Vernonia is a good place to live. After the power went out the first time before Christmas, the city dignitaries got together. We had about 2 feet of snow, and they knew the power would go out again. There was just too much snow on the trees over the power lines. They had Vernonia declared in a state of emergency (I think that's right) So, on Christmas Eve day, at 1:30, when the power went our again, they called the Red Cross. They brought in a huge generator and opened the middle school so people could be warm and have hot meals. Gretchen Lindauer, the head cook for the schools, and her family put their heart and soul out and cooked the meals. George and Donna Tice also helped with the cooking. Many others also volunteered their time. I don't know the numbers yet, but many meals were served. We went down for a meal last night and it was wonderful. At night the tables were put up and cots were brought put up for people to have a place to sleep.

The children (and adults) were entertained.

Their were videos for the children and adults to watch.


Some families drew and colored together.


The city officials had their own table and kept making the important decisions. Mayor Sally is a hard working, kind person, and the city is so lucky to have her. The city counsel in small towns is all volunteer.



Ms. Lindauer helps her Mom with the biggest smile.

Donna Tice, the Lindauer girls, George Tice, and Gretchen served turkey for Christmas dinner.

Some people played games.

Lila groomed her dog.

Many share conversation and the warmth of being there together in a tough situation.

Thanks again, Gretchen and Terry!

The power came on this morning, the 27th, at about 2:30.

We thank the Lord!

It's 25 degrees and the lake is almost frozen over, the deer are hungry, but it didn't snow yesterday or last night. YEA! I've always liked it when it snowed, but enough is enough. People can't get to work, can't get out of town, or to their relatives for Christmas.

Stacey and Stewart are still struggling with their loss of everything. They don't know what to do first, and some things just have to wait. The insurance company won't make decisions for a few days. They have to get new driver's licences, new bank cards and checkbooks, new birth certificates, new keys to the vehicles, new everything. Of course, they can't get things, other than clothes, because they don't have any place to put them.

People have asked about helping. I want to thank you all for your kind words and thoughts. There really isn't things they need right now, except maybe a few more clothes. People have been wonderful to bring them some clothes, so Stewart is in not too bad of shape, but Stacey is a big girl and takes ex large pants, and maybe 3x shirts. I gave her my bag of old clothes, so she is making do.

THANK YOU ALL AND MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Tragedy

We now have over 20 inches of snow. The power has been off more than it has been on.

No heat, no lights.

Our house the first day of Winter.

Our son, Stewart, and his girlfriend, Stacey, were wrapping packages by candlelight. They went to bed and left a candle burning, figuring it would be alright in a container, and would burn itself out. Something woke Stewart about midnight and got up, opened the bedroom door and found the house in flames. They were barely able to get out the bedroom window. They lost everything. We are thanking God for the miracle that they are still alive.

More Snow

More snow over night. It is supposed to be really bad, snowing and cold, over the weekend. I guess I won't get to Hillsboro before Christmas. Thank goodness I had most of my shopping done early.

The Sienna is in the garage and staying there. Thank goodness we kept the old 4 runner with 4 wheel drive. Mike pulls it part way into the garage. The rest of the garage is full of "stuff", there is only room for one car. The 4 runner can get us downtown to get a few groceries and the mail.

Sunshine

Do you know what they say about Oregon weather?

If you don't like the weather, wait a minute. ha ha

Now the sun is shining.

It's snowing again. The deer are searching for food.

We cleared a place and put out some apples.

Enjoy!

Winter Wonderland

Do I hear sleigh bell ringing?

We had three more inches of snow overnight.

WOW! It's beautiful. I don't have to go anywhere, so I'm enjoying the

beauty from the living room.

Mike is a little upset, too much snow on the dish, so no TV.

These views are the views that I see from my house. We haven't ventured out

yet and might not.

COLD!!!

It was 8 degrees this morning, so this afternoon we had visitors in the back yard again. They were looking for a handout, so Mike fed them apples.

It is certainly not my lucky week. On Monday I lost playing bridge, This afternoon I substituted in the pinochle group, and got last place. This evening we played bunco and had 17 wins and 19 losses. It wasn't a complete loss, though. I had the last bunco and got $2.00.

We had a wonderful snack potluck and a gift exchange. It was a good evening.

They are predicting snow tomorrow. Oregonians are not used to harsh weather conditions. I do love the seasons, so I will continue to be an Oregonian.