Nicole Marie and Friends

Our granddaughter, Nicole, visited us this weekend. I picked her up on Friday and returned her to her mother this evening. Nicole lives in Eugene so we met half-way on I-5 both coming and going.

Nicole turned eight on November 6. She is in the second grade and a wonderful reader. We discovered this weekend that she is quite good at math, also. That pleases her school-teacher grandmother.

Nicole is a very sweet, wonderful young lady.

I've neglected to tell you about our pets in my previous blog. We have Roxie, a 3 year old mini dauschund, and Kitty, a two year old kitty, that we rescued from the animal shelter 6 months ago. They play together, and both loving ,and love to sleep with us at night.

Shopping

Shopping was actually fun today. I didn't get an early start, like some of the pros, but I left the house at 8:00, and headed for Fred Meyer. I bought socks, like everyone else, a couple of games, 2 for the price of one, and some cups and desserts plates for my bridge group. From there I went to Costco and picked up some slippers and lounge pajamas for the girls in the family. I then went to Kohls. When I went into the store I noticed that the lines were almost from one end of the store to the other. I decided to look around anyway. I found some things that I couldn't pass up, so I braved the line. It really did move pretty fast. I went to Office Max, but I wasn't impressed. I decided that was enough and finished the day with a pedicure.

Thanksgiving Day

The hunters in the last picture in the previous blog are Tim, Stewart. Scott, and their friend Freddie.



It is now 7 hours later and we've enjoyed the most wonderful dinner. The turkey was marvelous, along with the mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, fresh green bean casserole, fruit salad, vegetable salad, stuffed eggs, olives, pickles, and veggies. For dessert there was pumpkin pie and pecan pie.













A beautiful turkey





















Kathy and Jamie


The guys had hunted this morning, then cut up half the elk, and then helped with the dinner. After dinner a nap was in order for Scott and Kathy, even Jewel, their dog was just plain tuckered out.



































Most of the rest of us played poker. Stacey, Stewart's girlfriend, thinks her future in-laws are card sharks, but it was fun.

















It was a very nice Thanksgiving.




Vernonia is a small town of about 2,000 people in Western Oregon. We have been in the National news twice, that I remember. Years ago Vernonia School District was one of the first districts to start drug testing. A lawsuit was filed against the district, and it went all the way to the Supreme Court. The school district won.
Last December Vernonia made the news again. Many homes, schools, and business flooded. Vernonia is still recovering from the devastation.


I'm heading off to Hillsboro and Beaverton tomorrow to hit the black Friday sales. It is about an hour drive. I don't intend to be one of the first in line, but I do want to get a fairly early start, so I'll add to the blog another day.

Greetings from Vernonia

It's Thanksgiving Day and we will be joining the rest of our immediate family for Thanksgiving dinner later this afternoon.

I've decided to try my hand at blogging. I so much enjoy keeping up with my sister in Seattle through her blog, Linda Letters. I am a wife, a mother, a retired school teacher, and a substitute teacher. I am the oldest of my siblings, 66, and I enjoy taking pictures, playing bridge, pinochle, bunco, being involved in P.E.O., substituting, and especially spending time with my family. I am the mother of five sons. Mike, 74, and I have been married since 1964 and we have a blended family. Stewart just turned 49 on Tuesday, has a daughter, Jennifer, 26, and a girlfriend, Stacey. Our next son, Steve, died at the age of 35 in 1998. He didn't have any children. Scott is 42, has a significent other, Nelita, and two children. Daniel is 11 and Nicole is 8. Rick died when he was 36, in 2004. He has two children, Stephanie is 18 and just returned fron a trip to South Africa, her graduation present. Logan is 17 and a senior at Banks High School. Our youngest son Tim, 37, lives in Vernonia with his wife, Kathy, and her children, Jamie, 18, and Timothy, 16. Tim and Kathy have Kendall, 12, a seventh grader.

I'm thankful for our family, my friends, my home, my substitute job, and all the activities that I'm involved in.

Right now our three sons are cutting up an elk at our oldest son, Stewart' house. The three boys (really they are grown men) went out hunting again together for the first time in several years. They hunted on the spike side and that's what they shot. They are really happy with their meat for the winter.