Day 57: Walk on the beach

We had to leave the hotel at noon but the sun was shining, so we walked on the beach before driving back to Portland.

Day 56: Sewing all day long

What a treat to spend time with five of my favorite ladies and our sewing machines! I worked on projects for more than twelve hours, only breaking to eat and take a brief walk on the beach. I was especially pleased with these cushion covers.

Day 55: The Astoria Bridge

After a busy day, it was very exciting to pack up my sewing machine and drive north with my friend Emily for a weekend in Long Beach, WA. We reached Astoria just after sunset and crossed the Astoria bridge into Washington. The bridge crosses the mouth of the Columbia River and, at 14 miles, is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.

Day 54: Shapes

Noah and I had a lovely time with letters and shapes today. It is so fun to still have a preschooler!

Day 53: Ash Wednesday

Johnny and Anna went to the Ash Wednesday service with David this evening - what a great way to begin the season of Lent.

Day 52: Swimming lesson

Oh my, Noah loves his swimming lessons!

Day 51: Snow hike

Presidents' Day, and our annual snow hike at Trillium Lake - one of my favorite days of the year. We invited two other families this year and there were 16 of us all together: 5 adults, ten children and our dog. We were a lively, noisy group - there were lots of snow ball fights amongst the kids all along the 4.5 mile hike - but there were moments when the peacefulness and serenity of our winter surroundings took my breath away.

Day 50: Sunday afternoon playdate

Anna's friend Ben came over after church and the two of them had a marvelous time on the swing, taking turns to twist the rope as far as possible and then spin around as fast as possible.

Day 49: Games night with the neighbors

What more could you need for a delightful evening with the neighbors than some great games and a bottle of wine?

Day 48: Date with a chaperone

Tonight was one of those evenings when the three big kids were out and about with friends and David and I were home with Noah. So we went out to our favorite place for quick and delicious Mexican food and enjoyed a lovely date with our four year old chaperone.

Day 47: In the classroom

I am teaching kindergarten all week, which is great fun. Every morning the kids say the pledge of allegiance. In other classes I have taught, I have always just let the students say the pledge - it doesn't seem appropriate for me as a British citizen. This week, the kids seemed a little hazy on the words and so I ended up leading the way.

Day 46: Snowdrops

I think I took a picture of snowdrops when they appeared in the garden last year - the first flowers of spring. Seeing them again this February reminded me that I really want to plant more of them this fall.

Day 45: Happy Valentine's Day

I had hoped to make Valentine's pancakes for the kids before school but I am working all this week as a substitute kindergarten teacher and there just wasn't time in the morning. The children seemed delighted to eat them for dessert this evening instead.

Day 44: Gatorade

Johnny, Anna and I set up our little concessions stand once again at a Middle School basketball game to raise money for Outdoor School. Johnny arranged all the goodies and made sure that the Gatorades (our biggest seller along with Skittles) were neatly lined up.

Day 43: Ice cream sundae party

Our Camp Fire group celebrated the end of candy sales (and all goals met!) with a party this afternoon. There was an amazing selection of sundae toppings.

Day 42: At the Adidas Headquarters

Noah's best friend Tucker lives close to the Adidas headquarters in Portland and we always remark on these giant shoes that sit in front of the building as we drive past. I have never had the opportunity to take a picture of them until today, when I attended an Oregon Youth Soccer Association conference hosted by Adidas. I took a class to help me in my new role as Parkrose Youth Soccer Club registrar - and, before returning home, got a photo of the shoes.

Day 41: Dreamsicle Cookies

What a nice way to start the weekend! These were made by Anna and Noah - delicious!

Day 40: Chess

I used to love to play chess with my dad as a child (happy birthday Dad!). I just recently started playing chess with Johnny - and, while I am greatly enjoying it, playing on the ipad is a very different experience!

Day 39: Birthday lego

Daniel has made a pretty good start on his birthday thank you notes, but he would really rather be playing with the wonderful lego sets he was given.

Day 38: Bridgetown

I had the great joy of taking the MAX train downtown with Noah this morning. Our destination was the box office of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra where we bought Daniel and David tickets for an upcoming concert featuring a Mozart piano concerto. Noah was a delightful travel companion, as always, and especially enjoyed riding over the Steel Bridge, one of many bridges over the Willamette River in Portland.

Day 37: Second hand books

I have been thinking a lot about my maternal grandfather over the past couple of months. A number of unexpected and unrelated occurrences have reminded me of him, and the beloved figure he was in my childhood, and have made me wish afresh that I had known him as an adult and had been able to have more conversations about his life and experiences. He and my grandmother were missionaries in the Congo from the mid 1940s until 1960, caring for and serving thousands of lepers. They had to flee the country with their seven young children in 1960 because of political unrest, but my grandfather returned to the country and was captured by rebels during the Simba uprising of 1964. He was missing for many months and was rescued by mercenaries. I have known this outline of the story all my life but I find myself craving more details, more understanding of what he accomplished and what he went through. Online, I found a copy of pamphlet written in 1949 (shortly after my mother's birth) which includes a chapter wonderfully describing my grandparents' ministry and I have been ordering out-of-print books written about the events of that time. It is a thrill to find old books in beautiful condition;  it is painful to read about the terrible things the people of the Congo, and those who loved them and helped them, suffered during those years. And there are hints, clues, mentions of my grandfather, tantalizing and yet elusive. I hope I will be able to fill in the gaps.

Day 36: View from the balcony

I went up to the balcony at church during the service today to get a picture from above. It was a wonderful service of confirmation and reception into our new denomination. What I found most amazing and moving was to finally be under a bishop who preaches the gospel.

Day 35: A blessing from the Bishop

The new bishop of our diocese came to visit this weekend to ordain a deacon on Saturday and confirm eleven members of the congregation on Sunday. Here is Noah and his best buddy Tucker receiving a prayer of blessing from the bishop during the communion service on Saturday evening.

Day 34: Laid back cat

 The picture I am longing to post is of Tilly and Harry curled up together - but Tilly continues to ignore Harry and Harry continues to hiss at Tilly when she get too close. Despite this, if Tilly gets up from her bed, she is likely to find when she returns that Harry has taken her spot.

Day 33: Signs of spring

Today felt like spring - the sun was shining, the sky was blue and my bulbs are popping up. Lots of yard work in my future...

Day 32: Orbeez

Anna "grew" these little colored balls in water for an art project and they look really pretty in the sunshine.