A Few Good Pics!

 

 

 

 

 

Forgive me Katie for plagiarizing your pics, but they were so good I couldn't help myself.   

 

The football experience is a big deal in this part of the country.



Matty is learning early what female adoration is all about. 




Katie decides to pick the remaining tomatoes in our garden.  Not even rain can stop her.   In all, she got about 50 quarts from our patch.  



Jenna got left holding the bag.



Matt turns 8

Sunday night 

Matt turns 8 years old!

Uncle Dan & Aunt Annie + family are delighted as Matty opens a multi, multi multi-layered present from them.  

Rachel proudly played her first solo, "Happy Birthday to You."  We all joined in with bellowing voices.  

Jenna made the cake.

A BYU tee makes the party complete.

Everybody there had a great time.  Joke telling, laughing, singing, and Grandpa Rumblebum playing on the floor with Mister T!  Yes we had it all, and we will remember this happy occasion.  

Tom & Marsha

 "Time changes with time: in youth, time marches on; in middle age, times flies; and in old age, time runs out."  As I look at these photos, I am distressingly  aware that I am fast becoming a part of history.

Ryan, Kevin & John

Laurie

Bev, Marsha, Tom & John

Only a 50th wedding anniversary will do this to you.  It was held at Thanksgiving Point, and it really was a nice occasion.  As I talked with Tom and his kids, I had many great memories pop into my mind.  The reception was held at Thanksgiving Point, so that friends from both counties could come.  

In three more years, Bev and I will have to opportunity to greet others.  I just hope I will be able to remember everybody's names.

  

Lincoln City, Oregon

After leaving Olympia, we traveled south on I-5, through Portland and on to Lincoln City, Oregon.   The Nordic Motel was a nice, older place as were all the other establishments along the beach.  The deck was well kept and the view was fantastic.  

I purposely left out pics of the interior of our room as it desperately needed remodeling, but the outside was well maintained.

The coast was very scenic in every direction.  The beach was practically ours. Every now and then a jogger would trot by.  I think maybe the reason for solitude may be two-fold:  1)  Motel rooms along this beach are more expensive than  rooms along Highway 101 which runs through town, and 2)  Public access to this area is about a mile away.  

Gordon Ramsay would love to improve the rooms of this motel so that it would become a major destination for tourists but, in all fairness, I have to admit that I loved staying here.  Upon arrival the first thing I did was to open the windows to let the fresh, moist ocean breeze flow in.  Then I settled into a somewhat uncomfortable chair and spent many hours finishing a novel.   

To walk along this beach was totally refreshing, and after two days I left feeling that my soul had been renewed.  

We had Salmon this good little restaurant.  Upon entering, we talked to several other patrons who indicated they were frequent visitors, so we knew this place had good food.  If you are ever in Lincoln City, you now know where to go for fish.  

In the Tanger Outlets parking lot was this old Studebaker.  Back in the ol' days, my father owned one.

  

These last two pics are of Mount Washington, located close to Bend, Oregon.  The Cascade range provided us with plenty of beautiful scenery.

She has been well prepared

Friday, June 6th, 2014 - Belana graduates from Timberline High.

What a great day it was, and proud is only an understatement in describing our emotion, as we watched the ceremony from the bleacher seats of Marcus Pavilion on the campus of Saint Martins University.

John & Beverly McKea, John & Joan Anderson and Belana

Tammy, Brendan, Dayle & Belana

I love this photo

A moment of reflection, for sure

Graduation party at LDS church park

Daughter & Mother.  Who is the cutest?

Friends.  "We will have these moments to remember." 

They came, formal and casual, for a good time.

A group of good friends

Sunday, June 8th, 2014 - Belana graduates from LDS Seminary.

Another graduation day in the life of our beautiful grand-daughter, and perhaps one that is even more meaningful.  It took place in the chapel of this church.  The spire, showing the reflection of the afternoon sun, seems to give divine sanction to the proceedings inside the sacred building.  

No cap and gown, but a big smile

A rose for the graduate

Good friends

Two graduations in three days is enough to wear anyone out

On Monday we left for a two-day stay at a beach in Oregon.  We departed knowing our grand-daughter will make good and correct life decisions.  After all, she has been well prepared by not only public education, but also through religious training.  

These Two Girls

Mother's Day at Sherry's home was great.  I really didn't notice it, but apparently these two girls were kind of cold.  

John Foster's memorial service was held on Friday, May 9th.  Bev and I left early that morning, arriving in Boise just in time.  We stayed overnight then returned the next day.  With the speed limits being so high, 80 mph for Utah and 75 for Idaho, it is almost like a breeze to drive.  

Jean Kenny Foster and John Foster's brother (I think).

Sable Lee Tannahill (John & Jean's granddaughter)

Jean's house in Boise.

Traveling across southern Idaho can be tedious, but on this particular trip the clouds seemed to hover just above the ground.  This made for a very picturesque trip.  In this picture, a dynamic thunder storm is building over a growing crop of Idaho potatoes.

This next photo is in Huntington Canyon, Utah.  I just thought it was a great picture showing 6 geological formations (strata), representing 6 historical periods.                                                       Can you see them?

Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry

When it comes to camping, most persons have a tendency to clown around before the trip starts.  For us, the clowning never stopped, even as we arrived at Huntington State Park and set up our camp for an "overnighter."

With that task accomplished, we made our way eastward to find some dinosaurs, and did we ever, but only after being greeted by an old Fremont Indian.







Some 20 miles of dirt road led us by the northern end of the San Rafael Swell, a magnificent outcropping, and then we finally arrived at the quarry. The sign on the open gate said that removing rocks was not allowed, but being a rock hound, I had made a metal note of the vast amounts of agates that adorn the landscape just outside the gates.  After we toured the quarry we stopped and enjoyed collecting a large variety of marble sized agates.

The quarry building itself doesn't look remarkable , but after 20 miles of dirt roads, we were glad to see it, and really, once inside we were impressed by the bathrooms, air conditioning, and impressive displays.  The kids were happy to get out of the van and run around.

The tour inside the building is self guided; however one of the keepers was more than happy to explain and answer any questions we had.  

After touring the display, we exited through the back door and found the site where some of the bones were actually excavated by professional paleontologists.

Like the Vernal quarry, this site is found in the Morrison formation, which spreads over the vast high desert of three states.  In this location Dinosaurs became entrapped in mud as they drank and hunted near a flood pond.  Unable to free themselves, they just slowly died.  

Close to the diggings is a trail-head which we took.  Happily we set forth, one foot after the other until Erin slipped.  This event ended a rather scenic hike, and ironically, the one to get injured was the teenager, not the senior citizen.  Ha ha.  

Along the trail I noticed several types of desert wild flowers, but the one that interested me the most was this sego lilly.  It was the only one I saw, and I felt lucky to have not stepped on it.

Back at the visitors center, we found this snake.  It is a Great Basin Gopher Snake, and it is not poisonous to humans, but for rodents?  They better look out.

The Morrison formation is loaded with big chunks of mud stone and sandstone. Matty shows his super strength by lifting one of them.  I have such great grandchildren, right?