Puppy Fun Days

Every summer 'Guide Dogs for the Blind' honors the puppy raisers with a big carnival like celebration.  This year the theme was "Hollywoof"!  Each department had a movie theme.  The Kennel Staff was very clever with "The Wizard of Oz".  Watch out for the flying monkeys!

The Vet clinic theme was "Dogwarts".

 Can you find Luna Lovegood, Hermione, Dumbledore, Professor Sprout, and Professor Umbridge?
The puppy raisers and puppies toured the vet clinic and learned a bit more about keeping their puppies healthy.  Then they could complete a quiz to be entered in prize drawings or try for more prizes in a game called 'Surgeon Quidditch'!

Clifford, the big red dog, was a willing participant in a demonstration of the way the dogs are x-rayed.

But of course the stars of the show were the puppies, many of them dressed in adorable costumes! I wish I had gotten a photo of one cute little puppy in her bows and tutu!  If you want to a reason to smile 

today look here: http://www.flickr.com//photos/guidedogsfortheblind/sets/72157630812394826/show/with/7672596208/ 

At the end of the day, 17 little 2 month old cuties were given to their lucky puppy raisers.  As I've said

before there is nothing as cute as a puppy!

 I really had fun with my Luna Lovegood costume.  I could be spacey and people thought it was just a part of my act!

Kitchen Fun

The reason I went to Girl's Camp was to help in the kitchen.  Two of my friends assured me that it was fun.  I believed them since they had been kitchen helpers the last 3 years.....and they were right, it was great fun!

A favorite breakfast was the morning we served scones, blueberry scones, apple/cinnamon scones, chocolate scones, raspberry scones and my personal favorite - brown sugar scones!  Yummy! Chris is busy getting them ready.

Two ladies were in charge of all the special meals for the gluten free, dairy free, vegetarians, and other allergies.  They had to be super careful to keep these girls healthy and they did a wonderful job!

 I don't know how many pounds of strawberries and melons we prepared but I do know that it was a whole lot.

And yes there were mountains of dishes to wash after every meal and every snack!  We couldn't have done it without our dishwashers!  And notice the smiles!

These two are a large part of the reason it was a fun week.  They were the 'kitchen bosses'.  Trust me this is a HUGE job....planning menus, ordering food, scheduling to be sure everything was done at the assigned time!  And they did it all cheerfully and with enthusiasm all the while rocking out to great music.  We started early and went late but I'd gladly do it again next year!

Angel's Rest

One day at Girl's Camp is hiking day.  Each of the six wards is assigned a different hike.  We had a beautiful destination.  Although the trail climbed almost the entire 2.3 miles, the view from the top was worth the effort.

The view to the west down the Columbia River Gorge 

The view to the east.....

Teenaged girls just have a way of making everything FUN!!!  Shadow photo and sassy poses!

Whooo went to Girl's Camp?

Lakeridge Ward

 200 girls and leaders from Lake Oswego Stake  

and a good time was had by all!!!!

Sons bring days of sun!

Before we moved to Oregon I was told that summer weather really started after July 4th.  I thought that was a joke.  But the joke is on me, it is true!  You can't count on good weather until about July 5th!  Matt and Scott came to visit on that very day and true to the predictions the weather was perfect! And we completely enjoyed our time together!

Matt, Scott and I found a great food cart with barbecue almost (but not quite) as good as the White Pig Inn in North Little Rock, Arkansas!

 We went to a great outdoor concert at the park near our house.

 The sun even shined on us as we hiked on the Oregon Coast.

Seeing David Beckham was the highlight of the Portland Timbers/LA Galaxy game!  Ok, to be honest, it was a highlight for me, the boys went to see the game and even booed handsome David!  He showed them though as he scored two goals!  One a real beauty that made the goal.com best goals of the week!

We love when they come to visit because we sure love those wonderful young men!

Howie

Our second foster dog from Guide Dogs for the Blind just went back to his family on Thursday.  Howie was only with us for a week but we really enjoyed him.  Howie is 13 1/2 years old.  I've looked on the internet to translate that to human age and I get anywhere from 86-96 years old...suffice it to say he is a senior citizen. He did spend a lot of time 'resting' but he loved slow walks with lots of time to 'smell the roses'.  The most excited we saw him was when both of us were scratching his back. A doggie four hands massage!   I would have loved to see and hear him when his family came to pick him up. I imagine that he was ecstatic!  I'm glad we got to be his 'family' for a week while his real family went on vacation.

Funerals, Family and Small Things

 We recently went to Phoenix for the funeral of our 27 year old niece who died quite unexpectedly.  During the tough times it is so wonderful to be surrounded by family.  John and Katherine and their children, and especially Kevin, Andrea's husband were strengthened by their knowledge that "Families are Forever."

Even during this sad occasion we enjoyed being together.

The members of John and Katherine's ward were wonderful examples of service in every way possible from cleaning the house, to fantastic meals, to providing places for us to stay.  At this funeral I particularly noticed the small things in the decorations that honored Andrea.  She was a girl who liked a bit of glitz and glamour.  The meal and the picture display would have made Andrea so happy!  Notice the little additions that were so elegant. Candles, pink fabric, pearls and other decorative touches.....

Made me think of the love shown to my Arkansas Razorback Fan mother when she died.  No frilly centerpieces or pink fabric for the family meal after the funeral....Razorback red and ferocious hogs all the way!!!!

A friend of ours here in Oregon recently passed away.  He was a Vietnam Vet and a great patriot, also a wonderful family man.  For the meal after his funeral the centerpieces were red, white, and blue with family pictures and plaques with quotes about family and being a Dad.  Fit him so perfectly!

I know that we aren't supposed to sweat the small things, but sometimes the small things mean a lot!