Aahhh . . .

I snapped a quick pic on Sunday at convention, because Sten and Milah were all dressed up and tried (for a few seconds) to be decent to each other. Maren was not in the picture because she was running to and fro at a high rate of speed. We're getting the camper loaded again for a camping trip - squeezing the last bit out of the kid's summer vacation.

Milah was in awe of Jared, who just happens to be 7 feet tall. Milah despises being short and wishes that her parent's genes were similar to Jared's parents. Jared's sweet ride is pictured behind him and was the envy of every young man at convention.

Wood Crew! We've began our wood stacking for the Winter. The hot water in the floors is heated exclusively with wood, so we need at least 15 cords of wood for the winter - this crew isn't too excited with the wood procurement activity, but they sure like to be warm and cozy.

YIKES! That's Sten driving the neighbor's loader! You can grab a lot of wood in that bucket.

A large tree root that we used in the landscaping

Our best buddy, Danner. Somehow Danner gets out of all the work, gets in on all the play, and gets several naps per day. Danner is a runner - he dashes ahead of us in the car, going about 20 mph UP the hill!

OOPS! Scott had to order new plastics for the 4 wheeler after a cowboy/Matador incident gone wild. He was part of an assembly of men attempting to herd some cows from one field to another. Early in the morning, he ran through an under ground nest of hornets that proceeded to sting him multiple times. Then they ran into a bit more trouble - they were unsuccessful with a certain crazed creature and Scott went head to head with it. The cow then went under the front of the ATV and flipped it (and Scott) completely over, breaking every piece of plastic on the quad. The cow himself flipped over the fence, but not in the correct field. After over 3 hours of hassling, they gave up and came up the hill - Scott with a pretty good limp, and a few bee stings. But I think the cow is still snickering to himself-

Scott has a HUGE garden this year and some of these items were grown by his green thumb. The corn is from a farm North of Salem and it is outstanding - it's so good you want to have it with every meal. Well, maybe not breakfast.

SALE!

My friend Kristen and I are going to have a booth in a "Country Girl's sale this coming Friday and Saturday. We have furiously been getting ready and I "borrowed" an idea from a store in Delta Colorado. I loved the galvanized tubs that spelled "SALE".

I love signs of any kind, so I hope other people like them too - this is a sample of a few that I have made. I've been going to the Habitat for Humanity store to grab this old nasty (or lovely, depending on your taste) wood.

Quick diplay just for fun

I made these aprons for us to wear -

Cascade Mountain High

On the way home from Bend today, we checked out a dry looking Hoodoo ski resort. Looks a little strange without a blanket of snow and colorfully dressed snowboarders and skiers. Amazing that this place will be transformed in just a few short months.

Near Big Lake

Overnight Guests!

Dave and Jean VDB and family stopped for the night. They are on their way to WA for a week of relaxation and fun. They aren't too excited with the change of weather although we're relieved to be out of the 100 degree temps. They were minus one daughter as Lisa is in Germany working for the summer. As always, it's fun to catch up and compare projects until the wee hours.

The Oregon Jamboree

This weekend there was a country music festival in our small town. Maren insisted on taking her little guitar and she began strumming it near our seat. Several people wanted their picture taken with her and then people started giving her dollar bills. One man suggested that she put an extra hat on the ground beside her for her earnings. She was busy all night and made about 20$ - paid for her own elephant ear and water! I think this is the "Heidi" coming out in her, the same Heidi that used to sing "Popeye the Sailor Man" to perfect strangers. Update! Maren's total earnings were $70.00 for the two days - I'm sure she'll bring her guitar next year - probably an entire band.

Sten (her manager)- kept checking the status of Maren's hat - to see how much cold hard cash she had made.



Susie, with her brother - Willy



Milah and Susie (above) and Milah and Kylie (below)

We couldn't resist grabbing the camera - harvesting wheat

tch-tch-tch, we have sprinklers!

We finished a little more landscaping recently and Scott installed a sprinkler system (hooray) with the help of some friends. Can't wait for that brown grass to turn green.

This old cart used to be my Grandpa's. He was not known for his superior carpentry skills, as his tool of choice was a chainsaw, but he loved all things mechanical. He used this cart to haul engines while he was working on them . . .

The tired sprinkler installation crew . . .

They were eager to eat heaping bowls of ice cream on this 100 degree day

Myer Clan Happenings . . .

Maren and I went to visit the new baby this last week. We said we were there to help Elena, but we were really just there to take advantage of their air conditioned house as the temps were over 100 at home. Elle is an adorable and content baby - Maren loved cuddling with her . . .

With big brother Luke - Elena doesn't think the forehead hair meeting the eyebrows are too lady-like, but she has been assured that those little hairs will fade.

Couldn't resist snapping this one . . .


The three bambinos - they got along fairly well, just a few times they began acting like siblings.

I did a little decorating while I was there - this is in Steve and Elena's bedroom, the aspen tree branches are from a little scrounging I did after Wednesday night meeting.



I painted a log wall in the kid's bathroom. The boys were thrilled with it, I don't know what Elle will think . . .

Visitors!

Some good friends came to visit last night . . . the Rassbach's. They were on their way home from a camping trip in Northern California, and after a quick hello, they begged for showers. We talked until we were all yawning last night and had to say goodbye this morning - we sure do miss them.

Ellie is just an 8th grader and she's nearly at the top of our measuring stick. We met the Rassbach's through swimming, as Ellie was in Sten's first swimming lesson group.

Lucas and Maren played "restaurant" for hours

New (pink) Bundle to Love

Welcoming Elle Tamsyn Myers

Elle has already won the hearts of her parents, Steve and Elena. Her brothers, Levi and Luke are wondering when she'll be able to run through the sprinklers with them. Elle was born on July 14th at 8:00am and was 7lbs 12oz and 20 inches long. If you see Steve or Elena wandering the streets with a glazed look, please direct the exhausted parents to their home and kindly tuck them into bed.

What a difference a day makes

Turns out that I am married to a landscape architect and I didn't even know it. We have had this big amoeba shaped mound of red dirt in the yard and it's been just taking up space. After a few hours of labor (made a wee bit simpler with a rented trackhoe), we have a faux water feature and some interesting shapes. I've always admired these "rivers" of rock in landscaping and we have plenty of the bigger rocks on our property - so we just had to add the grasses. The grasses are so graceful as they catch the wind.

Slumber Party

Maren and her good buddy Macey. These two are the most social people in both of their families, so it is non-stop chatter when they are together.

Macey likes to get her hair done - she requested 6 ponies but we settled on 2.