Why did it have to be a snake?

We just got home from seeing the new Indiana Jones movie at 10:30 tonight, so naturally various nasty creatures were lurking in the back of my mind. As I stepped through the garage door. something caught the corner of my eye just outside the door.......


Jim said he had not seen me move so fast in ages! A nice sized gopher snake, out for his evening meal-Go get'em boy! (but please stay out of the garage!)

Have Kitten, Need Name

Yep- we went 2 weeks and 3 days as a one animal household- must be a record. We picked up the new kitten from Wade & Melissa on Monday afternoon (thanks!!). Actually, we felt sort of responsible for leaving them with a pregnant cat when we sold them the house. Does it help that we had no idea she was pregnant? So the little 6 oz white and gray fuzzball has firmly entrenched herself in our home. Keep her out of the bedroom? Not quite possible with ear-splitting meows when the door is shut. It only took her until 2AM to find the exact same spot that Sassy slept in for the last few years. (next to Mary of course). She and Daniel are working on their relationship- but sleeping 6 inches apart on the bed this afternoon seems to be a step in the right direction. So we hope that tonight these 2 nocturnal creatures entertain themselves rather than keeping us up.

But we still need a name for her. Mary thought Henrietta was a possibility- since we already had Daniel-Striped-Tiger (remember Mr. Rogers?). A no-go from Jim. Another suggestion was Riki- for Ripon Kitty. Didn't seem to work. So any ideas you have are welcome.

Happy Birthday, Juanita!

You can guess from the pictures where I took my dear friend Juanita for her birthday. (actually the big 7-0 is next week, but any excuse for a trip to Yosemite). We braved the road construction crews widening the road (despite the environmentalists' uproar), a very warm (90+) day and European tourists (hello Californians- you CAN get to and from Yosemite for less than 1 tank of expensive gas!) . And we enjoyed the most wonderful day enjoying the amazing creative power of our God. Even though I have been going there all my life- I can even vaguely remember the Firefall as a young child- it always awes me. Especially on a spring day with the falls crashing and the dogwoods in bloom. (Liz and Anne- you ARE NOT ALLOWED to comment on the dogwood fixation of your mother.) I added a few pictures to our dogwood collection, by the way. Enjoy! (Note: Due to the fear of federal prosecution,those are silk dogwoods Juanita is holding. )

Mother's Day weekend in Moscow

I just got back from a fun long weekend visiting the Muscovites. Liz and I spent time thrift store shopping (found a changing table) and sewing- she made a new dress for the Raggedy Anne doll I had made her as a child, meeting some of their friends (a wonderful group of 20 and 30-somethings and cute children!) But the high point was seeing the house they will be renting in Colfax, Washington (pop 2230). Some friends of their's bought it and are remodeling it. Jason will be doing some (lots?) of the finishing. Just hope it is habitable by the time the baby arrives the end of July! Liz' blog has more pictures.

Memories

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me (Christ)" John 14:1

Daniel feels right at home on this quilt I just finished. I guess that makes sense, since I made it out of Phillip's shirts. Yes, he actually had that many plaid shirts! It was neat working on it- remembering Phillip wearing these. The orange flannel I bought him as a joke for $3 at Mervyns, that he wore EVERY time time changed the oil in the car. His favorite red plaid. The green one he wore for Christmas. And the seemingly endless blue plaids. On the back, I used pieces of his favorite t-shirts, hats, and other things that are good memories-- even a logo from his Eddie Bauer hat and his Sierra Aviation hat found in the
field where he crashed, but a month afterwards. What a joy to have these wonderful memories of a wonderful son who we KNOW we will see again! Praise God!