We were invited to Oscar’s birthday party on Saturday, but given its remote distance (Philadelphia), we had to attend via The Oscar Files. His actual birthday is today, so Mauri and I had a short skype date to sing the Macy birthday song and catch some of the flavor of Oscar as a three-year-old.

Oh, before you click out of here, please note the shirt Oscar wore for his party (at least for this part of his party). His Anderson cousins had something to do with its design.

Welcome to your threes, Oscar. Gus and Gum love you!

This is Beth. So far I’ve met her only on skype.

Taylor met Beth when they were in training with Comprehensive Health Services in Cape Canaveral, Florida. And now they work together in Iraq. We look forward to meeting Beth when they make Newberg the first stop on their R&R the first of April.

I’ve asked T to warn Beth that his mother takes a lot of pictures. As if she hasn’t noticed.

We’ve had hour-plus-long Skype conversations every night during the three weeks he’s been out at Sabbath by the Sea. Lengthy conversations are rare during our evenings at home, because so much of our daily life is done together, leaving very little to report on.

Mr. Darcy doesn’t have the advantage of Skype and has been missing her master.

She was the first to hear the garage door open.

She knew what would happen next.

And now things are back as they should be.

That exuberant little angel (front right) in 2005 became…

…the narrator in 2011.

The young boy who played Joseph in 2005…

…grew into the preacher in 2011.

See these two rising stars here.

Some day I will say “I knew him, I knew her when….”

It arrived yesterday. Today’s mail brought a package from the aforementioned cousin. She’s been going through old family stuff that was passed down to her from our grandmother. It’s lovely to receive these artifacts in manageable portions to savor rather than store for some who-knows-when time.

New camera, family relics. Put them together and what do I get? Something to practice on and to share here!

I recently put up a picture of my grandma (my dad’s mother) wearing a mink around her neck.

And somewhere in the bowels of this blog’s archives I’ve shown this favorite picture of my grandparents.

After receiving today’s package, I looked for (and found!) a picture of her as a 15-year-old girl, her first tintype. It was fun to have this frame of reference as I photographed these:

It’s a book of sewing cards.

It looks like she first drew the pictures on paper, poked holes along the lines, then sewed or embroidered them. According to the date, she was 13.

Precious!

Head on over to Photo Macy to see the whole batch.

I live one block from where I work, which makes my world quite small. Though I hear and read about the awful weather we’re having here in the Pacific Northwest, I pitter patter back and forth in my one-block commute twice a day, oblivious to the weather woes of those around me. Today is my day off, so I decided I’d hop in my little red puddle jumper and take a drive in the country to see what I could see.

No games on this field today, unless you’re a duck fan.

And look who I found in Forest Grove! He had come from the other direction, heading home for half a day between retreats. And yes, we planned to meet. That would’a been some coincidence, huh?

After lunch, we went our separate ways, though headed to the same destination: home!

Where is my gentleman to lay his coat across the puddle?

Raindrops conceal the restaurant’s identity.

On the drive home I slowed to snap this driveway/lake. Do you suppose the owners own a boat?

This much we know: it’s a baby.

And here’s the evidence. We didn’t even need to put our hands on Linsey’s belly to know there was life in there.

But I’ve gotten ahead of myself.

Erin and my niece Amy made some colorful flags—bunting—for decorations. Feller House hostess Barb Mitchell and her grandson Derric helped hang them.

Erin had some fun “activities” (not to be confused with shower games).

Everybody plays.

Praying or nodding off? Could be either one.

Goodies came next!

And then the gifts! Goodness…..we have some creative ones in our family. Only after Linsey had opened two beautiful crocheted/knit blankets and hats and booties and cocoon and stuffed bear and even my own sewn gift did I think to snap pictures. When will I learn?

It was a lovely afternoon. Now all we have to do is sit back and wait.

To completely appreciate the finish we’ll step back in time to one of my pre-marriage visits to 514.

First you’ll look at the people, which was the real reason I took this shot. I was a long way from thinking of this corner creatively. After you finish admiring the people, you’ll notice the cabinet, the back door, and the window (and the food dryer, which now lives in the garage, and the ancient microwave, which long ago bit the dust).

Between our engagement and our marriage, Mauri oversaw the addition of half a house and a total remodel of the cookin’ room. Those were unusual days as we faxed plans back and forth. Note the “island” the guys are leaning on. That is a floating cabinet on wheels.

Some time later, we traded in the windows and the old back entrance for a deck (for the smoker) and French doors. Champ’s presence on the scene lets me know we made these changes within seven years of the other pic.

Over time we made some aesthetic improvements with a bookshelf and an awkward attempt to cover the Gorilla rack. Gone is the bin of dog food! We will consider this the before picture.

Enter Russ Ragsdale. He was up for the challenge of taking our loose ideas and making them into a concrete plan of attack.

We dug into our assignment of choosing a new refrigerator. His patience with our creative process helped us all enjoy the project. Part of the goal was to give Mauri accessible spaces for his coffee roasting equipment.

We basically stayed out of his way while he performed his magic.

And then, well, maybe Russ could finish the French door (that has been unfinished all this time) to match the cabinets. For reasons of toxicity, he needed to remove the entire door and work on it at his shop.

Thankfully, we have other access to the backyard. Our dog was especially glad about that.

We’ll call this the after picture. You might understand our joy in the improvement.

A pull-out cabinet for the coffee gear.

More coffee gear and snacks!

A drawer big enough for garbage and recycle.

It wasn’t part of the plan, but it works perfectly to have trays handy for catching the hot dishes that come from the microwave, which isn’t close to a counter.

Remember the “floating cabinet”? Its deep shelves made accessibility especially difficult, so while you’re at it, Russ, how about building us some pull-out drawers?

Done!

And how can we use that old cabinet? Russ hung it in our washin’ room, where our freezer used to live. Get this…our small fridge fits perfectly under it! I love how a plan comes together.

Thanks, Russ! We love the work you did for us! See his other work here.

I’d already cut one sleeve off of my no-longer-worn sweater before I thought to take a picture.

Zip zap and I’d made my sweater into a pair of leg warmers (from the sleeves), a skirt (from the waist section), and a scarf (from the top sleeves, because that’s where the purple stripe was) for Sage. I sent her mama this picture and asked if Sage might pose in it for a picture.

I got more than I asked for. Sage wore her new outfit to our annual Christmas time breakfast (usually at the Benson in Portland, this year at the local Allison resort).

What a bunch!