Pool Party!

Nana and Papa have a great pool for the kids so Meysa and Ayden were having their very own pool party. Of course, Grandma was not about to be left out so she joined in as well! And the rest of the gang hung out and enjoyed a cold soda!
Splashing their way from one end to the other!
Who can find the balls on the bottom of the pool?
Grandma Margaret, Ayden, Meysa and Lauryn
Some adult time while the kids are all in the pool. Great fun!

There's a reason they call it Labor Day!

We spent Saturday helping Beth and Bryan with putting stain on the log home. It was fun to help and we got a lot done, but we were tired at the end of the day!
Bryan and Greg working on the peak at the back of the house - we call this the park entrance!!
Dad is busy supervising the ladder work!! He helped on Friday on the garage side.
Margaret is washing the porch railing logs - they're next!!!
Amy was very busy putting up applesauce - she labored all day and still had more apples to do!
So what's this - a break???? Greg decided to swing a bit on the porch with Cedar, another Golden.

Beth says, "I'm the boss here so do as I say!"
Not to worry, Greg is looking it all over so he doesn't miss anything.

Overcoming Fear

Flying in an open cockpit plane, daring roller coaster rides, tandem jumping off a mountain with a paraglider - these things don't scare me. But put me 12 feet up in the air on a ladder or scaffolding and my heart pounds and I get sweaty!! But to prove I overcame - here are the pictures!!
Starting the climb up to the top of the ladder. We are caulking the trim board in preparation for the painter!
Greg has no fear and just moved right along on the rickety old scaffolding!
Notice the difference in posture; I'm not about to let go of the wall! But I did it and we are ready for paint! The hanger looks so much different with the drywall on the ceiling. I'm determined we are NOT putting everything back into the hanger that once was there. It's time to purge and I'm ready. (Greg's not sure what will be left!!!)

Dog Days of Summer!

Western Oregon University offers a dog swim right before they close their pool for cleaning and maintenance, so we decided to take Rusty. He loves his "kiddie" pool at home and loved the one at the pool!! When he first got to the pool, he immediately jumped in the large pool and suddenly realized he couldn't touch the bottom! The look on his face was too funny! It took both the lifeguard and me to coax (at one time, roll!) him into the water and encourage him to swim. He finally got the hang of it, but wouldn't leave the side of the pool. He just swam next to the edge! We all had a great time!!
Rusty discovered the "kiddie" pool after having been in the bigger pool - he's much happier here!!

This was the first timei he went in - he just couldn't wait to get out!!
We had to keep him swimming to the steps; Rusty wanted to climb out wherever he could! The yellow lab didn't like the water at all and kept watching Rusty!!!

A Tribute to Uncle Glen

Obituary from Ft. Dodge Iowa newspaper:

Robert Glen Porter, the son of Robert and Jennie (Hoshaw) Porter, was born on October 17, 1924 in Lehigh, IA. He graduated from Lehigh High School in 1947. He served in the U.S. Air Force in Japan during WWII.

On December 10, 1947, Glen was united in marriage to Irene Fiala in Fort Dodge. The couple made their home in Fort Dodge. Glen and his brother Wilbur owned and operated Porter Brothers Trucking. Glen later sold the business and became a consultant and diesel mechanic for Mallinger Trucking and retired from Decker Truck Lines.Glen was a member of Holy Rosary Church.

He will always be remembered as a loving husband, father and grandfather. His family meant the world to him and he enjoyed time spent together from vacations as a young family to babysitting his grandchildren.

Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Irene; his children and their spouses, Marge (Frank) Helsell of Cedar Rapids, Jane (Ron) Johanson of Badger, Julie (Jerry) Lunn of Fort Dodge, Dave (Carla) Porter of Berwick, and Dean (Sara) Porter of West Chester, OH; eight grandchildren Matthew Dencklau, Mitchell Dencklau, Dr. Melissa Dencklau, Mitch (Jamie) Lunn, Jessica Lunn, Katie Lunn, Bryan (Lisa) Porter and Tricia Porter; two great grandchildren Grace Porter and Cambree Lunn; his sister-in-law Mary Porter of Fort Dodge, his brother-in-law Ralph (Ann) Fiala of Seattle, WA and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brothers Lyle, Wilbur, and Carl and his sister Carol Jean.

Uncle Glen was a man who loved life and laughed often. He lived as a humble man and I loved hearing his stories. He loved being out on the lake, teaching us all how to ski. He was so patient with how long it would take to get us up on skis! He will be missed!

Uncle Glen, I know you are blessed and we are blessed because of you. Thank you for your life. We love you!

Our home in Oregon

This is our home in Oregon; we have done more landscaping and

plan to put a pond and rock garden in next to the back deck. Always more projects!

Sunshine and the Ocean - It doesn't get much better than this!

We woke up to gray skies and rainy weather and decided to head for the beach. Just what I needed; I love being by the water and listening to ocean and Greg said it didn't matter that it was gray. We gathered our raincoats and headed out. Much to our surprise, we arrived at Pacific City and it was blue sky and sunshine! No raincoats for us! We spent the day playing by the water and looking at vacation property. We're closer to making our dream of a vacation home on the beach a reality!

Pacific City - this is a huge sand dune we walked around!
Rusty loves the beach!
Margaret with Rusty Greg with Rusty