A walking, talking little boy

Here are a couple current pictures of our grandson who lives in India. He is growing up so fast. In these pictures, taken in March, he is just over a year old. For more pictures and videos of Shane walking check out the Spotts Family website.

Happy Birthday Kathleen

Twelve of us celebrated with Kathleen last night! This chocolate cake with a gnoche icing was to die for! Her mama makes the best desserts!

What a Retreat!

These friends and I just enjoyed a weekend together. This was our fifth annual retreat and was such a blessing to all of us. We stayed up late playing games and slept in each morning. We studied some scriptures together and read of God’s workings around the world. We shared what God has been doing in our lives. We prayed for each other and our families. We received updates and prayed for several families that we love and care about who live overseas. We traded books, ate salsa and swapped some recipes. We relaxed, napped, walked, ate too much, read books and of course did a little bit of shopping. Ah, the fellowship of friends.

A New Friend

Today, our new friend, Cynthia leaves Hood River. Cynthia is in the middle and Katey is on the right. (Bob took the picture.)

Cynthia visited our church in March while in town on a work project. Having a common bond in Christ created an instant friendship. Although she is Canadian, she spent much of her childhood in Nigeria. We loved getting to know her, hearing a bit of her story and sharing several meals together. We had the privilege of celebrating on her birthday with dinner and a concert. The concert pianist happened to be from Toronto. It really is such a small world and although we may not see her again in Oregon, we are blessed to have met her and know we will see her and be with her for eternity.

Fly Fishing for Carp

My husband loves to fly fish. Last weekend was the first time he went fly fishing for carp and this is what he caught. These big ole fish put up a great fight, but are not good for much but crab bait.

Busy, Fun, Friends and Food

Thursday morning Becky stopped by after an all-night shift at her work. She slipped into one of our guest rooms and slept while I went to my friends’ home to help them with taxes. After a few hours I returned to make lunch for my husband and wake up our sleeping guest. Then Mythraie, our weekend guest arrived. We chatted for a while, changed sheets on the bed and sent Becky off east for her weekend plan. That was just the beginning of a crazy, but fun filled weekend.

Friday night 10 singles joined Bob and I for dinner. I was so thankful that Mythraie was here to help with the preparations. We dubbed her sous-chef and she washed and chopped most of the afternoon, while I ran around the house like crazy. Visualize random trips here to there, moving piles of mail, magazines, to do lists, and project piles, figuring out how to use the new ice tea maker, making ice tea with the new contraption, adding leaves to the table, finding more chairs, confirming people who are coming, asking about allergies and food preferences, among other details. Also, throw in conversations with Mythraie to catch up on her last six months. You get the picture.

We had a great time Friday night, but Bob was way outnumbered with the 11 women in the room. We all got to telling stories and Bob even told some BK (Before Kim) dating stories on himself. We laughed till our cheeks hurt.

Bob and I both had 8:00 commitments Saturday morning, but eventually we returned home so Bob could prepare our traditional blueberry pancake breakfast for Mythraie. It was the least we could do, after all her chopping and prep work. Saturday night we had the privilege of meeting Tracy’s husband, Dennis and enjoying dinner and conversations with them.

Then Sunday, after church, we invited a couple from our small group to join us for a casual lunch. We picked up pad thai from our favorite thai trailer and sat back and relaxed for the afternoon. Kicking back only lasted a short time. Then Mythraie headed back to Portland, I returned to my friends’ home to finish their taxes and Bob went out and edged the WHOLE yard!

I am officially canceling all obligations this morning. I am drinking coffee and answering a myriad of phone calls and playing catch up with all those piles that were “moved” on Friday. We served up 27 plates to guests from Thursday noon to Sunday noon. We connected with 19 different people. We slept well last night!

Three nights in a row . . .

Pulling me out of a deep sleep is the chunky roar of the orchard fans. For the last three nights, we have had below freezing temperatures causing alarms to ring in the valley. Jumping into action, the orchard owner or their field men light smudge pots and turn on the fans to raise the orchard temperatures by a few degrees. Protecting the unfurling buds is one step to ensure we will have pears, apples and cherries this season. If they sleep through these alarms they run the risk of losing their whole crop. Do they sleep at all when freezing temperatures are predicted or are they on edge all night anyway? Thankful for the warmer temperatures predicted, I am looking forward to a full night's sleep tonight.