Scott

In memory of my brother-in-law, Scott Sessions, who passed away on Tuesday April 27, 2010 after living with ALS (Lou Gehrig Disease) for 5 years.

Spring

Isn't Spring amazing? New life and new growth everywhere. Well, I think it's a pretty time, but Ron seems to be playing the battle of the weeds and wildlife game. Just this morning he was trying to defend our home. We have a Towhee that seems to have adopted us. It lives on our front patio and likes to sit on the windowsills and lawn furniture. Of course it poops all over, so Ron is continually chasing him away. The deer were here drinking out of the Koi pond and don't seem to be at all afraid of coming right up to the house. Then there was the woodpecker that was pecking on the logs holding the roof over the patio. Ron was overwhelmed! I'm not sure just who the slow learner is here. The animals haven't learned that his actions are suppose to keep them away, and he hasn't learned that no matter what he does they're just going to keep coming back. However, when I look out my closet window this is the site I see. Ah, it's great to live in the country!

Dirty Dan Days

Daniel Jefferson Harris was born in 1833 on Long Island, New York. He came to this area in May of 1854. He combined homesteading with trading in the Puget Sound area. He was in trouble with the law on several occasions, and even jailed, but he never served a prison term. He had some good friends that always bailed him out. He was a very ambitious young man and single-handedly built a road from Sehome to Lake Whatcom. Because he seldom bathed they began calling him "Dirty Dan". He always wanted a town on his land so he filed the plat for the Town of Fairhaven in 1883. He began selling lots shortly after that. He also spent several years in California where he acquired at least 8 pieces of local real estate, including a lot in downtown Los Angeles and Redondo Beach. However, in our area he is considered the founder of Fairhaven and we celebrate this with "Dirty Dan Harris Days". Several events take place over the weekend, and today we are at the "Chowder Cook Off".

Jennie is sampling one of the chowders. To participate in the "Cook Off" you buy a ticket for $10.00. You then get a lanyard to wear around your neck and this lets you get a sample of each of the chowders. There were 17 restaurants represented this year. After you have finished sampling you choose your favorite, visit the Avenue Bread booth to get a big bowl and bread.

Jennie's favorite, and mine, was the Whiskey Crab Chowder from The Shrimp Shack. We went to their booth, gave them our lanyards, which was our vote for their chowder, and they filled our bowls. By now we were pretty full from the sampling, so we took our chowder home for later. Here is Jennie's chowder with Rosemary bread.Throughout the day different groups entertain on the Village Green stage. Here we have the Gallus Brothers. Mike, Jerad, Will and Ron have all chosen their favorite chowders. Looks like Will and Ron have finished theirs and Mike and Jerad are taking theirs home for later.
And here I am with a Dirty Dan Harris look alike. Just another part of the festivities.

Wild Dogwood

It may be pouring down rain today, but the dogwood trees are in full bloom and are they ever beautiful!

Seattle Lunch

We went to Seattle today to have lunch with Jennie. We started with a stop at her office as we had not been there before. Well, I have been there, just not inside. I was with her when she went for her interview, but I waited in the car. For those of you that don't know, Jennie is now the Mortgage Loan Manager for Salal (formerly Group Health Credit Union) in Seattle.How would you like an office with a view like this? Jennie says on sunny days it can be a little distracting as she watches the activity on Lake Union. If she looks to the left she can see Gas Works Park.Here's our friend Cathie with Jennie. They have known each other for several years and Cathie has wanted to go to Seattle and have lunch together. Today was the day! We had a great visit and a delicious lunch at McCormick and Schmick.

Star of Bethlehem

Jennie gave me this Star of Bethlehem plant for Easter. It is now in full bloom and beautiful. It says the flowers are long lasting, so it will be fun to see how long they really do last. It also says I can plant the bulbs outside. However, I'm afraid the deer will eat it as they eat just about everything around here.

School Days

I got this School Days mini book kit several months ago, but have just been to busy to get the pictures in it. Amber and I went to Treasury of Memories Spring Open House last night, so thinking about this event got me motivated to finish the book. This is the outside cover, and yes that is a real ruler. This is a sample of the inside pages. I used some of my favorite pictures of the kids I had in first grade last year. It will be a fun memory of them. I know they have moved on to second grade, but looks like I am still stuck in first grade. They were a great class and I still think of them often

MS Walk

Today we did the MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Walk in memory of Misty's mom Ginger who died from MS a few years ago. The walk started and ended at Barkley Haggen's. We walked the trail to Memorial park, which is near Sunnyland School. It was cold this morning, only 31, but we dressed warm. It was a beautiful sunny day, so with the sun and the walking we soon warmed up and had a great walk. Here you can see who Amber and Misty are walking for. Amber and Misty

Lizzy was riding in her wagon, but she thought she was on a roller coaster, so she kept putting her hands up. She just recently got back from Disneyland, so I'm sure that's where this idea came from.

Here's "Ginger's Team"

Niece Jennifer, Dana, Son-in-law David

Nicole, Daughter Misty, Amber, Jen K, Ron
Grand daughter Lizzy, Cohen, Carole

Easter

After church Ron and I stopped over at Amber and Jerad's for an Easter Egg Basket Brunch. Not only are they quite cute, but they were delicious. Good job on the eggs Jerad. Amber also made fluffy buttermilk pancakes. What a treat!

We came back to Amber's a little later and Jennie and Will joined us. The girls say they will never be to old for an Easter basket.

Amber gave me a miniature Easter Lily. It's very sweet.Jennie gave me a Star of Bethlehem plant. The flowers are beautiful.

We went over to my sisters in the afternoon. While we were waiting for everyone to arrive and dinner to cook we made Easter charm bracelets. I always like to bring a craft project for us girls to do.
Rylie is my niece Cara's daughter. The Easter Bunny brought her a bubble machine. We had a little trouble getting it started, but once the bubbles came Rylie was thrilled!

And here's cutie Rylie. She is almost 18 months old. She is talking more all the time and definitely has a lot of things figured out. She keeps us all smiling.

Michael Buble'

We went to Seattle with Amber and Jerad to see Michael Buble'. We saw him in Vancouver, Canada a couple years ago and he puts on an amazing show. We are already looking forward to seeing him again.

The group Naturally 7 opened the show. They must be doing a good job as they are the same group that opened the show in Vancouver. They are an acappella group, but not really. I'm trying to remember just how they worded it. They said an acappella group has no music, but they have music. The catch is that the music is made with their voices. They call it "Vocal Play" and they are truly amazing!

And here's Michael Buble'! He is such a personable guy and has great contact with his audience.

He is from Vancouver, so feels Seattle is pretty much like home. Many of his family members were at this concert, from Grandma and Grandpa right down to a nephew.

His final song of the concert, "Song for You", can leave a tear in your eye. You don't leave many concerts like that. In Vancouver he stepped to the front of the stage and began singing his closing song with no microphone. GM Place became immediately quiet as everyone wanted to hear. His Seattle performance was similar. The key lyric is, "We're alone now, and I'm singing this song for you." You get the feeling that he is truly singing his songs just for you. Thank you Micheal for another wonderful evening.

PS If you want to see Michael Buble' sing "A Song for You", click on this link:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAuwdcADcIU

Happy Easter

Hmmm, guess it has been pretty quiet since we returned home. No new sites to see, no medical emergencies, and no new roads to explore. Sounds pretty boring doesn't it? It's not, it's been great seeing everyone and catching up on the winters events. I have no new pictures to share, but I do want to wish everyone a HAPPY EASTER.