WINNING AT THE COUNTY FAIR

A couple years ago, Kamille was staying with her Aunt Leasa during our County Fair and while Aunt Leasa was making her 5 million fair entries, she decided to let Kamille enter some no-bake cookies, which earned her a 2nd place red ribbon. So, since then, Kamille has continued to bug me about wanting to take this little journey again. So, this year, I got brave and decided to undertake this project (at one point, I would not have called it a project, rather a NIGHTMARE!). After a full day of frustration, wiping up raw egg from my kitchen floor and my youngest daughter, calling Aunt Leasa a million times to ask questions about the rules & regulations, and one very frantic call to my mother that involved a LOT of crying, we finally sent 2 plates of cookies to the fair with Aunt Leasa to be entered in the Junior Cooking Division. Kamille(10) chose peanut butter cookies and Keanna (8) chose chocolate chip cookies. Since I'm NOT Martha Stewart and I'm NOT Aunt Leasa, I didn't really expect we would win anything so I had a chat with the girls about "you are not going to win everything in life" and "we just have to be content knowing we did our best" and "we'll learn from our mistakes for next year". At this point in the conversation, Keanna informed me that she was sure we weren't going to win anything. Kamille chimes in and says "Sissy, you have to think positive!" Keanna replies with "I am thinking positive...I'm positive we're not going to win any prizes!" So, off to the fair we go to see what the judges thought about our cookies. Imagine the smiles, shrieking, and high-fives when we approach the display case and find blue ribbons on BOTH girls' cookies. Once again I say, I'm not Martha, and I ain't Leasa, but apparently I absorbed some sort of baking skill from my mother. Needless to say, the girls are already planning what they want to enter next year. I'm sure glad there are 360 days between now and then!!! Good Job Girls and THANKS to Aunt Leasa and Grandma McIntyre for keeping Mom sane through all of this.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?!?!

On June 10th this year, we woke up to a FREAK snow storm with 3 inches of snow on the ground. It didn't last long, in fact, by noonish, it was melting and very slushy and wet. However, we were all in shock because rose bushes were layed flat on the sidewalk, flowers were laying on the ground and wilted. It was just so strange because we'd started having some good weather, enjoying several days in the low 80's prior to this day. I guess that is just one more reason why we love living here--it's always entertaining to see what the weather will bring next.

Airman Ken Harmon

My oldest nephew, Ken, entered the Air Force 4 years ago. This was a "first" in our family, as none of our immediate family has ever served in the military. We were all VERY sad to see him leave, especially since it was the day after his parents hosted the McIntyre family reunion here in Union that same weekend. He graduated from Boot Camp not long after that and acquired many honors, which doesn't surprise any of us. He's an awesome kid. He became a Load Master, and has been deployed a couple times in the past 4 years. He decided to re-enlist, although we're not sure exactly how long. This decision came right around the same time that his brother, Kyle, decided he wanted to join the Air Force also (see post below). Ken has made us all very proud and he seems to be enjoying this experience. He's definitely a redneck at heart, but takes his job and his position very seriously. He was recently able to join his parents and siblings in Texas for Kyle's Boot Camp graduation and has been a huge encouragement for his little brother. He is currently scheduled to be deployed again soon, however I'm not sure exactly when. We certainly kep him close in our hearts, and he is always on our mind. My girls had a real hard time seeing him leave, so I taped a picture of him to the metal tubing of their bunk bed frames and they kiss "Big Cousin" every night just before they lay their heads on their pillows. We hope that he continues to be safe while defending our Country and look forward to seeing him again when he makes it home on leave. Love ya, Son! Keep up the good work. I'm including a picture of him pre-military and a couple pictures of him while on duty.

Airman Kyle Harmon

These are just a few photos from my nephew's "FAREWELL" potluck. He is currently in Texas in the Air Force, preparing to go into Special Forces. He just recently graduated from Boot Camp. We are certainly sad to see him gone, but so proud of him for pursuing something that means so much to all of us. Unfortunately for his family, he had to leave on Mother's Day, so that was especially hard for his mom. His older brother, Ken, is also in the Air Force (see next post) in Little Rock, Arkansas as a Load Master. I'm glad to see Kyle following in his brother's footsteps but know he'll leave some footsteps of his own. He is certainly an unusual individual who instantly brings a smile to the face of anyone he comes in contact with. We miss his antics around town, but we're so proud of him and wish him well and pray for his safety. Love ya, Dainey!

EVEN MORE 4TH OF JULY

MORE 4TH of JULY IN COUNCIL

4TH of JULY in COUNCIL, IDAHO

We spent a LOVELY 5 day "vacation" with my parents camping on their property just outside of Council, Idaho. My family lived in Council when I was born and we were there until I was 5 years old. Council puts on a pretty awesome 4th of July celebration for such a small town. We camped, went in to town on the 4th and enjoyed a Pancake Breakfast, a Parade, Porcupine Races, Logging Competitions, Lawn Mower Drag Races, Music, and lots of visiting. We ran into my mom's half-brother and his family and enjoyed visiting with them throughout the day. Mom's brother Mark is the same age as my brother would have been. He has 4 children from 3 - 13. His wife's grandmother lives in Council and we had NO idea they were going to be there but what a nice surprise. Mom and Dad had their camp trailer there and Steve & I slept on the floor and Steve's daughter Lacey was with us and slept in the back of our Durango. We had such a great time. These are just various pictures of our time. The Porcupine Races are grand fun. We went to a museum there on Saturday and I enjoyed seeing some of the history of the town. We went and took pictures of some of the houses we lived in while we lived there. The old car in the field belonged to my parents when they lived in Boise. They took it to Council with them and it still sits in the field today. There were some BEAUTIFUL sunsets to be enjoyed in the evenings while sitting outside the camper. My step-daughter is a true "city girl" and this was her first camping experience. She did awesome and I believe she truly enjoyed herself. My husband and I have decided that we wouldn't mind living in a little town such as Council. As much as we love Union, when my husband is completely recovered from his rotator-cuff surgery, we may have to relocated in order for him to find work, as things here locally are not in good shape. If there are in any jobs in Council, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if we end up there. We look forward to returning for another visit soon, and hopefully, we can take our girls with us next time. They were visiting their dad in Southern Idaho over the 4th and we missed them terribly.

GREAT AMERICAN HARVEST

There is a non-profit organization in our community called the Great American Harvest. The whole idea is pretty simple, however, due to lack of funding and volunteers, the Harvest is shutting down. Somehow, the lady who ran this program made it last for 5 years and after the end of this year, will have donated over 1 million pounds of various foods to various places. She donates fresh produce, frozen vegetables, turkeys and food baskets for both Thanksgiving and Christmas as well as presents for needy families who can't provide for their children at Christmas. We stumbled on this program right after I was Life Flighted out to Portland for emergency surgery just before Thanksgiving a few years ago. Our boss at the time gave our name to Barb, who runs the Harvest, and told her our situation. We received a turkey, and a basket full of food to make a complete holiday dinner, including pie for dessert. This made us aware of this program and we have volunteered MANY hours since then. There is planting, weeding, harvesting, cleaning, and lots of general back-breaking, hot, tiring work that always needs done. This year, our girls planted a "kid's garden" and have spent all summer weeding, caring for and harvesting produce. They BEG to go spend time at the Harvest, which I find amazing considering their young age and the kind of work involved. So, when the lady who runs the program informed the press she was closing, they did a front page article last weekend to bid her farewell, and included was a picture of our girls sitting amongst some of the produce from their garden.

The whole idea of the Harvest is donated seed, which is planted by volunteers, weeded and maintained through the summer by volunteers, and then when it's harvest time, you go out to the Harvest, you pick produce, and you get to keep half of what you pick for free, donate the other half back to the Harvest and she donates this portion to Seniors, Disabled, Food Banks, local jails, and anywhere she sees a need. Her main crops are corn and green beans, but she has other miscellaneous items, such as beets, cabbage (green & purple), head lettuce, leaf lettuce, chives, green onions, tomatoes, broccoli, onions, carrots, squash, etc. etc. etc. This year, a local farmer who raises peas as a seed crop allowed her an opportunity to bring a limited number of volunteers to his fields and pick as many pounds of peas as possible before he let the crop dry out for seed. So, as you can tell, this is a great program, with benefits for many needy people, as well as a cheap, easy way to help yourself. I've blanched and froze 30+ lbs of peas this year, over 200 ears of corn last year, and we have lots of fresh produce to enjoy all summer long. Needless to say, it is with a VERY sad heart we bid farewell to this wonderful program and the neat lady and her husband who run it. If anybody wants to know more of this program, visit http://www.greatamericanharvest.org/ To see the article with the picture of our girls, visit http://www.lagrandeobserver.com/News/Local-News/Great-American-Harvest-coming-to-a-close These are a few pictures of our memories of spending time at the Great American Harvest. Good luck to John and Barbara (Richmond)-Harris in whatever life brings them in their future! We love you and will miss you teribbly bad.

(FINALLY) LEARNING TO RIDE A BIKE

Our youngest, Keanna, has not had the best of luck in the last couple summers. Last Spring, she broke her right leg and spent the next 8 weeks in a cast from her toes to her hip. She then spent 4 weeks in a cast from her knee to her toes and no activity allowed for another 8 weeks to ensure the breakhealed properly since it was so close to her growth plate. Needless to say, this pretty much shot her summer and all "normal" summer activities. Then, this June, she underwent a minor surgery to remove a tumor from the back of her heel on the same leg she broke. She FINALLY seems to be "whole" and "healed" so she finally decided to undertake the big step of learning to ride a "big-girl" bike with no training wheels. She is not the bravest little soul, most often content to stand on the edges of the spotlight just watching. So, she wasn't really overly excited to take that big step up from the "little bike". Well, we tried a couple times, holding the seat, giving her a gentle push, and watching her immediately steer herself into a spin and bailing off the bike. So I just decided to treat this like the "experts" tell you to deal with potty training...just let it happen when the child is ready. Imagine my shock when I walk out the front door a couple days later and see my 8 year old PROUDLY zipping around our front sidewalks on her bike, smiling like she had just discovered a cure for cancer. So, of course, what better reason to run and get the camera to document her progress. Now, we know what to buy her for next birthday in April. I am really looking forward to some family bike rides now that both girls are doing so well with their bikes.

WHY WE LOVE LIVING WHERE WE DO

We decided to take an impromptu Wed afternoon drive today. There is a 5-mile "loop" that circles out around our town and it is a favorite of ours because we have yet to make the loop without seeing wildlife of some sort. So, today, we head out (WITHOUT MY CAMERA--DUH!!) and as we come around a corner, I see a beautiful doe standing on the hillside. I pointed her out to the girls, who never cease to react with "oohs" and "ahhs". I saw some movement a little higher on the hillside, and I was SO shocked to see not one, not two, but THREE precious, fuzzy, spotted little fawns come bounding down the hillside from their hiding spot under a tree. They made a bee-line to momma and about knocked her over as all 3 attempted to nurse at the same time. So, we hurried around the loop, never thinking they would actually still be there by the time we could race home, get the camera and get back. Not only were we able to see the doe and triplets, but another doe with twins on the other side of the road and yet another doe with an older fawn a small distance up the road in a pasture. Notice the haystack in the background of the doe and single fawn. The deer love hanging in this farmer's pasture because he puts his hay up in stacks instead of bales. I'm not sure why he bothers with a fence, because we've watched MANY a deer clear his fences like they aren't even there. We all commented on the way back to the house that this is a perfect example of why we all love living here in little Podunk-Hickville Union, Oregon. It is not uncommon for us to see wildlife when we drive this loop about 2 miles from our house on Main Street. It's not uncommon to see large numbers of deer right in town, in fact right in our yard eating apples from the apple tree. In fact, we've even had MULTIPLE cougars in our little town, most recently at the new Softball Field on the edge of the city limits. However, it is VERY uncommon to see the special sighting of a doe and triplets like we enjoyed today.