Lake Hebo and Susie's demise

Halfway between Tillamook and Lincoln City at the juncture of Highways 101 and 22 there is a small town called Hebo. If you drive up a windy steep forest road for 5 miles east of there (off of 22) you'll come to a little tranquil lake by the same name. We enjoyed camping there, walking the trails, playing Scrabble at the picnic table, and listening to the frogs after dark.

The next day we went to Lincoln City and did our favorite things--walk on the sandy beach, shop at the mall, and lunch at Mo's.

We got home on Thursday afternoon just in time to watch Susie being hauled off. (It was donated to OPB.) 

That car has a long and colorful history. We bought it in 1992 and I remember going up to get it with Carl and how they treated us like royalty. We lent it to Mike and Brenda for their honeymoon, which must have been fun, driving a brand new car. Then Carl took it out to see how fast it would go and tore out the clutch. It died in front of Tann's house and had to be towed away on a flatbed for repair. We got a lot of good use out of it and then sold it to Neil and Pam. His family named it "Susie" and I'm sure they have many good memories too. Lately Emily has been driving it and added a dent or two.  Good bye, Susie. May you rest in peace.

Out of the mouths of......grandchildren

Erik, Gideon, Berkeley, Sam, Maia & Sydney

We did eight days of babysitting at the Andrus home. Mike and Brenda were on a relaxing Alaskan cruise with Mike's parents and siblings. The first five days we also had Neil and Pam's two youngest while the rest of their family went on a Pioneer trek.

Here are some memorable conversations:

Grandpa asked Erik if he knew that his dad was a chemical engineer before he became a doctor. He asked Erik what engineers do. "Drive trains?" was Erik's answer.

Maia brought me her bathing suit which had crossing straps in the back and asked, "Will you organize this for me so I can go swimming?"

I leaned Gideon back in the bathtub to get his hair wet before shampooing it. He came up saying, "Wet!"

Eldon asked Berkeley if he knew how his grandparents had become so wise. "By making good choices?" Then he asked "How did they learn to make good choices?" Berkeley said, "By making mistakes."

Erik threw a rock at Sydney which hit her foot and hurt but didn't injure. Grandpa yelled at him and sent him to the boys' room where he wailed for a while. When I heard about it I went downstairs to make sure he apologized, which he gladly did. Sam said, "Grandpa didn't need to yell. Syd's tough!"

I overheard Sydney cheerfully explaining to Maia: "They've been gone 5 days so they'll come back in 3 days!"

The kids knew Jessica is sick because we were praying for her.  One morning I asked Sam if he'd had breakfast and he said he was fasting today for Jessica. I asked Grandpa if that was alright and he said, "Yes, I think he has great faith."

I commented to Maia about how they have everything a kid could want--a trampoline, a kitten, a pool, a play structure, a Wii and lots of books. I asked, "Is there anything you don't have?" She thought a minute and said, "Well, we don't have any whipped cream."

My 70th Birthday Bash

We had a 3-day family reunion at Camp Alpine. Highlights were canoing, hiking, playing at Libby's Leap, catching salamanders, a nature hike with Grandpa, making led bugs with Uncle Ken, archery with Grandpa, lots of good food, and just visiting. We saw a deer watching us from the meadow.

My favorite thing was  the talent  show on my birthday. My kids and grandkids  are so talented. Neil was an excellent MC. 

Jessica sang. Rachel recited a poem. Her sisters and mom also recited poetry.

Brenda's girls, Sydney and Maia, sang. Mike whistled.

Ken gave  the  humorous reading Grandpa Fugal used to give called "The Schoop Schovel" in a Swedish accent. 

Ken wrote a skit about two sister missionaries and  their experiences tracting. This was good for the non-members visiting from France--Jonathan's twin brother's family.

Jason did an interpretive dance about the zipline. 

Neil's family sang "Come, Come Ye Saints." 

Brenda sang two beautiful songs. A touching one was called "One Good Woman."

There was much more and we ended with dancing the Virginia Reel which I hope will be a yearly  tradition. I loved hearing my kids sing "My Heavenly Father Loves Me."

A popular activity was the zipline.  Mike spent a lot of time designing and installing it. Two men who are over Camp Alpine were there. We were afraid they would nix it, but they liked it, took pictures of it, and arranged to buy it from Mike for the cost of materials--$300.

I went down the zipline on my 70th birthday and here's a picture to prove it. Eldon went down it too.