Grandma Pearl's 97th Birthday

and our California Cousins

This pretty girl belongs to me:

(I was going to post a picture of Sissy with

her new car, but I haven't seen it yet.)

The Ducks Kick Butt!

Yesterday a very, very important Civil War game was played between the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers. If OSU won, they were going to go to the Rose Bowl. They didn't win, and now I don't know what is going to happen to them. Of course, I am a Duck, even though I graduated as a Beaver. (You don't just become a Beaver when you are 44 and go to their school, not when you grew up in Eugene. It doesn't work that way.)

On with the story. Apparently some new channel named Versus did something really mean and bought up all the rights to show our home state football teams locally. And, you cannot get this Versus on cable or regular satilite tv. Only on the most expensive satillite tv package. Anyway, that's the rumor I got, and if it is true, well, it sucks. So, we decided to go where we could see the game ... The Wikiup Station. It was full of both Ducks and Beavers and friends and strangers. Cary was a Beaver last night because of the Rose Bowl issue. I had decided that if the Ducks lost I wouldn't be too sad. But the Ducks won big time. We had a great time!

Final score.

The Other Roxanne, Brenda, Gracie, Judy and Rusty

Judy and Rusty


Brenda and Gracie

Kitti, Me and Rick

Cary, Pete, and Dianne from the dentist's office.

Pete is a Marine Beaver fan. Boyah! Settle down, Pete. Dianne wishes ... well it was a great story but I'm not sure I should be putting it on here. Something I can say about Diane on the web is that she and her husband stepped up to the plate and raised a total of 12 kids, and all the kids came home with their families for Thanksgiving for a total of 54 people. Great job guys, and thank you for choosing to do the right thing!

Duck fans Larry and Donna who shared our table with us.

They are really nice people and we are glad that we got the chance to get to know them.

Shellie, Kitti, Lisa, Me and Ardelle.

Bye, bye Ardie, we will miss you a lot.

Thank you for taking such good care of

your Mom and Dad, and also for

choosing to do the right thing.

Road Trip! (Thanksgiving readers, keep on reading, I've posted a lot this morning.)

Last week, we were given free tickets to the Trailblazer/Sacramento game in Portland. Tony from Lehigh game them to us. Thank you, Tony, we had a blast. Here is a summary of our trip, which ended up not costing very much at all.

On Sunday morning, November 23, my BFH and I got up, packed and drove to Madras. We ate lunch at The Stag. We met some super nice people there, including a lady named Norma who I still need to send a pair of Indian earrings to. Several people there were wearing Jacoby Ellsbury shirts and jackets ... the local boy who ended up playing for the Boston Red Sox. Yay, Jacoby, we are so proud of you!

After lunch, we drove to Warm Springs and checked in at Ka-Nee-Ta Resort. The man at the desk was super nice to us and gave us a huge king sized room for only $81.00. In the summer the same room would have been around $160.00.

The lodge.

The casino.

View from our room.

Our room.



More of our room.

The pool. I think it is open all year ... the water is pumped in from the hot springs. We didn't go swimming, but we did use the hot tub outside of the exercise room. There is also a lounge and fine dining room, and we went to both of those. The food was sooooo good! I had a rib eye steak. It wasn't cheap, but it was very delicious.

View the next morning from our room.




The view on the drive out.



The reservation is open range.
Cows and horses are all over the place.



Little me on the big reservation.

Old church across from the little store on the way out.

Mount Hood.

View from the rest stop at the top of the pass.

Mt. Hood again.

We got to Vancouver and checked into Motel 6. It was $57.00 a night and very basic

... and was glaringly boring for only $24.00 a night less than the resort.

Cary at the door to our new room.

It was a handicapped room,

which always bugs him.

I don't care too much about getting a handicapped room,

but I always feel like I need a step stool to reach the toilet.

There was not one picture on the walls and the bedspread looked like it should be in a little boy's room, but the room was clean and the tv was good. The guy's tv next door was good too, because we could hear it through the wall next to our headboard. He was nice enough to turn it off by midnight. The pool was closed for repairs ... but it was a covered/inside pool.

We went next door to Elmer's and had lunch. And we called our friends Lee and Fran to tell them that we were in town and looking forward to seeing them soon.

We left Elmers and crossed the street to go back to our room. We were not far from our door when we heard a loud crash ... a car wreck. Cary called 911 on my cell, since he knew where we were. We walked over to the curb, and the lady who pulled out in front of the girl was hurt and could not move her arm. Two young witness girls and I went over to check on her, which worried Cary to no end; he was envisioning us getting hit too ... but we didn't. The ambulance took that lady away, and the girl who got hit was probably getting a ticket for no insurance.

She was a really nice young woman too. That's the way it goes sometimes I guess ... blame the victim.

Lee and Fran came and picked us up. Thank God they were driving ... we are used to wide, rural roads where tailgating is still considered sinful. They took us to the Widmere Brewery, were we had pints and hamburgers. Good choice, Lee and Fran. Thank you.

Then we got to the Rose Garden Arena and found out that our tickets included free food like prime rib and shrimp and dessert. Thanks again, Tony, for those $120.00 each tickets! We ate again anyway, just because it was there.

Fran, Cary and Lee

(Lee is a realtor, so if you need to buy a home in

Vancouver or Portland, give him a call.)

Fran, Kathy and Lee

(Fran writes grants and curriculum.

Sounds like cool job to me!)

There are these huge TV screens so

you can easily see all of the action.

A free throw situation.

MAKE SOME NOISE!!!

The Blazer's won by one point in the last second. It was very exciting,

and was a close game all the way through.

The next morning, we got up and drove home. What a fun trip, and it was a pleasent surprise that we didn't have to spend a bunch of money to have a bunch of fun.

A tribute to Mrs. Bentsen:

Mary Jean Bentsen, our neighor of 40 years, died last week and I will remember her always.

I was 10 when we moved from Springfield to our home behind the fairgrounds in Eugene. Right away, Judy Bentsen and I became close friends. Judy was 2 years younger than me, but that didn't matter one bit.

Judy's mom was a wonderful person. She was tall. She had recently gone back to school to complete her education in education and was a subsitute teacher. She taught the neighbor kids how to ride a bike on that special little bike that had a fanbelt for a chain. She loved the Oregon Ducks, especially the football and track teams. She loved to sew and make things. Mary Jean made the huge braided rug in their family room. She helped Judy and I with our sewing projects and let us make scotch shortbread whenever we wanted to. She always had a clean and peaceful home. There were 5 kids still living at their house when we moved next door: Danny, Christine, Lewis, Joey and Judy. She was a wonderful and caring mother and wife. She went to church every Sunday. (But she used to come over to our house to sneak a cigarette with my Mom. I always thought that was out of character! Mom didn't sneak a cigarette, she just smoked.)

Mary was always supportive and shared her time and talents. One time, Judy and I wanted to make a neighborhood library in our shed. The shed was musty, but we cleaned it up the best we could. We used our childhood books and set up library pockets and sign out sheets. Mary let us use the books she had gathered over the years, and so did my Mom. When we finally dismantled the library, the books really smelled musty, but the Mom's never said a word about it.

Mary had a sucessful booth at the Saturday Market for a while. In fact, she made the wall hanging pictured above for me a long time ago. I have hung it up in every house I've lived since I got it. Now I am so glad that I have it. I wish I had a picture of her though.

Mary was a wonderful daughter. She took such good care of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Porter. They lived on Jefferson Street, a few blocks away. Her dad loved pro-wrestling and her mom loved African violets.

Thank you, Mary Jean Bentsen, for enriching my life and the lives of everybody you met.

Thanksgiving 2008:

Giving thanks with

a grateful heart ....

Our family meets anually at Mom's church to celebrate Thanksgiving and our family. We decorate the tables and get everything set up and festive for the occasion. My aunties iron their tableclothes (a true labor of love). My tableclothes are the little table toppers and they are washed and folded and stored for next year. They are not ironed. They are kind of wrinkely and the edges are creased at random intervals. But, they add color.

I am in charge of bringing the decorations, olives and cranberry sauce. I remembered about the olives (6 cans so everybody has a chance to eat some). But I forgot that I was in charge of the cranberry sauce. I had thrown in one can from home just to be nice, but when I got there I had to beg for more. I do not like having to go to Safeway on Thanksgiving. My sister Angie came to the rescue and went home to a few more cans.
My Mom and aunties cook the turkeys, and my Uncle Frank is in charge of the mashed potatoes. Everybody else brings their own dishes to share. It is quite an impressive spread, and our family is full of good cooks, thank goodness.
Here are some cousins and an aunt playing Sorry and putting together puzzles before it is time to eat. I asked who was winning, and was told that nobody really wins at Sorry. I am kind of sorry to learn that, because that is one game I usually can win at. Oh well.


Here is my BFH visiting with Uncle Frank (mashed potato maker and retired army major ... see the veteran's day post where I didn't have his picture.) Both these guys are always happy to see each other, as they work on solving the world's problems each Thanksgiving. This year, though, it's too confusing to be definite about which plans will make things better.



Here's Rachel and Sally. They are so pretty! Thank you, Sally for washing all of those dishes. Sally and Michael were really happy to know that I am finally happy. Mike didn't really believe me at first. There have been many Thanksgivings in the past 24 years that I have known him that I wasn't very happy. Sally went and give my BFH a hug and told him thank you for making her cousin so happy. That was so nice.



Hey Uncle Chunk and birthday girl Maria! Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you, Uncle Chunk for helping us clean up, and for Maria for working so hard on making things pretty and cleaning up.



I didn't get very many pictures this year. I was busy visiting with everybody. So much news to catch up on. Nigel is getting ready to join the Navy and is trying to get Ethan to accompany him. Kari is doing so good at her work. My cousin Scott is doing great as a respiratory therapist. My brother-in-law is ready to launch a new business. Sally is redecorating her house. Things are slow for some of us in the building and construction businesses, and that is a worry. Nick got something stuck in his eye, but is feeling better. Fernando has a broken foot. Brian is still funny.



Mom has been working hard, as always. She gave us all our family calendars (more on this later) .

Overall, we have such a neat family, and I love you all!

This is the afgan that I made for Casey's 8th birthday. It was really easy to make and is a good way to use up yarn scraps. First I knitted a small rectangle and then kept single crocheting around the rectangle. When I got to a corner, I did 3 single crochet stitches to keep the corners laying flat. My brother-in-law asked how long it took to make. I told him it went pretty fast, and probably took about a week of evenings watching tv. I hope Casey enjoys it! Two things I like about knitting and crocheting is that it is relaxing, and I can think about (and pray for) the person I am making the gift for as I am doing it.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Happy Birthday, Casey!

Love, Grandma and Grandpa


(We sure do have a lot of November birthdays, don't we?)

Blog Stars

Today at our Thanksgiving feast, I plan on handing out my gift tag/business card to my family inviting them to read my blog. I am ready to introduce it to a little bigger circle now. I still have so much to put on here, but have to learn how to expand the sides of my home page first. I think I have gotten the picture part figured out now, and I want to spend some more time on essays. This blog can expand and go in any direction, but I am trying to keep things positive and to focus on what brings me comfort and joy. Apparently my family, friends and making things make me happy.

I've termed those of you who are featured in this blog as "blog stars", because you are! If you have a story or a picture that you would like on here, please let me know. My email is: oregongiftsofcomfortandjoy@hotmail.com

Happy Thanksgiving

and Happy Birthday Maria!

Amy, Julie, Maria, Sally and Kathy last Thanksgiving

In a little while, BFH and I will pack up and travel to Eugene to my mom's church fellowship hall to celebrate Thanksgiving with her side of the family. We have a really nice family, and everybody gets along. It is fun to see everybody and catch up. It is neat to see how big the cousins kids are getting, and sometimes a bit startling to see how old the rest of us are getting. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving yourself!

Happy 12th Birthday

to Treavor!

Treavor is our great-nephew.

This picture was taken at Shelly and Brian's wedding.

Happy Birthday, Patty!

Patty has been one of my very best friends since 1984.

Have a wonderful birthday, girl!

Kansas Grandkids ...

A couple of years ago ... but a great picture!

Washington Grandkids ...

The oldest of them all ...





The youngest of them all (with his Daddy) ...

and some sweet boys in the middle!

New things ....




Here is Casey holding the monster made out of a sock that I made for him. He named it Stuffy. Sometimes a new toy is almost as good as a pair of new shoes.

But a new car is ALWAYS better than a pair of new shoes. Congratulations, Kari and Casey on your new car! Thank you for driving over from the valley to show it to us!

My latest little guy.

Is he a monkey, mouse or ... a merkeet?