Whirlwind Trip

Well, I flew back to town today after a whirlwind trip to Southern California for Cody's Baptism, and I am spending the night at Moosies, and since I don't have all of my normal junk to distract me, I thought that I would post a little note with updated pictures of Mutts!!!! Of course, I am staying at Moosies tonight so that I will quilt something, but this lets me procrastinate the quilting. Anyway!! It was really cool to get to Sherri and the Family, and even Mike and his family. So, I flew in from Portland on Thursday morning, and Mom and Dad flew to Salt Lake City, and then with Matt flew to Los Angeles. We met up, rented a car, and took off for the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!! I am serious, ever time I head to Ridgecrest, I am continually reminded that it is the Middle of Nowhere... I am confused that people even want to live there. Really??? Oh well. Of course in Portland the week before I left, it was raining and cloudy, and So Cal was 60's and partly cloudy, and Sunny. I fly down there, and the forecast changes to cloudy and, what else??? Rain!!! Seriously??? Oh well, se la vie!

On the way to Ridgecrest, we actually drove through Red Rock State Park, I had never been there, and it was really kinda cool. We saw several really big Joshua Trees, and a couple of rock outcroppings which really reminded me of Southern Utah. We didn't do much but drive through the park, and pull off the road for some pictures, but that was better than nothing. The Matlock bunch was calling us, wondering if we were there yet, and I was occasionally wondering the same thing. But where was there???

Cody hamming up for the camera



I guess you are where you want to be if there is family there, or something like that. Or at least it is till I need a break. Hee Hee!! Poor little Caris was sick, but the rest of the Mutts were wild and rambunctious. Nothing much changed there. We went to Cody's Pinewood derby, and had fun watching his car come in 3rd and 4th in most of his races. Anyway after goofing off for a couple of hours we went to our hotel for the night. The next day, I had to stop by NCIS!!!! Gibs was out, but Dad and I KNOW that we saw Abby in the PX. No REALLY!! Anyway, I managed to spend an hour coloring Sherri's hair, and then when it was done, you could not tell the difference. I guess I need to learn how to really color in streaks, or at least use a color that would make a difference. Then I ran off to 2 quilt stores with Mom and Sherri, yes, they even had 2 quilt shops in Ridgecrest. Then Mom, Dad, Matt and I drove over to Ft. Irwin to meet up with Mike. We were able to bring Mike and all the kids except Madeline over to Ridgecrest for the Baptism, Madeline did not want to come. Things have been really tough for all of them there. Anyway, we then drove back to Ridgecrest. The next day we hung out with the Matlocks and celebrated Dakota's Baptism.

He sure is growing up, and becoming his own person. Then we had a pizza party, said goodbye to all the Matlocks, and drove back to Ft. Irwin to drop Mike and the Kids off. Then we headed back to LA. I had to get up early, and even though I snore, I have a hard time sleeping when other people are snoring, so I put in my ear plugs. Then I was so worried that I would not hear my alarm, that I kept waking myself up, like ever half hour or so after 0100, that I did not sleep well. Anyway, I had a very uneventful fight back to Portland, and now I am here goofing off. Not too bad for 4 days.



Shaylynn



Tawny



Dakota



Caris



Dylan

Wow what a looser!!!

Well, I have not even touched this blog in almost 2 years. I can't believe what a LOOSER I am, or at least have been. So, I am going to try to keep up with this a little bit better than I have in the past.

Well, I am back on contract again, this time at Willamette Falls Hospital in Oregon City Now. I will be there till the first part of April. It is cool to have scheduled days, but at different places so that I don't tire of them. There are always going to be idiots in the world, so I will always have a job, so keep it up America!!!!

I AM A NEW AUNT AGAIN!!!!!! WAHOOO!

Yes, it is true, I have a new Niece. She is just the cutest little thing, ok not quite little, but cute. She was born May 7th at 10:07 am, weighing 8lbs, 7oz, and 20.75 inches long. Mom said that she had lots of hair, and long hair at that. Heidi said that the 0-3 month clothes that I bought her are a little too big right now, I don't understand that since she is 8 pounds, but ok. Anyway, I can't wait till I go up there on Sunday to spend a week watching Kailey and Sydnie, and of course, I will be there to visit with Heidi, but that is second on my list. I am not sure how much time I will be spending in Portland, now that I have to new babies so close to me to go and see. I guess that I will have to work a little bit now and then, but oh well.

I HAVE A NEW NEPHEW!!!!! Ok, so the witch Doctor, necklace trick has failed now, OR HAS IT????? I have to remember that Megan has always been a little different than all of us. Her readings have always been confusing. I guess that we will just have to see. The Witch says that Heidi is going to have a girl any second now, and that Sherri is going to have a boy. both of which have been confirmed by ultrasound, but things do change. Anyway, I HAVE A NEW NEPHEW!!! He is the cutest little guy. He was born Friday April 18th at 1059, weighed in at 7 lbs, 11 oz, and 21 inches long. I was able to spend a week up in Spokane with him and the rest of the clan up there, and it was great to hold him, until I got sick the last couple of days. Anyway, had a great time buying boy clothes now. I had bought a bunch of cute little girl clothes, but I guess that they went to Heidi. Maverick is just the cutest thing. He is so alert, looking around, already so expressive. Of course the best thing is when he cries, or poops his pants, I get to hand him back to his Mom.

Back to Reality

Well, we are all back from the Dominican Republic. After a full day of flying, 4hr flight, and a 5 hr flight, and pulling into Portland at 1100 at night, PDT, 0300 EDT. It was a long day.

The last couple of days, we went back into Santo Domingo, to a couple of malls, and walked around, and had fun again with all of the traffic. Then we took a more rural route back to our hotel. We passed by Mango trees, a Papaya grove, and many Sugar Cane Fields. We even stopped and bought some sugar cane to eat. It was really sweet, but really woody. Very interesting. We then hung around the pool reading, watching the waves roll in, it was very nice and relaxing.

Of course I ended up taking over 200 pictures of the waves crashing against the beach, but that is nothing new. Then that night, sitting around the hotel, talking with MSN messenger, to family back in the states, checking flights etc. Overall, a very enjoyable trip. But it sure is nice to be back in the USA.

Yesterday was a nice, relaxing day. Mom was working on Christmas Stockings in the morning, I guess that she needed to start now, becasue she has several to make this year. We ended up taking Miss Linda and Jared to the airport, they had a better chance of getting all the way home in 24 hours, if they left then. They should make it to Spokane sometime this morning. Anyway, yesterday here was on and off stormy, but nice. We ended up changing rooms, and now we are on the 3rd floor, overlooking the beach. It is really cool to hear the waves crashing all night long. The AC works better in this unit, and Dad about froze last night.

Wednesday we went into Santo Domingo. We had a great time. Matt especially had a great time trying to navigate through traffic. Not just normal busy abnoxious traffic, but pull into your vehicle, cut you off traffic. They sure think that they can fit anywhere that they want, oh, and look out for all of the mopeds. They are just wild. Anyway, we saw part of a fort built on the hill overlooking the Ozama River, which was built in 1502, we even saw some of the original cannons. There is a nice plaza dedicated to Christopher Columbus, right next to the "first" Cathedral in the New World. We also saw the Hacienda of Diego Colon (Son of Christopher Columbus) and his wife Mary, which was built in the early 1500's. It was pretty cool. We lucked out when we took the tour of the hacienda, becasue it sure downpoured while we were in side, but otherwise, we remained relatively dry. We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe across from the Statue of Christopher Columbus, and then went SHOPPING!!!!!! We had a lot of fun; and we spent a little money. Then we drove out west a little bit, through the hairraising traffic, and found the Dominican Republic Temple. It sure was beautiful. Anyway, then we headed back home to Juan Dolio, but made several circles trying to get on the road that we wanted, "you can't get there from here". Eventually we made it back home. We were all tired after a long, but very fun day.