Let it Snow, Let It Snow, Bah Humbug!

We are now on our seventh day of cold weather and snow on the ground. It started snowing lightly last night but this morning it started getting steady. It hasn't stopped since and it is really coming down now (about 4:30 PM on Saturday). So for your viewing pleasure here are some pictures: For those of you who have not heard Rowan Renee Aston arrived early Wednesday morning. You can see all the details and pictures on Laurel and Patrick's blog. Click on their link in the right column.

Some of our neighbors are getting together for an impromptu holiday party this evening. It gave Goni time to do some cooking instead of being bored sitting around watching TV and reading all day. Prime rib with potatoes and some kind of vegetable. We only have to crawl across the street if the weather gets too bad.

Our Christmas Tree

We put up our Christmas tree Wednesday night. It is not as big as past trees but it is a nice one that Goni picked up in Kalama from the Cub Scouts. The gifts under the tree are for the family that was adopted as a result of Jill's suggest to do so on Thanksgiving. They will be delivered on December 20th in Longview. Picture courtesy of Patrick Aston, official photographer of the family Christmas.

Today we are waiting for the big snow storm and the cold weather. Pictures will follow once things start happening which should be later today. We are also still patiently waiting for Rowan to arrive.

Weather Update:

We had snow flurries all morning but it started snowing and blowing after church. Temperatures at 3:00 PM was 27 degrees Farenheit and the wind is consistently blowing out of the NE at 10 mph. It's cold outside!

Pearl Harbor Day

Today is the 67th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which caused the United States to enter World War II. President Franklin Roosevelt said that it was "a date that will live in infamy". Today is the first time our flag has flown at half mast on our new flag pole. It is the custom for the President to call for all flags to fly at half mast on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

Grover had the honor to meet one of the men who helped bring World War II to an end last night. His name is Army Sgt Don Malarkey and he was one of the "Band of Brothers" who served in Easy Company in the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. Malarkey jumped into France the day before the D-day invasion and was fortunate to never have been seriously wounded.

Sgt. Malarkey was at a gathering at the Kalama Elementary School where he spoke about his experiences. There are not too many World War II vets left in this world and Sgt Malarkey is about 88 years old. He was born and raised in Astoria, Oregon and currently lives in Salem. If you are interested in more information on Don Malarkey go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Malarkey.

Grover's dad, Marvin Laseke Sr, and Goni's step father Don Payder, both served in the Navy during the war. As we enter the holiday season we should be thankful for many things. One of them is the veterans who have served, and those who continue to serve, our country.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving day is the start of the holiday season for us (and this year was Goni's birthday too). Grover always does his traditional hike to the top of Angel's Rest in the Columbia River Gorge on Thanksgiving morning. This year Shayne and Andy (his blog is listed to the right) made the hike with him. Weather was cold but reasonably clear. We got some good views of the river and worked up an appetite for turkey. Goni stayed home and cooked two big turkeys and some rolls for the celebration.

We went to Darren's (Goni's brother) house for dinner and ate to our fill. The only down side was there was no pumpkin pie. They had some kind of pumpkin desert but it was not the same. We will make sure that doesn't happen on Christmas! We sang Happy Birthday to Goni and a good time was had by all.

Later Laurel showed off her enormous belly while playing a game of Sequence. We are waiting patiently for the arrival of Rowan around the middle of December. Charity said that Jonah was pretty sick on Thanksgiving so they didn't get to go down and have dinner with Chris (who was working) at the fire station. Patrick and Kurt both had to work too although Patrick got to come have dinner before his shift.

Later that evening Jill came by the house and got some turkey for sandwiches. Notice the beautiful flowers on the counter that Grover got Goni for her birthday. Nellie made some noise with one of Grandma's pans and a wooden spoon.

G&G spent most of the remainder of the weekend at home suffering from colds. We did sneak out Friday night to see the movie Australia and a quick shopping trip to Target & Fred Meyer on Saturday afternoon. Other than that we stayed home. We are hoping for a trip north on Sunday to visit grandkids. Seems like everyone we know has been sick with this cold.

Posting with no pictures

We thought we would see if anybody read what we had to say without any pictures. Are you visually stimulated people bored already? There will be a test!

Since we got back from San Diego we have been busy with life and getting back to the grind. Grover caught a cold on the trip home and is now back to normal (well as normal as he gets). Goni got back to school and is now fully registered to take her required teacher certification college classes through Seattle Pacific University. I'll bet there will be some winter weekends spent inside working at the computer.

On October 26th we went on a train ride out of Yacolt that had a Halloween theme. The Headless Horseman Train Ride was a lot of fun. We rode the train for about six miles and sure enough the Headless Horseman rode by. We stopped and got a chance to see him up close and get some refreshments. Weather was good and we saw lots of trees with leaves changing.

Grover went to the memorial service at our church for a neighbor, Leota Balch, who passed away from cancer. Grover taught a Community Emergency Response Team (aka CERT) class and attended a Presbytery Meeting in Lacey with Steve Klump. He helped wrangle together a 2009 budget for the Presbytery in his role as the chairperson of the Presbytery Finance Committee.

For the weekend G&G went up to Seattle to visit Tom and help him with some projects around his house. We left on Halloween night and stopped to see Jonah and Noah in their costumes when they trick or treated at Kirsten and Gary's house. Noah was dressed up as a chef and Jonah was a rat (from Ratatouille). Jonah is such a happy baby and loves to smile and talk. We helped Tom paint his bedroom and run electrical wiring out to his new shed. Then he took us out to Red Robin for dinner.

On Sunday, November 2nd, we came back from Seattle early so we could see the Mwamba Uganda Children's Choir during the worship service. They were great! Nellie came up with Jill and seemed to enjoy the program. She has quite the mouthful of teeth coming in.

Sunday afternoon was spent with taking naps, working around the house, and Goni met with Melody to discuss the food for Clark & Courtney's wedding reception next weekend. The reception will be on Saturday at the Calvary Community Church in Longview starting at 7:00 PM. Later in the afternoon Grover went flying and got in 12 takeoff and landings with six of them after dark making him current to carry passengers for the next 90 days. Anybody want to go flying?

Tonight it will be time for the G&G team to fill out our ballots. We still haven't figured out who to vote for but decision time is here. Our new president and other elected officials will need our prayers as we enter the new year and an economy in recession.

So how was a Blog without pictures? Couldn't take it? Here is an old picture of the airplane for those who must have something to look at. Look for pics from the wedding reception next week.

San Diego

Goni & Grover and lots of family headed south to San Diego for Clark & Courtney's wedding this past week. Flight left on Saturday morning and we arrived at our condo at Oceanside in the late afternoon. The condo is near the ocean and this is the view from our balcony.

We went for a walk down to the ocean and when we passed the marina Grover saw several boxes on posts. From what we can tell people in California must think that their cigarette butts are valuable because they put big padlocks on them!

The wedding was held on Sunday afternoon at a winery near Escondido. It was a nice ceremony and the food and visiting was great. Had a good time visiting with the new relatives and some other family members.

On Monday 28 family members headed north to Disneyland. We had a great day and saw the big parade in the evening. Rode the easy rides at Disneyland and Goni got her face painted and a new sweatshirt. Later Grover went over to California Adventure with Tim and Shayne and rode the Bee and a roller coaster. Goni and Shelly saved some bench seats along the parade route where we saw all the usual Disney characters.

Goni's face painting.

A Mickie Mouse pretzel.

Goni's new sweatshirt (and modeling Cole's new hat).

The big parade.

Tuesday Grover went down to the San Diego Air & Space Museum and the Automotive Museum. There were lots of airplanes on display including a replica of the Spirit of St Louis which Charles Lindbergh flew to France in 1927.

Wednesday the group hit Sea World for a visit. We saw amazing shows including Shamu and the other big whales.

Weather was good all week with lots of sun and warm temperatures during the day. It was a great mini vacation and we are sad that it came to an end.

The Garage Sale

This past weekend we put on a garage sale at our house. Several people contributed to the sale which went on all day. We were concerned about the weather but we used a couple of Costco carport shelters to keep everything dry. In spite of it being October we had a steady stream of visitors and we got rid of a bunch of stuff.

Blossom enjoyed the garage sale. She greeted people and liked being in her box.

During the weekend Grover received a letter from the White House. Not something that happens everyday so I was not sure what to expect when I opened it up. From what I can tell it was a response from my letter to the president about FAA funding from last spring. I remember my dad had a letter from Herbert Hoover which he kept in a frame by his desk. My letter wasn't signed by the president but at any rate it is interesting.





Goni brought home her new school picture. Just like the kids they take mug shots of the teachers. This one turned out pretty good. We will have copies for those family members that want one.

On Sunday Grover went up to the Kelso Airport to get things organized in his new hanger. It is not as nice a hanger as he had a Troutdale but it is so much closer. Had to put in an electrical outlet so he could plug in his battery charger.

Is it Really the End of Summer?

I can't believe that summer is over and fall has begun (although you couldn't tell by the nice weather we have been having). This last week was a busy one at work for both of us but we survived and entered another beautiful weekend. On Friday after work Grover took a friend, Andy Malchert, for an airplane ride from Kelso to Toledo and back. Andy has never been up in a small airplane before and he took 57 pictures of the flight. He will be posting some of these pictures on his blog "Andy & Renee & Boys".

The flag of the City of Chicago flew on our flag pole over the weekend. Grover has had this flag for over 15 years and it has never been flown outside his office. It was probably the only Chicago flag that was flying west of the Mississippi on Saturday and Sunday.

Several weeks ago Grover sold our old canoe because it wasn't a safe river canoe. Saturday morning Grover went with Steve Klump to the end of the summer sale at Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe at Jantzen Beach. They had one of their rental canoes for sale and it is just what we need to hit the river canoeing safely. So Grover bought it and Steve took it to the house on the top of his van (Steve must have figured there would be a canoe purchase because he brought along his canoe rack). Grover will be trying it out on October 11th when there will be a canoeing trip either on the Cowlitz or some river in SW Washington.

On Saturday afternoon Grover and Goni went up to Napavine to Jim and Wendy Pea's 25th anniversary party. Jim was Grover's campaign manager in his run for sheriff in 1994. He works for the sheriff's office in the jail. Ran into some old sheriff's office friends and had a good time. Afterwards Goni wanted to go out to dinner so we went to the Red Lobster in Kelso. Melody & Bruce, Shelly & Tim and George & Jane joined us for the impromtu dinner date.

Wendy and Jim at the Party.

Mike Pea, Jim Pea and Grover. All now retired except for Jim.

For those who don't know it Grover finally got a hanger for his airplane at the Kelso Airport. On Saturday night Goni went with him down to Troutdale to clean it out the old hanger. We will be moving the plane into the new hanger in the next couple of days. It will be nice to have it closer and only 20 minutes from Woodland.

We are getting ready for a garage sale this next Saturday. We are trying to get everything together over the next few days so it is a success. Report to follow in next week's blog.

Old Glory in Our Yard

Last Saturday we were invited by Heidi & Jill to go to the Puyallup Fair. You will have to see Heidi's blog for all the details but a good time was had by all. That included the kids riding some of the kiddie rides and everyone partaking in "fair food". Grover had his annual scone fix so life was good.

While we were walking through the commercial building Grover saw a booth selling flag poles. Grover has been looking at flag poles for several years but just never quite got around to purchasing one. Goni said that it was time to quit looking and start buying so we purchased a flag pole and two flags.

The flag pole is collapsible 20 footer and holds the US and Washington State flag very nicely. Grover strapped the pole to the top of the car for the trip home. On Sunday after church a hole was dug in the front yard and the base was installed. Goni helped get the concrete in the hole and with making sure the pole was plumb.

Grover left for an emergency managers conference at Ocean Shores on Monday. He didn't return until Thursday so we couldn't try putting the flag up until Friday morning (we didn't want to chance cracking the concrete). Friday morning the two of us together put up the flags and everything looks great!

We came home today (9-21-08) from the church retreat and the wind was blowing so here is a better action picture.

August Fun

Labor Day has come and gone and so has our August fun. During August we went camping twice, whitewater rafting, and did a canoe trip down the Cowlitz River. But now it is time for Goni to go back to school and for all of us to get back to the regular life.

Our first camping trip was to Lower Falls. We have been going up there with Pam & Bruce Brown (friends from Concordia University) for 2-3 years now and always have a good time. The falls are beautiful and it is very quiet at night. Laurel & Patrick and Peanut joined us along with Goni's friend Deb. It was a nice weekend of relaxation and talks around the campfire.

Laurel & Patrick above the falls.

Lower Falls is a lot more impressive than pictures show.

Playing cards is part of the fun!

The next weekend we stayed at Cressap Bay on the upper Merwin Lake with most of Goni's brothers, sisters, and other relations. It is a busy boating campground and there is boating noise most of the day while people ski and tube on the lake. It was very hot so we spent lots of time in the water but did enjoy the campfire in the evenings.

Our campsite was the gathering spot for the campfire and the food.

Swimming in the lake was required to stay cool.

Cole and Alex by the campfire with their electronic devices.

A great skyline just after sunset.

On August 23rd Grover went whitewater rafting on the White Salmon River with Noah, Shayne and Drew along with Goni's brother George. The trip was organized by Steve Klump who is the pastor at our old church up in Toledo.

Shayne going over Husum Falls with his crew.

Drew, George, Jane and her kids "getting down" over the falls.

On the Labor Day weekend we went with Steve Klump for a canoe trip down the Cowlitz River. The whole trip started when Grover and Heidi's husband Kurt got to talking about his new kayak. He had never been down a river in it so we organized the trip which included Charity's husband Chris and grandson Noah along with Goni and 15 or so people from the Toledo Presbyterian Church. Afterwards we had a BBQ and plenty of fellowship at Dean and Karen Scott's house in Toledo.

Everyone getting ready at the put in at the Barrier Dam

Kurt's first trip on the Cowlitz in his Kayak.

Goni and Rosalie paddlin down the river.

Noah and Elise playing in the water at the take out at Blue Creek