Family Reunion in Portland, Oregon

We have been looking forward to this week for a very long time. Nothing better than spending time with our kids. Here's the first day.

We have Mark & Natasha (their kids Boston 2 & Lincoln 5 mths) from Utah, Rick & Julie (with Livy 2 weeks) from Utah, Zack & Jessica from Utah, Chelsey with friend Justin from California, Dawn from Portland, and Greg & Debby (their kids Lucas 4 & Evan 1) from Portland.

We had a little birthday party for three of the grandkids that had recent birthdays. The next day we all went to the zoo. Since Dawnie is a volunteer there, she was our tour guide and it made the day so easy and fun!

Summer Fun

We are getting ready to leave for Portland, Oregon for a week long family reunion. We are very excited. This is something we started in 2006 just for our family. We meet for a week every even year during the first week in August. So this will be our third reunion. We decided to have it in Portland this year so we can for sure see Dawn and Greg. This will make it easier on them and give us some new places to explore together. The first reunion was at Holter Lake, Montana and the second reunion was in Sacramento, California. Here's pictures of those two events.

After the reunion in Portland, I will be visiting my parents in Montana. My Dad is still fighting his lung cancer. He has been very brave and always tries to sound cheerful when I talk to him. I can't imagine how hard this is to endure. I am proud of him and grateful for every day!

Natasha and Mark spent several weeks with us. We had so much fun. Boston loved the chance to play in a yard and experience some new things. Grandkids are the best! Speaking of which, we have a new one!! Livy Jay Plenert was born on July 16th (Uncle Zack's birthday) 6 lbs. 11 oz. to Gerick and Julie. We are so happy to have our first granddaughter. Here she is.

Some time at the Lake House

Gerhard and I enjoyed some time at the lake house with his Dad, who had never been there. Since it was quite a distance for him to walk down to the lake, we suggested that he drive the little tractor.





We also hosted my high school classmate and dear friend, Linda, along with her husband, Andy. It's always a fun time when Linda and I get together!



Natasha and the boys have been staying with us since the middle of August while Mark is away for Officer Training and Chaplain Training for the Navy. It has been so much fun to be with them. Here's a few highlights over the last several weeks.

Lake House Remodel

Gerhard and I were able to spend several weeks at the lake house working on our remodel. We had such a relaxing time and yet we were able to put a significant dent in the kitchen. I say "we" but of course it was Gerhard doing all the work. I'm not good for much except cleaning up after him -- always sweeping up saw dust and mixing mortar. We bought this lake house four years ago and wanted to move the kitchen and put in a large picture window on the lake side. It's getting closer now. We drew in the picture window so we can stand back and imagine what it will look like when it's done! Here's a few pictures of the kitchen.



The two small windows are lake side. Not a very good view of the lake!! So we are moving the kitchen to the wall on the left and taking out the small window on the right and replacing it with a large 10-12 foot window.











So here's the cabinets reconfigured on the new wall. Now Gerhard just had to move the plumbing which would be in the new breakfast bar/island.

And here's the new breakfast bar. We just need to shop for the granite counter tops and wood flooring.

We are spending our second week in Utah. Gerhard worked in Hawaii last week while Chelsey and I stayed with Natasha and Mark. We had a good week helping them pack up their unneeded household belongings and playing with the kids. A couple fun times with Boston were when he and I took Bo for a walk. Boston giggled every time Bo started to walk -- Bo pretty much pulled Boston around the apartment complex.

We also have fun playing with his blocks and his chalkboard. He isn't even two yet but he loves telling me what numbers, shapes and letters to draw. He's so much fun!

Trip to Utah for Lincoln's Blessing

As soon as we got back to California from Hawaii, we planned on traveling to Utah to see Mark's graduation (Friday) and then Lincoln's blessing (Sunday). Unfortunately, Gerhard got really ill with a sinus infection and we were not able to drive to Utah until Saturday so we missed the graduation. Thankfully, we were able to witness our grandson's blessing. Mark gave a beautiful blessing to Lincoln and it was confirmed that Lincoln is a special spirit and will have great work to do in his life. We are so thankful to have four grandson's now (two in Oregon and two in Utah).

Going to Work With Gerhard

Chelsey and I got to tag along with Gerhard to his job in Hawaii . . . thank goodness for mileage points! We had a nice week even though it was cool, cloudy and rainy the first three days. The first afternoon we were there Chelsey and I got on our swimming suits, slathered on the sunscreen and headed to the pool to get a tan. I kept telling Chelsey, "don't worry the sun will come out, just wait!" We were both covered up with towels and laid there reading until we finally got too cold and went back to the room to put on some clothes!! This is the view from our balcony.

When we lived in Hawaii in 1996, we lived right by the Polynesian Cultural Center. We were able to visit this attraction several times, but since Chelsey was only four at that time, we wanted to take her back so she could enjoy it. We had such a lovely day with our Malaysian tour guide and friend, Li Mei Low. When we lived in Malaysia in 1992, she was a little girl. OK -- now I feel old!!

We also had a chance to meet up with another Malaysian student who was a little girl when we lived there, Melody Ting (or as we knew her then as Yin Yin). Melody was one of the dancers at the PCC so she took us back stage where we could see all the behind the scenes happenings for the night show. It was great to see her too. Both girls have turned into beautiful young women.