June 7, 2012

• Spring has NOT sprung

  Dear Family,

  Well I remembered this month.  I cannot believe that I completely forgot last month… and thanks to Brent for the slight delay so that some of us could make amends.  This has been a busy month but as I sit down to tell you all about it, my mind goes blank and I cannot think of a single thing.

  So I will start with our annual Memorial-Day outing at Barton Park.  We had reservations early in the year and the bunch of us that go rented at least 13 (maybe more) sites, so family and friends gathered for the weekend.  Judy Lynn, Cort, Chase and I went down a little early on Friday.  Kelly drove the pickup pulling the flat-bed trailer with all of our camping stuff.  We parked the Phaeton in our spot and the kids helped me unpack and set up camp.  Since I do most of the cooking, I have quite a setup there at the side of the Phaeton. 
  

  
  Left:  Dutch-Oven stand, next is a table that holds all of the eating utensils and also cooking foods as needed, next is the grill where I do most of the cooking and on the other side is a two-burner propane stove that I use mostly to heat water and also start the charcoal for the Dutch ovens.
  Right:  Cooking equipment in reverse.

   
  The grill and me tending it during one of the meals

  Family and friends start arriving at any time they can get off work, packed and the short drive to Barton Park.  Todd was working clear up in St. Johns, so it took him quite a while to get home, get the Conquest packed and get down to the park. 

  Saturday Morning was bacon, egg and pancake breakfast and the day was full of visiting and fun.  Barton Park has a large green area on the other side of the road from where we camp.  Also, they have paved the road which gives the kids an excellent place to ride their bikes, trikes, scooters and other toys that they want to play on.  The kids also use the road to draw on with their sidewalk-chalk.  Dinner Saturday night was tin-foil dinner, only they are cooked inside Dutch Ovens, a tradition that we have had for years.

  But of course the Dutch-Oven treats could come at any time!

  
  Dutch-Oven stand cooking one of the meals
  (The stand is there so this “old man” does not have to stoop over to tend the cooking Dutch-ovens)

  
  

    Dutch oven table and some of the Dutch-oven treats!

   
  Covered play area for the kids

  Some Random pictures below
  
  Left: Kyle, Teri Lynn, Randy & Judy Lynn
  Right:  Heather, Erin Lindthorst, Leslie

  
  Left: Kyle &Teri Lynn (with backs to us), Judy Lynn, Chad & Jay (carrying a table) & Olivia Treanor
  Right:  Leslie, Kyle, Teri Lynn & Randy

  
  Covered area for pot-luck on Sunday

  
  Oscar and Heather

  Sunday Morning, those of us that wanted to go to church got up and went home, got a nice warm shower and attended to our duties.  I did not stay for the entire block, so I went home, changed, picked up what things I/we needed for dinner that night and headed back to the park.  Sunday night is the pot-luck dinner.  We always cook our Dutch Oven chicken-leg (chicken legs, potatoes, carrots, onions and canned milk and spices).  Judy Lynn said she counted up to 70 and lost count.  There was plenty to eat, but deserts were a little shy.
  

  

  Monday morning is bacon, sausage, hash-brown and eggs (cooked the way you want them). 

  
  Grill cooking the hash-browns and bacon
  (Using the bacon grease for cooking the hash-browns)

  
  Then came the task of cleaning everything up and packing it for the trip home.  We were not in any particular hurry so we were some of the last to leave the park.  When I got home with the Phaeton, Jay was already there unpacking the flat-bed trailer and helped with everything.  Teri Lynn brought a couple of her boys over too, so that made short work of a hard job.  I had planned on just doing part of it on that day and then the rest on Tuesday, but with the help we were able to get everything packed away and I even got the Phaeton taken back out to Todd’s to its little parking spot.  It was a very nice weekend.  As we were packing, Leslie’s little Sawyer was in tears saying he did not want to have to wait for another entire year for camping again.  It is things like that happen that make all the work of the weekend worth it.  We just miss the members of our family that were not with us there this year (hint, hint).

  I got my garden planted a little earlier than usual and it seems to be doing fine.  I was able to have three meals of asparagus from my little asparagus bed.  Each year I get a few more larger stems that I can cut and cook.  I have picked a few strawberries from our little bed out front, but we have purchased three crates already to eat.  Strawberry short-cake and ice cream shakes with strawberries, YUMMM.

  I have worked on some projects around the house and will post some pictures about them tomorrow also.  One project is the outside wall of our bedroom where I removed the window in 2005 and just have never taken the time to finish the inside with taping and painting.
  

  
  I posted some pictures of this in my last posting.  We have two of the three armoires in place and there will be a third in the open space there.  The armoires are not as tall as we had thought, so we are trying to figure out some shelving to go on top of them.  What you see are possibilities, but probably not what will be there.  You can see all of the “stuff” in front that I still have to sort through and put in individual drawers or containers, but cannot do that until we get the third armoire, and that is still a week or so away.

  

  
  Benches under construction and “nearly” finished.

    Kevin built us this picnic table several years ago, but somehow got pulled off the project before he made the benches.  So we have had the table out back under the patio but have never really been able to use it.  So I took on the project to build the benches.  They are stacked on top of each other here waiting for me to stain.  I did not make them out of redwood like the table, so will need to stain them

  
    Just a couple of honey-do things that I can now check off my list.

  I went to the airport last Tuesday and picked up Jenn and her two little ones (Bentley and Jaidyn).  They are staying with us for a little over two weeks and then I plan to take them back to Utah/Idaho and visit Mom one more time before the busy summer rental season prohibits me making anymore of our trips until our trip home in September.  We love having Jenn, Bentley and Jaidyn and they are getting to know Grandma and Grandpa a little better.

  
  Jenn & Judy Lynn visiting – Jaidyn & Bentley playing hide-n-seek.
  
  Jaidyn & Bentley on airplane on the way to Portland – Jaidyn & Leslie’s Finn
  
  Sawyer, Bentley, Finn, Gwen & Quinn – Finn, Jaidyn & Bentley
  
  Grandpa and his two kids

  
  One last thing, Leslie surprised us last week with the announcement that she is pregnant and will be having their fourth child in January.  This was a little sooner than she wanted.In the past she has always needed some “help” (medicine type… clean up your mind out there!)but this time she didn’t.  That means that Jenn will have her little girl in September and Leslie will have her baby (don’t know gender yet) early next year.  Family continues to grow. 

  Oh, and one other thing.  Teri Lynn’s Chad was out at school helping his choir set up for a concert in the afternoon and was moving some of the bleachers they stand on, slipped and fell and broke his foot.  He is in a cast and will have the cast on until at least the end of June.  That has slowed him down some! 
  

  
  Chad in his choir robe… should have shown his foot & cast

  
  Well, I think that is about all for now.  I hope this letter finds you all well and happy.  Judy Lynn is doing better.  She still has to sleep with her oxygen, but does not need it during the day.  She will be going in for another checkup soon and we hope that will be the end of the oxygen.

  Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.
  Love to you all,  Judy Lynn & Roger
  

  • 1:14 pm
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