Camping trip to Scott Lake

This was our big adventure in August. I've been meaning to blog on it ever since. This is the most remote place I've ever camped. We had to carry our stuff in about 1/4 mile. But the fun began as we started out that Friday morning. We were going to try and squeeze us all into the pickup, and put Roy in his kennel in the back for the first time. At the last minute, it was decided to take both the wagon and the pickup. As we approached Sweet Home, about 15 minutes from our house, Dave pulled over with the pickup. I pulled over behind him and had to brake quickly as the rear pickup tire came flying off. (and that's a whole 'nother story) Since I was there with the car, it went smoothly, the wrecker came and hauled the truck to the Ford Store, and they had us back on the road by 5:30 that evening. We made camp while it was dark and had Cheetos and chips for dinner. The camp remained messy the whole time we were there---just couldn't recover from setting up in the dark.
Roy was in water-dog heaven. And so were we. We brought our little blow up boat and paddled around this shallow mountain lake. Fun. Roy swam til he was tired and then we hauled his wet hide in with us. We swam and paddled for most of Saturday afternoon.
This is lava-land and the trees show it. They grow tall and then die as the roots hit too much lava. No need to bring fire wood. In Oregon, you are allowed to cut and burn as much as you like, but the other campers don't take too kindly to the noise of chainsaws. So, Dave quickly uses the saw and then hides it :)
Picture of the 3 Sisters in the back ground after the morning fog burned off.

This is Desirae practicing her alphabet among the water containers.

The girl LOVES to go camping. She's been begging to sleep in the tent again, recently.

A rare picture of ME. This camp site was barely a site. There was a small fire ring, and that's it. Dave plans on returning next summer, and I'm hoping for a nicer camp site. It did get cold at night, and poor Roy didn't have much for a doggie bed. Now I know, even dogs need blankets. Especially spoiled house dogs.

The Hoffman's are impatiently waiting for warmer weather!

Some new words to live by

Kent Keith - People Are Often Unreasonable

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may just never be enough;
Give the world the best you have anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it's all between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

I SOOOOOO need these words, especially the last ones, to remind me that it's ALL GOD, and has nothing to do with the other person. Just like I'm given gifts in the people chosen for my life, I am also given lessons and hurdles in others. IT's so much easier to give thanks for the gifts, and use BLAME for the hurdles. I might just tack this to the wall somewhere.

He's still being counted

I was just looking over my bit about me here on the right. It says we have 2 cats, but Gabriel died, so we have one now. I wanted to do a follow up story about this subject.

Crystal, our case worker with Developmental Disabilities, paid us a visit the other day. She was meeting Desirae for the first time. She asked Desirae about her pets, and Desi responded that she has 2 cats. "Their names are Gabriel and Lily, and Gabriel died".

Apparently Gabriel is still with us, at least he is still being counted. Too cute.

Oh Christmas Tree!

Our Christmas tree, this year, was the biggest I've ever experienced. Our trees of the past have been small table top trees because of cats, kid, and dog. The last few years we've went into Willamette Nat'l Forest and cut a small tree. Family fun! This year we went to a tree farm and Dave insisted on cutting our own, even though they had a man with a chain saw available. He did accept help carrying this beauty to the car, where it was tied on top of the station wagon.

Dave fit the tree into the stand and strung the lights. We didn't have enough blinking lights, so only the top half of the tree blinked with multi-colored lights. The bottom tree was adorned in red lights. We'll be purchasing all blinking lights on after Christmas clearance sales for next year.

Here's Dave dressing the tree with the topper we bought together our first Christmas. He had an idea of what he wanted for a top, and we searched and searched for it that Christmas, finally finding it in a specialty shop at Stoneridge Mall in San Ramon, CA.

Here's the biggest reason for putting up a grand tree! Christmas Morning arrived!

I was so missing Nick while I decorated the rest of the tree. So, here's his corner of the tree. This was his hand when he was 6, and a picture of him the same year. A few of his "first" ornaments, and the "n" he made while I decorated the hand. There are more, too many to squeeze into one picture.
Do any of my Brown cousins recognize this?

How about this? These two ornaments were hand made by Grandpa Brown, oh so many years ago.
This Jingle Beanie was the beginning of Desirae's collection. Her Grandma Lynn decorated her tree with these for Desi's first Christmas.
And this is our newest ornament. Desirae made it in Kindergarten this year. Perfect!

Too much to do, so little lifetime!

My blog is always seriously behind. I have ideas and pictures of camping trips that never made it here. I have pics of produce that never made it here....and on it goes. Seriously, life is too short for all the things I want to do. I have a craft room full of fun stuff I dabble in. I have a small garden I dabble in. I have a dog and we walk, and I have a daughter that dances and I love to read. I want to listen to talk radio, music---not just Rock, I want some Classical thrown in too. But then, I love the sound of silence. I must have silence while I read or I get distracted. And I love to read. I love Face book, and playing games. I must prioritize, and that means people and pets come first. I love to shop, I even love grocery shopping. What's a girl to do? I pray for more hours in every day, but I only get those when I steal from my sleep time. Others have a bucket list....nice idea, I'm too busy doing stuff I already like to do. Oh, yeah....I LOVE LOVE LOVE not going to a boring job every day. So, that's on my list of stuff I want to do, get paid for doing something I like. It shouldn't be hard, since there is so much fun stuff. Anyone want to pay me to read....or blog...or walk their dog?

Dinner at the Buffet City

Our favorite Chinese buffet changed hands and names. It used to be called China Sun. It used to have huge fish tanks with all kinds of fresh water fish. It still has a little goldfish pond, but the huge fish tank turned into a glass mural. Pretty....but not as exciting for Desirae.

I was a bit disappointed and didn't take pictures. I should have, we all looked great. Desi in her new sweater outfit from Nancy, I sported makeup AND jewlery, and Dave looked nice in a new (from GoodWill) button down sport shirt.

With each of my kids, I stopped wearing jewelery, cause they would grab it. Nick broke a beautiful necklace I had made in the Hayward (CA) DMV. Atleast there were plenty of people in line to help me retrieve all those beads! And I learned a lesson. So, finding just the right jewelery was tricky because it all felt like "too much". I've learned to use a very light hand with the makeup. If I used as much as when I was a teen, I'd look like Tammy Faye! Plus it makes me look old, I think. I rarely wear it any more.

An interesting thing about the buffet is the way we viewed the food. Food is fuel for our bodies, and dinner hour is social hour. I make healthy meals. Last night we heard Desirae utter the words "Uh-oh, I'm full", and then she ate more! We finally took her bowl of ice cream away because she was taking such tiny bites....for taste, because her tummy was full. No one worried about calories or if it was healthy (except Dave who has to mind his gluten and dairy). It was foodaholism on the loose! And from looking at our neighboring diners, we were not the only ones.

I'm sure Desi is looking forward to next year....or the year she can say "let's go to the place where I get to feed pennies to the fish". She really got into the spirit of eating....but then, she is her parents child! Today, it's back to the same old routine of fruits and veggies. And that's a very good thing.

God is Bigger than our Problems

I was remembering yesterday about working my 2nd step for the second time. Step 2 is "Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity". In this step we look at the insanity and develop an image of our Higher Power.

I worked with a man who wore the little Jewish cap to work every day. Occasionally we took breaks together, and would get a bit philosophical in conversation. His grandfather is a Rabbi, a Jewish priest. So this is a story from the old Rabbi.

Grandfather and grandson were looking at the stars. Grandfather asked the grandson to look towards the brightest star. That star is called Truth, and Truth is God. Then he asked the boy to point to the star, and Grandfather explained how the hand pointing to the star represents Religion. Imagine all the different arms pointing to the one same star.

I just loved this story, because it gave me so much perspective on Religion. Growing up, I was taught that only a select few were going to heaven. The Catholics weren't. Neither were unbaptized babies. So, in not being able to look outside the box for myself, I somewhat rejected religion and a belief in God. Not totally, but I couldn't come to terms with believing in a Hellish and Fearsome God.

My step 2 gave me permission to create God in an image that works well for me. And I went back to the the Lutheran Church (ELCA this time instead of Missouri Synod) and it worked.

Then came the time of Lynn and Elvin's passings....and once again I was questioning....Lynn was Pagan, and Elvin really wanted to go be with his wife. A lot of soul searching.....a lot step 2 stuff came up again. Well, God is just bigger than our problems. That's my final conclusion. Paganism is another hand pointing at the same God Star of Truth.

It's a lesson in limits and containment. God is not limited to my thinking or teachings. (S)he is not limited to the bible. The bible says that God is Omnipotent, and Omniscient and Omnipresent. The bible taught me that God is bigger than the bible, I just didn't get it way back then.

Every day I thank God for leading me to my wonderful program of Faith through the 12 Steps. A life without Faith only looks like a life on the outside. It's a sad life to live.