Home, Idaho

It was a good feeling to make it back to Idaho. This is the view from the last rest stop on our way into town. Idaho has abundance, of which we have some of in our basement: onions, potatoes, zucchini.

"China Now" outdoor exhibit at the Portland Art Museum

Portland was full of art for most of us last weekend, and books. China is making waves in the art world and one of the current shows at the Portland Art Museum was called China Now that had video, design, fashion, photography, etc on display. I was impressed by the creative use of Chinese characters transformed into a new meaning in their posters. It was busy and overwhelming but very cool!

Looking down at Multnomah Falls.

Multnomah Falls, feels like Ireland and was cold!

Family in Portland

Scott my cousin and I outside of Powell's in Portland

It was really neat on this recent trip to Portland to actually be able to see family! My mom's sister, my Aunt Judy had 2 boys, Scott and Brad who my brother and I idolized as kids. Scott and I have lived in the NW area for the last few years, and actually spent Thanksgiving together the year before last. We caught up on each others lives this last visit over Italian Sodas at Powell's coffee shop. Entertainment was more than what I normally see in Nampa, a group of guys dressed up in red dresses ran down the street by Powell's, along with a few overstuffed Bunny rabbits. Early Halloween celebrations?
Anyway, I was grateful for the hugs, soda and conversation, thanks Scott.

Multnomah Falls

I recently drove a 10 passenger van with students in it to Portland OR. It was a great trip, and I am now tired and recovering :-) Here are some of the photos, with more to come!

Apple Festival at the Tuckers house!

The kitchen where the canning happens!

Shanae & Krysta with their apple butter.

It was nice and chilly fall weather for our day of canning. I made applesauce in the crock pot and apple butter on the stove and some of my students came over to help me can yesterday. We sipped on apple cider and steamed up the house with the boiling canner on the stove. It helped warm up the house since we hadn't turned on the heat yet :-) We finally did this morning when the house was 60 degrees! So, anyway, canning!!! This is so much fun and a great fall activity. I had no idea either that homemade applesauce was SO good, and easy! Peel and core the apples, put them in a crock pot, w/ some sugar and cinnamon and let them cook, mash them and they become delicious goodness! Thanks girls for coming by, let's do it again sometime, or make Christmas cookies!

Crater Lake

Brian and I at our first view of Crater Lake

One of the many views of Crater Lake

Dannie, Connie & their twin boys

Brian being dramatic during our hike up Mt. Scott

This post is late in the making. We went to Crater Lake in August for the first time. It is beautiful there! We also met up with a friend of mine from Buena Vista CO that I hadn't seen in 10 years! We met each others spouses for the first time and caught up on our lives. It was a cold and windy at night where we camped, 32 degrees one night, but fun weekend! We hiked the tallest mountain in the park and had a great view of the lake. Dannie amazingly made it to the top with an extra 40 lbs of goodies! The weekend we were there just happened to be the free National Parks weekend, what a blessing! Come visit us, we'll show you around our beautiful Northwest!