Uncle Rob once again generously volunteered to host us for a day of boating on Foster Lake again this year. After putting our calendars together and finding a day that worked for both of us, Scott and I realized there was potential for making it a camping weekend, instead of just driving down for the day. With a little luck we slid into a cancellation at Sunnyside Park and arrived Thursday night... to the smallest camp site I've seen in a while. Yikes. We could literally talk to our neighbors on both sides with just normal voices. You can to try really hard not to make eye contact with people in the surrounding sites because they were just right there! OK, so this might not be a place we come back to, but in this case, it wasn't about the camping anyway - it's about the lake!

Turns out this weekend ran well into the 90s every day, which made the lake one of the best places in the valley to be!

Rob arrived around 10:30 and we stayed out until almost 4pm, when we returned to the dock with Nolan passed out asleep in the back of the boat. We were sun-soaked, sore (yes, I tried to get up on a wake-board... apparently a bad idea at my age) and very happy.

Thanks, Rob!

I had the privilege of spending the last couple days catching up with one of my oldest and best friends. Kristi was my roommate and college and there are few friendships that I value more. Unfortunately we live too far apart to see each other often (although we do make time for coffee when she comes to PDX or we venture to Kirkland.)

She and her son spent a night and a couple days with us while her daughter was at a camp in Oregon and it was a real treat to be able to catch up on each others lives beyond what coffee or a phone call allows.

International politics has come to our backyard this summer with 123 refugees imprisoned in the Sheridan Federal Correctional Institution we drive past everyday. Our church and other local Christian churches have partnered with area Sikh and Jewish congregations to hold monthly services at the city park next door to the prison in support of the asylum-seekers. (Many of those detained are of the Sikh-faith.) An offering is taken during each service that has been used to create a fund available to the detainees for phone calls, personal items and other things funds are required to access inside.

It has really been an amazing opportunity to see people of different faiths put aside their difference and come together in support of people who are lonely, tired, scared (pick your adjective) and have come to our country with nothing. Despite the circumstances, I'm happy the boys have been able to see these services. So inspiring!

Ok, that's it. After watching my yard get completely destroyed by gopher mounds...

...AND then the dog trying to catch the gophers...

....AND then trying a variety of ways to get rid of gophers...

...AND then looking out last week and seeing TWO "chatting" with each other over the tops of their mounds...

...I've borrowed my dad's traps.

Two hours later: first one down.

UPDATE: By mid-August I have pulled SIX full-sized gophers out the yard. No wonder it was a mess!!

Our old ram laid down next to the fence in the back pasture last week and went to sleep. Permanently.

We spent a couple days talking about what type of ram we would like to replace him with, and then a few more days looking for the right one, at the right price.

Today Scott went and picked up "Wishbone" - welcome to the farm!

I know we were at the hospital when Jaden was born, but when I think about my earliest memory of him, I always think about feeding him in a carrier on the kitchen counter of the place on Heron Island we used to visit every summer with Pat & Donnah.

Perhaps that's why it was a bit surreal to sit through his high school graduation today.Congratulations, Jaden!

"You're off to new places, you're off to high heights!"

Nolan and mom decided to go to the beach today.

Just because.

We played in the sand, jumped waves and then drove to Newport just to get a picture at the western end of Hwy 20, to match the one he took in Boston.

It was a "just because" day!

This morning Scott and I woke up and he immediately said, "Did you hear that cat outside last night?"

Of course, I had. It was LOUD. But it was also not the first time a feral cat at loudly wandered through during the night, so we didn't think much more about it. Scott and Nolan took off for school and work, and then Carson and I were out the door for an appointment just a couple hours later.

When we returned home about 1pm, the meowing was back and Carson went to investigate. In hindsight, perhaps I should have gone with him because then I could have mediated a bit before he came running back to the house yelling that there was a tiny kitten stuck in the blackberries next to the barn.

Down on my knees I worked to free the kitty while she bit down hard enough on my finger to draw blood (your welcome), and finally got her free. We knew she had been out there at least 12 hours (based on when Scott and I had heard her during the night) so we warmed up some milk with a little tuna and watched her scarf that down fast. While Carson met with his tutor I called the vet to see what I could learn:

*The kitten appears to be about four weeks (we thought it was closer to 3 weeks until she started getting some strength back from the food)

*The chances of a feral mamma coming back for her was extremely slim

*She still needs formula for about four more weeks, so she's not going to survive on her own

*We're going to end up raising this cat