two months and counting

I can hardly believe that Tanner's mission is almost over. He has two months from today until he is released to come home. I'm getting really excited! We are going to the Netherlands to pick him up. We will spend a few days there visiting some of the areas where he has served and do a little sight-seeing. We'll leave there on Dec. 3, 2013. Our flight home with take a pit stop in Dallas for a day or two and then bring us on home. We will get to see the girls and their families for a short ( very short) visit before coming home. It's just so hard to believe that this is all so close and that my boy will be home so soon! I can't wait! From his pictures on the mission blog, I can see how much he has changed. He looks more grown up. I love reading his weekly emails. He has grown so much in maturity and spirituality. It's amazing how a mission does that for young people! Yippee!

On a brighter note...

Yes on a brighter note... things have been going well in the Young Singles Branch that Paul and I work in.  Now is the time of year when we lose so many young people going away to college. We haven't  had very many young people added from the local university. We've still had good experiences. We had a lot of good summer Tri-Stake activities with good turn out for each month. June we went to Catherine Creek Lodge for a day filled with activities and a dance afterward. July we had a Pioneer Pentathalon in Pendleton. We had rotating pioneer activity stations and a lunch and awards. They threw Frisbees into a tire swing (buffalo chip toss), stick pull challenges, sack races, horseshoes, and handcart races. It was pretty fun! August we did service. Hermiston was in charge. We did outdoor service for the city of Stanfield, Oregon. I helped pull weeds in an old man's garden. Then we were served lunch. We went to a place called Warehouse Beach. It was a nice sandy beach off the Columbia River. We had a simplified Color Run on the beach and then swam in the river. It was  a blast!

Summer's gone...

Well the summer is gone. September came along with the beginning of school (work). The classroom I worked in last year at the high school was originally started to accommodate children with physical disabilities and those medically fragile students. Two of the students we had (Cl and J) are wheelchair bound but attend mainstream classes. Two others, N and C are wheelchair bound and medically fragile. Two students graduated out of the program. The three younger boys, (T, E, and K) were actually 6th graders with no program available at the middle school. The district administrators looked at the incoming groups for the next 5+ years. They decided with no medically fragile children coming up through the program, our classroom was no longer needed. So our classroom was disbanded. C and N were added to another SPED teacher's caseload and given an  adjoining room next to hers. Another aide and myself were kept to work with them.  CL and J were added to her caseload as well.  The three younger boys were moved down to the middle school to be with their peers. Two of our aides moved with them.  This has created some issues of concern for the aides working with them. We do not have enough staff to work with all the children who require one-on-one service. Not to mention that if my student or my co-worker's student were to have a seizure, there would be a problem. We don't have any backup  help to tend to the other student while two of us deal with the seizure. The district admin. doesn't seem to understand the possible complications that the lack of staffing creates. We don't have enough protocol trained substitutes either, which creates huge problems as well. On top of all this we have a brand-new-to-the-area supervising teacher. She's having enough issues dealing with some of the students behaviors in her classes on top of staffing issues. Needless to say it's been a rough beginning to the year.

survived camp

I'm home from a week at Girls' Camp. We went to Catherine Creek State Park. Our stake has a lodge and campground there. We use this facility every year. It seems like every time I go there, some new improvement has changed it. We were celebrating 101 years of Girls' Camp and 50 years of camp at the Lodge. This year's theme was Stand in Holy Places. Our theme was from Dr. Seuss--" Oh the places you'll go". Places like church, camp, the temple, college, etc. 101 acts of random kindness-for the 101 years of Girls' Camp. We had a Horton tree, where campers could post anonymously, on Horton pictures, the act of kindness they performed.
(I meant what I said and I said what I meant, an elephant's faithful 100%)

Tuesday night we did paper bag skits. A bag filled with random props and the campers make up their skit right there. Wednesday we had reunion night. Campers from past decades camp to tell us what their camp was like. Ladies from the forties through current time came and shared their stories. It was fun to hear the different ways camp was carried out over the years. One lady shared about a dozen photos from the camp in the forties and fifties.
Back then there was only one small cabin and not even designated campsites. Today we have a two-story Lodge with a small industrial kitchen, a shower house with 6 showers, 12 toilets, 6 sinks, and two large handicap bathrooms with showers. We have a basketball court, a volleyball sandpit, an open pavilion with electricity, a small cabin for the caretakers to live on site, and the original cabin plus a storage cabin. There are 15 designated campsites that are numbered and equipped with fire pits, grey water stations and 1/3 have water pumps nearby. There is an amphitheater with a flagpole, fire pit, and electricity and two light poles. The camp has several specific gathering areas for small groups to go for reflective time, as well as several well marked trails. We have a bell tower to call everyone together and there are still the old outhouses. We have a swing set for the younger campers in the big meadow.  Of course the creek for water fun and there's a bridge to cross the creek.  It's a pretty nice campground.

Thursday, we did a skills fair with 10 stations to play/review first aid and other camp skills in fair-like games. That evening we had our testimony meeting. Normally we are all together for one large testimony meeting. This year they divided the group into 3 smaller groups. Each went to one of the reflective areas and held their own meeting. It made them shorter, but I'm not sure if I liked it any better that way.

Monday the stake leaders and YCL's (youth camp leaders) came up early to prep for the rest of the campers. We set some things up, made posters, and such. In the afternoon, we went up to Medical Hot Springs to swim in the hot springs there. It was fun, but murky. We played some games that the YCL's would teach later in the week. The YCL leader brought up the movie 'Horton hears a Who' for the girls to watch that night.

 The director was in the tent across from mine. She's an insomniac. She puttered around all night long. Her light kept me awake til 1:30 am. I woke up at 5:00 am. I only had 3.5 hrs of sleep and by 2:00 the next day, I was bushed and getting a headache for lack of sleep. When I woke up that first morning, my air mattress had deflated. I tried to put my cot in the tent to replace it, but it was too long. I decided to move into the little cabin instead. That night, not only was I up off the ground, but I didn't have the light to contend with. I slept so much better.

On hike day, I went on the third year hike. It is all about compass work and orienteering. I understand how to use a compass, but I didn't quite understand the orienteering part. Oh well, another year maybe. The middle of our hike took us up a steep hill. That was the hardest part. When we reached the top, we ate our sack lunches and did a compass activity to insure the girls understood how to use the compass. It worked out  good, then we headed back to camp. I'm so glad I got to go on the hike. Every year I've been up here for camp, I always end up being sick, or hurt something or it's that time of the month. It always keeps me from going on a hike.

summertime happenings

Marissa just moved into her new house in Princeton, Texas. Emily vacationed in  Florida with Andy's family. Rachelle's car broke down. Sean worked on knives, while Paul and I traveled to Utah for family vacation. Tanner is busy serving his mission in Netherlands. That was some 4th of July.

We had a good time renewing friendships with extended McDaniel relatives. The reunion was held in Murray, Utah this year, under the direction of Uncle Earl. Thursday was relaxing after the drive. I crocheted while Paul went golfing. We had dinner with Diane's family, a barbecue. Then we went to fireworks at the Jr. High school field. It was a  good fireworks display. Friday we did picnicking at Southwood Park in Murray for the majority of the day. Dinner on our own, then back to Janice and Dave's for ice cream and visiting. Saturday was the traditional breakfast at the church, but I was at the Salt Lake temple. Megan Bedard was getting married to Scott Nelson. They are in our singles branch, and they invited me to attend since I was in the area then. After the wedding and pictures, I drove to the church. Had a bite to eat, but they were pretty much done, do I drove back to Diane's  house. I took a nap. Then when Paul and Jon got back from the golf tournament, we headed up to Murray for dinner. They made reservations at a place  called 'The Gathering Place'  in Gardner Village. It was a quaint little, old town village of shops. Dinner was catered buffet. It was excellent. On sunday, we traveled back home to Oregon.

Now I'm getting ready for Girls' Camp which is next week. Much to do yet.

Today I'm working on odds and ends things. Did a little cleaning. Mailed some craft items to Rachelle for the S.M.A.R.D. auction. The main part of my day was focused on the physical preparation for my Colonoscopy I have tomorrow morning. For one entire day you are on a liquid diet. Nothing with red or purple dye in it. So that rules out  all my favorite berry-flavored things. So I will probably be sick of orange flavor by the end of the day. If that's not bad enough, you get to have two different kinds of  laxatives :( to help clean you out as well. WHAT A FUN DAY! It's only 1:00 pm and I'm starving! I can't eat REAL food till after the procedure tomorrow morning. UGH! I can do this. I have to remind myself that I can do hard things. This is definitely a hard thing! So I decided it was time to catch up on this blog to help keep my mind off food. This  is a good thing. I  just hope there are no complications during the procedure and they find nothing troubling. Wish me luck!

Yesterday was my first day of summer vacation. I sat outside and enjoyed the warmth and sunshine. I decided to pull out my sketchbooks and draw a Mourning Dove. I wanted to show my drawings in the branch Art Gallery activity. I displayed my bird and flower drawings. There were some really neat things displayed at the Art Gallery activity. Nathan Olmsted does welding projects, from flowers to signs to  a car-shaped music box. Carissa Hughes displayed some of her portrait drawings. Grace showed her bead work. Tyrell Kohler showed his drawings and mini figurines. Zach showed his 'space' paintings that are made with spray paint, cans, and lids. Donovan showed a characateur  drawing someone did of him and some poetry. Pres. Bond showed an oil painting he did. Someone displayed  a quilt. Brother Olmsted brought and demonstrated a 'walking wheel' he made. It was made of wood with 6 legs, powered by a battery-operated drill. A man named Jon Vaughn from the college showed his drawings and paintings. Sean showed 6 of the knives he's made. Someone displayed some pottery. We had a 'breakfast' dinner to feed the college kids for dead week. It was a very good activity, well supported. Of course, there was food!

Hello summer vacation!
Well, a big sorry to anyone following my blog. I didn't realize it's been since spring break that I posted! Time always seems to drag from January to Spring break at the end of March. Then time seemed to race which usually doesn't happen. Let's see if I can get up to speed here.

January- Paul and I joined the community choir. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and will probably start up again in the fall. We performed a Civil War themed concert in March. I also started taking flute lessons thanks to Marissa loaning me her flute. That was a fun challenge.

February- we celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary. It doesn't seem like it's been that long, but we have the children and grandchildren to prove it! :)  I helped our ward serve a  meal at the Shelter From the Storm fundraiser. That's our community service project for the year. Near the end of the month, Paul was called to be the Branch Clerk for the young singles branch in our stake. So now we are serving there for awhile. Don't know if our time will be the customary 5 year term that the presidency gets or not.

March- We had a Stake Relief Society meeting in Baker. Later that afternoon, Paul and I ate a steak dinner that was a fundraiser activity for the high school football team. It was delicious! Then the much awaited spring break! yay!

April-Tonya Alexander got married in the Idaho Falls temple, and I went to her reception. She was a beautiful bride! Grace Bond and Cody Schwendiman, a couple from the branch got married. They had a fun/interesting reception. The Boise Institute Choir came and did a concert for us. The branch took them to Elgin Opera house for the play "Grease". Then we fed them dinner and were able to visit with them a bit before the performance. That morning the branch had a Tri-Stake Activity up on Milo Hibbert's property. We went to their cabin up on Mt. Emily and did a fun lumberjack activity. There was wood cutting with a two-man saw, knife throwing, hatchet throwing, tree climbing with equipment like a lumberjack does, log splitting, an obstacle course, and quilt tying. I did all of it with the young people. It was fun. I had a blast climbing the tree! I'm still waiting for Sister Bond to give me the picture she took of me climbing.

May- Paul gave me a beautiful bust of a mother cradling her child for Mother's day! The weather finally started to warm again and I bought plants from the middle school plant sale. I was  able to get 1/2 my garden in. The branch had another Tri-Stake activity, this time it was a temple trip. We went to the Columbia River temple in Kennewick, Washington. Those who couldn't do temple work were able to do family history extraction work at the stake center across from the temple. We had lunch, took a group picture, and then headed home. For Memorial Day we were going to barbecue but it turned cold and rainy. So we just cooked indoors instead. May 31st was my last day of school. I was sooo ready to be done with  work this year! Looking forward to a warm, laid-back summer. 

Spring Break

This past week has been Spring Break for us. It was much needed. I couldn't believe how ready I was for Spring Break to arrive. Thankfully we've had a break in the weather too. It started to warm up and then took a turn for the colder side just before break. I think this is the first spring break in at least 5 or 6 years that it hasn't rained or snow the whole time. It was actually pleasant the whole week. We had occasional rain showers, mostly at night or very light and warm during the day. I took this time to catch up on some much needed exercise. Tried a little insanity workout (5 min. was all I could do), did some kickboxing a couple times, gardening, and some walking. I tried to get caught up on my laundry. I did a bunch but still have a ways to go. However, I did get the clean stuff put away for a change, instead of just adding to the pile. I went to see the eye doctor to find out that what little cataracts I have  may be getting worse. If it doesn't bother me too much I can leave it be or if it's too annoying I could have them removed and probably see alot better. It's not urgent. I'm just having some difficulty seeing people's faces at a distance if there is bright light behind them. I see their outline but not what's in the center. It's kind of a drag sometimes, but not annoying enough yet to consider surgery. I finally got my tax stuff all collected and dropped off to the CPA.

try a little catch up

Wow, so I looked at my blog and realized I'm terribly behind.... So Marissa and Rachelle both had their babies end of June 2012. Keilani Marie Castro and  Rebekah Calista Palmer.  We went to visit each of them. While in the Longview area, we stayed with Emily and Andy. We met Cullen and had plenty of fun getting to know our newest grandson. Luck was with us and we were able to go for a visit again in December. Sean went with us too. While there at Emily's house we got to do a video chat with Tanner in the Netherlands. It was so good to see him and hear his voice. He was doing well. We had a good Christmas vacation with them except that I became very sick. That put a damper on things., but I tried not to let it get me down though.