LLCB

Just FYI, Ms. A., (soon to be Dr. Ms. A.): while you were away Mr. McmillerPDX was charming the ladies left and right.

Partners in crime

Now that our parents are too tired for shenanigans, we will carry the torch.

Cheese, glorious cheese!

For a (week) early birthday present I surprised Dave with a cheese making class at Kookoolan Farms in Yamhill! After giving Dave a series of presents that fell flat, I can't tell you how happy I was to find this and start scheming. In this class we learned how to make washed rind gouda cheese. It was fairly complicated. Our instructor was this smart, salt-of-the-earth, cheesemaking science fiction writer. She makes her own...everything. She said she used to mix leftover whey into her kids' orange juice concentrate. Gross!

Our teacher

Curds at different stages

The cheese press

The finished product before aging for three months!

Easter Sunday

Finally, Easter Sunday. Here's my confession: Easter service is my least favorite service of the year. In my snarkier, crankier moments I think of it as amateur night at church. I'm not saying that's the right attitude--in fact, I know just how wrong an attitude it is. I'm just sayin'. It's crowded. One year I actually got to church and turned around and left because people were spilling out onto the street. This year was crowded, too, and Anneke and I FELL on the way in because I couldn't resist wearing my ridiculously high-heeled red shoes. But, as with everything else, church was a whole different experience with Anneke in my arms. She was enthralled with the processional, and the beautiful music, and the stained glass windows ("cat! cat! cat!"). Everyone was so glad to see her, and she got to plunge her hands into the baptismal font and splash around once again. She was a doll in the nursery and danced to all the good music when I brought her back in for the end of the service. She finally melted down, but one of the aforementioned "amateurs" offered to hold her while I gathered our stuff to high-tail it out of the building. So much for being snarky.
Today the sermon was about resurrection, of course, and the notion of resurrecting hope. It hit home for me, as I know several people who have a tenuous grasp on hope right in the face of hard, scary times. I prayed hard for them to experience their own resurrection and for guidance on how to support them in the meantime.

Then on to brunch a the McMillers and dinner Kevin and Stephanie's house--it's Claire's third birthday!

Easter dress--thank you, Dawn! and see, Emily, those shoes couldn't be a more perfect match!

Erin's awesome play area

Cousins!

Cupcake aftermath

Cookies at the condo

Next stop in our Easter festivities: cookies and egg-dyeing with Henry and Josie!

Beauty the wonder dog makes clean-up a snap!

Easter egg hunt

Our neighbors Anna and Joe invited to us to their annual Easter Egg hunt last week!

Here's Anna. She's as nice as she looks. maybe nicer.

Apparently hunting Easter Eggs is instinctual.

And so is eating Tootsie Rolls.

Original Pancake House

Best pancakes in town, maybe anywhere. Prepare to wait. It's worth it.

 

Lagniappe

And one more shot from Arkansas. You know what was missing from the photos I took? Pics of baby Vaughn! We called him and his cousin "Vaughneke."

She loved this car until 20 seconds later when she slipped out of the seat and onto the driveway. :(

High School Library

Now that mom has moved from the Intermediate to the High School library she means business. And she reads "Twilight."

Aunts, uncles, and cousins

Maybe the one downside of the trip was the brevity of visits with our aunts, uncles, and cousins from Texas and Louisiana. But they were still good visits. We celebrated my cousin's birthday at a Mexican restaurant in Hope, Arkansas.

Red velvet cake!

Mom's side of the family

Daddy's side of the family

I didn't get a photo of my two cousins, Lori and Lisa, but I might as well have since their daughters look exactly like them. These are some of the nicest kids I think I have ever met.

Darlin' and Granddaddy

Despite Anneke's double ear infection and both grandparents coming down with the stomach bug that apparently swept the nation, everyone was able to get in some quality time.

The big, wonderful back yard

Anneke loved naptime with Darlin'...

...and apparently has decided Granddaddy's not so bad, after all.

No matter how much her ears hurt Anneke was always up for a wagon ride.

Mamo

I'll have to do a few posts about our trip to Arkansas. I found a cheap fare and decided two weeks ahead to come down for my mom's spring break. I didn't make it to LR to see any of my friends, but saw a lot of family.

Here's Juju getting her hair did, supervised by Mamo. Mamo has had her own beauty shop for...well, only her hairdresser knows for sure. She cut Dave's hair over Christmas, and I was very impressed with how it turned out. My dad said she has cut the hair of most of the ministers at First Presbyterian.

Here we are having lunch at Mamo's. She cooked two meals for us while we were there. Nothing fancy. You know, just pot roast, corn bread, purple-hull peas, iced tea, probably a whole bunch of other stuff. With a broken wrist. So essentially with one hand tied behind her back. The above tableau is as familiar to me as anything can be. There are countless snapshots like this in our albums--same photo, different generation.

Mamo and I went for a walk my last day in Camden, and I had to work to keep up with her. Granted, I had the stroller, but she has a few more years on me. I guess that's what happens when you work on your feet your whole life.

Mamo wrote an essay about her childhood in Jacinto, Arkansas. She wrote about growing up in the Depression, and said that this was a time when "we all learned to share." I think about that every day during these hard times. I'm so glad Anneke has her in her life.

Cousin

This is Anneke's cousin, Miss S. I promised I would blog about her. Isn't she a cutie? She's also a sweetie, and such a fun cousin to have.

Audobon Society

Three cheers for the Audobon Society! A couple of weeks ago we wanted to get out for a Portland Hill Walk, but Anneke woke up too late from her nap. So we drove over to the Wildlife Care Center and got to meet Julio the Great Horned Owl as well as a turkey vulture and other raptors. Anneke was so excited to meet these "cats." (Everything is a cat these days.) Then we went for a nice walk along the surrounding trails. Tallgirl, let's definitely pay this place a visit when you're in town!