The Big City

So we decided to spend the last weekend of Spring Break at The Big City -- otherwise known as Seattle. Portland is the Slightly Smaller Big City. Anyway.

The fact that our friends Steve and Benita live there means that it's much easier (not to mention cheaper) to go stay at The Big City than if we were trying to find a hotel, etc. Leaving after Scott got done seeing patients on Friday meant that Friday night was pretty well shot, but Saturday we went to the Woodland Park Zoo. With about 5 million of our best friends. Seriously, we waited in line for about half an hour JUST TO BUY TICKETS. Apparently, it was the first sunny weekend day of spring for all the little Seattlites. Luckily, the zoo is a large enough property that we all spread out pretty decently once we were inside the gates and weren't too awfully crowded.

I don't believe in taking pictures of the animals at the zoo, because later one looks back and wonders why one did that (ask me how I know)! What you WISH you had taken pictures of is the people who went to the zoo with you! But I did have to take this one animal photo -- because he was just so danged cute, and I wasn't sure but what he might be made of plastic. I think it's a Chinese wax frog? I was too busy going, "Oh, look, isn't he cute??" to notice anything important about him:













And here, for your viewing pleasure, are some pictures of the afore-mentioned People I Went to the Zoo With! Yes, I know -- how they've grown (heavy sigh):












I have a couple more pictures, but Blogger does not want me to add them. One of them includes me; perhaps he is trying to save the larger public from any shock engendered but actually seeing what I look like! Of course, I know you all in normal life, basically, so I think the gesture is just too darn late.

I'll try to post the extra pictures in a later/second post. I hope your week is starting smoothly ...

love, kristin

Wonderful Magazine

I've discovered (thanks to several other blogs) a really fun and informative online magazine: Rhythm of the Home. They publish quarterly, and have beautiful photos, thoughtful home and parenting articles, and lovely craft ideas. It's fairly 'crunchy' as far as parenting goes, but then if you know me you know that I am an odd mix of traditional and hippie-style parenting! (Yes, I am the woman who nursed all my kids to 18 months. But look how smashingly they've turned out! Or something.)

Anyway, enjoy! Even if you aren't a parent the pictures are great fun and provide a quiet spot in the day ...

Love, kristin

More Twins! (Our Family is Large-ish)

Once again, not mine, specifically. My nieces are carrying on nicely, thank you! Melissa and Michael returned from Ethiopia on New Year's Day with two very darling twin girls, Zuri and Zinea, to join Emma & Jake. Go see them immediately! There are several other entries with more pictures of the girls, but I think this is mostly just them. I can't wait to see them; we always see them in July when we are down for Oregon Campmeeting, but I think I might have a tiny implosion if I have to wait THAT long! This brings my dad and mom's total up to four great-grandchildren! They're doing rather well!

I'm Back ... and a Memorial

I can't believe it's been so long since I've written. This is the traditional opening for most diary entries and not a few personal letters and emails. In this case, however, it's strictly accurate. I really can't. One of the things that has kept me busy in the "real" world has been the final illness of Bev, Scott's "adopted" mom. Most of you know about this, and have been so supportive and kind to me. I've appreciated beyond words your emails, calls, cards. I've needed them.

I've been so privileged to spend several days each week most of the last month in Orofino, keeping house for Gordon, Bev's husband, and being "the thing that is not quiet in the house"--it was the silence that was killing him. I knew that Bev was well-taken-care-of at the hospital, and had a steady stream of visitors (Gordon was there every day), and decided that my duty was to make sure he stayed on his feet and had a lighted house to come home to every night possible.

Bev slipped away last Monday night about 8:30. One of her sons had left to go home to Florida that morning. Before he left, he told her, "Mom, we have everything all organized, tidied up, and taken care of. If you're tired of fighting, just let go. It's all right if you're ready." 10 hours later, she was ready.

Her funeral was last Saturday. Over 250 people crammed into the Lutheran church in Orofino -- people were sitting in the hallways. The service was liturgical, and I found the well-known texts and the bread and the wine comforting. The window I sat under was a memorial stained-glass window that Bev gifted to the church after the death of her parents. The sun outside shone through Christ arisen and poured over my children playing on the pew beneath Him. Mara spent the prayer trying to kick her sister's head.

All four of Bev's sons (to include my husband) wept during the service, but at home, it was like the best kind of Irish wake. We sat around the kitchen table and laughed, reminisced, drank (liquids of varying strength, depending on your preference), ate. Gordon told stories of his wife, and of his boyhood. Sven and Scott told stories of waterfights through the house, playing football together in the yard, wrestling in the back of the pickup on the way down the river road until they both became violently carsick. Emily looked for Grandma Bev to ask where the art paper was, until she remembered.

How I'll miss her. But yet, it feels "normal" -- a part of the roll of seasons, the movement of life. Children are born, others die. Bev had great faith in her Redeemer, and I have no doubt that I will find her on the Resurrection Day, delighted to see how the children have grown, eagerly searching for her friends and children. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

love, kristin

Photographs, Actually!

Yes, it's true, I'm actually posting PICTURES! (Not that I ever found the dumb cable -- I invested in a card reader.) Here are some snaps from our recent annual end-of-summer trip to Yachats, Oregon. It's a favorite spot for our family -- my parents even have a watercolor painting of the town on their wall at home. From the top (I do NOT understand how to get the photos to line up properly with Blogspot): Emily proving she is still the same child, coast or not; Scott, my niece Melissa, and our assorted children (our 3, and Melissa & Mike's two -- and they will have either one or two coming soon from Ethiopia!--you might notice it was windy); My dad and his great-granddaughter, Madison (Dad is actually reading, not sleeping -- he wouldn't dream of nodding off!); Emily, Steven, Mara, Emma & Jacob (all the kids in the wind picture) on the sea lion sculpture at Sea Lion Caves (a large sea cave where sea lions take shelter during storms, and sun outdoors on the rocks); and my elder sister, Marsha with her granddaughter Madison (the sleeping baby from the above picture) and Mara (who is her niece -- got it?). I will now start posting all the jillion-and-one pictures I've been supposed to be posting all summer!

love, kristin

How Does Your Garden Grow?

The rosemary and chives (yes, I know I should de-flower them, but I LIKE the purple blossoms, and I'll do it in a bit, OK?) in the garden, with the irises and peonies behind.

Whew. I've never had a spring quite like this one in terms of business. I feel like I'm racing wildly trying to catch up. Not necessarily stressful, just extremely busy. I'm always amazed when I realize it's Friday AGAIN, and a whole new week has gone by. I'm ready for the comparative slowness of summer -- the kids are done with school by next week, and I have a test to do and final papers to grade the week after that, and then ... on to canning, gardening, camping, etc. Still busy, I guess. But it's a different kind of busy. One where it doesn't matter if you're late, and you work more with your hands, doing the same thing over and over, in a rhythm. It's a lovely change. Here are some pictures of what's growing around the Cherry Tree Farm:

Peonies are my very favorite flower. These bushes are starts from Scott's grandparents' farm. The current owner was kind enough to call the family before he had to dig them up during a renovation and ask if the family would like to save some. Wasn't that so nice?




The chicks have changed dramatically! I do believe we have ended up with some roosters -- I didn't exactly grow up as a real farm girl, but this one in the top photo looks a lot more like Frank than Frances to me!












Then there's this odd species that's shown up ... wait a minute!!







And the garden beginning to really look like a garden with:
Chard







Lettuce







Green Peas







Corn (if this crop doesn't produce well this year AGAIN, I
think Scott will throw himself in the canal!). The black stuff on the
sides is landscaping fabric to keep down the weeds.








Well, friends and neighbors (as my mother says), that's what's growing in our garden and around the homestead (excluding Steven, who grew a solid inch between January and March ... and probably another one by now). How about you? love, kristin

Tucannon Camping

The Boxcar Kids -- Emily's current favorite in the kids' book department (thanks, all of you, for your suggestions a while ago!)

We just returned from a last-minute, weekend-long camping trip to the Tucannon area (just outside Dayton, WA). There are about 20 (I'm not exaggerating) little campgrounds every couple of miles along that road, with just a few sites in each -- and absolutely no improvements (that's not true -- there were outhouses!). There are also almost no fellow campers, which suited us just fine. The area used to be semi-forested with pine trees, but following a serious wildfire in 2005, it's fairly open. Plenty of room to ramble, chase butterflies, have campfires, and play Cooties and Uno. (Or, if you're Cap, carry on a failed effort to catch just one ground squirrel.) Boy, do I not miss tent camping! (We have a trailer now -- with bunk beds. Greatest thing ever.)


(From the top:) Scott first thing in the morning by the fire (he's not going to think it's funny that I posted this photo; cheesy breakfast smiles (I know, I know, Steven officially looks like the oldest in the picture -- doesn't he? -- but don't break Emily's heart and tell her); Mara and me (also first thing in the morning, also by the fire); Mara; Steven, Emily & Scott hiking up the ridge behind our trailer (you can see the burn damage well in this photo); Steven (also first thing in the morning --thus the coat & quilt).

love, kristin

Happy Easter!

I hope your Easter is turning out charmingly -- we are having a very nice one. Here are some pictures from our celebration ... In this one, Steven looks frightfully discouraged. We DID do 7 dozen eggs ... could he be overwhelmed???

Oma (my mom) was helpful as usual. In fact, she boiled all the eggs and provided the coloring stuff. And the candy. And the plastic eggs to put the candy in. And the Easter Bunny to hide it ... ok, not that, but practically everything else!

Ahh, Steven looks recovered. And then there's Opa (my dad--he's supervising. He's good at that. He used to be a university administrator.); and Mara, frantically egg-hunting. And Emily, rather pleased with her haul.
I hope you got lots of chocolate! (And took some time to ponder why Easter really exists.) Love, kristin

VERY cute child alert

Not to mention her skills with lipstick! She's going to be such a glamour girl. This is Dorothy Lou, Heather's baby (as before, info for those of you on the Adventist grapevine. For those of you not attached there, she's my niece-not-really-but-sort-of. You know the kind). She turned one in September. Doesn't she have gorgeous eyes?

Student Bloomer of the Week (and one NON-student one!)

I'm sorry if you're getting sick of these ... I simply love them, and chortle over them much more often than is technically sane. Catherine over at Dispatches from the Deise wrote a hilarious post about grammar. She also mentioned a new book out by John Humphrys, Lost for Words, in the same vein as Eats, Shoots, and Leaves (by Lynne Truss), which is one of my favorite ever. There goes my book allowance (I don't really GET a book allowance, but doesn't it sound good?). Anyway, here are the newest:

* From one of my new writing students, responding to a questionnaire I always give out the first day of class, asking for information about previous writing experience: "I defiantly wrote lots of papers in high school." Actually, I'm not sure -- WAS that a typo, or was he just a mad sort of kid?

* And then, while in Seattle, Benita bought one of those pre-wrapped pseudo-logs for their fireplace (which they use about 25x more than usual when I'm there, because I'm always saying, "Oooh! Let's have a fire!"). The label proudly stated, "Illustrious flames!" It's good to know their flames are highly renowed (of course, I have to admit, I looked the word up and illustrious actually an obsolete synonym for luminous. I wonder if it was a case of trying to translate from a different language? Always hazardous!). Anyway, made me laugh.

Pictures are forthcoming from our ferry trip in Seattle. We did not lose Mara over the side, despite what those of you who know her personality and genius for throwing herself around might suspect! I had also forgotten how interesting it is to people-watch on the ferry! Some of the other passengers were so ... so ... wow.

love, kristin

Chicken Update (We Are So Out of Hand Here)

Remember when I said, "We are getting eight chicks?" Hah. That was before the later stages of Mad Chicken Disease appeared in our brains. There are just so many cool breeds out there, and we are trying to raise/produce more of our own food, and Mom (Mom Bergman, I mean) is always up for any project you can think of (I love that about her) ... the upshot is we have ordered ... um ... 25 chicks. Stop laughing.

We'll raise 10 for eggs, and kill 15 this fall, with part of them going to Mom & Dad Bergman (I suspect we might smuggle one down to Mom Fry, too), part of them going in our freezer, and a couple going to whatever other poor saps we wrangle in to help us do the dirty work. I had just finished saying to Scott, "Fine. But I refuse to do the actual executions. I'll clean and pluck, but I can't actually kill them," when Emily broke in very calmly with, "Mom. They're chickens. Why are you so squeamish? I can't wait for fresh chicken dinner!" She is the weirdest combination ever of super-sensitive and ultra-practical. On the other hand, I think it's downright unfair to be someone who's willing to eat meat in its final, clean, tidy form but go all self-righteous about how it's not "nice" to do the dirty-work part (yes, I'm working on that part of myself!).

Anyway, Scott's been working like a fiend on the chickenhouse. We have discovered a direct correlation between him working on said project and the commencement of sleet and/or snow. (We are having such a strange spring.) Here's some recent proof of progress. The "box" on the side is how you can get the eggs without going inside the chickenhouse -- you lift up the little "roof". The chicken run will be on the left side of this picture, going around the north side of our garage/workshop. The chickenhouse has room for 12 full-grown chickens to roost and lay -- so we will have plenty of space for our 25 small ones; plus, there is an "addition" deal that can be built on if necessary.

Yesterday, the kids and I drove out to see some friends of ours who have two two-week-old bumper lambs they are bottle-feeding and raising. They (the lambs) are cute as heck (not to say the friends aren't cute!). Still, I think I'll stop at chickens for now.

The Park

Well, last weekend it was (briefly, but it was) sunny, and we ventured out to our local park. It's really a rather decent little park, considering the size of our town. Of course, while we were there, we saw three separate families we recognized, including one couple who are parents of someone we graduated high school with (Jeremy, for those of you who know) -- it is, after all, a small town! I actually like that about where we live -- the seeing of people you know everywhere. I realize there are many people for whom that is practically as pleasant as bubonic plague, but it doesn't make me claustrophobic at all. Here are some pictures of our adventure (and why is it that no-one under the age of 10 seemed any less energetic after running around wildly for an hour?):





You might notice there is only one picture of Steven (and he's looking sort of odd and a little blurry). That would be because my camera does not do well with motion (that little delay on digital cameras is just a killer), and he considers any second at the park during which he is not in constant motion to be a sad, sad waste. I'm glad for children who: a) have a place to play; b) can play; and c) like to play. Wouldn't it be dreadful to have children who didn't have any one of those three things?

Love, kristin

P.S., does anyone else who knows what Sharlene's girls look like think that sometimes Emily looks very like them? It's the chin, the eyes, and the skin color. Um, is that her whole face? Considering that they are her cousins, I suppose that's not surprising!

P.S.S., my great-nieces and great-nephews are SO CUTE, I can't stand it. The twins' newest pictures are here and there are some absolutely killing pictures of Emma doing ballet and Jake at swimming class (goggles are always excellent) here.

Happenings Around the Homestead

Ok, so it's not really a homestead. They're still happenings! We had a lovely day today. The sun shone (this is rather unusual in the Walla Walla Valley during the winter), and it was 50 degrees! Here's what's going on around The Cherry Tree Farm:

Scott is building us a chicken coop! We will be getting the chicks in a few weeks -- eight of them. I've never raised chicks before, but Scott has, so I imagine we can handle it without killing off more than three or four!

Look! It's a gravel ditch! (It's really pretty like that around here.) No, it's really our irrigation canal. This property has had first water rights on the Little Walla Walla River (meaning we can use all the water we want, and everyone downstream has to lump it) since 1886. Most of the year, this canal is deep enough with fast-running water to be up above my knees, and in the middle of the summer, I'm not sure I could keep my footing in the current. In the summer, reeds and yellow flags grow along the banks and it's beautiful. In the late winter, however, the water board reroutes the water and all the landowners along the canal line have to clear out the old reeds and get the canals ready for the growing season. Our gardener, Vincente, has been working all week on digging out the old reeds (he's so cheerful about it!). I miss the water when it isn't running -- the sound is so peaceful.

Our cherry trees are still looking rather straggly at this point in the season. This is a view facing east toward the Blue Mountains. The new growth on the trees is always reddish. The trees should begin blossoming in late March, and it shouldn't be too much longer now before the beekeepers bring in the bee boxes to get the pollination going.
And then there's the resident farm dog, Cap. He's having a lovely day, as I bought him a giganto-riffic beef knucklebone to gnaw on just this morning, and he's been working on it all day. He also loves it when Vincente is here doing farm or garden work, because there's someone to talk to him outdoors (when he IS outdoors, that is, and not sleeping in the patch of sun on the living room floor!).

What's happening at your house?

Love, kristin

Hurrah! More Babies!

NO! Not MINE! Sorry about any inadvertent heart attacks out there -- my three are all that are going to be growing up at the Cherry Tree Farm, I'm afraid! But my niece (Amanda, for those of you who know my two nieces) has had twins! Yes, that would in fact be two newborns at once. I am so proud of she and her husband Chris -- the journey to get here has been long and difficult. God is really good.

You can look at pictures of Mason and Madison (and Amanda, looking absolutely disgustingly put-together and camera-ready ... it's hardly human, but she's just got that natural ability) here. I do have to acknowledge that this does make me a ... ahem ... great-aunt. I was already, actually, as my other niece, Melissa, and her husband Michael have two children as well. This is just another reminder. Perhaps I can think of "great" in terms of "stupendous" and "marvelous," as opposed to "in the same generation as your grandmother." I'll console myself by remembering that this makes four great-GRANDCHILDREN for my parents!

Love, kristin

Warning: I'm Entering the 21st Century

At the risk of sounding cliched, I'm starting a blog. I've had so much fun looking at Melissa and Amanda's blogs (and it seems like such a good way to keep up on what we're all doing) that I've decided to take the plunge. I am not exactly expecting a wide readership (only the people that really count, you know!), but I will try to keep the blog updated and provide lots of family photos for your interest and amusement.

NOW I'll try to figure out how to do all this posting stuff.

Love, kristin