Vacation!

'Long about last spring, Eric said it was time for all of us to go to the beach again.  Our trip to Orcas Island was in August of 2010, and we were due.  Fortunately, not only is Eric a good prodder, he's also a great planner. He cruised the internet and found a number of houses for us to consider and we all got to vote!  We came up with a winner and reservations were made starting Sunday, August 11 at Rock A Way Beach.

As is usual, time passed and all of a sudden, it was time for packing!  We decided to leave on Saturday and just go as far as Portland so we wouldn't have to drive like crazy, be tired and grumpy once we got the beach, and then still have to go to the grocery store for items too difficult to bring with us.  It was an excellent plan! We enjoyed Multnomah Falls and walked the trails, with Eric and Cameron hiking clear to the top.  It was a great break and fortified us for the final drive into Portland where we had hotel reservations for the night. (Photo below shamelessly stolen from Ann.)

We had a very yummy breakfast at the hotel (I'm so glad hotels serve breakfasts as part of the stay now, and not just juice and a "Danish"), and hit the road for the coast. We stopped in Cannon Beach since we couldn't get into our house until four o'clock.  Let me just say that a Sunday afternoon in August is not an opportune time to tour Cannon Beach.  Wall.To.Wall.People.  We were thankful to leave.  

The drive down Highway 101 is spectacular.  The sun was out, the sky mostly clear, the water sparkled.  So beautiful!  And then, we were at our house!  Four levels with the living and kitchen areas on the top floor so we had wide views of the ocean.  We settled in and loved that it was about five seconds from the house to the sand.  The beach was very private--only a few people on it at any given time.  Here are a few beach photos and as you can tell from the photos, we had the most amazing weather!  Sunny--at the Oregon coast!

Daniel loved the water!

Note the empty beach!

We went for long walks every evening...

The great thing about having a house is having a kitchen and this house had a large and light one.  Here are the boys making biscuits as part of one night's dinner.

It takes a group to make biscuits!

Ooo, biscuit fingers!!

Another great amenity that came with the house was a hot tub on the lower deck.  Needless to say, it got used!

All good things must come to an end, however, and on Thursday we packed up and left our happy vacation home.  We spent Thursday afternoon at OMSI where the boys enjoyed experimenting with various things, Eric and Dan toured a real submarine docked in the Willamette River, Ann chased Daniel, and I was thrilled by a National Geographic photo exhibit.  We spent the night back in our same hotel and got up the next morning to breakfast and a visit to the Portland Zoo.

Here's the gang, queued up to buy tickets. (Interestingly enough, I qualified for "Senior" at OMSI, but not at the zoo! We won't mention Dan...).

 What a colorful group--kind of like a bunch of Skittles!

Sure do love this bunch!

On our way home we stopped by the Tri-Cities to visit niece Kirsten and see her new house.  We loved it! Beautiful home, lovely neighborhood.  We gave it our stamp of approval.  After the viewing, we drove to a Mexican restaurant and enjoyed a good long visit with her as we ate a yummy meal.

Cousins!  

And now, we are home, with wonderful memories.  ♥

An Obsession with ...

history.  I've always had it; I was even a history major in college until I realized it wasn't a viable source of steady income should I need to fall upon my own resources. And it wasn't just the history in books; family members who came before me fascinated me.  Names my parents brought up in conversation, names written with old fashioned pen and ink in dusty books--they came alive in my head and I longed to know about them.  

Last year I mentioned going to a family reunion on my father's side and coming away with questions which resulted in my joining Ancestry.com.  I spent countless hours pouring over records and discovered a lot.  I ended up with three different family trees:  one for my dad's family, one for my mom's and one for Dan's. During this time Dan was often out of town, so I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning and the time flew. After a month's time, I had totally burned myself out.  

Every so often over the last year I'd log onto Ancestry and find I couldn't bring myself to even start.  Until a few weeks ago.  I checked in, noticed I had some hints, and suddenly, I was off again.  I've found a number of pieces of information that eluded me last year and each discovery drove me on.  I've combed through old ships' passenger lists from the 1880's through the early 1900's and found names.  I've discovered naturalization papers that helped me find ships and dates.  Witnesses on marriage licenses have lead me to find information on other, formerly lost because of name changes, family members.  Wow!  

I've also discovered that some mysteries may never be solved.  Did you know that the 1890 census is gone? On January 10, 1921, a fire in the Commerce Department building, Washington, DC, resulted in the destruction of most of the 1890 census. That leaves a big hole in family trees--twenty years between 1880 and 1900. What happened to Dad's great-grandfather after he moved to California? And in Dan's family, his great-grandparents came to American from Scotland after 1880 and both died before 1900. No official records for them but we have been blessed with their family Bible and have much information there.

I feel like I have had a crash course in research and investigation. Chris Miller, P.I. Every time I feel I can't go any further, one more little crumb falls and I'm off again. And I'm certain more records are coming to light with each passing day. And the moral to this little confession? Write. Stuff. Down. Label photos, fill in those pages in your Bible; you know, the ones that say Marriages, Births, Deaths. Someday, someone will want to know and your information will help them.

It's amazing what's on the internet. Here's a picture of the Oscar II, the ship my mom's dad sailed on from Christiania (now Oslo), Norway in 1906, when he was a young man of just twenty.  

Meanwhile, I'm hoping to avoid joining Family Historians Anonymous. For now, I'm just saying, "Hello. My name is Chris M. and I'm a history nut." ♥

A New Table Runner

I've finally gotten down to my sewing room, and I just finished a runner for the shop featuring the Honeycrisp line of fabric from Dear Stella and the Waffle Time pattern by Atkinson Designs.  It's the perfect runner for August and September when you want something late summer/fallish without pumpkins.  

The pattern is the perfect showcase for that gorgeous fabric in the center.  It's too beautiful to cut into smaller pieces.  Feels good to be sewing!  ♥

Nothin' Much . . .

is going on here, hence the lack of posts.  Cooking, dusting (well, that's pretty amazing!), ironing, laundry; that about says it all.  And you thought the fun never ended here at Miller's Last Resort.  

I did capture this picture of the full moon rising over the butte the other night.  It was beautiful!  Love, love, love summer evenings.  What a gift!  ♥

  

Jammy Grammy Stitches Again!

The phone rang last Tuesday and it was Ann, asking if Jammy Grammy was still in business.  I said, "Of course she is!"  The weather had heated up and little Daniel was in need of some summer jammies--my specialty.  

I found some fabric left from the big boys jammies a few years ago and was able to stitch up a pair in short order. Ha ha, short order--get it?  :-)  A trip to Wally World netted me a pack of little white t-shirts and I embroidered a matching design so I could deliver a set before they left for a vacation at the lake.  

I had to shop for more fabric for the next two pair, and found the perfect embroidery designs to match.

They'll be back tomorrow night and I'll be able to deliver them to the little man.  I think he'll like them!  (By the way, when I finished the little blue boxers, I realized they were my 48th pair!!  I think it may be some kind of record?  And yes, I've kept track:  I started in 2002 with a little pair for Ryan and from then on he, Cameron, and Keaton got new sets as needed.)

Happy 4th of July!

God bless America, land that I love, 
Stand beside her and guide her 
Through the night with a light from above. 
From the mountains, to the prairies, 
To the oceans white with foam, 
God bless America, 
My home sweet home. 

-- Irving Berlin

July, And It's Summer!

Just snapped this photo a few minutes ago.  

Yes, here in the west it's HOT, even in our corner of the world.  I am so thankful for air conditioning!  Of the four houses we've owned, two had it and two didn't.  If I have a choice, we always will.  Heat and I have never gotten along--it makes me physically ill and always has.  In the old (olden??) days when I was growing up, I tried to hang out in the coolest, darkest corner of our house and just read.  Thankfully the pool was close, so afternoons were spent there most days and that seems to work, too. Later, when we spent our summers at a Forest Service Ranger Station, the river ran right beside it, so afternoons were spent at the beach.  Beautiful, cool, clear water!  Well, I'm too old the public pool (don't want to frighten the children!), and no river runs by, so our air-conditioned house in the answer.

I finished a new little project the other day using the leftovers from the small patriotic Schnibbles quilt I made for the living room.  Our family room continues to be morphing back to it's original function (more on that in a minute), and I decided the chest Dan made years ago for a coffee table needed a little runner to spruce it up. 

I like it!  Just the umph needed to make me smile.  Yes, gentle readers, the family room is now just a family room. If you'll remember, about a month ago I was frustrated and attacked some areas to improve what had become the "dump room."  Well, it seems I inspired my sweetie, too, because he decided to move his office to a bedroom down the hall.  He'd been intending to do it for years, but you know how that goes.  Later.  :-)  Anyway, over a series of days, the area where he's worked for the last five-plus years was cleared and it's made such a difference!!  I am in love with that room again!  I keep going down there and watching TV (DVR is the greatest!!!) and fluffing the pillows on the sofa! 

Life is good.  ♥