The afternoon before Mama's birthday, Ron paid us a surprise visit all the way from Arizona! That was a wonderful gift to her. Not only did he come for her birthday, but he stayed for nearly a week long visit! Her 96th birthday was filled with phonecalls from friends and relatives, which she thoroughly enjoyed snuggled up to Ron part of that time.
Since he was able to stay for awhile, he and I took the hike up to Silver Falls that Lon and I had taken just a few weeks earlier. The fall colors gave a beautiful new twist to the scenery.
We packed a lunch and ate at one of the lookout points.
Ron even grabbed the camera a couple times.
More beautiful color on the drive back...
...and a surprise sighting of many mountain sheep along the highway on the way back home. We were able to park along the roadside and walk up quite close to the large herd of these sheep. According to newspaper reports, people stopping to get out and see them became quite a traffic hazard in the weeks that followed, and eventually it became a "no parking" zone.
All in all, it was a great day - a rare time alone with my brother appreciating the beauty of creation.
Here is the first snowfall we noticed on the hills across the Columbia River.
LON'S BIRTHDAY
Carol and her children came over on Lon's birthday and Brad's family joined us for dinner. That was about the best gift he could receive. Since she couldn't be with us in person, Gail called from Papua New Guinea and talked to different ones.
Carol on the phone with her sister...
Jessie on the speaker phone - trying to figure out where Aunt Gail's voice was coming from...
...and the birthday boy enjoying the sound of Gail's voice.
At the dinner table...
...and another view
Carol performed a birthday gift for her dad - an arrangement of his favorite hymn, "And Can It Be" with accompanying orchestration on CD. Now, if I had thought, I could have recorded that and had a video here. Perhaps we'll just have to have her do it again!
Grandpa is surrounded by his seven "grands" here. There is no significance of the ONE candle - just that putting 63 of them on there seemed a bit of a waste. Ha!
Then to end the month of October, Brad and the boys came on Halloween so Grandpa could go Trick-or-Treating with them.
Great grandma enjoyed seeing the boys spread out their bounty of candy.
3 comments:
Thanks for posting so many pictures! I've never seen the sheep up there, so it was neat to see your pictures.
Also, the boys had a great time trick-or-treating in your neighborhood. Every time we drive to your house, they try to point out which houses they went to.
You have done a great job here, Mom. I love seeing what you all are up to, even if I get to keep up with you everyday with email. It made me feel special to be included in the blog even though I am not with you this fall. Thanks for posting.
Loved all the pictures!
Happy Birthday's, Happy Halloween and beautiful place to hike.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
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