Out With the New and In With the Old (and New)!

On Friday morning they came and picked up all of the rental furniture. They came right at 9:00 and everything was gone by 9:30. They were fast and efficient. It was not only furniture that they took but all of our linens, bedspreads, blankets, plates, knives, forks spoons, bowls, toaster, pans, you get the picture. They were to deliver our old furniture from the house in Kearney at 12:00 noon. Since we didn't have anywhere to sit or anything to do, we decided to go to the store for groceries for the week and to Lowes to get a folding table and chairs to use for a dining room set. While we were checking out at the store, the movers called and were waiting at the apartment. They had arrived early. We rushed home and they got everything carried up and in, in about 30 minutes. We spent the rest of the afternoon unboxing the kitchen stuff and setting up the spare bedroom. We made a list of everything that didn't arrive and headed back to the store to buy them. We didn't realize until late that we didn't have any silverware. We have 20 spatulas, 30 measuring cups and tons of other dishes and hardware, but no silverware. For now we are using plastic. We had our TV but no living room furniture, so we laid on the floor and watched a movie.

Saturday, they delivered the new living room and bedroom furniture. Mom is in love with the furniture. One thing we realized, it was a lot smaller in the store than it is in the apartment! It is huge! It is nice to have our stuff here finally.

Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day. The high temperature was 73 degrees and it was sunny and clear. Friday was also great but Saturday was fantastic. The best day since we have been here. Unfortunately Dad was sick so we didn't get to go out like we would have liked to. There were people here from Taiwan and he took them on a quick waterfall tour and came back home. While driving north on I-5 through downtown, you could see Mt. St. Helens straight ahead and Mt. Hood straight to the east. We have never been able to see them like this before. They we so large and majestic. We did do a little running around but stayed home for the most part. Easter Sunday is overcast and rainy again, but, with what we saw of Saturday's weather, we might be able to adjust after all.

To Hike or Not to Hike

Last weekend it was nice so we decided to go hiking again and went to a new place, Silver Fall's. It is southeast of Salem. We took the long way to get there but when it was time to leave, we had the GPS take us home and it was much closer. We didn't have an address to enter in when we went down so we had to use the written directions from their website. The day before was beautiful, sunny, bright and clear. Saturday was the same temperature but was not sunny or clear. Since it was a nice day, many people were out as well. Once we got a couple of miles out, the crowds thinned out. We had a nice day and enjoyed the hike. There are a total of 10 waterfalls on the hike but we only made it to seven. We will go back to see the last three. We debated on whether to do the last two miles and see the last three falls, but decided to not try it since it might be later than we liked when we finished up. Its a good thing we didn't go the extra as mom was worn out. We hiked about 4-1/2 miles. You will notice Mom's new backpack. It is pretty small and is mainly to carry a Camelback water pouch and a few other small things. I decided not to take my pack as we were able to get most of the stuff in her pack that we needed. I carried some extra water bottles.

The hike started out kind-of cold and I was wondering if I should go back and get my jacket. Mom had her jacket on. After we got going, there was no need for a jacket. Of the seven falls, two were over 100ft tall. The first fall was one of the very tall ones and you are able to walk behind it. There was a lot of water mist and I think that is why we were cold in the beginning. This was also our first official "Oregon" outing with our new aluminum walking sticks. We took them to Rachel and Dean's in March but hadn't tried them in Oregon yet.

There smaller falls were also pretty cool. It was great hike. We will be going back to get the rest of the falls in the near future.

There are also some very tall and large diameter trees out here.

We are also very excited because this Friday they come and pick up our rental furniture and deliver our furniture from storage. It will be so nice to have "our stuff" here finally. In addition, on Saturday, they will deliver our brand new bedroom and living room furniture. We signed the lease on the apartment last Thursday and our "free ride" ends on May 1st. Mom took the photos at the furniture store. They are not very good quality.

We didn't do anything over this most recent weekend. Mom's allergies are giving her fits. She is doing a bit better today. We spent most of Saturday resting and looking for dining room furniture. We finally decided to buy a folding table and chairs for the kitchen until we move later this year.

The weather for this week shows little chance for rain and it is to be mostly sunny. We are very excited about this as we are very tired of the rain and gray skies. I have Friday off for Good Friday so it is a short work week, yea!

Looking Back Before we Forge Ahead

You will need to tolerate a little reminiscing from a man growing older and older. The week before last, the movers came and loaded our stuff up and moved it to Portland. Mom and I made several last tours of the house on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning after everything was gone. It was a sad and difficult time. At first we thought it was about missing the house and its setting, but, as we continued on, we realized it is our family and memmories that we will be and are missing. The hardest parts were not going through the areas that we worked so hard on to improve, i.e, kitchen, bathrooms, and basement, but walking through Rachel and Nellie's old bedrooms. They were the only two to live in this house with us and they had moved on. Now mom and I realized that, for the first time in our married lives, we are truly empty nesters and on our own, together, going forward.

Now, indulge me a bit. Below is the first home our family had together. It was at 2800 Eveningside Drive in Topeka. This was home to Gabe (aka: GW, GW Wayne Spring and Ebag), Caleb (aka: Dubbers, Kdubbers, and Belac), Becky (aka: Booters, Feather Duster Head, Ykceb) and Rachel (aka: Gertrude, Gertrude Gersundeheit, and Lehcar). Rachel won't remember much about this house other than driving past it after we moved. It was a small, 3 bedroom house that worked pretty well until Rachel came along and we realized we needed more room, especially if we were going to have more children. I had lived in the house for a couple of years before mom and I were married and then we moved out in 1986, just months after Rachel was born.

It's interesting. this house has not changed much at all over the years, at least not from the outside. We moved from here in late 1986 as we needed more room. My uncle John had a house in North Topeka and he was ready to move and we wanted and loved his house. We bought it and made the move. We loved the new house and still look back on it as one of our favorite places. I took a picture of it before we moved but now I cannot find it. I got this one from Google maps. If I can find my photo, I will post is also.. Nellie (aka: Lizzard Breath, Munchkin Headed Girl, Belly, Nells and Eillen) was born while we lived here. We did a lot of work on this house. I am sure that Gabe and Caleb remember when we tore the walls out of the kitchen so we could remodel. We threw all the old lathe and plaster out the window into the trash can. It was so heavy when it was full that we couldn't lift it. They had a great time crashing the crowbar into the wall and ripping out the walls! We lived here until February of 1989 and then we moved to Kansas City when I went to work at Frederick Manufacturing.

Our first house in Kansas City was at 10904 N. Charlotte. It was the newest home we had ever lived in. We finished the basement to make enough room for all of us. We loved the neighborhood and made many friends here. We built Gabe and Caleb's beds into a wall so they could have some privacy. Nellie never forgave us for moving! We moved in the fall of 1995 a beautiful property up north.

Holt was the next stop. 5241 SE 202nd Street. Gabe didn't make the move with us this time.

 This was a great house for all of us but was a little further from work than I liked driving. Caleb and I had the pleasure of ripping the siding off the house and replacing the studs. Termite damage and created problems on the south side of the house. What fun this was. After Caleb left on his mission, we decided to purchase some property closer in, subdivide the property and build a new house on it. We had difficulties with the county and finally decided to stop the project. In the meantime, we sold the house in Holt and moved in town to Kearney.

206 E. 11th Street. This is a terrible photo. I got it from Google maps as well as I cannot find the one that I took. If I find a better one, I will post it. We moved here in May 2001. It was to be temporary. We ended up doing quite a bit of work here in re-doing the bathrooms and refinishing the kitchen. The price was right but we wanted something a little bigger and back in the country. In November 2004, we moved again.

We loved this house at 15818 Oakmont Drive. What we loved was that we had room to have everyone over, kids and grandkids, for family celebrations. We had fun exploring the creek and we did a ton of work to this house. Next, is our last photo as we left a week ago Thursday after the movers left.

It is now time to forge ahead and look to the future. We are proceeding with building our new home in Happy Valley. We will need to build new memories and need all of you to come and visit, frequently. Below is our building site and some of the views.