Updates on Rylee

We have been getting ready for the cold weather here in Bend, It sure came early this year!

Rylee sure loves to wear her daddy's hat.

Rylee started crawling at 5 1/2 months and started sitting up at exactly 5 months. She is already climbing things, getting into trouble, and falling down hurting herself. She is 8 months old and took her first step on Friday Nov. 19 2010. Shes such a big girl!

She also has been sick the 3-4 weeks. She kept getting ear infections while her top 2 teeth came in. Now she is on antibiotics for the sinus infection she has. Poor girl!

Snow on the Mountains

We've had a couple of snowstorms so far - both on days when we were supposed to go to Salt Lake for appointments. The mountains look cold and beautiful - and the autumn foliage still on the apple trees is a nice color foil for them.

Visitors to Preston

We recently had a visit from Ron's sister, Evie and her husband, Dick, from the Lake Stevens area north of Seattle. She is, without doubt, a human dynamo. Family is very special, and we had a great time together. Evie used to paint pictures, but her passion for the last 10+ years has been in gourding. It has become an incredible art form, and she is a member of the Washington Gourd Society Board - Gourders travel all over to take and give classes, and learn more about the art. She tried to get me involved some years ago, with the result that I have a big number of dried and cleaned gourds, and have completed a very few into some sort of an art form. There are so many things of interest to do in this world, and sometimes I am greedy and want to do them all. Oh, well, I might have a quarter of a century left. (My two new dental implants are guaranteed for twenty-five years, and the roof on our house for 30 - do you think we will make it?) Anyway, it stirs us up to have people around us who love to do different things. The world is full of possibilities!

Fall is Fading Fast

These bushes are now gone - but their beauty lay in the fall color. I don't know what they were, but they became a trash bush, so some of the neighbors came and helped Ron pull them out, leaving the north side of the house a little bare. I'll miss the color and the little birds that enjoyed the berries; controlling the wildness is a good trade-off. Now, we are trading them for the snow that has come and is coming. The mountains are white, and at 17 degrees F this morning, we don't expect to have a warming trend any time soon. Glorious October has verged into chilly November, so we gird up for winter.

The Glories of Autumn

The Sedum Autumn Joy is in full bloom. And, the frost comes almost every morning, sprinkling glittering diamonds everywhere, and making fallen leaves look like something very special. This is certainly a miracle. This planter sits in the corner by our front door. Amazingly enough, after many nights of upper 20's temperatures, these plants keep on giving. They are certainly not cold-hardy. We appreciate the extra days of beauty, knowing that soon they'll succumb to the cold nights.