Oregon

So, after we visited Aubrey and Tony in Rockford, we headed down to Oregon (IL) to my grandparent's house.  I was looking forward to going down there - I hadn't been there for quite a few years, and I have such good memories of that house growing up.  The house itself I love - we found the original house plans (my grandpa built the house) and I was tempted to keep them in case we ever build!  And of course I love all the memories we have from all the times we went to visit over the years.  I was thankful not much had changed in the house - many things we found even still smelled like my grandma.  It was a very memorable experience, and I'm so glad I was able to do it.  We found so many neat things!  Among my favorites were my grandpa's military uniforms, letters he wrote to my grandma before they were married, her train ticket to visit him in Seattle, their class rings, and pictures galore! 

There was, of course, a lot of stuff to go thru - I'm pretty sure they never threw anything away.  Especially my grandpa in his garage/basement.  Yikes.  I failed to take a before picture of the basement - I'm really kicking myself that I did.  It was amazing that Dad and Calvin got most of it out in just a few days.  Wow.  A lot of stuff went in the dumpster, but a lot of stuff (junk) was given away too!  Some guys stopped by - they took a bunch of metal scraps, a few old appliances and some old booze!  A few other things they put out at the curb and were gone within 15 minutes.  I've realized that I keep a lot of things that I think are neat, or that are important to me, but that no one else will ever want!  And I'm really going to be better about that - we have too much stuff as it is.

Here's the living room - Mom and I started by going thru all the papers/pictures and sorting them.  That seemed to take forever!

Here's a portion of the basement after they'd been working for a whole day.  Again - I'm really bummed I didn't take a before picture. 

But, here's all the stuff they pulled out of the basement!

Mom and I with some cool old hats we found - still in the hat box!  I think they were given to the thrift store on accident.

 

Jocelyn LOVED looking/talking at herself in this mirror.  It kept her fully occupied for almost an entire day!

So, here's a video of her in the mirror.  She's hitting herself in the head with the ice scraper, then giving herself a hug and saying sorry!  Then at the end she's saying goodnight and goodbye.  It was so funny!

 

Here's the funniest thing we found - a bag full of used soap!  We found it the last day, in the bedroom closet.  Mom and I were crying we were laughing so hard!

My good little helpers!

Happy 60th Birthday Dad!

Now, I bet you're wondering why there aren't more pictures of all of us at the restaurant.  Well, that's a funny story - one that will make his birthday one to remember.  Jocelyn will occasionally tell me before she has to go poop.  We don't normally make it in time, but at least she's trying.  So we're sitting at the restaurant - just a small little Italian place in town.  She's kinda getting antsy, and tells me she has to go poop and that she wants to sit on the potty.  So fine, we go in there - just a one room toilet and sink.  She doesn't go, and I don't want to hog the bathroom, so I get her dressed and we go back out.  We get our food about 10 minutes later, and all of a sudden Calvin asks, Why is there poop on my foot?  Sick.  Her diaper (super runny) had leaked everywhere - all over the high chair, the floor and Calvin.  I go out to the car, and luckily we hadn't unpacked the pillows yet.  So I took a pillow case off, brought it in, Dad lifted her up, I wrapped her in the pillow case, and out the door we went.  I got her wiped off a little out in the parking lot, then wrapped her in the other pillow case and we went back to the house.  Meanwhile, Calvin had to bring the high chair into the tiny bathroom to get it cleaned up and himself as well.  I guess everyone was staring at us, and needless to say our waitress got a pretty good tip.  Like I said, a 60th birthday to remember!

Yummy - good cake Grandma!

One of my fun memories from childhood was catching fireflies at their house.  They were always out every night, and we'd catch them and put them in glass jars.  I showed Calvin, Kailee and Jocey how to do it - and we caught about 4 or 5!

Showing Grandpa her "bees"

So, we were down there for a long weekend, but Dad stayed until August 4th.  The memorial service for Grandpa was on August 3rd.  His sister and her kids came the day after we left to help with the house.  I was amazed at the house after - they did a lot of work!  I didn't take any after pictures because I thought we'd be going back down there, but it sounds like they may have gotten everything ready to go.  Here are a few pictures from the second time we were down for the memorial service.

My cousin Karen - Jocelyn absolutely loved her!  She's 12 - so just a few years older than Kailee, and she just clung to her.  She even wanted her to put her to bed one night!  I hope it gave Karen some good babysitting practice!