Haceta Head Lighthouse--29th anniversary

Several years ago, James gave me a portrait of Haceta Head Lighthouse. At the time we didn't know which one it was, but I was fascinated with Lighthouses, and had seen this huge picture while walking among the shops along the Willamette River. James surprised me with it on my birthday--probably 12+ years ago. When Don and Kathleen Lind came to visit, they saw the picture and told us it was Haceta Head Lighthouse--they then informed us that there was a bed and breakfast there and they had stayed there at one time. We were hooked on the idea of going there, but it didn't work out until we were able to spend three nights here for our anniversary. Here is a picture of us near Sea Lion Caves with the Innkeeper's House (where we stayed) in the distance.



The Bed and Breakfast was once a duplex that housed first and second assistant lighthouse keepers. The head keeper had his own home. Assistants were needed to help make sure that the kerosene light stayed lit and to polish the many crystal prisms it took to help the light shine so brightly. They told us it took many hours to polish the crystal prisms each day. The light shown 21 miles out into the Pacific Ocean.





This is the house. Our room is on the upper right
We stayed in the Mariner ll room. This is also the view out our window. We did not know that this house is also haunted and our room was one of "Rue's" haunts. Rue is said to be a wife of one of the keepers who lost a baby and is still looking for it. When they took out the wall on the lower level, it upset Rue and she became active.

































The lighthouse was just a short distance from the house. We would walk up daily to see it, go on hikes and take a look around. The light had just broken a few weeks before we arrived and it was in the process of being fixed. Our first night there we walked up to it and as we were taking pictures, I saw a movement up near the lantern. I didn't think anything of it; even when I saw someone walk across the window. I mentioned it to James and we thought they were doing work on the lantern. It was later that night we heard about 'Rue'. We still didn't connect it until the next morning over our seven course breakfast. Someone asked if anyone had seen or heard 'Rue'. No one had. Talk turned to the lighthouse and we mentioned that we had seen workers the night before. It was then the question was asked..."What government worker works at 8:30 at night?" Was it Rue I saw?





















Our favorite place to eat was at Waterfront Depot in Florence Oregon. The halibut was fantastic and the prices were amazing! We ate here all three days.
































Along with the hikes, we drove down to Umpqua Lighthouse and toured it. We learned a lot about lighthouses on this trip and found it very fascinating. A picture of our cute little red car from the top of Umpqua Lighthouse.























After three days at Haceta Head Lighthouse, we felt very relaxed. We will definately come back here again. We had a wondeful time and after a long walk behind the lighthouse; up to the 600 foot level, we headed for home. It was a wonderful anniversary. Here are some final shots of the lighthouse and shoreline taken during our stay.

Onward to Seattle-! The Last Hurrah with the Laurels.

Susan Scott and I decided it would be a fun idea to take the Laurels to Seattle where we would stay the night at Mom's in Mountlake Terrace and then spend Saturday in downtown Seattle and head back to Portland from there. We picked up the girls directly after school at 1530. Since Anna was married in March, the only Laurels we had left were Katie Ward, Heather Gruwell and Megan Farris. The five of us had a fantastic time! We arrived in Seattle about 1930 and after getting settled at Mom's we drove to Chipotles in Lynnwood for dinner. In the evening we had fun visiting with each other doing exercises.








Saturday morning after a breakfast of German Pancakes, we headed toward downtown Seattle for a day of fun! The first stop was the Ferries; we boarded the ferry to Bainbridge Island and then returned; it was cold and windy up on deck, but the girls loved it.













From there we drove to Pike Place Market and spent a couple hours browsing through the shops and enjoying the beautiful flowers, the colorful fruit and fish market and most of all, the unique people.
























For a late lunch, Susan and I treated the girls to 'Ivar's Salmon House' on Lake Union. Their fish and chips were scrumptious.

































Our last stop was 'Gas Works Park'. We walked around all the equipment and watched the people and looked at the Seattle skyline. We headed home about 1945.

I enjoyed working with the Laurels and being a part of their lives. It was so fun to see the girls I had as Beehives, grow up, be with them again as Laurels, graduate, and get married in the temple. I hope the same for these three girls. It was difficult the following day to be released as their advisor.

Easter Brunch at Wynwood

James and I went to an Easter Brunch at Wynwood and had breakfast with Grandpa. We had an enjoyable time eating and visiting. After breakfast we went into his apartment and from his living room window we had a good view of all the little kids hunting for Easter Eggs.













You will need to look close to see all the little eggs everywhere. We think that Grandpa has the best apartment in the whole place and it looks out into the courtyard.

Conference Weekend with the Eliasons

For over 10 years we have shared conference weekend with the Eliasons. We start off the day by having Belgian Waffles and watching both sessions of conference and the 2 hours of "in-betweens". After the last session, we have dinner together--always stroganoff and then Cheesecake for dessert. We have continued this tradition even after several of our kids went off to school and even got married. This conference was different. The Eliasons came over, but we all knew it was the last conference together because they are moving to CHINA! How can they do this? We will miss them!

Here is Dulsanna, Scott and Ian. Ian seemed to really like those waffles. I was talking with Scott and Dulsanna and next thing we knew we couldn't find the 1/2 waffle that Ian had been eating.
We searched all over for it and never found it. We figure Ian must have eaten it.

John and Anne arrived at 4:30 AM Sunday morning on their way back from a fun filled week at Disneyland. They joined us for conference and for Stroganoff dinner afterwards before heading home at 6 PM.

Shepard's Pie with the Laurels

The girls wanted to learn to cook and so we had a cooking class at my house, and made 'Shepard's Pie'. I talked with the girls about various easy and quick methods of cooking and discussed menu options. Together we made the Shepard's Pie. Heather and Katie were the only ones that could make it that night and both were surprised how much they liked the end product.

A new roof...

Our friend Cam and his son-in-law Stuart and son Clay worked for a couple of weeks to get our roof on. Our roof should not withstand winds up to 130 mph. If we have wind that strong, the whole area will be in trouble.

Grandpa with Clarissia, Titus and Ginny

James' brother John and his wife Anne decided to take their children, Clarissia, Titus and Ginny to Disneyland during their School Spring Break. They arrived at our home about 9:30 PM and we quickly went to visit Grandpa and had a round of pictures. Their time at our place was brief, they stayed the night and then headed on their way the next day.