In Memory...

Clifford Roy Hamilton

~weds~

Avis Arlene Jones

June 30, 1945

Clifford Roy Hamilton

~still loves~

Avis Arlene Hamilton
~after 50 years~

June 30, 1995

A photograph never grows old.

-Albert Einstein

In Memory...Part II

Avis Arlene Hamilton, MacKenzie Arlene Posey, Clifford Roy Hamilton ~~ February 1999














Nancy Arlene Hamilton-Hume, MacKenzie Arlene Posey, Avis Arlene Hamilton, Mandy Arlene Hume-Posey, Clifford Roy Hamilton ~~ taken @ Hume Farm Feb. 1999






These pictures were taken the first time my Grandparents met my firstborn child, MacKenzie. At the time, my (ex) husband was stationed @ Ft. Carson, Colorado. My mom was with me when Mac was born (12/16/98), but until February 14, 1999 nobody else had met Girlfriend! We got to my parents' house and everyone was there waiting for HER!!! What a treat! And of course, everyone fell in love!!!

MacKenzie was not my Grandparents' first great-grandchild, nor would she be the last! She was #9 from grandchild #6. Near as I can figure, my Grandparents have 11 grandkids and 12 great-grandkids with 3 more on the way (Laurie's 4th due sometime this summer, Traci's first baby due Sept. '07 and Roy's third baby due Jan. '08).

Today would have been my Grandparents' 62nd wedding anniversary. They were married June 30, 1945! Wow...that's a lot of years. They celebrated 59 years before my Grandpa's passing in 2004. Lots of love and memories were shared during those precious years!

Father and Son = Buddies

Pics taken on Thursday :)

Harvest has begun!

This is the field directly in front of our house. This morning @ 3, DH awoke to swath. He thought this field might take 5 hours- but it was not as thick as it was last year, thus only took from 3-6. So he was able to come into the house and have a snack and come to bed for a nap before getting back up to help the hired man change water in the wheat. He got up about 7:45 and worked until 1. He came in and had some lunch and played a Star Wars game on the x-box. He is now napping. He went down about 1:30. Oh, here he is. It's 2:45 and he is going to go back to work. He is going to work over @ the building site. I'll take some more pics tonight and post those and the ones from yesterday later!
Swathing the very top of the field by the ditch road.

Front yard where the (little) ditch separates the lawn from the grass field.

To the left of the swather (where the brush pile is) is the pond.

Coincidence?

So...Who has seen the movie "Weekend at Bernie's"? I thought EVERYONE had seen this movie. But I found out this March that is not the case! My Aunt Pam and cousins Traci and Ryan had not. This topic came up because of my Grandmother's passing. I know- weird. But sometimes you have to have something to laugh about, smile, giggle, smirk (whatever you choose) to get you through the tough times or you may drown in your own tears. After my Grandma passed, my Mom, Aunt, Uncle and cousins respectfully asked the nursing staff to leave them alone- they wanted to dress and beautify my Grandma before the funeral home came for her, nobody else. So they washed her hair (which was quite a fiasco), attempted to curl her hair (yay Traci-Roo), painted her nails (good job Pam) and dressed her (in the dress she wore to my brother's wedding) having an especially hard time with the pantyhose, LOL! During this process, WAB was brought up for OBVIOUS reasons. Since I was not there, I am not sure who brought it up and who had not seen it...but I do believe that Pam and Traci had not seen it. I think my Mom, Ryan and Gary had all seen it. So, the next day or 2 the movie was rented and they all watched it. I never did hear if they thought it was funny or not??

So...fast-forward to mid-June. MacKenzie had been seeing the Pringles commercials on TV advertising trivia. We went shopping for a camping trip and the grocery store had these on sale. Of course I could not tell my daughter no, and who doesn't take junk food camping with them?! I think the sale was 4 cans for $3. We bought 2 cans w/ trivia, 1 BBQ and 1 salt and vinegar. We only took 2 cans with us- 1 trivia and the salt and vinegar. We got up to camp and it was dinner time. I opened the cabinet and the trivia can fell to the ground! Anyone who has eaten Pringles knows that they crack and crumble very easily. Oops! It appeared the whole can was toast (crumbs that is, ha ha). The next day we were sitting out under the awning eating the 'crumbs.' Literally all of the chips were in pieces, and I came across one that was NOT broken (at least entirely). I could hardly believe my eyes when I read the writing...

This was the best shot I could get and still be able to read the writing. For those of you who can not see it clearly, it says "Weekend at Bernie's" and the writing underneath it is a type of fill in the blank...with WAB being the answer. I almost choked when I saw this. My Grandparents are always on my mind- especially when we go camping. We used to camp a lot with my Grandparents before my Grandma had a stroke. So when I saw this it was like -my Grandma is here with me and watching out for us- For ALL of the chips to crumble and not this one- too weird! I put this chip in the cupholder of my camp chair. It was almost eaten SEVERAL times over the weekend. I never gave specific directions NOT to eat the chip- just thought that if it was meant to be, it would be there on Sunday morning when we broke camp. And sure enough it was! It took me a few minutes to think of a safe place to store it for the ride home. I finally settled on a little dixie cup in the bathroom medicine cabinet (in the 5th wheel). It made the ride home just fine, no further breakage! I just photographed it today and it is now sitting on my nightstand in a basket. Not sure what lies ahead in the chips future?! Any suggestions?! I hope the rest of the Hamilton clan gets a laugh, smile, giggle or smirk- I know my Mom and I did :)

What's wrong with this picture?

Yesterday my Mom and I went to the Memorial Gardens where my Grandparents are. This was the first time we had been there since the name plates were placed. We went to take some flowers to them, as their anniversary is this coming Saturday (6/30/45). This ended up being quite a process!!! On the way to Bend, my Mom mentioned that she wondered what the cemetery people did with all the vases after the flowers that were brought in them had died. I said they probably had a good collection of them. I told her maybe she should write her name on the bottom of hers so we could pick it up in the office next time we went and took more flowers...not that any of these vases are expensive or sentimental, but eventually you run out of them at home. *****So we arrive at the mausoleum where my Grandparents' crypt is. They are the third tier from the bottom (I think there are 5 rows high), so it is up there aways! My Mom looks up there and says, "Hmmm, I don't think this vase is going to fit." I just looked at her, puzzled? I thought the purpose of the vase was to set it on the ground. When I questioned her she said she thought she was going to put the vase in the holder mounted on the marble. If she would have just told me that when we left I could have told her I knew that vase was NOT going to fit. Her thing was, she did not want to put the vase on the floor. People would then not know it was for The Hamilton's- which I guess I don't blame her. *****So we step back and look up at the wall wondering what our next move will be. It was then that my mom said to me, "Oh my gosh! Look at Daddy's name!" I carefully looked, expecting to see it mis-spelled or something. At first my eyes were playing tricks on me...I thought I saw 3 F's in Clifford, but they cleared and that was not the problem. Then it dawned on me! His middle initial read "A." Well you see, my Grandpa's middle name is Roy- and last I checked Roy does not start with an "A." So I did not know what to say to my mom. I was not quite sure how she was going to handle this- tears or laughter? So I replied to her, "Oh, it's an A." Those seemed like safe enough words to me :) Then she started laughing with tears rolling down her cheeks! Phew!!! I then said, "Clifford Albert." We got a good laugh over that! We are convinced that my Grandpa WAS NOT happy over this and that my grandma thought it was hysterical! The joke was that Grandma was rolling around (in her grave) and Grandpa had been too! But Pam says G'ma doesn't have enough room...Grandpa's urn is placed at her feet!!! As soon as we caught this error I went out to my truck...I just happened to have my camera with me. *****When I came back in, my Mom had grabbed a bench that did not look so sturdy. Her plan was to stand on the bench and try to reach the vase that was supplied with the holder on the marble. After I checked to make sure the bench was 'tolerable', I helped my Mom climb up there. She barely was able to get the vase out...and she is 5'11"! So she handed it to me and I put the flowers in, added water and tied the ribbon on it. Mom had a hard time getting the vase back in- but she managed. So we have decided that we are going to make some 'permanent' arrangements that we can change out for different seasons. We scouted out several that we liked and I got some pics of them. So next time, I think we will bring a ladder with us! :) *****The rest of the day we were coming up with middle names for my Grandpa- Alvis, Alvin, Arlene, etc. *****When my Mom and I went to the Funeral Home the Monday after my Grandma arrived from North Bend we had to go over the paperwork with the director. He did have my Grandpa's middle initial as "A" but I caught it and pointed out it was incorrect and he crossed it out and wrote the correct initial of "R." So, who knows why this was still done wrong. My Mom will call the office and get it taken care of. Maybe it will be correct next time we go- with our ladder :) Tee Hee!

Wheat progress

Last week I was visiting Mama Koch's blog and I saw that she had lots and lots of pics posted on their wheat harvest for this year. That is still at least 2 months off for us- thankfully! Having lived all over the country (due to ex-husband being in the military) I have experienced SEVERAL climates and seasons- or lack-there-of (North Carolina, Alaska) and it all fascinates me. So I just thought I would share some pics of the different growing seasons- comparing Pacific Northwest to Oklahoma. Visit Mama's blog to see wheat harvest in full swing! And here is where we stand...harvest set for mid to late August!

Blueprints- For Ryan

I got an e mail from my fellow Oregonian and cousin, Ryan. I was oh so happy to hear from him. I check his blog everyday, although he doesn't blog everyday- but you never know what you may find. Anyway, back to Ryan. He no longer leaves me comments because he doesn't have a blogger account anymore (thanks for telling me, I had no clue). So he was just checking in on me. Here are a few lines from his e mail...Congrats on the new house stuff. That's really exciting. You should take a foto of the blueprints and post them? Hopefully I'll get a chance in the next couple months to come down for a dinner date or something?!...Come on down anytime, we would LOVE to have you. Here are the "blueprints" -or- did you mean the actual blueprints that are in the "mailbox"? I scanned these and had nice pics to post, but for some reason blogger did not like them and wouldn't load...GRRR! So I had to take a pic with camera and load that way...sorry they are not the best- but it's all I have time for! TTFN~

Who's Who?

Camping Buddies

We went camping this past weekend with my cousin Vanessa and her family- Husband, Jeremy (we graduated the same class 1994), daughter, Mayzie (almost 4 years) and son, Oliver (4 months). We camped a little over an hour away from home- in the Mill Creek Wilderness located in the Grizzly area. We camped @ an abandoned rock quarry. There was a pond there with tadpoles and a gravel mountain the girls played on. We took Mac's quad and Wayne borrowed one of Jeremy's. If we want to take more than 1 quad, we have to take 2 vehicles- and we weren't going to be gone very long, so it wasn't worth it. So Jeremy, Wayne, Mayzie and MacKenzie all went for rides. BOTH of the girls have their own quads! Lucky little girls! Vanessa and I stayed back at camp with these 2 cute boys! Good times! Enjoy the photos!

REAL CONCRETE!

The 12 dump truck loads to back fill around the foundation













The sign provided by the builder, and ours in the background with the permit (pink)












Today's concrete work













The workers from the builders really did come and do work today :) They poured the footings (?) and it is all nice and dry- so they will be back tomorrow to pour the rest of whatever they do. I just don't know what all this stuff is called! I know they put "forms" down and I believe they compose the footings and the footings compose the "whole" as in the foundation. But I could be off- it certainoy wouldn't be the first nor the last! Regardless, I am HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY to see some progress.

So tomorrow they will pour the next stuff and it will dry over the weekend. They will come to check it first thing next week. Then Wed and Thur we will (Wayne) backfill around the foundation. That's the 12 dump truck loads of dirt that was hauled over. And on Thur all the lumber to frame the house will show up and we will have to hand over $43K (gulp), and then on Friday they will begin framing OUR NEW HOME! Hip, hip, hooray!!!!

PS- Have I mentioned lately that my TERRIFIC son has been sleeping through the night? This week has been a week full of surprises! On Monday he turned 3 months old and rolled over (tummy to back) like 6 times in a row! Then when Daddy came in to see what the ruckus was, he was too tuckered out to do it anymore :( And he began sleeping through the night. He had been sleeping very consistently for 5 hours, waking to eat, and then falling asleep again. 1 time up a night was perfectly fine with me. But uninterupted sleep is OH SO GLORIOUS! Monday night he sleplt about 7 1/2 hours. The past 2 nights (Tue & Wed) Gabe-man has slept 9 hours! We shall see what tonight holds. Now that I have the nerve to report on this news, I am sure he will not follow suit! Oh well! Gotta go get some sleep, we are going camping before harvest starts next week...Long nights and even longer days lie ahead for this Fessler Farming Family! Toodle-Dee-Doo!

More pics from building site

The "mailbox" where important documents are kept (i.e. house plans, permits, etc.)








Our official plans










This is a sheet that the inspectors (electrical, plumbing, structural) sign off on







A copy of the "approved" footings before the concrete was poured









Paperwork w/ permit info

Is this for real?

These pics were taken last night @ our lot :) The builders came out and set these concrete forms. Today, the county ACTUALLY did come by and inspect them, and okayed them. So the builders will be by tomorrow to pour our foundation! YEE HAW :) !!!! I am in total shock! For starters, I am having a hard time believing that the county did something ON TIME (don't get me started). And secondly, I can't believe the builders actually came and did something CONSTRUCTIVE, instead of coming all this way and just looking around and talking and barking orders @ us! LOL...now we will just have to wait and see if they follow up on their word and pour tomorrow! DH and the hired man brought dump-truck loads of dirt over today. We have to backfill around the foundation once it hardens...we have been our own excavators, since we have all of our own equipment and that sort of thing costs $money$! I will be going over later to take some pics of the mound of dirt and of the signs the builder posted for the contractors. TTFN