We'll Always Have Washougal...

Part 1 of my "Farewell to the Cabin"

I started this post when we were still in California.

It was right after we sold the cabin and were in the middle

of packing up for our move here to Connecticut. I left it

unfinished--partly because of time constraints but maybe because it

was hard to let go of a place I really loved. I have since allowed myself

to mourn the loss and remind myself that "things don't matter, people do". In that 

process I have come to realize that it is the memories, feelings, and closeness of family that are

wrapped up in a location that make it meaningful. And we get to take all of that with us even

if someone else owns the cabin now. 

At the moment, I am up to my elbows in packing paraphernalia (up until spell check showed me otherwise, I had no idea that word had that extra "r" in the middle. It gives it more of a charming back-woods hick sound--perfect for our setting here!)  so anyway--as I am packing and cleaning, I am thinking of the fond farewell we recently bid our cabin in the woods.

The last morning we were all there, I took little Mason downstairs to look out the windows. He loved standing on the ledge and gazing at the river--pointing with his tiny finger at anything that caught his eye. We stood there watching the river flow past when suddenly a huge (YUGE!) bald eagle swooped down from the tops of the trees and flew up the river. It was only the second time I had seen an eagle do that while I was standing at that very window. 

The first time was about a week after we moved to the cabin. Andy had been down-sized out of a job and we had sold our dream home on Prune Hill. We were in a state of uncertainty as we figured out what to do next. We looked at homes to rent in the same area we had lived but I really wanted a change. I felt it would be a good thing to put some distance between the kids and their friends and allow us to make deliberate decisions about how they would spend their time. We were sure that when a job came along, it wouldn't be in the Northwest and we wanted to allow time to start the transition before the move. Andy saw the cabin for rent on Craigslist and he knew I had been looking at cabins over the years--dreaming of a family cabin some day. It was a big sacrifice for a man who loves technology and convenience to even show me the ad.

 But he did.

And it was love at first sight.

We went to look at it and I fell head over heels. Literally--I fell in the river. 

 I couldn't think of living anywhere else. 

We found out the owner really wanted to sell the cabin--it had been on the

market for a long time with no prospects. We decided it would be a great place for 

the time being and a place to come back to our beloved Northwest wherever we ended up.

So, we bought it.

And then we packed up our lives into several storage pods and downsized and simplified. 

It felt good.

 I continued to serve as a counselor in our stake YW presidency although it was a bit of drive to the stake center and the ward buildings for conferences and activities. But it was really close to Girls Camp. I was over our stake Girls Camp and it was scheduled to begin a few days after we moved to the cabin. Andy also started right in ripping the kitchen and bathrooms apart and had the water turned off the morning we were to leave for camp.Shayla and I laughed that we would have to go to camp to get a shower. 

But a week later, we came home to a beautiful, transformed cabin kitchen, and brand-new bathrooms.

He preserved the laundry chute at my request.

My Christmas present--he painted it red for me!

Here's a peek at the old tub.

My alluring red washer/dryer. 

In the beautiful, cheery laundry room.

That looked like this before Andy transformed it.

He went to great lengths...

and heights...

To make the cabin comfortable and beautiful.

A "Before" picture of a bathroom...

the beautiful "After"

We thought we would be there a short time and he would find a new job and we would be off on our next adventure. But the days turned into weeks and then to months. We enjoyed a care-free summer and then the winter rains set in.  We had the road paved when Andy realized it was going to be awhile and his beloved cars were taking a beating. He wasn't ready to go all in and trade in the convertible for a Jeep.

Shayla and Seth were in seminary and in the interest of stability for them, we drove them back to our old ward building. Every morning. 

At o'dark thirty.

We rolled out and I made them a hot breakfast.

Andy did the driving--forty minutes one way.

I would crawl back under the warm covers of my comfy cabin bed and do my

morning scripture study. 

When he got back we would snuggle.

When he was in the midst of his corporate ladder-climbing and business traveling and hard-working career building, there was no leisurely snuggle time. The fast track has no side track for snuggling.

I was home schooling the youngsters but Seth and Shayla went to the high school for half a day for math, French and sign language.  On dark cold mornings, I let the younger ones sleep in and enjoyed the quiet peaceful mornings. It always felt cozy and warm in the cabin.

We did our studying in front of the wood stove in the kitchen or wrapped in Pendleton wool blankets in the big living room.  Science was all around us with the forest plants and animals. We had the bats, rats and cats teaching us about the circle of life and animal habitats. Andy would pick up the older two at noon and treat them to a trip to Home Depot and lunch several times a week.

Then we spent the afternoons and evenings learning construction and remodeling in a real life, hands on way.

Fast Forward

I enjoyed some time last week with these two little darlins:

"My parents are going to find me a unicorn house." Bailey informed me when I told

her that Mom and Dad were looking for a new house in New Jersey.

We had fun at the park and enjoyed building a fort out of the couch cushions.

"Can you help me?" was the sweet request of little Norah many times a day.

And Nana was happy to help.

One night Norah couldn't get to sleep so I got her up and rocked her and sang "I am a Child of God" to her.

She laid her head on my shoulder and relaxed and then she said:

"Go bed now, Nana. I go bed now."

When I laid her down in her crib she rolled over and went to sleep.

Awww good times.

In the meantime, things have been snowballing on the homefront. 

We put our cabin on the market just to see if there would be any nibbles.

And it sold within the week.

I was hoping it would at least take as long as the California house to sell.

But no, that vixen of a cabin lured in buyers the minute they saw her alluring pictures on Craigslist.

The Pollyanna in me is trying to play the Glad Game and be happy about that but I'm not quite there yet.

Then, we FINALLY got an offer on the hacienda here in Cali. 

I had to do some long-distance paperwork but we got everything agreed upon and

now it looks like the waiting game is over.

We are in full packing mode.

Bring on the chaos.

And that means I will bid farewell to another garden.

To top it all off, my baby girl grew up and left home.

Shayla is off to Washington to have an adventure restoring her 1971 Nova with Grampa Gale.

Then from there to Provo to fulfill her BYU dreams.

She left me outnumbered--even the dog is a boy.

I don't remember giving her permission to grow up.

Cabin Perspective

The garden post was going to be a joke---sort of a spoof of my garden obsession, but by the time I took the pictures and started posting them I was lost in garden craziness and the beauty of nature and the wonder of delicious food growing out of the dirt and it didn't turn out the way I planned...

So, moving on--here's a little summary of our family time at the cabin:

I had forgotten that I glued googly eyes above the red lever that sticks out
of this little door in the laundry room. I don't even remember what the lever is for--
I just thought it was funny that a hole had to be cut so it could stick out like a tongue!

I just crack myself up.

This kind of sums up the personalities of these two brothers.
This was at the beginning of one of our forced death marches
 (as they affectionately call our awesome family hikes).

I gave Shane the camera and it looks like he found something to enjoy
in the midst of the suffering.

The youngsters fed this chipmunk my Natural Soy nut Energy Mix--

after mocking me for even considering it edible.

More of Shane's view of the hike.

They did make it to the top.

Now we come to a portion of the blog we'll call: Family Vacation Through Shayla's Eyes
She took these pictures as we were driving around town:

Delicious and environmentally conscientious!

BURGERVILLE!
(This picture was first-- then, suddenly blogspot decided to switch it around.
She likes to feel like she's the boss sometimes--whatever)

Yummmmm

The Paper Mill: The reason for Camas' existence.

Young's Deli? Hmmmm

FOREST HOME ROAD!

Prune Hill Chapel...

As per tradition, I let her practice driving in the church parking lot.

Now, the conclusion:

This bat was outside of the cabin...a positive change from last year.

That was it for pictures...we were so busy having fun and relaxing--this was all we took!
All the ones I took were on the first day there--then I didn't see my camera again until the end.
So, let's just say,
We swam and
waded in the river--
and threw lots of rocks in there too.
Some went to the Lake and
paintballing.
There was a Nerf War.
Shayla went to Girls Camp
I enjoyed my Stake YW Presidency Reunion
and luncheon (I cooked our fave: Salmon!)
We spent time with friends and family
We enjoyed church with our old ward.
We watched movies and
The Middle
We read in the comfy nooks of the cabin.
We played Redneck Life.
Dad worked hard on maintainence and repairs and
got everything ship-shape.
He found some time to read and relax too.
A Good Time Was Had By All

White Trash

There are some things about cabin living that are more convenient than others. Case in point is the trash. Out here in the wild, there isn't a local Garbage Man--or rather --"Waste Management" service to pick up the garbage and smash it into their big truck. So it tends to pile up until someone does something about it.

When we lived here, that someone was my guy, Andy. But he's busy earning a living in California so that leaves me with the "Waste Management" job while we're here on extended holiday. So, today I loaded up the garbage into our trailer. Well, technically Seth loaded the garbage because he is such a helpful, obedient son.
And because he wanted me to take him into town to see a movie with his friends.


He took some time tying everything down and strapping the trash cans in and then we headed for the dump--or rather--"Transfer Station".
Not long after we turned onto the main road, I noticed we were being followed rather closely by an older model white car. I could tell it was an older model because of the dents and rust. I was worried about keeping the trailer on the road and was probably going a little slower than they would have liked but the road is too narrow and twisty (I was going to say "windy" but that could be construed as "the wind was blowing" which we all know doesn't usually have any effect on one's ability to pass another vehicle. The English language is so interesting. But I digress...) to pass.
Then I noticed they had their flashers on. I couldn't see that before because they were hugging so tight to the rear of my trailer. Then, the passenger started waving what appeared to be a white flag out his window.
"Is he surrendering?" I wondered out loud.
"Huh?", said Seth.
As I mentioned before, the road was narrow and twisty and there really wasn't any place to pull over. But I slowed down and pulled off as much as I could in a wide spot on the shoulder.
They pulled up beside me and I observed that the passenger had most of his teeth and a rather jaunty leather cap pulled tightly onto his skull. The driver was charming in her numerous tattoos which were displayed to best effect by the tube top she was sporting. Or rather the tube top that was clinging rather precariously to her ample bosom. She leaned across her passenger to shout:
"A bag of trash flew out of your trailer back there and landed on the side of the road--it burst open and there is trash everywhere!"
"Yeah!" Said her passenger.
"We would have picked it up, but I don't have anything to put it in."
So, in this scenario, I'M the WHITE TRASH! My garbage is flying out as I drive along oblivious to the havoc I'm wreaking out here in the untainted beauty of our natural resources.
While this nice couple had actually considered picking it up for me.

All I needed was an Indian--or rather--"Native American"
standing there next to our trash with a tear
running down his cheek.

The Blustery Day

We have been experiencing the howling east winds the past few days. It's an annual occurrence around here and we are used to it. One year the winds blew away our trampoline pad--it was completely gone so it had to have blown up and over a tall fence. The last few years the east winds have caused a VERY LOUD banging of our chimney cap at our last house. But this year, we have been experiencing it here in our 'house of sticks'--so it huffs and it puffs and it sounds like it's going to blow the house down--but so far we are safe and sound here in the cozy cabin.
Then, we were awakened early Sunday morning by a loud popping noise. I jumped out of bed and looked out the balcony doors and saw sparks shooting up into the night sky. About the same time I realized our power was out. The sparks were coming from across the river and across the road over there: A large tree had been blown over onto the power lines and snapped a power pole. Cars were coming toward the tree barrier at normal speeds and had to slam on the brakes. I picked up the phone and dialed 911. The phone I used didn't work because the base requires electricity--but the 911 operator called us back almost immediately! Dad explained the situation and soon we heard sirens. As the day wore on we saw a whole fleet of P.U.D. trucks over there working on the problem.

They cut up the tree that fell across the road, they put up a new power pole and carefully put all the wires back in place and provided a morning's viewing entertainment in the process. Luckily, they got the power back on in time for us to get showered before church. I think our ward members love us but it would have been asking a lot for them to tolerate us in our unwashed state.

Bed Bath and Beyond Belief

Last Saturday, Shayla and I escaped from the cabin for some 'girl time'. We went into the big city to run some errands. We ended up at Bed Bath and Beyond looking for some rugs and towels to finish up the master bathroom. While there, I remembered that we needed a new air freshener for the car. It takes a strong one to banish the smell of 'boy', 'dirt', and 'trash bound for the dump' that builds up in my car now that we live in the boondocks.

I carefully perused the available smells, looking for a "clean, fresh, soapy" one. I tend to think out loud so I muttered about how I really liked the last one and I thought it was called

"Fresh Linen"

Shayla, trying to be helpful and get through the tedium of choosing a car freshener, said:

"Was it maybe 'Clean Cotton'?"

"No, I'm sure it was something about linen"

"Does it matter? Laundry is laundry and cotton or linen, clean or fresh, does it really matter?"

"Ummm, I'm sure it was something Linen."

"Look Mom, here is 'Clean Cotton' don't you think that would work?"

I noted the sound of panic in her voice--a sound that means: "My Mom is losing her mind, how will I get home if she falls to pieces here in the middle of Bed, Bath and Beyond looking for "Fresh Linen" when all there is is "Clean Cotton"--WHY MEEE?"

I immediately came to my senses and luckily pulled back from the brink of insanity. Just in time.

I threw the "Clean Cotton" into the cart and we moved on.

Christmas Clearance

These are the final markdowns on our Christmas Memories...

The snow has melted away and the older kids are back to school and work. It all went by too quickly! But we can bask in the glow of these good times we had so recently:Our snowman--hairstyle courtesy of Siara
Siara, Shayla and Shane sculpting the masterpiece.

Contemplating the perfect placement of the carrot nose.

That's a whole lotta snow! More than we have EVER seen here.

How sweet it was to see our son with his little daughter.

(How cute is that little bunny jacket?!)

We were so lucky to have our own in-house stylist!

Siara took Seth from shaggy to sharp in a short time.

(You can see he loves the pink hair clips!)

Look how thick the layer of ice is on the car--this was due to the raging east winds.

Uncle Shane getting his turn with little Bailey.

Bailey in her Christmas Elf outfit.

True Love

This was my favorite Christmas present...

Compare and contrast the master bathroom BEFORE and AFTER.

Note the lovely shade of RED on the tub!

That's the sort of wonderful my husband is.

He installed and grouted all the tile and painted and hooked up the new tub.

It is a thing of beauty.

And someday I will have time to relax...and when that day comes, I'll see if it is as inviting as it looks.

Over the Edge

Here's a fun way to spend quality time as a family together for the Holidays: We like to welcome our college kids home for the Holidays with a good home improvement project.

Our strapping boys: Two chemical engineer majors and a snowboarding major.
Helping Dad with jet tub removal.


Setting up for the tub toss.

It's more efficient to throw it off the balcony than carry it through the house and out.

And now for the retrieval...picking up the debris from the river bank.

Hauling it through the snow. As you can see, Andy is dressed for the weather!

It was then deposited at the side of the house--I think I'll plant geraniums in it next Spring!

We're looking forward to the girls getting here so we can crochet some cozies for the outhouse.