Wildlife Refuge

This morning I decided on a whim to head out with my camera...
I ended up at the wildlife refuge...
I haven't been there for a long time and I enjoy trying to "capture" critters as they scamper about...



These creatures are called Nutria and they are kinda cute until they climb out of the water and their extra long rat tails drag behind them...
This one is gonna tick his momma off when he comes home looking like that!



Besides looking for critters its just a beautiful location...

Wide open spaces as well as the forested areas...
In the past I've been able to find raccoons frolicking in these trees...
But today all was quiet and serene...
Except my phone...
As I was juggling my camera equipment looking for critters, driving I was also juggling a mini crisis with my oldest son...
It seemed for a few hours that he was not going to get medically cleared to play soccer which meant he would be missing his road trip to PUC and his first soccer games as a college student.
As I was scrambling calling different people and talking with the AD at WWU I managed not to drive off the road and to snap a few pictures...

I have loved the skies lately

 Fortunately Josh was able to find a Dr. in Walla Walla so that is worked out...

I've been working on my website this past week...

I have finally added more pictures from my trip to Spain and Morocco...

I received a message today that someone may be interested in buying a picture or two...

Herons crack me up...
They either look really snoody or ticked off...
I can't decide which...
But I have decided I like them very much because they eat snakes...
Which yes is disgusting but I would rather have them eaten than slithering about...

The Nutria were all over the place today...
They were having a party I think...

I was even a bit hopeful that they were beavers...
I don't know the difference well enough ( I imagine beavers are larger) other than the obvious tail...
I couldn't see the tail while they were in the water...

Bird...

It was a Nutria...
So none of the Coyotes, raccoons, or any other critters I had hoped for...

Frychik

Happy 16th Ty!

Oh baby! It's Tyler Mason Fry's 16th birthday today!

Jeff and I know how to make some beautiful babies!
Seriously!
He melts my heart!
Where did he go?
Man! What I wouldn't give to be able to snap my fingers and be able to pick up this cutie and snuggle him!

Ty has always been a happy, laid back, chill sort of fella...
About the only thing he really demands is food...
That's nonnegotiable and has been from the beginning...

As he grew he just got cuter!

And he discovered his amazing talent for music...
What a blessing this kid is!
I love him so much!

Here he is with his very first full sized guitar...

After starting off with a small one and testing the waters to see if he was sincere in his desire to play we made what turned out to be a very good investment in his first guitar for his 10th birthday...

wasn't that just last year?

He just keeps growing up...
And getting cooler and cooler...

As pregnant mothers we spend a good deal of time wondering...
Wondering what the new baby will look like...
Wondering what the new baby will be like...
Wondering who they will grow up to be...

Turns out he's gorgeous
Musical, smart, athletic, kind, funny, animal lover, roller coaster enthusiast, all around AWESOME!

16 summers ago I was one whale of a momma waddling around Tennessee only moments away from fainting from heat exhaustion waiting for this beauty to arrive...

Its interesting to think back on how sure I was that we would only have one child...

And how I just couldn't shake the feeling that "someone" was missing...someone who needed to be here with us...

I am so very thankful that we did not stop at one...

Happy 16th birthday Ty!

Frychik

Phone calls...

Last night at around 10:30 my phone rang...

It was Josh :)

Calling for no other reason but to talk with me :)

Amazing how good that made me feel!

Next week he leaves on a road trip to play his first college soccer game at PUC...
I'm sad that I won't be there to see him play his first college game...

I have completely cleaned out his room....

And rearranged his furniture...

It doesn't mean I don't miss him! :)

I love him even more than I love flowers :)


Frychik

Waiting Place to the No Place...

So I moved from the dreaded Waiting Place to the No Place...
and I've realized there is one good thing about the Waiting Place...
There is hope...
In the No Place Hope is stepped on...

But I have no choice but to move forward...
To what I don't know...
But I'm moving...

Frychik

Dr. Seuss

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place....

-Dr. Seuss


I hate the waiting place....

-Frychik

Mr. Owl

Man do I love this picture...
Those are my sons silhouetted (holy cow that is a difficult word to spell!) against the sunset and Whitman mission to the right...

And now I will telly you the story of the owl...
We were headed back to the car when the boys spotted the Great Horned Owl...
It was getting very dark and I did not have my tripod so I was anxious to get a shot but I figured I wouldn't get a very clear shot because of the darkness and the fact that I was shaking with excitement. I so wanted Mr. Owl to stay still and let me take pictures of him...

But each time I would get close to him he would fly away....

And land just a little further away...

I would again walk  v e r y  s l o w l y stopping to take a pic every so often not knowing how close he would let me get...

And then just when I thought he might let me get close, he would fly away..until he didn't...and then I so wanted to get close enough that I could get the owl and the moon (I'm greedy like that) and he actually sat there for 5 min posing for me...

I will be the first to admit these are not fantastic quality shots...
But it was still really fun and exciting...

It was also a cool experience to have with the whole family...

They were just as happy for me as I was :)

And then when he was tired of me snapping his picture he just flew away...

Frychik

Thankful we made it alive!

So it was an eventful trip to WWU with Joshua...
We took two cars so he would have his car at school - but also because he had so much stuff it was that or rent a trailer...because he moved OUT :(
So we were traveling down the Gorge...we were behind schedule leaving town an hour late but glad to be on our way.  Jeff and I comfy in the air conditioned Tahoe and the brothers in Josh's car without air conditioning :)
Two hours in I had reclined my seat and nodded off when all of the sudden Jeff was slamming on the breaks and a car was skidding sideways across the lane in front of us, breaks locked up and squealing. I saw the car slide just in front of us and go off the road onto the gravel shoulder just missing the rock wall and coming very close to rolling over...

 Her tire had separated...By the time I ran up to her she was just getting out of the car clearly shaken up and crying... She was from Chehallis driving alone, to Bose for her 2nd year of college.
We started to help her change her tire - lucky girl I thought, two handsome teenagers and one handsome man coming to her rescue :)
Jeff was laying in the dirt and rock trying to get the jack going when the first State Patrol stopped...very soon after that a second state patrol stopped...it was at that time we decided to let them take over and we got back in our cars and headed down the road...thinking about how close we had come to all being in a very serious accident...

We decided to take a break at the rest area just west of Boardman...
Funny thing about this rest area...years and years ago when I was dating Jeff, I had driven my moms car I became stranded at this very rest area...I always think about that when I go by.  I had to call Jeff from the pay phone he towed me it was all very damsel in distress...

Anyway...when we got back into the car, it wouldn't start...
Nothing but some ominous clicking...

Hoping it was just the battery but knowing that would be highly unusual we were happy to have a second car and promptly tried to jump it...noting that it was the old car in position to help the newer car...

Nothing...

I have not married a mechanic...OBVIOUSLY :)
We started making phone calls it was 4:45 and EVERY auto repair shop was closing in 15 min and would not reopen until Monday...

By blood pressure was on its way up...

After a phone call to a repair shop, tow company and two helpful passer byes - all suggesting we "bang on the starter" Jeff began banging on what he had determined to be the starter...(later a friendly passer by gently pointed out that Jeff had been banging on the alternator and showed him where the starter was hiding... :)

Admitting defeat we told the tow truck driver to come knowing that we would be towed to Hermaston and Jeff's brother would have to come rescue us and all of the stuff that needed to get moved into Josh's dorm....

Knowing we would then be stuck in town until whatever time they could fix our previously smooth working vehicle on Monday...grrr...........

We had sent the boys on so they could at least move some of the stuff in.

Mr. Tow truck driver arrived and he was AWESOME :)
Jeff once again on the ground under the car was trying to"bang on it" - but with no effect...

I fully expected the tow truck driver to just hook us up and drag us off charging an outrageous amount per inch that he pulled us...

Instead he crawled on the ground and began banging on the starter...
For 15 min he kept tinkering and banging and telling me to turn the key to start it...
And then a miracle happened and all that banging worked and the car started!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RELIEF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And then he smiled and said "have a nice day" - we asked about paying and he said "no charge"
Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(yes, we are signing up for AAA this week) :)

And then we drove for 10 min and a semi passed kicked up a rock and cracked our windshield...
SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

And then 6.5 hours after leaving we finally arrived at Walla Walla University...
This will be his room when school begins...he's excited about the loft beds...they are still cleaning etc they will have desks under each bed eventually...

But for now they are putting all the soccer players on the ground floor.
It was great to see his room and help move in...
Being a female I felt lucky to allowed in - because I had never been in the boys dorm before! :)

The bed test :) Thankfully he fits!

Its too bad that his uncle is moving over here but he still has two cousins and his great-grandparents living there so that helps me feel better about leaving him.
That's my oldest niece...isn't she adorable!  She will now be "watching over" her cousin :)

My hearts just melts to see these guys together.  They won't admit it but its obvious they have missed each other...I really hope they remain close through the years.

My heart hurts to think that he has now moved out of his room, his childhood and into a whole new world that the rest of us are just not a part of...
I know its what is supposed to happen...
I am very proud of him...
I know, I know...
But man its hard....

Saying goodbye at the dorm last night...

I love them so stinkin much!


Frychik