OUR PORTLAND TRIP!~

Monday morning, the 1st of July, we got up and got the car packed for our trip to Portland to see my Mom. I had to stop at St. Luke's to do labs for my upcoming kidney appointment on the 9th. After doing so, we were off!!  It was an uneventful trip.

Coming up on Mt. Hood .... we're getting close!

We went immediately to see Mom. She was sitting at the kitchen table getting ready to eat. She kept her eyes closed. She didn't acknowledge I was there although I held her hand and rubbed her back. I spoke directly into her ear but nothing. I can definitely see a down cline since I saw her in December. 

I wrote on her white board  but she still didn't respond to me. When the food was placed in front of her, she vocally blessed it so I knew she was alert to what was going on.

She ate a little of her dinner but really went down on the ice-cream!! But still no response to me. I seriously think she was giving me the cold shoulder for putting her in the home, but someone had to do it.

After she ate , Alexandra had her walk to her room.  We'd been there 2 and 1/2 hours and since she wasn't talking to us, we left and went to Jeff and Christa's house.

We had a great visit with the kids. Maddox performed his "Michael Jackson" for us. We also watched the video his dad took of him doing karaoke on the cruise they went on. He was so cute!! Dottie was huffing and puffing as if she was doing all the work! lol

Paxson was his biggest fan! Such cute brotherly love!

In the evening, we took a walk around the back of the property so Dottie could get her exercise.  It was almost cold outside but it felt so good. We came back to the house and got ready for bed and Jeff had to go back to work at 10PM.

The next morning, Tony and I got up and went to the Portland Temple. We did two sessions and then left to go see Mom again.

Of course I got some wonderful pictures of this beautiful temple secluded in the trees of Portland. It's so different from so many temples that are visible from the roads but you actually have to drive back into a wooded area to see it. AND when you do, it is breathtaking. 3rd time I've been to this one and it is worth the stress of the Portland freeways!! 

Of course I had to take some pictures before leaving the grounds.

 The flowers were magnificent. 

I loved them!! 

We got to the home to see Mom and she was in her room. She had her eyes open when we 1st walked in and she had a cookie in her mouth. She closed her eyes and pulled her blanket up and again, and acted like we weren't there. Granted, she is 102 and more than likely so tired of being here that I can't fault her. We didn't stay long because......what's the point. 

We got back to the kids house and it was beautiful weather. The boys were playing outside. Christa asked if we wanted to go to downtown Ridgefield and do some things while Jeff slept!  OF COURSE!~

We went to the little library and the boys returned some books and then Maddox printed some posters from "ONEPIECE" that he watches on TV. 

Paxson did a couple of puzzle hunts and he found everything that was on the pages he picked up at the front desk. I walked around with him and I was amazed at how quick he found the images. 

He got to pick a couple of prizes after he completed the puzzles. He is so stinkin cute!!

We then walked to the Corner Store and got an ice-cream. Then we walked to the new splash pad (which hasn't been turned on yet) and also to a little sit down area. I took a picture of the boys standing beside a bear statue eating their ice-cream!

Then we did some Geo Cashing. Found one but not the other. It was fun. Then to a little park so the boys could swing.

They got a lot of wiggles out!

Then Christa drove us through a nature reserve. We saw turtles in the ponds, deer in the fields as well as a cayote. We looked for herons and cranes but didn't see any but did thee next day with Jeff at the Marina. lol

When we got home, we watched Pirates of the Caribbean.  It was getting late and we planned to go see Gramma in the morning to celebrate her 102nd birthday so we didn't finish it.

I was so glad Christa and the little boys went with us to see mom. She was happy to see the kids and opened up to them. She kept commenting on Maddox's dimples (so she can see fairly well) 

I gave her the cards from Heathers kids. She read each one and was happy to get them. I got her to open her gift from me. She told us all to have a ginger snap. 

We got a picture and she couldn't take her eyes off Maddox.  She's smitten! lol

FINALLY, she looked up and said, "Is that Tony?"   He said hello to her and then I got in her face again and she said "Laverne" ... She then told me about Chris's car accident and I played it off (like Rick told me to) and said he was fine and he got a new truck. 

Then Alexandra came in and gave her a gift from her and Laura and the ladies in the home. It was some more yarn and some puzzle books. She has enough to keep her busy now!!

I then gave her Dave's letter and it had pictures of Matt and the twins and Everly and Amanda.  She read the letter 5 times !! She loved the pictures!! Then Alexandra came and got her for cake!!

It was so pretty and it was a raspberry Bundt. 

The little boys had to blow out the candles. She reached for the cake and got icing on her fingers. We were afraid she'd burn herself so that's why we told the boys to blow them out!

As Alexandra was cutting the cake, flowers from Lorie & Dave were delivered. They were beautiful!

We sang "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" and we all got a alive.

 It was so good!

Mom cleaned hers up PRONTO!!

After the party, we all left to run to Walmart to get a cork board for her pictures, and a little book for people who visit to sign. She used to have one at Ricks house but we didn't bring it with her. 

While we were gone, I saw on Face Book that Mom's sister, Noreen, just died. She had dementia. She was 94. Mom is now the only living sibling in her family. When we got back to the house, Laura was just getting mom to the restroom and so I told her about the things we'd bought for her and then left. 

When we got back to the house, Jeff was up and ready to go do some things. Christa and Paxson went to Ridgefield to set up chairs on the street for the 4th of July Parade which would be the next morning. She went early but couldn't actually put out the chairs till 6PM. Jeff took us and Maddox to Salty Straw (an ice-cream store) in Vancouver. It was in a really nice are on the river.

There was a walkout over the river so we got some pictures.

Tony 1st.......

Then me!! After we walked around a bit, we ran to IKEA so Jeff could buy a Duve' for his bed. He wanted black out curtains as well but they weren't in stock.

Maddox found a little chair, he thought was pretty cool! lol  A little small but cool!  We then went back home and thought Christa and Paxson would be back but, NOT YET!  Jeff called her and she said she got her chairs placed and then her friend, who was expecting a baby, went into labor so she had run into Portland to pick up her son, Mason. He and Maddox have been friends since they were little tykes. She was going to be keeping him for a couple of days.

I asked Maddox to play his guitar for me and he was happy to oblige. He played some Nirvana and some Pearl Jam. He is really pretty impressive. He's on his way to be a star! 

We then went down to the Ridgefield Marina so the boys could toss a ball around for a bit. Christa, Paxson and Mason, met us there. 

We took a walk and saw dome cool boats on the river . Christa said this was a butterfly plant. SO PRETTY!

When we got home, the boys played games and we watched the remainder of Pirates. Then we went up and showered and got ready for bed. Christa was going to have the boys up early for the 4th of July Parade and we needed to leave for home.

I got a picture of Paxson and I'm glad I did because he was still in bed this morning when we were ready to leave. I love his style of dress! lol So cute!

I took a picture of the kids before leaving this morning as well as Dottie. Then we were off. It was so nice to stay with them and have a good visit. Sure love them. We got home around 5 this afternoon. I watered my garden and flowers, emptied my bags and rested. Now, it's time to put out the trash and get ready for bed. It was such a good little visit. I do wish Mom had been a little happier to see us but like I said, if I was 102, I may be the same way.'