josh groban concert!

OK, so Josh Groban is about my favorite singing artist. *sigh*  Our dear friend, Angie, treated Nelson and me to his Portland concert this August.  Here's our crew, pre-concert:

We had pretty good seats, about half-way back:

What made it really neat, was that to our left, about 20 feet, was a secondary small stage, with a piano and a couple of chairs.  That's where he came to do his opening number!  We could have hit him with a paper airplane (which we didn't try).

What a great time we had!  Thanks, again, Angie!

alsea falls

Alsea Falls is one of our favorite places.  So recently we took off as a whole family, plus two of David's friends.  It was a lovely day, and we enjoyed the break from our regular routine.  There wasn't as much water as last year, but everyone still seemed to have fun.

Getting ready to stick toes in.

slip-slidin' away

The Three Musketeers.

my star scout

On the 20th, David earned the rank of Star Scout.  We're quite proud.

There was a moment of humor:

"...and David has earned his Fingerpainting merit badge..." (Note the raised eyebrow.)

"Er... FingerPRINTING merit badge."

I have two guys in the "Eagles Nest," and someday hope to have three.

mount st. helens

Since I moved to Oregon, I've always wanted to visit Mount St. Helen's and last week we finally went.  It takes about four hours to get there, but is well worth the drive.  So awesome, in the real sense of that word.

We saw some wildlife...

Inchworm enhance...

The closer we got, the more impressive the mountain became.

The view from the Mount St. Helens Visitor Center.

Getting closer.

From the look-out at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, about 5 miles away.
You really need to click on this to get a feel for the great sweep of land.

 

On the way home, we stopped to visit Bigfoot.

learning to dance

At the lovely wedding reception we attended the other night, David got dancing lessons from his sweet friend, Katie:

Then more lessons from his sister, Heather:

They grow up so fast!