Maur Jeanne Littig

Today I went to Boise for a special occasion. I met my mom at the Boise Temple where she was getting sealed to her parents. Being sealed means you are with them for eternity as a family. Husbands and wives get sealed when they marry in the temple. They are together forever. We believe we will live after this life so of course we want to be with our family. For couples that aren't married in the temple they can choose to be sealed at a later date after they have prepared themselves and follow the standards of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If the parents are sealed before any children are born then any children they have are automatically sealed to them. If not the work can be done later using proxy's (stand-ins). That's what mom was doing today. I was happy to witness it.

Here she is....Maur Jeanne Littig....her name she was given as an infant when Katherine Ellis and Bert Bond Littig adopted her. She is an only child (spoiled, of course). I was surprised that she hadn't been sealed to her parents before today. She has been doing genealogy work for quite a while now so I assumed it was done. It was a very nice time at the temple on a beautiful summer day. Mom recently bought a new white dress and I ordered on line and it got here this week. I only found out on Monday that she was going to go to the temple and I happened to have Friday off so I said "I can go and wear my new dress". We both happened to buy the same dress! Like mother, like daughter.

WEEDS

One thing we have a lot of out there on the property is weeds. We will have to get them under control. Right now they are just a nuisance. This patch is sitting right where I want my antique shed to go. Gareld is working on getting the electricity hooked up.

Let's see... I need to go right through here about 110' to where the electrical box, pole and meter will be. OTEC will put in up to the first 200' then you take it from there. They will run a pole with overhead lines 60' from an existing pole then bury the rest in a trench.

Gareld just has to make a swath of a trail for the trench. We are using our certificates I purchased during the 4-H radio auction for 2 hours of excavation work. He will be out late next week to dig the trench. It has to be four feet deep so better to leave it to the pros.

BOND

Monica's mom and sister are planning a big shindig for the baby shower. Sorry I am going to miss it. I'm thinking about having a shower here for friends and family so I will let you know details later. Like it says, " it's a boy". They have chosen a name and are sharing it now. His name will be Wyatt Bond Smith. I had forgotten all the things you have to think about when naming a kid. Family names, initials, rhyming words, unique or traditional. Brandon didn't want anything that could be turned into teasing (although kids will find a way to pick on each other, unfortunately). They wanted a name that sounded good at every age. They knew they wanted to use Bond and I am glad they did. Here's why:

Brandon was named after my Grandpa Bert. His full name is Bert Bond Littig. He was named after his father who was Thomas Bond Littig and Thomas got the Bond name from his mother Sarah Jane Bond. I knew we wanted to use Bond as a middle name. My brother Cameron's middle name is Bond and I liked it. We just had to find a name that sounded good with Bond Smith. So there you have Brandon Bond Smith.

This is my grandpa holding me up to the mirror. I like the way we are both reflected. I was born in Pendleton, OR. Nana and Grandpa Littig lived there. We spent a lot of time in this house during my early childhood. I have special memories of that time.

ON THE MOVE

We are moving the camera so I thought I would show a few more of the pictures from this spot. The little creek has dried up so they don't stop much anymore. It is still a good trail. We had been busy and hadn't checked the camera for two weeks. When we got up there there were no new pictures and the batteries were dead so we brought it down. Gareld wants to try and find a spot where the big bucks are hanging out. We have seen 7 bucks up there at one time all together. This bull elk has a nice set of antlers started too. It's nice having a place with so much wildlife. I'll keep you posted.

Baby and Mama

Not sure how I got this in twice. I'm still a novice when it comes to blogging.

Bambi and Faline

Wylie Coyote

THE SPOILS

This is all I came home with. I told Morgan I wasn't going to buy any items I have lots of since it was just going to go into storage and who knows how long until I can get it out and displayed. No potholders, no aprons, no linens, no cookie cutters, no jello molds, no spools, no round graters, etc. I was just going to look for one big, spendy item that I might want for the new house or shop. I was kind of looking for a work table for the spare room Gareld is going to have in the upstairs of the shop. I didn't see one that grabbed me or that I couldn't live without so I came home with more potholders and round graters! I found quite a few pie servers too. Morgan makes cheesecake and sells them. One day as her business expands she can sell a cheesecake and include a pie server so I am always picking them up when I find the for a dollar or two. I'm happy with what I found. I held back and just got the best of the best. You'll see a couple things from IKEA too. Morgan had never been to one so we had to check it out. I love going to this show three times a year. I'm always a little sad when the last day is over and it's a long wait until the next one. In July they have lots of vendors outside on the parking lot so it is much bigger than the other two. I enjoy the booths. Alot of them are "shabby shic". I like walking around in the sun. The weather was perfect this weekend. I like running into mom and dad. Dad usually treats us to dinner after the show. (Olive Garden this time). I go to the car to unload every couple hours and recharge with snacks and pop. It's just a very enjoyable time for me. Next show is October 30 & 31.

BROADWAY

Months ago when I saw that "The Lion King" was going to be in Portland the same weekend I would be, I ordered myself a ticket. When I asked Morgan if she wanted to go with me last week I called ticketmaster and was able to get her a ticket too. We didn't sit together but we still enjoyed a wonderful broadway show. It was very good and the costumes were amazing of course. Next year when I am there for EXPO "Mary Poppins" will be in town. I think I will go to it and start myself a new tradition. I would LOVE to see "Phantom of the Opera" again some day also.

WHEW! WHAT A VIEW

Morgan and I took a little road trip over the weekend. We were going to the antique show at the Expo Center in Portland. Before we left I said, " let's climb to the top of Multnomah Falls". We are trying to get fit and we needed to get our exercise in for the day so it sounded like a good idea. When we got there we walked to the base of the falls platform and it is beautiful there. Lots of tourists taking photos. We started up the path to the bridge. A short little hike to another pretty view. Then it was a mile to the top of the falls and since we had predetermined to go, off we went. We rounded a corner and there on a post it said "1 of 11 switchbacks". That should have been our first clue. We hiked up that trail back and forth on the switchbacks. It got harder and harder the farther we went. 3/4 of the way up we were really regretting our decision. We kept getting encouraging remarks from people on their way down about how worth it it is so on we trudged. It really didn't take that long and before we knew it we were heading downhill to the top of the falls (knowing full well we would have to go back up this little decline to get back on the downward path later). It was worth it. The view was "gorge-ous". You really can't see the falls from the top. There's a nice creek to play in and a smaller falls that's nice too.
We had a good walk. On the way out of the parking lot we saw mom, my sister Suci, her friend Dee and Dee's daughter just arriving. Morgan called and told them to hike to the top. They did, except for mom who saw "1 of 11 switchbacks" and waited at the bottom.

4th of JULY AT THE CABIN

What would the 4th of July be without a trip up Mt. Harris to the cabin. Gareld's uncles built the cabin years ago when they were all young men. The Morris family and all it's offshoots, in laws and outlaws have been meeting there for potluck since. I've been going for over 30 years and I look forward to it. It's a good time to sit in the sun and read my magazines while listening to stories of the good ol' days. It's a great family tradition and a great family to be a part of.

This is Aunt Della. She is Phyllis' sister. The last of the siblings. She moved out here from New Jersey this summer and will be enjoying her property in the country. She's our neighbor. Her property is right next to ours. It's fun to see her and we look forward to being close by.

We both hate to pose. Well the posing isn't so bad it's the end result. We are NOT photogenic.

After lunch the guys went on a long 4-wheeler ride. Dennis said it would take three hours but they had to rush it just a little so Gareld could get back to drive the antique fire truck at community stadium. There's always activities before the big fireworks display and firetruck rides are a favorite with young and old alike. The riders above are Dennis, Joe, Gareld, Sage and Ezekiel. When they got back they were all covered in layers of dust...except the leader!

GREEN ACRES

We are officially tractor people. I was talking to a guy from church about our move to the country and now that we have property we had to have all kinds of things we never had to think about before. He said he had a tractor he would sell us cheap. He bought this for $1800 when he moved here a couple years ago to put in a yard. He said he'd sell it to us for $500. I thought that sounded like a great deal. I told Gareld about it and the next thing you know we own a tractor. Now for other news, I have been going through blogger withdrawals. The computer has been in the shop for 5 days and I could hardly stand it. I took Morgan's in too because she has been having the blue screen of death for months now. My mistake was taking them both in at the same time. Now it's back and I'm getting caught up on blogging and reading all the fun blogs I follow. Oh happy day!