Happy Birthday Hilary!

Happy Birthday, Hilary!!! Today is our niece's birthday! I adore her! She is very special to me. I hope you have a wonderful birthday with your family!!!! Wish we could be there! Love you and pray for many more happy, healthy years filled with love, laughter and sunshine!!!

Yesterday was kind of cool here. I guess I am not ready for shorts yet! I know the world isn't ready for me in shorts yet! lol. Just did laundry and some cleaning yesterday. Read a little Eclipse. Had a pretty nice day. Talked to Libby on the phone. They'll be home soon and I can take the cat back. He is no trouble... I just stress when he goes outside that something will happen to it on my watch! I would feel so bad! Papa made his chocolate/peanut butter/oatmeal cookies last night. num. I don't eat much of those.... not so much into sweets.

Dylan and Riley both have games tonight I will be missing. I think it is Riley's last one. :( Karla and Joel aren't signing the form for Dylan to be in allstars. It's so dumb that they will be having their practices and games in Gig Harbor! That would be alot of driving. Plus they are so done with this season and the bad umping, raging parents, etc.... Strange season. Guess I should be glad I missed alot of it. He was still an adorable ball player. Speaking of adorable.... I hope Heather can post that video of Joshua on the sheep on her website. She put it on facebook but most of you don't have facebook and can't see it. I can't put it on my site here because I don't have a embed code. We'll see what happens. It is adorable with the music!

Yesterday was Marilyn Monroe's birthday.... she would have been 83 had she lived. I am not her biggest fan... but I loved this photo taken of her in 1950.. before she made it really big. There is such a natural beauty and innocence in her face.
Well... the testing on the bridge is today. Will keep you informed! Papa thinks they will open on Friday. I think he doesn't want to keep his hopes up that it will happen sooner.... which is what I think.

Have a great day. Walk in the sunshine and the sonshine!

What To Expect:
Continued hot weather today as highs notch up another couple of degrees to the mid 80s. Northeast winds will range 10 to 20 mph. The hottest day of the week comes tomorrow as highs reach the high 80s. That changes Thursday as we see partly cloudy skies. There is a slight chance of some rain showers Thursday night. Continued cooling Friday with a lingering chance of showers. The weekend brings a nice mix of sun and clouds and highs in the lower 70s.

Ground Control to Major Tom Commencing countdown, engines on Check ignition and may God’s love be with you...

FROM THE WSDOT:

We're in the final stages of the project now and are scheduled to complete 20 perfect openings of the bridge tomorrow, Tuesday, June 2. These tests are required to show that the bridge meets the operational standards for providing a safe and reliable draw span.

When the tests are done, we'll have an extremely clear idea (hint, hint) on when the bridge will be ready for 16,000 vehicles that cross it daily.

Over the weekend, crews from contractor Kiewit-General and WSDOT completed the following operations:

• Pulled together or “tensioned” the majority of the pontoon UVWX/RST joint
• Started Truss and transition span expansion joints
• Continued electrical wire installation and connecting and final ballasting
• Completed bolting started final tensioning

The exact opening time is still unknown because the testing work is unpredictable. Even if the crews have 19 successful tests and then the draw span doesn’t work on the twentieth test, they must begin the testing sequence with a count of zero once again.

An update on draw span work and testing progress will be provided on Monday afternoon (We'll make certain of it).

After the bridge is open, WSDOT will continue to provide transportation services for the day the bridge opens and one day after to help travelers return to their normal commute. Drivers are encouraged to plan ahead by visiting www.HoodCanalBridge.com or by calling 1-877-595-4222.

Beautiful Monday Morning!

Yesterday was a good day for our family. Joshua did his rodeo and survived! A bit traumatized and saying his career is over... but he did it!!!! lol! Heather said I could post because she didn't know when she would get to and my Georgia friends may want to see.

Cowboy Joshua!
Leaving the gate on the sheep with dad hanging on to him! Papa said the sheep was moving too fast! lol
Joshua is getting off. His dad, Don, is the only one NOT wearing a cowboy hat.
Time for some comforting.
He cried but he did it! He is braver than me! I wouldn't ride a sheep. I won't even ride a horse! Speaking of horses.... you have to know Heather to appreciate her sense of humor. The 3 year old... Jared.... is afraid of horses. They walked past a horse trailer and it whinnied and scared the life out of Jared! Of course, Heather laughed til she cried and comforted him and changed his diaper at the same time. And then Parker... the oldest and a pretty gullible 11 year old.... got a bite on his leg. Heather told him to keep an eye on it and let her know if it itched... because it could be a spider bite and she'd have to take him to the doctor. She said over the next few minutes he just stared at it... not taking his eyes off it. She said she couldn't breathe she was laughing so hard. She told him she was teasing... but she said this is why she doesn't need Prozac... she has children! She's always been this way. You could probably tell how she teases her nephews and kids... her favorite target being Andrew.
Dylan is fun for her too....

But I think her favorite target is her brother, Ryan! Yep, thats our Heath!!!Speaking of Ryan... they won their first game yesterday. The other games were practice.... now the season has officially began for him! It is hardball baseball. He loves it! They are fun to watch too! Andrew is their bat boy. I just want to cheer every time he comes out. We have... think it may embarrass him. He is so shy!

I love our family. Meghan called yesterday and we were talking about our family. There are 12 adults and 10 kids with all extremely different personalities, quirks, ideas, temperaments, opinions, etc.... But I believe we all love each other very much and would always be there for each other. I think we all have enough patience, compassion, acceptance, forgiveness and tolerance to handle our differences. Sometimes it isn't easy.... but it is something families do. And when push comes to shove.... blood doesn't matter. Bonds do! I love you, family!!!!


I want to wish our Senior Pastor Barry a very happy birthday today. He is such a nice guy and I appreciate him so much. He's got a lovely wife and 3 great daughters. May the Lord continue to bless his ministry, family and years to come with much laughter, love and happiness!!!

I love these pictures of Dylan and Maddie Karla had taken last weekend. THIS is why I would love to be a photographer. But you need the right kind of camera and I don't think it's a Kodak EasyShare. lol. Karla already posted these but if there is one or two that don't follow her blog that looks at mine.... here they are:

The sun is bright and beautiful this morning. But I was up before it came up. I was up at 4:30 which is crazy because I slept so bad last night. Toby came in this morning and licked my hand... not just licked it but bathed it. Silly dog. He's already missing papa.I am just jibber jabbering this morning. I'm missing papa too. We were suppose to hear something about the bridge opening yesterday afternoon and they haven't said a word since Friday. I'm sure alot of people checked like I did... 73 times just yesterday!

Yesterday Lanny watched a George Strait special. He loves his singing. It made him kind of sad though. He misses his mom every day.... but especially so when listening to George Strait sing. Reminds us of Oklahoma. It's hard. I don't think you can ever "get over" the death of a parent.

Susan Boyle.... the one I thought should win Britain's Got Talent... went into the hospital for a few days. Exhaustion. Pray for her. She got sucked right up into a hurricane.

Had a good time on facebook chatting with friends last night. Feeling very "match-makey" (If there is such a word). Introduced 2 people last night and they are now friends and were chatting when I signed off. Contacting another guy I know today regarding a girl I know. Even if they don't connect... they could make another new friend!

Well... guess that's about it. New reality show starts tonight.... stars in the jungle. Not sure if I want to see it or not. But there isn't much else on, is there?

Have a great day! I'll be doing laundry, cleaning up a bit, and that's about it.

Forecast:
A little warmer today as the Seattle high should hit the lower 80s. Expect mid 80s south and on the eastside, and mid to high 70s north. Winds out of the north will be around 10 mph. This warm weather pattern will be staying with us through the Wednesday. From Thursday through the weekend some clouds will mix in with the sunny skies. Temperatures will fall back into the 70s. In the mountains mostly sunny today and tomorrow, but a chance of showers creeps in to the south Cascades mid week.