Radix Portland.

 We attended the last dance convention of the season over Memorial Day.  It was in Portland at the convention center.  We stayed in the same hotel that I always stay in for the mass timber conference.  It was fun to take Kendall to my 'stomps'.  We rode the max all over the city.

Here is the view from our room, overlooking the city.

The first day, we had some free time.  Abby's mom had a meeting, so we took the max downtown to Powell's bookstore.  That place is insane.  It is the largest bookstore in the world.  I though I was never going to get the girls out of there, but after several hours I was successful.

We indulged in some selfies and photos while waiting for the train.

Oh did I mention that I found these fabulous candles at the bookstore?  My sister wanted one for her and Hallie.

...more selfies to pass the time.  Teenagers.

We went out to a delicious Italian restaurant one evening.  I had this even more delicious martini.  I think I may be a martini girl, but only the sweet ones, so are those really still martini's?

At the suggestion of one of Abby' seat mates on the bus, we took a trip to Washington Park to see the Rose Test Garden.  It did not disappoint.

These girls definitely do not take after me.  They spotted this lost baby mouse and decided to give it some help finding it's way back home.  No way!

...and why is Kendall's left hand cupped?  Was she actually planning on catching this little guy if he fell?  Again, no way.  I had a hard time even photographing this situation.

Did I mention that Abby got her pants stuck in the Uber door on the way there?  Well that was also an adventure.

It turns out that Memorial Day is the kickoff to the three week long Rose Festival.  We watched these amazing fireworks from our hotel room on opening night.  They went on for so long that we walked away and missed the finale.

This picture is my attempt at proof that I actually went to watch some of the dances, in the crazy lights and blaring music.  Of course, the girls were tired of me saying, "Oh, I can do that." after every fabulous dance move.  

Kendall earned a hip hop scholarship at the convention.  This was her first award at a convention, and it was pretty exciting!  Way to go Kendall!!!

Pigeon's First Show Season.

 After much deliberation, Sidney decided not to do Eh Capa this year.  After looking at the calendar, we were not going to be able to make any of the rodeo performances, only Friends and Family.  She decided to focus on Mania, as well as try some shows out with Pigeon.  We are in the process of registering Pigeon with one of the horse associations.  One of the show names we picked out was "When pigs fly."  Can you see why that would be so fitting?

Sidney and Jayde took their horses to a grand opening of a new ranch in Nampa.  The participated in some of the games that day.  One of their friends took some amazing pictures.

Sidney has done such an amazing job with Pigeon in the year we have had him.  They have both given their all.  

My mom's trainer brought her daughters out to meet Pigeon.  Sidney gave them both pony rides on Pigeon.  They were so happy to meet him.  Horses can be magical.

I have been making Sidney drive the truck every chance I get.  I have not hooked the trailer up to it yet, but I do see an empty trailer in her towing future.

Pigeon was not able to make this past show, as his back was pretty sore, so Sidney rode her friend Steph's horse.  She did some practicing on the horse leading up to the show.  They made a great team.  Sidney won a high point award and a very nice bridle bag.  Way to go Sidney and Mushu!

Memories.

 It has been a month full of reflection.  The girls and I chose four non-profits to donate to for Idaho gives.  One of the organizations was Idaho 2 Fly.  They had invited Kevin to one of their retreats while he was fighting his battle with cancer.  It was at a particular rough patch during his treatment.  He came back from the retreat with renewed energy and a positive spirit.  It was a very special thing for him.  When I hit submit with our donation, we received auto thank you's from each of the organizations.  I nearly broke into tears when I saw the picture that Idaho 2 Fly had chosen for their thank you.  I opened the email up to find Kevin smiling back at me.

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My parents went up North for my grandma's memorial.  It was a very special time for everyone.

While she was there, she went through some of my grandma's pictures and sent along these gems.  This was my very first 10 speed bike.  I still remember the day I got this bike.  This was my primary transportation for many years!  At some point, I did grow into it.

This is a picture of my mom when she was younger.  She is such a beauty!

My sister and I.  Steph is the one with the crossed arms and scowl.  Not sure what was making her so mad:).

I love this picture of Steph and I.  I am the tall one on the left (yep, last time I was probably taller than Steph).  Gotta love the pants.  My mom made them at my request!

This is my beautiful grandma, when she was younger.  I do not always see my mom in my grandmother, but this picture certainly could have been my mom!

Another picture of my grandma.

I remember these Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls being in my grandma's house for as I long as I can think.  When my mom mentioned them, I asked her if I could have them.  I put them on a shelf right above Kevin's airplanes (and my F14 from Dylan).

My mom also brought home this antique mixer.  I put it on one of the cabinet shelfs in my kitchen.

The Junk Drawer May 2023.

 The weather has been fantastic lately.  The girls put up the kiddie pool for the dogs.  They had a water day with sprinklers, hoses and the pool.  

Sidney even took a run through the sprinklers with Bella.

I walked out to the side yard one day to find all my tomato cages lined up near the shed.  It turns out Sidney was tired of going behind the shed to retrieve a barking Bailey, so she set this barrier up.  It kind of made me giggle.

We watched my parents dogs over Mother's Day weekend, while they went up North for my grandma's celebration of life.  About ten minutes before they got to my house to pick up their dogs, I send Sid out to the side yard to get them.  She come back in, "They're gone!"  Oh no.  I could not believe this.  Just as she said this, Bella comes running into the kitchen.  Okay, one came home.  It turns out we got a freak storm that blew open the side gate.  Kendall, Sid and I jumped in the car to go find the others.  Thankfully one of my neighbors found the hoodlums a block over and was keeping them distracted.  We got them home moments before my parents arrived.  It was a real 'Home Alone' moment.

While Kendall and I were at Reed's, we stopped in and got each of the dogs a treat at Zamzow's.

Kendall did the honors of passing the treats out.  The dogs were pretty happy about it.

I post this for no other reason than it is just beautiful to see the nicely trimmed tree and plush green lawn.  I will not mention that one of these gorgeous trees has crushed a sprinkler line.  Grr!

Mother's Day.

 It was a very nice Mother's Day this year.  The girls spoiled me rotten.  The Saturday night before, Kendall asked me on a mother daughter 'choose your own adventure' date.  Here is what I ended up with in my blind choosing.  I think I scored.  We started with Reed's ice cream, though I forgot to take a picture.   Reed's never disappoints!

After that, we headed home to do facemasks.  Kendall did a sheet mask, while I chose a charcoal mask.

While our masks were doing their thing, Kendall did some crocheting and we picked out a movie to watch.  It was truly a fantastic date!

The next day, Sidney surprised me with this stunning bouquet of flowers along with a delicious chocolate bar.  I think this is my new favorite chocolate.  It was a Lindt with whole hazelnuts.