Christian Women's Retreat and more

Last week my "Uncle" Sandy and Uncle Harold came down from the Seattle area to have lunch with us and mom and my sister, Pam.  When I was little I thought that Betty and Sandy were my Aunt and Uncle.  When I was a little older I found out that Betty was, in fact, my mother's cousin.  That made them my cousins instead of my Aunt and Uncle.  I was totally devastated!  Betty as since passed on and I still occasionally call Sandy "Uncle."  Anyway we had a good time visiting and stayed in the restaurant about 3 hours.  Here is a picture of my "Uncle" Sandy and Pam.........Pam is the goofy one, LOL.

We had what I like to call "camera wars."  

This is my Uncle Harold, my mom's brother.  He's a pretty neat guy, too.

And last, but definitely not least, my mother.

That was Wednesday of last week.  On Thursday we had our weekly lunch that we usually have on Fridays because I would be leaving on Friday for the Christian Women's Retreat.  I finished the purple purse and took it to lunch since my friend, Vickie, said she would like to buy it for her daughter's birthday.  The waitress tried to buy it before she got there.  Anyway, here is the front of the purse.

I found some really pretty buttons at Michaels.  I especially liked the parrot button.  Some of the "buttons" I bought turned out to not be buttons.  They were glue-on things.  There is one near the parrot's head.

I also found sparkly buttons.

I beaded on the flower for the clasp.  I used a magnetic snap under the flower.

This is the back of the purse.

I really liked the little froggy, too.

Vickie bought it and I have orders for 2 more.  People are really liking this purse!  I had no idea!

Verna and I left here at about 10 am and stopped at Jen's in Longview to pick her up on the way to Illwaco.  We had a nice drive and did a little exploring on the way since check-in time at the hotel was at 4 pm.  We stopped for lunch and then went to Fort Columbia. 

From here they could see any ships trying to come up the Columbia.

They had huge guns that they could swivel around so they were not seen from the water.

You can click on this sign and enlarge it to read it.......I think.

We were able to explore inside the buildings that were built into the ground so they were not visible from the river (as you can see in the first 2 pictures..  We put Jen in jail, he he he he.  She escaped, though.

When we arrived at the place we were going to stay, we went inside to make sure we had the right place.  Then we went outside to get our stuff out of the car.  We saw 2 lovely raccoon statues on the patio........at least I thought they were statues until they moved.  Then they followed us to the car!  I told them to go away and they stood on their hind legs and looked at us like "what?"  They were not afraid of us at all and came really close.  You could tell someone had been feeding them.  It was kind of spooky because raccoons can get pretty mean.  

When we opened the trunk to get our stuff, we realized that Verna had forgotten the bag with her clothes in it.    Oops.  I gave her an extra shirt I had brought to sleep in and one of the gals went uptown and bought her some underwear and a toothbrush.  So we were all set.  

The first evening we just hung out and ate junk food and played bowling on the Wii. 

The next day we had breakfast at 8:30 am, thanks to some of the gals bringing stuff for breakfast.  Our reservation did not include meals.  Then we had some worship time and one of the speakers, Gaylene, gave us a presentation.  It was really uplifting.

Then we had the afternoon to ourselves, but were scheduled to meet at Chico's Pizza in Long Beach at 5 pm for dinner.  Some of the gals went shopping in Astoria, but Verna, Jen, and I went exploring. Last year Verna and I didn't make it to the lighthouse at Desperation Point, so this year she was determined to get me to a lighthouse. It wasn't the one at Desperation Point (the trail was too long and uneven and I am not allowed to tip over and break anything)  We made it.

We had some beautiful weather and some beautiful scenery.

We went to the Lewis and Clark interpretive center and then walked on the beach.

This is a picture of our wonderful daughter that adds sparkle to our lives.

This is my favorite picture of her.  She took it with her phone while she was out fishing with her husband.

We were right on time for pizza and had a great time.  Then we all went back to the hotel (I didn't get a picture of that, or the beach, or Chico's Pizza.  I really need to work on taking more pictures.)

We had another special speaker after a time of worship and then we did a craft. (no picture of that either.)

Anyway, all 3 of us had a wonderful spiritually fulfilling time.

We are already looking forward to next year.  We are hoping to get our daughter, Tina, to go as well.  

Until next time, God bless.

Lila

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