Clara's Parents

This last weekend Clara's parents came to visit from St. Louis. It was a lot of fun, I felt like a sub-in sister to the family (Clara has two sisters and one brother who didn't get to come). We went to the coast and visited Seaside, yes there is a town called Seaside, it's very commercial and touristy so we didn't stay long. Then we went to Canon Beach and had a lunch of local cherries and smoked oysters and clams (so delicious!), and then on down the coast we went to the Tillamook cheese factory. There were a lot of good meals that were had while they were here.

Their first night here Clara made a large piece of salmon, I made baked asparagus, chanterelles and shiitake, and some creamy basil pasta. Joel made a delicious devil's food chocolate cake.

Their second night (I actually have pictures from this one!) Clara's mom made us a delicious Chinese meal. Clara and I were the sous chefs and Kevin made a fabulous lemon pudding (the lemons were purloined from a friend who now lives in Idaho, we figured it would be okay).

Here's the spread Clara and I prepared.







The magic makers.





Delicious dinner with the make-shift family that we've become. I love being part of this family!




The dessert!



The coastal visit to Canon Beach. It was kind of overcast but warm and pleasant. There were a lot of funny people about, though I'm not sure that we were truly exempt from the "funny people" category. But while we were here my mind started flying off to wonderful ideas of being a biology photographer. I'm pretty proud of the fourth photo from the top. I don't believe I will ever get any kind of field-guide photo, or biological documentation job but it was a lovely dream.










And then on to the Tillamook cheese factory. The drive on Hwy 101 down to Tillamook was beautiful. If I could settle there somewhere in the Tillamook State Park or along the Bay my soul would be satisfied. But the unfortunate part is that there are no pictures of these beautiful places. But never the less: the factory. Where men with facial hair have to wear hairnets on their faces.





And last week I finished a baby blanket for some friends who are having a baby in July.




There will be some pictures coming in the near future of our roses in the front yard. Today a little four year old girl rang the door bell and asked if Joel would cut a rose for her. He said yes and went outside and cut the rose for her. Then she looked at him in a strange way and her mother said to him, "She wants to give you a kiss." So he bent down four feet to her and she kissed him on the cheek!