A Day at the Park

We met our friends Joani, Mark, and Allison at the park two weekends ago. Joani's been working on her photography and editing skills and I volunteered Judson to give her more practice. Wasn't that generous of me?! :) She got some really great pictures, which you can see here. Thanks, Joani! (Some of Judson's expressions are sort of funny...he wasn't his normal, super smiley self...)

Like Father, Like Son

We went to the state fair on Sunday with Jeremy and Krista (Nelson) and their families. It was tons of fun and very nostalgic. For nine years, I was in 4-H and showed sheep at the fair. Jeremy, Krista, Morgan, and I would "live" at the county fair for five days each summer. It was a lot of work and very tiring, but we LOVED it. As Krista pointed out the other day, we only remember the good parts, not the very early mornings, cleaning stalls, etc.

Nate REALLY wants to own a tractor. Every year when we go to the state fair, we have to spend a considerable amount of time at the tractor display. Well, this year he had a buddy to admire them with. Jessica took these pictures while Krista and I were off buying treats (not caramel apples, which we wanted. We just couldn't pay $5!).

Where in the world did my baby go?!

Notice the correct hand placement...

Reverse Psychology

I am changing my background to a fall theme in hopes that it will bring more summer weather. (Sometimes my belief in "Murphy's Law" really drives Nate crazy.) :) Though I love fall, I'm not ready for it...

One Month Old

Because I am obviously so good at keeping up with my blog, I'm going to add Macy to it. Kidding, of course. But my mom asked me to post some of Anna's Facebook pictures so our family members could see them and Anna thought it was a good idea. Macy's doing well...she gained more weight in her first two weeks than Judson did, so that's quite impressive! It sounds like she's fairly smiley now...Anna's done a great job of catching it on camera. Judson always got that wide-eyed surprised expression when the camera came out so it took forever to get a smiling picture. :)

Anyway, she's just getting cuter and cuter. I'm so excited to see her over Labor Day weekend!

Silliness

I have all sorts of things to write about - a "mushroom wars" update and the fact that Judson IS ON THE MOVE. However, for now I'll just mention this silly contest. Nate's aunt, Becky, talked me into entering Judson's picture in a "Cute Baby Contest." I think he's cute; I'm just not super comfortable asking people to vote for him. But Becky was asking everyone she knew to vote, so I figured I could step out of my comfort zone. =)

If you're interested in this silliness, you can click here. (This is the second round of voting and it only lasts through Wednesday.)

Thanks!

I'm off to visit my good friend (from high school), Mandy, and her family in Central Point tomorrow, but will try to give some other updates later in the week.

Mushroom Wars Update

I'm sure you've been waiting on pins and needles to hear about the mushroom wars. Well, no one has been apprehended, but I do have an update. A guy Bob hires to work on his cranberry bogs from time to time has a friend, Dave, who picks mushrooms. (I know him; he was a year behind me in high school.) Dave said he's never picked on our property but has had permission to pick nearby before. He actually quit picking a few weeks ago; it's getting too dangerous right now. Between the booby traps and the farmers with their shotguns, I think he chose wisely. Anyway, he gave my dad and Bob a name of a guy who's been known to set booby traps and he picks on the ranch. Dave even told them how he gets onto the property.

According to Dave, the lobster mushrooms will last for two more months and then as soon as it rains, some other kind (chanterelle?) will come on. So there's still time to catch the bad guys! The sheriff's department is involved now too, so that's good.

Dave also said that there's relatively small strip of land (which the ranch happens to be smack in the middle of) that is known to all serious mushroom pickers. Apparently the mushrooms grow much better there than anywhere else. Hmm.

So, that's all I know. Hopefully there will be another update soon!

Mushroom Wars

Since I'm on a posting streak, I must write about what's going on on my parents' ranch. It's so crazy it's almost hard to believe.

The ranch I grew up on is about 220 acres. Much of that is forested, which is the perfect place for mushrooms to grow. We've always had mushroom pickers who trespassed and stole the mushrooms. We put signs up and ran them off when we saw them, but that was about it. (I never got into mushroom picking, though now I wish I had. We went picking on Sunday for just over an hour and picked seventeen pounds. There's a mushroom buyer in Bandon six nights a week. Mushrooms were $7.50 a pound on Sunday, so we earned $127.50! We were picking lobster mushrooms, which are ready to be picked when they're just sticking up through the ground. It reminded me of an Easter egg hunt...one with plastic eggs and $5 bills inside!) =)

Anyway, in recent years, the mushroom business has attracted a different type of picker. It's good money and it seems that many of pickers these days are drug users who need quick money. At least that's the type who's trespassing. For evidence, read on...

For anyone who doesn't know, there's another family that lives on the ranch...the Nelsons. They're like a second family to us. Anyhow, back to my story. Bob Nelson has a hired hand, Scott, who helps with the cranberry bogs and other odd jobs. Scott and Bob have been picking mushrooms lately, though they were well aware that mushroom pickers were continuously coming onto the property. The other night, Scott went out into the woods and stepped on a nail. Upon closer investigation, he realized it was a nail that had been put through cardboard and set in the ground as a booby trap! He found at least thirty more! Can you believe that?! The trespassing thieves have the nerve to booby trap our property so other trespassing thieves can't get the loot. INSANE!

Unfortunately, it doesn't stop there. Today, Bob found an animal trap that was covered up and set...with a mushroom inside it. It would have done serious damage to someone's arm. With all the craziness that's going on, if someone got his or her arm broken in it, they'd probably come back and sue the ranch!

So, my dad and Bob have set "game cameras" that take pictures when there's movement. They're also planning some stake-outs, I believe. (The very hard part about this is the forest is really dense, so if the pickers hear someone coming, they just drop to the ground and are impossible to see.)

I'm sure I've piqued your curiosity now, haven't I?! Don't worry, I'll be sure to give updates. Hopefully the conclusion to the story will be soon...with evidence to prosecute these guys!

Nate Meets Macy

As I mentioned in my last post, Macy changed a lot in the week between my trips down there. Nate marveled with me that Judson was ever that size. It's so exciting to have another baby in our family!

Macy's first trip to her grandparents' house

Playing with coasters and Grammie

Meeting Macy

Okay, here are a few of my pictures from my first trip to meet Macy (FINALLY!). I took a lot of the same ones as Anna, so I don't have too many others to share. We went back down to Bandon last weekend to see her again and she's already changed a lot! However, those pictures will have to wait, as I hear Judson chatting away in his crib.

Judson can start this ball popper all by himself now and does so over and over and over...

My mom's beautiful flowers

A Quick Trip

Judson and I made a quick trip to Bandon to meet Macy last week. She is absolutely beautiful, as you can tell. I only heard her make a peep once, I think. Anna graciously let us come over every day I was there, which was wonderful.

Here are some pictures I "borrowed" from Anna's facebook page. I have similar ones, but it would take a lot longer to upload, so I'll add any different ones I have later. (Read: another day)

Judson meeting his cousin. He was completely uninterested. Not that I thought he'd understand anything, but I thought he might acknowledge that she was a living thing. She was so quiet and sleepy, though, that he never even tried to touch her. I don't expect that to last long... =)

It's so hard to believe these two are nine months and one day apart in age! Judson really was that small not so long ago. Amazing! (Can you tell who's hungry?!)

Grandbabies...one is about ready to escape. He's all about standing up these days.