One of my friends gave a Pride and Prejudice party. She is in love with Mr. Darcy. Her Mr. Darcy took some pictures for us. Some came in the appropriate dresses. Others of us were just happy to be there. It was potluck and if possible we were asked to bring food from that era.

No Smiling!
There was even a test. It was hard. Some of us helped each other a little bit but the cheaters didn't win. I think we had the most fun!

This is my daughter who is taking five of my grandchildren and moving to Houston in two weeks just so she can be with her husband, and our hostess's daughter. For those of you who like Jane Austen I would suggest having a P&P Party.

The next day my hubby and I went to the cemetery, met my brother and his wife, and put flowers on Mom and Dad's graves. I find cemeteries to be fascinating. Each headstone has a story to tell. This particular cemetery has beautiful scenery and to the right of this photo an incredible view of Mt. Hood.

In the middle of May I was able to go to the Aurora Colony in Aurora, Oregon to honor Emma Geisy. She is a distant cousin of mine. Jane Kirkpatrick, one of my favorite authors, has written a series of books about Emma and the Aurora Colony. She gave a lecture about her writing and then we visited the Aurora Cemetery and went to the Keil House for a dessert. Jane's lecture was very inspirational. Then we went to the cemetery and listened to stories about Emma and her family and other colony members.

Her oldest son became a very well known surgeon in Portland at OHSU.

This is Emma's mother's headstone. She is my great-great-grandfather's sister. I feel a connection with Emma even though my ancestors went to Utah instead of Oregon. If you are ever near Aurora you really should visit the museum and then shop at all the incredible antique stores. The museum has many quilts and artifacts from colony life. These people contributed greatly to the establishment of Oregon. I have to mention the quilts, again. Every Tuesday morning the women get together at the museum and hand quilt. The quilts that are on display are incredible. There is even one made by Emma. Jane wrote a book about the Colony and it's quilts. It is entitled Aurora: an American Experience in Quilt, Community, and Craft. It is a fantastic look at history.

Summer is supposed to be here but I am freezing! The furnace has been on the last few days. I'm not sure it's even July. However, by Wednesday we will be complaining about the heat. I have many pictures to post but I am going to take the next few days to get all of them posted. Today I just want to tell all of you that I am so grateful to be an American. I'm grateful to ancestors who felt the need to come here for religious freedom. We are truly a blessed nation.

This is the traveling memorial for fallen soldiers. Right now it is in our town. The field is filled with flags. That is my husband's command car. I think this memorial has even more meaning for me because my oldest son served in Iraq for twelve months at the beginning of the war. We are very fortunate that he came home safely to his family. My heart goes out to all who have lost loved ones in any of our wars and conflicts. Because of them freedom still rings in our country.

My hubby has been busy going to several cruise-ins. He has become quite knowledgeable about WWII and loves to visit with veterans and hear their stories. My father-in-law was a WWI veteran. We have his journal that he kept during the war. He was in England and was an airplane mechanic.

The top picture is at the Suburban Auto Group Cruise-In in Sandy, Oregon and the picture just above here is at the Sherwood Cruise-In.

This picture is at Living History Day at Camp Withycombe in Clackamas, Oregon. If you haven't been there before take the opportunity to go next year. It is an exciting adventure. This year they actually shot some blanks from a tank. It proved to be not quite what they expected. All eras are represented and you can talk to many veterans.

To top it all off.... hubby was asked to bring his car for a movie shoot! He can tell you all about it.

Have a great day and I will be back with more fun things I've been doing in the last couple of months.