Hi -

I have got to figure out how to post pictures on the Blog. Saturday the 13th we woke up to about 8 inches of snow. It is so beautiful! Lynn and I drove in to Walla Walla. There had only been two cars that had gone through before us. It was a nice trip. We hauled four wheels in to Les Schwabs. They wanted to buy them to sell with studded snow tires. It was a good deal because we need the money to help pay for the tires we bought from them the day before. When we got home we had to get ready for Bethan's birthday party. We BBQed salmon and halibit. It was a kick BBQing in all of that snow. Of course I was undercover on the porch, but it was still snowing and it was 32~ out. When everyone left we cleaned up the mess and kicked back in front of the TV. The real excitement came a little later. I wish I could post our pictures of the cougar tracks we found on our front poarch. Steve went out for a smoke about 10:30 and there were no tracks. About 11:15 I went out to check the motion detector light on the garage. As I went out the door I spotted some cat tracks in the snow on the porch. They were about 3 to 4 inches across. Need less to say I didn’t go out to the garage.

Lynn and I started to bed and of course we were talking about the tracks. We decided we need some pictures so Lynn ran downstairs and shoot 3 pictures from the front door.

This morning when I looked at the pictures I was disappointed she hadn’t got the tracks that impressed me so much. As I was looking at the pictures I realized the tracks I had seen were partly covered with snow. The ones Lynn had focused on were fresh. The fresh tracks are smaller that the ones I saw. We had two different cougars on our porch in the space of about and hour and 1/2. Maybe they were hoing for an invite for BBQed fish?

Steve says he is going to start hanging out of his up stairs window to smoke at night. There have been lots of jokes about who has to go outside with a bowl of milk calling "Here Ktty, Kitty" and who gets to take pictures through the window. So far no one has volunteered for the milk detail.

Life in Iowa

Greetings All:-)

Life in Iowa is generally cold. We did get up 45 today at noon, but it was 16 by 5pm. We're supposed to get a lot of sub 0 weather this week with a major snow event about Tuesday. I woundn't mind the weather if we had mountains to go with them.

Wednesday I was visiting a woman who is dying with cancer and slipped on the ice outside her house. The truck door was open and my leg wedged in under the door, my shin bone against the bottom of the door that's all pointy. I fell back and got wedged into the open door frame with my back and my feet was on very slippery ice. Just below the knee took a major hit and my back a minor hit, but at least I didn't go down all the way. Lot's of ice packs on the shin bone helped.

Jacque and I bought the new Canon 50D digital SLR, it's really nice. We've been looking at them for a while. I've had a 20D for 4 or 5 years and all the lenses and stuff work with the new camera. It's a lot more powerful camera than the old one. I took pictures today in church of the Cantata (The Choir's Christmas Program) without a flash and the pictures turned out better than they have in the past using a flash. (Technical stuff. The 20D has a maxime ISO of 1,600. I shot at 3,200 hundred today. The 50D has a mazime of 12,800)

My glucose has been uncontrolled for the last 3 months, since I stopped playing golf 4 or 5 times a week. I went on medicine for the 1st time since 1998. I'm letting my foot heal up and when I can start walking again I hope I can get off the medicine again.

Every Sunday Jacque and have pizza:-) Tonight Jacque made z crust using Grandma Powers' Pizza Recipe. It's pretty tasty.

We also have a couple of fuzzy critters living with us. Zach is the old puppy, 8 years, he's the white one. Willie is the puppy, 3 years old. Jacque just finished the pillow they are sleeping on. Zach has had a small red one, you can see it in the background, and Willie had been sleeping on a small rug he no longer fit on. It's nice they are sharing Willies new bed:-)

Love and miss you all!

Ed

Merry Christmas

My dad called the other day to asked if all was ok. Why I asked and he mentioned I have posted on the blog for awhile. Guilt, lol...

I started a new job on Monday with Physio Control here in Redmond. My hours are 6:30 - 3 which is awesome. I will be home by the time Dionte gets home and the kids can all participate in afterschool activities. YEAH. The team at Physio seem to be very nice and are impressed with how quickly I initiated my training and taking things on.

We once had a Christmas Tree until our kittens made it into a cat post. The tree is droopy and looks sad. Oh, well it is much loved by the cats.

Last night we were supposed to go to Scrooge the Musical at our church in Tacoma. The weather called for snow and ice so we decided to stay home. The play has become a family tradition and hopefully we will get tickets for another showing. Yes, it is a church play however, it has a live orchestra, intermissions and is approx 2 1/2 long. If you would like to check out our church you can visit: ChampionsCentre.com.

I am off to mom and Larry's today. Larry and I are replacing the heater core in my car. Wish me luck. We have to take out the front dash of my car to gain access. Yikes!

Thinking of all of you and Merry Christmas - Shannon and Family

Getting ready for Christmas

Howdy from Texas!

So, Todd and I have the house all ready for Christmas. Jackson and Cheedo, our kitties, were very helpful. As you can see, they were constant companions:

And, at this very moment, it is SNOWING IN HOUSTON TEXAS! It hasn't snowed here in 4 years! Here are some pics we just took:

Best wishes!

~Melissa

Interesting week.

Here it is Wed and it has already been a eventful week. Monday night was leftover turkey and trimings. Tuesday Steve Robinson moved in with us again. Tuesday night was Commercial Club dinner meeting. Tonight Steve took us out for dinner at the Wet Stone (local pub).

Tomorrow night is open (more turkey). Friday night is the Elk's RV Club's Christmas Party and seafood buffet. Saturday is catch with things at home. Sunday I smoke turkeys for the Lions Club and it's Waitsburg's Home Town Christmas. Lot of activities: Christmas bazaar, live music, drawings for prizes, visiting with friends, night parade, chili feed (all the canned chili you can eat for $2.00), and a high school band concert. I REALLY do love living in a small town!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Waitsburg is all dolled up fpr Christmas. This fall with the help of several grants bricks paths were place embedded int the sidewalks, charming new street lights were installed, and one of the towns leading families donated a wonderful big clock the the main corner in town. It lights up a night. It really is very nice. Volunteers from town got in and painted the buildings on main street. The Commercial club thought about contracing with an outfit to do the christmas lights. However after we look at what they wanted to charge we changed our minds. Instead we bought plastic garland with lights from the cool local hardware store. The volunteer fire department put them up on the new light poles. Those guys are great. However, they will never win any awards for their artistic talents. The new light poles are decortated and we smile at them every time we drive through town. The town really does look festive, and small town. Just like it should. - Paul

Byergo's Familia (Mike and Lydia)

So, we made it back to Burlington and the traveling was uneventful (which we are thankful for).
Sasha just left for her first basketball game (she enjoys doing the stats). She will we be doing the stats for JV and Varsity for the B-E Tigers (girls team).In the past she did the WA-HI (Walla Walla) boys stats for 3yrs. As Mike mentioned; we are doing well and thankful for the many blessings that we have had this year.I'm currently working in the educational profession and Mike is working in the contracting business for Chuckanut Lighting. Our son Kyle is working in the restaurant industry (Burlington Cafe & La Conner Prime and Rib). Sasha is working part time (about 6-10hrs wkly) at Chucky Cheese (you should see her in the Chucky Suit and she can even dance with it on!!) very cute. She has a way with the little ones. I will share some photos (if she'll let me <:). We also have a couple of hairy pets in our home (no, I'm not talking about Kyle or Mike .. Ha!). We have a dog (black lab) Olive.. she took us to the bank with her ear problems;but, she's doing better now (YIPEE). And, our cat Sebastian. They are both 11yrs old. What else is new?? Well, let's see... Our daughter will be 18 in one and half wks and our son just turned 21. So ya, I'm really not liking the idea that our little girl is becoming of age (to some degree). We plan on decorating our home this weekend with the help of my brother Chico (another blessing.. that we have my brother close by us), Sasha and possibly Kyle (he's been busy doing alot of holiday caterings, umm.. I don't know his schedule for this wkend). Well, I best close for now.. laundry is a waiting and calling me.

p.s It's nice to chat and see pic's of you all! We look so grownup (ha...ha) <;

Songs of Praise, Love...Lydia

Happy Cyber Monday!

Well, Todd and I had a pretty great Thanksgiving holiday. On Thursday, we went to my dad's early on and had snacks and Champagne. Then we headed over to my mom's and had dinner. It was a small group this year, only 5, but a good group! See the below picture. (That's my sister Allison, my mom Tina, my step dad Rob, me, and Todd.)

Below is another pic from Thanksgiving. Left to right: Todd, my sister Allison, my mom Tina and Rob, my step dad. That empty spot is where I sat when I wasn't taking pictures. :)

Friday Todd hung out at the house while I went to my brother's house to decorate for Christmas. We went to the tree farm and cut down the tree to go in my bro's house. While there, we saw Phil Garner, the ex-Astro's manager. As you can imagine, my brother, who is single, needs a lot of help decorating his house. His mom came over along w/ my sister Megan and cousin Courtney. It was great fun! We watched White Christmas while we decorated.

Saturday was spent buying toys for the church donation. We got a good selection...12 toys in all.

Sunday Todd and I decorated OUR house. Todd put lights up on the house and we put up the tree. By the way, our music selection for this day was the new Elvis duets Christmas cd which is amazing. You should check it out. I'll post pics of the house in all of it's Christmas glory as soon as I get them off my camera.

Have a wonderful week, everyone!
~Melissa