Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a lovely visit to Spokane last week, leaving early in the week on Tuesday & coming back on Saturday. I worked from Spokane on Wednesday & was able to meet with a Heifer volunteer, while Levi was able to help his folks with some projects. Thanksgiving was great--we missed Elyse (she stayed in B'ham), but it was fun to have Boo & Bet join us.
Here's the dining room all ready, & family friend Carol pouring wine.

Pink jello photo for Elyse.

Turkey anyone?

Friday we headed out to get the tree.

Tree lots always make me giddy & silly...

Penicks with their tree.

Cocoa girls.

Bet & the dessert wine at a wine-tasting stop on the way home.

Levi had the trunk cut with a handsaw before Ralph & Bet could get the chainsaw started. :)

Staying warm!

Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving!

G-Paw

My G-paw died on Monday night, peacefully passing in his sleep. He's my Alan's father, my grandfather since I was a toddler. G-paw & G-maw happily welcomed us into the family, even before Mom & Alan were married. We have so many wonderful memories of time spent at their home in Lake Oswego, & more recently, their home in West Seattle.
Here are some of mine.
Working with G-paw in their expansive garden in Oregon. I remember watching him skillfully trim his bonsai trees, patiently tend the corn field, & come up with new ways to keep the birds out of the blueberry patch.
Here he is teaching Kathryn & me to plant seeds.

Perhaps later I will dig out more photos from a childhood enriched by G-paw. He built us a playhouse in the garden, complete with a couch, play stove, & sink with running water. Kathryn & I loved evening happy hour at their house, drinking soda out of wine glasses & developing a love of good cheese. G-paw & G-maw would encourage & clap as Boo & I entertained them, dancing around the living room with streamers. Later, when they moved to West Seattle, they both delighted in the new addition of our husbands to the family. In the last years, it was endearing to watch G-paw doze off at the table after dinner & awaken suddenly with a loud, "What!?", wondering what he had missed.
Here he is with our boys.
Both he & G-maw enjoyed immensely the addition that my mother made to the family & the happiness & support that she brought to their youngest son.
G-paw especially I think, really loved & appreciated my Mama.

G-paw & Boo, just last month.

G-paw & me.
G-maw & G-paw on the 65th wedding anniversary in the winter.
And at the party in the spring.
My Alan expressed the overwhelming feelings of losing so many elders within the last year & the comfort & connection in nature's rhythms.
And here's my post today on 3Things2Things.

On this day of thankfulness, I'm thankful for the life of my G-paw.

One more photo from the benefit...

Very Busy Weekend!

Everything happened to land on the same weekend this year, which made for a very eventful time. I am rather tired today!
My church's alternative Christmas fair, A Festival of Hope, was all weekend.
Saturday night was the Breath of Life Gala for Cystic Fibrosis--Levi & I are auction runners every year with our friends Jen & Ryan.
And Sunday was the Heifer reception for the Betty LaDuke art exhibit at St. Mark's Cathedral.
All went very well.
Here is my mom at Festival, with friends Kathy & Allen.

Good thing the pouring rain did not keep people from attending the fair & supporting local & international self-help non-profits. In fact, the Festival broke all kinds of records this year:
the Heifer booth brought in the most it ever has with just over $2,500 & the total fair brought in almost $12,000!! All will be donated to organizations like Heifer, Northwest Harvest, & Seattle Youth Garden works.
One of my favorite people from Keystone, Nell.

Here we are later on Saturday night, just after the live auction ended. The Gala kept its title of the single largest fundraising event for CF in the nation, bringing in $2.4 million in one night.

Jenni & me on the dancefloor.

Unfortunately, I do not yet have photos from the art exhibit reception on Sunday. It was wonderful, in the beautiful setting of the Cathedral, with local hot cider & sheep's cheese, an acapella men's group singing beautiful songs from Croatia & Bosnia. The artist gave an insightful tour of her work & I made some great connections for the future of Heifer in the NW. We did have a professional photographer donate his time & talents, so I will hopefully be posting some photos next week.

Tomorrow I head downtown for the installation of the new Heifer International Giving Kiosk in Pacific Place Mall. It's an exciting new venture for Heifer.
As soon as that is done, Levi & I head for Spokane for the rest of the week. We're looking forward to spending time with his folks, relaxing, & catching up with some old friends.
Happy Thanksgiving to all & safe travels to & from wherever you might be going!

Shopping For Hope

Hope to see you there! (I will only be there on Saturday, as Sunday will be spent over at St. Mark's for the Heifer International art exhibit reception).

My Current Focus

Two posts in as many days! :)

Below is the exhibit for arts & social justice at St. Mark's Cathedral that I have been working on.
The artist, Betty LaDuke, is highly acclaimed, & has visited many Heifer projects in multiple countries, returning home to express their hope & interconnectedness in vivid colors.
I finished hanging the exhibit on Monday & it is up until December 16th, with tours every Wednesday at 1pm (or by appointment).
You are all invited to the big reception on Sunday, November 18th at 4pm. The artist will be giving a tour of her work & there will be local sheep's cheese (delicious!), breads, cider & wine.

It truly is a unique venue for an art exhibit & it fits perfectly in the space.

I adore Betty's work; the colors, the holistic intertwined images, the hope & dignity portrayed on the faces of the people Heifer has partnered with to make a better life.
The two below are my favorite:

Ecuador: Spinning Dreams

Peru: Tree of Life
I am hoping to get a large print of this one.
Both have ignited a strong desire to visit llama/alpaca projects in South America.
Hopefully, this will be in my travel plans for next year.

The past couple weeks...

You know when you've been neglecting your blog when a post starts with that title. Life has been busy, or more accurately, work has been busy. It's the busy season in the philanthropic world, but I love it. I am adjusting to the new schedule of making my own schedule, very different after working 8-5 for five years. This time of year, it seems to equate to over 10 hour days, but fortunately some of that can be done from home. Tomorrow, I'll hopefully be able to give you a glimpse of the big project I've been working on lately. Tonight, here's some (a lot) photos from the last couple weeks:

Jen & me at the Halloween party.

The best costume there (no, he's not short).

Hike in B'ham.

Cool mushroom!

My girls.

More cool fungus.

Last weekend I finally got to visit the Heifer Ranch, 400 acres of working, sustainable farm & education center in the Arkansas countryside. I attended a Heifer University 201, topic: Health & Healing (mind, body, spirit, as well as our communities, environment & world). It was a great weekend, meet some incredible people. Spending time with "Heifer folks" never fails to deepen my passion for this work.

Meet Raja, the resident male camel.

Meredith--a young woman on our trip who really inspired me. She has spent the last two years working with refugees & internally displaced persons at a health clinic on the Burma/Thailand border. She educated us all about the conflict within Burma (Myanmar).

Can you find the sheepdog among the sheep?

The sun & warmth on our second day brought out the butterflies.

One of the brothers, Briggs & Stratton.

The "Thailand Housing" in the Global Village.

Sunset on the pond.

Our wonderful Heifer 201 group.

Sunday morning on the alter (is it irreverent to sit on alters?)

As you leave the Ranch...

I should definitely post more often, so I don't overload you with photos. :)

In other recent news, two friends in the "blogging girls group" have welcomed brand new babies.
Congratulations to Mandy & Matt on baby Leta!
Congratulations to Rebekah & Chris on baby Levi (we love his name)!