Welcome to the family, Michaela!

Isn't she BEAUTIFUL? I'm so proud to introduce my darling new niece, Michaela Shalom Kappler, to the world! :)

Michaela was born on Tuesday, May 22, at approximately 9:20 pm. She weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces - my sister's smallest baby yet! - and measured 22 inches long.

Her four sisters have fallen head-over-heels in love, from what I'm told - but brother Dane still wants a baby brother sometime. :D

I just HAD to share. What a miracle a baby is! Thanks to my sister and brother-in-law for letting me show her off! :)

Have a wonderful day! Take time to count your blessings!

New contest for you to enter!!!!

My birthday is coming up. WAAAAAAYYYY too fast - it's the BIG 40 this year. And I want a celebration - so here's a new contest for you to enter!

Here's the deal: Send me a birthday card, and we'll do another voting contest. You have until June 12 to get it to me; you can email it to me at poohisstampin@aol.com, or email me for my snail mail - and when I get your card, I'll RAK you back! You can enter as many times as you want, and wish me happy birthday as many times as you want, too. :D Stampin' Up!© stamps are preferred, but not necessary. Do your best work; I won't be the one who chooses the winner!

I can't wait to see what you come up with. :) It will help me pass the time, too, until the new Idea Book & Catalog® comes out. ;)

Don't forget to vote in the CURRENT contest - winner to get some goodies from me - and you can look in the past postings to get that URL. Also, go visit some of the websites I've got listed on the right-hand side. There's lots of great stuff to look at!

Good night, dear friends. :) Have a WONDERFUL week!

Happy Sunday Afternoon!

Well, I can't wait to take photos of my stamping area to show you! It's not QUITE unpacked, but almost! :) And I promised that my 10/10/10 class would be the first OFFICIAL unveiling of it, so next weekend will be the time I get to show you, my few and loyal readers :D, what I've been working on so steadfastly since I got home.

Now, then. This card is for my mom; we were gone on her birthday and Mother's Day, and with everything packed up since I came home, well.... I had a chance today to sit down and make her a card. What do you think? It's using the Pallette o' Prints that's May's special from Stampin' Up!® - you can go to my website to learn more - and my newest alpha set, BIG DEAL ALPHABET. I'm glad I chose it - almost all my alpha sets are retiring! SO. :) Colors are Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, and So Saffron. I'd love to hear your comments!

Keep voting for the contest winner; it's fun to watch the comments slowly grow! Tell you what. My next post, I'll announce a NEW contest for you. :)

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend; be safe, and grateful for all who have gone before us. God BLESS you!

QUICK entry for today! :)

WHEW, what a week it's been! I'm SO glad it's Saturday night! No one seems to be showing up for my open house, which is fine with me - I'm going to write this post, then go spend some time with my husband. :D

Y'all are voting! YEA!!!! And #4 is RUNNING AWAY with the votes! Don't forget, eveyone, that you have until JUNE 1 to vote for the contest winner. Go to http://www.pbase.com/ifistand/contest_shots to vote now!

This is a cute card, isn't it? :D I LOVE the design I came up with! If you want to read about how to make it - even the "notebook paper" is stamped, not torn out of a book! - go to my Stampin' Up!® website - http://www.poohisstampin.stampingup.net - and look at the gallery. Click on the project(s) you want more information about! :)

Have a wonderful weekend! God BLESS you!

GO VOTE!!!!

You can NOW VOTE for the contest winner YOU think should win! Go to http://www.pbase.com/ifistand/contest_shots
and leave a comment to vote for your favorite layout. ANY RUDE OR HURTFUL COMMENTS WILL BE DELETED! My mom always said, "If you can't say something nice, DON'T SAY IT!" :)

I'm looking forward to seeing who gets the most votes. You may vote until JUNE 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go get votin'! :)

Well, we're home!

We jumped back in with both feet yesterday. LONG flights, but we actually got in a few minutes early. It was a good thing - I used every minute I had before I had to run off to work. :)

Tonight, I'm going to do some coming-back-home stuff, like grocery shopping. ;) I'm also getting my new stamping area unpacked; it's a little overwhelming, because I am having to decide where things will live the most usefully!

I'll be uploading the contest entries this weekend, and I'll have a link in this blog to go vote on them. They're really fun!

I pulled out all the sets that are retiring this year; it was a REAL shock to see how FEW I'm left with!!! At least Ken says he'll try to help me this year, and get some new toys - er, um, I mean new work-related purchases. :D I cannot WAIT until the new Idea Book & Catalog® comes out! How many sets did YOU have that are retiring? Count your wheels, too! :)

As I bid farewell to Oregon...

I'd like to thank all the new people I've met this trip. We'll be back!

These guys in my photo this time are Dungeoness crabs, everyone. They're the best crab I've ever had - and they're getting to be expensive, too. :) But they're worth every little penny.

Today is our last day in Portland. We went to the rose gardens - Portland IS the City of Roses, after all! - to the Chinese Gardens, and to lunch in Chinatown. Then we took a nap! :D We're going to our friends' house tonight to say goodbye, then coming back to the hotel to finish packing and get some rest. We'll be up early in the morning, winging our way back to Nashville! Amy, my best friend, will pick us up and take us home - where I'll dash around to get things ready for Laura's Stampin' Up! party tomorrow night. It will be a BUSY day, and I'm looking forward to jumping into stampin' again. :) I've MISSED it - and, as you can tell, I've got lots of scrapping to do, too! :)

Until Wednesday, faithful readers! I'll see you then!

It's our last full day at the beach.

And it is a BEAUTIFUL, AWESOME, GLORIOUS day here in Depoe Bay, Oregon. The water is a beautiful shade of Bordering Blue, the wind is blowing the sweet air inland, and I am so grateful for the rest we've been able to get!

Ken has gone to Newport again, to try and get a few more photos of the tall ships going out to sea. We purchased some fresh crab for dinner; it's record-breaking prices this year, but weve been very frugal all week so we could do this one thing. Dungeoness crab is one of the sweetest crabs I've ever eaten, and I'm looking forward to our feast tonight. :)

I'm going to have to start packing soon, and that always makes me sad - but we've had a wonderful time here. If you ever get to the Oregon coast, I HIGHLY recommend the Surfrider Resort in Depoe Bay. Tell them I sent you! :)

Please pray for Sean again; he went back to the hospital Friday. It's not as bad as first feared; they took him off an antibiotic a bit prematurely, from what Dad told Ken. But he still needs our prayers for healing! THANK YOU!

We had a funny thing happen last night. We realized that we aren't leaving until TUESDAY morning! :D So we get an extra day in Portland, to get those shots we didn't get. I'm glad; we're going to kind of rush to get out of here in the morning, to get to Vancouver to meet with the kids for lunch, and now we can take our time the NEXT morning, instead of rushing to get to the airport - and hurry up and wait again. :D We are so blessed!!!!!!!!

Starting the sad countdown until we leave.

It's Thursday. We leave the beach Sunday, then leave for Nashville again on Monday. I absolutely love it here; the temperature is perfect, the food is fresh, and the water has great moods! :)

If you think you MIGHT recognize this ship, it's probably true! :D There are two tall ships in Newport this week - and I THINK it's this one that was used in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN!!! COOL, huh??? They're in town to let people take a look at them - and some lucky people get to go to sea on them, like this voyage. The ship is on its way out the river mouth to the Pacific Ocean. We just happened to see it on our way to lunch today, from the Oregon State University ocean center in Newport. And were BLESSED to get some gorgeous photos!

I'm starting to plan my next 10/10/10 class cards; it won't be long after I get back that I'll have to get to work! If you have a type of card you'd like to see on my Stampin' Up! site - http://poohisstampin.stampinup.net - please let me know! I've got a party the day after I get home, and it will be jumping right back in with both feet! I'll also be scrapbooking a LOT when I get home; I've got both our and Kaisa's memory books to work on. :) I hope you'll check out the schedule on my site, and come scrap with me sometime!

A beautiful day on the beach!

It's in the mid-50s and sunny this afternoon on the central Oregon coast. This is Yaquina Head Lighthouse, in Newport. It was a little overcast this morning, but the sun broke thru late in the morning and it's absolutely glorious now.

We spent yesterday watching whales right off our deck. It was so much fun!

I have GREAT news to share with you today! Sean, the little boy I wrote about yesterday, went HOME this morning!!!!!! He still needs prayer, because his lung is getting more damage with each attack, but I KNOW his family is thrilled to have him home! Please keep praying for them, and support their project.

My mom called today to tell me my stamping area's redo is going well! I can't wait to get home and get organized - and start stamping again! I've gotten a sneak peak at the sneak peak brochure from Stampin' Up!; there are some really fun things, and I can't WAIT for the new Idea Book & Catalog to come out in July!!!!!!!! I also am looking forward to stamping when I get home. :) I just wish home were the Oregon beach....

Please pray for our friends!

Hi, friends! I have a very special request for you today. Greg McDougal is a dear friend of ours; he is the person we use at our house for our contracting work, but he's also a daddy who has three kids with a Cystic Fibrosis diagnosis. And one of them needs your prayers badly.

Sean has been in the hospital for quite a while now. If you go to his website, www.ahouseformykids.com, you can read what's been going on with Sean. There's now a possibility that he may need part of his right lung removed - which is NEVER a good thing for a child with CF.

PLEASE pray for this family, if nothing else. Let Greg know you're praying for them. And if you feel led, buy his CD - all proceeds go toward building a clean house for his children to live in, to give them the best chance of a longer life.

If you have any questions, I'll be glad to answer them to the best of my ability. Greg, if you read this, know we're praying for you, friend. We'll see you when we get back to Nashville.

It was a beautiful wedding....

Isn't she beautiful? This is my stepdaughter, Kaisa. I'll post another picture of her and my new son-in-law, Jeff. The butterfly pin on her veil was her "something borrowed". We took SO MANY PHOTOS that it's proving difficult to choose the very best to highlight! I took this shot; I promise I'm not that biased, but she was more giving and thoughtful of everyone else around her than any other bride I've worked with!

We're at the beach now, "decompressing". It is SO peaceful and beautiful - I'm going to find it hard to go home. I am definitely going to enjoy every moment here!

Tomorrow, I'll probably post a photo of the beach - maybe a lighthouse, or something else glorious! :)

Let me know what you think of my portrait of Kaisa!

It's WEDDING WEEKEND!!!

Well, this is it! We'll head off to rehearsal in just an hour or so, and meet the family! :) We're taking photos tonight, too, so I'll have a chance to hide behind the lens. :D

Ken and Kaisa made clam dip for the rehearsal dinner last night; this is their self-portrait!

Their dinner is going to be pizza and clam dip with potato chips! :D Ahhhh, kids!

He fiance, Jeff, is graduating from college today. Nothing going on in THEIR lives this weekend..... :) Pray for everyone involved - I asked, and Kaisa said she'd be glad to have this over with. :D BEEN THERE!!!

Just a few more days in Portland!

Good morning! :) I hope that, wherever you are, it's as beautiful a day as it is here. :) It was 60 degrees when we left our hotel at 9:15 this morning, and it's not supposed to get too hot today.

Yesterday was Mt. St. Helen's roadtrip day. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL???? In the midst of all the destruction it caused almost exactly 27 years ago, there are new trees growing, new rivulets of glacial runoff starting to find ways thru the debris. It's breathtaking - and, if you click on the photo and look closely at the top crater rim on the right side, you'll see that the mountain is still venting. When the wind blows just right, you can smell the ash.

I dreamt about stamping last night. :) It's the first time I can think of since we got here - must mean I'm ready to get back to work. LOL!!

Today is laundry day. Ken's going to go to a movie with his best friend, and then make clam dip with Kaisa for the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night. :) He's kind of still going, "She wants to make CLAM DIP with me as our last dad.daughter time together????" but I think it's sweet. :D Men will never understand women, and vice versa. LOL!!!!

Have a wonderful day today! Enjoy the little task you have to do, and enjoy the time you spend with your loved ones.

We're going up to Mt. St. Helen's again!

We're going back up into the Cascade Mountains again, headed toward Mt. St. Helen's again. Even after 25+ years, the evidence of the destruction is all around. Ash banks, downed trees, and diverted water flows abound.

We're hoping that the mountain will be clearer today, and we'll be able to get some more beautiful photos to share with you. :)

Enjoy YOUR day! Take a moment to admire God's creations! :)

Still in Portland, Oregon!

Well, today marks the half-way point for our trip. Yesterday, we went to the Japanese Garden in Washington Park (Portland, OR). It was a beautiful day, and a beautiful trip. Here's a link to their website, if you'd like to find out more: http://www.japanesegarden.com/

It was so peaceful, and so difficult to capture on camera. You can capture the elements, but not the FEELING of the place. Does that make sense???

I have to admit, I'm starting to look forward to getting back to stamping. I didn't bring anything with me to STAMP, because I couldn't narrow it down far enough. :) But I'm planning, and scheming.... Only seven more weeks until the new Idea Book & Catalog come out! :)

I'd love to have you join!

Hi, everyone! I'm so glad you're reading my blog! I want to share another opportunity with you; please email me at HeavnlyPhotos@aol.com if you're interested in this offer!

We have started sending out devotional pictures with a thought or two, and have a mailing list specifically for this. HOPEFULLY, we'll be doing it daily soon - it's difficult for me to get everything done on the laptop I need to, because Ken's working on photos a lot. :)

Anyway. This was a photo that went out last week. We don't make the thoughts too heavy, but I know that I appreciate a little breath of God's beauty in my email box every once in a while! :)

So, if you'd like to receive our devotional, please email me - again, that's at HeavnlyPhotos@aol.com. :) Have a wonderful day!

Life is good!

I wish you could see the things I've seen this weekend! We've had an incredible time; we went to Saturday Market in downtown Portland, and to Rocky Butte where we could see Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens. Yesterday, we went to pick up our friend, Corrine, and went to the Cedar Creek Grist Mill in Woodland, WA. WOW, was it something else! Not so much for the mill, but for the beautiful creek! What do you think???

In upcoming days, I'll get the contest for the scrapbook page entries up and running, and we'll see who wins! :) Those of you who entered, know that you have a great chance of winning - there weren't too many entries. :)

I'm going to post another blog in a minute; please be sure to take a look at it, and let me know if you're interested! :D

Have a wonderful day, dear friends. The sun is shining, so I won't be sitting at this computer much longer. :D

HAPPY NATIONAL SCRAPBOOKING DAY!!!!!

I'm SO GLAD you dropped in today! :) This is a sample scrapbook page I did about a year ago; the subject, in case you couldn't tell, is my husband as photographer. I had him write the journaling; it's an essay on why he loves photography. I THINK you can read it if you click on the picture to see the larger version, if you want to!
I WANT YOU TO ENTER MY CONTEST!
Email me a scan or photo of the page(s) you are doing today (OK, I'll give you this weekend. :D). We'll have a vote, and whoever wins will get a great PRIZE from me! You can email me at poohisstampin@aol.com. I can't WAIT to see what you enter!
Rules: All scrapbook pages must be done by YOU. Any size is allowed. Winner will be chosen by popular vote! :) Entries MUST BE RECEIVED by MIDNIGHT Pacific time, Sunday, May 6, 2007.

We're having a grand time!

Relaxing, enjoying God's creation, enjoying friends and family, and taking time to smell the lilacs. What more could I ask from our vacation? :D

This picture is a wisteria-covered arbor in the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens in Woodland, WA. We actually were in town for the Lilac Festival, and spent some time there Wednesday afternoon. It was just after a rain/hailstorm, and the sun was shining, the blooms were incredible, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. The air was sweet and cool.

Bet you wish YOU were here.... :D

FINALLY - I get to update you! :)

Well, Monday was a long day of travel. We got up at 3:30 Central time, and believe me, we went to bed early - well, for us. Don't you just LOVE flying? A lot of hurry-up-and-wait. Well, at least Ken was able to pass the time! :)

I have received a question about the contest I'm going to be running on this site; it's not going to be posted until MAY 5 - National Scrapbooking Day! :) Keep looking!

Yesterday was a really fun day; we headed up toward Mt. St. Helen's. Even 27 years after the eruption, the evidence of the destruction is evident - but so is the recovery of the area. It's absolutely amazing - and if you're interested in seeing photos, let me know. :)

The flower above is a rhododendron - known as a "rhody" to the locals. They come in a variety of colors, and are just delightful - they grow both by design and wild around here. The flowers are beautiful, and the foliage is a vibrant green even after the flowers fade.

So, don't worry. We are here, we are enjoying ourselves, and we aren't resting much. :D Have a wonderful day, my friends!