My parents finally made the loooooong schlep from Wyoming to Oregon and back again this past week.  Donald was gone for school but the boys and I had a great time showing them our little stretch of the Valley (as they say at the Willamette Valley Vineyard:  "It's Willamette, Dammit!").  They got a decent taste of Salem, including our favorite beer and burger joint, Boon's Treasury, as well as an overnight at Cannon Beach, the Tillamook Cheese factory and a soccer game that was half downpour and half sunshine.  Typical weather this time of year.  There being only pine trees and cottonwoods in Wyoming, my mom was understandably in raptures over our  beautiful kaleidoscope of fall colors.

It's been nearly two years since we've seen them and I think they were slightly startled to find that #1 is almost taller than them and #2 is not far behind.  They were concerned that the adult sized University of Wyoming sweatshirts would be too big.  They took one look at the boys and their appetites and soon realized there was nothing to worry about.  And, being parents, they insisted on helping me redo the cracked and leaking breezeway roof between our school room and the house.  Okay, so Bill did it with my mom instructing from the ground and I ran back and forth to Home Depot and kept everyone supplied with  food and adult beverages.  I know how to keep my workers happy!  Thanks, again, Bill!

Farmer Denise with a sick Cow

Oh No - it's the "I'm nearly a Teenager Mug!"

Only an Oregon cheese factory uses a VW bus!

Haystack Rock.  Remember the Goonies?  Filmed just north of here.

Aw, young love.

Seems like a lot of bottles and glasses on that table.