Sweet Memories

I realize most of you are my friends on FB and have already seen this picture, but I'm so proud of it that I had to post it here too. I think it's seriously one of the best macro pics I've ever taken. It may be the subject matter that makes me feel that way though... I'm completely biased!

Oh, Harry!

About two months ago, I learned that Harry Connick Jr. was coming to town. I love his music and tried to talk my husband into letting me go. He looked at the tickets online and we were shocked at how expensive they were. He decided we couldn't afford it. At that point I just sorta put it out of my head.

Then last week I got a text from my friend saying she'd found a screamin' deal on Harry tickets on Craigslist and did I want to go. Um... YES PLEASE!!!

The tickets were still sort of expensive, but I had just done someone's senior pictures and he happened to pay me the exact amount I'd need for the ticket! Eric rolled his eyes and said I could go! WOO HOO!!!

My friend, Micah and I were giddy with excitement through the whole weekend. She picked up the tickets, we made our plans and FINALLY it was time for the concert!

We were so excited that we read the time of the concert wrong and arrived over an hour early. Oops. So we hung out in the lobby at the Schnitz until they would let us into the auditorium. Then we anxiously sat in our seats staring at our watches waiting for 7:30 to get here!

FINALLY the lights went down and the curtain went up and there he was, with his sexy voice, singing me a love song! Oh, Harry!

It was an amazing concert! The talent in the room was amazing because of course, it's not just Harry, he has a fantastic group of sickningly talented musicians behind him. We were blown away. Not only was the music awesome, but Harry was really funny. He had us rolling in laughter!

It was a great experience and I will do my best to get tickets if he ever comes back to town! For now I have to settle for listening to him on my ipod. I wonder if he needs a flute player...

Until next time Harry!

Piano Lessons

This fall marked the beginning of piano lessons in the Banister household. That makes Mama happy!

Piano is something I wish I knew how to play. I'm jealous of people who can sit down and play such a complicated instrument like it's easy.

I realize that my children may not become virtuoso piano players, but they will have a basic knowledge of the instrument. I feel that it's a good skill to have and they will hopefully thank me later for making them take lessons.

So far, they enjoy it and ask if they can practice. We're only two weeks in though! Hopefully they will continue to like it. Just think of all the piano/flute duets we could play!

Check Out Them Pipes!

I recently played at a memorial service in Bellevue, WA. The church had a beautiful pipe organ that we had the pleasure of enjoying during the service.

This is Joel Ulrich, and he playes a MEAN organ!! It was incredible to watch and even more incredible to listen to. I especially love when he added the upper register pipes in the later verses on the hymns.

It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it!

I later learned that Joel was the choir teacher at Bellevue Christian School. He also was a BCS grad himself! He spent his entire career teaching at the school before retiring a couple years ago and is remembered fondly by students and collegues alike.



Thanks for the awesome musical experience Joel! Maybe next time it will be under more happy conditions.

Did I Really Say That?!

Saturday night, my husband and I drove down to Salem so we could attend the wedding of some friends. It was a beautiful wedding. In fact, it was one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been to!

This is Jordan and Leah.

It was one of those situations where the bride is SO gorgeous that you wonder how the groom landed her. They are such a fun couple and even though the ceremony was amazingly beautiful, it was very light-hearted and fun. (The recessional was "The Way You Make Me Feel", by Micheal Jackson!) You could feel the excitement eminating from the bride and groom!

It seems very rare these days to go to a wedding where you know for a fact that the bride has every right to be wearing that white dress. And that you know the couple will do everything in their power to stay together "Until death do us part." It was refreshing to witness.

After the ceremony we were ushered into the reception hall where we sat at a table with some of our friends. They have been married just a little bit longer than we have, and we quickly started discussing the wonderful ceremony.

It's amazing to me how weddings hold a different meaning than they used to. It's so easy to get divorced these days and the level of commitment is so low that you sometimes wonder why couples shell out thousands of dollars for one giant party.

As I grow older and walk through life next to my husband of almost ten years, I've learned to appreciate what those vows really mean. We've really been through the ringer in the last few years, but we did the hard thing and worked through it TOGETHER. The part where the bride and groom say "Richer or poorer, in sickness and health, in good times and bad, 'til death do us part." means something much more when you've actually seen some of those "poorer" or "bad" times.

After years of working together on our relationship and not giving up, I can honestly say that my relationship with my husband is better than I ever imagined it could be. And to think we could have another 50 years together!

If you're having a hard time with your spouse, let me encourage you to stick with the hard times. Seeing it from the other side of trial, I can tell you that it's worth walking through tough times with your spouse. Your relationship will be better than you thought possible!

This is Eric and I on our wedding day.

Are You Jealous? Cuz You Should Be!

In The Dalles, Oregon there's a little coffee shop called Holstein's. I'm not sure how my family came across this place, but it was probably happened upon when we were on our way up to visit my grandparents.

I don't know a whole lot about the place except that they have GREAT coffee. Especially their Mexican Smoothies! I'm not even sure why they're called "Holstein's". And really, I don't care! Did I mention the amazing coffee?

Every year, my Dad's family has a reunion up at a park in The Dalles. We always make sure to stop on our way up to the reunion for our Mexican Smoothies. And since they're still open when we are on our way home, we stop a second time for another round! The staff usually looks at us strange, but they never remember us by the next year.

So, you're wondering, "what is a Mexican Smoothie?" Well, if you've never had one, you're MISSING OUT! It's like any other mocha type smoothie you'd get at your regular coffee joint except that it has these spices in it. I'm not sure what they are... cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves? All of the above? What I do know is that it's delicious! Of course they're SO bad for you, but we only get them once a year so why not pack on the calories, right?

We look forward to our annual Mexican Smoothie Fix every year. This year I get to have them two weeks in a row because I'll be taking the boys up to spend the weekend with my grandparent's next weekend! And you know, Holstein's just HAPPENS to be on the way to their house... bummer...

Do you want to know how to get there? When you're headed east on I-84, take exit 85 and turn left. After that, just follow the signs to Holstein's Coffee Co. You won't be sorry!

This is me drinking my FABULOUS smoothie. Are you jealous? Cuz you should be! ; )

"Knuckleberries"??

The boys asked if we were going anywhere after church on Sunday. I told them that Nana, Grandpa and Grandma were coming over to go pick huckleberries with us. Nobody really said anything for a while, they were just sort of thinking about what that meant.

Then all of the sudden, Daniel pipes up and says,

"Mama? Have I ever had a knuckleberry?"

I laughed SO hard! I told him that it was a "H-H-huckleberry" and no, he hadn't ever had one.

Once my parents and Grandma got here I told them what Daniel had said. Of course they all thought it was hillarious. They will be called "knuckleberries" for as long as I live!

After we picked all our berries, we were eating our dinner at the van. I turned to Daniel to give him his sandwich and was faced with this:

I asked if he'd eaten all of his knuckleberries. He laughed and said, "No Mama!" Because I couldn't see the evidence all over his face?

Have You Ever Had a Huckleberry?

When I was a kid, my Mom used to drag us up to Mt. Adams so we could help pick huckleberries. We used to moan and complain about it because huckleberries are really hard to pick. They're so small that you can pick for hours and only have enough to make one pie.

These are pictures from when we were teenagers.

Picking berries??

If you don't know what a huckleberry is, you're missing out. It's sort of like a blueberry, but smaller and more purple in color. Huckleberries also have the most amazing flavor.

A couple weeks ago I was talking with my Grandma and she asked if my Mom was planning to go pick again this year. Even though she didn't say it, I knew Grandma really wanted to go. So, I told my Mom we should go picking and take Grandma with us. She agreed!

After the two-and-a-half-hour drive up to the mountain, we began to search for the best berry patch. You should know that these berries grow wild on the mountain, so you have to be aware that you may be sharing your berry stash with a bear at some point. This is where the kids and dog came in handy!

The boys ran through the bushes screaming and laughing at one another. I shushed them once before my Dad told me to let them be loud because it scares off the bears. OHMIGOSH! Thankfully, we never did see any bears.

My Grandma, Mom, Dad and I picked for a solid two hours and only got half a flat of berries. Let me tell you that it was worth the hard work! Out of that half a flat, I got four batches of freezer jam and a pie. (The best pie I've ever eaten by the way.)