Rainier, Oregon Giving Tree 2012

Rainier, Oregon, where I live, is having their Community Giving Tree again. I was one of the families blessed by the giving tree last year. It was wonderful! I feel so blessed living in a community that cares so much. I feel that getting the word out about this awesome program is important!

There are 8 trees total. Trees are located at Cornerstone Cafe, El Tapatio, Chevron, Cole's Coffee, Deli Store and More (Mini Mart), Hometown Pizza, Rainier Community Church of God and Riverside Community Church.

We need your help! If you live in or around Rainier, Oregon and have not already done so, please think about adopting a family or a child in need this year for Christmas. Please go take a "Giving Tree Tag" off the trees and bless a child from our little town of Rainier, Oregon. These are done anonymously. We have over 280 tags that need to be taken which is a total of over 30 families.

The deadline for those that are getting gifts for people off the trees (wrapped or unwrapped with gift tag attached) is December 18th. They need to be dropped off at either of the two churches involved. Drop off dates and times are Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9:30am-12:30pm at both churches, Wednesday evenings from 5-8pm at Rainier Community Church of God and Tuesday & Wednesday evenings at 6-8pm at Riverside Community Church.

For more information click on the above image to make it larger and then you will be able to read it. Thank you!!

Blanket and Quilt Charities For Children

My daughter, Tatiana, was so very blessed while she was on this Earth with us and we were very blessed to have her as long as we did. Over and over she was showered with gifts from various charities and organizations. Among them were the people that made quilts and blankets for her and her siblings. Tatiana spent a lot of her time at Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon and the majority of the time she was greeted to her room with a handmade, homemade treasure to have while she was in the hospital and to take home with her. I want to thank everyone who volunteer and contribute their time and effort into making these and other lovely items for children who are in need of some comfort. I know that my daughter appreciated every one of these beautiful expressions of love and compassion and so did I.

I recently received an email from Better Homes and Gardens about P&Gs Downy Touch of Comfort Program that partnerships with and benefits Quilts For Kids, because I am a member of Better Homes and Gardens Reader Panel. You can help donate 10,000 comforting, handmade quilts to hospitalized children. When you purchase specially marked Downy with the quilted label, 5¢ goes to Downy's charity partner, Quilts For Kids. You can even make a Downy Touch of Comfort Heart Quilt with this free pattern.

This email reminded me of the many blankets and quilts my family has received from organizations like Quilts For Kids. I wanted to list them here too because I am grateful. Click on the links to learn more about them:

♥Project Linus♥ See Tatiana with one of her Project Linus quilts.
♥Love Quilts♥ See Tatiana with her Love Quilt.
♥Binky Patrol♥ See Tati and her siblings with their Binky Patrol blankets.

If you are a quilter or a blanket maker and would like to donate your talents to one of these wonderful organizations please consider doing so! They need your help! Thanks!

World Gratitude Day

It is World Gratitude Day today! So I would like to take time and thank each and every one of my readers and soon to be subscribers. You are wonderful! I also want to take time to thank God for all the trials and tribulations in my life that have made me stronger. I am so very blessed to have a wonderful family who looks out for me and wonderful friends who are there for me. Thanks! I am grateful to you all!


These pictures of Tatiana were taken shortly after Christmas of last year. She had to spend Christmas in the hospital and my parents helped watching her while she was there so she would not feel alone. The hospital staff gave her Patti the pink platypus to hug and cuddle. During that time we had trial after trial thrown at us at home: our toilet backed up, our water heater broke, and our furnace broke. When my husband went to go see Tatiana in the hospital both back tires on our van blew out and we had numerous times the chains on his tires kept breaking. In January our family and friends sent blankets to keep us warm while the furnace was being fixed and despite the trials we got through it all. I am so grateful to my friends, family and strangers that helped pull us through.


I am also posting this video from Mom Fuse. They and Tiny Prints asked several well known bloggers to volunteer their time and to take part in a 21 day challenge that encouraged them to take note of the brighter side of life. Now they are asking for more participation. Join the Gratitude Challenge! Seek out things that that you feel gratitude for and share them on your blog, Facebook, Twitter or wherever you express yourself.


Follow them on Twitter @TakeNoteGiveThx hashtag: #GratitudeChallenge
Fan them on Facebook. You can even add an interactive 21-day gratitude calendar widget to your blog or website.

Thanks to Mom Fuse POP (Post Our Pitch) Alerts for this information!

Gratitude Challenge

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» Join the challenge

» Read participating blogs

tiny prints

Eight Years Old

Delbin, my oldest son turned 8 years old on September 5th, 2008. On September 28th, 2008 he was baptized and confirmed a member of our church the same date that my youngest daughter, Teela, was blessed. We are so very proud of him!

One of the things Delbin gets to do now that he is 8 is attend Boyscouts. He was so excited to get to be a Cubscout! In Boyscouts he has already made and raced a boat in the Raingutter Regatta, but out of everyone in our family only he was able to attend the race. He also just had his very first Boyscout Pinewood Derby on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 and this time our whole family got to go to see the festivities.

Even though he didn't win the medal for first, second, or third he did get a certificate that said, "Most colorful curvy car."

Delbin had fun and didn't care that he didn't win any of the big prizes. He just wanted to race his car! His pack had a very antique looking track. It was made of wood and bracketed together. It also had to be adjusted often especially if the cars jumped the track because of the notched places in the track sticking up too much and needing to be physically pushed down. They also decided that this time because of this they would only race two-three cars at a time...rather than all six and that some lanes would not be used at all.

Brian, my husband, said that when he was in Boyscouts they had a deluxe track with laser reader, time count down, and everything. They did things by the book back then and everything was done on a grand scale. It sounds to me like the Down & Derby movie I saw :) Brian also mentioned that we needed to build a new track for next year. Yes! Put that on our long list of to dos...along with building our own six-masted sailing vessel to live on and do dolphin communication and owning a horse or mini pony!