Congratulations, Belinda!

Belinda has officially retired from civil service! Tomorrow she starts the next chapter with a part-time job at the Stevi Library! We celebrated these two events with a special dinner at The Catered Table (on Main Street, Stevi). Belinda was presented with a complimentary dessert in recognition of her accomplishment!

Memorial Day in Corvallis

Memorial Day in Corvallis

Parade entries come in all sizes

Dr. Donna Lewis & friends

Belinda and Mo enjoy the parade

Charles is parade happy!

Memorial Day in the Bitterroot Valley was delightful with cooler weather than last year. We went to Corvallis for the annual Memorial Day parade and enjoyed ourselves so much!

A busy Saturday

Hamilton Farmer's market

Enjoying a moment on Main St. - Stevensville

Getting cherry tomatoes in the ground

Help in the basement

Interesting day - two farmer/craft markets and cleaning up the mess of a burst pipe in the basement.

Farewell Portland

Waiting for the light rail to PDX

Charles said goodbye to a damp Portland this morning having enjoyed the city for the second time.

Next stop, home!

General Confernce - May 20

Buttons galore!

Oh, yes!

With GC over, Charles took advantage of being in Portland to take in one more of the amazing restaurants the city has to offer. A few blocks from the apartment was Frank's Noodle House which Charles learned had been featured on "Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives."

General Conference - May 19

Free hugs during the break

Ready to answer questions

Prayer booth volunteer

With GC drawing to a close, Charles got in one more shift as a volunteer in the prayer center.

General Conference - May 18

4th anniversary of Wesley joining the family

Prayer room art

Prayer room time for Bishop Wernner

General Conference - May 17

Morning worship with our bishop

Emotions were running high

Peace cranes

Ukuela choir from Frisco, TX

General Conference - May 15

Youth service in the rain

Pearl Bakery

The hunt is on

Donuts?!

Following the worship services at the Convention Center, the youth service and the UMW-led service, we headed downtown, braving the rain, to see some of Portland's sights.

To get out of the rain, we stopped in at Pearl Bakery, a top-ten bakery that has some mighty fine food and an eclectic clientel!

Next up was Powell's City of Books, a bookstore that occupies an entire city block. Using one of the store maps, we found a treasure trove of Wesleyan/Methodist books that was worth the trip! 

We ended our foray downtown with a stop at Voodoo Donuts. After seeing that the wait just to get in the door was over 1/2 hour, we decided that waiting for donuts in the rain just wasn't our thing.

General Conference - May 14

watching the translators in action

Yum!

Diane Martin and Belinda

Rev. Ira, our D.S., Kama Hamilton-Morton & us @ GC2016

Belinda joined Charles in Portland for the weekend and together we took in some legislative committee work, attended worship, and enjoyed a fabulous meal at the Tin Shed Garden Cafe` on E. Alberta Street.

General Conference - May 13

Before last night's vigil

Where mission is and is going

mini-labyrinth

General Conference - May 12

with solar-powered light bulbs

Prayer river @ GBCS

Standing up for a cause

Lots of energy already in evidence in Portland.

General Conference - May 11

Prayer room

Rally for the Lumad people

Rural church & fossil fuel divestment

General Conference recap, May 10

Catching up with Jimmy Creech

Welcome to GC

Communion is served by the bishops

GC 2016 got underway with a rousing worship service! It was a wonderful example of the multi-cultural expression that is the UMC.

General Conference recap, pt.2

Breakfast @ Milo's City Cafe`

Where the action takes place

Medalion and beads given to delegates and volunteers

Announcing UMC presence all around the town

A slow start to the day was in order before Charles' first shift as a volunteer. There is a lot of energy present as nearly 5,000 delegates, volunteers, staff, vendors and the curious make their way to Portland.