Monday afternoon
December 18, 1978
Dear Mother, Dad, Roberta, Serena (?), John and Mary Virginia,Hi! Thanks for remembering Gerry's birthday. The card arrived on Thursday so it was here in plenty of time. Thanks for the checks – I think he is going to write you a thank you note for the birthday money. We aren't quite sure about the Christmas money. Your suggestion about the movie camera is appreciated, but . . . . It is not something that we would probably choose to get. I can see why it would be nice to have though. So we really haven't decided what to get. Gerry did look at some movie cameras that he might be able to order through the co-op. There are quite a few things we can get at a discount that way.
We got DeeDee at the airport on Saturday. We had heard that the roads were very icy going by Mt. Hood so we went up through The Dalles and then into Portland on I-80 through the Columbia River Gorge. It is about 50 miles further but the roads were fine. We went to a shopping center for an hour or so to do some shopping. We went to the Lloyd Center which everyone we had asked here in Madras said was about the best one. However it wasn't an enclosed mall and you would think that in a town that has weather like Portland, it would have been. It was very crowded – probably more people in the shopping center than in all of Madras and we're not used to the crowds anymore. We got what we wanted fast and got out, arriving at the airport in time to have a little snack before DeeDee's plane arrived. It came 10 minutes early which seemed unusual. She is doing fine and we had a leisurely drive back to Madras, stopping at a restaurant in The Dalles for supper. The food wasn't too good but they had a very inexpensive children's menu. DeeDee had the child's hamburger plate (79¢) and I had the adult version ($2.25) and the two plates were identical! Wendy had pancakes and bacon also for 79¢. I forgot to mention that DeeDee also got chocolate pudding for her 79¢ and I did get a slice of tomato with mine which she didn't get!
At church yesterday the Sunday School put on their Christmas program in place of the sermon. It was excellent – they did an abbreviated version of the folk musical – "Sam" which is basically the story of the Good Samaritan. We all enjoyed it and they had such a crowd they had to set up at least two rows of chairs in what they call the narthex which is separated from the main church by some glass but they kept the doors open. Afterwards they had a coffee hour (the once-monthly affair) in the fellowship hall of the church. Perhaps you will be here for the one in January. I think it is usually the third Sunday.
On Wednesday night of this week they are having a carolling party followed by a chili supper – the church furnishes the chili and we bring crackers or vegetables to munch on. That is preceded by a Red Cross Blood Drive which is also held at the church (the church is across the road from the hospital) so we're going to go early and give blood. Supposedly the Red Cross comes to Madras about every 3 months.
Wendy has been super excited since DeeDee arrived and has been having a good time playing with her. It is hard to get her to settle down for her nap or at bedtime. Of course we got her way off schedule on Saturday by driving all over the countryside.
DeeDee fixed pork chops for Gerry's birthday dinner and we had chocolate cake with 7-minute icing. Wendy still likes the ice cream better than the cake – she must take after her mother! DeeDee also made us some home-made cheese pretzels yesterday afternoon which were real good.
This morning I babysat for two kids – the blind baby and her older brother – while their mother went to get her driver's license. And then one of my new friends came over with her little boy who is a month older than Wendy so we had a houseful of little children. Wendy is very jealous of the baby though and is always trying to stay between her and me. I may go into the part-time babysitting business later on to bring in a few extra dollars so Wendy may have some adjusting to do. Maybe Roberta mentioned to you that we have also applied to be apartment managers of the new apartment complex that is going up here in Madras but as yet we haven't heard anything. It would be a few months yet as the apartments aren't completed yet.
Well, we're hoping we may get to talk to you sometime around Christmas Day. Fred (you remember him, he Gerry's boss, the Co-op manager) invited us to Christmas Dinner at his house at 2:00. I thought that was nice of him. They have two children who are around our age and have small children (we haven't met any of them) so it should be interesting.
I'll start this paragraph out with something other than "well." Here are some pictures we just got back – most of them taken during the month of November. We got a nice card from the Bruces and they asked for Roberta's address.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Love,
Catherine, Gerry
DeeDee & Wendy
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