June 2008~Groveland Acres Pick Your Own Strawberries~Hillsboro, Oregon

Trevon and Kiera

On June 4, 2008 the kids and I (and Krista!) left for Portland, Oregon to help my parents with their "Pick Your Own" strawberry operation in the scenic hills of Helvetia (Hillsboro), Oregon. The morning of our departure I discovered these darling dolls atop the island in the kitchen. When I asked, Trevon replied, "I put those up there so daddy wouldn't be lonely while we're gone. Their names are Trevon and Kiera...."

Getting Reacquainted With Little Emily

And Krista --getting acquainted.....!

Grandma and Grandpa's turn...:) (they're still getting acquainted!)

(sorry mom:)

And Getting Reacquainted With Uncle Dehl...:)

Is this what they call a bridge over troubled waters?

It's Almost Constructed....

With a couple days to spare.....!
The New 2008 Strawberry (Customer Service:) Building!


No one took pictures of Krista and I painting the inside--but here's Trevon "cleaning the dust out" with an air hose for us!!:)

And The Work Begins--The Straw Between The Rows Operation...

The 1 ton bales of straw are dropped into what is known as a "straw chopper" :)


The chopped straw is then loaded into this "straw machine":), invented and built by dad many years ago---


Dad drives the tractor--and the rest of us poor souls, donning dust masks (and straw in our underwear) work our tails off shoving straw down the "chutes" as the tractor slowly makes it's way up.....and....down....the field.....(the 6 acre field)! (I might mention Dehl is currently working on "automizing" this "machine.":)

Lunch. It does a body good....

Lunchtime laughter....Trevon's "hamming it up" with the big guys!

And now..... Before

and After....!

The Day We Painted and Numbered Stakes

.....Trevon decided to clean "that dirty combine..."

With THIS water!!!!!!

The Bountiful Harvest

Opening Day--June 16, 2008. (Below) The cars lined up at the gate--20 minutes before opening time!

A few minutes after opening time.......

What a crazy day! If you'll look closely at these next few photos, you'll note the cars are in fact circling the field--and of course, double-parked in some places (above). The field was picked clean that day--6 acres!

(Below) The line waiting to pay....

Trevon's Job

Kiera's Job.....!:)