AUGUST/EARLY SEPTEMBER PICTURES AND UPDATE


August was mostly a blur. We packed and moved and had lots of company. Jeremy's parents came and helped us move into our apartment. Then, we had a few days of "down time." We worked on getting settled and took a nice day trip up and around the little corner of Washington we plan to call home. We found a beautiful Mt. St. Helens lookout along the way, then played at Yale Reservoir (one of three reservoirs we hope to eventually go boating on near Woodland). At the beginning of September, we met my parents in Hermiston and sent Jeremy off on his first bowhunting experience with my dad. Mom came with me and we had a great day trekking around the gorge while we made our way back to Vancouver. The guys had an exciting hunting trip. They were in a really neat ecosystem and surrounded by big bull elk. Although Jeremy didn't bag one, they had an amazing adventure which ensured that Jeremy will be addicted to bowhunting for years to come.

Here are some pics:


It was hard to say goodbye to our garden. The boys' sunflowers had become monstrous. The morning we left, my great gardener Taylor went out and picked a heaping collander-full of tomatoes and a number of zuchhini, so we got to take some of our bounty with us.


The boys with their sunflowers.


Blowing bubbles with Grandma Janet.


Here we go a-moving!


Thanks, Grandpa and Grandma, for helping us move and playing with us so mom and dad could get things figured out! You were lots of help!


Now Mt. St. Helens will be the volcano in our backyard. We've never been up there, but are excited to go see the visitors' center and other viewpoints.


Lake Merwin, Yale Reservoir, and Swift Reservoir should be lots of fun for us. However, the boys were used to the temperature of the apartment swimming pool, so they didn't really enjoy swimming in the icy Yale waters. Throwing rocks was kinda fun, though.


Grammy and boys at the base of Multnomah Falls.


Taylor and Aric on the trail up to the top of the falls. Aric lost interest fairly quickly, but Taylor insisted we keep going all the way to the top. Aric ended up riding on Mom's back for a lot of the uphill walk. However, he did walk down, and announced proudly, "I'm a pretty good hiker."


Mom and boys at the very top of Multnomah Falls. We made it!


Grammy and boys at the Vista House. They were pretty disappointed that the building had already closed for the day. Aric still wants to go back to the "Bista House" when it's open, and so does Taylor.

SUMMER UPDATE / JULY PICTURES


I know I always say we're really busy, but this time I am not exaggerating. Big news first: We've moved to Washington. Our house sold about a month ago and this past weekend, we moved to an apartment in Vancouver, WA, where we'll live for 6 months or so. We are planning to purchase 5 acres in Woodland, WA and have a home built.

Grandma Janet was visiting for a number of weeks during the busy time when our house initially sold, and she returned this past week with Grandpa Lyn to help out with the actual move. We are very grateful for all the help! There is truly nothing like having live-in childcare and we will miss having grandparents close by when they leave!

However, we won't have to miss it for long because Grammy and Grumpy will be coming to visit in September. [Watch out, Grammy and Grumpy - we're shameless in recruiting Grandparents to babysit for us! It's the price you pay for driving all this way to see us!] We had planned on this summer being the summer of camping, but instead, it's turned out to be the summer of Grandparents! We've truly enjoyed it.

Next HUGE news item: Jeremy has secured his operator seniority position. This means that he has been trained to operate tugboats in the harbor and has been "checked off," so he's officially on his way to becoming an operator (only 600 hours of practice to go! :-) We are very proud of him - we expected this milestone to take about five years, but he achieved it in three and a half years!

Now, for the pictures:


The boys play in a fountain in Tualatin while Dad watches the model boats on the lake.



STRONG MAN!



Look how handsome that long hair is!



Bye-bye, long hair. It's time for mid-summer buzz cuts.



The boys having a picnic with Grandma and Mom at the Tillamook Forest Center.




Grandma Janet and the boys climbing the steps of the fire tower (this one is fully operational, unlike the one we visited unsuccessfully last spring).




Fireman Taylor.



Fireman Aric.



Swimming with the salmon at the forestry center.



Hanging out on the Wilson River near the forestry center - the volcanic rock on the river bank has a number of hollowed out "pools" that have been carved out by swirling water and sediment - perfect for these little boys to wade in.



We went to Nehalem Bay and camped for the night with Grandma Janet. It was a windy adventure, but thankfully, we survived with only 1 bent tentpole. :-( I wouldn't recommend setting up a big tent without lots of extra hands. Our neighbors (smart people who RV at the windy Oregon Coast instead of tenting it) helped us a number of times. We felt a bit sheepish, but it was better than being blown away!



After breaking camp, we drove up to Seaside and visited the little aquarium. It's a bit crowded, but the boys thought it was great to be able to touch the sea life (including chopped up fish that they tossed to the seals - ACK!).



Ari with the Starry.



Taylor tickling anemones.


Well, that's all for now. That catches us up on pictures through July. Next time, I'll try to post all the August pictures.

Hot, Hot Summer!

We're having a heat wave...I know, I know, you all are too! :-) Thankfully, we're having a very different experience this time around. For the first time in our 8 years of marriage (Yes, as of today, we've been married 8 LONG years! :-), we have air conditioning! We gave in and bought a window unit last week, and we are feeling quite spoiled right now. The kids don't like the idea of staying inside in the cool, though, so tonight we had to let them go run around in the sprinkler before bed. They got a little chilled, so they warmed themselves by lying on the hot cement.



In other news, my mom came to visit a few weeks ago. It was a ton of fun! We went to the beach...


(Grammy and the boys)

...We went to Mo's (if you don't know Mo's, you need to visit the Oregon Coast!) and had clam chowder...

(The boys crack themselves up)

...And we flew kites...Grammy even flew two at one time!


The beach was great fun!

We also went mini-golfing with the boys. This picture, though not the greatest, shows my new haircut. I got the bi-annual cut done while Mom was here to watch the boys. My hair grows enough to donate 10 inches to Locks of Love every two years. If any of you cut 6 inches or more of your hair at one time, search for Locks of Love on the Internet and send them your hair. It's a great cause!




(They look like pro golfers or something, don't they?)

We also dinked around at home a lot and I used my mom's help in the garden. We've finished out our pea plants for the year, but as you can see, the sunflowers are still going strong!


Our hydrangea was having a great year until the weather hit 100+. Hopefully it'll survive with the help of these two little gardeners. Notice Aric's rake - he's lost the handle, but now it's a handy hand-rake (or, in darker moments, an interesting possibility for a weapon :-). The boys are only allowed to use their hoes and rakes when working WITH mom and dad, because they are dangerous. When used as the tools that they are, though, the boys have been able to be quite helpful. Unfortunately, they don't make kids garden tools to be used heavily, or at least not in hard clay soil. Taylor bent his hoe into itself the first day he got it. He was quite upset, but we bent it back into shape, and the offending thistle paid the price! :-)



We're really enjoying being home a lot this summer and trying to be intentional about enjoying each moment with our boys. They are growing up so fast and the stages are just flying by. We are so blessed by them and thankful for them.

I'll leave you with a few choice quotes from Aric. Taylor's learning to read and is very aware of language. Consequently, he tends to be careful with his words, so he's not as quotable as Aric at the moment. This evening the boys were running around the sprinkler and making up games, and Aric told Taylor, "There you go, Young Man." He wasn't intending to be funny at all, but Jeremy and I sure cracked up. Earlier today, we were talking about whose birthday is coming up next. I told the boys that mine was coming right up, and Aric excitedly said, "And I want you share some of it with me!" Apparently, in his mind, birthdays and cake are interchangeable concepts. :-)

Sharpshooter Sarah

I went to a handgun class for women last weekend. Even though I grew up in a family that hunted, I've never really had much to do with handguns. I've always been uncomfortable around them, and this class seemed the perfect opportunity to familiarize myself. The only time I've ever shot a handgun was a number of years ago when Jeremy and I took off into the woods here in Oregon. I tried to hit a tin can from 5 yards and couldn't, so I've always considered myself a terrible shot. However, this class taught me the basics of shooting, and apparently, I'm not such a bad shot after all. Below are two of my targets, and the "prize" I won for being the only one to shoot out the entirety of my "red dot" at 10 yards (the #4 target). The targets show my shooting from distances of 3, 5, 7, and 10 yards. I really enjoyed target shooting and I'll probably keep bugging Jeremy to go with me until it becomes our date night habit. :-)




"HANDGUNS ARE A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND!"

Aric's Latest Injury

I can't believe I forgot to mention this in the last post. Aric fractured his arm about two weeks ago. It was nearing bedtime (always the time for accidents at our house) and he was carrying a load of toys when he tripped over another toy and fell down. By the way he was crying, I knew he was really hurting. I told Jeremy I thought his arm was broken. We waited for the tears to subside, then examined his arm. He could move everything, his wrist and fingers seemed fully functional, and we could squeeze his arm anywhere without it hurting. We guessed he'd just twisted or strained something and decided to wait and see how he did the next day. The next morning, he fell again and complained about the same spot. We set up a doctor's appointment for the afternoon, but when he woke up from his nap, he seemed totally fine again. Since it was a very busy day at the doctor's office, I decided to let someone else have our coveted appointment. We watched him over the weekend and he seemed fine, but Monday morning we were playing at a friend's house when he fell onto the sidewalk. Again, he caught himself with his arms, and again, that left forearm seemed to be really hurting him. After a few days without complaint, I had begun to think he was probably alright, but since he was complaining about precisely the same spot again, I knew we needed to go see the doctor.

The doctor examined the arm thoroughly, twisting and squeezing and moving it in all sorts of directions. All Aric did was giggle shyly. The doctor said he really didn't think anything was wrong, but if I wanted to have an x-ray done, I could. I knew we needed to know, one way or the other, or I'd be back in the office in another day or two. He went to the x-ray room, where he was SO brave he earned a bouncy-ball for himself and another one for big brother. The doctor came back seeming rather surprised. He said, "Aric must have a really high pain tolerance, because he does have a fracture." I already know that my boys have incredible pain tolerances (I think in large part due to heredity - thanks, Dad! :-), so I wasn't surprised at all. Now he has to wear a removable splint until the Fourth of July (his personal Independence Day). He doesn't really like it, but tolerates it fairly well.

He thought he'd come up with a great idea recently. After a bath (the only time he's allowed to be out of his splint), he raised his uninjured arm and brightly announced, "I have a good idea, Mom. Let's put it on THIS arm." I know he's tired of it, but thankfully it is his left arm rather than his right, and he's keeping it on much better than I would have expected.

Happy Early 30th Birthday, Jeremy!

On Monday, Jeremy starts training to operate tugboats. It's an exciting new advancement and we are very thankful for it. However, it means a change in our schedule. Jeremy will be working "regular hours" M-F in the harbor and then he'll be training whenever he can on top of those regular hours, so we won't have the big chunks of family free time we've become accustomed to after upriver trips. It will be a blessing to experience having him home every night, but we will be more tied to the Portland area than we have been.

One of the ramifications of this change is that Jeremy won't necessarily have time off around his birthday later this month. Since it's his 30th (and he's been dreading it for at least the past 5 years), I wanted to do something memorable for him. This morning at church, there was a note in his Bible that informed him he was being kidnapped. We had some good friends watch our boys for the afternoon, so just Jeremy and I left church and he had no idea where we were headed. He didn't follow the kidnapping note's instructions very well...he was supposed to be the passenger! Since he ended up in the driver's seat, I had to tell him which towns we were headed toward along the way, so I thought for sure he'd guess where I was taking him, but he never could! He thought we were going to tour the Evergreen Air Museum (which we ended up doing later in the day anyway)...he thought we were gonna visit our friends who live in that part of the world...he thought he might have an airplane ride. That last guess was VERY close, but not quite accurate enough. I had arranged for us both to have a mile high glider ride. However, I missed the part about there being a weight limit, so we weren't allowed to go at the same time (guess we gotta lay off the ice cream! :-). I decided to wait for the proverbial "next time" and Jeremy went up for his mile high ride by himself. He got to fly it for most of the time it was in the air and he reported really enjoying it. He says it's amazing how quiet it is to be up there without an engine attached to you. After he came down, we went to the Air Museum because it was right across the street. It's where the Spruce Goose is housed and it's an impressive experience. It was a very fun day!

PS - the pictures at the bottom are of our newest vehicle getting its first wash, and the boys washing a vehicle for the first time. They were very good helpers and had lots of fun with Daddy that day.

More Home Improvements and More Adventures



Here is a picture of Taylor's new skill. He is an expert tree climber. The cherry tree in the picture is easy to access and he's a pro at climbing it. This morning, he conquered a new tree. It's lowest branch is so high he had to jump to reach it with his hands, but once he had, he was able to pull himself up and start climbing. It's amazing to see him doing such big things! He's a very grown up four-year-old.


On Mother's Day, we acquired a new tent (the four of us weren't able to comfortably squeeze into our two-man tent any more). It's a beaut! We tried it out a few days ago and it works perfectly. We went to the coast and spent the night at Devil's Lake Campground in Lincoln City. It's pretty amazing to see a freshwater lake and the ocean in such close proximity. We rented a little motorboat and puttered around the lake for a few hours. The boys both learned to operate the motor and are quite proud of the fact that they know how to drive a boat. In the morning, we went to the beach and took a very long walk. It was an almost wind-less day, which we've never experienced on the Oregon coast before. We had a very good time and look forward to many more tent-camping adventures this summer.


The other big thing we accomplished recently is yet another house project. We got new garage doors a while back and decided they could use a little dressing up. This is the process we used to put stone facia on the front.
First, Jeremy put this wire mesh over some paper.






Then, the boys helped him put on a "scratch coat"



Jeremy and I worked and worked at creating a decent design. It was quite a puzzle and it wasn't as easy as we were expecting it to be, but it was a very fun project (especially now that we are done with it! :-)


The finished product!