Snow and Christmas Update - Part I

Well, its been a while, but I thought I would update the family blog.  First, the week before Xmas week, we had a very abnormal winter weather storm that left the streets with snow and icy conditions, making it very difficult for people to get out and cancelled school the whole week.  Day care was cancelled as well, and lets say....Jason (I) worked from home and had a sitter come over in the mornings to assist Jacob-sitting while I had meetings etc.  It really helped out.  Ethan spent the first part of Xmas break with us and it was awesome.  Suzi's parents came out the Thursday before Xmas, and stayed for 8 days or so.  Ethan and Grampy worked on a snow fort and a huge (8 foot) snowman....We had over 2 feet accumulation.  I had cabin fever, and so, I drove into Forest Grove...let me tell you CHEVY TAHOE's are excellent in the snow and ice....no chains.  I was so impressed, I decided to pull a neighbor out of the middle of the street (she was in her benz with no chains, silly girl!)...we had a blast depending on that SUV.  It got us everywhere....with Grampy, milk was gone daily, so I had to make grocery runs constantly - ha ha.  We really were blessed with a great time with family and it really was awesome having Ethan home!!!  He is such a great kid and Jacob and Ethan are inseparable......stay tune for Part II of Xmas posting...coming soon to a web link near you!

New iPOD User

Self explanatory...this kid is an APPLE follower.

Winter Snow Day

No school for Ethan today.  Yesterday we drove to church and it started to snow.  On the way home we relished in the drive...it was awesome.  Ethan played all day in the snow with the neighbors and I brought Jacob out to check it out.  Ethan and his friend Gracen were building a snow brick (using the recycling bin to make snow bricks) fortress.  It is two bricks high and awaiting Ethans return Wed (as it may snow more!).  Jacob was cautious about his exploration of the 20 degree weather!

Ethan - 10 years old

After 1 month,  I finally have downloaded some pics.  These are from Ethans Bday dinner at Benihana...one of his favorite spots....Go Hibachi Chicken!

Oklahoma Retirement or America's Premiere Travel Spot

Hi everyone. We just got back from Oklahoma for 8 days. We went to Suzi's cousins wedding (Curtis) , Thanksgiving Dinner, and Grandma's 80th birthday party. What a great chapter in my life. I love Oklahoma. Suzi's family is great! Some of the highlights one may encounter on the farm:

- Sausage and Bacon every day for breakfast (yum!)

- Feed the cattle with Grandpa
- Go to the Elevator (Co-op - Grain Silos), chit chat with farmers about Obama, Wheat Futures, Cattle, Sesame, Crops, GM, Ford, Weather, Soil and more wheat futures. Famous Phrase : "Roy, you should of sold at $8.63 / bushel)

- Go back to house and play cards.

- Eat Lunch and plenty of PIE!

- Take nap, play cards, walk outside on the farm...take Jacob to the wheat field.

- Go to the elevator (repeat from above), find that the Wheat Futures went up or down.

- Get Gas.

- Go to Watonga, hang out with some of the same farmers and some new ones...swat flies, drink lots of coffee....talk about Obama, GM, Wheat Futures, Stock Market, Computers, Intel, Soil, Crops, the government.....play a game of guess the number...if you guess it...you pay for everyones coffee....13 people one day....

- Come home, have dinner, + lots of PIE....

- Talk with family, enjoy each others company and play some more cards...

It was awesome! I have included some pics....I am sure Suzi will post as well....

Maybe I could retire there!!!

iPhone ^2

Well, for our 4 year anniversary (for those who don't know - it is Nov 7th), we discussed the option of improving our communication, our productivity, and our geek abilities.  We came up with...

iPhones 

Suzi really likes her phone, but was a little leary at first.  But now, she is calling me more than she used too...hmmm......

I better buy more Apple products!  I am trying to figure this thing out, but I have some cool app's.....No wonder Apple has $25 Billion in CASH!!  It really is handy....I think writing APP's can be a lucrative biz.

Sabbatical is OVER

I've been back to work 2 weeks now. I was thinking the other day, it has been a while since we've posted, the time has FLOWN by the past 5 weeks.

So, what have we been up to?

4 weeks ago, we were blessed with the opportunity to volunteer at The Community House which is in South Portland about 45 minutes from our house. It is a home for young women who get pregnant and don't have support (family, spouse, etc...) They pay for everything for the girls and help them learn the skills to keep the baby or put the baby up for adoption. We helped paint, build shelves, power wash the house, pick weeds, Goodwill trips, etc. It was a great experience.

The next week I took a class for the Program Management Professional Certification and then took the class. Jason did lots of yard work, planted some trees and cleaned up a bit. That weekend Lisa, Jason's sister, and Brody, our nephew, came up for Brody's 1st B-day. Jacob and Brody had a good time together, but I think Jacob has already assumed the bully 'older' cousin. Brody wasn't so happy with him - especially when he ripped his binkie out of his mouth.

Jason went back to work the next week and I had my free week to clean the garage and clean out the boy's clothes. All sort of fun stuff. We even got a great day to have a sprinkler party in the front yard before fall started.

Then I went back to work and am already planning my next trip to China...in 2 weeks! Crazyness. But I'm liking being back at work.

Jason liked being back at work so much, he decided to have back surgery today! Just kidding, we've planned it for a month or so. His MRI was looking worse now than before his last surgery 1.5 yrs ago. He was hurting alot so we just needed to get it done. They surgery went well and his spinal fluid sac stayed in tact this time, so the recovery is already better. He'll come home tomorrow. Thanks to all who have been praying for him. We are anxious to see how the pain is next week. I'm praying he will feel much better and actually be able to sleep.

Ethan is really coming into his prime in soccer and we have been really pushing being aggressive. It's been super fun to watch him develop. He's doing the choir at church and is due for a limo ride at school for his fundraising efforts. So, he's having fun.

Jacob is crazy, it is so much fun, he is climbing all over everything and is saying new words every day both verbally and in sign language. His newest words are Thank You and Bath. He started ball, cracker, milk, more, shoes, socks, cheese, please, bye bye, nye nye over the past few weeks, it is so cute! He is so smart.

This past weekend Jacob and I went to Colorado for a football game with my awesome sorority sisters. It was so much fun. We got to spend time with Tob and Tam and with my parents. They had a great time being Grammie and Grampie and he loved being with them.

OK, I think that's it for the update - sorry for the long blog. Just so much to say!

Jacob's First Haircut

BOO HOO! The time finally came to have to cut Jacob's hair. He had these cute little 'wings', but the killer was his hair getting into his eyes. So, Christina, his day care provider, who used to be a hair cutter, cut it today.

Before:
During:
After:

He also turned 15 months old yesterday, so I guess it's a time for some major milestones. First off, he said nye-nye the night before last for the first time, as he was crawling up the stairs to walk to bed, the whole thing is totally amazing to me. We ask him if he's ready for nye-nye and he walks to the fence and tries to open it. We change have some milk and lay him in bed and off he goes, it's so nice! Speaking of bed time routines, tonight was the first night with out bottle, so we are now BOTTLE FREE!! Go Jacob.

He loves shoes and bikes and his push cars lately, it's so fun to see his playing develop. He will play by himself for 15-20 minutes at a time, it's cool just to watch him. He seems to be so smart, but I'm sure everyone's children seem amazingly smart to them:) He also loves to sweep and vacuum, hopefully that will continue.

The other day, he found Ethan's shin guards and brought them to me to put on, he sat down and put out his leg, he knew where they went, so I put them on and he walked around the house for a few hours looking like a hockey goalie, it was funny.

Ehtan's soccer game was awesome this past weekend, they did great, and Ethan was super aggressive and amazing. We are really enjoying the games.

Tomorrow we start our volunteering at Community House - which is a house for single pregnant women. We will be doing whatever is needed - I'll send updates, we're excited to do some service.

Cancun Paradise

Well, we had to return from Paradise:) Jason and I spent 8 days in Cancun at an all-inclusive adults only resort. It was so nice to be waited on and have no real schedule, we really enjoyed the recharging. The resort was awesome, the food was fantastic and the drinks were great. There are 5 other hotels in the area with the same resort so we toured the other hotels and their restaurants. There was a Teppanyaki Restaurant (where they do all the Japanese food cooking right in front of you), amazing Italian, great steak and Mexican food. We didn't get to the Brazilian restaurant. They also have great shows and activities every night, one show was like Cirque de Soliel another was a variety show with Michael Jackson which was pretty good.

We took a few tours - to Chitzen Itza and Tulum which are Mayan Ruins. Tulum is right on the coast with a beautiful beach. It was really interesting to learn about the Mayan culture. We also did a Zip Line tour which was fun - 10 different zip trips.

We took the local bus downtown Cancun and to get to the other resorts. One night after dinner the local bus driver ran a red light and got pulled over by the police, but no "boletas" (tickets), that was a funny experience.

We were also blessed to meet many great couples enjoying their time together and many honeymooners.

And the most amazing thing - we got to see 3 sea turtles make their way to the beach, walk around and lay eggs (well we actually only saw 1 lay her eggs - it's a 2 hr experience). They came up starting around 11:30 pm. Then at 12:30, we got to release 300 little baby sea turtle hatchlings that had hatched in the hotels nesting area that day. The resort company has a foundation that saves the eggs laid by the mamas and puts them in a safe nest and when they hatch they release them late at night to try to save them from the birds and other predators. They are so cute and small - about the size of the palm of your hand including the little flippers.

So, we loved the experience so much we purchased a membership to the resort and we plan on going back yearly. There are options in Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, Riviera Maya and Dominican Republic. If anyone is interested in going, we have alot of weeks we can use - just let us know. There are great kids clubs at the kid resorts so we are excited to bring the boys back.

Hurricane Ike was going through our first 4 days, but even with that, we had a great time and managed to get some serious sun every day. Some were a bit windy, but we made it!!

Check out the pics below for some fun.

Sabbatical Trip Post #6 - Trip Wrap Up

We are back at home - we got here Monday afternoon. And while it is nice ot be home, we are missing the great family time we had together. Ethan loved life in the camper and really started coming out of his shell the last week - it was a blessing to experience. I think Jacob is glad to be home and have more room to run around and play, but misses digging in the dirt - we will have to invest in a sand box.

Our last day in Florence, we went crabbing and caught many crabs, but only 1 keeper, we cooked it in the camper with some fresh organic corn and potatoes, it was a fantastic meal. Below are some pics.

A wrap up summary for those that are interested.

Miles traveled - 3850

Average MPG - 9

Hours Driving - 65

National Parks Visited - 5

States Visited - 5

Highest Elevation - 9800 ft

Lowest Elevation - -192 ft

Activites - Horse Back Riding, ATV Riding, Fishing, Crabbing, Boating, Biking, Swimming, Reading, Hiking, Photography, Journaling

3 weeks with your family - priceless.

Sabbatical Trip Post #5

We are back in Oregeon! And back to the cloudy skys - although we are happy to be in our home state, we will definitely miss the sunny skys.

For those that were praying for safe travels, thank you so much. The long day on Friday was 14 hrs. The boys did wonderful - we started at 3:45 am so that helped them sleep the first 4 hrs. All along the CA coast, the driving was good and Jason was able to relax a bit, but as soon as we got to OR, the winds picked up and we were right on the coast line, so the driving was very slow and very difficult for Jason, but again he did great. We even drove over the Golden Gate Bridge - admitantly, that was not teh best decision and we are very glad we were there at 6am. But it was fun. We were relived to get to the other side though!

We are staying in Florence, which is home to the Oregon Dunes, so there are dune buggies and ATV's starting on the dunes behind us at 6am and going till late night, but it is cool. Jason and Ethan rented ATV's yesterday and had a good time playing around. Today we are going to go crabbing - we'll see how the crabs like the 'seafood delight' cat food and the chicken legs we bought them.

Below are some pics from Monterey and from yesterday with Ethan and Jason on ATV's. The simulator pics are us driving in a convoy in Iraq. The shooting range is all simulated as well, it was pretty sweet. The pics of the boys are at the Monterey aquarium and Ethan playing super heros with his cousin Justin. I have also included some beach pics and some action photos of Jason looking for his wedding ring in Santa Cruz. The one of Jacob in the trailer is funny to me, he is finding all these funny positions to hang out in.