Delighting in Him

Catching UP!!!

2012-02-02T16:05:00.000-08:00

David and I were just discussing this week how much has been happening in our lives in the recent past.

I have been neglectful of my blog and many family and friends keep up with the goings on through this, so here goes some major catch up.

ENJOY!

Danielle and Ryan have been settling into their new house and making it a home.

Lots of remodeling and make overs happening in their little place.

They are trying to stay ahead of Justice tearing it all apart:)

Ryan has just received a promotion at his work also!

Congratulations Ryan!

Erinn and Michael are FINALLY settling into their new home in Wahiawa, Hawaii (please don't ask me to try to say that)!

They spent one month in Texas with no furniture and 2 months in Hawaii living out of suitcases in a hotel---it was on the beach though.

They are looking forward to settling into one place and being together for more than 3 months without having to move:)

Erinn has just accepted a position with Hawaii Behavioral Health. She will be working with kids with disabilities helping them to become more independent.

Congratulations Erinn!

Drew has won his last two college indoor mile races setting a personal best each time!

He is looking forward to racing on a longer track hopefully on the 11th in Seattle, which we are hoping to go see. For those of you who do not know WSU has a small 200m non-banked indoor track. Racing 1 mile on that is slower than on longer tracks and harder on the legs. Still he ran a 4:13 mile!

As you can see from the picture there is more going on in his life!

He is referring for flag football for a couple of months. It is at the college and they work around his schedule. It is a perfect opportunity for him to earn a few extra bucks while still keeping up his commitments with running and school, both of which are important and he receives scholarship money for both, so he can't let them slack.

Congrats Drew on all your hard work!

Caleb and Hannah both learned to cross country ski this last week.

It was very icy and not such great snow to learn in, but they were both troopers.

As you can see from the difference in their attire, Caleb was a little over dressed for the weather! I think he sweated through three of his 6 layers-LOL!

Sweet Hannah has finished 1st grade!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a major accomplishment.

Not only that, but she finished it in a calendar year----the first time that has happened with any of her schooling.

The only subject she is still in first grade for is math, a more troublesome concept for many African children!

We are so proud of her effort and the amazing strides she is making.

She also wants to have LOTS of girls over for her birthday party.

This is also big as she is usually fairly afraid of her peers. We are hoping having them all on her turf will be good for her!

Congratulations Sweet Girl!

David had the sweet privilege of finishing a marathon relay with his friends, Nate and Dustin!

The marathon was split three ways giving them the marathon feel without all the miles, which David's body is having a hard time dealing with.

After the marathon he was out for a few weeks, but I am happy to say he may already be back on the running road.

He is a much happier and content person when he is able to run.

He is also trying a new medicine for his arthritis. With his first shot this week, he is not ready to say whether it works any better than his old stuff yet, but he is loving that he will only need a shot every two weeks instead of every week!

I love you my man!

This is what I have been spending a lot of time on.

It is Hannah's Birthday quilt.

It is not finished yet, but close.

I am slowly adjusting to having just littles at home and missing my big kids!

This project kept me busy.

We are so thankful for the many blessing and stretching things that fill our lives---

Hopefully you enjoyed the catch up too!

New Skills

2012-01-18T11:01:00.001-08:00

We are working on a new project around here.

Pretty--and no, the giraffe print is not part of it, it is a blanket.

Someone has a special day coming up and we are working on something special.

Can you guess who?

No, I would never have her help on her own gift!

Actually she was having lots of fun learning how to use the iron.

She picked out the fabric, with help.

She picked out the pattern.

Hopefully it turns out well.

The Dignity of Human Life

2012-01-17T19:02:00.001-08:00

Wow! Well done!The Dignity of Human Life by Focus on the family

New Stuff

2012-01-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

Caleb is sporting his new glasses picked up this afternoon.

We are thankful that the eye doc was able to see some of the issues we have been dealing with and is hoping these new duds will help with his focusing issues.

Praying!

Thankful he will only need to wear them for school and such, since his record with breaking things is so high!

Hannah is sporting a new do too!!

I have been leaving her styles in longer than usual to try to give her hair a break without taking the braids out.

I use the last week to get some good scrubbing in on her scalp and some longer scalp treatments in, as it is very difficult to reach her scalp when her braids are out-LOL.

We tried a little bang type thing since she has such a long, skinny face and she is loving it--she likes the "long" in my face kinda thing.

PR and Record

2012-01-15T18:01:00.001-08:00

Congratulations Drew on an early season PR and a meet record!

WSU Open Indoor Meet Produces Records

PULLMAN - Four meet records were broken and two more were tied Saturday at the 10th Annual Washington State Open Indoor track and field meet at the Indoor Facility on the Pullman campus.A trio of Cougar men broke the mile meet record in a first through fourth sweep. Drew Jordan won the event with a lifetime-best time of 4:15.36, besting teammate Andrew Kimpel's 2010 time of 4:17.03. Andrew Gonzales' 4:16.36 and Justin Englund's 4:16.79 were also faster than the record while Jono Lafler finished fourth in a time of 4:19.51.

http://www.wsucougars.com/sports/c-track/recaps/011412aaa.html

Hearing That Still Small Voice.....

2012-01-13T17:27:00.000-08:00

Sometimes parenting can be hard work.

Sometimes we make it harder on ourselves by trying to go it alone or giving into our pride or listening to wrong advice.

I am very thankful that yesterday I had ears to hear the Still Small Voice whispering into "my" plans and busyness.

Yesterday as I was heading home I heard that Still Small Voice say check _______. I thought that was odd because this had never been something that had been a problem, but it persisted.

So I immediately checked ________ when I got home and yes it did need to be checked. Yes, this was a first time and Praise His Name it was caught the first time.

Now I gave this precious treasure every opportunity to confess, but as any of you who have treasures from the hard places know, things first learned for survival are hard to let go.

Sadly he did not take the opportunity and I showed him _____. He then confessed.

Now that, Praise be to God, is not the end!!!!

Again, that Still Small Voice spoke into my heart.

I let him know how a small seed of sin can grow if left hidden and that I was thankful for this revelation.

I asked him what this made him and he said, "Liar, Cheater".

Yea your right, it makes you a sinner.....

Just like ME!

Because you know sin is sin.

And we all sin.

Praise God He is not finished with us yet!

I am praising Him today for His speaking to me that I may have the privilege anew to speak truth and love into my precious son's life.

Caleb this is all part of becoming like Jesus.

Learning to turn from sin.

Learning to confess our sin.

Learning to uncover our sin and be cleansed anew.

Learning to love those who correct us because they love us and want the best for us.

You know as part of his punishment he had to scrub the shower walls, twice.

And he went into Hannah's room, got the portable radio and brought it into the bathroom and was singing praise hymns while he was scrubbing!!!

A soul being washed in truth.

A soul being trained in righteousness.

A soul learning to love.

God is so very good.

What a Savior we serve.

Rescued

2012-01-12T18:23:00.000-08:00

Rescued: The Heart of Adoption and Caring for Orphans - Trailer from Rescued The Movie on Vimeo.

Watch it!~ Make a choice to take some action!

The Annual Egg Nog Mile

2012-01-11T12:43:00.000-08:00

So I am way, way behind, but I have to get some pictures up.

Back on December 22, the longest night of 2011 our community does the longest night mile.

Lots of crazy folks coming out on a very cold, dark night to run a fast mile.

If you are not a runner you will not get it at all.

Caleb chugged out his mile.

Hannah ran one with no training at all.

I joined her on the last lap as an encouragement.

She is really starting to get this running thing down.

Drew was off in the 'fast' heat.

With his Santa hat!

He enjoyed a quick mile with a bunch of college friends home for the holiday.

I think they used it as a warm up for the big event.

The Annual Egg Nog Mile.

The guys, and yes this year it was all guys.

Drink one of these glasses of egg nog and run a lap, then another glass and another lap, till they throw up or finish!

I know, I don't get it either.

Hannah and I were in charge of the egg nog.

Drew was in charge.

This year they did it right after the Longest Night Mile, thinking they would get a good turn out that way.

Think the numbers were about the same--30 or so.

Gotta love how some of them have to plug their noses even to drink the stuff.

Drew was the official winner again this year.

How he can stop after each lap and down a glass of this stuff and still run a sub 5 minute mile is beyond me!

Though he has gotten smart and made himself throw it all up afterwords.

No great pictures this year with the night time.

And not too much going on as the kids were taking the mile pretty easy.

I think next year they will switch it back to early morning when everyone is a little more geared up.

A Warm Day for Pictures

2011-12-31T12:36:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful visit with Danielle and Ryan over Christmas weekend.

And though I am sure after growing up in Southern California that I spent many a warm Christmas's as a child, but this was the first in a very long time!

I do not know what kind of plant this is, but I am sure Dr. Seuss must have been looking out his window at one when he created many of his characters--LOL

I love the plants and trees in Santa Barbara.

What do you think?

Like mother, like daughter?

I have no idea what we were talking about here, possibly the amazingly large number of stairs we were going to have to go down to get to the beach.

And sadly that meant having to go back up them later-HA

But you must agree it was a beautiful view!

See what I meant about the flowers.

Isn't it great all the diversity in creation our wonderful God gave us!

Now this one is just too cute for words.

And with a skinny little body like hers she might make a great model when she gets a little older-LOL

Even cactus can look beautiful, especially with the beautiful Pacific in the background.

This is what we were hoping to get while on the beach.

A family picture, minus Erinn and Michael.

Don't know what Caleb was going for?

He actually has a beautiful smile.

Our treasures hidden in a 'cleft of the rock'.

Some of the local wildlife.

And a fallen log meant there needed to be a challenge to see who could go up the farthest.

Ryan on his way up.

And on his way down!

Danielle and I gave it a try, but it was actually lots harder than it looked,

Especially on a slick log with sandy feet.

Drew on his way up, he made it the farthest.

Drew on his way down!

Drew holding on for dear life-Ha.

Please tell me that you all get pictures like this!

Everyone looking at the camera and someone thinks it is a great time to give a thumbs up!

This kid is making me old before my time.

Here we all are somewhat looking at the camera, but very squinty!

Danielle and Ryan 2011

Those of us left at home 2011.

Me and my best friend of 26 years!

Surprise Christmas

2011-12-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

We decided to do things a little different this year around our house.

We will be blessed to spend the Christmas weekend with Danielle and Ryan in Southern California, so we decided to surprise the kids and open present early--Tuesday night.

Drew knew, but we chose not to tell the littles because we are dealing with lots of anxiety issues on their parts right now anyways----and that did relieve a lot---now they can just look forward to our trip and time together as a family:)

Can't remember if I posted this yet, but what else can you do when you have a big deer head hanging on the wall by your Christmas tree?

Sorry all you non-hunters, but we were thankful for the meat.

Drew made sure everyone was decked out in their WSU Crimson and Gray.

The fact that Caleb has been wearing his for two days straight tells what he thinks of it!

Well it is in the wash now, or I told him he could not take it to California---Awe Mom!

Awe---Doggy lovin'!

Erinn and Michael sent some cute Christmas ornaments--a football goofy!

And of course a Disney Princess Tianna!

Last year my wonderful husband filled my stocking with Pepsi, chocolate and vanilla candles.

Well he was doing great with the Pepsi and chocolate, but I really don't like the smell of vanilla-Ha.

This year Erinn got it right this year with this amazing Salty Carmel candle.

It is absolutely amazing.

Gifts all the way from Grandma and Grandpa in the Philippines.

Hannah and Drew's are both from local artisans.

Oh, poor Liberty looks like she is really suffering under the barrage of bow and ribbons and lots of loving from Hannah and Belle.

Hannah's new Christmas do and her jingle bell hair tie.

Let's just say we always know where she is:)

And I might seriously be regretting this one in the next few days!

My mom and dad, under my recommendations, got Caleb his first Spy Wear that he has really been wanting.

Let's just say he is a very typical boy is some ways, like his fascination with spying, forts, and traps.

Some days I head upstairs to a maze of rope and yard with directions how to navigate the hallway to my bedroom.

Well now we must all be careful of the video taking, voice recording, picture taking spy Caleb.

Oh my, Lord give me patience!

Some of the stash from Grandma and Grandpa.

I must say Drew was a great sport now that he is the only big kid in the house.

While the littles were opening toys, he was opening household appliances for his apartment, warm clothing for Pullman winters and dress clothes WSU requires for traveling sports teams!

Awe---poor Liberty, she looks so bothered by all her bows!

Notice she has not even moved now that there are boxes and on her paws and wrapping paper on her head!

What's Up

2011-12-20T08:34:00.000-08:00

We are so thankful to have Drew home for Christmas break.

He is happy for the break from school for a while too.

I have been busy putting out fires that can occur from upsetting schedules and anxious kids not having their expectations met.

This year has had a little more I think because we have not had the big kids around for months and little minds set up expectations for what they thought it would be like when they got home.

I missed the cues:(

So we try to keep them busy and let them know what is going on and when.

Though we are keeping it a surprise that we are opening presents early:)

Here they are both working on some ornaments the sewed out of felt.

We are also busy with an extra dog.....

Drew brought home his coach's dog.

Long story, but the short of it is that it was just supposed to be a ride to Southern Oregon, and it has turned into a three week stay.

Not a big deal, but those of you who know us, know that our precious golden retriever, Liberty, hates dogs!!

Not a real good combinations with a Rottweiler mix.

Well we have done a pretty good job keeping one inside and one outside after Miles showed us just how high he could jump over the gate we put up.

Libby can't jump at all and we thought we were safe.

We know better now.

So add a little more anxiety and stress to the mix and Hannah is pretty much trying to keep to her room where it is peaceful.

Today's schedule contains some more crafts, probably a game of Ticket To Ride (an amazing game by the way), a trip to the library, a run in the cold, and a good Christmas movie by the tree with hot chocolate.

Peaceful

Hopefully

Interceeding.....

2011-12-07T13:13:00.001-08:00

I really had no choice but to forward this post from Sarah's Covenant Homes.

Please know that the pictures contained in this post are graphic due to this precious little girl's medical condition.

During this time of plenty---where we give what is not really needed to those we love...

What about giving what is really needed to one whom we can love through prayer.

What is Christmas about if it isn't about love and sacrifice and redemption?

One little life.

What can we all do?

Quilts again soon..

2011-11-29T08:37:00.001-08:00

Last Christmas I dove into this project from my talented son.

Though I had seen many t-shirt quilts over the years this is the way I chose to do Danielle's 6 years ago and David's 4 years ago.

With running shirts the print can sometimes be very small and other times very large, by cutting out the designs I allowed for more variation and more shirts to be included.

Some of the small designs in the middle are from sleeves or front right corners when the backs have large prints. This lets you get some of the name brand logos too.

One of the small ones is actually from the top of a sock!!

For Drew's I also sewed a couple of patches on the front of the quilt before backing it.

I also took his high school letter and sewed it onto a piece of T-shirt and used it as a square.

Knowing I wanted this to be a large full size, when I had a lot of t-shirts cut out I lined them up by widths and started playing with it till I had my rows figured out.

I then backed each t-shirt with heavy iron-on backing and quilted around the block with four different colors of fabric---Drew's color choices. When I was working down a row I tried to keep colors from touching at I attached each block. My strips were about 2 inches, I think.

Then to give it a little more size and consistency I used the large blue strips in the middle and then black and gray around the edging in sizes to make it to what I was wanting. I just tied this to finish.

It was so much fun and everyone I have made them for has really enjoyed them.

So now with no runners in the next couple of years what am I to do?

Well I will be starting in January on one for Drew and Danielle's high school cross country coach. He is getting married this summer and I wanted to gift him with a special memory of his own.

Should be a lot of fun!

Think about it....

2011-11-29T06:45:00.001-08:00

Pac-12 All-Academic Cross Country Team!

2011-11-28T21:40:00.001-08:00

Nov. 22, 2011

2011 Pac-12 All-Academic Release
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - Five men and three women from Washington State University were named to the 2011 Pac-12 Conference Cross Country All-Academic teams, Commissioner Larry Scott announced Tuesday.Justin Englund, a senior from Federal Way, Wash., was named to the men's first team for the third consecutive year. Englund, a member of the WSU Honors College, is a mathematics major with a 3.90 grade point average. Andrew Gonzales, a sophomore from Kennewick, Wash., and a general medical sciences major with a 3.53 GPA, was named to the second team for the second straight year.
Three Cougars were named to the men's honorable mention team: Drew Jordan (sophomore, Medford, Ore.) an undeclared major with a 3.38 GPA, Andrew Kimpel (junior, Spokane) a management information systems major with a 3.24 GPA, and Richard Shroy (sophomore, Carson City, Nev.) a movement studies major with a 3.14 GPA. Englund, Gonzales, Jordan and Kimpel competed at the NCAA Championships Monday where the Cougar men placed 21st.

Congratulations Drew we are very proud of you!!!

Success and Full...

2011-11-27T16:10:00.001-08:00

David had the privilege of heading to Eastern Oregon this last week to enjoy the wondrous beauty of God's creation, coated in its first snow of the year.

He was also there with his good friend, David, and his brother, Paul, and his nephew, Preston, to seek out the all elusive elk.

THIS IS FAIR WARNING IF YOU ARE NOT INTO HUNTING-----

THE FOLLOWING PICTURES AND STORY ARE NOT FOR YOU!

David and his friend, David.

David thoroughly enjoyed his time with the guys and his evenings spent catching up with old friends from our days living in Baker City.

David and his brother, Paul, well decked out in their hunter orange.

Their hunt started on Friday, and on their last hunt on Wednesday, before heading home for Thanksgiving, they were blessed by one very large cow elk.

David W. was blessed to be the lucky shot of the week.

This is a perspective shot for those of you who are unaware of actually how large and elk really is.

Sorry it is sideways:/

This beautiful animal was very gratefully split between four families who are blessed by its provision.

David brought the heart and liver home to enjoy.

I sadly missed the pictures of all the kids and their amazement at how large it was.

The heart was the size of a very large melon and they loved seeing all the valves and arteries.

The liver was massive and very slick.

We may be weird, but the kids really did enjoy the science lesson.

Along with the elk meat, David brought home a half a beef we bought from some friends in Baker.

So it was a successful hunt and we have two very full freezers:)

Amazed....

2011-11-21T20:49:00.001-08:00

This kid amazes me.

He is growing and maturing is so many ways right now as to spin the mind.

Today was one of our challenge days---they tend to be Mondays:/

But as we were discussing one of our issues today, God slowed me down, as He has been a lot lately with this one.

He said, "Show your son the root of the sin, show him the reality of how he is gripping on to it, help him learn to release it."

Yes, we are moving beyond behavior modification to helping him really come to grips with how our sinful hearts can deceive us.

He really has trouble understanding his sin, yet don't we all!

I am so very thankful for my faithful husband and friends that lovingly point out my areas of blindness.

So I in turn, seek to help Caleb to learn it is something we all deal with.

***It does not me we are irredeemable.

***It does not mean we are unlovable.

***It does not mean that grace cannot met us where we are.

***It does not mean we cannot be forgiven and start afresh.

For kids from the 'hard places' who have experienced significant pain and loss in their young lives, there is an extra layer to work through.

It is easy for Caleb to reject the above truths.

To go to his place of comfort.

But to allow this would be to short change my wonderful son of all the blessings:

***that lie in walking in the freedom of guilt and shame

***that lie in living a life fully focused on bringing God all the glory

***that lie in living in the truth and not being blinded by bitterness

So, though we have our rough days, I am learning, as I believe Caleb is, to rejoice even in these days because God is so good to give them to us so we can be challenged and changed into the likeness of his precious Son.

Because that is the only prayer I pray for ALL my children regularly----

That they may be molded in the potter's hand into the likeness of Jesus---

And the hard part is "whatever it takes".

Thank you Lord for loving us so much that you refine us!

Don't Say Never

2011-11-20T19:25:00.001-08:00

I have been very guilty of saying NEVER way too much!

My wonderful husband loves to call me on it :)

I can officially say I broke one of my avowed NEVERS this weekend!

Oh--can I say it?

Will I be judged by the rest of you NEVERS out there?

Oh well..

I have been learning this year not to let others opinions be so important to me :)

Here goes....

I put up all my Christmas decorations (besides the tree)---BEFORE---Thanksgiving......

Oh there it is.

One of my NEVER in my lifetimes.

I want to focus on the Thankfulness of the Thanksgiving holiday, so I never wanted to venture into the decorating too early.

But the way it came about this year was interesting.

David was gone for the week---always a great time to do a messy project.

Erinn called and asked if I could pack up some of her Christmas things and get them ready to send to Hawaii for her.

And well, one box led to another and another and well you get the idea.

And mess in hand I decided I was very THANKFUL for the time and uninterrupted days to accomplish the daunting task of removing Thanksgiving decorations and redecorating for Christmas.

Now when we get back from celebrating with David's family, I can rest and enjoy the rest of my long weekend with my family.

And you know what?

For that I am very THANKFUL and isn't that the idea anyways.

So if you are afraid of snowmen till after Black Friday....

Don't come to my house!!

Mary and Joseph are starting an early journey to Bethlehem this year too.

Maybe it will be more restful for her that way :)

Remembering to Thank the Lord in ALL things.....

Even NEVERS that are no longer!

Six Years Ago.......

2011-11-19T09:32:00.001-08:00

Six years ago....

we became a family of 7 at the Portland International Airport (Danielle was at college)!

What an amazing day full of so very many emotions for everyone of us.

Oh the amazing joys and trials and frustrations and victories adoption brings!

It is a journey of love and growth that is incomparable to anything I have ever experienced!

We are so thankful God led us down this path to bring this two beautiful treasures into our family!

May His name be forever glorified!

What to do???

2011-11-18T15:51:00.001-08:00

When David is gone for a few days I usually use the time to get a big project or two done that is messy, like painting or deep cleaning.

So this week I had a couple of painting jobs lined up, one of which was painting the legs on this table!

I really was not into a messy paint job and things kept interrupting full days.

Yesterday was a surprise trip to the doctor with Hannah, then to the pharmacy and back home for some treatment---praying it works!

Today was a surprise morning of testing at the school district. We had asked for testing a while back and had some meetings, but I had not heard back on actual testing dates. Got home from the doctors last night at 4:30 to a message that there was a 2 hour testing this morning at 8:30.

Along with all this is my still not feeling up to my old energy levels with all the diet changes due to food sensitivities. I am thankful for how it is working, just need to get the eating figured out so I have energy all day.

So I decided no painting or big yard projects.

Then Erinn called and asked if I could get a box of her Christmas stuff ready to send to her in Hawaii since she will be arriving early December and wants something to make the house somewhat festive, even though they will have no furniture.

So that started.....

You see where this is going, right?

Well one box of Christmas led to another box of Christmas.

And well lets just say that Thanksgiving is somewhat getting the shaft around here this year.

I figured we were not going to be home for the holiday any ways so why not.

So right now at 4:00pm this is as far as I have gotten.

Mess city.

And you know how one mess leads to another clean out messy job.

I have both school closets all over the place too waiting to be organized or cataloged! I have to get a list of what I have because I am always changing things up as Hannah needs it, and I order lots of things from my PBS and I don't want to be doubling up, but I do want to get things on my wish list.

And the big Christmas change over means cleaning all those little nooks and crannies that only get cleaned a few time a year--sad to say, but too true.

Amazingly we have completed a full day of school everyday this week so far---yeah!!

Caleb aced a Science test today!

Hannah had all her school completed by noon even with our morning doing school at the school district offices. Then she happily jumped into helping me because Christmas is just too fun and she is lighting up all over!

Goal tonight:

1) lesson plans for the next two weeks done

2) put regular school closet back together.

3) pre-pack Erinn's box and put the rest of her stuff back in the attic

4)catalog rest of grade school books and replace them on shelves

5) totally IGNORE the rest of the Christmas stuff and cleaning.

and finally

6) play a game of trains with the kids:)

I am exhausted just writing it down:)

A Fury of Football Frames....

2011-11-17T08:46:00.001-08:00

So what do you do when you keep saying more to come on your blog....

So what can I do when I have posted at least three blogs on Drew's races.....

So what can I do when football season has already been over for two weeks and still no pictures....

Well you got it....a fury of football frames!

Caleb just finished his third year of football with the same team and the same great coaches

His first year was four years ago when we were still unaware of some of the issues he faced in his birth country---football brought much of that to the surface and allowed us to deal with some previously unknown circumstances---and for that we are truly thankful.

The next year we took off because it was Drew's senior year of cross country and there were many conflicting dates, plus we wanted to make sure Caleb was ready for another foray into such a rough sport.

This year he really started to figure it out and was off to a great start, due to a first game injury he became a little hesitant, but worked through it during the season.

Caleb played starting defensive back on a team that was second in their league.

The first place team won state by a landslide and Caleb's team only lost to them by 4 points.

I believe Caleb was the only 5th grader on a team of 6th graders, so they will all be moving on to jr. high next year (seriously that can not be so close to happening with our second set of kids--boy I am getting old!)

That means next year, if he chooses to play, it will be with a new team and new coaches.

Caleb is extremely social, the total opposite of Hannah, and he will really miss these guys.

He loves it when we see them around town or at other functions.

Here is the first hit of the season where he got hurt. I think he was the guy underneath and got hit in a pretty sensitive area:(

Coaches checking him out on the field to see if he can play.

On the Sunday before his final regular season game, we believe he dislocated his knee running to the bathroom at church.

Yes, you hear that right, not playing football as all parents worry about, but at church!

He missed the first play-off game which was hard for him, but the swelling was gone by the final game and he played in that game.

What a great season Medford Pop Warner Black Tornado!

Caleb with Coach Faust, their official head coach and his defensive coach, who was amazing with Caleb all 4 years.

Caleb with Coach Rumrey, their acting head coach, overall tough guy who expected a lot from his kids and taught them a lot about teamwork and discipline---oh and he is the ex-head high school football coach that coached lots of winning high school teams.

Great season Caleb, we are very proud of all your hard work!

Right time-Right place

2011-11-16T07:09:00.001-08:00

So does this little girl look happy to see her big brother?

She was so excited.

She misses all the big people around here.

David was very aware that there was way more going on at Stanford this last weekend than the Regional NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Gotta love the welcome the hotel had for all of the out of town college guests staying at their hotel---LOL.

And then there was this lovely sign right out front.

We may have been sporting our Washington State University Crimson and Gray but......

We are Oregonians after all.

So early Saturday morning we headed over to Stanford University.

Their campus is absolutely gorgeous.

Hannah beside one of the 'small' statues on campus.

But this is why we made an early morning trip to the campus.

The right time-right place part.

For all you football fans.

Saturday's College Game Day program was done live from the Stanford Campus for the

Oregon vs. Stanford football game later in the day.

Quite an experience to be there among all the craziness.

And yes, David yelled right along with all the other crazy people when the camera would zoom across the cables above us.

Though we are Duck fans, we were wearing our crimson and gray for WSU, so we actually looked somewhat like Stanford Fans.

But if you look at the red flag flying on the right hand side of this picture, you can almost tell it is a WSU flag!

Most of the colleges in the new Pac 12 were represented in one way or another.

Yeah our crimson, kinda blended in with this side of crazies.

Thanks ESPN and Home Depot for the unique experience.

Caleb, David, Hannah, and David's nephew and name sake, David enjoying the cool morning.

Sometimes David's need to fill every moment of the day makes for fun memory makers!

Oh and by the way...

Even though Oregon was predicted to loose this game here at the Game Day hoopla...

We were privileged to listen to the whole game on our drive home on our XM radio and.....

Oregon proudly pounced on Stanford! Yeah!

A two hour diversion

2011-11-15T09:28:00.001-08:00

When you are in the bay area of Central California, what do you do?

But head a couple hours out of your way to hit a famous landmark and see the city from afar in the fog and driving rain!

Especially if you are a Jordan!

They were doing some work down here low and up higher.

Caleb, who is afraid of heights, was amazed at how high people had to go to work on it.

I think he was sick just thinking about it.

Do we look cold?

It was!

What an amazing site, even after all the times I have seen it.

Fun times---Fun memories

My amazing husband who is usually behind the camera.

A rescue training operation out of the coast guard station.

On our way out to seen Drew and thankful we could use the bridge to get there faster now rather than driving all the way around the bay!

I was one anxious mom to see my far away son!

NCAA Division 1 West Regional at Stanford

2011-11-14T07:30:00.001-08:00

Wow---What an amazing weekend!

We were blessed with the amazing opportunity to watch our oldest son race in the

NCAA Division 1 West Regional at

Stanford University

There were 172 of the West's top athletes competing at this weekend's competition.

Here you see about half the field.

In the first photo you see Drew and standing behind him to the right, is the eventual winner, Lawi Lalang, a freshman whose home country is Kenya.

Washington State knew going in they would need amazing races from all their athletes to secure a spot to Nationals next week, but they also knew it was within their abilities.

Drew knew that he and his teammate, Todd, would be key in their position at 5th and 6th runners.

Cross country scores top 5 runners with 7 runners being allowed to compete per team.

First place scores one point and so on with LOW score winning.

6th and 7th runners are for tie breaking and also add points to other teams scores, by being in front of their scoring runners .

Here are Drew and two of his teammates early in the race.

I love this picture with him looking to the side.

The west region features some of the best runners in the nation with the top two teams advancing automatically to nationals, and 13 at large positions across the nation.

With Stanford, Oregon, UCLA, Cal Poly, Portland and California, Washington State knew they were in for a battle and were going to have to run tough races to get in the hunt.

Drew would race for a personal best, as would almost everyone of his teammates on this amazing day.

Drew would place 61st in a personal best time of 30:43 for a 10K for a 6th man on his team. To put this in perspective, he ran 20 seconds faster than he did 2 years ago when he won his state meet and then did the whole race over again at the same pace.

The improvement that Drew has seen is amazing and it was so fun to watch him run strong after his struggling last track season only to find out he was battling mono all season.

His teammates placed:
14 Andrew Kimpel 29:46
16 Jono Lafler 29:47
33 Justin Englund 30:14
41 Todd Wakefield 30:21
45 Andrew Gonzales 30:24
61 Andrew Jordan 30:43
65 Lee George 30:47

Then they would wait on pins and needles for the scores.

When they started reading scores and these guys who had placed 6th last week at the Pac 12's were getting pretty excited as they heard:

UCLA   6th

Then.....

Oregon   5th

And their reaction to

WASHINGTON STATE 4TH!!!!!

One happy group of guys.

And we found out yesterday that 4th was good enough for one of the at large positions, so they are headed to nationals next week in Indiana.

For the first time in many years Washington State will be represented at nationals by their cross country team!

Congratulations men---we are very proud of all you have accomplished this year.

You can see full results here   http://www.gostanford.com/sports/c-xc/stats/2011-2012/west_men.html

and at this site http://www.gostanford.com/sports/c-xc/stats/2011-2012/west_men.html you will find and article as well as an interview with his coach and top runner.

Also here is a short video from Flotrack http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/240454-NCAA-D1-XC-West-Region-2011/video/515433-Mens-NCAA-West-Regional-2011-Race-Highlights You can see Drew at about 55 seconds into the video on the left hand side in the red.

Hayrides and Corn Mazes

2011-11-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

The Gang's all here!

Still trying to do some life catch up.

So here is pumpkin patch fun with the church homeschool group.

I must say I have good lookin kids!

This is one of those 'awe Mom do we have to pictures.

Bethany, Hannah, and Anna

Goats and Sheep

This kiddo is very excited we are talking about getting chickens!

The corn maze which these boys of course walked through like they were told--NOT

Hannah going for hay in the pants.

Now we are king of the mountain.

Mounds of fun.

Hannah and Bethany's turn at the maze.

They took turns deciding which way to go.

Finding their way out.

Friends!

He was actually enjoying all the info.

We had fun on the very front seet of the hay ride!

Caleb and with the boys group--He was not about to join ours!

Harvest Celebrations

2011-11-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

Hannah always looks lovely in face paint.

We have spent many years avoiding all things reguarding this most recent holiday.

We did choose this year to let the kids enjoy a couple great harvest festivals at a couple local churches.

Sunday Hannah attended alone because Caleb was at a football game.

Then Monday we all went to a big game time in the evening.

Then off to ballon animals made by our friend "Pirate Heather"

Our pioneer was totally into the pony ride.

Caleb the football player enjoying games and candy.

Hannah was right where she wanted to be.

Yes, they are about the same size. They hear it all the time.

Pac 12's Running Overload!

2011-11-01T18:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend was Drew's NCAA Pac 12 meet in Phoneix, Arizona

So here goes with picture overload!

Warm ups with the team.

So strange to see Pac 12 instead of Pac 10, since Colorado and Utah joined up this year.

The finish line and ultimate goal.

The guys ready to go.

And they are off.

I really missed not being able to go see him race, but glad David had the opportunity to go and bring home pictures.

We are looking forward to going to Regionals at Stanford in a couple of weeks.

These three guys are in 4,5 and 6th places right here.

I so love seeing my kids grow up, but the leaving is hard. I miss this guy and strangely to say, I miss his noise.

It is fun seeing him running strong and actually a personal best in this race, after an early achilles injury and some stomach issues.

Love this set of three pictures snapped right in a row.

And around the corner.

Look at that sweat, it was much hotter in Phoenix than it had been in Pullman!

Into the finish following his teammate for 4th and 5th place team finishes and two personal bests.

Two tired guys with personal bests and really stepping it up for their team.

Drew and his friend, Courtney, who runs for the lady Cougars.

Fishing Overload!

2011-10-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

Time to catch up on what my husband has decided is his new time filler--since he is no longer in school!

David has always enjoyed fishing, and we used to fish a lot when we lived in Baker.

But since we moved here and got so busy with teenagers and sports and such we just never really had time.

But when there is time, I am sure there are fish!

Back when I was in California with Danielle, David took my Dad, Loren (in the back) and my Uncle Larry (in the red) up fishing.

To bad it happened to be the coldest day they have had fishing yet.

Specially since Uncle Larry lives in Southern California, hence the crazy outfit scoured from the depths of my dad's closet!

They had a good time, though I believe Larry never got a chance to catch any totally on his own this day.

They got a nice stringer and lots of good eating out of this one.

Now a couple of days later---yes, I was still in California and David was either bored or taking advantage of his freedom.

But really, look at this face!

He does know how to love life!

Notice the snow on the mountains now!

The fishing has been great at Diamond Lake this year.

You would have to ask David if he would share his spots and the secret tackle he has been using......

Caleb is loving all the time with the guys.

So fun, since we are also seeing such an improvement in so many areas of his life right now, what a special way to bless him for his amazing work on improving his character---let him spend time with men of integrity in the beauty of God's creation!

This is our special friend, Buzz!

He and his wife, Julie, have been such an encouragement to our family.

David was blessed to spend a day on the lake with him.

Caleb's favorite spot on the boat.

Beautiful Mount Theilson with her first dusting of snow for the winter.

The day's catch!

And the final day of fishing....so far that is, was Saturday.

They were joined by Ron and Stan Green.

We attend church with Ron, and were pleased to meet his father, Stan.

This was the day of the big guys.

The fish must have settled into the changing weather, and the big ones were biting!

Caleb and David with some of the big guys of the day.

I already posted the video of David and his big catch, but if you missed it or need a good smile you can catch it again HERE

I found it very interesting that though Caleb has never video taped before he knew that the thing to film was not the actual catching of the fish, but his father's face!

Now for those of you who do not know my husband, this is really him.

He loves life to its fullest and lives it that way!

It is exhausting to live with him much of the time, but very joyous!

Thanks Ron for enjoying the day with my men, and for the wonderful video that we will always cherish!

I guess you would call that one happy kid!

The Green's catch of the day---12 beauties!

The Jordan's catch of the day---14 beautiful trout!

The largest being 3 lbs. 9 oz.

Oh, and again for those of you who do know my husband, especially my oldest children.....notice that he is wearing matching clothes! An unusual occurrence for his outings.

What a blessing upon blessing for these two.

Thank you Lord the amazing memories that have been made.

A Slightly Embarassing Video of My Husband Catching a Fish

2011-10-16T06:13:00.000-07:00

Talk Fusion Studio UTC

The eyes don't have it!

2011-10-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

Notice anything odd about this picture.

Here we see just one example of Caleb's schooling challenges.

His eyes do not converge.

It is actually very odd to watch.

He really thinks both eyes are looking at this, then we cover the right one and he is trying to figure out where it went!

Interestingly I think in most cases you would at some point see two if your eyes were doing this, he says he never sees two.

I am not a specialist or anything, just a mom trying to figure things out, but the way I understand this, is that if his eyes are struggling to converge he will have trouble focusing on words on the page because both eyes are not looking at the same place.

Hence he starts reading OK and struggles more and more as his eyes get tired.

He also struggles keeping place on the page.

He says the words jump off the page towards him.

So we have started some basic eye training with him at home with the cute pencil and lots of one eye at a time.

We are also using the Brain Integration Therapy by Dianne Craft, we have not been doing it long enough to tell whether it is working.

We will also be starting to integrate some of the exercises from Eye Can Learn in the next week.

I am thankful that I am a veteran at the homeschooling thing, or I would have decided a long time ago that I was not cut out for this.

An example with Caleb it that due to his

1) Auditory Processing Disorder he does not learn well by hearing

2) Visual Processing differences (not formally diagnosed) he does not learn well by seeing

3) Attention differences (also not formally diagnosed) he does not learn well by doing

4) PTSD (also not formally diagnosed) he does not do well with getting things incorrect or being corrected, which is all part of school and learning.

I am so thankful for the support of my husband, family, friends and therapist that keep us going on this long road.

He does seem to be doing better overall with the changes we have made this year. I will post more on the full curriculum later, but for now, it is off to school and he will be commandeering my computer for the next 4 hours!

Train trips, paint and puppies!

2011-10-12T16:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Hannah and I had the blessing to be able to travel to Santa Barbara by train to help Danielle and Ryan do some work on their first home!

It was an experience for both of us, as I had never been on a train that I can recall either.

We boarded in Klamath Falls, Oregon after a 1 1/2 hour drive over the pass in the first snow of the year, at 10 pm on Wednesday, my birthday! We arrived the next day for dinner. 20 hours on what would take 12ish to drive.

Hannah loved the room to play and read and do school. We even went to the lounge car so she could spread out her dolls on the table.

What a way to get woke up each morning. No matter how we tried to let Hannah sleep in a little after our long days, Justice knew she was up there and was bound and determined to find a way over the gate---as you can see he usually did.

Ryan and I sporting our painting duds. We painted the entire downstairs and all the kitchen cabinets in two and 1/2 days. Pretty good if I do say so myself.

Danielle and Ryan loving that the cabinets are almost done. I should have gotten pictures of Danielle toward the end, as every time she second guessed something, he would paint her! Anyone who knows Danielle, knows that it was a lot of paint!

Before we left Hannah was telling everyone she was going down to 'puppy-sit'! Well she was not far off. If she had not been there to entertain Justice and take him for multiple 'walks' every day, we would never have accomplished what we did.

Though as you can see, he did get away from her once or twice.

Sorry for the x-rated puppy picture, but we did catch this one before he came inside.

Another time we were not so lucky and got white puppy paws all over the brown couch.

Another time it was puppy tail brush marks all over the floor!

So we caged them in the not currently being painted areas.

Here they are locked in by couches and the entertainment center.

Yes, Hannah thought he was more like her doll and covered him up and they went to sleep just like this!

Justice likes sleeping on things, and anything will do when your stuff is constantly being moved around.

Hence the computer case, dog bed!

Hannah took about 50 pictures one day with my camera---dirty laundry, floors, cabinets, shoes, and this cute one with her reflection in the new washing machine door. You can even see the washing machine in the mirror in the reflection. It is actually a very interesting picture.

Ever get enough pictures of puppies and babies. Due to the lack of babies, you get puppies!

So nice on our last night there in clean clothes watching "Blind Side".

Some 'done for now' pictures. Painted cabinets with no doors yet. New to them stove with all the proper fittings and properly functioning.

Painted front room with all the paint off the floor and furniture replaced.

And sadly saying goodbye a the station. We left at noon on my anniversary, to arrive home the next day, totally missing my anniversary and then seeing David for about 20 minutes before he left for meetings in Salem overnight!

We were joking that it won't be long before the 'little' sister, becomes the 'big' sister!

What's Up?

2011-10-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

Hannah and I will be leaving this evening to head by train to visit Danielle and Ryan and of course, Puppy Justice!

They just moved into their first home and we will get to help with cleaning, painting and organizing.

Though Hannah has informed me that puppy-sitting is what she plans on doing!

We are so thankful for the opportunity to go and are looking forward to our long train trip together.

David will be holding down the fort here and making sure Caleb gets to all his football stuff.

I will hopefully get on top of things and get a big football post on soon.

Have a great week!

Concepts in Pictures and Color

2011-09-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

I have so enjoyed all I am learning this year in helping teach my youngest treasures, whom have learning challenges!

Interestingly both Hannah and Caleb have been diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder, but both of them display it in totally different fashion.

Caleb struggles with hearing and discriminating sounds, so he really struggles with spelling and hearing the words he is reading.

Hannah struggles with storing and reproducing sounds in the proper order.

Caleb has an amazing memory when it is in story or sentence form, but struggles with memorization of math facts and processes, grammar rules, and sequenced things like months or books of the Bible.

So he can memorize verses and speeches to amaze people, but still can not tell you the months of the year every time.

Hannah on the other hand has always struggled with memorizing of any sort.

In fact we were recommended not to try to have her memorize for quite a while.

This last year she memorized the whole 23rd Psalm and we were so very proud of her.

We used lots of hand motions and changed some words to help her.

And example would be, "in the presence of my enemies".

She was really struggling with this line till I figured out it was the word "presence" that was throwing her off.

Her idea of this was "presents", and it was not going to change from the concrete form of 'presents' to the non-concrete form of 'presence'.

So we changed it to "in front of my enemies", and off she went.

As she memorized, she slowly stopped the hand motions, but when she got stuck all I had to do was put my hands in the right place and it would clue in her memory.

All this to preface the above picture-

I did not want to cram verses into little minds with no understanding.

So with some help from teaching from Dianne Craft I came up with the above picture for Hannah.

With lots of color and pictures she was able to learn the verse and know its meaning at the same time.

I have also learned, at least at this point, we will only work on one verse a week with her.

She needs the constant reinforcement and when I try to add in a second verse for her Awana she mixes up the two and intertwines them and their meanings.

So I will be praising God for each verse and picture she memorizes at her own special pace---

Just the way God made her!

Welcome Home Ball

2011-09-23T15:47:00.000-07:00

The official welcome home ball for the 3rd ACR was a happening thing in Austin, Texas last night.

Erinn and Michael dressed in their best for the night.

Gotta love the Stetson, which is part of the official uniform of the scout of the 3rd ACR.

Caleb thinks it is very cool and that he has spurs too!

What boy wouldn't want to be a soldier then!

Thanks guys for the sacrifice of time, of the first year of your life together, to help keep our country safe!

Praying God bless you greatly in the coming year.

Small Visitor

2011-09-23T08:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning we had a small visitor try to fly through our window.

I brought him in to warm him up and keep him still to see if he was just shocked or really hurt.

The kids ran down and we got this picture.

Then......

we found out he was doing pretty good!

And the chase was on to try and help the still stunned bird out of the house:)

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. Matthew 10:29

Justice for the Sergeant

2011-09-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to announce the promotion of our son-in-law, Ryan, to the rank of Sergeant in the National Guard!!!!

We are proud of your accomplishments!

Proud of the way you willingly serve our country!

And thankful for the sacrifice you and all your fellow service persons and families make!

Keep up the great work!

And as for the Justice part...

You did not think I was talking ''justice" about Ryan's promotion did you?

No!

Justice is the newest family member in Danielle and Ryan's family!

So introducing....

Justice!

Don't you just want to snuggle up to that face!

Well Hannah informs me that when we go down to help Danielle move next month that I can do all the moving I want, but she will be Justice-sitting!

The name comes from when Danielle picked out our golden we have now.

We planned on breeding her till we realized she had a personality we did not want to pass on:/

So when we named her Liberty we planned on getting a Justice for breeding purposes.

We never did.

But now we have our Liberty and Justice.....for all of us:)

Sister Time

2011-09-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

We have so enjoyed having Erinn home:)

In the mornings we have had a little time with her while Devynne has been sleeping in.

This morning a game of "Ticket to Ride" was on the agenda.

This is a wonderful game if you are looking for a game for various ages.

Hannah can even play this with a little guidance and it has become our favorite family game.

I am looking forward to hopefully a little time in the next weeks to post about some of our school changes.

I am excited to see what is happening.

If you have a struggling learner try this site and I will post more next week on what we are seeing in only two weeks.

A Texas Surprise!!

2011-09-12T15:13:00.000-07:00

I mentioned the other day we had a surprise coming!

I was being very literal.

Our church flew Erinn back to Medford from Texas to surprise Devynne at church on Sunday.

Erinn and Devynne have been good friends for about 4 years, and both of them were missing each other.

We planned our trip to Texas to be 2 weeks after Devynnes surgery.

They moved it back two weeks so we were somewhere in the middle of Arizona when she was having her surgery.

When things started not to go well it was very difficult for Erinn to be so far away.

We prayed a lot, remembering that God is in control of all things including the timing of Devynne's surgery and our trip.

Well after her long nine week hospital stay, Devynne came home on Friday.

Erinn flew in quietly on Saturday.

She hid behind the curtain at church till the pastor said that the church had to go all the way to Texas to get her welcome home present.

What a surprise.

We are glad for the opportunity to see her again so soon too.

Thanks Michael for making the sacrifice of time with your wife so soon after returning home.

In the picture above Erinn is on the far left next to Brian and Jen, Devynnes parents, then Brenna, her sister and Devynne, then her grandparents.

My Crazy Man and His Zip Line Action

2011-09-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

Zip Line Action

2011-09-11T07:28:00.000-07:00

After the wedding we stopped by David's brother's house so we could visit and David could help with their project.

Hannah got to play with her second cousin, Elizabeth.

David and Caleb had the fun privilege of removing the grime from the line, two times because it got dumped in the pond again after he cleaned it the first time.

Right here is about where they realized that you do not stay dry on kayaks!

Here is the test run of the zip line.

Mostly because the women standing around were thinking the guys were crazy.

The zip line when from this pole beside the barn, 257 feet down across the pond.

David with the release lever while his nephew, Preston gets ready for the first human trial.

Hannah enjoys playing with here second cousin, Deserie.

We were shocked by two things that day.

1) Paul, David's brother, was intimidated by this once they got ready to go--he is one of those crazy try anything guys.

2) That David pretty much jumped right up and did it--my Mr. Safety first and how is your insurance coverage---comes with working in insurance for 22 years.

Even more of a surprise is that I got one clear picture of his run!

I was a beautiful day with a wedding and family fun.

Video to come when I can figure it out.

It's Happening...

2011-09-09T16:07:00.000-07:00

.....after 9 long weeks, and my just posting about it, Devynne is on her way home!

Praise God!

His faithfulness is new every morning!

His mercies go on and on!

More surprises to come, but first a quick trip to a wedding....seems like there are more and more of them all the time, might be because I am getting older--ya think!

A Very Important Visit

2011-09-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

Last week on our way to see Drew we stopped in Portland for a very important visit.

We started out with a new experience.

Can you tell the kids are excited?

Soon this was our view.

And Caleb, who does not like heights, was feeling kinda sick to his stomach.

And there out the window on the right you can see the brother to the sky-tram we were on.

And straight out the front you can see our final destination on the hill

Oregon Health Sciences University, set on a hill with lots of parking at the bottom of the hill.

And Caleb and Hannah with our reason for our special trip---Devynne!

Devynne's father is one of our pastors. And they have been good friends.

You might remember Devynne in pictures from Erinn's wedding, as she was one of the bridesmaids.

Devynne just underwent her fourth open heart surgery-9 weeks ago.

It has been a very long haul to get to this point of recovery and we are all so thankful to God for His gracious healing.

Here we are waiting for her dialysis to start.

Sadly due to the surgery her kidneys are not functioning correctly.

But the whole family has been an amazing testimony to trusting in the Lord in ALL things.

Dev has shown me courage and peace under fire that I can not even imagine.

Pray with us that her kidneys will kick in soon, that her heart will keep going with a normal function and that her voice may return.

A Bountiful Harvest!

2011-09-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

What a blessing this year has been in the yard.

Living in town we try to make the best use of the land we have to provide some of our daily needs.

In the past we have always moved before our trees produced.

Last year this pear tree produced 2--yep count em--2 pears.

This year we have two very large bowls full!!

Our apple tree that was here before we moved in is loaded.

Still working on dealing with worms in these, but they should make great applesauce by next week.

David who eats tons of greens had about 10 varieties growing.

We are down to a few left and just planted some that will handle some frost---which is funny since we have been about 100 degrees for about a week--:)

We have about 7 blueberry plants that produced a small crop for us this year.

Here are the last few stragglers.

Our peppers did not like our long, cold, wet spring.

We got a few large green ones and a few small red ones.

They were fun to watch grow, none the less.

David's green beans--Caleb were late and we will probable not see any out of them.

David picked up a couple of raspberry plants to replace the ones that died last year.

What an unexpected joy to see quite a few handfuls off of them:)

David's new veggie this year is beets.

We still have to wait to find what the outcome of these will be.

Basil!

For Mr. Will you please make me some more pesto!

Strawberries all season this year!

Yeah for yogurt and berries for breakfast.

The grapes David planted early last year sadly died.

These are late season plants from last year.

Wow--they taste great and there is quite a few out there:)

Finally!

That is what everyone in the Pacific Northwest is saying about the tomatoes.

After large quantities of rain well into June.

We stayed with somewhat warm days and cool evenings through most of July!

And yes, we, with everyone else are finally picking some juicy red tomatoes.

Next year we are hoping the plum and cherries will produce.

And if we follow through with the chickens in the garden area we may be able to have some squash and let the chickens fatten up on squash beetles!

Runnin' Sophmore

2011-09-07T17:24:00.000-07:00

We were all so thankful to get to see Drew this last weekend.

He left for camp then school while I was in Texas, so I never really felt like I got to wish him well on his way.

So I was very excited to go and he was very excited to show us around his school and his first apartment, which sadly I have no pictures of either.

Of course Dad had the camera at the race!

This is Caleb's new thing, crazy camera faces....I am always so glad when they grow out of this faze.

This is Drew's sophomore year running for Washington State University.

What a blessing to see him race again.

Quite a bit of his team is in the picture, and all three Andrew's on the team are in this picture.

Though, I do believe Hannah is the only one that still calls him Andrew exclusively.

Drew has been nursing a sore Achilles for a few weeks, hence the tape on his right ankle.

He also raced is flats to make it easier on his leg than spikes.

Mead High School in Spokane was a beautiful place to hold the race.

And yes, that is almost all WSU in the front of this small race.

It was good to see Drew running strong after his whole spring and early summer battle with mono.

What can I say, but that I was overjoyed to see this face again.

It is good to watch your kids fly from the nest, but never really easy.

You are happy for them, but you are still missing a part of yourself.

It was good to see him doing so well.

And though running is only a part of who he is, it is a big part, and a huge joy for him.

I know that sounds weird to all you non-runners, but it is true, for the totally addicted:)

Hannah was very confused that the backs of their jerseys were gray.

She could never find him once he passed us.

It was quite cute.

This spot is for me to put in the details of the race, when David gets home from work to give them to me.

Here are the only 3 left from the original 7 in the freshman class of 2010.

Richard a Nevada state champ.

Mack a Washington state champ, and Drew's roommate.

And Drew of course a Oregon state champ.

Quite a crew they make.

And so off we go into another year.

We ask you to consider praying with us daily for Drew and any other college students you know.

It is a big change time in life.

And college life is not easy.

Support them with your love, encouragement and prayers whomever your college students and friends college students may be.

What's Up?

2011-09-05T17:51:00.000-07:00

Well we headed out for the weekend to visit one of the big kids.

I bet you can guess from these pictures who that may have been...

David and Drew attended this football game with....

Yep, Drew!!

They enjoyed watching a winning game on a very hot day.

Then we took Drew, Courtney and Richard out for dinner.

Pictures of the race and our visit to Portland to come.

A Smile

2011-08-27T09:39:00.000-07:00

When I went out to the mail yesterday, look what I found.

Makes you smile, doesn't it.

And I had my name on it:)

Not the kids!

Something fun just for me!

Inside I found this lovely gift from my sister and brother-in-law, Sandi and David in Texas.

David brought them home from his travels.

What a lovely surprise.

What a nice smile at the end of week 3 of partial schooling:)

An Interesting Ride

2011-08-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has known our family for long----knows that it does not take much for a simple outing to become a major outing:/

So Saturday morning David checked his facebook as I was finishing my devotions.

He ran upstairs and asked if I minded if he joined some friends on an quick morning bike ride--I asked to join in and we were almost out the door in 5 minutes.

Then we worked on getting the tires pumped up--our pump is broken.

As we finally arrived at our friends, they had left because it took us too long to get the bikes ready and we had forgotten our cell for them to call us.

So we headed out after them thinking we would catch them on their way back.

Well I had been on a limited calorie diet for the few days before and was struggling some as we were hitting the end of the path and still had missed our friends.

At this point we turn around and start back. David is behind me and says my back tire is a little low.

I was thinking with our morning luck with pumps, let's just leave it.

Well of course---we didn't---and of course----it went flat!

So I started walk/running with the bike.

David started biking home to get the car to come get me.

Well.....

He got a flat on the way home!

Seriously!

So by the time he got back to me I had biked about 7 miles and run/walked about 5.

With no water, because "this was going to be a 'little' ride".

Now these things seem to happen to us on a regular basis in our normal week.

It really is never boring around here!

Advocating and a Buddy

2011-08-19T07:18:00.000-07:00

This summer David and I have gotten a little more of a glimpse into our daughter's delays.

Though we do not know if they are permanent, we do know that as she is getting older we are going to have to make some adjustments.

When she was younger and in groups, the teachers keep an pretty good eye on every one, make sure they are involved and stay with the group.

As they get older I think that is just expected.

We experienced our first real scare with Hannah this summer at a camp while I was in Texas.

Though we tried to let them know she would need a little help, it either fell on deaf ears or they figured she looked 'typical' and forgot.

When David showed up early to pick her and Caleb up. She was wondering around a large baseball complex of fields, completely alone.

She did not know where her group was or what she was supposed to be doing.

At some point she was also in the wrong bathroom and the boys just laughed and teased--enough that the whole story got back to Caleb in another group.

She was frightened.

You see, Hannah is the height of an 11 year old, in an 8 year old body, with a 6 year old mind.

She misses social cues, she has trouble with oral directions and communication, she does not let you know if she does not understand, she just tries to go with the flow.

Tries to keep up.

Our treasure.

So knowing how things are changing as she gets older, I decided to try to get even more proactive with her next foray into camp.

Both kids attended VBS last week at some friend's church.

I am familiar with many people there and some of the staff, because our adoption group meets there and I teach a class for homeschoolers there.

So I mentioned what our issues were and with no hesitation they offered Hannah a 'buddy'.

At first I was hesitant, not thinking she needed that much help.

But that still small voice told me to do it.

Our Hannah had an amazing time at VBS.

My friend, Heather's, amazing daughter, Carmen, spent the mornings with Hannah.

Hannah loved VBS this year.

As you can tell from the pictures.

She could tell me what the stories were about.

She did all her crafts.

She was excited to go.

She participated in the games and had fun.

Might not sound like much to some, but to Hannah this was big.

Hannah did not come home with a bunch of new friends, like Caleb did.

She is not ready for too close of peer relationships yet.

But having Carmen made her feel comfortable and confident, and let her enjoy herself.

That is a big step for all of us.

Now David and I know that advocating a little more is a good idea.

We are not worried about what it looks like, because hidden disabilities are just that--hidden.

And that advocating more will actually help her integrate better in the long run.

And a heart felt thanks to all those churches, groups and individuals who work to help kids with differences have a good time.

You are appreciated!!!

Diamond Lake Has Fish Too!

2011-08-16T07:29:00.000-07:00

Just because my husband has time now...

and because we want to check out all the lakes and rivers in the area...

Here are more fishing pictures:)

Now I must start out by saying...

Showing the kids the movie "Soul Surfer" the night before the boat trip on the lake might not have been a good idea.

We had to assure Hannah there were no sharks in the lake.

We were blessed to have my dad come over from Roseburg for the day.

We had to keep reminding Hannah that playing in the water is not a good way to catch fish.

But she did catch the biggest fish of the day at 16 1/2 inches!!!

Maybe playing in the water is not such a bad idea.

My handsome man loved being in the front when we were moving!

Thought the fish in the water was a cool picture.

David was totally loving the outdoor time after two years of weekend studying.

That is Mt. Theilson in the background.

Hannah and Grandpa being silly while waiting for a bite!

My fishermen!

We brought home 6 good sized fish from the day.

Enough for dinner for us and friends on Sunday.

Caleb's preferred style of fishing.

My dad and Me.

It was a wonderful day....

sunburn and windburn and all.

Joni and Friends Dance

2011-08-15T16:03:00.000-07:00

Our beautiful Hannah all ready to go square dancing.

She does have a dramatic flair!

Joni and Friends of Southern Oregon puts on a square dance every year in our area.

Hannah was very excited to go and try out her dress and dance with dad.

With her developmental delays this group is great for her.

She is accepted for her differences in social interaction.

And things usually move slow enough for her to follow.

When I got back from picking up Caleb at football you could tell she was getting a little overwhelmed.

Too much auditory information flowing and too fast.

An hour was great and she LOVED dancing with dad.

Family Updates

2011-08-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

Since life has been continuing to move at record speeds around here....

I thought it would be a good time to do and entire family update!

So we will start with the littlest treasure.

Hannah has been growing like a weed and we have enjoyed watching her find her voice in groups of adults and show off some of her famous humor!

She is loving dancing to her new videos and reading short readers on her own.

We are experiencing some interesting reactions to the loss of all the older siblings and me being gone for 2 weeks. Praying she will soon feel some stability again.

Caleb our charmer.

And as we are finding out our man of the arts---drawing, dancing, drumming, drama---notice all the "d" words.

David and I will have to try to find a way to help him stretch himself in these areas---God only knows we are very lacking in these areas--LOL

Caleb is enjoying his 3rd year of football as a defensive back.

He is looking forward to trying school in a different way this year--by video.

This picture of Drew was taken while he was counselor at the Steens Mountain Camp. He loved it.

We totally enjoyed having him home this summer, though we saw little of him between work, sleeping, friends and running.

Drew came home with Mono---hence the many hours of sleeping trying to give his body a chance to heal. Think he may have finally kicked it after 4 months.

He is back at school and in his own appartment.

Pray for him and the many other students you may know away at school. Pray they may stay strong in their faith, that they may shine brightly for their Lord.

We were sad to say good-bye to Erinn back in July as she and I drove 3 days to get her and all her stuff there!

But we are thrilled to announce the homecoming of our son, Michael, home from his tour of duty!

Just yesterday!

They are beyond excited to begin thier new life together.

A few months in Texas then on to their posting in Hawaii.

Pray for them and their adjustments in the coming months.

Danielle and Ryan are doing better than ever in Santa Barbara.

Ryan is loving his new job and the opportunities he has there.

Danielle continues at the Reagan Ranch, learning and growing.

They serve together in youth ministry at their church and are very involved there.

They were recently blessed with a trip to Washington DC for a friend's wedding and ran a 1/2 marathon for their 1 year anniversary.

They may be looking at their own deployment in the coming year.

Pray for them to continue to grow and trust in the Lord.

This wonderful man the Lord blessed me with---I wonder sometimes how I was so blessed.

David did a great job watching the kids while I was away. He shuffled and juggled when situations at work left him unable to take time off.

Work has really kept him on his toes lately and we are praying for some smooth waters.

Also his arthritis is in a major flare right now and he is moving in a lot of pain. But moving he needs to do to keep his body from locking up. Hence you see the problem.

The lack of major exercise also causes him to be somewhat down, so we are praying for some insight into what can be done to help.

Because he is on a first generation drug, they do not know what the long term affects will be, kinda feels like a guinea pig.

He will be having a full body bone scan soon to determine how bad this flare is and what if anything might be done.

All when school what done and we thought life would calm down for him!

Me----well I am learning thankfulness in a whole new light.

I am learning to trust in the providence and sovereignty of God at a whole new level.

I am learning to be a willing piece of clay molded into the likeness of our Saviour.

One very small step at a time

Trusting that He knows what is best and being thankful for even the ugly because it is all from His loving hand.

This has been a journey that many days I would have liked to miss, but knowing the end destination is worth the climb.

So there is the quick update on the clan.

Though we may be spread far and wide, we are still family, and where there is family there will be love and prayer and support.

God Bless you and your family too!

Fishing!

2011-08-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

We decided to take Sunday afternoon off and go fishing!!!!

Hannah caught her first fish all on her own!

It was a picture perfect day on the river.

I enjoyed my family and a lazy fiction read.

The beautiful trail we hiked.

My forever contemplative Hannah girl.

I would give anything for a few moments in her head to know what she thinks and to see the world through her eyes.

David was wonderful teaching Caleb about all he needed to do and letting Caleb give it a real try on his own.

I am working on seeing beauty in all of God's creation.

It is so much easier with a camera.

Think I am going to have to work on this.

"In all things give thanks!"

Caleb giving it a go on his own.

David loving the peaceful river time.

He really needed this break.

If you could, pray for him.

His arthritis is really acting up and he is in constant pain right now.

The lack of activity is not good for his body and also causes him to become depressed.

Oh Lord we pray for some relief and patience and we are molded into your likeness.

A Day at the Capital

2011-08-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

Before heading to our trip to the coast we spent two days in Salem while Dad was working. One of the days we decided to do the State capital tour.

Both kids loved these large statues out front, they were huge.

Then there was the life size replica of the Liberty Bell.

Caleb found this very interesting since he studied about it in history this year.

He wondered where the crack was?

Inside the capital was beautiful. Pictures just don't do it justice, so I won't try.

We did however find this State Seal which the kids were very interested in.

This summer we watched a documentary called "Wasteland".

It was about people who lived by and worked, picking recyclables out of the worlds largest dump found in Brazil.

The artist Vik Muniz used garbage to "paint" the most amazing pictures of some of the people there. You should see it if you can.

Anyways this State Seal was made from garbage found in the sewers in the area.

Hence, my kids found it very interesting to see what they could find in the picture.

Here the crazy kiddos pose outside our state capital with the golden pioneer on top.

Then we took and elevator to the third or forth floor then walked

121 stairs

to the top.

We have the certificate to prove it!

And this picture!

The man's boots are 6 feet tall, just to give you some perspective.

Here is some of the view from the top.

Actually, the long gray building on either side of the tall orange building are the SAIF offices where David works.

Thought that was a fun thing to see while we were up there.

Family time!

2011-07-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

Wow---What an amazing summer we have had so far!

When I returned from my trip to Texas with Erinn, I had about 4 days home them we headed to Salem for David to work a couple of days.

We snuck in a visit with his family for an evening BBQ.

We headed up to Portland to visit our good friends, the Phelps, who also happen to be one of our pastors, he married Erinn and Michael last July. Their sweet daughter, Devynne, who was one of Erinn's bridesmaids, had open heart surgery. She has a congenital defect with needed another repair. The surgery turned into 3 and some very touch and go moments. At this moment we are pleased to hear that her heart is doing well!!! Pray that her kidneys will soon start doing their job properly. It was such a joy to see them all.

We also snuck in a quick morning visit with our long time friends, Ruth and Jerry Hoffman. We remember fondly the years of clamming together all the way back to when Drew was still in a backpack on David's back. What a great time of catching up and encouragement. Their son and daughter-in-law recently returned from Ethiopia with their newest daughter!

Then we headed to Lincoln City on the Northern Oregon Coast for a three day getaway.

This was the view from our back door.

Me and my beautiful daughter taking in the evening beauty.

Our God sure in amazing!

David and Caleb working on a project.

A walking testimony at the Hatfield Marine Science Museum.

Digging for clams.

While at this museum we had a couple ask where the kids were from. They had been to Liberia and they a man who had started an orphanage in Liberia---Just happened to be the orphanage our kiddos were in! Seriously!

Then another couple came and asked the same thing, and they said they had guess the kids were from Liberia. I asked if they were familiar with Liberia. They told us they had 4 kids from there!! No way!! Yea, we got to meet three of them.

Who would have ever thought.

I expected things like this octopus, but never a Liberian connection at the coast!

Our first family vacation as a family of four.
I don't know what we were thinking taking this trail---Yea it was that steep!

I sure love this man!

We are loving getting to know each other again after our long 2 years of back to school.

He wears me out most of the time with his go-go-go attitude.

But hey--we can definitely say life is never boring around here.

Sweet Hannah thought the water was too cold and was happy running from the waves for hours.

Caleb is game for just about anything Dad can throw out!

Me and the kids at Cape Foulweather, found and named by Captain Cook on a day of very bad weather!

The view.

Not often you see water this color on the Oregon coast.

And the beauty goes on and on.

The last day on our way home we stopped at Seal Rock, there is no rock that looks like a seal by the way, and there was a large group of artists trying to capture the beauty on canvas.

This area is a bird refuge. All the tall cliffs were full of nesting shore birds and their young. It was a sight to behold.

Below the cliffs you kept a good lookout for what was above you. We made it out with no bird droppings:)

Too bad it was not low tide, this would have been a wonderful place for tide pools. Caleb found lots of muscles.

David had lots of fun with the camera.

I love this one.

David catching us unawares.

Some of our bird friends.

Standing in awe and the amazing number of types of seaweed we were finding.

And David was pretty excited to find these elk on the way home.

They are all branch bulls in full velvet.

They were on a refuge--I think they know it--what do you think?

David was wondering where all the girls were, and Hannah informed him they were somewhere else having a girls day---we do that a lot around here-LOL

Well we went about a mile down the road and guess what?

She was right! We found dozens of cows and calves in their own little heard--having a girls day!

Last of Texas Pics

2011-07-20T07:32:00.000-07:00

One of our days in Texas, Erinn gave me a tour of Fort Hood.

We enjoyed the 3rd Armored Carvery Division (ACR) museum.

I really enjoyed learning the long history of this brave group of men.

We wish you all home safely and soon!

Memorial to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. May we never forget.

We were also blessed to visit the 6th floor museum in Dallas.

This museum is located at the spot where JFK was assassinated.

Here the X marks the spot where he was shot.

This is the window from where the shooting took place.

And the memorial to John F. Kennedy

I have always loves bronze statues!

My little sister Sandi and I with some of the long horns!

But there was a lot of them. On a normal day there would be water running down all of this, but they were cleaning that day! What a smell! And in the 105 degree weather!

There was a small cemetery next to the sculptures.

To my surprise we found this monument to the soldiers who fought for the Confederate States of America.

I forgot how far east I had come.

Here you can see Robert E. Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson.

The first stone I saw that so surprised me.

We saw this quote of the Newspaper office.

It would be great if all the news services still followed it.

Erinn with her cousin, Colby.

And Erinn with her cousin, Micah.

Micah would only give us a growl face, so Erinn did too.

The cattle drive in old town Fort Worth.

Texas Trail of fame markers in the sidewalks.

A Texas sized burger on a very hot and sweaty day!

Just some fooling around!

This is how we ended many of our hot days.

Though the pool was warm, it was wet!

This is my sister, Sandi, and her oldest, Colby.

Texas!

2011-07-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Texas---My first time and Erinn's new home!

Erinn's first day in her new home, notice the lack of boxes!

She did a wonderful job, setting up a beautiful home for the next 6 months.

We took two days to do all the moving and did it is shifts as it was 105 degrees everyday.

After we got her fairly settled in it was time to do some sightseeing!

I love history!

So our first stop of course was the Alamo.

What a delight.

Me with Drew's boyhood hero, Davy Crockett.

San Antonio was beautiful.

A kind family offered to take our photo so we could both get in.

I loved reading all the history.

May we NEVER forget the sacrifice people through the ages have made in order to establish this wonderful country we live in.

We were told to make sure we did not forget to do the river walk.

It was beautiful to see all these lovely canals wandering through downtown San Antonio.

I must say it was very muggy, but awesome never the less.

Where to Start?

2011-07-18T08:37:00.001-07:00

How about at the beginning and in parts:)

I was blessed to be able to take almost 2 weeks to travel with Erinn to move her to Fort Hood, Texas.

The first day we traveled 12 hours to arrive in beautiful Santa Barbara where we were able to spend a wonderful day and a half with Danielle and Ryan.

Danielle took us on a tour of Ronald Reagan's ranch in the foothills of Santa Barbara.

Danielle is an assistant curator with Young America's Foundation who is working on preserving some of Reagan's legacy through preserving his ranch and an interactive gallery in Santa Barbara, which Danielle has been privileged to be a part of.

Here Erinn and I are at the entrance of 'Rancho Del Cielo"

We are not allowed to take pictures inside the building, but this is the pond and the grounds.

It is wonderful to get a personal tour and hear Danielle's excitement about her work as she shares about his man and his contributions to the world.

The time with my older children is precious. It was so fun to be with them both together just hanging out and sharing about life and lessons we have learned together.

Though I miss all three of my older children as they have flown from home....

I know this is what it is all about.

Loving them, helping them grow, showing them the love of a Saviour who will never leave them.

What more can a mom ask than that her children walk with the Lord and serve Him.

What a blessed time:)

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T18:17:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful celebration today.

We went to the parade and got lots of candy.

David and I went on a 13 mile bike ride and I did not fall off the little tires of the road bike:)

And we just looked really cool and patriotic as we were thankful for living in a country based on freedom.

We were thankful we were safe because so many men and women are serving our country to keep up that way.

Thanks Michael and Ryan we missed you both:)

A Very Blessed Day

2011-07-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were blessed with an amazing family day with 6 of us together!

We are blessed by having to drive through the redwoods every time we head to the coast!

Drew took the opportunity to get in his 7 mile run on the soft road that winds through this section of trees. Just imagine the intensity of the beauty of God's wondrous creation.

And the size of some of these trees is absolutely enormous.

Stopped for some swinging time.

The littles and the bigs.

Then off to the beach where the Smith River meets the Pacific Ocean.
And some seal watching.

Caleb was begging for some Drew time after the long ride.

After the bottom dunking, Caleb was not about to let go!
Boys!

My beautiful daughter and Me!

Seeing a cave he had to climb down to it.
That must be why God put it there!

He did not say long--must have been kinda boring after all.

Caleb, who forgot his jacket, tried to stay warm by crouching in the tall grass.
Like his hat?

Another Caleb position.

Erinn trying to get on the big rocks.

Later, more of the same with Drew and Caleb.
Thankfully it was much warmer with the sun out!

Hannah getting a lift off the cliff from big brother!

Hannah building her sand castle.

Drew running from some kind of mischief I am sure:/

Handsome Caleb.

Trying to figure out what Hannah stepped on.

Praising our Awesome God for a wondrous day at the coast with unbelievable Oregon weather.

Hannah praising Him with me!

Our sandcastle in the making.

Boogie-Boarding somewhere in there.

David giving it a go.

Oh, there is Drew.

Hannah acting brave in the water.

Caleb giving it a go.

Thank you Lord for an awesome day of memories with my family as we all get ready to go our separate ways.

How would you.....

2011-07-01T14:38:00.000-07:00

want to spend a quiet warm day?

Like Hannah---nice, sweet and lady-like!

OR

Like Caleb---rough, squished and sensory seeking?

This kid continually boggles my mind--LOL!

Reading?!?!

2011-07-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

Caught my daughter reading the other day.

She is finally independant enough to read some of the beginning readers in her room.

Such fun watching a child who enjoys reading.

Then I went into Caleb's room and found this!!!!

Yes, this is how a sensory child reads!

And let me tell you with this one I will take reading any time, any place!

So you go son!

A Nice Surprise

2011-06-30T16:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday while running errands, we needed to stop at FedEx/Kinko's to make some large copies.

And we found this in the parking lot!

Yes, the real FedEx Nascar race car was sitting in the parking lot.

There was also this car, which Hannah is so nicely displaying by the way!

Caleb was attracted by the Transformers decal on the front---boys they sometimes notice the detail-LOL!

Hannah got to jump in a race car.

Caleb got to jump in too. We never told him it was a girl's car--oops!

And here they are in a not so good picture with the actual Nascar.

And yes, Lightning McQueen is correct----

Everything you see on the front of this car is basically a sticker
Lights
Grill
Everything

They fooled ya didn't they.

What a fun surprise in the middle of errands.

New Swing

2011-06-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

For our anniversary---back in October---our kids got us a porch swing.

I have always wanted one, but never took the time or the money to get on.

I finally got the stain on it this spring.

And David and Drew finally got it hung on the porch!

I am looking forward to some warm morning for my quiet time in my swing---strange it is the end of June and we have only had a hand full of warm mornings.

Off to get a bunch of wedding gifts and the last few graduation gift for the year.

Texas Cousins

2011-06-28T15:16:00.000-07:00

This post could also be called "ATTACK OF THE MISBEHAVING BLOGGER"

So please enjoy anyways:)

My beautiful Hannah--always gorgeous in yellow!

We attended a craft fair. Who knew Hannah loved painting so much!

Caleb and his cousin, Colby, with their craft creations.

Caleb is sporting night vision goggles, an ear walkie talkie, and a wrist laser.

I am not sure what Colby made, but he was definitely focused on getting it right.

My sister, Sandi, was here from Texas with her two boys, Colby on the left and Micah in the middle.

Sadly we got lots of kid pictures and did not get any of us:(

I will be seeing Sandi in a couple of weeks in Texas, but we missed all three of us girls together:(

A picture of Hannah with one of Grandma and Grandpa's dogs, Anna.

I am giving up on trying to get the spacing right:/

So you will find on here pictures of Micah and Caleb with a cake.

They enjoyed celebrating their birthdays together.

Caleb turning 11 on the 22nd and Micah turning 4 on the 27th.

So it was Star Wars for them both.

Hannah and Micah enjoying some quite time.
Caleb and Colby trying to put together Caleb's roller coaster.

Caleb finally got so exhausted he fell asleep on the couch. Me trying to get the picture woke him up.

Guess Who Turned 11?

2011-06-23T10:57:00.000-07:00

Yes, my young man is now 11!

Happy Birthday Caleb!

He has now spent more time in America than Liberia too!

What an event.

Oh and yes, that present is wrapped with duct tape!!

Thanks Drew for the half hour of fun in getting the package open:)

Our Big Grad Day>>>

2011-06-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

So here is the update on our busy weekend:)

Friday evening David had his 'hooding' ceremony.

Moving the tassel.

His graduating Master in Management class 2011.

Congratulations, my handsome man!

Now here is where the story gets interesting.

22 years ago, in 1989, David graduated from Western Oregon University with his Bachelor in Business degree.

Notice the small child in my arms....

That would be Erinn at three weeks old.

Fast forward to 2011....

David and Erinn graduate together from Southern Oregon University.

Now how fun is that:)

David enjoying his walk in.

Erinn enjoying her walk in.

SOU graduating class of 2011

Erinn receiving her degree.

She was the third graduate.

David was really enjoying the day:)

David and Erinn posing for the above picture of the two of them. Erinn was sitting in the front row, so David grabbed her as he walked by.

David the ham!

David receiving his degree.

He was third from last.

Seriously!

Congrats Erinn we all love you!

So special having Michael her to enjoy the day with us.

I am so very proud of my wonderful husband.

Lots of long days and hard work, but you are done.

Drew and David

Thankfully I think this was our last big event for a few years.

We have had:

6 graduations
2 weddings
1 double adoption

in the last 6 years.

Break time:)

Drew does not graduate for 3 more years!

WE HAVE.......

2011-06-11T12:03:00.001-07:00

GRADUATES!!!!!!
(More info to come later)

He's Back!!!

2011-06-05T07:08:00.000-07:00

He finally made it home for R'n'R!

I think they look happy!

I was proud of all our Medfordites that stopped by to thank him for his service!

A moment that I do not think most of us could even imagine!

It was wonderful to watch.

-The kids ready with their welcome home signs--they sure love their brother-in-law!

Caleb trying to be helpful with Michael's luggage:)

They have a little less than 2 weeks together!

Pray they have a blessed time!

A Wonderful Wedding Weekend.

2011-06-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

We were blessed to be able to travel up to Tri-Cities Washington to attend the wedding of Jill and her new husband, Kevin.

Danielle and Jill have been best of friends for like 15 years.

Many sleep-overs, girls hang outs and racing together.

This is the crew that showed up to represent Corban University.

Danielle, Jill and Sarah---college racing buddies!

Congratulations Sarah on your soon-to-be-a-mom status!

Caleb and Danielle hitting the dance floor.

And you can't leave out sweet little Hannah.

Caleb showing us all that he really knows how to dance.

No we have never taught him anything--it is just natural and comes from deep down inside.

Let's just say he has a lot of rhythm and that it must be genetic:)

Our racing girls again!

Funny thing is that they are all still running even after being out of competitive college racing for 3 years.

In fact Danielle and Ryan are running a 1/2 marathon this weekend for their 1 year anniversary.

Sad, I know, but you must admit the craziness in this case is also genetic--just look at her father:)

Yes, my crazy man got me to dance too!

We had about three turn arounds till little Hannah thought she would join us!

Now she has Dad all to herself:)

I so love seeing my girls together.

Hannah was beside herself with excitement on the way up.

Danielle and Caleb

Danielle and another good friend, Sarah-again, who now lives in Nebraska.

And the only picture we seem to have of the happy couple.

Jill and Kevin met in Thailand, though both are Americans.

Jill was teaching English at a school there, and Kevin is a youth pastor at a Hmong church there in Bangkok.

They will be returning there to minister together to the Hmong people in Thailand--In case you were wondering that is Kevin's heritage.