Update

We haven't posted anything for a long time so here's a little update. Caleb and Alia are doing well in school and are loving second grade. At parent teacher conferences Alia's teacher said that Alia is very helpful and sweet in class and is where she should be at this time of year in reading and math. Caleb's teacher said that he is "bouncey and pouncey" in class and is also right on mark with reading and math. I was happily surprised that he is at the same reading level as Alia because he doesn't like to read at home as much as Alia. Caleb and Alia are on their second week of swimming lessons at our new gym. They are at the same swimming level and in the same class. This also surprised me because until only recently Caleb has been afraid to swim so I thought Alia would be at a higher level because she has been swimming on her own for a while now. They both love to swim and I enjoy taking them to the pool. Last week I signed Caleb up for basketball, and Alia for cheerleading which starts in January. I'm excited to see how they do. Both are new activities for them and we hope they enjoy themselves. The cheerleaders will cheer at the boys b-ball games which should make the games more fun to watch. Alia has been doing well with her braces and her teeth are already much straighter. Next month she will get a stiffer band which I'm sure will be hard for her because she refuses to take medication for pain. She dislikes the taste of liquid and chewable medicine and would rather suffer. I'm going to try to teach her to swallow pills because it's hard for me to watch her tough it out without medicine.

These past two months have been very hard on me. Two months ago after I got back from NY, my mom told me that the chest xray my dad had recently was abnormal. My dad finished his treatment for Prostate cancer in July and since then I've been worried about him because the treatment was hard on him and he hasn't felt much better since ending treatment. His medical provider which is Kaiser, has done many things wrong all along and he was just diagnosed with Kidney cancer which requires surgery and they aren't able to schedule his surgery until January. Needless to say this is not okay and I've been dealing with Kaiser giving them the opportunity to make this right. I am praying that he will be able to get the care he needs outside of Kaiser within the next couple of weeks.

I'll let Jer post his update when he gets a chance. We are all looking forward to Thanksgiving in Irrigon.

First day of 2nd grade!

Today was Caleb and Alia's first day of 2nd grade. They are excited to be back to school. Jer didn't have to be to work early today so he was home for their big day. I had a good time helping them get ready. They both wore their favorite new clothes. I flat ironed Alia's hair for her which made her very happy (she doesn't like her wavy hair, she says it's too fluffy). I dropped them off today and got to see their happy little classmates. Caleb sits next to his friend Dante from church and baseball. Alia sits next to her friend Breahna, they've been classmates since kindergarten. I think it's going to be a good year. Caleb and Alia both like their new teachers and are excited to learn about new things.

Back from Cali

(California Adventure entrance)

Wow, from 115 degrees yesterday in Hemet, CA to 60 degrees and rain in Portland... gotta love it! I think we're all excited to be back home, maybe not ready to go back to work, but there's something about getting back into your old routine of things I guess. We had a great time visiting the majority of Molly's family in SoCal. I'll put some photos up here in the next few days starting with a few today.

Here's basically what we did the first 4 days:

Friday - Flight to Ontario, CA (late flight got to Hemet about 12AM)

Saturday - Drove to San Diego (see pics) met Molly's cousin Bertha and baby Orlandito at cool shopping area called Seaport Village, which is right downtown. Then went to Molly's cousin Carmen's house in San Diego and had a bbq.



(Seaport Village, San Diego)

Sunday - Drove to La Mirada (Orange County area) to Molly's cousin Julian's house to bbq and hang out (see fireworks). They are a super cool family and we had fun catching up with them. The kids had a great time getting to know their cousins, playing Xbox/Wii, setting off fireworks and swimming.



(Cousins in La Mirada)

Monday - Disneyland/California Adventure, we decided to stay at a hotel close to the parks so we could take full advantage of the outrageous prices they charge to get in ($500+ for our family for 2 days). Monday was the good day as far as wait times for rides. We spent most of our day at California Adventure. Caleb and Alia could go on almost all the rides except for two. Their favorite rides were probably Soaring over California and Grizzly River Run (you get wet). We were going on 3 late nights in a row and were really tired so we didn't stay out too late.



(just before we got wet)

More to follow........

Laziness

It's been awhile since I posted anything. Although I've read Sarah's and Debbie's blog numerous times. Hey Sarah, I hope you're feeling better. I'm really impressed with that bro-n-law of mine and how he takes care of you. Now if I could just make him a fly fisherman... haha. Cool pics of Kendle and Zack playing t-ball. We have some cool nieces and nephews for sure. Debbie, you can tell Zack that Caleb plays 3rd base most of the time. He's the only kid who can throw it to 1st (and hit the 1st baseman in the face because he's playing in the dirt or something).



Life for us is good. The new job is OK. A little more driving but working with people in Woodburn, Salem, Albany and Corvallis is sure better than the union atmosphere in Portland with Waste Management. Last week Molly drove up to Snoqualmie Casino in Washington to hang with the famous Jessy J and watch her show. She had a good time but will never drive up there again and leave late, the 405/I-5 are killers for drive time! We're stuck here for Memorial day weekend. Molly has to work the weekend. We have Monday off so we might do something. Maybe Rich and Debbie could swing by?



I did get to go fishing last Saturday on the Deschutes with my pontoon boat. Caught some nice fish and got some sun as well. I hope to get back over there soon because right now is some good fishing. We're planning on going to Cali for 10 days in July for Molly's dad's birthday. It should be fun but hot.

Take care all

My Lousy weekend

I've been at work this weekend and can I tell you weekends at work suck! It has been nice to be able to read Sarah and Debbie's blogs this weekend. I want to thank Rich and Debbie for the great gifts they brought us from Hawaii. The chocolate covered macadamia nuts are yummy. I'm glad Rich and Deb enjoyed their vacation. I am sorry to hear about Sarah's illness. I hate being nauseated. I have to admit I always feel sicker when I'm at home. I would rather go to work (or sleep) when I am sick because I can't focus on feeling lousy. My advice is to stay busy doing stuff you enjoy. I would ask church members/friends for referrals to any young women that might be interested in working in your home for a couple hours a day. They could do laundry, clean up around the house, or play with the kids. If you ask me life is hard enough, you may as well try to make it easy on yourself. Speaking of how I've been getting through my days... we are planning a vacation. My dad is turning 70 this year and my sister and I want to do something fun as a family for his birthday. We are planning on renting a house on Newport Beach in California for a week. Details to follow.

Caleb and Alia's birthday party/updated

Kids had a good time. The amusement park (Oaks Park) here in Sellwood was actually pretty cool for kids. Pretty cheap fun for kids when it's not raining. We're all exhausted from getting things cleaned up and ready for the party last week, but some of us were able to have a decent nap yesterday (Molly and Caleb), which is good cause Molly had to work today. This week should be nice with the weather and all and looking forward to Rich and Debbie and the kids coming.


In case you all didn't know Caleb and Alia's B-day party is going to be this Saturday, at Oaks Park Amusement park. We are going to be there from 1:00-4:00, if you all don't have plans you're more than welcome to join us. The amusement park is about 5-10 minutes from our house. They have carnival type rides/games and a roller-skating rink. I used to go there a lot when I was young and lived in this area. Caleb and Alia are getting more excited for their B-day with each passing day. It's not supposed to rain on Saturday, so we are hopeful that we might have some fun in the sun. So far we are expecting my Aunt Elida, Jen and Brad and kids, and a few friends from school. Jer says maybe Grandma Mel will be joining us too?

Anyhow, we hope you are all well and enjoying life. It was fun seeing you all for our Wicked weekend!

Early Spring Run Down

The kids planted some flowers I gave Molly hoping to keep them alive a little longer.

It was fun seeing everyone for the Wicked weekend. The kids are looking forward to seeing their cousins again here soon when Rich and Debbie go to Hawaii (lucky)! We've had a pretty lazy spring break week. Maybe today we'll do something fun. I still have stuff to do around the house. Molly is supposed to pick out some paint for the kids room so more work for me. Molly and I went out for a 6 hour date on Tuesday to her favorite little shopping mall (Bridgeport in Tualatin). We ended up seeing the movie Slumdog Millionaire and it was great, we highly recommend it!! We did a little shopping for kids clothes and then had an early dinner at PF Chang's. We have a good girl from our ward who the kids like a lot as a babysitter. It's sure nice to have someone like that!

Back to normal

Well it's been a while since I added anything other then remodel stuff so here's what we've been up to:

- Molly's has/had volunteered to work one extra day a week for a while due to someone who quit
- We're all finally over our virus/colds (nothing major, just coughing and stuffed up)
- I've sent a few resumes out and have had a few interviews (should hear something back soon)
- I took my pontoon boat down the Clackamas River yesterday morning on a 6 mile float but didn't catch a fish...fun though
- Molly's infamous supervisor was let go/allowed to resign this past week (it was about time)
- Caleb and Alia are doing well and improving on their reading. Caleb is pretty good with math
- I still have about 3 dump loads left here from the remodel, so I'll do that next week
- We're going to turn the kids beds into bunk beds this week and clean up their room
- It seems like Alia brings home a new phone # every day from another friend she wants to invite over to play
- Molly is looking forward to see Wicked and hopefully we'll get to see quite a few of you all
- If anyone is interested we're looking at trying to sell our big TV to get a LCD to mount above the fireplace
- We purchased a new bed about 3 weeks ago (Select Comfort-sleep number) where you can control firmness and such..it's awesome (no more back/neck problems)

Sorry for the business bullet point style, I'm lazy!

Done and Done!

Here's the final kitchen photos:







(Molly's idea for tile..turned out real nice/Les did a good job)

I'll post some living room pics once it's all cleaned up nice.

Almost done......

(New fireplace....Molly picked out design probably best thing we did)


(New countertops)

First and second Steelhead on a fly!

Went fishing today and was finally able to put my new rod to work. Floated the Sandy River near the town of Sandy and it was a perfect day. Fished hard all morning and early afternoon without a bite. About a mile from our take out I fished a little stretch and I was able to catch 2 ( a hen and a buck just in from the ocean) back-to-back these fish still had sea lice on their fins. It was awesome. So I'll bbq one tomorrow night. Here's a few pics....

Remodel Pics 2/3/09

(Still waiting for counter tops and appliances)

1/27/09 Remodel Pics

(Kitchen sheet-rocked)


(New garage entry and pantry opening)


(New sheet rock ceiling)

Remodel fest!

We've been in the remodel mode for a few weeks now. Thus the lag in the blogging and such. Lester and Dave have been coming up and staying the night a few days a week. We're hoping to be done in 2-3 more weeks. It's like a battle zone but it will be well worth it. Basically new kitchen and living room. Took a few pics of late before (but most of you remember the wall between the kitchen and living room, which is now gone). We'll put a few more pics as things progress. In unrelated news, Molly spoke in church today and did a great job. Also had a dusting of snow this morning but not enough to cancel church. We need at least an inch for schools and church to cancel! ha


(Open up the place)


(old fridge spot/new pantry spot)

A few Christmas pics, flood 2009 and another b-day

Here's a few more pics from our awesome snowy Christmas:





So we had a ton of snow which melted off due to rain and warmer weather, yet the rain forgot to stop.....so here's our backyard this morning:




Pretty much all the local rivers here are past flood stage with lots of landslides. Was hoping to do some steelhead fishing but hard to find fish in chocolate milk rivers. On a sad note, it was another b-day for me....37 are you kidding me. I guess I feel younger except on days after hitting the weights hard or running. Hope you all have a great new year with lots of resolutions...hahaha I'll take the Beavs to the Rose Bowl with a win in Autzen this year!!! yea right.....