Christmas Past

Another Christmas past. We are so thankful to Derald Dieterich. He is a long time friend of Greg’s family, the realtor that sold our house in 2006, and he came by the apartment a couple weeks ago and gave us a check to help us buy Christmas presents for the kids. It was great! Our kids ask for little and know we often struggle financially so they decide to be content. They are wonderful. It was incredible to be able to buy each of them some of the things they had mentioned over the last few weeks. We rarely buy them toys, none this year, and still Otto said he got everything he wanted. Can you beat that?

Last Summer I told Greg I would like to learn the guitar. I asked for one for my birthday, but there was no way we could pull it off. Well, he took all the money for gifts that we were spending on each other (he said he didn’t want a present) and more he came across and bought a guitar for me for Christmas. He took the older 3 kids when he got it and they could hardly wait until we opened presents this year. I am so blessed with a wonderful loving husband and amazing children.

I was also blessed to have seen both of my brothers, and most of their families. Two of my nephews are serving in the military; one has just finished a tour of duty in Iraq for the last 15 months. It was good to see them both after such a long time. I enjoy good times with my family and often wish we did not live so far apart (California, Sacramento area). It is only a day’s travel, but with gas prices what they are and a day in each direction it prohibits frequent visits. I often look forward to heaven when thinking of my family and desiring to see them more. Another blessing to know they are believers.

Christmas day we spent with Greg’s family at his dad’s home. They are friendly and kind and even though they all live relatively close we see most of them rarely. It was a good time and the kids especially loved the food and fun.

Tonight I am at the coffee shop early to post this while waiting for my friends. It will be the first time we have gotten together in months. In fact, I have not visited with any friends uninterrupted by children since our move into this apartment. I have always had to hurry when on the phone because we are always out of minutes and although Charissa and I have seen each other and talked some there are always others around and time is short. I am looking forward to a relaxing evening and thankful that Greg is supportive of my being out and staying home with the kids.

The rest of this week will be spent cleaning and reviewing schedules and planning/preparing for school to get started in full force again. How wonderful that will be! I’m afraid my kids are not in agreement, but a test of discipline is not a bad thing.

Sorry there are no pictures; we forgot our camera at Greg's dad's house and haven't uploaded since my last update. Extra pictures next time.

Happy Holidays!

I’m sorry it has been so long since I have updated our blog. It was mostly from a lack of opportunity and planning. I am slowly getting everything put in a place in our apartment and scheduling time on the computer will develop into a regular thing soon. The Christmas season also causes things to be sporadic.

We moved to an apartment in Beaverton in the middle of October. It is a three bedroom laid out like a townhouse in that the bedrooms are upstairs with a full bath and the living, dining, kitchen and laundry rooms are downstairs with a half bath. They were willing to take us with all five children which was the most difficult obstacle to overcome. The apartments are old and run down, but the manager is nice and a hard worker trying make improvements. We love the area when we are on our bikes. The library is less than a mile away (we go weekly), as well as Trader Joe’s (our favorite store) and New Seasons (sells Miso and Non Homogenized Milk- We look forward to buying our milk from a farm again, but that will require a little more time.). In the same areas are Powells, Borders, Winco, Fred Meyer, a great 24/7 coffee shop with free Internet, and so much more. Interestingly, this is an area we said we never wanted to live in because the traffic is horrid. Again, we like it on our bikes.

Here are a few pictures of us in the apartment, getting ready for Christmas, and me with my bike in front of New Seasons. The last was taken a couple of months ago; it seems like a long time since we’ve had a warmish sunny day. We celebrated Olivia’s fourth birthday on Friday and took her to our 24/7 coffee shop for some hot chocolate.

I hope you have not given up on my ever updating this site again. I am so desiring routine, but I think I have always desired it and never achieved it. Apparently I should learn to be happy with a “whatever happens today will be good” attitude. I will write again.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Fort Vancouver/Beacon Rock

We woke up on September 8th wanting to go somewhere and do something. A few weeks ago we had started out to some surprise destination for a hike, but the van had problems and we ended up having to back to a large repair bill. Greg decided to unveil the surprise this day and even added to it. Our first stop was Fort Vancouver. We have driven by it numerous times. Greg remembers spending the night with a class in school at the Fort, but the kids and I had never been inside. We all loved it and can't wait to return. The cost was very low, $5 for the family. They often have volunteers playing different roles. We met one, just as we were leaving, beginning her work in the kitchen. She had a fire going and was making a berry cobbler. Too bad we had to leave!

Next stop was Beacon Rock on the Washington side of the Columbian River. It's not far west of the Bonneville Dam. As the name suggests, it is a large, tall rock. There is a trail, about 1 mile, leading to the top. Even Olivia hiked all the way up and nearly all the way down with little assistance. We would not let go of her hand, however, because although there was a rail, the trail was on the side of this rock and much of it was exposed to a long fall, and a beautiful view of the Columbia. The weather was gorgeous and there were many people hiking. Henry and Solomon enjoyed it the least as they are not height lovers. Olivia and I counted 53 switchbacks on the way down.











We have been approved to move into an apartment in Beaverton. We are hoping to move this weekend, but they are having some problems with the tenant moving out. The condition of the apartment may warrent some extra time for repairs. At any rate, it is good to know that we have a place to go and that it will be soon. The kids and I are excited about getting some things out of storage. I'm excited about not having to walk outside to the house if Olivia or I have to go to the bathroom during the night. It will be nice to have a home of our own again.

Family Hike at Seaquest SP

Greg had a great idea today (not the first time). He took the family to Seaquest State Park, Washington, maybe 30 miles north of our current location in Woodland. It began sprinkling before we left and we had a few showers while we were there, but they did not dampen our fun. After parking and everyone getting their hats and sweatshirts on we headed to a map and chose a trail to hike. We had only gone 30 yards or so down our chosen trail when Solomon said "Ow!" Greg was seeking the cause and shortly said "Ow!" as loudly and nearly synchronized with Louis. There was a nest of some kind of stinging flying insects and we then ran ahead to get away. I didn't see them myself (thankfully), but they that did said they were small and all black, but the stingers must have been long because Louis was stung through his sock. They were painful, too, and hurt throughout the length of our beautiful walk, and still, hours later, I am hearing amazement that it still hurts. Greg is anxious to go back and ride the trail with all the boys regardless of such risk. Solomon hasn't gotten onto any trails, yet, and they were wide and fairly smooth. We are determined to take more hikes with the kids, especially in the winter when riding is so muddy and bad for those moving mechanical parts.

Still in Woodland, WA

Obviously I'm still not getting onto the computer regularly, but I have taken some pictures. We are having a good time with our friends. Greg has been working at Trail Head Cycles and it is nice to have him enjoy going to work. He isn't riding as much as when we were on our trip, but usually still a couple times a week. We are hoping to find a place to rent in Hillsboro so he won't have the long commute. Until then, we are happy here.

Still Updating

I had written the last post while we were still in Moab (obviously). During our last few days Greg was able to ride with Terry and Debbie, friends from Oregon, though he was still recovering from that flu. On Friday we went to a campground north of Grand Junction and spent the weekend there. Then back to Fruita where Greg was going to ride with Shawn from Texas. He did get to see Shawn, but the rain kept him from riding and we left on Friday morning, May 4th for Boise, Idaho to see Craig. We decided to head back to Oregon.

I knew that we would spend more than we expected, but it was unbelievable how much money gas and food sucked up. Greg was actually offered a job in Moab, and he considered it, but I think it made him realize that he doesn't want to live anywhere outside of the Northwest. We stayed at Craig's for nearly a week. He was extremely welcoming and has a lovely home. It was relaxing and rejuvinating. We left on Thursday late afternoon, stopped at a rest area near Hermiston for the night, and arrived at Jim and Charissa's before noon on Friday the 11th. It was like coming home. We are so comfortable here, hopefully not too comfortable for Jim and Charissa. I will post pictures soon, Greg put them on a disk and that makes it a little more difficult for me. I will have access to the computer and the internet now and that will help me to keep everyone updated on our progress.

April 22, 2007

It has been a long time since I’ve updated everyone. I’ll give a brief (maybe) summary. It rained nearly the whole time we were in Fruita. We left a few days before we had our reservations in Moab and went back to Rabbit Valley. The kids and I rode some as well as Greg this time. We had some cold nights, good that Greg wanted to get some warm sleeping bags. Henry said there was a thin layer of ice on the inside of his window one morning, but he wasn’t cold. We left for Moab a day early. We called to get directions for the campground and we asked if we could come a day early and he said it was no problem. Our spot was taken that night, but we moved into it the next morning. Pack Creek Campground is about 2-3 miles outside of the downtown area of Moab. It’s quiet and we have a great spot at the far end with nothing on one side. The campground is old, but clean. The showers are free and hot and the laundry is less expensive than most. There is a playground, but the kids have mostly enjoyed the creek. There is a path just across the campground road that leads down to a path that runs along the side of the creek all the way to the other side of the campground. A little wooden bridge crosses the creek and there is another camping site there. The kids all found places to make little forts in the trees. Greg has been doing the most riding ever, which was expected. The kids and I counted down the days until Jim and Charissa arrived with their kids. They came on Wednesday the 18th and it was so wonderful to visit with them again, to see the kids play together, we have missed them. Jim and Charissa have dear friends in Colorado and they came in on Friday. The men and Noah were riding Saturday morning so us women took the kids to Arches National Park, which is only a couple of miles from Moab. We had a wonderful time hiking. That night the men stayed with the kids and us three women went out to eat and visit. It was a wonderful time. When we got back, Greg had almost all the kids in bed, in fact he and Otto had gone to take a shower. Unfortunately, before I even got ready for bed Henry was complaining of a stomach ache and shortly after that we realized that a flu bug had somehow found its way into our family. Henry and Greg were miserable all night and slept most of Sunday. Jim and Charissa’s friends left fairly early that day and Jim and Charissa left shortly after 1:00PM. It was a sad moment. Olivia cried all the way back to our trailer after saying good-bye. I worked to keep my composure. Amazingly, no one was up during the next night, but as I write this there are three children, Otto, Olivia and Louis who have been throwing up all morning. It is one of the most challenging situations I have ever experienced. Louis was nervous about getting sick and I suggested he plan on it, after all, we are in such a small space that although it isn’t intentional, everyone is throwing up in the kitchen. It seems inevitable we will all have to suffer through it, though Greg told me he is praying I will be spared. It rained last night and had been raining and stormy all day, so we are all inside together. Most everyone is napping now, but we watched a movie earlier and will likely watch another before the afternoon passes. We are here until Friday and then I’m not sure where we will be going.