Who has a castle, WE Do!

We've been looking for play structures for the kids and not having much luck when I came upon this ad on my favorite shopping network-craigslist, a castle. We are going to be building a bridge-hopefully-this summer across the creek and Jer thought it would be cool to make it look like a draw bridge and build a tower for the kids. Now he just has to build the bridge! Yeah!! The kids have been saving money to buy a trampoline but they liked the castle so much we all couldn't resist.

Our families members were scattered this easter, but Grandpa Alan, Aunties Jenny and Johanna, and the four of us all got together and had a wonderful Easter lunch and egg hunts. The kids (Ana, Jorryn and Aunt Jenny) got tired of waiting for us to hide the eggs so they hid them and told us, -Jer, Jami, Johanna, Grandpa-that we had to find them and to make it interesting we'd be timed. The competitiveness came out and I had to beat Jer. It was fun but he still found more eggs than me. It was great fun and we all had turns.

Jer got me a Sig Sauer P232 for our 10th Anniversary present. The type of gift that is suggested for a 10th anniversary present was tin or aluminum. HEE HEE! We were out practice shooting last weekend but those pictures were mysteriously erased. Seriously! The kids had their turn with the .22 and the paintball guns.

Its late and the AM comes too fast. More news and pics to come.

Jami and family

Where has the time gone?

I have neglected the post for too long again, but our lives have been really busy. Jami is watching an infant for a couple in the church while they are trying to get their house ready to sell. So her plate is full during the week. She takes care of the little one, home schools our two kiddos, Ana has gymnastics, and both her and Jorryn have swim lessons. Then there is all the housework to do on top of that.
I have been really busy at work. I have had some jobs overlap in schedule, and until I hire another guy, I have to stay late and get the work done. Sometimes I won't make it home until 9pm. I think the schedule is getting a it lighter, so there may be more activity here. But there is one thing I want to know...where has the time gone!?
Our car is in the shop, and they don't know whats wrong, so we are driving our other vehicle that frequently stalls without warning. It also has a bad heater core at the moment, so it fogs up the windows on a drive longer than 10 miles. We may be in the market for another vehicle soon, but everything is so expensive! Have you seen the price tag on the new Toyota Land cruiser? Check it out. Remember, its a TOYOTA. Click here and look at the STARTING price.

Got to run, I am late for work!

Jer and the family

Youth weekend

So I ended up being one of the chaperons for the youth retreat last weekend. It was a hoot. There was two groups going, and we were the second one, leaving later in the evening. We had a 3+ hour drive since the highway normally taken was closed due to avalanches, we had to take a longer southern route to the place we were staying. The pass wasn't too bad, but we still had to take it easy. Of course I had to slip and slide a little to keep everyone in the van on their toes! Only in the parking lots though. We had 23 of us altogether, I think 12 of us were from our church.
We got in about midnight, and games were already in progress. We unloaded the food, and promptly started to munch, snack, and get to know everyone there by greetings and introductions. We setup the rules, itinerary, and then we played a group game. That lasted until 2:15am or so. Since we had devotions at 7:30am, we figured to send everyone to bed...yeah right. Everyone went, but sleep didn't come easy, at least for the guys.
A few guys were "chosen" to be examples of good character and patience. Those lucky ones were blessed with water, flour, and shaving cream. Do you know that flour sticks really well to the face when first primed with water? The victim, I mean model of virtue, is sleeping soundly, you would be too if it was after 3am, and the moral builder silently comes into the room with a cup of water, and a cup of flour in each hand. The diamond in the rough is then splashed with water followed by the flour, and the chase begins. Kinda funny seeing someone bolt out the room with a panicked "I have to get out of here look" followed by what in all appearances resembles a ghost. This, along with the shaving cream incident put most of the guys on edge, and the sleep deprivation was set in stone. I was the last one to dose off around 4:30am, and was up at 6:30am. Every little thing woke me up. One eye was always open, I tell you that!

Next morning was a good, with devotions and breakfast. Then off to the sledding hill. Tommy & Dave got the worst of it I think. But all in all, nothing too bad. I mean, as long as we didn't have any broken bones, right?

We went to the Maverick center after a quick lunch back at the house. They had a hot tub, ool, (we all know there is no "p" in the pool, right?), rock climbing wall, volleyball court and a exercise room. Oh yeah, can't forget the wave pool @ $20 a person. Basically you pay and take turns for two hours falling off the little surf board and looking like a fool. Good times...
We played vollyball for a bit as well. small court, but fun as well.

Then back to the house for dinner, evening devotions and worship. That was a blast. Tommy did a good job bringing a message to the group and later Troy and Tom C. lead us in some songs that went into some prayer time. I think it lasted about two hours in all, and was good to see the youth open up from behind the defensive walls and receive some encouragement and healing in their lives.

Next we went on to the game of Bet-a-Bite. Basically there are two teams, and the object is to get the most points by eating items in a certain number of mouthfuls. One mouthful is 3 points, two mouthfuls-two points, three mouthfuls-one point. The item in question is brought out in a box so you can't see it. You can guess the weight and size, and before you open it, you have to disclose how many bites, or mouthfuls as it were, that you are going to down it in. The items ranged from M&Ms to pickled pigs feet. We only had a few that weren't able to complete. One was cake frosting in one mouthful, and the other was a can of SPAM in two mouthfuls. I don't blame either one for not finishing, I am just glad they weren't on my team!

Spoons was the next game, followed by the name game, and that ended the night/morning around 3:15am. Once again, I was the last to go to sleep and the first one awake...I just stayed in my sleeping bag with one eye open when I heard someone get up. I didn't want to wake up with shaving cream on my face.

Made the trip home just fine, I did sleep for a good 12 hours the next night. Yeah, I know what your thinking. What a wuss. Hey, I am a 36 year old trying to keep up with the 18-26 year olds, and no coffee all weekend! What's up with that?!?!?!

Until next time....



Jeremy

Quick update

Hello all! (By all I mean the two people that randomly read this blog)Almost time for another weekend to relax and unwind from work. Whats that? Oh yeah, Jami and I are supposed to chaperon the youth from the church this weekend on a trip to Sunriver. So much for the relaxing and unwinding...

I think Jami is staying home. Juliana has caught a nasty cough and stuffy head. We were bummed, but family first. There is another married couple going along, so the girls will still have someone to keep them in line. I am bringing duct tape and zip ties to keep the guys under control.

Ana had her gymnastics meet last weekend. It was great. she did very well in front of all the people and I dont think she was nervous at all. She was grinning from ear to ear. Of course we brought the cameras, video and still, but do you think we would have remembered to make sure the batteries were charged? Ugh, no. We got there early and I plugged in the battery for the video camera, and put a full charge on it, but full charge on that thing only lasts 10 minutes anymore. It might be time to find a new battery. We didn't bring the charger for the still camera, so only a few shots were taken. I will post some pics later when I have more time.

Jami is on MySpace so she can talk to her cousin Laura who is traveling around the world. I was talked into Facebook by another friend, but this is probably the one I will still be updating on a more regular basis.

Enjoy the weekend.

Jer, Jami & the kids

More Snow pics as promised

The kids were very excited to get snow...okay, maybe Jami & I were just as happy. I know its not much compared to other areas of the country, but 5 inches was plenty to build a big ol' snowman, sled down the hill and have a snowball fight. Jenny came over and helped us have a great time. Here are more pics from the web album. I downloaded 400+ from the camera, these are just a few.

A Little Snow for Us....

Just a quick post to show we do get snow here on occasion...more snow fun later!



Click any image to enlarge

Family Camp 07

We had a small group at family camp this year. It was a lot of fun. Sitting around the campfire at night, telling tall tales, avoiding the smoke inhalation. Lots of food and fellowship.
The theme seemed to be motorcycles and quads this year. Out of the four families up there, Jami and I were the only ones without something motorized other than our Yukon. The kids couldn't ride until they hauled 10 buckets of water each from the creek, to keep the dust down. Then off they went. Riding the trails or going up to the cinder rock pit.



We got the kids a pinata to beat on. We figured they would like the work for the candy. We went youngest to oldest, and when the last oldest went, we let her finish off what was left of it. Then we formed two lines, young ones, then the older ones, and let the younger go start gathering candy before the older ones got in there. I think it faired pretty good, because each kids take was approximately the same amount of candy.
All in all a great time out having a family vacation away from the hustle and bustle of the work week. We look forward to next year.

Snow Camp '06

So I never posted the crazy fun Sean, Thad, Steve, and I had last year camping in the snow. After looking at the pics I have, we missed a TON of things. We didn't get nearly enough playing around in the snow, (hard driving sending up snow showers), or shooting the .50 cal desert eagle. We did have great fun, and next year will prove to be better documented. Maybe even a video or two. Enjoy these few pics.



Let it SNOW!

Sports and guys

There are some of us guys out there that like sports. For me, its my competitive spirit. I happen to like baseball and football. Some like that left turn car thing NASCAR, hoping to see a crash, or root for some sponsor on the hood of a car. Some watch hockey, I think mostly to see if a fight breaks out. I guess that inst much different than some of the plays in baseball and football. Here is a hit that I saw in a game between the Titans and Colts this year. OUCH...



How about this stiff arm...



Or this awesome college football catch (poor quality)



Anyway, I don't spout off much about some of my pastimes, but I thought I would give a little variety to this blog.

Enjoy the playoff games this weekend!

Jeremy

The New Year

We are now into the second week of January, the tree is down, the decorations put away. Its time to get back into the routine. School, work, exercise. Yes, the new year always brings those resolutions to get fit and eat healthy. We joined the racquetball club in town and Jami and I have been playing when we get the chance. They have a mini gym there as well, so we can hit those if we feel like we need more of a workout after running around the court. Its pretty fun. The eating good thing? Well, we still like food, so...
Ana still does gymnastics as stated before, so we included a few pictures in this set. Jami was only able to get a few that turned out. We are not sure what Jorryn will be into this year, other than swimming. Time will tell.
The dogs are ready for some good weather again. I think they are tired of being wet and cold outside. We are going to see about getting them some better shelter this week, and something more permanent next year.
House plans are in the works, and with many, many revisions, we are getting it down to what we think is the best options for us. Adding on to an existing home, and trying to incorporate all the things we want without completely gutting the place is more of a challenge than we thought. All in good time.
Posting some misc pics for the time being. More to come later.




The Von Ruden clan...

Christmas

Christmas Eve.

So Christmas Eve we went to my folks house for dinner and opening presents. We pigged out on great food, turkey, ham, potatoes, candy, ugh...food is good when moderation is involved. Isn't it that way? What is it about Thanksgiving and Christmas that we have to pig out? Well, whatever it is, I am thankful for it, moving on...
All was well Christmas eve until about 10pm. Jorryn is not a night person, so he usually hits the "wall" sometime about then, and needs to get to bed. He is an early to bed and early to rise kid. So when he started feeling groggy and sluggish, we thought it was just the late night getting to him, but alas, it was worse. Lets just say he let dinner visit a second time. Poor kid. Not the best for celebrating, but it was an overnight bug and he was raring to go in the morning to open presents.




This was our second year having a tree at home. Normally we aren't home to enjoy it, so we only put up our Christmas houses, etc. But I think we are going to be home for the holidays from now on since our extended family moved over 20 hours away from us. Kinda sad, but we support them!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning came to early for me. We stayed up pretty late the night before, so sleeping in was the priority, well, for the adults anyway. The kids, yeah, the same thing in every household across America, get up and open gifts! We had a late breakfast after the presents and then headed back over to my folks for leftovers and games later that evening. It was a pretty relaxing fun day, and all was good.

Enjoy the pictures and the new year!

Jeremy, Jami, Juliana and Joryyn

The Gingerbread house

We all had a GREAT Christmas, and more to come later, but for now...the candy house.

The kids had been asking and asking to build a gingerbread house, but Jami and I didn't want to do it from scratch. I know, we missed the "experience" of doing it all ourselves or something like that, but it was an hour long project even with a kit. No that didn't include cleanup. Ana and Jorryn were squealing with excitement as the materials were delivered to the table. What do you think the first question was? That's right, "Can we eat it?" That question was throughout the whole building process.

Daddy helped lay the foundation while mommy read the directions...as in, "Lay the frosting in the preformed tray, not to much...there we go, you missed a little there...the gumdrops go here, hey, you put the roof on upside down!" Yes I did. You can see it in the picture. Hey, I was in the groove, slapping this thing together.

Then we each took a side and started adding, a little frosting here, a little there. Pretty fun.


The Little Christmas tree was given to us after I bid a job. The guy owned a Christmas tree farm and he took me out to the field and cut one down for me. It had to be small because of our lack of space at the moment, but we had a blast getting it decorated. We ended up having to trim the top because the star wouldn't stay upright!

Okay, more Christmas pics coming soon.

'Twas the week before Christmas

It's 11pm. The night is quiet except for an occasional crack from the woodstove. A sweet sound as it is keeping at bay the chill of the night. I am sitting in the living room, with Ana on my left laying on loveseat, Jorryn sacked out on the floor, and Jami asleep on the couch. The only lights are from the Christmas tree and the fireplace. We are very cozy, very blessed to have our needs met.


This year has been very busy with all of the "new" things going on. We got more involved with the church and became friends with the pastor and his wife. I started the tile business which has proven to be very taxing on my time, but gratifying. Ana is back in gymnastics and is doing very well. Jorryn has tried gymnastics but would rather have swimming lessons. The property was explored a little more and our plans for this place have developed a little more, but without the time and finances right now, they are still ideas. A friend got married, another is expecting, and yet another had a baby. Two other families adopted two kids each, both from overseas.

It seems like no matter how much you plan, or how much you try to remember, time just keeps bringing birthdays, holidays and events sooner than you expect. Christmas is just right around the corner and we didn't send out any cards, or pictures to any friends or family, yet we received these from friends and family. Every year we say we will be better the next year, and low and behold, here we are again. You would think that we could get a simple post up at least once a week to keep all two or three of you posted, but we can't even do that.

Our camera was dropped and we are just picking it up tomorrow after being in the repair shop for two months. Thats not a good excuse for not posting any pics, but its an excuse...
Everyone has been remarkably healthy this year. Nothing really serious that put us out for more than a day. I can't say that a credit to what we eat, but maybe its the vitamins and the Oregon weather!
Wrapping this up, I just want to say Merry Christmas to all, and have a great New Year. Thank you for checking in on us.

Jeremy, Jami, Juliana, and Jorryn

The living room remodel

I realize that most of this project was almost a year ago, but now that the slide show feature is available in the blogs, it is very easy to show you the process.
When we bought this place, the previous owners were not idle by any means about getting the property cleared off and starting to update the home. We appreciated the things they had finished, but there was still a lot to do. I will give you a glimpse of our living room project.
The living room closet used to be the front porch area, but they put in a big sliding door, and closed off the porch, making it into a closet. The big metal front door was still there when we moved in, so we decided to put a smaller closet door in, and build some shelves in there for games, DVD's and what not. I put in a few plugs as well, since there wasn't anything there. We put in a ceiling fan and well.
We had to change the texture on the walls. It was very much old school, and I was afraid that when the kids were bouncing off the walls as the sometimes do, they might start to bleed. Just kidding, but you get the point. I put in a few pics to show you how rough it was. I had a few choices. Tear off the sheet rock, and replace, then retexture, or scrap and fill the existing, then retexture. I chose the latter, it was cheaper, and we all know I am cheap. Well, I would like to think I am quality, but inexpensive...moving on.

Like I said, I ended up scraping the really high rough spots off the texture, enough to start filling with mud. I put on two coats, sanding flat in between coats. I put 12 gallons on sheet rock mud on the walls before texture just to smooth them out. Then the texture went on. Fun....
The door on the closet used to be the door that was out in the mud room. That was fun, keeping the old hinges and glass knob. We wanted to keep the older look. We stayed up all night painting the living room and getting the door in place. About 5am we thought we should get a nap before the kids woke up.
We are now thinking of expanding the kitchen by removing the wall between it and the living room, making it really open. The pics should give you a little bit better of an idea of what we went through getting it ready for hanging out in. We are drawing up some add-on plans right now, but depending on the cost, it may be awhile!

Warm up, Biking & Mt. SI

So back in JUNE...I know, why did it take so long to post? Life happens, FAST. You make your new years resolutions and all of the sudden its October. Go figure. Speaking of figure, I am adding to mine everyday. Moving on...
Back in June, we went on a little getaway weekend with some friends. We went up to a Bed & Breakfast spot in North Bend Washington. They had been there before, and just loved it. I must admit, it was a great little cabin and the surroundings were beautiful. It was supposed to be just a nice relaxing time, lots of rest and relaxation, a little hiking and mountain biking. Well, their idea of an easy weekend was a little different than our out of shape bodies were ready for. We started out with the warm up hike the first evening. Just a mere four miles, checking out the cool falls and what have you. Not to bad. Just enough to let us know how bad of shape we are really in. It was a good start. We had a great time, as the pictures should tell.
The next day was the big day. It started off by having our B&B host drop us and our bikes off at the top of the John Wayne Pioneer trail head. It then is a 20 mile downhill ride to where the car was to be parked. That is more biking than I have ever done, combined. Anyway, it starts by heading through the Snoqualmie tunnel. A little over two miles, right through the mountain. There are no lights in there, unless you strap one to your forehead, or you have one on your bike. I had Jami turn her light off so we could "feel" the darkness. I thought it was pretty cool, Jami thought it was a little spooky. Here is a Wiki link to for a little more info. Click me.
We had a great time the rest of way down the trail. We stopped a few times to take some pictures, have some water and a snack, or just chat. There was a section where a bunch of guys were rock climbing. Some of those guys were really good. Climbing up to set the rope is the big challenge. There is no one to belay you, and you just tie into the rock as you climb up. If you fall, you trust that last clip you put into the rock.
We stopped for a geocache once. I forgot my GPS, so it was just from description. No biggie. Jami posed with her finger atop of the Mt. we were going to hike up later that day. We were finished in a few hours, and I tell you, I was saddle sore. Get a good seat if you are going to do that very often. No, I take that back. Get a good seat no matter how often you ride.
We went back to the cabin for some lunch, and then headed out to hit the next trail. As if we didn't feel enough out of shape with the previous days four mile hike and the 20 mile bike trip, we topped off the day with a 8 mile round trip hike up Mt. SI. It's not that high, just 3600ft, but the trail head starts you out at 500ft. So you have four miles to gain 3100ft. All part of the adventure I guess! Jami and I brought up the rear the whole way up. It was a pretty crowded trail the first few miles, but the traffic died off after that as only the die hards, or INSANE people were going to the top. I know, I must be a wuss, but for a guy who doesn't hike, that a lot of elevation. About halfway up a guy went jogging past us. About two thirds the way up he was jogging back down. Yes, he jogged up and down the mountain. I was never in that kind of shape, even in high school. Here is a link for the trail. Click me.

We got back, all safe and sound. That night we treated ourselves to some Ben & Jerry's ice cream and a movie. It was a good finish. We only had a few blisters from the day, and were pretty sore the next.



Enjoy the pics.

The Von Rudens

I will start off at the end of summer...

So we have been busy having fun around the property. I will start here, and collect my thoughts later on some other news.
We have been here a year and still haven't made it across the creek to start clearing out the berry bushes yet, so I got a wild hair and drove the tractor through the creek, (it was low enough), and got busy clearing with the brush hog. We made a go of it throughout the weekend and got quite a bit done until the tractor got a branch through the radiator. Now I have to find parts for a 19?? Massey Ferguson. Such is life.
I must admit we are terrible at keeping this thing up, but tomorrow may prove to get some creative juices going and let me update this more thoroughly.

Until then!

Take a look at our friends the O'Haras Blog. There are some good things happening in their family!

I know, I know!

Yes, there has been little activity here...BUT, we are busy bodies! Things are changing up, and we will post pics, news and stuff here real soon!

The busy Von Rudens

Civil War

There was a civil war reenactment last week here in Lebanon, the first one ever here in town. Here are some pictures of the camp, men, and the battle that happened. Hope you enjoy, we did.



It was just a small glimpse of the real action, but gave a fresh perspective on what the men went through during the split our our nation. Two sides, both fighting for what they believed in, both dieing for their cause. Very sobering, and good to revisit history so we will not forget. We thank all those who choose to do these reenactments, and the hard work they put in to keeping history alive.

Baby Goats

There were some baby goats born last week at Grandpa & Grandma's house. They were soooo tiny! Their names are Tiny & Humphrey. I didn't get any really close pics of them, but here are a few. (click on any image to enlarge)

Here is a pic of Grandma & Ana. Also a few pictures of Grandma's flower garden, and Grandpa kickin' back and enjoying the evening. Actually there is a big chink of meat on the BBQ behind him and he is waiting for the timer to go off.












This guy is here to keep you comapny if you want to just hang out in the front and need someone to talk to.


Weather is holding in there, its going to be a beautiful summer!

K-9 Confusion

Jami posted some pics of our shepherds, and I would consider these real, honest to goodness K-9's. The following pictures are of Jami's sister Julie's so called dog. I am still trying to figure out if it is part of the K-9 family. I think it may be some sort of superior being. It either doesn't know how to walk, or it is royalty, and simply must be carried everywhere. Fed on a schedule, bathed & dressed by others, and to top it off, he can make a stink in the yard and someone cleans up after him! Is it the face? If anyone has any information on this being, let me know. I'll let you decide! I think its called "BRODIE"