'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"

The Dogs

Hi, Jeremy will be so happy. This is my first post. After reading his most recent post I couldn't help but feel something was missing and then I knew! Diva, Chance and Gabe are not on here! You would think that we didn't have 4 dogs! Shame, Shame. I'm really surprised that Jer has not put a pic of Gabe on here at least since he is his dog, so is Ashes But only because he says it. (ask her and she'll tell you the truth :) ). Gabe was one of the pups we sold and got back a 10 months later. He is a blessing to our family. Jer says "he is my kind of dog." That is a huge compliment considering Gabe is not a aussie or bodercollie. Gabe is very playful and him and Ashes are constantly fetching-though Gabe thinks its more fun to play keep away.

I can't help but feel a little bad for Diva. She went from being a very pampered indoor dog to a little less pampered outside dog. She loves her boys and I have found would rather be with them than me most of the time. It's a little heartbreaking but I still love her. I knew from the day Chance was a day old that he was going to be MY dog and he is. I still have high expectations for him though I don't think it will be in the conformation ring anymore. Neither of us enjoyed our last show all that much and so I've decided if it isn't fun then don't do it. I'll give agility, obedience, and herding a try and hope they will be a blast.

Chance is on the far left, next to Diva. Gabe is playing with his ball. I'll try to be better about updates now that I know how to do it.

Spring is in full force

Nice to have a break in the cold, wet weather, and have the sun peeking out through the clouds. It seems that the slow growing grass, that has been green all winter has been given a shot of Miracle Grow. I had to pull a little maintenance on the tractor, then put the mower back on so we could get after the fields before they turned into a jungle. Here is Jami out in the midst of it.

The kids also had a sad surprise when we got home from the park the other day. Their tire swing limb had broken.
We were just glad they weren't on it when it came down. Ana just had to climb it.

Jami & I got some mountain bikes. I know, I know, you say it's a phase. Well maybe it is, but we are having a lot of fun riding down at the park. We are supposed to go on a 14 mile ride the first weekend in June, and I am not so sure either one of us are ready for it. Thats not to bad on a bike, but if you haven,t ridden in years...it could be a major undertaking, or maybe just call the undertaker.

Ana and Jorryn are in a kids club called AWANAS, and there was a pinewood derby race that they entered in. Too much fun. I think the dads that helped make the cars for the younger kids were more eager to win and get the fastest times than anyone there. Jorryn got to race early on, so he got a track record, but it was broken later by the kid who won first place for the day. Actually Jorryn didn't place, but Ana got third, and her friend Alexis got second. It was a fun day for all of us. Jorryn was more excited about the cotton candy than any car race! I think he had the fastest time inhaling the candy...then he was the fastest kids as the sugar burn hit him.

Enjoy the weather, be back soon!

Jer, Jami & kids!

Poison Oak

Spring is weighing heavy on us and the yard is growing amazingly fast. We spend a good half a day in the garden area, getting beds ready for planting and cleaning up all the overgrown areas around the walking spaces. The kids helped and I was inpressed as to the fun they had with all the bugs we saw.
We also started to clear out the front hedge, where the dreaded poison oak is. I expected to get it, but Jami was a not really getting into the bushes were it was growing. Next day I started to have the rash breakout on my arms, then it just got worse from there. I ended up with it over my arms, torso, and parts of my legs. It took a week and a half for me to see the rashes subside, and start getting back to normal. Jami on the other hand didn't get the rashes, at least right away. She ended up with a patch that started 5 days later, and then like me, got it over the same areas of the body. it seemed to be worse on her, to where the rash would blister, and one patch got infected. It took two weeks for hers to subside. We are finally having some itch free sleep time now.
Work is great, God is good. I have a full schedule into August now, with some flexibility, and that is always nice.
The fields needs to be mowed, and the garden planted, so this weekend I am hoping for sun!

Until later...

Jer, Jami & the kids

A long long time ago...

Thats whe that last post was. This hasn't been a priority, but it should be!
Things are going well. Jami is out of town this week visiting family in Reno, and then on to a dog show with Chance. We think he has good potential, we shall see. He doesn't have the experience in the show ring, but he may do well just the same. Good luck to him!
Post agin soon with pics.