Snow day

I will let Jami post about Christmas, and I will take the snow day post.
We were supposed to get up and head to the mountain pass sometime around 10-11am, but its hard to get up and around when you stay up playing games and watching movies until 3:30am the previous day with family. Needless to say, we got up there sometime around 2ish.
The O'haras and the Dons came up with us, and all the kids were really excited to get up there and play in the white fluffy fun. My mission as a dad was to find a good sledding hill and see if we can find a jump at the bottom and get some air. Hang time is a must. I think the moms just wanted everyone home in one piece. Declan was the only casualty of the day when he tried to take a tree out with his face. The tree was left standing, and Declan has a good war story if he embellishes it right.

We found a few good sledding runs. One for the kids, and one for the adults. I made it down once without bailing into the snow, but since I had the camera, no one got me digitized. (heh heh)

We had a great time, a good way to enjoy the weather and let the kids burn off the candy from the stockings.

Here are a few pics and a few videos...



Jer

Prayed for weather

The weather has been so cold and everyone else seemed to be getting snow but us. Ana had prayed for two days that it would snow and finally it did. It was hardly worth playing in but Ana got Jorryn and me up early so we could before it melted. The goats think when ever we are all out there playing they should be too. After a minute of bellowing, Ana had to let them out so they could go for a walk with us. Gabe is the only one I trust not to chase them to death, at least little Lyla since Bella isn't intimidated by the dogs. After a few snowballs thrown at me, the kids started a snowball game that only got one hit but Gabe got Lyla to run around Ana and Jorryn for a "home run". After about an hour we humans were ready to go inside our warm cozy house and start school work.

Our Christmas tree is a little taller than last year but Jer thinks it looks like something the Grinch might have. We probably won't have any more updates before Christmas so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Winter fun & frustration

No pics today, just a rant.

So most of you know that if you live somewhere below 500ft in elevation, it doesnt snow that often. When it does, most people who have lived in this area all their lives FREAK OUT when a skimming of snow hits the valley floor. I'm sorry, did I say freak out? I meant drive like they are 10 years old with no idea how to control the vehicle. There is slow, then there is STUPID slow.
The scenario:
Four lane highway with patchy ice above freezing. Not the slick ice, but the still have traction ice. You can do 50 mph no problem as many of us were. Here comes an onramp with about 5 people not sure of themselves going 25 mph. That would be fine if they would have stayed in the slow lane like they are supposed to do, but no. They had to pull in FRONT of me and drive side by side blocking all traffic and regulate us to 25 mph for the next 5 miles. These are the idiots that cause accidents. That is stupid slow. Semi trucks were waiting behind me.

I still think there should be tickets given for driving while stupid. Think of the money that would be generated.

Here is some winter driving fun for you:



Jeremy

Ana's 8th Birthday and Our week w/The OHara kids

Our good friends Sean and Tracey had asked us to go on a cruise with them last November for this October. Because of my "love" of the water and boats after watching movies like Titanic and Jaws, they just couldn't persuade me to go. It turns out the Lord allows me my paranoia for a very good reason. Jer and I needed to be here to watch their five kids. Unfortunate circumstances prevented Tracey's parents from being here with their grandkids so we were more than willing to watch all 5 kids why they enjoyed a much deserved vacation. Since we don't have enough space in our home, I stayed at the O'Hara's. Jer and the kids stayed with us on the weekends and then slept at home during the week nights. It worked out great. We loved getting to know all the kids more and establishing bonds that will last for eternity. We've known Declan, Alexis, and Kimberly since they were born. But we hadn't had the chance to get to know Alyona and Tanya, their adopted Ukrainian sisters, at least as well as we'd like. This was the perfect opportunity! I'm not an early bird but a night owl and getting up to get them ready for school seemed a little scary, but I did it and even had time to do their hair on occasion. They are all very self sufficient and really didn't need me except to drive them to school. I'm not at all like their mom, though oddly enough we do get asked often if we are sisters. Lucky for them they all have a little of her in them (and a little of their
dad, too. HEE HEE)!

We wanted Sean and Tracey to be there for Ana's party so she had to wait for her main b-day party this year. I have a hard time not celebrating on the actual day but this year we had a great reason for waiting. We did take her to Red Robin that night and embarrassed her fully when the whole restaurant broke out in their own version of "Happy Birthday"! It was awesome and she's young enough that she enjoyed it. Ana really wanted to go roller skating this year but our local roller rink closed weeks before her b-day. Jer came up with a great alternative- to go ice skating. Neither Ana nor Jorryn had been before. I knew Ana would pick it up quick, but I was a little worried about Jorryn. We reserved a few tables and took some decorations. The O'Hara's, and the Don's, Tonya and Kurtis, Jacoy, Acacia, Kutler and Amy and Dallas Griffith were able to come celebrate with us. Two hours of ice skating was not enough and telling all the kids it was time to go eat cake and open presents still didn't make them want to get off the ice. Unfortunately, they didn't have a choice since the rink was closing for a hockey game. All the kids and parents did really good skating and I don't have any fun stories to tell about crashes on the ice-but I do have a pretty good one tell about the trip there. A week before the party I was feeling pretty ambitious about making Ana's cake, but as the week progressed and I realized how busy I was going to be over the weekend I really didn't have time to do it. Friday I went to the grocery stores to order a cake and ran into some problems. I was going to have to make a cake. I stayed home from church Sunday morning to decorate it and was felling pretty good with the results. I wrapped it in tin foil and we very carefully put it in the back of the Yukon. Jer said it would be fine and I nervously left it the way it was. Juice that was in the back started to slide around and even though Jer said it was fine, I asked Ana to crawl in the back and get the juice. We were at a stop sign and Jer needed to go so he stepped on the gas and Ana fell into the cake. I unbelievably laughed but Jer and Ana weren't to happy. We all agreed it wouldn't be worth it to be upset about it and quickly we were all having a good time again joking about Ana taking out Cinderella. I had this little feeling before I had gotten the cake all ready to travel that it wasn't going to make it so I had the forethought to take pictures. We had fun retelling the story when it came time to blowing out the candles. Over all it was the best birthday ever and she can't wait to go ice skating again-with everyone of course!

I'm still homeschooling. Much to my surprise. I have wonderful teachers to help me out when ever I need it and Ana and Jorryn are great students. Jer made us each a little space of our own in our 10x10 office. It's cozy and helps keep us all focused.


The animals are all good and muddy! The goats are getting big but they are still super cute and affectionate. I had to take Bella to the vet this week and she was better behaved than any dog I've ever owned or had to handle while working for a veterinarian.

We have one more birthday dinner planned for Ana with her family here in Lebanon. I'm hoping she doesn't expect a 3 week celebration every year.

Updates coming soon...

Sorry about the lack of posts, but we are busy busy. stay tuned!

Jorryn's 6th Birthday

Today was Jorryn's b-day. As always I have big "ideas" for celebrating and usually start thinking about them with plenty of time to prepare but for some odd reason I don't do a thing until a few days before the big event. The day before is more accurate. Jorryn is a huge Star Wars fan right now and light sabers are his favorite toy. He'd really like a real one which will be a dad and son project to try someday. I had visions of grandeur for his cake-a light saber. It was fun to make and he was thrilled with it. Someday maybe I'll take a cake decorating class and learn how to do it the right way but for now I wasn't completely disappointed with my results-unfortunately I was to concerned with it's looks that I put a bit too much sugar crystals on-woops-even kids have their sugar limit.
It was a beautiful day and we had family and close friends to enjoy it with. The kids had a blast getting Jer with the confetti sprayers. He's such a big kid. Next we had to have a battle so the kids locked themselves in the tower with their bucket full of water grenades while the adults and Alyona stormed it from the ground. It didn't take Jer and Sean long to climb the walls and attack. It was so much fun to watch and I think you can tell from the pictures that it was just as much fun to get splat. We found that we had one casualty of the day-Ana's tooth. The good thing is that she wasn't even aware that she'd lost it. The tooth fairy will have fun trying to figure out how to compensate her.




Side note from Jer:
When there is a slight breeze outside and the candles on the cake really need to be lit, I can only think of one sure way to light them...blow torch! Yeah, that's right. I think Tonya was a little worried about what I was doing to the cake at first. Heh heh...great day, lots of fun.

Branding / Nebraska

We arrived in Nebraska safely, leaving 100 degree weather in Oregon to rain with thunder showers at the Denver airport. It felt a little backwards to me. Our plane trip was kind of interesting, ten minutes AFTER we were supposed to be in the air from the Portland airport the stewardess announced we had a first aid issue that needed to be resolved and that maintenance was supposed to be working on resolving the issue so we could get in the air. Turns out it was a bad defibrillator, and evidently Southwest did not have a spare one handy. They did have a spare plane that we could use though, and we then de-boarded the plane and an hour later boarded the spare one they had chilling over on the tarmac somewhere. Good thing they had that thing all warmed up and ready for us...
(Personally I think there was another issue that they didn't want us to freak out about, but hey...what do I know)
We got to Denver an hour late, and our bags also made it, woo hoo! Jami's cousin Laura came to pick us up and drove us to the ranch from the airport. The weather cleared up and it was a good trip all the way back. It was horse talk all the way. I finally put on a movie for the kids and I put my mp3 player to good use decided to take a nap. Got to love technology.



Jami now-I think this was the longest I have ever gone without seeing my family so it was a most needed reunion! I hadn't seen my grandparents in 8 years. The ranch holds my fondest memories as a child growing up and ironically I was always the one who wanted to move back and live there. Our second day there was the cattle drive. My cousin Deb let us borrow her 3 horses and we had my sister's 2, along with 3 quads and a mule-that's an ATV. Unfortunately, we didn't have the camera along so there's not one picture of it. Jer was busy making his "football picks" for fantasy football so he missed the whole thing! I'm aware that I will not reap the consequences had I thrown the wife card at him but I'm still a little disappointed that he wasn't there. Laura, Deb, Clint, my cousin Mikey, and I were all on horses while Great grams & gramps, Nana & Papa, and I think Jorryn rode in the mule. The kids and Julz were on the quads. I'm also sad to say that my kids did not ride a horse once the whole trip but couldn't wait to ride the quads.
Day 3-Branding. I can't imagine there is anyone out there that hasn't wanted to be a cowboy or girl at one time or another and this is as close as you can get. I'm hoping next year it will be more of the old fashion type brandings I remember but this one was super fun. The veterinarian was there to do the dirty work. John and Jodi, a couple who are friends with Julie and Clint, also were there, they were a huge help! I think Jer and Jodi had the most dangerous job-getting the calves and cows into the chute and calf table. Jer almost got kicked in the face a few times but his lightning fast reflexes saved him from some serious plastic surgery. He did have a cow kick the fence into his face and had a soar cheek for a few days. He never let on that he'd seen stars. Shortly after that he went face to face with one of the bulls trying to escape through the gate-yes through it! He gave that bull several good punches in the nose and he learned who not to mess with. It was after the gate had pretty much been mutilated that we realized we didn't need to have the bull in there and opened it to let him out. I was trying to beat the bull back with a metal bar on the other side of the fence so I didn't get any pics. I sure wish I had! Next time.



Laura and John definitely had the poopiest job-to put it nicely. Literally, they had the end of the calf you don't want to be next to when they are stressed. Laura helped get the calves down the chute too with Jer. She's an old pro at this. Mom and Julz were keeping track of the cows and calves and all the important details for the records. Clint and my Dad were making sure the cows kept coming and going the right way, plus putting their brands on. My brother Jeff helped with the calf table, moving hay bales and he had his own little herd to put his brand on. Jorryn didn't like the smell of the branding or the poor little calves hollering so he headed back to the ranch house to hang out with cousin Dallas-and play swords. The other kids hung out for awhile and then decided to take the mule for a drive. I remember my kid days there and doing similar fun stuff that now as a parent doesn't seem so good since it's my kid doing it. Strange how that happens. Brexton, Julie's oldest, stuck around for the entire branding. I was super impressed. He's got cowboy written all over him. It was a great day. I wasn't even tired of a whole day of taking pictures.
Day four-We went out shooting with Laura's AR-15 and siqsauer p226. We were suppose to be shooting groundhogs but we could only hit water bottles. Clint came with his 440 mag revolver. I loved the holster. Laura had to get back to life in Denver. I was so happy to see her, and am glad that it won't be another 9 years before I see her again!
My sis and I got in some really long rides the next two days. My mom spoiled us with some good eating. She had menus planned for the whole week. It was awesome. Their is a man in the town that owns a Thomas the train. He drives it around on Sundays picking up kids and taking them for rides. He brought the train to my parents house on Friday night just for us. We got a little tour of Oshkosh to boot. The trip went way to fast and next time we will definitely have to stay longer!

The Gate...

To the married ones, what I am about to say will make sense, to the single ones...not so much.
My wife looked me in the eye and said, "The gate needs to be built before we leave for Nebraska." Being the man I am, understanding the way things need to be in a family, stood my ground and looked her in the eye and said, "Okay." To anyone wondering, yes I still have my man card.
We started looking around at prices, new and used, and being the good with money guy I am, (broke is more like it), I decided we couldn't afford new or used, so I built one instead.
Before anything started we had to walk out the front door and pick fresh blackberries for our morning smoothie. That's got to be one of my favorite parts about living in Oregon. We have berries all over. Oh yeah, the smoothie was excellent.
We started off with a picture in my head, and transferred it to a piece of paper for Jami to see what I had planned. Either something was lost in translation or I am just a bad sketch artist. Either way, she said the finished product was better looking than my spaghetti bowl thing I drew and I am assuming that was a compliment. I only colored out of the lines a few times...pasta?
Dad came over and we went down to drop a few small trees in the field for the rails. It was good we waited until almost ten o'clock to get started, as the cool of the day would have been to easy to work in. Who in their right mind would make the project go easy when they can be a martyr later on by working in the hottest part of the day?
We only had one tree that stuck in the branches of an adjacent tree when we were cutting them down. After that we threw a chain around the trunks and drug them up to the front to cut them to length, notch, and peel the bark. We then assembled them by bolting them together, and then made a trip to town to buy a cattle panel for the backside of the gate.
Dad and I had too long of a break in town and when we got home we had to eat some lunch kill some time chatting about whatever, all the while waiting for it to either get cooler outside or the gate to magically put itself together. I have heard tales of things like happening to those in the favor the gate gnomes, but I think we must have ticked them off by not starting this project earlier in the cool of the day. At any rate, we decided that it was time to finish putting the thing together and our long days work out in the hot, hot sun was finally done and all we had was the gate assembled. Honestly I think we were only at it half a day, ALL day sounds better. It may have only gotten to 80 degrees too, but it FELT like more.
Over the next few days I worked on getting the holes dug, and some power poles put in place. I didn't have my tape measure handy, so I thought a "kids depth" should be deep enough. See the pics and you will understand. It works great. I think I need to patent it somehow.
We got the poles in and some friends came over and helped lift the gate into place. green timber is full of water, so it was a little heavy. The extra hands made easy work of it though. We worked until dark, getting the chain set and some final things done. All in all it turned out pretty good. Cheap...under a $100. I like that. I still have to make the man gate next to it and finish tying in the fence line around the gate, but that won't be nearly as much work.
I am just glad Jami didn't say the gate AND the man gate. Otherwise I would have had to bribe the gate gnomes with something and let them go to work. I wonder if I leave a drawing and some cookies out by my fence...hmmm. Nope. They may have a hard time deciphering what colors are inside the lines and which are out. I may end up with a spaghetti bowl in my front yard.

Games

For those who know us, we are a gaming family. We have a closet full of board games, computer games, and TV console games like the original Nintendo, N64, and an Xbox. The latest thing is the kids completing the Lego Star Wars missions on the Xbox...WITHOUT ME! I am not bitter...no really, I am not...moving on.

So last night was Sequence and we each won a game, and tonight had to be Pictionary night. Jorryn and Momma won a few nights ago, but Ana and I won tonight, but only by one square! I had to post some of the pictures the kids drew because they are both fun to look at and no one would believe me if I said that Jami guessed "steak" from a few squiggles that Jorryn drew. I think something fishy was going on. We do get a clue, and the clue was "Whats for dinner". You be the judge.

Also, I have to post a pic of our new addition, Capitan Crook. He is a cat the was in the Adopt a family program and chose us about 3-4 weeks ago. I think he had a little to much cat nip when he decided that we were the family for him. He obviously didn't look in the backyard and see the 3 large German Shepherds licking their chops. Jami has a different perspective on it. Maybe he chose us because the coyotes don't come here because of the dogs, and for the most part they are in the 40x40 kennel. Either way, we now have a cat. He won't run off either. I have had a talk with Gabe and he has tried to chase him away, and he has successfully done just that, but Capt keeps coming back. I think the bowls of goats milk that show up on the front porch every morning from Jami have something to do with that. I still say it all a conspiracy against me! I must say though, he is trying to earn my respect. He is bringing us mice and moles, leaving them for us on the front porch. I guess we can keep him, as long as he earns his keep.

Enjoy the pics!


Jer and the Family

Busy Summer

It's already the middle of July and I can't say where the time has gone. We've spent a whole lot less time working on the property this summer than last. We did get some fencing up and plan to have most of the front side of our lot completed by august. It took a very hard lesson to make us decide it needed to be the priority this summer. The greatest dog ever to live, Ashes, was hit by a car right in front of our driveway. She had many good years left and our hearts are broken. Now that my throat is all in knots and my eyes full of tears I need to move on to happier times.

We did get another baby goat. We waited anxiously for one of the other goats in Grandma Janna's herd to have their babies and after almost 3 weeks none had arrived. Bella, who was too small to be left outside by herself was in the house and the mud room. I have heard the tone of voice in friends and families voices (and looks on their faces) when told about our "inside" goat, so I know most think I'm some crazy lady. Well I'm blessed among women because the only ones I'd worry about is my mother-in-laws and they are both animal lovers like me. I've been a wonder to my own mom when it comes to animals but I think she's just as soft hearted when it comes down to it! (well noway she'd have a goat in the house). It was getting to the point where we knew our inside goat must be an outside goat. I had made up my mind I wasn't going to take away a baby from it's mother right at birth(much to Jer's approval) and wait till it could be weaned. I think the goats knew our plan and were holding out cause as soon as the decision was made they popped them out, 3 little does. One was a set of twins and the other a single. The set of twins came first and one of the twins was extremely tiny and we think must have had some problems in the womb with nutrition. She was skin on bones and her muscles weren't quite working. Of course Ana and I immediately took a liking to her but we weren't sure if she'd make it. Grandma thought she might need to be put down but we'd let nature takes it course. Ana prayed for the baby goat several times. After a very rough first 3 days especially for Grandma Janna who stayed up with her all night trying to keep her warm which seemed to be her biggest problem as her muscles were strengthening and the baby goat's own mom (we think) laid on her almost killing her, I brought her home. We weren't sure if she would be normal or even live. Ana claimed her right away and named her Lyla and thanked the Lord for her. I can't tell you how good it feels to see my daughter delighted in a miracle that she had all the faith in the world for. God is good. Little Lyla was 3 lbs when we brought her home at 3 days old. She is now almost 5 weeks old and the liveliest little kid. Even Jer is very happy about her. The goat pen was started and completed within a week.

Chelsea, Jer's sister got married the end of June. All our kids were in the wedding. Yes, all four, 2 children and 2 doe lings. Oh too see some of your faces would be priceless! It was a surprise for Chelsea. I've heard that many people thought it was adorable. We had some good friends, Kyle and Delyssa, come and stay the weekend with us. We were so excited to see them since its been 5 years. They have 4 kids, 2 boys, Jorryn was thrilled, and 2 girls, the kids had a blast playing together.

Jer has been very busy with work. God has kept the calendar full and we are very thankful. He's still managed to work on the tractor and mow the fields partially once.

More to come...including pictures.

Bella

So I am wondering if we are normal and the rest of the world is strange, or its the other way around? I prefer to think we are normal, but when I come home and greet my kids and my wife and see the goat, Bella, curled up on the couch next to Jami, I feel something is a little out of place. Don't goats usually belong outside in a pen with other farm animals? Yes, they do. I know some questions are going through your heads, is she clean and is she potty trained? The answer is yes to both questions. She stays in the house or the mud room at the moment, and somehow she has it in her head that she needs to go to the bathroom when Jami takes her for walks outside and tells her to go. I don't know what she will do when she has to go by herself when she is outside and Jami isn't there to "prompt" her. I guess she will just have to get used to being a goat someday soon and nature will take over. An OUTSIDE goat...



Jeremy

Our newborn kid

So everyone knows that we have two kids, Juliana and Jorryn, and now we have a newborn, approximately 6 hours old, Bella. For all those who like to know the "stats", she was 7lbs 8oz. and 16 inches long. Very healthy. Lots of dark hair. Labor was quick and painless for Jami, but she is expecting a long sleepless night. I plan on getting some sleep though. If you are wondering if she was planned...the answer is not really, it just happened. If you are surprised, you are not alone. We were too when we found out. Actually I was more shocked than Jami, she was ecstatic. So were the kids. Here are some pics, I hope you enjoy.







We took her from her momma right away, as she was not really being accepted. She was the second born, and did not bond as well as her older twin brother. The kids and Jami have been asking us for a goat for awhile, and I guess now was the time.

It started out to just be a dinner over at mom & dads, but I didn't know that the goats were ready to kid. They were just a few hours old when we got there at 7pm, and it was clear that we were going to be taking one home at around 7:01pm. I don't think I had a chance to object on this one. I guess we are getting another one within a week or so, so stay tuned.

Oh, and sorry to lead you on a little, but I couldn't resist.


Jer, Jami, and the "kids"

End of May

So Jami posted the start of the month, this may be the last post for the month...but not sure. We have been really busy, and its been hot...rainy, hot, rainy, cool, hot, all over the place! Right now, its raining.
Ana & Jorryn had to get into the water last weekend. We even got the little pool out for them.
Jami is getting a late start on the garden, and when that happens, the weeds go CRAZY.

Here are a few pics of whats been going on, but not much news this post. Although we did find a strange looking spider in the shower this morning. Anyone know what it is, by all means let me know!

Until later,

Jer & Family

May starts out sunny!

Hello All! I had such a full day and some fun pictures that I decided I better post a blog for once (actually I think this is twice). We only have two more soccer games left and then we'll have to wait until fall for another indoor soccer league. Jorryn can't wait since then he will be able to play! Ana is having so much fun and I'm liking the sport so much that I want to join an adult league. We'll see-don't hold me too it.
Our tractor is needing a little TLC and so until the radiator (at least) is fixed Alan and Janna have been wonderful to let us borrow their riding mower to mow the part of the property around the house. The fields haven't been mowed as you will be able to see in the pictures and they will keep growing until we can mow with the tractor (I'm still having a hard time with mowing a pasture when I know that a horse could be so happy "mowing" it for us but I'd be miserable with the mud so I'm patiently-sometimes not so patiently-waiting for the barn). Hopefully we won't lose any kiddos or doggies in the grass. Ashes has been cooped up in the house since it's been so rainy and muddy (I wasn't letting her out except for very short periods to keep her as clean as possible)and we've been keeping Diva in the Mud room. This winter Diva was showing her age and the cold winter nights were hard on her outside. She was allowed in but this spring she hasn't been able to contain herself and keeps running through the mud. The mud room is earning it's title. Ashes was thrilled to get out and play ball with Gabe. He's missed her too. I have Chance in Obedience class and then hopefully agility.

Alan, Chelsea and Johanna were in a pirate play a year ago and we found out that the man who had the props was going to burn them so Jeremy and Alan went and got them. The kids now have a partial ship to go with their castle. Jer wants to build a platform for the props and make it a little more "real". The kids love it and can't wait to bomb the castle when we make the cannon balls. We had a family out for a barbeque and their eldest daughter said when she first saw our back yard, "It's a like a child's wonderland". We hope it will be!

Jer could tell that I was a little down this morning and as soon as we got home said what project would you like me to do for you today. Where I should start I wasn't sure. There's so much we want to do this summer. But after a few minutes and tears of joy we got the green house frame put together(thanks to grandpa Alan coming over and figuring it out) and a pile of old tires moved to a somewhat hidden spot. The prior owners had left them and I'm not sure what they had in mind for them but if anyone has any ideas, Please let us know. It costs to take them to the recyclers and there is quite of few of various sizes. We got the hot tub moved and cleaned out from the family of squirells that had moved in. Lucky for them Ashes the mighty squirell hunter was locked in the house! Hopefully they will find a nice tree somewhere. I tackled some serious pruning and Jer reached the branches that I couldn't. Ana, Jorryn and I got in some soccer. I tried to teach the dogs how to play but no air buds in this house.

To make a perfect ending to a great day Jer got out Jorryn's rocket and we all headed to the fields to launch it. We had 3 successful launches, and 2 very nice landings. The third launch was with a much stronger "engine" and I'm sure some pilot looked out his window and said "What the...?!" It was way up there and the wind took it over the trees and through the hills... well no hills but it was gone. Jorryn was very sad and mom decided she would trudge through the "river" and blackberry bushes and out to the cow pasture to hopefully find it. It's about 7pm. I suit up and take the trusty machete. My first attempt at crossing the creek trying very hard not to get water in my boots left me flat on my bum, soaking wet. I then hear a "mom", and a "hun" and two kids and dad are already on the other side! LOL! Yes, Daddy had come to save the day. He took the machete and followed a trail from last summer that I had made and we reached the cow pasture behind our property-no rocket! Ana believed we would find it and Jorryn looked like there would be no peace till we did. So on we went looking in tree tops. Finally we came to the edge of the creek were a tree had fallen and Jer climbed across, Ana fussed the whole time since we wouldn't let her go and Ashes swam across like the loyal companion she is. OH-I can't forget the most important part of this whole adventure. When we didn't find the rocket in the cow pasture which we really thought it would be, Jorryn prayed that Jesus would help us to find it. You have to imagine a very thick forest with many trees and bushes and realize that it really did seem impossible. Now back to Jer on the other side of the creek where everything is wild. He disappears into the foliage and we can't reach him on the walkie. Ana is starting to panic. He comes back and says I found a fence post and that might be our property line and then holds up the rocket to all of our great delight! It was in a pasture just two neighbors over to the south. God is so good. We got back in the house around 8:20pm. Ana was brushing her teeth and lost her 6th tooth. It was a great, eventful day!

Please check out our friends the O'hara's blog for some more great pictures of our family and theirs. You can find the link on our page and they have a great story.

Taxes, work and soccer.

Here it is again, another few weeks gone by with no updates. I have heard tell that if you don't MAKE the time, you will never have the time, for anything. I guess I need to just make time to write updates here, and post pictures.
Its been a stressful month with taxes due, the Yukon breaking down, finding out the tractor needs about 3k to get back going again.
Ana is in soccer. We had a blast at her last few games. She is taking a break from gymnastics right now, and loving the new sports. Jorryn possibly will be starting pop warner football in a week or so. We need to follow up a little more to see what is required.
Jami has the two boys, (Chance and Gabe), in agility training. She has the first couple pieces of equipment out here in the back yard. Weave poles and a few jumps. I guess the weave poles is one of the harder things to train a dog to do properly. Looks like they are having fun though.

We had dinner with some friends a while back and they gave us some seed heads. Basically, its a nylon stocking stuffed with dirt and grass seed. Just put some crazy eyes on it, water them and watch the hair grow. the kids just have to trim them up every once in awhile. Jorryn's is pretty wild.

It snowed here last night as well. After having an almost 80 degree day last week, it dropped to below freezing and I don't think today it got over 40. I am ready for summer to be here for good. We even had a great day riding our bikes in the park last weekend.



Enjoy the pics!

Jeremy

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.