Drums & Children

So I've discovered that children dig on drums. And being a drummer, this is cool to me. Today my brother sent me a picture of Roan on the set...so, I must blog!

We gave Hannah her own Barbie drumset for Hannakuh this last year.

When I was playing at Sherwood Presbyterian, there were a couple of youngun's who showed interest.

License To Prom

So last week Michaela got her driver's license *shudder*. So now she can "sleep in" and wake up late for school and ask for the car...which we don't give her all that much until the Subaru gets fixed. But it's handy...she drives to dance practice now, and even took Hannah to a movie today!

The following saturday marked her first prom night.
I've posted how Elliot asked her, but here are the pics that her friends took of them all spiffed up!

We Survived Family Camp!

So this weekend, after "adopting" Catie for the trip, we joined many others at the LGPC Church Family Camp 2006 at YMCA's Camp Collins in Troutdale. Mucho fun was had, and I tell you, it's great to be at camp and converse with adults rather than just teens! Hannah got to play wiffle ball for the first time, and after some coaching from Pastor Matt, she got a hit, and later a home run! Woo hoo! Saturday afternoon found the 45er's (4th/5th graders) and older on the diversity course, which is a whole bunch of wired secured about 2 feet off the ground with various ropes and swings to keep you from falling. I think we all fell a couple of times. Saturday night marked a late night round of Disney Trivial Pursuit, girls vs. guys and parents. After a few hours, the girls one by a single pie and some hints from the parents. Sunday brought out the rope swing and also, for the older kids and adults, the treetop wire stuff, which I was able to join in on last minute, accompanied by a rubber chicken for support...if the chicken hadn't been with me, I think I would have bailed at the second rope! Altogether too short of a time, and we will definitely be returning next year!

Dance, Dance, Dance

Michaela and her dancing companions did a couple of shows at the Robison Home, and Hannah did some up front photography... Michaela really is an incredible dancer, folks. Check out her upcoming recital in a couple of weeks... on a real stage no less! Doing tap on carpet kinda takes away from whole idea! And having lass than 5 feet of front-to-back space is difficult too, so give these girls extra-credit!

I've Got Music...

To catch up on the music front, the band I was in, Name For The Nameless, is no more. The guitarists bailed out, which left me (drums) and Tim (voice). With the internship at LGPC upcoming, and school in the fall, we decided to call it quits. BUT...

I'm putting more time into the youth at LGPC, and tonight, some kids came together to work on some of my original pieces...they've done it before, but tonight we really put it together. Mike Cummings is really taking the lead, tweeking the songs to a really nice sound on the guitar. Brandon Vance, usually a guitarist, has taken the rhythm position on the bass. Sara Wendland has my old seat on the drum set, really showing a knack for it. Catie Elrod has taken over lead vocals for the time being, and is trying to find where her voice and Mike's love of metal meet. It's really quite a cool thing. I sat in on rhythm guitar tonight, but I hope to edge out completely, to focus on helping contain the unit together, and write some new songs. They seemed excited to be playing together, and we got one song, Who, down quite well, and started to put together another, Meaning, until Mike had to go to work. But the future is quite promising!

Hannah is in a little choir at church, called Joy Choir, and they sang the benediction for the 8 O'clock service sunday. "Go in peace, go in love, go with blessings from above..." They're great!

Tony & Tara's Wedding!

So I was reading through old posts, and I realized that I had teased y'all with the promise of photos from Tony & Tara's wedding, but I never posted them! so, a couple of months later, here they are!

The wedding was up in Yakima, WA where Tara is from.

It was a nice church, and has appeared in previous posts I've written.

The reception was also at the church, and I gave a rather dull toast, but they had it out with the cake!

I was the Best Man, who would've guessed? And Diane came with me!

It's Hot Out There!

Yeah, so us wimpy Oregonian natives are whining; it's too hot out! And what's up with that? Sunday it was 60...monday: 93! augh! So I was forced into the sprinkler with Hannah and her friend Spencer. Lots o' fun, but the battery in the camera was dead, so this is all I've got. Oh, but the camera-phone to the rescue! Hannah & I went to the park and played frisbee for a while. she's really quite good at it! we'll have to go where there aren't people trying to nap where we're throwing next time!

Bad news on the band front. For The Nameless is no more. Dominic left to plan his upcoming wedding, and he was writing most of the music. Chancy never really came on board, which left Tim, doing almost all of the writing, and myself, just drumming a bunch. So we got together and with the upcoming summer activities, and me wanting to give lessons, and go back to school come August, we decided to call it quits...for now. Who knows what the future holds?!

Mother's Day & Other Such Sundries

So it's Mother's Day, and my folks, and Diane and the girls, and I all went out for a Brunch. It was good. Little gifts were given, Mimosa's were drank, and everyone was full. After that, Diane, the girls, and I went home. After a power nap (michaela actually napped in the car for an hour or so) for all of us, Mom (Diane) decreed yard work to be done! as the mower is broken, I got up on the roof to clean it off and Diane went to finish sanding the swingset so that we can stain it. Hannah played vigorously on the swings and her climbing tree, and as our water girl. Michaela napped while Lucy stood (figuratively) guard. It was nice. We're off to Entheos tonight, and then the week starts again in earnest.

Last saturday, Hannah had her ballet pictures in full costume, so I managed off a shot or two before she left. She's so cute. I'm waiting to get one's of Michaela...she has so many different costumes, that she takes them all to the studio...no home shots there! anyway, I'm so proud of these dancing girls!

Psycho Feline Prom Date

so there i was (Jim says all stories need to start with those 4 words), shortly after explaining to Hannah about May Day, where kids ring doorbells and run away...leaving a small bouqet of flowers behind, of course! otherwise, it's just a prank. anywho, Hannah comes running down the stairs with a bouqet of roses in her hand saying "they left us mayday flowers!" (i had told her that it probably wouldn't happen these days). so upon my opening the door to see the perpetrators, i saw the following on the sidewalk. Diane, Hannah, and I then had a happy dance for Michaela (who wasn't home, and wouldn't appreciate our happy dance anyway), cause she had a prom invite...in a fun and creative way, to boot!

So there i was, petting the incredibly fat Lucy (no longer a kitten) when all of a sudden, in a flash of claws, fur, and flesh, she was gone and i was left scarred! a random slashing, but quite painful, and i am left looking like a failed-suicide victim!