Enchanted Forest

Hannah, Ceanna, Catie, & I drove down to Enchanted Forest today, Hannah having never been there, and I having not been there in like 7 years. We wandered throughout the storybook villages, fairytale scenes, and Haunted House. We perused the shops in the Western Town, and even had pictures taken with President Abraham Lincoln, and even were able to theorize an alternate assasination event.
Hannah & Ceanna rode on the Bumper Boats and Bumper Cars, and we ran though the entire park a second time. They played in the Indian Caves for about 45 minutes, and after about 5 hours, we left, the girls loving the park, and I fully nostalgized by the trip!

One Year Ago Today...

...Diane and I were married. She planned the whole anniversary weekend for us, and I knew not what lay in store! So we went out for lunch saturday at Mother's Bistro, where we went the day after our wedding. Afterward, I thought that we were going to Powell's to kill some time, when Diane pulled over at the Governor Hotel! Talk about posh! We stayed in the Lewis Suite on the top floor, where Champagne and chocolate's were waiting for us, as well as a rose petal-covered bed in the bedroom! I was certainly surprised. So then, we walked toward Powell's, but wait! We turned into the door to Aequis, an incredible day spa on the top floor of...heck, I don't know what building, but it was 2 1/2 hours of relaxation of the body and mind that we will never forget, starting with a foot massage in rose petal water while we sipped Champagne and ate chocolate truffles, and finishing with an hour long side-by-side massages in the clock tower! Diane really knows how to surprise a guy! I'm so lucky! So when we got back to the Governor, I popped the cork on our Champagne when there was a knock on the door; room service! Diane had ordered Lobster Tail and Filet Mignon, and it was served with a replica of the top layer of our wedding cake! We finished the evening out at Paddy's, where our 2nd reception was held last year. Sunday morning we checked out of the Governor to board the Willamette Star, where we were married, for a 3 hour scenic breakfast cruise. Since it was our paper anniversary, I framed the lyrics to the song that I sang to Diane at our wedding (I Could Never Promise You by Don Francisco) over an image of us sharing our first kiss. So, now we're home, eating a simple dinner and watching a movie together as a family. What a wonderful life!

Look Ma, No...

...Training wheels! That's right, Hannah's bike no longer has training wheels on it, she just does it all by herself. She's really a natural. The only time she's fallen was when she ran into my car... but anyway, I just had to share that!

Diane's B-Day

Diane's birthday was the 1st, and we took her out to breakfast at the 24 Hour Hotcake House on Powell, her favorite. We all had to work, but afterward, we went to Saburo's sushi place over in Sellwood. Now, sushi used to scare me, but then I learned the difference between sushi and sushimi (which is the raw stuff). Diane likes it all, and the eel was really big that evening. But she really loves her raw tuna.

It's Friggin' Hot!!!

Ok, now I realize that summer is hotter than winter, but it's friggin' hot! Luckily, LGPC opened up it's air-conditioned doors to the community and it's members without A/C. We survived there and in the bedroom, where we have a window air conditioner. The rest of the house just had to deal with fans. It's another reason that I love working with the youth groups... Pool Parties!!! Every sunday night the sr. high group goes to someones house usually with a pool! And whether you're dressed for it or not, you may get wet! Not that I ever encourage that kind of behavior :) Every wednesday the jr. high group goes... somewhere. Usually there's water. We've gone on the Willamette Jetboats, been to Lake Grove Swim Park, tubed Oswego Lake, Hunted at the zoo, and destroyed armchairs with sledgehammers. But this weekend, and now today, we're mostly not moving much.

Mercy Project

Today, a makeshift band of Jr and Sr highers met to record their first demo. How am I involved? I wrote the songs. But I kinda suck at playing them. So I gave them to these youngun's and they really make them better that I ever did. It's really cool. Most of the songs that they are playing were written for what I had titled The Mercy Project. A guitarist named Kouchi thought it would be a good band name, and it had kind of stuck.
Mike Cummings is the main arranger of the songs, playing guitar and singing. Brandon Vance keeps the song moving playing bass. Catie Elrod joined us late as a singer, a job she shares with Mike. The youngest, and filling my place, is Sara Wendland amazing us with her drumming.
We had been practicing a song titled Who? for some time, and were just going to record it, but Mike had been working with the song Hide, even recording a version on his phone! So, with some extra time availabe, they practiced it a couple of times, and recorded it easier than they had Who? We've got to get them a gig somewhere!

Lavender Soccer Mission

So Sunday morning Michaela and her cohorts were officially commissioned by our church to go on their Mission Trip to Mississippi to rebuild houses that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. It's an all work, no VBS type thing... I'm sure that they's come home tired! But Diane, Hannah, and I missed it... we were at the Portland Lavender Fair - which is in Beaverton and Forest Grove. Lots of Lavendar to pick from, some cool booths with neat doo-hickey's and even Lavender Lemonade and Ice Cream (yes, we had both)! So, newly purchased lavender seedlings in hand, we headed home... until Entheos, where Katrina gave her Senior Spotlight.
Now, this week began Soccer Camp for Hannah, up at Hallinan Elementary. She was all decked out in pink soccer shorts and socks, shin-guards, black-n-pink cleats, and princess warm-up jacket...kicking a shiny pink soccer ball! How cute! The kids learned and practiced for 4 hours, and then played on the nearby playground for another... I wish I had that kind of energy!!!

Beach Day!

The 4th of July weekend tends to suck as far as driving to the beach. So we skipped the weekend, and drove down early Monday the 3rd! We were the first car in the public lot at 9am at Cannon Beach. It was cold. It was windy! Diane, Hannah, and I took a long walk on the beach (Michaela had to work) and played in the tide pools at Haystack Rock since the tide was out. It was a wonderfully relaxing trip. Of course Hannah wanted to jump in the ocean, but it was COLD! We putzed around the town and headed down to the beach after lunch. Diane and I took the mellow approach and lived in our beach chairs while Hannah played in the little river that empties into the ocean. After a couple of hours, while Diane napped, I took Hannah to the edge of the ocean, and we jumped waves for a bit, but it was COLD! It would have been nice except for the wind. So we went back to the town, and did some more window shopping ("no, we're not shopping for windows Hannah.") We left at about 7:30pm, what a wonderful day! Hannah fell asleep about 60 seconds after we hit 101. Diane crashed about 15 minutes later. A nice quiet drive home!

It's how hot?!

So call me a wimp...I like it when it tops out at 85... but yesterday was in the high 90's! and today... according to me thermometer, it's 104... augh! Luckily, we un-airconditioned people got to go over to the Conan's for a pool party with Entheos. Unheated pool. ahhhhhhhhhh! Hannah had her little floaty-suit on, and got to swim all by herself in the big pool! What a great invention! Much fun, waterfights, and jumping (there was a giant trampoline) was had by all, and then we got to eat, again courtesy of the Conan's, and sing, and relax. All in all, a wonderful time! today; Hannah and I ran in the sprinkler. Then we hid inside with Slurpee's. I've had enough of summer, I think.

Father's Day

So This was my first official Father's Day, starting with a breakfast after church with Diane, Michaela, Hannah, and my dad, Rick. Good times. While I was up practicing music for the upcoming VBS, Hannah was planning an outing. She packed 3 lunchboxes and got the bikes ready, and when I came home, Diane, Hannah, & I went on a bike ride. You see, they had gotten me a new bike for Father's Day! I haven't had a bike for like 5 years! Michaela doesn't ride a bike, and she was napping, like a good teenager during summer break. So Hannah and I got to play on the teeter totter (and did it teeter!), rode our bikes, had lunch with Diane, and we all biked back after an hour or so. Then we all followed Michaela's example, and napped. What a wonderful day!

Hannah: 3 Stories

Hannah's been a busy girl lately, and I've been slacking on the posts. First off, it's Rose Festival: Part 3 - Hannah danced at the Rose Festival, which I missed due to work, but Diane got to see her...a wonderful group of girls!

About a week later, around midnight, Diane and I heard a muffled "hmmfth!" outside our bedroom door, upon opening it, we found Hannah holding a tooth in one hand, and cupping her other under her chin. The 3rd tooth is out! It turned into quite the midnight family affair!

Today, Hannah danced at her recital up at PCC. She and her little friends danced to Louis Armstrong's What A Wonderful World...Hannah got a pink rose when they were done, and we did pictures out in the front yard; Hannah Rose, with a rose, in front of roses. Hee hee!

Rose Festival Part Two: Playing!

Monday Night Michaela danced with the class of little girls that she works with as a cat (they were all little mice) but the pictures didn't take. Luckily, the pics of her solo piece turned out wonderfully! So here's some more pics of her stellar performance from that night.

Afterword we were going to let the girls go on a couple of rides...but it turned out to be $1 ride night! woo hoo! So we went on quite a few rides, and thoroughly enjoyed our selves.

Rose Festival Part One: Michaela

So today Michaela had her first performance at the Rose Festival at Waterfront Park. Her troupe played the Big Top tent, so they had a big stage...still small enough for 2 dancers to get a boot to the head during spins though!
Michaela was in 3 dances; ballet, tap, and lyrical. We had front row, so the pictures turned out quite well! She's so into it - the passion of dance shows on her face when she performs. She has several more shows at Rose Festival, and then the L.O.A.D. recital in a couple of weeks up at PCC Sylvania. Hannah also has a performance at Rose Festival, and her recital is coming up as well. Come back for more...

Yes, It's A Commercial, But It Can Change Lives

So I apologize a bit...because this post is a commercial. But you don't have to buy anything. It takes me less than 60 seconds a day. Have you heard of The Hunger Site? Well, basically, it's a free click to give food to the needy...mostly third world countries. It's completely funded by Corporate Sponsorship Advertising. In a cyber-world where most of the forwards and "this is true!" stuff like Bill Gates tracking an email, I send this out in response to those false thingy's. Check it out if you will. There are a total of 6 sites in the series: The Hunger Site, The Breast Cancer Site, The Child Health Site, The Literacy Site, The Rainforest Site, & The Animal Rescue Site. There are links to each at the top of the main page, or after you've clicked on one, they are listed below. It's not much, but I believe little things like this can help save & change lives. What do you think? www.thehungersite.com

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.