and I snuck in to take a couple of shots of her class. They will be having recital not to long from now, and I'll have pics from that for both girls.
Saturday night was Michaela's Senior Prom, although only her boyfriend Sam's Junior Prom... It was at the Portland Art Museum, but we saw her and her friends before at the Marriott downtown, where they would be returning after the prom for a party.
They had rented a stretch limo in the form of an Excursion, and crammed in 22 people! And they fit! 
It was big enough that Hannah was able to run back and forth before the teens got in. And off they went for dinner at Mama Mia's before the dance (carpeted dance floors btw). Needless to say, most LOHS mom's didn't get breakfast in bed since their kids were up all night!
For a film class, she and her classmates have been filming Real World L.O. 2007 Reunion at our house, starring Hannah and a couple of friends. She's been dancing up at Lake Oswego Academy of Dance and also teaches some of the younger children there as well. Hopefully, I'll have some video of her dancing to share soon. .JPG)
Last night we all went to see the Mayfete court, and Michaela was dancing in that as well. As I said, she's been a busy girl.
So I spent the weekend up at Trout Creek Bible Camp with about 150 mid-highers at Spring Explosion '07, the theme: wePod. 
It was great that the focus was creating a community together. The jr high band that I work with at Lake Grove Presbyterian, Gsus & The Holy Ninjas, led worship for the conference. They were great! 
Friday night, during the 2nd song, Dancing Generation, I found out that I apparently do not belong to that generation, as I fell and severely sprained my ankle. That made getting around the camp interesting for the next couple of days! 
Jeremy Ito was the speaker for the weekend, with his many stories about vomit and diahrea enthralling the kids. I also noticed that he said "um" 440 times Sunday morning during his talk. hmmm... really, besides the ankle, it was a great weekend.
Here's Lucy watching her favorite TV show, America's Funniest Videos. She doesn't do this to other shows, just this and the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet.
Diane and I drove down to Lincoln City for a Marriage Conference (Built To Last, by the NW Marriage Institute) and complimentary night's stay! Much fun, and we got to hang at the beach. The conference was good too, with pointers on staying together, such as communication, love, faithfulness, etc. 
We had a great time. On the way back we stopped by the Pelican Pub & Brewery at Pacific City. Mmmm... and finally found a beer that Diane likes (Riptide Red)!
mom's place for a BBQ and Easter egg hunt. Those folks went so far as to give Hannah her own little basket! Then a pinata for the kids to wack at. Much love there, I tell you! Sunday we drove out to a 
Park for the Gitmed family food-a-thon. It was great to see all of those folks, although Hannah and I had a hard time remembering most of them. Still, the love and family was great! 
There was an Easter egg hunt by the grandkids, and Hannah found an egg with $10 in it! She was overjoyed. I was just full. Have I mentioned how much food there was? 
After this was over, we went to Michaela's dad's, Mike's, place for what turned out to be an impromptu street-football game. Michaela's team won due to injuries to her dad, step-mom, and step-uncle. hmmm... remember that next time you play football with Michaela! 
More Easter baskets for Hannah & Michaela got a new purse/bag filled with loot. Really, a wonderful time! I say, the family down there really is; Family, as much as they can be, even to those of us not directly related or recently married into the fam'. Thanks y'all!
So we flew down to Modesto, CA for an extended Easter weekend. We actually drove from Sacramento, and stopped by the Hershey Factory! Woo Hoo! Diane's family is kinda centered around there, so it was good to see them all. 
Her brother, Joe, and his family has adjoining rooms with us, so we got to see alot of Winter & Joe Jr. Phyllis, Diane's sister, couldn't make it, but her daughters Melissa and Alison stopped by on their way home from college, so that was really nice. 
We got to stop by Aunt Margie & Uncle Frank's place a couple of times with all of the younger cousins (grandkids) and eat! Always good food at Margie's. Michaela's dad, Mike, lives down there, and the girls got to stay the night and play with 
Michaela's other sister and brother. Friday night found us at Spirits to watch Mike's band DAM play and I got to meet some of the people that Diane always talks about...ok, just one that I haven't before, but Sean was in both bands playing that night. After Easter, we traveled down to Santa Cruz, first stopping at 
Casa de Frut for Garlic almonds and other such neccessities. Then on to the beach for some fun in the sun! There was much eating in Santa Cruz. 
As Michaela put it, I had three lunches! We also rested at 99 Bottles of Beer On The Wall for Santa Cruz beer and candied apples.
Yeah, so Spring Break is over, and it's been a busy one! While Michaela has been in Sun River with her boyfriends' family, we've been here...Hannah spent a couple of days with her nephew, Brody, over at my mom's, and she had a play date with her friend Isabel and her little sister. It was loud! 
She came with me to band practice a couple of times. Apparently we're not very photogenic. We're all blurry. But we sound ok (Incomplete). I think the break from school was hardest on Hannah. On Tuesday she asked, "Can I go back to school now?" I don't think Michaela agreed with that! Diane had some time to play with the new windows, and we won a trip to Cancun by subjecting ourselves to 2 hours of time-share presentations. 
That will be nice! We ended up eating over at Muchas Gracias alot. Have I ever mentioned it? It's great! Family style Mexican food for cheap in Lake Oswego over by Mercantile Village! No waiters, you just go up and order and get it! Apparently that's too much to ask for some Lake Oswegans...
when they found out that they had to carry their own food to the table, the left. More for us I guess! What I'm saying is, "Go eat there!" 'Cause I want it to be there forever! and try the chorizo burrito! Hannah says, "Eat a tostada!" She loves Muchas Gracias! 
She calls it "the thank you restaurant".
As I post this, Sami is asleep on my lap. She must be dreaming, cause she's twitching. Sami is an Emperial Shitzu, which accounts for her size. 
She had to get a really short haircut, cause she had some bad matting on her hind legs and back, so now she wears cute sweaters and coats...she even has a raincoat (cause she hates going outside in the rain, and i hate her going inside). Just wanted to share more photos of her...
and to show the reason why I really can't take naps anymore...
Yesterday I brought home my parents old cat Buck. He had been living feral for the last few years, and I thought that he would like living with us. And he's fine with it...he has made his home on the corner of the couch. The other cats, Lucy, Susan, and Keiki don't really like it, but they were getting used to him. But then came today...
Diane called me and told me to come home. She had a surprise for the family. When I came downstairs, I was greeted by a little wiggle of energy in the form of a 8lb female Shitzu named Sami. Lucy and Susan were hiding under beds upstairs. Keiki was hiding on Michaela's bed. Buck just lay on the couch unless Sami came too close. Then he simply swatted at her. Buck knows how to handle dogs. The funny thing to me is that my grandmother has a 15 year old Shitzu named Sammy. 
So we took Sami to meet Sammy. Energy meets sleepy dog. Sami was happy, but Sammy didn't seem to keen on making a new friend. But they're cute together. 
So Valentine's came and went, and it included an incredible night out for Diane and I. We went to the Charthouse for dinner and stayed for a couple of hours. Dinner was good (mine was dry), but it was so nice to just relax and enjoy the time together. Lucy got heart balloons, Michaela took Mickey Mouse waffles and coffee to Peaslee in the morning. How cute. 
Hannah's Birthday is today (the 15th) and she woke up with the sun to open presents from her Grammy in Arkansas. After she went to school, I brought in her new bike from hiding, and Diane was at home to take the first picture of Hannah seeing her new wheels.
Cool. We went to Sushi Hana for dinner (Hannah's pick) and had full belly's as we came home to get ready for the roller skate party tomorrow at Oak's Park.
Will post more after that.
Goodbye old dryrotted wooden frames, and single pane drafty windows! West Coast Vinyl came out today and in a matter of hours, gave us new glass! I know that this sounds like a commercial, but unless you've lived here in the winter, you have no idea how bad the old ones were. 
You could actually feel the wind and cold coming through them. But not now. And we have screens, so that the cats can't escape when we're airing out the house! Woo Hoo!
I was over at my folks' house and my mom had found some cool photos of Hannah and her cousin Julia. Julia is my sister Kathy's first born, who actually lives in Salem with her adopted parents. But we get to hang with her sometimes, and the girls are quite close in age, so it's fun for them.
Roan and I played in a fort that Grandma (my mom) made for him, and then Hannah and I went home for a late night viewing of Monster House, which was actually a little scary. But a cool flic none-the-less.
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It turned out that they were all signing a Birthday card for me! My birthday is the 9th, and I wasn't even thinking about it! They full on surprised me. Brittney had designed a logo, I thought for their band (Gsus and the Holy Ninjas), and had it put on a shirt for me! Woo Hoo! It's so cool. Keenan made me a guitar pick necklace, and Mike gave me a "Made To Worship The Rock" shirt. Greg and Paige also helped out. It was really cool, and made me feel really special, which I suppose is what birthdays should do. Rock on kids!
from the mountain on Sunday, the cats had a new home more fitting to their personalities. Apparently Hannah also had fun in the castle, but cats certainly ruled the roost.
Apparently the middle section was too heavy to pick up. So I finished it, with some details provided by Hannah. Pretty fun though. Did I mention that someone in the neighborhood though it was a good idea to create a slolem course down the street by placing 3 foot square snowballs every 20 feet or so? And it's still icy here...so, you either slam into a huge pile of snow, or you swerve around it, spinning out of control and ending up in someone's yard. So as a responsible homeowner, I destroyed them; which was kinda fun in itself!
