Congrats Dan & Susie

On Saturday, my cousin Dan & his fiance, Susie, were married at their home in Oregon City. Diane, Hannah, & I headed over to this festive event and enjoyable evening. It was a very mellow, casual time, with a short ceremony, and a lot of social enjoyment (thanks to the 4 kegs!) with family and friends. It's really wonderful. Susie was in the traditional white, and Dan in shorts. Rock on, fam'! Check out the photo album.

Dan & Susie's Wedding

Camp, Birthday, College, & Spa (whew!)

Yeah, it's been a while since I posted, but we've been busy! I registered for classes at Warner Pacific College on the 17th, as I'll be going back to school (finally) in the Fall. Hannah & I have been putzing around town, and Michaela and Diane have been working a lot.

Diane, Hannah, & I went to LGPC's 5th Annual Family Camp at Camp Magruder for a weekend. It was way fun! Magruder is at the Beach, so we got to enjoy that. Hannah got to ride a donkey, I got to play guitar, and Diane got to nap in the sun. There was a Sand Castle building contest (Hannah's friend Dylan could actually go into the castle!), s'mores every night, and the famous Big Swing of Magruder! After it was over, we moseyed on up to Cannon Beach for more wave jumping, napping, and dinner. Very relaxing at the beach! Poor Michaela had to stay home and babysit.

A couple of days after we got back, Diane headed up to Bonneville Hot Springs Resort for her birthday (alone is relaxing). The rest of us joined her the next day. Ah... swimming, jacuzzi's, a full spa... very relaxing. The only down part was when my car key broke in the lock, and we had to ditch the Subaru there while we drove up to Seattle for a few days.

"Why Seattle?" You ask? Because Michaela will be attending Cornish College Of The Arts in the Capital Hill district of Seattle! & We had to get her apartment situation all figured out. There is no on-campus housing, so that makes it difficult to find a place to live. She found 2 room-mates, and together they will be inhabiting a 1 1/2 room (seriously) apartment nearby. We wandered around Pike's Place Market and in the evening found an amusement park for the girls to go on rides for a bit, and we ate alot of good food. We stayed at Michaela's apartment (man, is it weird to say that!) on inflato-beds while Michaela lined up a job for the fall to pay for said apartment. & it is not cheap. Hannah & I amused ourselves by going to the Experience Music Project and the Science Fiction Museum over by the Space Needle... which we did NOT go on... it's $16/person just to ride the elevator up and down! Krickey! Hannah & I got to live the realistic band experience as HRB on EMP's live stage.

On the way home, we surprised Hannah by stopping at Wild Waves water park in Federal Way. Much fun, quite sun burned (for Michaela and I), and very expensive corndogs. We made it home after midnight. The next day we had to go back to the Bonneville Resort with the spare key my dad had to get the Subaru. & while we were up there... a Mineral Spring Bath & Wrap for Diane & I, and swimming in the pool for Hannah. Ah, family vacations!

Wedding Crashers Unite!

This summer I have a few weddings to go to. Our bassist, Caleb, and Jessica just got married on the 7th. My best friend since age 4, Micah, is getting to married to the mother of his child, Cat (who I used to work with like 10 years ago). & then my cousin Dan is getting hitched to Susie at their place. Should be fun. & of course, Diane and I will be celebrating 2 years next month. Mmmhmm.

Cheer Camp Outlaws

Hannah went to Lake Oswego Academy of Dance's Cheer Camp this week. She and her cohorts learned 10 cheers, made up their own introducing themselves, and were given a mock audition (on which Michaela was a judge).

Lots of fun, even with the constant cheer calls in the house all week. Next will be Hip Hop class in the fall.

The band I drum in, Incomplete, had a show on Wednesday night at Outlaws Music Hall (with a borrowed bassist, since Caleb is on his honeymoon). My sister, Kathy, has arranged poker games there in the past. It was a great venue, besides the 2 flights of stairs that we had to carry our equipment up! Whew! We had a good set, playing 4th of 5 bands. This is our busy month, with shows on the 20th at Solid Grounds in Camas, Washington, and the 26th at Satyricon here in Portland. Next month will find us in LaGrande, Oregon at the SonLight Fest.

Summer SonForce

For the week of June 25th - 29th Lake Grove Presbyterian Church had their Vacation Bible School themed: SonForce Kids! It was an outerspace spy type thing, and Hannah went every day and I played with the band (bass this time!). Lots of fun, crazy hair days, dressing up like secret agents, and some cool tunes. For the following Sunday all of the kids (and the band) got up front to share some tunes with the congregation. Much fun!

Independence Ball

Our Indepence Day started with the Lake Forest Parade in our neighborhood. We dressed Sami up with red bows and a little shirt with a flag, Hannah put a flag on her scooter, and little cousin Brody came to watch (and get candy) with Grandpa Rick. Much fun, lots of people, and lots of candy!
That evening Diane, Hannah & I went downtown on the Max to PGE Park for the Beaver's game on the 4th of July (Michaela was at Peaslee's). The idea was to have fun, and check out the fireworks at the end. Hannah soon found the kids' aread and jumped around the bouncy house, had her face painted with a horse, and was adorned with a balloon butterfly... all before the game started. Diane had to have all of her favorites, pretzels, peanuts, snowcones, ballpark dogs, and lemonade. We got tired of sitting in the stands and headed down to an empty table in the Widmer Lounge. Right on the field, and a player for the Tacoma Rainiers tossed a ball our way, so Hannah got a game ball, and thought that was just awesome! After the game, the fireworks started, and we were in a great spot for that too. So it was great... until. It took an hour for a max with enough room for the 3 of us to get on. We forgot that there were 4 fireworks shows and the Blues Festival that night. Lots of people. But still, quite a fun time!

Hannah's Hair

Once again, it was time to have Hannah's hair trimmed. So what? Nah, she loves it. We got to Little Clippers, a cuttery that caters to youngun's. She got to pick a movie to watch, choose a car to sit in, and she even got her hair washed before the cut this time. Hannah is actually growing her hair out ("down to my feet!"), but you know how it goes... healthy hair grows better, and faster.

The Cornish Adventure

What an adventure. More than we realized that it would be, that’s for sure. Michaela, Diane, and I drove up to Seattle to register Michaela for classes at Cornish College of The Arts. She’ll be majoring in dance there, and we also needed to find her a place to live, since there is no on campus housing. In fact, campus is a single building, 7 stories tall, in the downtown area. There is another “campus” out in Capitol Hill, again a single building, where dance is focused, so she will be mostly out there.
We stayed at the Bacon Mansion, which has been converted to a bed and breakfast, near the Kerry building. A very nice place, although Michaela’s mattress hurt her back. Wednesday evening, when we arrived, consisted of merely strolling down Broadway and finding dinner at Charlie’s Bar & Grill. Thursday is when things really started. Registration began at 9:30am and different seminars and socials and such went on all day, with titles such as “Paying for College” and “Parents of Students”. Sometime during the day Michaela met Cecilia and Miai, and the 3 of them hit it off, so roommates had been found! Of course, finding a place turns out to be quite a dilemma. Diane and I took the 3 of them around the Kerry campus (they’re all dance majors) to look at apartments. Every place wanted either a full 12 months, or limited the expensive spaces to 1 occupant per room, which is just about out of the question… these are poor college freshmen! So we headed back to main campus where the girls would be gathering with the other students for a dinner cruise on Lake Union. Diane and I were waitlisted, so we drove down to the docks in hope of no-shows. In fact, we were the last 2 permitted aboard! So thank you, people who signed up but didn’t show up! It was a wonderful 3 hour cruise, and the cityscape was incredible at night! So back to the B&B for some much needed rest.
Friday morning the problems started. When we went to get into the car to head down to Main Campus, it wouldn’t start. Now, I had just taken it to Mark’s and had the battery replaced, and was told the electrics, including starter and alternator, were in primo condition. Nope. The starter was dead. So Diane & Michaela headed down to Kerry to try and hitch a ride to the Main Campus where the Housing Seminar was going on(kudos to security, who gave ‘em a ride!), while I stayed at Bacon Mansion to arrange repairs. Happily, the first place I called was able to get the car in and the starter replaced today! Oh, and the car started for the towing guy (of course!). So now I sit at Tully's Coffee on Broadway and Pike, waiting for the call to tell me that the car will start faithfully again. An adventure to be sure!

Father's Day

Yeah, it's good to be a dad... even if I'm just a step-dad. Diane took Hannah out last night, and afterward, I wasn't allowed to go out to my car. This morning I found out why; They had put a hammock in the car. So now I can relax outside! Well, when it isn't raining anyway. Later we had to go to Kmart for a little shopping. Hannah and I got bored, and our wandering found us in an epic storewide battle for supremacy using foam dueling swords. Such fun was had that Diane actually paid for us to keep them. Of course, now I must constantly be on my guard from surprise attack... We went out for an early dinner with my dad and mom at The Ram in Lake Oswego. All you can eat babybacks. mmmmmm... Afterward we headed over to my folks, and hung out in the back yard for a while and relaxed. It was a nice day, all in all...

Incomplete

So the band that I drum for, Incomplete, played a Battle Of The Bands on Sunday at Rock 'N' Roll Pizza in SE Portland. 6 bands were there, and we were 3rd. Each band got about 25 minutes to play. The first was quite metallish, and sounded all right. The second was an hour and a half late, had crappy equipment, and mime-ish make-up. They kinda sucked, but had a large following, so it was fun. We played, and we switched up our set list as we had written a new song the day before (which I only messed up on slightly) and we conquored. Then was a band made up of 4 youngun's in wigs, bathrobes, sombreros, and padded muscle shirts. They were the most fun. I would have voted for them. After that was a couple of guys rapping to a prerecorded music track. At that point I left. So I'm not sure who won the Battle. If it was us, none of us were there... in fact, even our fans went home before it was over. It was quite good though. We'll be playing again soon, I'm sure, and we're going to be working on a collaborative studio recording with the band Stillvoice. I'll post when that's available.

All Things Michaela...

This has been a Michaela weekend! Thursday, she (and the rest of the class of 2007) graduated High School. Her Aunt "Sissy" Phyllis & Uncle Mike came up from Santa Rosa for the weekend, and have been hanging out with us as well. My mom & dad (grandpa Rick and grandma Carole) came to the graduation ceremony also. Before, we had a BBQ and Michaela opened her gifts (a KitchenAid Mixer! am I jealous!). Then Michaela went to the overnight Grad-Nite celebration. We woke up at 6 am Friday when we realized that she was locked out of the house and calling to get in (oops!). Friday Michaela slept, then went to the dentist, then went out to ice cream with Aunt Sissy. Being the busy girl that she is, then she went to PCC to get ready for her dance recital. She is in the Senior 1 Company, and danced ballet, tap, and contemporary with them. She also danced her Senior Solo. She's beautiful & talented, so it was wonderful! Now it's Saturday and she had to be at PCC at 9:30 (late because of a dead battery in the car) since she is a teacher and her classes were performing. She also danced at several more recitals during the day, and Hannah danced at the 1:30 performance as well. Mike & Phyllis are heading home tonight, and then comes Sunday... Michaela's day of rest! click on the link box below to see the Lake Oswego Academy of Dance full Company Production Rods & Cones.

Keeping Up With The...

Whew! It's been a busy day! It started off with Hannah going to the dentist at 8am, and the dog going to Lucky Dog groomers at 8:30. After taking Hannah to school, it was back to finish shampooing the carpet, and doing laundry. Diane was home for a bit mopping the hardwoods, and then it was off to pick up the dog, replace the camera (the old one was dropped, fallen on by a sumo-suit-clad jr higher, and then dropped again), and get home. Then, immediately take Michaela to Graduation rehearsal. Back home to hang pictures and prep dinner. Back to get Michaela from LOHS to PCC for dress rehearsal for the big recital. Then Hannah came home. After getting her ready for dress rehearsal, I went to LGPC to work with the kids, while Diane finished getting Hannah ready, picked up Michaela, cooked the dinner, came home, cleaned the kitchen, got Hannah ready for bed. Then I came home and mopped the dining room, cleaned the garage, and Diane & Michaela prepped for the Graduation BBQ tomorrow. So, it's ten til midnight, and I finally have time to jump in the shower and shave. again I say Whew!

Hannah Dances

Hannah and her class had pictures the other day 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.

Senior Pics

Michaela

here is a slideshow from Yuen Lui for those of you who've been asking. Enjoy!

Senior Prom!

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!

Michaela plays...

Michaela has been busy lately with practices of one kind or another. 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. 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.

wePod: Spring Explosion '07

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.