Camping in Fort Bragg

Several months ago, my siblings and I decided to plan a camping trip together. Growing up, our family always went camping in Fort Bragg, so that's where we headed. We had a great time! Here is a video montage of our pics:

Crazy Summer!!

Well Chelsie and Sarah have both had their babies! Chelsie had little Kileea Corey 7/27/08 at 5:30am! Kileea was 8 pounds 1 ounce, 19 inches long and she was one week overdue! Chelsie had a quick 5 hour delivery and Kileea is just growing so quickly and she is a little over 3 weeks old!

13 days after Chelsie had her baby girl, Sarah had baby Trey 8/9/08 at 7:30am! Trey was 6 pounds 14 ounces, 19 inches long and he was one week early! Sarah had a LONG 23 hour labor! And she had to push for nearly 5 hours until they pulled out the forceps to get Trey out. But she is doing great now and Trey is 2 weeks old today!

I'm so glad that both of my sisters let me watch them have the babies! It was definitely the coolest experience I have ever had!

Nothing else very exciting has been happening! Taylor is doing great, Chad is also doing great and I've just been enjoying summer and dance!

I start school in about 2 weeks! EEK! And im not ready, but oh well! I'm going to be taking almost all advanced classes so it will be a handful but im excited for the school year to begin!

baby trey the day he was born!Sleeping!

Its so cute, he always sleeps like that!
week and a half old!
Proud auntie Sami with Kileea right after she was born
Kileea a few days oldShe is such a little chunk! She looks just like Chelsie!
Quin and her new little sister!

Adam and Hana Carolin!!

Adam had his first day of school on june 14th!! He loves going to kindergarten!! Adams teachers name is Mrs. Macleod.... In a couple of weeks we are headed up to montana to see jacobs dad and grandma!!! She will be seeing the kids for the first time!!!

When we get back we will celebrate adam and hanas birthday together!! yeah!!!

Great News Jacob Is a Staff Sargant KNow!!! WEEEEE!!! AWESOME!!!

ALSO IN JUNE WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!! IT IS ONLY 20 MINUTES AWAY FROM DOWN TOWN RENO!!!! SWEET!!!

LUVS
AMANDA JACOB ADAM AND HANA

I guess I should do as I say

I asked everyone to contribute frequently to our family blog, but then I don’t! I do write in my own blog (howbeit erratically) which is linked to the family blog. I would like to think that counts.

But feeling a little guilty and just in case.....

Home front - We started the new year by painting our bathroom. When my income tax return came, we bought a backyard shed from Costco to keep our bikes and lawnmower in. Now we are slowly in the process of fixing up the master bedroom for the boys to share. We painted it to create an under the sea feel and are now working on the floor. We have sanded and sanded. We probably should sand some more, but we don’t want to. I think we will work on the stain soon. Then the polyurethane. After that we need to figure out some kind of window covering. Hopefully suggestive of sails. Once we move the boys, we are going to try to dejunk the “family room.” Junk collected by over a dozen people living and dead needs to be sorted. sigh IF we ever get the family room cleared, we will fill it up again when we empty out the kitchen which needs to be gutted so the floor and cabinets can be replaced - both of which are almost to the point of the house being condemned. Of course, I haven’t figured out the funding for that yet.......

Church service - At the start of the year I was Cubmaster, but I found myself unable to carry the load properly and by the end of the first quarter I asked to be released. Now I am merely an Activity Committee Member. My children, on the other hand (in their respective wards) include Relief Society President, Mission Leader, Primary President, Teacher’s Quorum President and I don’t know what all.

Andrew has been going through a good bit of paper work and medical checks preparatory to serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We are waiting for word from the insurance company to the oral surgeon so he can have his wisdom teeth pulled. We are considering this a sacrifice for the Lord.

At work - I started as a lowly Account Clerk II for CA State Parks. I got promoted to Accounting Technician - not QUITE as lowly, but fairly so. I am truly blessed to have a nice boss, pleasant coworkers, and the convenience and moneysaving of light rail. When working gets dreary or just gets me down because I miss being at home, I am comforted to think of the beautiful parks I serve even if it is from the bowls of a downtown office building. Can the 10th of 16th floor be called the bowels?

Joseph is also a State worker as of April 1st. He is with Consumer Affairs - Bureau of Automotive repair. Unfortunately, he light rails in the opposite direction - and bikes about 2 miles from home to light rail and another 2 miles from light rail to work. He seems to get a flat about once a week, but he perseveres.

We both should also be taking classes with City College this fall. groan.


I don’t really like Accounting that much. I like receptions duties better. I am trying to figure out if I prefer it enough and if the state offers opportunities to take secretarial and office management type classes. The state may well sponsor me in another accounting class this fall. Other classes would be on my own time and my own dime as it is already work related. I fear I may be too old to carry the load with any degree of grace. I feel too tired and have too little time already during the comparatively easy days of summer!


Adventure - We - Andrew, Benjamin and I (Joseph would rather not live too adventurously) - tried an almost spur of the moment trip to Yosemite over Memorial Day weekend. Perhaps we should have consulted the weatherman. It was so incredibly rainy and cloudy that we actually saw very little of Yosemite and came home the 2nd day. Still, we had fun seeing part of the valley floor briefly Saturday afternoon, sleeping in Wal-Mart’s parking lot in Sonora, visiting Sonora 1st Ward Sunday, and just being together. We came home and enjoyed our own beds, attending our traditional Memorial Day Ceremony at Mt Vernon Memorial Lawn and some family time.

More adventure - Andrew and Benjamin enjoyed a Young Men (Teacher and Priests) high adventure weekend that included white water rafting, water sports and hiking - just here in our local foothills. Despite all the leaders’ and young men’s best attempts, everyone survived. Next week, the go on an LDS Scout Encampment and get home just in time to go on a sibling camping trip to Fort Bragg. Joseph will, of course, also go on the sibling camp trip. It will be just me and the animals at home. The animals are going to be so lonely during the day! I am going to come home to some crazy critters each evening.

Well, wasn’t that exciting?

May all your excitements be the good kinds. (Be sure to tell us, whatever kind they are.)

Love, Barbara, Joseph, Andrew and Benjamin

Mike and Debi Update

It's been quite a while since you've heard from the McGinness family, and I wanted to just give you all a quick update.



We went to Mary Jane and Matthew's for the Fourth. We had the best time. The Roser's were there along with Ryan's brother's family who was visiting, nieces, nephews, friends….. We had a potluck, with MJ and Matthew providing the burgers and dogs. Michael and Chad took over the grilling, and seemed to have a great time. For once, we remembered the camera and I took a bunch of pictures, so thought we'd share them with you.



Sarah Sam filling water balloons



Mike & (I believe) Ryan's brother & Chad filling more water balloons





At the park

Sam

Aurora (can't believe how big she is)

Our hosts!

Matthews toy! - Took him 2 years to restore.

Good food, good friends and family - Kris and Jeff showed up in time for the fireworks at the end of the day.

The Hill's have a great view too.

I stood out on the balcony watching little flashes of light going off all over Camas & Vancouver. I think this will become our traditional fourth of July from now on.





Lastly, I can't resist letting everyone see how much our girls Sasha and Rose have grown. Sasha is already 9 lbs and Rosie is about 6 1/2 lbs. It's been such a joy to watch them play together, explore, and just relax. Rosie is laying in front of my monitor on top of the papers and whatever's there as I type this.

Michael's been working a lot of long days at the Kafe. It's going pretty well. Of course, there's still a lot to do. Maybe one day I can get him to do his own update to the newsletter and tell you all about it. At least we are taking our week to go to the kite festival in about 3 weeks. It'll be nice to get away. We just have to figure out what to do about the girls while we're gone.

All in all, we are doing well. We have a lot to be thankful for. We hope to hear more from the each of you. Know that we think of you all often and love you all very much.

Love, Mike & Debi

about the Mike and Debi Update

I am so sorry! I am behind on everything. When I saw this email from Debi, I thought (after how nice!)
1) I was getting a copy of a post she had sent in
2) that I would wait until I had time to savor it (like that is ever going to happen)

Finally, I realized that she had sent it to me to post.

I have used a number of breaks and lunch time at work trying to get it right -it came text followed by pictures, the pictures not in order to follow the text. When I downloaded the pictures on to the computer so I could upload on to Blogger they rearranged themselves again - this time numerically. Alas! as long as I have been blogging with Blogger, I have not yet learned to move my pictures around as I might like. Also, when I copied and pasted the text, somehow the line breaks didn't translate. But I THINK I got it now.

If it came out wrong, I'm sorry. I tried. My computer time is extremely limited these days.

Hopefully, if you are not already an author, you just got an invitation from Blogger to become one. Then you won't have to depend on my unreliable self to post your contribution to the family blog. If I missed you or someone else that you know of, please let me know.

Back to work for me! ( I'm late.)

Update

Well, Chelsie is almost ready to have her baby! She's due in less then a month. The Sarah is already 1cm dialated! She's not due for 2 more months but the baby seems to want to come early so we'll see what happens! Not much else is new, i got my braces off a week ago! i love my new teeth! And then im just getting ready to take some summer dance classes! Tap, Jazz and Hip Hop!

Heres some recent pics!

This was at Chelsie and Sarah's baby shower back in May

My new teeth!

me dancing at NYCDA! sry haha you cant see my face lol

<3 Sami

Retirement on the Oregon Coast

The weather is getting nice now and Jeff has been able to go out on the dunes with his buggy........and next weekend is Rhody Days here in Florence which is the first car show of the season for us.

I went to Spain & Portugal in March/April and saw ALOT......we moved from city to city every couple of days......too much for this old gal.....spent a day in Morocco......very interesting. At the end of April, until May 13th, I was in Boone, Iowa helping my girlfriend, Rosann, prepare her house to sell......she retires June 30th and is moving to her property in Palo, Iowa. She is my "sister"......we enjoy our time together......she is my travel buddy also. Italy in Nov/Dec..........

Jeff and I are taking the 5th wheel up to Ferndale, Washington, in June to visit friends that moved there from Sacramento last year. We travel with three dogs and a parrot...........the other seven birds have to stay home !!!

I have tomatoes growing in the sunroom this year.......they don't do well outside here......we have been harvesting LOTS of asparagus this year......they love the sandy beach soil.

We have a good life and don't take anything for granted.........

ROBIN & JEFF in Florence, Oregon

Hey Everyone!

Hey! It's Sami! Just checking in! Well, I have been up to a lot!! As Chad said, I was in the hospital for a while there and I have fully recovered! Very glad for that! I have gotten back in school, still doing singing, and I finally got back into dance! Back in January I did NYCDA Portland which was defiantly the highlight of my year so far! NYCDA (New York City Dance Alliance) is a dance tour company that tours and you have to make it in and then you spend the weekend at a huge hotel (It was the Red Lion Jantzen Beach Hotel) and take dance classes back to back from some of the best teachers around! And next year I am going to compete and hopefully make it to Nationals so that I can tour with them! I am also planning to try out for American Idol when I turn 16! Everyone who I sing for tells me to try out so I might as well! I am taking a video camera to my next voice lesson and I will record my voice and try to remember to post the video here! Anyways, im just glad to be alive right now!

And I am soon becoming and aunt! Chelsie is officially having a little girl! She's due in the beginning of July and she is naming the baby Beahtrix (Beah or B-B for short!) Sarah is having a little boy! She is due in mid August and she is going to name her baby Trey! So we are all very excited for the summer! Not much else is happening so far! Chad is getting married, Taylor is going well! Reading up a storm and becoming very tan and in shape! It has really been a hectic year! Well, I should get back to homework because spring break doesn't last forever! I'll try to blog soon! Here's just some recent pics! The first one is Quin talking to her little sister! Then its Sarah's recent ultra sound! And then me! I get those darn braces off in about a month so im trying to get lots of pictures with them!

Mike & Debi are Proud to Announce

 The adoption of Sasha and Rose. 

 Yes, we have 2 new member of the McGinness family.  Sasha and Rose were adopted by  us  from the Oregon Humane Society  (OHS)  this past weekend.   

Since the passing of our beloved Misha, I have been occasionally perusing various kitty sites - Humane societies, rescue places, etc.  I looked at a lot of kitties, but never any that really made me go  - Wow, that's the one.  Well, last Saturday evening, I happened to go to OHS's website and there they were -  Rose and Sophie.  They were in foster care and they were looking for someone who would adopt both.  So, I sent an e-mail to their foster mom, telling her a little about Mike and me and our situation with loosing Misha.  

I didn't hear anything that night and Sunday morning when I went on the website, they were gone.  I was like OH NO!  So, I immediately e-mailed the foster mom asking her if they had been adopted. - oh, while I think Michael looked at one of their pictures, he didn't know I had done this.   Two hours later, I got a call from Laura, the foster mom.  She said that she had pulled the pictures because she got 10 inquiries on the first day.  BUT out of all of them, she thought we would be the perfect fit, and would we like to meet them.  I told Michael and of course his response was 'TODAY?' (he was actually not working for a change).  I told him we either went and looked at the today or we not get another chance.  So, at 4 pm, we walked into OHS.  I went to the reception desk to ask for the Foster Care department and Michael made a beeline for the kitty cages and stared petting one of them. 

A few minutes later, we were in an exam room and in comes Laura with a kitty carrier which she sets on the table, opens the door and this little gray and white fluff ball walks out.  Michael picked her up immediately, sits down and start petting her.  This was Rose.  Sophie followed and immediately we could tell she was going to be a little spitfire.  She wanted to walk all over us, inspect everything, and pick on her sister.

Needless to say, when we left OHS that night, we weren't alone.  Rose and Sophie were ours.

So, a little about them.  They are approximately 2 months old (and right now Rose is climbing up my arm and sitting on my shoulder).  They are a both torte point Siamese mix, though Rose has longer hair that make her look more like a Burmese.,  Rose is the fluffy one, who's very gentle and cautious and has a very fragile look about her and Sasha (Michael renamed her  because he just didn't think Sophie quite fit. This one is definitely a sassy Sasha) is the inquisitive looking one - rambunctious and impish Apparently they were brought in to OHS as strays, though I can't imagine anyone dumping such little babies.  They couldn't have been more than a couple 3 weeks old.  They were underweight and had respitory infections, though during the 5 weeks they were in foster care, they flourished and are now healthy babies. 

They are adapting very well to their new home - love the kitty condo we have and are getting used to our routine.  They already know they get fed when we get up and when we get home.

Mike and I are doing well.  Business is keeping him busy, but I know he's enjoying it.

I hope this finds all of you in good health and enjoying life.  Would love to hear from more of you.

BTW, Rose is still sitting on my shoulder - weird typing this way.

All our love,

Mike & Debi, the proud parents

Remembering Misha

Michael was writing to someone on the home roaster list last nite (Friday 2/22) and I wanted to share part of it with all of you.

A dear friend and family member of 16 years died while we were eating dinner tonight. He's been my master since the first day he joined our home as a wee furball of a kitten. I still remember staying up with him that first night because he cried and missed his mother so much, our bond was permanently forged. It was often funny, he'd often follow me around like a puppy dog. We knew his time was nigh and decided to take him into the vet and put to sleep after we ate. He's been slowly declining for a couple years from his former 13# robust self down to under 7. Last couple of days I knew his time was short. This evening when I got home he didn't even lift his head when I petted him and he was barely breathing. But Misha always hated going the vet and especially getting shots so departed on his own terms. I was glad for that. I will miss him sorely and never forget him. It'll be a bit empty him not sleeping on the right side of my head even though he'd often be annoying many a early morning batting me lightly in the face as his purr rumbled 'cuz HE deciding it was time to be petted. Which of course I'd dutifully do as commanded then pull the sheet over my head to ward off further battings as I went back to sleep. Life goes on but I am sad and mourn his passing.

This is Debi again - I too will miss our little guy sorely.  I'll miss the way he always wanted to get on my lap whenever I was on my computer and wanting me to pet him when Michael and I were sitting watching TV at night - but only for a few minutes, before settling down on Michael's lap (never mine).  The house feels so empty today with him gone. It's like you can feel that his spirit has left us.  I keep expecting to see him - curled up on the bed or back of the couch, or on my desk (this was new in the last month).  Oh, Michael buried him in the backyard, so he will always be with us in some way.

So, now we are a catless home for the first time in over 25 years.  Hopefully not for long, but it will be strange for us to have to find that special someone to share our home with on our own  Mom gave us both Mariko and Misha, and even our very first kitty we got from Kris.

I'll write more 'family news' stuff later when we're a little less sad.

We miss all of you and so enjoy hearing how you're all doing.  Keep posting on the site.  We'll try to do better too.

Love and prayers

Mike & Debi

Big News - well, at least for me! lol

Today I was called, sustained, and set apart as the new Relief Society President. The last week and a half have been crazy, overwhelming, terrifying, and yet through it all I have felt the spirit of the Lord, helping me and guiding me each step of the way. I am counting on that to continue! lol

I typed up my feelings as I went throughout the last several days and have just posted them in my blog, feel free to visit there to hear more about this experience so far.

I still feel scared and overwhelmed, but I feel love and support from many of the people around me. I especially feel the love and support of my Heavenly Father and I am putting all of my faith and trust in Him right now. I know that is the only way I can ever hope to fulfill this calling. I know that though my best could never be enough, He can do all things and He can make my best enough. :)

Hello Everyone

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Chad Reed <pheonix8472@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 11:21 AM
Subject: family ties

HELLO EVERYONE,

    IT HAS BEEN AWHILE SINCE I HAVE WRITTEN FAMILY TIES. THIS IS CHAD BY THE WAY! SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED SINCE LAST I WROTE. I ALMOST DONT KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN. WELL I AM STILL LIVING IN THE HEART OF DOWNT TOWN BUT THAT WILL BE CHANGING AS OF NEXT MONTH. JASON AND I HAVE FOUND AN AMAZING PLACE JUST OUT OF THE CITY. IT IS THIS GREAT TOWN HOUSE THAT IS THREE STORIES. IT HAS TWO BEDROOMS AND TWO BATHS AND A FULL TWO CAR GARAGE. IT WILL BE SO NICE TO HAVE ALOT MORE ROOM. JASON IS FILMING A MOVIE AND WE NEED MORE SPACE FOR THE GREEN SCREEN.
    OH YA FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DONT HAVE MYSPACE OR I HAVE NOT SPOKEN WITH YET, JASON AND I ARE GETTING HITCHED. WELL NOT LEGALLY BUT THE CONCEPT IS THE SAME. IT WAS OUR SIX MONTH ANNIVERSARY THIS LAST WEEKEND AND WELL, I POPPED THE QUESTION. HE SAID YES OF COURSE. THE DETAIL ARE TO BE ANNOUNCED. WE ARE STILL DECIDING WHEN AND WHERE BUT WE ARE THINKING A MID SUMMER BEACH CEREMONY. I KNOW MANY OF YOU WONT ATTEND DUE TO RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES BUT THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
    SO LET ME TELL YOU A BIT ABOUT JASON. HE AND I MET SIX MONTHS AGO ON MY VACATION BACK FORM HAWAII. AS YOU MIGHT HAVE GUESSED I DIDNT END UP GOING BACK. WE HAVE SPENT EVERYDAY SINCE WE MET TOGETHER AND IT HAS BEEN GREAT. HE RECENTLY THREW ME A SURPRISE B-DAY PARTY AND A LOCALL KERIOKE BAR. WE HAD A BLAST. I ENDED UP SINGING UNTIL I COULDNT ANY MORE. SADLY THE NIGHT DIDNT NOT END WELL. AFTER RECIEVING A CALL FROM MY FAMILY SAYING THEY WERE NOT COMING, I DECIDED TO POUND DOWN THE DRINKS. NEEDLESS TO SAY IT ENDED IN A HOSPITAL VISIT WITH ME NON-RESPONSIVE AND MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPING ME IN THE FACE SO HARD I BRUISED, WHILE TRYING TO WAKE ME UP. ALL IN ALL NOT A BAD BIRTHDAY LOL.
    SO I AM HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT BOTH CHELSIE AND SARAH ARE EXPECTING. THEY ARE ABOUT A MONTH APART AND WILL BE DUE THIS SUMMER. THIS WILL BE CHELSIES SECOND CHILD AND SARAHS FIRST. WE ARE ALL SO EXCITED. OUR FAMILY IS GROWING SO FAST. SAMANTHA IS DOING WELL. SHE HAS BEEN A LITTLE SICK THIS WINTER BUT IS STARTING TO DO BETTER. SHE CONTINUES TO DO VERY WELL IN SCHOOL. SHE RECENTLY GOT OUT OF THE HOSPITAL. SHE CAUGHT THE NASTY BUG THAT WENT AROUND AND WAS ALLEGIC TO THE MEDICATION. SHE BROKE OUT IN RED SPOTS AND HAD A FEVER THAT WOULD NOT GO AWAY. I ENDED UP GOING AND PLAYING CARDS WITH HER FOR HOURS. LITTLE QUIN IS NOT SO LITTLE ANY MORE. SHE IS THREE AND VERY TALL FOR HER AGE. SHE HAS RECENTLY DISCOVERED THE GAME APPLES TO APPLES AND WANTS TO PLAY IT ALL THE TIME. SHE IS VERY EXCITED TO HAVE A NEW SIBLING. SHE THINKS IT WILL BE A GIRL. SHE EVEN NAMED HER KIA LYNN. IN FACT SHE TOLD CHELSIE SHE WAS PREGNANT. FUNNY HUH. TAYLOR IS DOING WELL. HE IS READING ALOT AND HE IS STARTING TO LOSE WEIGHT. HE IS DETERMINED TO BE AS SMALL AS ME WHEN HE COMES BACK TO PORTLAND. MOM AND MATTHEW ARE DOING WELL. THEY ARE LOOKING TO INVEST IN STOCKS AND BONDS, BUT FRANKLY THAT IS ALL OVER MY HEAD.
    BASICALLY THAT IS WHAT I AM UP TO. I HOPE ALL YOU GUYS ARE DOING WELL AND I REALLY THINK WE SHOULD PLAN TO ALL GET TOGETHER. LIFE IS TO SHORT TO SPEND IT AWAY FROM LOVED ONES. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE A WEDDING OR DEATH IN THE FAMILY TO GET US ALL TOGETHER! ALL MY LOVE.

CHADWICK

---

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You are invited...

To Acadia's very first piano recital! 

Date: Saturay, January 26, 2008
Time: 11:00 am

What?  That's past?  Oh, well then let me take you back in time to the moment when Acadia made her musical debut.  Keep arms and legs inside until we've come to a full and complete stop (and make sure the sound on your computer is on!)...

We are very proud of her!  She was bummed that she made a couple of mistakes but I told her that every single person made some mistakes and what is important is that she kept going!  I thought she did a great job!

(Incidentally, at the very beginning she is introducing the pieces she is about to play.  The camcorder didn't do a very good job picking that up.)

After all of the performers played their pieces, their teacher presented the prize to the student(s) who had the most stickers.  (Each week that a student does all of their practicing and completes the theory work and any other assignments she has given them, they get a sticker.  She keeps track and the student with the most, wins.)  There was a tie and Acadia was one of the winners!  The winners get little mini busts of music composers and there are several different ones, so as they continue to win, they will add more to their collection.  Acadia got Haydn today and it is already proudly displayed on her desk in her bedroom.

After the recital, which fortunately Ryan was able to take a long lunch for to attend, we took her out to lunch and let her choose the location.  She chose "Boffin' Bo's", otherwise known as Boppin' Bo's. ;)  It was yummy and I was really good, just ordering a cup of soup and a dinner salad... oh, and a milkshake - but I didn't get a huge sundae and a greasy sandwich and fries like I normally would! lol  Ryan had to rush back off to work so he left while the girls and I paid.  When we got to the car to come home, there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers on Cadi's seat with a note from her Daddy. :)  I hope to get a picture of Ryan and Acadia with the flowers, but for now, this will have to do.

I am really so proud of Acadia!  She is doing so well with the piano, she really seems to have a natural talent for it and I'm so glad that she enjoys it so much and WANTS to play.  I was also very proud of how she handled performing today!  She wasn't really very nervous, a little, but not super.  I think I would have been far more nervous than she seemed to be!  I'm glad that she is getting this experience and I hope that as she continues down this path that she will also continue to perform and share her talents with others.

An Update on Our Girls

Acadia has been very excited about a class party that she and her classmates earned today. She has posted in her blog about it, so go check that out. :) Today should be a really fun day at school, and not just because of the party! They start with Sharing Time (every Friday, but will be first thing this time because of the other things going on too), then have Art Appreciation (I think this is usually once a month, one of the student's aunt is a professional artist and comes in to do fun projects with them.), they also have P.E., and then there is the class party! She wanted her hair wavy and this is how it turned out...


She needed me to take a picture of her doing something for an art project today so we took a pic of her playing the piano...


Last night, Rori was playing on an exercise mat and literally, every 15-20 seconds or so, came up to me to give me a kiss. She was kissing whatever she could get, I did try to give her a kiss but sometimes she'ld just settle for my hand or arm. Then she would wave and say, "bye-bye" as she went back to the mat. lol When she was on the exercise mat, she looked like she was trying to do the splits! She would stand up and then let her feet slide apart until she fell down on her bum. lol

Last week, I found her with some chocolate candy she wasn't supposed to have.



She loves music and has lately been spending a lot of time just looking through this hymnal, sometimes "singing" along.

Winter in Oregon

It is clear and sunny with blue skies here lately.......with that comes colder weather.......down to freezing this morning. Delaying our morning walk until the sun is out a few hours.

Jeff is off on his volunteer job.......he drives the Friends of Florence van to Eugene and Springfield, once or twice a month, taking patients to their radiation sessions. He used the van when he needed it and is happy to help them by being one of their drivers now. Most days he is working out in his shop on furniture........
I resumed my cashiering one shift a week at the humane society thrift store here in Florence......it gets me out of the house a little and helps support the animal shelter. We haven't been doing any ceramics since September......our business client in Eugene was not paying us on time or communicating very well, so we said the little money we were making was not worth the stress !!!! I may do a craft show this year sometime.

They opened the permanent hotel and casino, Three Rivers, here and we will now have some top entertainers......we are going to see Michael Bolton on Monday evening.

Jeff is flying to Phoenix for two weeks next Wednesday to visit his Mother and brother......I leave for Spain and Portugal at the end of March.....all else is going very well here.....

ROBIN & JEFF

Vancouver is Twisted!

Here is a copy of a post in my personal blog called "Twist and Shout":

Okay, not so much shouting... but a heck of a lot of twisting!!!

Today started out pretty good. Ryan was staying home from work, sick. That part wasn't good but it was nice that he'd be around. Rori woke up doing great! She had been sick yesterday but she slept soundly for over 12 hours last night and I think that really helped her. I had a little headache, but other than that I felt great!

To give Ryan some quiet time to rest, Rori and I headed out to run errands. It was so nice and warm! We just wore sweatshirts and enjoyed our shopping. On the way back home, coming up from Portland, I saw some big, dark clouds over Vancouver. "Joy", I thought. Then I saw lightening - and a lot of it! Multiple strikes shooting straight down at the same time. Wow! If Ryan hadn't been sleeping, I would have called home to tell him because he loves a good lightening storm. I remember wishing I had my camera with me (as if I could have 1) taken a picture while driving, and 2) would have actually gotten a shot of the actual lightening strikes, lol).

Shortly after I got home, I saw that I had missed a call from my friend on my cell phone (Thanks for turning my ringer down without telling me, Honey!) so I called her back. "Oh, I was just calling to tell you about the tornados," she told me.

"WHAT?!?!? What tornados? Here???"

"Oh yeah!" She told me that we were under a tornado warning and that at least one had touched down, here in Vancouver! She saw that my car wasn't home and tried to call to let me know. Thankfully, I had been south instead of north, since that is where it had ended up going.

I should have turned the news on right then, I'm sure we had continual coverage seeing as how we NEVER get real tornados. We've had funnel clouds before, heck I've seen funnel clouds here... but we never get real, honest to goodness, categorized tornados. But by this time, my headache had turned into a migraine and I was in bad shape, and that was more important,so I just went to bed while Ryan watched Rori for me.

I finally got up about half an hour ago (my head still hurts but it's not as bad as before, thanks for asking ;) lol) and turned on the news. Sure enough, an F1 tornado touched down in Vancouver in at least 3 different locations. It's winds were 86-110 mph, the path was 2 miles long and 1/4 mile wide. Fortunately for us, it was all west and north of us. Unfortunately for those in those areas, thousands are out of power still because of it. :( There are a lot of home movies and pictures coming in, some are pretty impressive!

Acadia shared with us (maybe I'll have her post it in her blog too) that they were out at their lunch recess when the teachers started to yell at them to run inside. She said they were "herding" them and yelling, "Run, run, run!" She said she and her friends were thinking, "This must be serious, they NEVER tell us to run!" They were first guessing that their school was under "lock-down" but once inside, they were instructed to get on the ground with their heads on the floor and their hands over their heads, an exercise they've practiced before in "tornado drills", and they were told that there was a tornado in the area. She told me that a friend of hers was crying and I asked if she (Cadi) had been scared, she said yes. She said it kind of hurt to stay in that position, too. (I bet!) But she said that afterwards, the teachers talked to them about what had happened and assured them that the tornado had ended up being on the other side of town, but that they had needed to stay in that position just in case and kind of as another practice. I told her that since tornados are so unpredictable, it was really important for everyone to be careful because they can change directions and move so fast, you never know where they'll go next.

Fortunately, there have been no real injuries from the tornado but there has been a bit of damage. There was a boat house completely destroyed on Vancouver Lake, 90% the boats were destroyed too, it looks like. And there are lots of trees totally ripped out of the ground in the areas that were hit (several falling on cars or homes), as well as a lot of roofs stripped of their shingles, some with even the plywood torn off. (Mom, the pictures made me think of your house this weekend, the pictures from the air showed homes with large sections of just wood exposed and people were rushing to get tarps put over them before it got dark since we're expecting rain for the next few days still.) I don't envy them - especially since we JUST got our new roof put on!

Since no one got hurt, some of the stories that are coming out because of this are pretty entertaining. One man was working in some sort of construction, went to use the port-a-pot and as he was in it, the outhouse was lifted up and toppled over! Luckily, the guy had just been "finishing up" and was just "tossed" out the door before anything "unpleasant" got on him! (This guy headed home from work only to find a tree had fallen on his house! Double whammy, poor guy!) Other construction workers were digging a ditch when the tornado went right for them, they had to dive into the ditch they were digging to stay safe. One business put this on their billboard today, "Auntie Em It's a twister!" lol

So that was our excitment today! A tornado right here in Vancouver, WA!

Come on, Baby! Let's do the twist...


Acadia also posted a short blog about it, visit her blog to read it. I've posted other random posts in my blog (I try to post regularly.) in the last week too, some include pictures of the girls. :)

Acadia's Blog

Acadia has started her own blog. If you're interested in knowing what an 8 year old writes about in her blog, check it out! She named it after her favorite song right now, Nobody's Perfect (by Hannah Montana, her favorite singer). Her posting name is "lilangrygirl" which is the name she uses when she plays Star Wars on the xbox. lol

Here is a link to Cadi's Blog.