Oregon 2006

We are back from our much needed vacation to Oregon. We had a wonderful time and were able to see a good portion of the state of Oregon.   

We spent our first couple of day's with Lisa & Erik Granberg (Lisa was one of my college roommates). We met their little guy, David, who seemed to be instantly attached to Daniel. Our time there we constantly heard David calling out: Where's Daniel?

Day 1 of sightseeing included a trip to Multnomah Falls, followed by a drive around Mt Hood and camping at Lost Lake.   

Day 2 of sightseeing involved driving to Bend and then out to Elk Lake. Attempting a hike to the Six Lakes Area and turning back after a mosquito feeding fest. Staying at a rustic cabin at Elk Lake.   

Day 3 of sightseeing was spent hiking on the South Sister Moutain - we made it to the lip of the crater of this extinct volcano but decided that we could not endure the hiking on scree to the actual summit. We rewarded ourselves to a nice hotel with a soft bed and hot shower after this long day of hiking.   

Day 4 we explored Bend, OR and then tried to find a wild Lava Cave. It was blocked. We then went to an Ice Cave that is now full of water instead of ice. We then paid to go to the National Forest Lava River Cave. Due to time restraints we only saw a portion - this type of cave is definitely different from the limestone caves we are used to. We the drove on to Crater Lake where we camped.   

Day 5 we headed for the coast and experienced riding 4-wheelers on 200 ft sand dunes at the Oregon Dunes Recreational Area. We drove up the coast and camped at Cape Perpetua where we were rewarded to an awesome sunset over the Pacific Ocean.   

Day 6 we continued up the coast in the fog, taking time to see the Haceeta Head Lighthouse and then the fishing town of Newport before heading back to the Granbergs in Salem, OR.   

We had a wonderful time reconnecting with old friends as well as spending time doing the things we love. 

Paper Plate Award

Today I received a paper plate award at work. This is the second one I have received.

The first was for being the fastest email responder ever.

Today I received one entitled "Miss InDesign Know-It All, You've Got Questions, She's Got Answers."

I am glad that someone at work appreciates me.

The Altima

Daniel had a car wreck a couple of weeks ago in our Altima. We are saddened that it is smashed up, but Daniel is hopeful that he can fix it as long as we can find someone who will be willing to straighten out the frame. I am just thankful he is ok. The hardest thing right now is that Daniel will have to spend more time working on the car and less time working on our house. At least we have a garage he can work in!

Ski Trip 2006

Top 10 Things We Learned Skiing

1. If you do not have a baby, there is no reason for your SUV to be completely FULL of gear for a 3 day ski trip.
2. When driving up a winding mountain road, do not let yourself get stuck behind the SAME bus on 3 different occasions.
3. You should not park your vehicle with the front end in a 4 foot snow drift and then proceed to leave the lights on in your vehicle (for 5 hours).
4. You should make sure you learn how to get up after a fall when you take a ski class.
5. 12 inches of fresh snow makes your falls deceivingly soft.
6. A Yard Sale is when you fall down and leave your gear strewn all over the slopes.
7. When exiting the ski lift, you should make every effort not to fall on your face.
8. Doing back flips down a black diamond is a good way to entertain people on the ski lift.
9. Skiing with friends is more fun than skiing by yourself.
10. IF you are going to learn to ski in the east, choosing the weekend that happens to get the most snowfall for the year is a good decision.

Top 10 from 2005

The Top 10 Things We Learned in 2005

10) If you ever go on an overnight backpacking trip on any of Hawaii’s ridgelines, do not leave your camera in the car!

9) If you choose to drive up a muddy, steep hill that was last traversed by a bulldozer, it's wonderful to have friends who will spend their Saturday night at TSC buying recovery gear and then bringing it out to you 12 miles past the middle of nowhere.
 
8) When you move somewhere new, find some way to make sure you have more than 2 people to carry ALL of your belongings up 2 narrow flights of stairs in the middle of winter.
 
7) Finding a church family to be a part of is essential to moving to a new city where you do not know anyone.
 
6) Charging your little brother rent for the summer may not make him like you more, but it will teach you both valuable lessons.
 
5) Family members in the medical field do not enjoy phone calls such as “I just had a bicycle wreck, exactly how deep does a cut need to be before you have to have stitches?” (Daniel) or “I just had a ladder collapse out from under me, should I go to the ER?” (Cheree)
 
4) Buying and renovating a new home does indeed create stress, especially if one spouse is creative and the other is practical.
 
3) Daniel’s least favorite phrase of Cheree’s is “Can we tear out this wall?” 
Cheree’s least favorite word of Daniel’s is “No.”
 
2) Eating out for EVERY meal for three months till your kitchen is done is not so great.
 
1) No matter what, at the end of the day, our love and God bind us together as we continue to grow in the ups & downs of our everyday life.

If you are interested, here are our Top 10 List from Years Past 2003  | 2004  

Our House In Progress

Life as we know it is pretty chaotic right now. We spend our days working our normal 40 hours a week and our nights & weekends working on our house. We continue to be optimistic that things will get completed sooner or later but this whole project is very time consuming.

We have been working on the house since September and living here since October - we will be glad when it is in a more livable state. Actually I will be elated when we have floors in EVERY room and there is no more dust. I just recently started cooking again, but there is always this fear that we are consuming as much dust as food. It is a miracle that we don't have respiratory problems yet!

Gatlinburg Christmas 2005

We just got back from a 5-day weekend in Gatlinburg, TN. We had a blast with 19 family members all in one cabin! It would have been better except that the water pump went out on Christmas Eve so Christmas day we had to move to another cabin. We can't complain too much though because we did get an upgrade. 

I was told that the best part of trip for the littlest cousins was baking cookies to hang on the Christmas tree. Since I was heading that up, I did not take any pictures!!! I hope someone from our family has pictures of us all baking together! 

We did play pinochle - there are just no pictures to prove it!   

Anyways, I have uploaded a lot of the pictures from our time there. We are looking forward to doing this again in 2 years.