The Green Appraiser!

Well we were thankful for a job today. Rick decided to ride his bike to do the appraisal and take pictures of the comps in the neighborhood! I believe the roundtrip was around 9 miles. He left early to avoid the 96 degree heat. The customer was thrilled and said we have our First Green Appraiser!

You can't take the Farm out of a Boy!

Rick and I were looking at the tomatoe plants. The tag said they should grow to 36" tall. All I can say is Good Job Dude! We are going to have quite the harvest of fresh, vine ripened tomatoes thanks to him!

Happy Anniversary

I can hardly believe it's been one month since Nick and Sara's wedding. We had a great evening with Nick's parents and Nick and Sara. Much more relaxed!

Oh, and did I mention... Cake!

Camping

I don't think we've been camping in at least 10 years, but we decided to go on the annual church campout just 40 minutes south of here. It was really hot and we were sweaty and sticky and we couldn't sleep but we still had a good time. My name was drawn to judge the Dutch Oven cooking contest. Wow, I would have never imagined all the neat things you can cook in a dutch oven. You put coals at the bottom of the pan and then add whatever you're cooking and you put the cover on and add a few coals to the top. Some people made main dishes (like turkey), some made side dishes (like potatoes with cheesy sause) and others made desserts. A couple of people even baked bread. There were horseshoe contests for the big people and boat races for the little people powered by rubber bands (very cute) and 21 people were baptised in the river. It was a lot of fun.

As you can see if the picture above, Bob got a new tool pouch and he's ready to go to work!

This is so cute

Here's a picture of Jeff when I first met him - at Aunt Debbie's wedding. so Cute. Forgive me Jeff.

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Jeff is celebrating his 31st Birthday tomorrow! The 30's are a lot of fun - past the 'young' issues and in the prime of your life. I'm sure this year's birthday of working on the garage won't hold a match to going to Mexico like he did last year. I guess there is a time for everything. Well, Enjoy it Jeff - time flies by fast!

This picture was taken last night, fishing with Dad.

Work is slow/Fishing is Hot

Rick's been having fun this week fly fishing. It's a lot more fun when you catch fish so he's having a ball.

Happy Birthday Allison!

Today is Allison's Birthday! I hope you're recovering well and can enjoy your special day!

Pictures

Leaving a legacy!

Happy Birthday Ricky!

Rick had an enjoyable day today. He slept in, I made him breakfast, he played on his computer for awhile, I made him lunch. He got tired so he took a nap. Then we had a BBQ with Jeff, Sara, Nick, Brittany and Nicole. It was quite enjoyable. You know you're getting old when the highlight of your day was your next meal! He had a fun one - but he said he's ready to find some work. He's very bored and needs something to do. Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday Takashi 'Tug' Hanami

We spent the weekend in Hermiston celebrating Tug's 90th Birthday. It was great to see a constant house full of friends and family. Hermiston also had a street fair which was fun. After Sara's wedding, I believe we need more parties in life! We have so much to celebrate and be thankful for. Also added pictures of Rick and Bob who built the tomatoe stands.

Good Bye to Java

Well Tuesday was Java's last day. She had numerous tumors - some fatty, some likely were not. It's pretty quiet around here - more so than I thought it would be. After nearly 13 years in our family, it was sad to see her unable to get up most days. She was the frizbee queen, while Kona preferred to fetch balls. She will certainly be missed.

Reflection

I've been reading this book called Half Time by Bob Buford. It's about looking back at the first half of your life/career and making decisions about what you want your life to count for during the second half. Like a football game - at half time- it's a time of reflection and planning for the second half. Questions like - what do you want to be known for? What impact did you have? What do you want said about you at your eulogy? are just a few questions from the first chapter. It's a great book for anyone at or nearing a mid point in their life/career.

They're Home!

Nick and Sara arrived home last night. They had a good time and really enjoyed Cancun. Nilla and Lucky were VERY happy to see them too. I would guess that they will spend the day recovering from vacation. I think everyone knows how that feels!

Happy 4th of July to All!

Tomorrow is Independance day! Enjoy and have fun. We are having some friends over to eat (of course) and watch the fireworks that are lit from the school, just a few blocks from our house.

Update on the Honeymooners

Sara called this morning to say their excursion yesterday was great. She was a little concerned since she got violently sick the night before but then drank a bottle of pepto bismo and it stopped everything. They have been very careful to brush their teeth with bottled water etc. but then she remembered her coworker told her that lettuce for salad is rinsed in regular water and Sara had eaten a salad that night. Anyway, she made it on the 1 1/2 hour bus ride and floated down the river/stream of the underground caves. They really enjoyed it. They snorkeled and saw beautiful fish and napped on hammocks at the beach. How nice! Then last night, there was a show of dancers, etc. They got back to the resort after 11:00 pm so they were pretty tired. Today is hang out by the pool and beach day and get a souvenier. Tomorrow is more snorkeling and then Saturday is about coming home. Lucky (the cat) finally came out from hiding last night and found that he could jump on and off our bed all night for entertainment. Finally, at 4:00 am this morning, Rick got up and made coffee and we decided to start our day. I think we will terrorize him all day to keep him awake so that he might sleep tonight. We could sure use some right about now!

Pictures from Rose

Honeymooners

Well they arrived in Cancun, Mexico in style. They got to the hotel and they said they have a beautiful room that overlooks the ocean. That night there were pirate ships off the shore with each ship represented by a different resort. They had a duel - yelling at each other's ship that their resort was better than the other. She said it was hilarious. They met with the activities coordinator and planned two excursions. They are exploring the underground caves that lead you along a path that eventually lets you out at the ocean, and they are going on a boat excursion that takes you out to a cove for snorkeling. They said the time is flying by and are already wanting to go back (and they haven't left yet!) They said that everyone is so polite and helpful, the sand and water is beautiful and Nick is loving swimming in the ocean. They are really enjoying themselves. I told them to take pictures!

Pictures from Debbie

Lessons Learned

When you try to steal a picture off of someone's web site, it shrinks. Michelle left us a copy of hers so I'm posting a few of hers.

Few More Pics