Saw a funny bumper sticker this week: “I never thought I’d actually miss Nixon”. Tons of cars are still sporting their Kerry/ Edwards stickers. Sore losers.

This is general conference weekend, so I’m taking the kids on the semi-annual trip to Beverly Beach. It’s this beautiful state park in a lush forest, right on the beach. They have cable hookups so we can watch conference between beach excursions.

Two weeks from today I’ll be riding the slickrock trail in Moab. A group of 7 of us are heading down there for a week.

Sept 28, 2005 Happy Birthday, Chase!!

I went to my 20th high school reunion this weekend. We left the kids with the Calderwoods which they were very excited about. Dylan spent a lot of time over at Burtons during the weekend too. They had a blast and it was great not having to worry about them.

Rick and I left for Vancouver Friday after putting Gracie on the bus. We stopped at the new outlet mall around Evertt. It’s got tons of stores. Rick patiently slept in the car. Before we reached my parents we also picked up a 13 foot necky kayak for them. It wasn’t off the highway too far and it made a big difference to them. We were happy to do it for them.

We stopped off at my friend’s house for a little preparty. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go but Rick, the party animal he is, wanted to so we went for an hour or so. It was fun seeing about 10 of my high school friends. My mom and dad were up when we got in. My mom had a bad cold. We chatted for awhile then went to bed.

Sat. was a fun day, my mom and I went shopping. Rick went kayaking, watched football and went to lunch with my dad. The reunion was that night. It was fun to see everyone and I was ready to leave around 10:00 but didn’t end up getting home until 1:00am. I must say I got really tired of all the drinking. It’s funny to see people are pretty much the same 20 years later with some changes. I came home happy with my life and so glad I married Rick and all that goes with it. Most of the women there work outside the home. I feel really blessed that I can be home.

Sunday I slept in until 11:00. It was a dream come true. I didn’t think I could do that anymore! We hung out and read. Rick and my mom played Scrabble while I took another nap and my dad was up painting. Rick got to watch all the football he wanted and we had a delicious pork and dumpling meal. My dad is making me make the dumplings to keep the tradition going.

Thanks mom and dad for a great weekend!

On the way home we picked up another kayak and took it Paul and Jeanie’s house. It will be so fun to use them this summer, Dylan especially will love it! It was a great relaxing weekend!

What a difference a year makes. Last year, besisdes the Fiesta Bowl, I could only find one UTAH football game on TV. The last two weeks the UTES have been featured as the nationwide ESPN Primetime game on Thursday night. What a treat! They are still a fun team to watch. With the spread offense they run you never know what to expect when they line up. Even the cameras follow the wrong guy a couple times each game. The new quarterback is great. He is only 18 years old, but has the composure of a seasoned vet. Last night he threw for 300 yards, two TD passes and ran 2 TDs in himself. Last week they gave up a 10 point lead to lose in OT (horrible calls by the ref). Going into last week UTAH had the 2nd longest win streak in division I-A. USC has the longest win streak. Maybe the Ducks can end that streak tomorrow??? Doubt it.

INXS dropped the ball by going with JD. They had the choice of moving into the future in a new, interesting direction (Marty) or looking back and being a retro band (JD). JD’s voice is better suited to the back catalog, but Marty was way more talented and way less annoying.

We are off to BC for Shannon’s 20 year HS reunion. The kids are staying with friends.

Happy Birthday Tanner!!
Tanner is 8 years old today. We are so excited for you Tanner. It’s a big year. Getting baptized is a great event in your life and you will enjoy the blessing from it for the rest of your life.

We have sure enjoyed you over the years. I remember you as a cute little guy and it’s been really fun watching you grow over the years. We have great memories of you at your house, at our house, at Papa and Lolo’s house and other places in between. The picture is of you at Playland in Vancouver. I remember how hard you worked getting to the top especially the second time. You really can do anything you want to, can’t you!

We love you the “Wride Bunch” ha ha

Rick wanted me to write about our funny babysitting story.

We needed a babysitter and all the youth were at Youth Conference so we decided to ask our neighbor who just turned 12 because her mother has been actively advertising that her daughter was now of age and had taken a babysitting course. I called and talked with the mother and asked what the girl was charging. It was settled at $5.00 an hour which I personally thought was very fair since she had very very little experience. The mother phoned me back and said that she was wrong with the amount and said her daughter was charging $10.00 an hour for the first 2 hours and then $5.00 an hour every hour after that. I almost burst out laughing because she couldn’t possilbly be serious but she was. I told her I didn’t really need a babysitter, that it was just more convenient that I would pay the original amount but that was it. Basically her daughter could take it or leave it. She talked with her daughter who said she would do it this time because she wanted to get a good business base going and that I could pay her more the more she babysits and I could see how good she is. Needless to say we haven’t had her again and probably won’t. I told a few friends who thought it was ridiculous. Any how just a funny story.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!
We are thankful you met as young kids so many years ago and them decided to marry. I have always appreciated you as parents from a young age through my life now as a mother and wife. You both have always been a great example of love, dedication to each other, family and church, conflict resolution and the importance of humor! I loved growing up in the safe haven of our home. I knew I could return always and find peace.

As a wife I appreciate your love and acceptance of Rick. He feels loved and cherished by you both. Thank you!!

As a mother I love how you love our children. You know them each so well individually. I guess that comes with weeks of babysittings over the years. Thank you for that. Rick and I have great memories because of those trips. Thanks for the fun times at Woodlands!

Soccer season has officially started. This is my last year on the soccer board for Milltown so all 3 children are playing. Dylan is still not sure if he wants to play but he’s with a lot of his buddies so it’s all good. Today he got upset because he wasn’t goalie. It’s funny, he got his first goal of the season and he still had a long face.

I must say Rick and I are rather shocked this year as the boys seem to be coming into their own in soccer. Last year they just went along with it. This year they are doing really well Dylan 2 goals and Gavin got 4. They are aggressive. This will probably be their last year. Gavin likes football better and Dylan likes indoor hockey and more free time on Saturdays.

My nephew Jake got hit by a car this morning while he was out on a morning training ride. Some dufus on a cellphone. He is OK, but apparently 6 years of orthodontia were reversed in less than 6 seconds. (Send photos, Margo). I guesss he is still planning on doing a triathalon in Heber next weekend.

Gotta check out Google Earth. You download an free app and then enter a city name. It zooms in with amazing resolution on your house. It looks like they did our area about 5 or 6 years ago. You can see our VW on the street in front of the house. Mt St Helens is fun to check out. You can go into the crater, change the tilt and fly around it. The bottom of the screen shows exact GPS coordinates for where you have the pointer.

If you have a 1st or 2nd generation iPod you have until Sept. 30th to get a $50 Apple credit or $25 cash for a class action lawsuit for the battery problems they have. I sent my claim form in today. Third generation’s have until 2 years after the purchase date to submit a claim.

Sept 9, 2005 Happy Birthday, Lois!!

We hope you have had a wonderful day!! We hope you feel loved by all those that know you because you are! It’s always fun to look back over the year and think of our times together. Thanks for the great memories of Woodlands and fun times hanging out in Portland. Thanks for your love and support. You are awesome! Gavin says you’re a great Grandma, Dylan says You’re a fun Grandma and Gracie is in bed but I’m sure she would have something creative to say! Rick says thanks for being a great mother in law and for inroducing me to Scrabble. Thanks for the great times at Woodlands! We love you!

The boys returned to school yesturday. Dylan had mixed emotions because it was school but looked forward to the possibility of being Gracie’s buddy this year. A buddy is when a 3rd grader is paired up with a kindergartener once a week for a special activity. Gavin is excited about math which will make Papa Rennie proud since I never was too excited about his passion.

Gracie said this was her happiest day! She finally went to kindergarten. She slept in her bed all night! and she always dreams that she’s the star at soccer and she got to go to soccer and she got 5 goals! It doesn’t matter that they were practice drills and there was not a goalie. Everything was great today. The best part of the day for me was that she was most excited because she got to sit by her 2 brothers on the bus.

I wish could say that Rick and I had a great day too. He took the day off and we painted and painted. It was very productive and we got a lot done. The color looks great and it updates the house. We are motiviating our neighbours. Rick has worked really hard had it is definately paying off.

Started painting the house Friday. Every other week I work early (0200-1000) on Thursday and Friday. The radioactive drugs we dispense have a short half-life and need to be prepared in the morning of the day they are used. It’s nice being done with work at 10 AM and not too rough of an adjustment for a couple days. I painted from 11 AM to 8 PM. Last time I rented scaffolding and hired a couple older teens to help. This time it is a family project (mostly me) and an extension ladder. It is slow going, but I don’t mind doing it.

We have some SF friends down from Seattle for the weekend: Alice Clark and her kids: Abbie, Ely and Marley. The helped paint for a couple hours in the morning and then we played. We biked around the downtown Portland waterfront, had lunch at the Saturday market and then the boys and girls split up. The girls went shopping and the boys went to a public archery range in Washington Park. Bow hunting season is on, so we had the range to ourselves. A couple week ago it was impressive to watch hunters consistently hit 2″ targets from 40 yards.

Tomorrow we are going boating on Lake Merwin and then summer is officially over for the kids. Dylan starts 3rd grade, Gavin starts 2nd and Gracie starts kindergarten.

Thoughts and prayers out to the hurricane Katrina victims. What a nightmare. Looks like their emergency planning was non-existent. To have hospitals without working generators, inadequate evacuation plans, no food and water reserves in an area that is under sea level and so close to the coast seems untenable. A guy on my MBA team is an emergency preparedness guy for Multnomah county and they are always running drills, coordinating with national groups and making contingency plans. It is discouraging to see people blaming people and groups at the national level when it looks like matters would have been greatly helped with more preparation at the local level.