Busy Weekend

We spent our final weekend in Vancouver, Washington, and it was a busy one! Alex's last day of school was last Wednesday, and then he had a martial arts graduation on Friday night. Allison had a dance recital on Saturday afternoon. We specifically set our move date around these three events so the kids could enjoy their activities to the fullest!

Alex graduated to a full yellow belt, and Allison performed three times (one ballet dance, one tap dance and one Hawaiian dance). To add to the fun, Granny and Grampa Mike (Anne's parents) joined us in Vancouver one last time to see the shows. We've posted many pictures below.

We're headed out this weekend. Anne is flying with the kids Friday night, and Adam and his dad are leaving with the moving truck Saturday morning. We have lots of loose ends to tie up this week, but if you're in the area, please stop by. We'd love to see you one more time!

Off to work....

Dance Recital

Martial Arts Graduation

Alex's Last Day

Alex's last day of school was June 18th. Here he is pictured with Ms. Pulham. She is an excellent teacher, and gave Alex such a great start to school. I think she will remain one of our most favorite teachers for a long time to come. We will miss her!

The Waiting is the Hardest Part....

We officially have 18 days left in the Pacific Northwest....in case anyone is keeping track.

We're Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo!

Last Thursday I accompanied Alex's class to the Oregon Zoo for their final field trip of the year. Contrary to Alex's attire in the picture (with his buddy Eduardo), we spent the majority of the day in 50-degree rainy weather. However, most of the students (Alex included) had a fantastic time! I learned a valuable lesson, though, about the Oregon Zoo that I never knew even as my many years as a member. Never, never visit the zoo on a weekday during the first two weeks of June. Its field trip season, for sure! We shared the zoo that day with 4200 other elementary students and their chaperons. Apparently that's the norm for this time of year.

International Friendship Day

Friday, at Alex's school, we celebrated International Friendship Day. The school held an assembly that afternoon recognizing the many different international friends at Roosevelt. The school is very diverse...over 120 of the 645 students are English Language Learners.

A few weeks ago, we received a secret invitation to attend because we were told Alex was going to receive an award. Along with his friend Eduardo, they received a Roosevelt Friend award for being good friends to each other and to other students at the school. The award was a surprise for him, and he was informed of his honor when his picture flashed on the big screen in front of the entire school. He also received a certificate, a framed picture of Eduardo and himself, and a goodie bag. All this was very exciting for an almost-first-grader.

Swing Jumping

Slide Jumping

Guess what....?

Its no longer ours!!! We accepted an offer on our house in early May, and we officially closed on Wednesday. We were hesitant to say anything until everything was final, which it now is. We're renting back from the buyer for another month, and we'll be rolling out of town on June 28th!

Swingset Fun

Over four years ago, Adam began work on our wooden backyard play structure. One of those "you-and-a-buddy-can-assemble-this-in-a-weekend" type kits. Feel free to blame Home Depot for the faulty advertising. A mere six weeks later, we had it up and running. Here are some pictures of the assembly with a little help from little Alex, who was two at the time.

This play structure has become a staple of our backyard. Its seen many, many hours of use. Its where both Alex and Allison (and the neighbor girl) learned to work a swing. They've also learned to jump...off the swings AND the slides. (I have video documenting this, but for some reason I'm having difficulty uploading it. Check back later). The upper level clubhouse areas have been 'imagined' into everything from pirate ships to campgrounds to museums. I know the museum sounds odd, but right now, even as I type this, they've "opened an exhibit" of pine cones, leaves and acorns.

All that to say, it will be one more thing we'll need to leave behind. So, I'm trying to take as many pictures as possible. I've posted a few below.

This seemed like a good idea at the time.

Poor Adam. This was not his idea. Allison missed the self-timer on the first one.

We went to California this weekend....

....can you tell?

The good news is, our little Corolla averaged 40mpg!

We spent the three day weekend in glorious Lake Tahoe, although the weather was far from glorious. As you know we've spent multiple summers in Lake Tahoe as part of Campus Crusade's Lake Tahoe Summer Project. Even though we are extremely excited about our transition, we've realized that its summers in Lake Tahoe that we'll miss the most. We wanted to pay it one last visit, while we were still within road tripping distance. It may be many years until we return.

Due to the lousy weather, we spent most of our weekend indoors, but we still had a fabulous time!

Grieving

Yesterday I shed a tear as I placed the dinner table scraps in the garbage, rather than giving Copper a fourth meal. Then I smiled as I realized for the first time in 10 years our trash can is on the floor (where it belongs) rather than on the counter (in order to keep the dog out)!

Sad Day

Our dog Copper passed away today (Monday) at the ripe old age of 10! He had had a rough couple of weeks, so we knew it was inevitable. I've been thumbing through photos and found a few to post on here. We didn't wind up in the digital world until late 2003, and unfortunately all our older pictures are packed. He was awfully cute as a pup, even though I can't document that here. Maybe once we get relocated and unpacked I can upload a few more.

You Know You're From the Northwest When....

Since we are soon leaving the Pacific Northwest, we thought it would be fun to share with you some truths about those who live here. Most are taken from Facebook, but we added a few ourselves.

You feel guilty throwing paper in the trash.
You use the statement "sun break" and know what it means.
You feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant.
In Portland, you point out all the streets that Simpson characters were named after.
You know the difference between Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye salmon.
You can point to at least two volcanoes, even if you cannot see through the cloud cover. (Our children can even do this)!
You think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or people from California.
You design your child's Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat.
You complain about Californians as you sell your house to one for twice as much as you originally paid.
Every day is casual Friday.
Oregonians, you go out of state and wait in your car for someone to pump your gas.
You know the exact day you had school off because it snowed like....one inch.
Your lawn is mostly moss and you don't really care.
You know the difference between a rhododendron and an azalea.

Happy Mother's Day