Scans

Whenever I scan a picture, like the pic of Jordan in the previous post, it feels like I have a billion more things that I should scan. So I get scanner happy and make digital copies of everything. Here are two pictures I scanned this week that I'd like to share:

One of the many perks of being married to The Lovely Cynthia (TLC) is the many fun drawings she'll produce. She loves arts and crafts to such a degree that I know whenever a holiday rolls around, I can expect a special treat - a homemade card. Here's the front cover of today's Father's Day card that TLC drew.

The picture isn't cropped...it's designed to look like they're peering over the card. I love it. Even though they weren't here today, the card brought a smile to my face. The inside was cute too, with a nice drawing by Jordan of the two of us playing at the park. In case you're curious about the hats...

These are (from left) Carter's, TLC's, and Jordan's hats of choice.

On to the next scan!

Back in her SUU days, one of TLC's classmates drew this caricature of her during a Marketing Club competition trip. I have no idea who the artist is, but I love this guy's work. This is one of the best caricatures I've ever seen. If someone were to ask me what TLC was like back when we were dating, I'd hand them this picture. I can't help but smile when I see it, and it's been in a frame on our nightstand for 8 years now.

Oh, and Cynthia insists to this day that the guy who drew it wasn't flirting with her. Pfft.

End of School

When Jordan first saw this school picture he said (with much shock) "I did not take that picture! I was INSIDE a building when they took our pictures!"

Jordan finished Kindergarten today and eagerly awaits the first grade. Now that school is over, the vacations start! Cynthia started the vacation season minutes after the final school bell rang; she and the boys are now driving to Utah for a family reunion and then a month-long (possibly?) stay in Hurricane.

I will be working and studying during the next month. Where's the equality?!!!

In addition to Jordan switching back to full-time in the fall, Carter will also start half-day preschool. It feels like we'll be empty-nesters before we know it.

Two Campouts - Part One

I know we haven't posted in close to three weeks. We're not dead or giving up on the blog, I've just been really busy at work and play.

The past two weekends we went camping. I'd like to contrast the two campouts. Let's start things off on the postive side.

Oregon Coast Campout

For the Memorial Day weekend, we drove down to Lincoln City and camped at Devils Lake.This was not only our first time to the Oregon coast, but also the boys' first time seeing an ocean. One of the major draws in our moving to Portland was that Cynthia could enjoy her love of mountains and I could enjoy my love of beaches. Needless to say, it was a highly anticipated trip.

We all had a great time - even Cynthia who claims she likes 'the idea' of camping but not necessarily the actual experience.

Devil's Lake is a pretty nice lake and it's only a few hundred feet from the ocean. The boys caught a few small bullhead while we were there...always nice to actually catch something.

We've wanted a tent for years now and a sale at REI finally made it possible for us to get a great tent for a decent price. It's a 2-room 6-person tent with vestibules at both entrances, so you can store all your gear outside and not have it get wet in rain - important quality here. I couldn't be happier with it.

While at REI the boys saw these wicked cool LED flashlights that have a LED glowstick on the other end of the flashlight (there's also a whistle on it). I agreed to get them because we can identify all family members at night very easily, but mostly we just played Jedi with them. Tee hee.

Friday night was the first time we got down to the beach. I was ecstatic in this shot. If Jordan looks cold, it's because he is. It was a little cold and windy on the beach until...

Saturday morning which was a beautiful sunny day at the beach. Jackets still on though; hey, it's not SoCal! We discovered that Jordan loves the beach as much as his Dad, but Carter is deathly afraid of the water. This is kind of weird because Carter loves getting wet anywhere else. He claims it's because he didn't have a swimsuit (though I think it's because the waves reminded him of Poseidon), so we'll have to try again.

While in Lincoln City we visited the candy store. We picked up a pound of fresh salt water taffy and watched as peppermint suckers were being made. I wish I'd picked up more of that taffy, dang it.

TLC - The Lovely Cynthia. Need I say more?

Depoe Bay. Man, I love the colors of the ocean. So good to be back on the West Coast!

What is it with Carter being the Captain?

A Mammoth sculpture-doodad near McMinnville. Eat your heart out, Edward Scissorhands.

Two Campouts - Part Two

Second was the ?????? and ????? campout. 

Traditionally it's called the Father and Sons' campout or Aaronic Priesthood Commemoration campout, but that can't be further from the truth for this outing so I have no idea what to call it. The weather was REALLY hard rain (for Portland) from the time we got there until 6 am. There were only 3 tents set up for the night (including mine). Almost all of the fathers were huddled underneath a shelter tent where the grill was and they couldn't care less about where their sons were.

Ninety percent of the ward slept in their cars/trucks/campers and there was no commemoration of the Aaronic priesthood restoration. No message, no nothin'; the male membership of our ward is not very strong in spiritual leanings and teaching/leadership. We had cobbler (from a box!) served at 10 pm and then the kids were begging to go to sleep. So we did...after I gave them my own impromptu lesson (with references!) on the restoration.

The next morning was beautiful. We woke up at 8:15 and we were excited to enjoy a nice hot breakfast before fishing and disc golfing. The rain had stopped and it was a beautiful sunny morning. Carter got out of the tent first and said "Dad! There's nobody here!" I thought that was a funny joke.

It wasn't a joke. At 8:15 am, the camp was completely abandoned. Breakfast was already served, cleaned, put away, and moved out by then. Every camper had left. It was just us...and we were hungry. We had plans to stay until noonish. Instead, we fished for 15 minutes, packed up the camp, and left. The boys sat in the car as I took an hour to clean up camp...it was one of the most lonely times I've ever had.

I'm told that our ward often leaves early from campouts - some left at 5 am so their kids could play their sports. Honestly, I don't know why they even bothered going. I almost wish I hadn't.

I only got 3 pictures of the whole campout due to rain and one video just to act as proof that we were abandoned by 8:15. Here's a pic and the video.

Soccer Season

Jordan completed his first soccer season a few weeks ago. Since micro soccer is kindergarten and first grade (and lots of people hold their kids back here) Jordan was one of the youngest, smallest, and most inexperienced players. So though he didn't look like Ronaldinho's heir apparent, he had a great time running around, learning the sport, and making friends. The last game was played in an on-and-off rainstorm. You would not believe how much the kids enjoyed running around in that!

He told us during the season that he had been waiting a long time for a chance to play soccer because he "couldn't wait to hear people cheering for him". I'm not sure if that means we don't cheer him on enough at home, but it was cute to hear and we amped up our efforts to cheer from the sidelines.

Jordan completed one goal in the season and is very proud of the soccer medal he received. I hope to get him to watch the World Cup in a few days with me to keep up his enthusiasm for soccer. (Vá, a Seleção!)

This is actually a pic from practice. I could have sworn I took pictures during his first game, but I can't find them now. Doh!