Class of '007

Well, child number 4 has now officially graduated high school, yay!!! Only one more to go.

All the kids came to the ceremony. The seating was very crowded, as usual. I got there early to save enough seats. Then this one lone woman decided to grab one seat at the end of my reserved area. She quicly became about 4 people and we all had to turn sideways to fit. Oh well, it was just an hour or so. The little boys were so good.

The Auburn congregation had a grad party for both Dane and Chad Morrison. They had cake, food , music and a few gifts. But it seemed more like Chad's party than Dane's. The Bushnells actually came and talked to me.

After graduation I decided to throw together a last minute party for Dane. It turned out very nice. About 4 families from Covington came and the older kids crashed the party. Dane got tons of gifts and cash. We had a fire, ping pong, a trampoline, a game from back east called "cornhole". It was a great success.

I hope Keith can have as nice a party when he graduates.

Family Day 2007

I'm trying to establish a new tradition. I want to have a "Family Day" in the summer so June 9 was our day this year. Last year the weather was great so we were outside. I bought some nice steaks and we all dressed nice and I took photos, they came out very good. I also bought everyone gifts. The idea wasn't to get gifts but to stimulate a gift exchange. The kids are catching on, they all got me something. Rach and I were plant shopping in the spring and I saw a concrete bench made with large maple leaves as a pattern that I fell in love with. She got that for me. Kevin and Denny got me other backyard gifts, Kevin got me solar powered tiki torches that actually flicker and Denny got me a portable firepit. The weather was cold and rainy so we were inside mostly but when the weather cleared for a while the kids all took over and started doing all kinds of stuff outside. Tony dragged out the ping pong table, Kevin started setting up the tiki torches and Denny started a fire in the firepit he gave me. We cooked up our steaks and had a nice dinner. But since we were mostly stuck inside I didn't take pictures. So, maybe I'll do photos every 2 years instead of annually. And because it was so grey and cloudy we all had the sleepies so the party didn't last too late, everyone went home to nap. But I think everyone enjoyed their gifts and time together.

Since we all enjoyed the kite festival so much and we all want to do that every June I'm gonna see about combining the 2 and make the kite festival wknd our Family wknd as well. The beach is always a great place to take pictures, even if it is grey and cloudy.

Dane gets Baptized

OK, so yesterday we were at the Ocean. Today we went to our special assembly day. The family were all gonna come but they couldn't get up and out of the house by 8:30, too much work getting the house cleaned up and emptied out. They still had to take Joe out to fly the kite his Grampa Phil gave him too.

We had a great speaker from Bethel who was originally from South Africa who gave great talks with some wonderful illustrations, his dutch-like accent was fun to listen to too. Dane, Daniel Garcia and his wife Cassandra (8 months pregnant) all got baptized from our congregation. Bill Tallent and Rick Bailey did the baptisms, as usual. 14 got baptized all together and there was about 1200 in attendance. I ran into Laurel, Sue Zolezzi's daughter there, she and Travis came to see someone else get baptized.

The Garcias had no plans for dinner and we did so we included them in our group. We went to a little Italian place in Puyallup, Casa Mia. The server was great, the food was good too. They messed up and forgot 2 of my meals, mine and Keith's so the server said my forgotten meals would be on the house. My bill came to only $11 so the server got a nice big tip. The Garcias, Daniel's mom Leticia and her husband Adam and sister Finesse came. All the Parrs, Sarah Garner, the Haydens, the Holmans, a couple other young friends of Dane's, all together 25 of us.

Kite Festival

We had a great time at Ocean Shores for the kite festival. It was Dane and I, Denny, Heather, her little brother TJ, Kevin, Shirley, Joe, Shayne, Mindy, her dog Sheba, Rach and Tony. Unfortunately, Dane and I had to leave early, Saturday evening, but we crammed so much into that 24 hours that it felt like a whole wknd. On the way in we stopped and got pizza. When Mindy and Kevin and the babies got in we had dinner and hung around the house we rented. We attempted to start a fire in the firepit, then in the fireplace, not enough kindling. Later in the evening we went in the hot tub. About midnight Kevin got the bright idea to walk to the ocean. I jumped at that, I wanted to do that since we got there but no one else showed any interest in going. So it ended up me and all my kids and Heather's little brother, TJ hiking out there. There was a nice bright moon and I tried to get a picture of the kids' silhouettes in front of it, then I just gave up and turned on the flash. We're the only ones silly enough to walk to the ocean at midnight. Dane, TJ and I slept in the living room, the hide-a-bed that Dane and I shared was AWFUL. Shirley got in about 2 AM and Mindy's dog did her share of waking people up. I got very little sleep but had a great time nonetheless. Saturday morning Rach and I made a big breakfast and Mindy, Shirley and Joe cleaned up. Then I ended up taking a walk toward the loudspeakers I heard on the beach, I figured there must be some kites where they were coming from. Joe followed me and so we went on a hike together. We walked quite a way so I could see the big kitty and Joe wanted to see the big ball (like a soccer ball). They were big windsocks, there was a huge fish and a teddy bear too. Dane had to come rescue me since Joe was tired of walking and I was tired of carrying him. We all went to the dune buggy/quad track and all the young crazies rode the dune buggies. Shirley's kept breaking down. We went to the kite store and Kevin chose to buy the same kite that I've wanted to buy so I got the sample kite, they were $50. We got them back to the house and it turned out mine was much bigger than Kevin's so he took his back and they gave him a $100 kite in exchange. I found my price tag and it was actually a $80 kite. So we both got a deal. We took our new stunt kites to the beach to try them out, they were real fun and easy to fly. They're both kites without sticks, kinda like paragliders. Later in the evening when we tried to fly them the wind was too hard and the strings kept breaking. But it was fun before the wind got that hard, when we'd bring the kites down to circle around they'd pull us across the beach and we had to run to keep up with them. That's just about the whole day but, like I said, it was so much that it felt like a whole wknd. I was sure glad to get home and sleep in my own bed.

Back to Boring

Well, since all the excitement over Phil's passing is now behind us, life is back to the same old boring pace. Work, meetings, babysitting, yard work, etc. I'm continuing to complete my remodel from late '05, the finishing touches - hanging pictures, molding & window treatments. I still have to get the cabinets in my laundry room done so I can remove the boxes from ly LR, Kevin is working on that project for me and I've run out of material and have to borrow a vehicle to bring it home, a 4 X 8 sheet of 3/4" thick melamine won't fit in my little car.

Work is VERY busy lately, we've picked up a lot more Boeing work, as did a number of our customers and so all those customers are upping their orders from us to fill their Boeing orders (we subcontract for them). We hired a 3rd "slave" for the back office but because we're also implementing a new Quality system (to be certified for more work) that has increased the work also and she is lightening the load but not by 1/3. So I'm beat every evening and it takes a lot to make me not just plop in the recliner and watch TV every evening.

June is going to be very busy, we have stuff planned almost every wknd. The whole family is going to Ocean Shores for the kite festival. Phil (dearly departed) bought Joe a kite and was planning to take him to the kite festival so we're doing it for him. The next day is our special assembly day and Dane is getting baptized, most of the kids will be there for that. The next wknd is free. Then the wknd of the 16/17 I'm having my new tradition - "Family Day" where we get together for pictures, dinner and gift exchanging. The next day Dane graduates from high school. Then the next wknd is our District Convention. I'll have to get the mowing done during the week, won't be any time to mow on the wknds that month. Then July 18 Dane and I head to Hawaii til the 30th. Lily Lake camping trip is in the middle of August and I think most of the kids and their new families will all come, at least for part of it. The Renaissance faire is in early August, must not forget that. Summer is always so hectic, it's so short here.

That's everything in a nutshell.

This was a tough week

Thursday the 15th Kevin's father-in-law took his life and threw the family into a spin. He was only 46 and had much family and a profusion of friends who will miss him. I volunteered to create the bonuses that have become a common part of a service, a fitting card, picture DVD and then a CD of special songs to play at the reception afterward. Other family members helped out with the food and drinks, babysitting, etc. Our family (Dale, Denny, Rach and spouses and myself) pooled together to buy a beautiful large arrangement that ended up being the centerpiece at the service, front and center, right behind Phil's photo. Phil was working for an excavation company, Donovan Excavating, and they drove their fleet of trucks out of the parking lot with horns blaring in a tribute to Phil that left not one dry eye in the whole place. As I was creating the slideshow I learned a lot about him and his wife, Mindy. The most painful thing I learned is that they had been together since they were teenagers and stuck it out all the way into Grandparent-hood. They grew up together. Mindy will have to learn how to live without Phil, the man she was with 75% of her life. It'll take many years. Right now the plans are for her and Kevin & Shirley to buy a place together with a mother-in-law apartment or house of some sort so she won't be alone. Those grandbabies will help keep her occupied. Speaking of grandbabies, Joe is less than 2 and so is not cognizant of what has happened, yet, when he picked up one of the memorial cards with Grandpa Phil's face on the front he got melancholy and laid his head on whomever it was that was near him. He somehow knows that Grandpa's gone, probably because Grandma's there without him and everyone is so sad.

That's what has consumed all my energy for the last week and now I'll have to just get on with my life again. It's amazing how the loss of someone whom we aren't even close to can have such a strong effect on us, due mostly to the effect that we see it have on our loved ones. When our kids or friends hurt, we hurt.

Well, it seems this weekend is all about the kids. Friday night we had dinner at Rach & Tony's, we "grilled out" as Tony calls it. Burgers and fries/tots. Denny and Heather came with balloons that said "Guess what?" on them. Well, what else? They're pregnant, due 10/20. The family is all hoping it's a girl, actually, Rach and Kev kinda decided that they could have the boys (Kev's alrady done his part) and that Denny and Heather have to have the girls, 5 of them to be exact! Such evil children I raised! After dinner we all just stayed and played with the babies. Dane ended up staying til after 11 playing Golf on the gamecube with Tony.

Yesterday Rach and I went to the North Bend outlet mall and had a blast. I needed a new jacket and Wilson's leather was having a fantastic sale, I ended up getting 2 jackets and a laptop bag, it was buy 2 get one free and everything I bought was half off clearance prices. We bought gifts and other neccesities, it was a blast. Next wknd R & T and D & H and and Dane and Keith and I are gonna go to Seattle and do something, right now it seems like it may be the underground. I'm leaving that up to Rach and Den to decide. My goal is to take them out to dinner at Buca di beppo, a real neat italian restaurant. I'll have to make plans to do something with Kev and Shirl some other time.

I had the little grandbabies last night from 7 til about 1 AM. I enjoy rocking them to sleep. Shayne is back today from 11 til about 3. Then we have meeting, then dinner at Haydens and Survivor and Amazing race. Shayne was asleep about 10 minutes when Kev first dropped him off but woke up and has been tired, I just got him back to sleep again. He loves to be held and is so pretty.

Last wknd I had friends over and watched the DVD "Knocking". One friend brought her 1 year old nephew. I said "I have toys!" and got them out for him. He was a very good little boy too. We had my special "beans, dear, beans" dish and cornbread and salad. We had a real good time then too. I went to a housewarming party on Saturday, that was nice too, met some friends from the Des Moines (WA) area.

I guess that's my life now meetings, family and socializing. Oh yes, and shopping.

It's nice to be in congregation that socializes.