Oscar and Tara

facebook.com

2008-08-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

We now have face book (started for our friends in Czech!) so come be our friends!

We are back from Czech!

2008-07-30T04:30:00.001-07:00

Wow! What an amazing experience. Our time in Czech was wonderful. It was so fun to spend time with our old friends and make new friends. It was also so awesome to see what God has done in Tabor in the last two years.

Since our first camp, some students have come to Christ. One particular student we knew has been completly transformed by God. He was in our English class (Oscar and I taught together) and the things he would say during prayer time or discussion groups was God talking through him. He was a new person and it was so amazing to see God changing lives. It is so exciting for us because we go into English Camp to build relationships and plant seeds. And we know that we may never see fruit. It doesn't meen it won't happen, we just may never see it. So to start another camp was so encouraging that we might actually get to see what God does in the peoples hearts.

We have a team update at Good Shepherd this Saturday, August 1st. We would love for you to come hear from the team. Thank you so much for all your prayers and financial support. We wouldn't have been able to go with out your help, and we wouldn't have been able to do the work we did with out your prayers!

Also, look back at the previous posts because I am going to add some pictures now that I can.

Good Bye!

The Czechs came to pick us up at the Prague Hlavna Nadrazi (main train station) and then we went to Malenovice (about 6 hours away) for 3 days of training. This is Klara, Mr. Poky, and Koty. Missing Lenya in the picture:(

This is Josiah Venture's Training Facility in Malenovice. Pretty Nice!

Waiting for a train.
Our Camp building!

Our English Class. Team R and B (Rethwill and Banister)

On Hike Day, we hiked to an old Castle Ruins. It is amazing how old things are in Europe. This day was so fun. It is a good time to get to talk to people, practice English, but build relationships. This is Lenya and David.

Our friend Jiri and his girlfriend. We stayed with Jiri at follow up 2 years ago. He wasn't able to come to camp, but they did visit for one day. We miss you Jiri!

In Tabor, at follow up. We had a good bye dinner at the church with smores. Most of the Czech's don't like them because they are too sweet. I found this sweatshirt at the Nike store in Tabor. The sleeve says Eugene, Oregon, Track Town USA. Crazy! And the adorable children belong to our host family this year. They have 4 kids. And the blue house with the Ivy is thier home. It was about 1 block from the main square. They are wonderful people, Jiri and Anita.

Here is our family (minus Jiri who was working). They came to say good bye with us and all the Czech's at the train station. The Czech's are so awesome because they really love, and when it comes to saying good bye, it is all very long and sad. We waited in the station for about 30 minutes, saying good bye and giving hugs. Then our train comes so we say good bye one more time. Then we get on the train and the Czechs all come out to the platform and as the train is leaving we are grabbing hands out the window and sometimes they start running with the train and it is all very sad. So this time we all cried and went back into our train car. Aleah was in our car and in the midst or sadness she gets a bag thrown in her face from an angry Czech, who doesn't speak English. So funny now!

Some fun in Prague.

Our English Class: 1st Picture- Czech Smile, 2nd Picture- American Smile. Missing Jiri, so he gets his own picture.
L-R: Poky, Oscar, Klara, Jachym, Nikola, Tara. Where's Stacy?

English Camp... Almost over... Already?

2008-07-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast this week has flown bye. So many great things have happened. I can't wait to post pictures when we get home. Oscar and I have been able to teach together, which has been pretty fun. We have an amazing class. They have made it so much fun. On Saturday we will be leaving for Tabor, about 2 hours from here. We will be staying 3 days with a Czech, then we will be leaving for Prague. Today our old friend, Jirka, came to camp to visit for the day. We stayed with him 2 years ago in Tabor, so it was great to see him again. He invited us to stay again this year... I think we will but not sure yet. I was able to got to the city close to hear with Jirka to get snacks for the camp. It was fun to see another part of the Czech Republic that all tourists would miss out on.

Today in English class we were talking about the U.S. and we had the Czech's list all the states possible. Eventually we got them all. They are very good. Then they wanted us to list all the countries in Europe. So we did and they were impressed we knew most of them (luckily I teach history so I must know some of this). There are a few small ones, and ones that are parts of countries.

Bye the way, obviously the campers arrived to camp- Thank the Lord a bus was provided.

Please keep us in your prayers!

We're off to camp!

2008-07-11T00:14:00.000-07:00

Thank God that a bus will be taking the Czech students to camp tomorrow! We are heading to camp today, by train, about 7 hours, to get set up and ready for the campers. We will be doing English testing tomorrow first thing, to determine what level of English class students should be in. This is hard so pray that we will do a good job.

Thanks!

We are in Czech!

2008-07-08T12:35:00.001-07:00

Hey all... Just wanted to let you know that we made it to Czech. We have been through a lot of stuff since we have been here for a short time. All has been good. All 28 of our bags arrived and no one has gotten lost.

We are at our training facility (with internet!) until Friday morning, which then we will head out to camp! Please pray that the Tabor Youth Group will be provided with a bus to transport about 70 students to camp and back home at the end of the week. So far there are no arrangements, and it doesn't sound like "plan B" exists.

Also, keep checking the Team blog for pictures and more update.

We're leaving for Czech

2008-07-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all of you who are praying for us. We are very excited that the time is almost here. We are leaving tomorrow, July 7. Check our Czech blog for updates at our training facility, at camp, and at follow up in Tabor (with the Czech youth group). http://czgscc.blogspot.com/

Independence Day!

2008-07-05T14:32:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July! We started the day off with a run (at least I did :) and then rode our bikes into Portland from Gresham with my parents. It was a nice, relaxing 22 mile ride. Needless to say our butts are out of shape.

Then we celebrated with our friends the Jenkins, at their new home in Vancouver. I am excited to have some friends in Vancouver. They already said I could come over for dinner when I have long days at work.

Troy's Motorcylce

2008-07-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

Troy was keeping this a secret from our parents (because my dad said he would have to give back the truck if he ever got a motorcyle). This picture was taken a year ago in Florida. Now that Troy has moved to San Diego our parents know about his tricks (he needed their help moving). So I was thinking about this and thought I would share.

Party's Galore

2008-07-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

We have been to so many Graduation parties this summer. It is so awesome to see such success. Especially because we know that not everyone makes it :( This was Jami's grad/birthday party. Her and her family have long been friends of the Dickey's.

Happy 30th Oscar!

2008-07-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

Oscar turned 30! We celebrated with a SURPRISE Disco Party (since Oscar was born in '78). It worked out well, Oscar was surprised. Thanks to all the people who helped pull this off, especially getting Oscar out of the house!

Young Life Happenings at Bay

2008-05-04T14:50:00.000-07:00

So here is a collection of photos from our Young Life Club. We meet every Monday night in Vancouver- We are a Hudson's Bay Club. The exciting pictures are from our recent 80's skate night at Golden Skate (Looks just like SkateWorld did 20 years ago!)

Czech Retreat

2008-05-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

Learning the camp song and making our journals.

Please pray for our team! So many things: Czech students will come to our camp. We would be ready for camp with lots of fun activities and good english teaching ideas. That we would make connections with the students that would remain after camp. For our travels. And that we would raise our financial support.

We also went for a hike at Angels Rest and had a campfire. We roasted hot dogs and smores. Yummy!

San Diego, even if we Bust!

2008-02-21T17:24:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of the month Troy would be making his transfer. After living in Jacksonville, FL for 3 years, he had to make the move across the country (for the 2nd time) to San Diego. He was given lots of notice of the move, but only a few days to actually make the move. He was authorized to leave Jacksonville on Friday and had to be in SD by Monday AM. He ended up being able to leave one day sooner. I, being the good sister (and wanting to take a trip) arrived in Jacksonville on Thursday morning. Troy was able to leave a bit sooner, picked me up at the airport, and we were on our way. This gave us 3 1/2 days to cross the country.

We were overloaded, as Troy had all his belongings in his truck and trailer. Our parents were a day ahead of us driving his car. To make a long story short- we got delayed in Ocean Springs, Mississippi for more than half a day. We were just outside of Mobile, Alabama when we had a tire blowout. I was very scared because I was driving (in the middle of rainstorm- remember the tornado was a few days later). I had no idea our tires were bad, and I thought Troy didn't either. But it turns out our dad actually offered to get Troy new tires and he said NO, they would be fine. So we were forced to stay in Mobile for the night (scary) and look for a tire store in the morning. The closest one that had the tires we needed in stock was 40 miles away in Mississippi. So we unhooked the trailer, drove to Ocean Springs. They had some problems. We went back for the trailer and finally left Mobile at 2pm the next day. Praise the Lord we were able to leave a little early!

We ended up making it in time. Had lots of fun, did lots of driving, and took pictures of all 7 states we entered (some twice!)

Troy is now flying a new (to the Navy) helicopter in San Diego. He will be there for the next three years.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-16T18:36:00.000-08:00

We did our 6th annual scavenger hunt this year. The scavenger hunt is a tradition oscar started in college, and usually, as the administrator, has not been able to participate in it. But we scaled down bring in 2008 with a much smaller group, Guys vs. Girls. The girls won by a long shot. Our teammates were Don and Sarah Jenkins and Jeremy and Tauni Farrell.

I don't really have any of the guys scavenger hunt pictures because they used a phone.

Christmas Festivities

2008-01-16T18:17:00.000-08:00

We had a great holiday break. Troy was home from Florida, and we got to see lots of people we hardly see anymore... Starting with my Aunt Kay and Adriane, and Eric. Adriane is a star runner at Santa Clara University. She recently set a school record in the 6K!

We spent Christmas day with my family and then later joined the Ekstrom family for Christmas Day dinner. Yummy! Shelley even had a craft project for us after dinner- making Christmas balls.

We went to Sutherlin for Christmas Eve with Oscar's family. Troy even came with us. We left the day after he got in from Florida, and apparently his body hadn't adjusted to the time change because he slept in a chair most of the night-- while all the festivities were going on. Our niece, Celine, is playing a Christmas song on her flute and you can see Troy sleeping in the background.

Seattle Marathon, 2007

2007-11-30T22:03:00.000-08:00

I ran the Seattle Marathon over the Thanksgiving weekend. This was my second time doing this race- I beat my time last year by 23 minutes. With a time of 3:15:52, I ran an average pace of 7:29. I came in 1st in my age group (out of 169) and 7th overall (643 women). I beat my Portland time by 10 minutes, which is an flatter course. It was definitely fun to compete in this race, but now I have a much harder time to beat next race.

We went up the day before the race and walked around Downtown Seattle. We had lunch by the pier at Red Robin, and dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. We got to go to Pikes Place and look around--- lots of people were out shopping.

Thanksgiving at the Rethwill's!

2007-11-27T16:26:00.000-08:00

My first Thanksgiving were I was the cook. Luckily my mom and dad are close by and could give me lots of help. If you have never brined a turkey-- you have to. It was so good. The meat is so tender and moist.
Oscar's Mom and two brothers came up from Sutherlin with their kids, Oscar's sister and husband came from Beaverton, my parents, and Oscar and I made 19. I have also never cooked for 19 people.
They all stayed the night and the girls went shopping the next morning. Not too early, but we were still able to get some good deals. This was my first Thanksgiving in Portland in 5 years and I was really looking forward to shopping in the big city, but end up pretty disapointed with the sales. Not much I couldn't live without.

Growth Group Retreat!

2007-11-27T16:21:00.000-08:00

Our growth group spent the weekend in Lincoln City over Veteran's Day. We had beautiful weather! All but one couple from our group was able to join us, which is great considering the family growth situations most of them are in. The pictures are: first- the Rethwill's, second- Don and Sarah Jenkins, and third- Paul and Karyn Meier and Preston and Coby Knifong.

Halloween at the Farrell's

2007-11-27T16:09:00.000-08:00

Oscar and I spent Halloween night at the Tauni and Jeremy's. Can you tell what our costume is? Tauni is such a good cook- she made us Taco Soup and Beef Stew, plus yummy pumpkin desserts and hot cider.
I was never really sure what Jeremy was- either a male nurse or a surgeon. I think male nurse :)

Young Life Pumpkin Carvin

2007-11-27T16:02:00.000-08:00

You may not know this, but Oscar and I, along with two other gals from my school and thier husbands have started a Young Life Club at my school. We meet every monday night for Club- where we sing and play games, win cool prizes, and give a short talk about God and how He has been part of our lives. We have a great group of kids and have a pretty good turn out so far- for starting from scratch. This pumpkin carvin was one of the fun things we did before we officially started club. Don't they look good?

Football at Western & Irene's Birthday at Olive Garden

2007-11-27T15:56:00.000-08:00

We started the day off with a trip to our Alma Mater, Western Oregon University, to watch our friend Sammy Cook slaughter SOU. The game ball was delivered in a helicopter. We enjoyed the company of the Cooks, the Vavreks, and the Dickey's.

After the game we went to Olive Garden in Eugene. We met up with most of Oscar's family for a great dinner celebration. Then, back up to Troutdale!

Portland Marathon, 26.2 miles!

2007-10-12T20:22:00.000-07:00

I ran my 2nd Marathon last weekend in Portland. It was a PR of 12 1/2 minutes from Seattle, 2006. My time was 3:26 (3 hours, 26 minutes) which breaks down to about 7:52/mile. I placed 15/654 women in my age group, 64/4198 women total, and 455/7736 runners overall.

My good husband drove me down to Portland at about 5:45 in the morning, and waited with me in a half hour line for the bathroom, coached me through my frustration and anger (I dont do well around 10,000+ people), and helped me stretch. I got to see him at a couple points throughout the race, along with my Co-Cross Country Coach and some other familiar faces. Our good friends Tauni and Jeremy met me at the end and we went to a great post-race breakfast. I was just missing my parents who were in Hawaii until later that night.

What's Next?? Seattle Marathon, Nov. 2007!!!

Homecoming Week...!

2007-10-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

Fashion Disaster Day

I am missing the picture for Tuesday, which was Battle of the Sexes. Girls wore Pink, boys wore Blue.

"ER" Day. Dress like something that ends in 'er' (must be appropriate). I was a Ski Racer. Can you believe I wore my Downhill suite all day?

Color War Day (Staff was Purple). I was fortunate enough to play in a DodgeBall Game against the seniors. Unfortunately, Staff lost.

Crazy Black and Gold Day

Our staff and students really get into Spirit Week, which is really fun, but by the end of the week we are all ready for it to be over.

Tri-Cities, 2007

2007-10-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

It had been 10 years since Troy was last able to come to Tri-Cities. We were glad to have him. Our friends, Tauni and Jeremy, came for the 2nd year in a row, along with another couple friend of Tauni's. Needless to say, there were too many people to all go in one boat at the same time :( We had lots of fun skiing at 7am, tubing, wakeboarding, airchairing, and running 20 miles. What a beautiful place and the weather was the best it has been in several years. This was Oscar's 5th Year! Hard to believe, and probably my 15th. Can't wait for next year!

Hood to Coast

2007-10-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

This was my 4th (non consecutive) year running the H2C. Most of our team consisted of Bay coworkers. We had a blast and a pretty fast team!

I had to put up a picture of the "real" Hood to Coast Hero, Nell Nells. Just kidding, but I couldn't leave Nells out after she saw Scout and Henry:)

Jacksonville, Florida

2007-07-28T11:36:00.000-07:00

After Williamsburg I was able to fly down to Jacksonville. Oscar met me there. We were able to spend a whole week with Troy! He was a great tour guide and chauffeur. We had a great time. Here are some pictures of just some of the things we did.
Some swimming in Troy's pool.

We drove to Manatee Springs, outside of Gainesville. This place was amazing. It is a natural spring that comes out of the ground, in a cave (you can actually dive down into it). The water is crystal clear, and where the spring is it is a beautiful clear blue. Manatee Springs is a state park that you can swim in and stuff. The water is about chest deep until you get to the hole where the spring is, and then it is really deep, kind of eerie. We were able to snorkel around and see it pretty well. It also put off a really strong current. When then Manatees come into the swimming hole they shut it down, so we didn't see any. The water temp is also about 70 degrees, the coldest water in Florida right now.

We spent a day at JAX Beach with some of Troy's friends. It was a little cloudy at first, but them the sun came out and we were back wishing it was cloudy. I think that was one of the hottest days, with lots of humidity. It rained later.

St. Augustine, the oldest city in the country. We went to my favorite place- the Alligator Farm. This is an actual Zoological operation, so it is very educational. We got to feed the alligators, Troy almost got eaten by one, as you can see. We also took some cool video of the largest alligator, Maximo, 16 feet long, eating some rats. Usually they feed them nutria, but this was a training exercise. An alligator that size needs about 70 pounds of meat a year. They have a pretty slow metabolism.

Cape Canaveral, Kennedy Space Center
If you look close at the first picture you will see the orange tip of the fuel tank, attached to the Shuttle. It will go to the launch pad to start the 30 day count down. The next launch is on August 7. In a few years NASA is going to begin another Moon exploration program (like Apollo).
In one picture we were waiting in line to ride the Shuttle Launch Similation.

This is at a going away party for some of Troy's Navy friends. Their ship ran aground in the middle of their six month deployment, so they got to come home. Now they are going back out.

We spent a day at Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure. This is Troy and I before Rip Saw Falls (like Splash Mountain, but way better, and way wetter)

This is us after. We were literally soaked. We rode this twice. The second time, at the very end of the ride, we were shot in the face with water guns on the side of the ride, so hard that my sun glasses got shot off my head. Later, while walking on the bridge over the falls, we found out some people had actually paid quarters to shoot all of us!

Troy took this picture, with no flash. After getting soaked on Rip Saw Falls, we didn't have time to dry off before the thunderstorm came and temporarily shut the rides down.

We saw this turtle in the middle of the road in Troy's neighborhood. Most likely making its way to the pond. So Oscar, being a good samaritan, picks up the turtle in the middle, so as not to get bitten and moved it over to the grass. These turtles, however, have long bendy back legs that clawed him the whole time. He said it was worse than Nelles, but I never saw a single scratch.

Colonial Williamsburg

2007-07-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to go on a week long educational/schooling trip to Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. We got to participate in colonial dining (they fed us very well, notice the brownie!) We also spent one day in Norfolk, touring the Naval Museum. This was one of the most fun days of all, and I was the most excited to go there. Troy, on the other hand, wondered why anyone would want to go there.

The ship is the USS Wisconsin. It is a battleship, the same as the USS Missouri (which is where Japan surrendered to end WWII).

Our group in Williamsburg was made up of 17 High School teachers from across the country. Mostly from Philadelphia, Houston and New Jersey. Three from Washington (thats me!). I was also able to earn free continuing education credit and 3 Graduate Credits!

Independence Day!

2007-07-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day! God has truly blessed the country we live in. History has shown that Freedom is not Free.

For the 4th of July Oscar and I installed a drip system in our front and back yards. Now we can go on vacation!

Happy Birthday Oscar!

2007-07-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

Oscar's and his best friend, Travis, share the same birthday, but different years. So these boys traditionally celebrate together. Travis came up from Eugene. Don and Sara joined up for dinner at Rock Bottom. Don has a Wii. So much fun!

Wahkeena Falls

2007-07-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

For a day of fun we decided to hike/run Wahkeena Falls in the Gorge. What a great workout. My parents came with us. My mom is a maniac, she kicked my bottom up and down. We were joking that she was like a small panther running back down, maneuvering every turn, and I was like a baby deer, all clumsy with long lanky limbs.

School's out for the summer!

2007-07-05T09:42:00.000-07:00

My wonderful classes. Notice the first class has 9 kids (that was the last day/final exam day). Not a lot of credit earners in the REDO class. You would think by the second, maybe third time they would figure out showing up to class corresponds with passing class. My juniors will be moving on to Mrs. Hendricks CWP class (good luck) and I hope to have lots of my sophomores next year in USH.

2007-05-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

Chanel is getting ready to go to school with me (she likes to be in things, this time it was my school bag). She is also a good helper- I am trying to do laundry and she decided she would rather take a nap in one of the towels I was folding. She likes to be in weird spaces. The other night I woke up with her at my feet, under all the covers on the bed, she had sneezed on my ankles. I was like "what are you doing down there!"

Our New Deck!

2007-05-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

So I tried to find a really "good" picture of our deck before hand. The people before us had cats, so they wanted an enclosed area for the cats to be outside. So they put fencing panels around the deck. They also put plywood on top of the deck. Needless to say it was pretty rotten when we started tearing it apart. Thanks to my dad, we were able to build a brand new one. After lots of hard work we can now enjoy our deck and have lots of BBQ to come.

Chanelly Baby

2007-04-15T17:21:00.000-07:00

We got a new baby this weekend! Oscar finally said I could have a kitty and got me one for my birthday. Little Chanel was found on St. Patricks Day in Clackamas abandoned in Fred Meyers parking lot with her mom and 3 other syblings. They were picked up by animal services and given to a foster mommy. She named them all Irish names, the mom was Tara and Chanel was Siobhan (shivon). We were able to pick her up after her spaying surgery last Friday. Oscar tricked me and said we wouldn't be able to get her until Saturday, but brought her home to me on Friday! She is so much fun and full of entertainment. She loves to cuddle and play. No litter box accidents yet. She does have pretty stinky farts sometimes though :)

Almost there...

2007-04-15T17:12:00.000-07:00

Other than building a deck and planting grass we are almost done with our backyard. Hopefully this will highly increase the value of our home!

Japanese Maples

2007-04-15T17:01:00.000-07:00

These are Oscar's favorite trees. We have 18 or 19 of these little guys around our house. You would think we would be no longer in need of more. But... there is this nursery in Roseburg that has the largest variety of japanese maples around, and so we went (for the second time) to this nursery over Easter to pick out a couple more. This is a picture of one of the many very old Japanese Maples on the grounds. The property is spectacular.

Work and Worship, 2007

2007-04-05T07:48:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend Oscar and I, along with another 300+ people (including about 30 from Good Shepherd) traveled over the the Young Life camp, Wildhorse Canyon for a weekend of working and worshipping. This was the biggest turnout they have ever had. Jobs ranged from construction to painting to manual digging labor. Oscar and I painted a small out building. There is so much work to be done at the camp to get it ready for its busiest season. It was wonderful to see the Lord has touched so many people through this ministry, and how these people will affect all those who will be coming to camp this summer, and possibly hearing about Christ for the first time. The Lord has certainly worked miracles at the ranch. If you don't know the story of the Rashneeshees either look it up or ask someone about it. It is truly amazing!

The first picture is a gorgeous rainbow we shaw after a brief rain. The second picture is of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (the Bhagwan- head honcho)

Tara's Birthday

2007-04-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

I spent my birthday-day with my mom and dad eating and shopping. And for dinner we went to Olive Garden and met up with a nice group of good friends. Unfortunately, I never got a good group shot :(

In this picture: Jen, Michelle, Tara, and Liz

Improvements have begun!

2007-04-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

So the first step in our backyard, after removing all previous fruit tree landscaping was to bring in dirt for berms. We had 15 yards delivered to our driveway. Oscar and I quickly set about the task of moving it to the back. The weekend was dry but the dirt was somewhat wet and clumpy. Not the easiest to work with.

Backyard Overhaul

2007-02-25T20:42:00.000-08:00

Oscar and I have been doing some serious work to our backyard. We removed 8, yes 8, fruit trees, created some contour for a coming berm, cleaned out load after load after load of gravel, prepared 2 large areas for grass and plant beds, and tore apart only 1/2 of the rotten deck. We still have to bring in fill dirt for the berms, buy tons of plants to replace the fruit trees, and build a deck. Oh ya, and plant a garden. The owners before us build a nice fence around a huge section of blackberries, rather than doing some work to clean them up, they just covered them up. So we are going to make a garden once that mess is cleaned up.

Our Wedding

2007-02-07T21:53:00.000-08:00

Our wedding was at my parents house, along with the reception. It was a beautiful, warm night, and everything was decorated perfectly.

Tabor, Czech Republic

2007-02-07T21:44:00.000-08:00

Oscar and I went to the Czech Republic for 3 weeks last summer on a short-term mission team to teach English at a camp. We got to stay in a host home with Juri. What a great experience to see the Lord work thousands of miles away from where we normally see God.

Motor Dickey

2007-02-07T21:27:00.000-08:00

Motor Dickey was our little black dog. We had to call her a dog because my dad didn't like cats. He liked her, though. She lived with us for 18 years before she died last October. She has a special burrial site in the back woods.

Happy Halloween

2007-02-07T21:01:00.000-08:00

Oscar and I at a Halloween Party. Oscar is Kim Jong Il from North Korea (fully equipted with a nuclear warhead) and Tara is Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. It was suppose to be a joke, but not many people got it.

Mt Hood Hiking

2007-02-07T20:49:00.001-08:00

We went for a hike up Mt. Hood last fall. We hiked about 14 miles up by Mt.Hood Meadows looking out over one of the canyons. Oscar has a thumbs down sign- that's how much fun he was having and we still had to go back down. What a beautiful day!

Christmas at Our House

2007-02-07T20:19:00.000-08:00

This year we had Tara's family (+3) along with Oscar's family (+15) at our house for Christmas Dinner. That was a new experience in our home. We had to buy more plates! After dinner, the Davidson (my extended family on my mom's side, +10) joined for a reheated dinner. Wow! That was a lot of people. We spent Christmas Day at the Dickey's house.

No School Days

2007-02-07T19:21:00.000-08:00

We have had a pretty stormy winter this year. Oscar and I both had about 4 days off due to snow. Unfortunatly we will be going to school in July this year, but at least we had fun on our days off. We went to Multnomah Falls and Crown Point one day, shopping in empty stores another, and we made a snowman in our back yard, oh ya, and we went skiing a couple times.

Dinner at P.F. Changs

2007-02-07T19:18:00.000-08:00

Troy and Tara

2007-02-07T18:57:00.000-08:00

Troy was home for Christmas and New Years. We did lots of fun things. We went skiing, and to a Comedy Club in Portland... Troy got everyone hooked on 24, and we got to hear lots of stories about his time in the Middle East ("lots" for Troy). In this picture we are at a Christmas party with Julie Bush.

The Marathon

2007-02-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

Tara ran her first Marathon (26.2 miles of non-stop running) in Seattle this
Novemeber. With a time of 3:38:46 she placed 49th out of 754 women and
9th in her age group of 60.