elk hunting

     Today was MLK Day and the kids were off school. They got up at 4:30 AM to drive to Dallas with Jim; the girls to spend the day with Grandma Sharon and cousins, and the guys to elk hunt with Grandpa & Uncle Jeff. Andrew has been wanting to go hunting for awhile now, but here was his first chance. It was neat because it was the first big snow of the season, and so they got to drive around in the mountains (2500-3000 feet elevation) where there was 2 feet of snow. They ended up not finding any elk this day, but have their tags until March and will go out another day. I'm sure they had fun hanging out together, 4-wheeling in the snow, and being out in the forests.

Over the river and through the woods...

...to Grandfather's Christmas tree farm we went to get our tree. This is our family's tradition every year, and has been for 14 years! I just discovered that Jim's dad has been raising Christmas trees ever since before he was born! I didn't realize he had been doing it that long. We drive just over an hour {50 miles} to get a tree during a very busy time of year, but the trip is about much more than a free tree. I know that Jim enjoys going home and any time he can spend with his dad out in the tree patch. I know that holds a lot of meaning for him. Since we had to make the trip when we could have at least 2-3 hours of daylight to drive down and pick out the tree in the light, we weren't able to find time until this weekend this year. We have been at basketball tourneys the past couple weekends, which makes finding free weekend afternoon hours tough. Andrew finished his tourney game at 12:45 in Vancouver, we went home to get the truck, change, and made it down to Dallas by 3:15.

I learned early on that picking out a tree with Jim was not a quick or easy task. There are always many great trees to choose from, but Jim tends to like to look at the whole patch and find the perfect one. We always have a great tree, but we ought to when it always takes two days to get it, set it up, string lights and decorate it. Just as most everything done by my husband, extra time and care is put into the tree. It must be shaken with the shaker at the farm to get out all the dead needles and debris, sometimes baled, trunk re-cut at home with the chain saw, and then the specialty stand is nailed to the trunk of the tree in two places, the placement being carefully calculated so that no branches are nicked or cracked by the stand or hammer during the process. The tree stand goes on top of a large piece of plywood on top of a foam, rug liner protecting the hardwood floor. The tree must be watered immediately and checked the next morning as it 'drinks' half the bucket the first night. The tree lights are carefully woven in and out of the branches so it is lit from the inside out and with very little wire showing. He used to put over 1000 lights on 9-10 foot trees, but in this house we don't have high ceilings in the living room and can only get a 7 foot tree. This year our tree only has 400 lights.

Picking out the tree this year was no exception, and went something like this: We drove up to Grandpa's house to look at his tree patches there first. As we got out, Grandpa greeted the kids with hugs. The kids ran and said 'Hi' to the golden retriever, Rusty, in his kennel and looked for Grandma, but she was gone to town. Catherine got special attention because Grandpa saw her in her new glasses for the first time and I snapped the photo of him telling her how much he liked them. Love the smiles on Jim and the kids faces as that scene unfolded, and Catherine's embarrassed smile. Grandpa handed out candy canes, and we walked up into the tree patches. Grandpa's newly acquired cat, Jasper, found us and Catherine had to hold him for a picture. We looked through 4 or maybe 5 patches before Jim and his dad found any serious contenders. I just hang back and wait because I know you might go back to the first good one you saw, but they have to look through the whole property first anyway. There is no rushing this event; its about the experience. The kids and I took some pics and wove our way through the trees after the men. The kids started a game of hide and seek. We all got our jeans soaked through from brushing against the wet branches. This year we didn't get our faces tangled in spider webs as we usually do. The weather must have washed the webs away, but the day was dry and cold.

After finding the tree in the farthest patch, Grandpa walked back to the shop to get his chainsaw. The guys cut down our tree and Grandpa & Grandma's tree, and carried them out through the cow pasture. We washed our muddy boots with the hose, piled in the truck and drove over to Grandpa's tree farm shop on another piece of property where there are other patches of trees and equipment for shaking and baling trees. The kids love to go here because in the shop there is always a fire going in a pot belly stove to dry off by and hot chocolate waiting. There the men used the shaker on the two trees and loaded them in the two trucks. After drying by the fire, sipping the cocoa, and chatting for awhile we headed home at about 5:45. It was a fun outing, but we still had to go home for dinner and putting the tree up.

At home, we warmed up last night's leftover 'cattlemen's pie' {aka, shepherd's pie} for dinner and ate together before diving into the task of taking ornaments, lights, tree stand and board, and all the other Christmas decor out of the attic. We put on Christmas music and the kids ran off to find a Christmas movie on television. Meanwhile, Jim and I went outside to unload the tree and get it in the stand.

I'd hate to sound bitter, but working with Jim on certain projects is about my least favorite thing because he doesn't talk {at all} and he is 'all up inside his head' as I like to put it--totally focused and determined to get the job done right. And if I dare to say it, he even acts as if I should obviously know exactly what to do to assist him without him even telling me! The worst usually comes when I have the audacity to begin to think to myself what a fine wife I am being to help him so diligently, calmly, quietly, without complaining, with speed and efficiency, even thinking ahead without being asked, and then...come to realize he doesn't even notice my helpfulness, or worse yet, he responds with agitation. Usually this puts me in a mood, because such an effort to be that kind of wife surely deserves a look, a word, even a slight nod of affirmation in my general direction. NAY. Nothing. This time, the nod came from within as I was pleased with myself for my unusual amount of patience over the course of the whole day, really. Something I should definitely try to go for in other such situations. It's a good thing I am not 'needy' for emotional connection with my husband as I believe I once was early on. It is sad to say, but we are in a season where it is hard to connect with each other as he is gone early, home late, coaching every spare minute, but that is just the way it is and we make it work. I am joyful to say that we love each other through it all, and my job is to love and honor him no matter if he notices how 'good' I am being or not. I think having my new camera to play with today gave me something to do, so I was more patient this year with how long these projects take with my type A husband. I am kept busy noticing the beauty, light, and angles with a new-found artist's eye, so that's kind of fun.

 

We got the tree in the house, and I snapped photos while Catie happily helped her Daddy with the lights. She couldn't wait to decorate with the ornaments, but it was so late by the time the lights were done, that we told her she'd have to wait until after school tomorrow. I love her enthusiasm. We had to drag the two big kids away from the tv to come in when the lights were going on. They had a long day of basketball, too, though.

Tournament Champions

Andrew's baseball team won the Hillsboro baseball tournament this weekend (April 30-May 1) in the midget nationals division. It was quite a surprise to do so well, being that this was only their 2nd, 3rd and 4th games of the season. Jim is assistant coach again this season, and I keep the scorebook.

It was an interesting, close call at the end of the championship game, and one that would stand to prove my skills learned at bookkeeping over the past few years. The game was tied, 2-2, going into the bottom of the third, when our team scored two runs. So, we ended three innings ahead 4-2. Top of the fourth, Hillsboro tied it up 4-4. We remained tied through a fifth and sixth inning, as well. At the end of the sixth, the game was called for time limit and the coaches, umpires and tournament coordinators met on the mound to proceed with a coin toss. At this point, the parents and I, who had been discussing the rules in the event of a tie throughout the final two innings, knew we had won the game. So, we were shocked to see a coin toss performed and Hillsboro being declared the winner! As scorekeeper, I raise the question of the ruling to go back to the last inning a team was leading and that team wins in the event of a tie. The tournament coordinator asked if anyone led at the end of any inning and I said, "Yes, Wilsonville led 4-2 after 3 innings." Then, he declared Wilsonville the champions, cheering ensued, and smiles were seen all around the first base line. Our coaches nearly gave the win away, but I saved it! I felt victorious in my own personal way, and I think I made my husband proud because he kept patting my lower back after and telling me 'good job'. I think I also taught him to pay attention when I am trying to tell him something in the middle of a game. I didn't check with the coaches because I figured they knew that rule. I had remembered it from last season and had just asked the senior umpire to clarify after the fourth inning! That is why we were so surprised with the coin toss!

Now, to recap some of the exciting stats pertaining to our son:  Andrew was the starting pitcher for the 3 games and pitched 3 innings each, striking out something like 20 batters. This is great as he has now pitched more in that tournament than he ever has in his new{ish} 'career' as a pitcher. He is good at accuracy with pitching, but is working at increasing ball speed, so we are pleased he had so many strikeouts. He also played shortstop and had a great line drive catch and heads up play covering bases. In game two, he hit a triple with 2 RBIs.

After the game, Andrew got to ride with a couple friends in a convertible BMW to Big Al's, a big casino-like, arcade, bowling, sports bar-and-grill-type place to celebrate with his team.

Christmas Break Steelhead

Ok--so this is the best gift for my husband for Christmas--but it wasn't a gift anyone could really give him, because no one could have planned for him to go out and catch his biggest steelhead...but that's what he did on 12-27-07 when he went out on the Siletz with my Dad and brother. This fish made seven packages for our freezer, and I'm going to cook some for dinner in a little bit. In the picture, you can see it is about as big as Catherine. But she still wasn't satisfied. She told Daddy she wanted him to get two fishies. Anyway, Merry Christmas Jac! Glad you had a great day!

Good-bye Favorite Fall View

I wait for this favorite season all year, and love it for all that it is--the sights, smells, weather/temperature changes, harvest bounty, and because of its warm, colorful, earthy feel. So today, under the circumstances, I think it is not eccentric of me to say that I am kind of feeling a little sadness. I've had to say good-bye much too soon to the four large, lush, green, shade-making-early-autumn-color-changing-birdhouse-hanging-peaceful-happy-atmoshere-making Locust trees that line our large backyard. Well, they're still there, in essence, but Jac has trimmed them up so severely that they resemble a short tree in the dead of winter, except with large stubs rather than spindley limbs sticking out. I am so un-enthused that I don't even want to show the before and after pics on this post--but, I probably should or you'll just think I'm being a drama queen.
Now this butcher-job was not an accident, mind you, but a planned event. He even explained what he was doing, and as usual, asked me if it was ok. I, being practical, said it was fine. I just didn't realize what the outcome would really be! You see, what makes matters worse, is that we just said good-bye to our greening-up-nicely-autumn grass when he sprayed out (killed) the lawn in the back last Friday because he wants to till it up, upgrade the sprinkler system, smooth out the gopher, mole, snake and grey-digger ruts that have formed after the 10+ years since the yard was first planted by the previous owner. It will be nice to have new yard, and I am grateful to have such a hard-working husband, so I have given him all my support in his related projects.
This would include the drastic tree trimming so that the falling leaves don't kill out the newly planted baby grass as it comes up, so that the overgrown trees don't break and fall onto the newly plated grass, and so that the trimming he usually does in January/February won't have to be done over the new lawn. These sound like fine reasons--better than his later admission that now we won't have so many leaves to rake up this fall. Yeah, but what's fall without falling leaves, really?
If I were to look on the bright side, I would say that at least the kids have had a blast building forts of the huge branches that are strewn over the backyard, playing army and jungle themed games, and helping their dad move branches with their work gloves on. And, my husband is getting a wonderful upper-body strengthening work out. Anything else? Hmmm--nope! Oh, wait...come spring, we will have a nice, large, dry pile to burn for our bon fires & hot dogs/smores roasting tradition so that we won't have to look at he pile anymore. No, maybe we'll burn it later this fall.
Now, please know I am not complaining, but just so shocked. I am amazed at how much this changes the atmosphere of our home. Our great room faces the backyard--my kitchen window, the windows from where we sit at the counter or dining table to do school, and the view we look at for our entire day, and we are home probably 80-90% of the time. It affects the amount and tint of the light that comes in these windows and our skylights. It is literally like erasing much of the color from our view and replacing it with gray. I guess I am struggling with this more because of the wonderful time we had just two weeks ago schooling in the yard under the green trees, sitting in the green grass, sipping cold water in 90 degree heat, and thinking/hoping then that summer would continue on longer.

I think this post has helped me in my minor grief. I'm spray painting some things outside and working on my computer armoire project. My wonderful husband took our two oldest down to the river with the boat for a ride and some Daddy-time this evening. He is great. My mother took Catherine home with her to her house yesterday (til Tuesday!)--she was up here to watch the kids play soccer games and to give us all haircuts. Yeah, she's pretty great, too. Things are looking up:)! Plus, it's beginning to get dark so soom I won't be looking at those stumps. Hee-hee! I just looked at the pics I added to this page and L'dOL!!!

Wordless (or not!) Wednesday # 7: It all Began on Salt Creek Road

I just thought I'd post my favorite picture from our wedding. I meant to put this photo on for our anniversary in June, but we were away on vacation.


This picture was taken in front of the small, country Baptist church in Dallas that we were both raised in, and the church is on the road Jac grew up on. His childhood home is a mile from the church, and my childhood home is a mile or two up the hill from there. All those years we were growing up, playing in the woods, working in the garden, eating meals with our families,...romanticizing in our heads about our future and what it would hold, and we were a mere mile or so from each other all that time.

Growing up, I can remember wondering who my husband would be and where he was right then. I remember wondering if I knew him, or if he was someone I hadn't met yet. Looking back at how our lives unfolded in God's timing to become something even greater than we could have imagined makes me excited for the future, to see what God has in store for us next. I trust God, who knows infinitely more than I can even fathom, and works all details out for His greater plan.

Jac asked me out for the first time just a few feet from where this wedding picture was taken. It was October 1995, when Jac and I returned to the church with a group of friends from the 'College & Career' Sunday School class, after an outing to the beach together. As my friend and I walked to my car, getting ready to leave, Jac caught up to us. I was caught off guard as he called to me and asked to talk to me for a minute. It was then that my whole world changed in an instant. I hadn't paid particular attention to Jac that day at the beach, but as soon as he said his next words, "I wanted to ask you if you'd like to go out sometime?", I was from then on, forever changed. I dumbly said, "Yeah, that would be fun," and he said ok, and that he'd call me. That was it. He called me two days later, and we had a date the next weekend. In the three months following this life-altering exchange, I lost 30 pounds. I felt nervous and weak a lot of the time. He consumed my every thought. It was so strange. I had never fell for someone like that before. I still don't get it. How does that happen, that you can feel so strongly about someone you didn't even pay attention to just moments earlier? Maybe, unconsciously, I was paying attention, but I just didn't realize it. He is six years older than I, and I guess I just never thought he'd pay attention to me in that way. I was wrong. He commuted down an hour from Portland, and we went out nearly every weekend for the next two and a half years!

As I look at this wedding picture, and down the road where our lives together began, it symbolizes the road to our future. I realize, as I look down the road into that future, I can't see all that is there, but I do see the hope we have in God's plan. That hope is like the rays of the summer sun setting down Salt Creek Road.

Nothing Says 'I Love You' Like a Bundle of Weeds

Jessica brought me these 'flowers' she picked from the field the other day. They are complete with roots intact, and she used duct tape to hold them together in a bouquet with a note attached, "I love you. You r gorgis." Very sweet!

I went to a curriculum fair Saturday morning, and when I went to leave there was a surprise waiting for me on my windshield from Jac--he was up early pruning the roses, so he had left roses for me. That was very sweet, too.

"Wordless Wednesday" #5: Happy 38th Birthday, JAC!--about 37 years ago today...

Relivin' the Glory Days

Ok--now those are some seriously cool duds! Could the shorts be any shorter, or the socks any higher?

This is a pic of Jac, #25, receiving his medal after winning the 1987 State Basketball Championship for Dallas High School at Mac Court in Eugene his senior year (this was just months after winning the state championship in football, after being elected student body president, and just prior to graduating as valedictorian).

Yea, my husband was (oops, 'is') quite the guy--too bad I was in 6th grade and too young to fully appreciate the fact. I married a small town hero, who is back in our hometown tonight, being inducted into the Dallas Hall of Fame with his basketball teamates of '87. Congratulations!