Bubbliciously green

This kid's been working on this so hard. She's getting better than us all lately.

Cucumber Eyes

Lauren plays with her food. It's actually helps with wrinkles, though I doubt that's her concern.

Christmas 2005

Oh Christmas tree....



Erik's gonna smell right nice.



Spencer's room sure will glow ... man.



Mom always goes for clothes.



What is it? Lauren comes to the rescue!



Not showing is the couscous and pita bread. The lamb was made with orange chutney and what wasn't used there was added to the couscous. Big Greek salad, too.

Twas the night before Christmas...

Won't Santa be impressed with these fresh made cookies! Lauren prepares her special recipe for Santa. Rudolph wasn't forgotten, he got fresh carrots.

Paris 2005

Thanks to my sister Linda for watching the kids... and my buddy Frank for watching the shop, Dawn and I stole away to Paris for 8 days. I know it would be beautiful in spring or summer, but we enjoyed the attention you get when going off-season. The weather was actually very nice. We rented an apartment about three minutes from Notre Dame in a district called Marais. Any time day or night this place is alive with activity.

Our favorite things were the walks(about five hours a day), the food(didn't have a bad meal the whole time), shopping and an assortment of museums. My sisters went last year at this time and I thought about us taking off then, but it was Anthony Bourdain's show on Paris about two months ago that cinched it for me.

I booked everything and found the apartment on the internet. We would recommend Paris wholeheartedly to any of our family and friends. We simply had a blast!

Click here to see a few pictures of this excursion.
Paris 2005

Thanksgiving 2005

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving by ourselves. We had a very traditional menu, which was delicious. The only twist was our stuffing muffins. They were great! The boys look as if darted and sedated. Can't get a smile unless I pay them.

Vampiress (Lauren) Prowls Salem Halloween Night

A frightful sight of of a vampire about to collect a sweet bounty or else!



See what denying sweets will cause... Please if you see this vampire give her candy.

Spencer/Melissa Attend Homecoming

Spencer and Melissa attended this years Sprague High School Homecoming. The kids looked great and I just had to get a picture of them. They finished the night with a meal from Applebees.

Mission Mill Gets a Facelift

The Mission Mill main factory building is being repointed, painted, roofed and windows restored. Rains are coming soon!

Erik's 17th Birthday

Erik's 17! Wow, just seems like yesterday we .... oh never mind that how quickly time passes. Mom made a pineapple upside down cake, Lauren made faces and Dad got Erik a stereo for his pimped out ride. Happy Birthday Son!

Lauren's First Day at School

Mrs. Nelson assists Lauren in finding her cubby hole. Salem Heights Elementary has a new star pupil. Lauren has made a new friend or two, is learning a bilingual song, and is sharpening her sign language skills. We are so proud of her!

Erik Races Autocross

In his Honda CRX, Erik threads the needle to turn in a fast 64 second run at the Willamette Autocross event held at McKay High school Sunday afternoon.

Steam Engine Blows Thru Salem

Challenger came to Salem today. It is huge and drew a large crowd of train nuts and general populous. Its hard to describe the mass and power as you stand along side the behemoth.

Lauren Finds a Pretty Kitty

Salem Friends of Felines had a spot at the Salem Saturday Market. We had read in the paper they were to be there and had been promising Lauren a kitty for quite a while.We found a precious girl kitty named Oreo and she chose us. Lauren held her and they were an instant pair. Oreo(whose name we may change) has a few more medical visits and we will be able to get her next Friday.

Erik Speaks to the South Salem Rotary Club

Erik spoke to his home host Rotary Club today during their luncheon. Here he is with Walter Jones, who was the club's host exchange coordinator. Thanks for all your help Walter! His talk was about his exchange in the Philippines. He presented a great media show with pictures, maps and a variety of descriptions. Additionally, he set up a table with many of the trinkets and objects he returned with. His talk lasted more than thirty minutes and he had a lot of questions asked after the presentation. Many people told him and I what a great job he did. This is probably the final step in his yearlong journey.

My sister turns thirty-nine!

My little sister just turned thirty nine. We celebrated at the house with barbecued salmon and grilled carne asada. Also we had fresh steamed garlic green beans and olive bread. We washed it all down with iced green tea. And yes, that's our most famous Pineapple Upside Down Cake ... by special request!

Erik gets his first car.

Erik worked like a dog to get this car. He bought it with his own money. It's a Honda CRX and has only 226,000 miles. Thats is just breaking in the motor for a Honda. He takes the Mech Tech class at Sprague, so he will be able to take it in for repairs and maintenance. I have enjoyed driving and working on it, too.

We take a cottage on the coast.

We needed to get out of the valley. The temperatures were in the 90's and it was humid. I managed to snag a little cottage in Waldport. The place was older and homey and had a fantastic view both of the Alsea Bay and the great Pacific.



From our deck we barbecued wild salmon, snapper and fresh tuna. The first day was windy and chilly, but the next 3 days were great. Dawn took several walks, Lauren and the boys played on the beach.



Our real purpose in going to the beach was to consume massive quantities of fresh seafood. Here Erik maintains great form as he downs some twenty oysters in a delicious chowder at the Sea Hag in Depoe Bay. Spencer and I also had the oyster stew.



Here the girls are down on the beach. Lauren absolutely could be the poster child of the Oregon Coast. She can't get enough!



Dad and sis watched seals and whales, we also looked at the stars and talked about the earth and moon.



We love going to the dock at Newport and watching the harbor seals. Spencer and Erik are easy to find ... do you see sissy, too?



Here are some of our vertebrate friends. Not only are they fun to watch, but man they sure do raise a noisy ruckus every once in a while.

Dawn, Elizabeth and Lauren Prepare for Amazing Race Interview

The night before the girls drove to Cottage Grove to tryout for the Amazing Race they practiced their routine over and over.

Woodburn Dragstrip

Erik and I went to the Woodburn dragstrip. Fridays are cool, they let anyone run for $25.00. The cars had to be street legal, so there was a great mix of new and classic muscle. Erik liked the imports. Round dinner time we drove into Woodburn to the old town and found a restaurant called Luis's Taqueria on N. Front St. Fresh tortillas, good orchata and the main meal I had was Acodaba. It's a red tangy sauce over beef. Their beans were from scratch and delicious, too. After dinner we returned to the dragstrip and enjoyed the show til dusk. It was FUN!

A Day at the Beach

Lauren plays in the sand, while Dad plays with camera angles.


Dad and Lauren ham up a shot on the seawall at Depoe Bay.


Depoe Bay Bridge, yea the bridges are beautiful here!


Lauren and Mom participate in a case of whale touching.

July 3rd

We went for a drive and lo and behold were in Washington State. Here Erik and Lauren are dwarfed by the "Big Bang". The flag is out, the steaks are ordered and we are looking forward to the Fourth!

David Launches Claire II

My buddy, David Birch, has launched his new steam boat. The hull is fiberglass, the engine is a hundred years old, the boiler is new and in the stern, strapped snugly is his caliope. This baby burns anything wood. It can make a couple knots against the Willamette going upstream. I can't wait to take a ride in her.

Erik's First Pay Check

Erik comes home from work at the Larson Law Firm. There to greet him are his buddies, Dane to the left and Peter to the right.

James Attacks Rust

James helped on the Checker today. He and I removed the headliner. Then he sanded the rust from the ceiling and treated it with the RustMort. It was a dirty job.

Clouds and Headliners

The clouds were awesome today (even for Oregon). I saw some attributes I very much liked and discussed with Mary having the headliner of the Checker painted after the idea of an Italian fresco. This will be interesting!

Spencer's End of School Dance

Here's Spencer's outlandish outfit for his end of school dance. All the kids looked great and the DJed affair was fun for him and his buddies.

Late Spring in the Backyard

Trout

Linda shows the bounty of a day trip to Ollala Lake. She, Erik and Robert limited. I made a marinade of oyster soy, rosemary and fresh orange juice. We all enjoyed the trout, especially Spencer who ate three big ones.

Mary Joins us for Dinner

We had fetticinni alfredo, chicken basil sausages, salad, a local pinot and great fun.

Ballet Recital

Lauren is a STAR! She performed with her group at the Elsinor and they all were fantastic. She knew her routine and did a great job. We we so proud of her. Mom, Dad, Erik, Spencer, Aunt Mary, Aunt Linda and Robert were there to applaud the company's great show. Forgive the blurry image, they move quick and there was very little light. Our little star is fourth from the left.