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.

Erik returns from the Philippines

Erik has returned! I got this shot when he was coming from the plane. Lauren ran ahead and found her brother. Dawn and Lauren had made a big, big sign welcoming him home.

Meet Sammy the Beta Fish

Lauren has a new friend named Sammy. She says he's cute and she loves him and always gives him a kiss before bed.

Lauren's Fifth Birthday

Firebird Lanes hosted a birthday for a big five year old and her many friends. There were hot dogs and chicken fingers and pizza, too. Lauren recieved many presents. Here below she demonstrates her great skill at bowling. (she had the highest score)



These kids are great eaters!

Valentines Day at the YMCA

Lauren and Delaney are celebrating Valentines Day at the YMCA. The Kool Aid was sublime and the goodies were numerous. A good time was had by all!

Happy New Year 2005

Happy New Year to our family and friends. Today we celebrated with Pam and Larry, Linda and Robert, and ourselves, Dawn, Lauren, Spencer and Max. As is tradition around here we start the year off with a Hoppin John, which is sure to bring good luck. In the picture above, Linda and Pam slave over a skillet full of fried chicken. What's that apron Pam is wearing?




Dawn,ready at the stove, tends yet another skillet of chicken. In the background, is a plate of fried okra and a mess of collards.



Time for a group shot, Sissy had to be hog-tied and drug into this shot.



Larry and Robert stand guard over the Brie.

Our menu:

Hoppin John (black-eyed peas with ham hocks served over rice)
Collards (more hocks)
Fried Green Beans (with peppered bacon and garlic)
Fried Okra (dipped in egg, dredged in cornmeal)
Cole Slaw (Dawn's recipe..totally addictive)
Fried Chicken (Southern Style ... is there any other way?)
Star Cookie Cutter Nija Throwing Bisquits
Black Tea (iced of course)
Sweet Potato Pie (with fresh whipped cream)
Peruvian coffee

Man, these fixins were good!

Christmas 2004

The family shot. We got up at 7:30, Spencer woke us and I immediately made the coffee. Lauren was in a frenzy (can you blame her?). We had gotten to bed at a reasonable time and were all relatively coherent. We exchanged half the presents and Erik called from the Philippines. We had a great time talking with him ... almost for an hour! During that time Andrew called from Taiwan and spoke to his mom til his card ran out. We were all very uplifted by the boys calls. We returned to the presents and then had a big breakfast.



After breakfast Sissy had to bake a cake with her new appliance. When her cake was finished she had chocolate icing all over her...I missed that Kodak moment! Drats!



Spencer poses with his new skateboard. Cool graphics, no?



Here's the food shot. Not seen were my cookie cutter tree bisquits. Erik wants us to send him home recipes and the products to make his mom's Marinara sauce and my Clams Carltonni. Expect a box, buddy!

I have been pacing myself with the food, but we all went overboard. I have yet to have a slice of the apple crumb pie with a generous scoop of Hagen-Daas ice cream.

Oh Christmas Tree

As the holiday approaches, we frantically drive back and forth to the malls. It's nice just to relax and look at the tree sitting brightly in the corner. We went to the lot and found this grand little noble. In its stand it nearly reached the ceiling. The girls attacked it with all our pretties past and present. I haven't noticed the smell of the tree this year!