Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Credo Is Fun!

The House of Rainbow was the latest location for a Credo fun night.



Included in the fun was a game that included moving skittles with a straw!


And a campfire!



But the most entertaining activity of the evening, especially for the spectators was a rousing game of Twister! Caution, may not be suitable for small children.






A tip....don't play with Bro Mecham. He may not cheat, but he does play dirty. Nevertheless Genevive beat him!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Family and Home, Mingled with Birds

Just a family update with a few of the birds that are so fun to watch as they change. First a brief update on the Farm House. One side is coming together, complete with siding, and waiting for doors and windows.


While the other side is not doing too well. Replacing siding turned into replacing the whole wall!


Meanwhile, the Northern Shoveler paddles calmly nearby. Check out the beak on that guy. He literally shovels the water as he eats!


The wall dismantle included a window that explained a great deal! Note that the nail hole is directly over the instructions!


The season brings us fun outdoor stuff. The views of Mt. Hood from the new deck at the Farm.


The young finches searching for the bright colors that will come soon.


The outdoor fires as spring whispers that she is almost here!


The joy of a spring Dark-Eyed Junko.


Grandma continues to teach the Grandkids. The last couple of Saturday's, we have had Chuong, Liyan, Kayla, Sara, Eva, Victor and Felix.


The youngsters are joined by the young Downey Woodpecker. He is still without a tail, but is nonetheless awfully proud.


Kayla, Eva and Victor play on Grandpa's computer while it is Sara's turn with Grandma.


Check out the eyes on the Junior Downey.


And the hard working Dad (Chuong) who continues to work on the computer stuff almost 24/7 since he went to work for the law firm as our computer specialist.


But take one more look at the eyes on this young Downey from the back!


The kids love Grandma's bed! It is so warm and soft!


They are watching cartoons while I am just outside taking pictures of birds like this young California Quail.


They love how the bed rolls with them!


But they are missing some great birds like this adult male Quail.


Grandma is having great fun hauling around the pipsqueaks.


But we will end with one of my favorite local birds. This Red-Breasted Sapsucker was in a tree just outside the front of Rainbow.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Victor's Birthday

Gratitude is the only word to describe the feeling of having attended Victor's birthday party Saturday night. His birthday was actually Friday, and Ethan's is Saturday. Unfortunately for us, Ethan is in San Jose, and we couldn't be there. But we joined Victor, his dad and mom Choung and Liyan, his sister Eva and his little brother Felix for a great party. Others there were Hai, Kyle and Jacob, Mike, Christine and Sam, Cuong, Linh, Kayla and Regan, Chi, Diep, Sara and Alvin, Nic, Hailey, Kennedy, Sierra, Ava and Bree, Hoa, Thuy, Lyann, Vivian, Dillan and Mia, Su Lu, Hui, and Paula and I.




As usual, it was Sierra who provided the dance number. Reminds me so much of Michelle who at that age was virtually oblivious to what ever else was going on around her, and would simply ignore the chaos and be dancing in the corner. CC doesn't worry about corners!



Somebody must have grabbed my camera!


Kayla is really turning into a great older sister/cousin. She is really good about spending time with her family.


Brothers and their toys!


Liyan with a lot of help putting together the gift Victor got.


I was particularly grateful for this gathering. Just hours before we had dealt with the very difficult process of shutting down Vial and Pham, the construction company. This is extremely painful, especially for Hoa and Nic who have sacrificed so much for it. To have all the family together and realize that we are healthy, happy, warm and very blessed is of great comfort. We are family, and that remains the single most important thing in the world.


Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The Anders Family

Anders is in Kindergarten. For the next 12 years his parents are going to find that their lives are going to revolve around him and of course the two twirps coming up behind him. It is really fun though as our home in Windsor is right across the street from the school and a couple minute walk to the rec center where they play basketball on the weekends.

Of course playing in the stands is almost as fun as the game.


When you are not sure what to do, grab that shirt and chew!


And if everyone else has their hands up, for heaven sakes, get yours up!


Be sure you know which direction the play is!


And even if it is by accident, setting a pick is a good move!


Of course the most important equipment for basketball it the Gatorade!


And if you get hurt, it is a good idea to have mom around to encourage continued participation.


Of course he learned everything he knows from his dad Brig.

Or maybe his Uncle Mike. Wait, is Mike actually taking a shot off the same foot as the hand he is shooting with? Weird!


Maybe someday he will learn to leap like his Uncle Brady!


It's awesome when your Uncle Mario, Aunt Angie and their new little one Joshua are in the cheering section.


Josh even whistled! (Isn't that what he is doing?)

Then there was the play that Ander's class did called the Mitten. Each of his classmates were one of the animals that crawled into the Mitten to stay warm.


Anders was a fox!


I mean that was the part he was playing.


At the end of the play, all the animals hold their breath in order to fit into the mitten. Anders was a little late on the uptake.


Dad and Eddie were loving the play.


After the play, it was Ander's turn for show and tell. He featured his buddy and brother Eddie!



Later in the week, his class participated in the school program. Don't try to find Anders however, he got bummed about wearing the wrong shirt and never made it to the stage.


His poor teacher was looking all over for him. The next day I talked to him and he really missed Anders.