Trying to Sew

Ok, I've never claimed to be very crafty. I enjoy to do them, as many of you know, but they definatly look like a grade school art project. So lately I was surfing the web looking to buy a superhero cape for Micah. Well let's just say that those things, if they were of any quality, were WAYYYYY out of my price range (come-on we're talking about a toy for a 3 yr old, he doesn't have high expectations!). Well, I found a very basic pattern that allowed me to sew the superhero cape. I figured, how hard can that be?! Although you have to remember I have virtually ZERO sewing experience. In middle school we learned to sew drawstring bags & I feel like I can make those pretty well (I've made enough TMI dish bags to be a bit of an expert) but I've never tried anything else. Well, but 1 am last night I had finally finished it. It definatly isn't perfect & there's probably a reason why I'm not going to show you close up pictures :-) But Micah LOVES it & that's what matters & when all was said & done it only cost me $10 in materials (much better than the $30-40 they wanted on-line!). So here is my first attempt at sewing:

From Fall '08

Micah puts up with Mom shoving a camera in his face :-)

From Fall '08

"Super Dog!!," says Micah. This is his new favorite superhero show, "Krypto Super Dog" on Cartoon Network...it's kinda strange, but innocent.

From Fall '08

The Superman side

From Fall '08

The Batman side

I think if I got good at making these, they would be great for a birthday party...but I've got till next June to see if that's a crazy idea :-)

Life in Rural California

I recently received a story explaining what life used to be in our small community 50 yrs ago...and you know what? little has changed :-) The article describes the long windy drive up the mountians to a small valley community surrounded by trees. Today all the timber mills are gone, but the trees still stand. People enjoy to live in this rural community because they really don't want to be bothered by civilization, they are very independently minded & figure they can do it for themselves. Today we got our first rain in over 6 mos. I'm told that the winter months involve a lot of heavy rains, but I haven't seen much of that.

Last weekend we took an exciting drive over to Eureka, on the California coast. It was beautiful & reminded us a lot of the NW (which we miss so much). You would have loved to be a fly on the wall as Micah exclaimed from the back seat, "Wow, it's beautiful!! Look at that!!! It's amazing!!," as we drove into the town of Eureka. Our little Micah has spent so much time in rural America that he gets excited when he sees the "bright lights of the big city" :-)

Well, I origionally started this post as an excuse to update many of you with some pictures from the last couple months, but it seems like I haven't been taking too many since Family Camp. But we have been busy!!! After Family Camp we all went down to Monterey to do promotions for Teen Missions at Spirit West Coast. Then we had a lovely visit from Ryan's parents (Ryan's mom agrees that it's not that much fun to drive the windy roads to get here :-). Finally we all traveled back up to Oregon to join the family camping at Ft. Stevens. Micah had a blast playing with his cousins & Ryan even joined us for a couple days. Since then, life has slowed down a bit, the fires have died out & Micah & I have been exploring the area.

So here's some pictures of life in rural Northern California:


Micah after playing in the sprinklers after a hot day


Micah is obsessed with watering the plants although I don't know how much good it has done, we were gone so much & it was soooo hot this summer most look like they've lost the battle.


Micah building a "castle" while mom works on the computer


Me at 32 wks, some of you have asked to see how it's coming along

Family Camp

Every year when I return to Lake Retreat I am flooded by memories of good times. It's hard to believe that I have been going there since I was 7 years old!!! Some things have changed...others have not, but my favorite part still remains the same, the lake. This year was no exception. We (Micah & I) spent a beautiful 4 days up at family camp with my family & it was wonderful. Micah spent the morning in "class" where he learned to play "Duck, Duck, Goosse" & sing songs. This was the highlight for him. I enjoyed just relaxing with family...it was wonderful. Here are a few images from the week :-)

Micah & Ella enjoying the tire swing


Micah's face from inside the tire swing


Time in the lake






Uncle Jon takes Micah out on a boat...it's a miracle that he didn't fall in

Our "little" Surprise!!

Well this year we did a well coordianted surprise to fly Jonathan and Christina down to Boot Camp to volunteer. Jonathan was able to use Ryan's unused ticket & they were able to surprise Christina's two sisters. Her youngest sister was going to France on a summer team & her middle sister was volunteering with the middle age group in Munchkin Missions. The girls were very surprised and excited to see the two of them. After our week of volunteering we headed over to Disney World and had breakfast with Lilo & Stitch at one of the local hotels, which was difinatly a highlight for Micah.







Micah shows his favorite character, Lilo, his "coccer t-shirt"

Another Summer at the Lord's Boot Camp

Well Micah and I suffered through another 3 wks of sweating & getting devoured by mosquitos at the Lord's Boot Camp, Teen Missions base in FL. Unfortunatly this year Ryan was not able to join us, due to his recent job change. Micah and I had a great time volunteering with the Munchkin Missions. This year I had the opportunity to work exclusively with the "baby" Munchkins (ages 1-4 yrs). Micah had his work cut out for him, since the class was comprised of 5 GIRLS!!! He had a hard time adjusting to their desire to play house or have tea parties...but he was able to find the dinosours and cars in the toy box & was quite happy. One of the highlights of our trip was having the opportunity to see off 6 of "our kids" on various trips. We had 3 kids from Mariposa, 2 from Portland and one from our old church in Colorado all go on a team this summer. Micah became quite the fixure around boot camp this year. He stood out because he refused to ride in his stroller & ran EVERYWHERE around the property. The kids were impressed that inspite of the heat & humidity he always seemed happy to be running everywhere (although he usually was running to the pool...so he may have had some incentive :-)

The girls in Munchkin Missions


Everyday the girls would dance around to a CD called "Dora's Dance Party"


Micah quickly discovered that instead of dancing around he could dress up like a superhero instead




As part of the boot camp program the kids are judged upon how clean they keep their tent/eating site. If they are the messiest they have to kiss the pig...which Micah was quite facinated with.



Some of the kids we sent off....

Amanda (from Mariposa) to Greece




Jessica from Wyoming (formally from our church in Colorado) to Malawi


Eliudi from Mariposa to Madagascar

Happy 3rd Birthday!!!

We celebrated Micah's 3rd birthday in "kiddy" style at Chuck E. Cheese's. We had a small family party there, where Micah, Ella & the big kids could enjoy eating pizza & playing games. We had lots of fun!!!

Micah's Birthday cupcakes, after getting squished in the trunk of the car.






Micah shows off his latest soccer jersey (he wore it for the next 3 days streight!)


Uncle Jon shows the kids how to have fun at Chuck E. Cheese's

Birthday/Christmas Present Trip

Well for our birthday's (my 31st & Micah's 3rd)& a delayed birthday present to Isaiah the three of us took a trip to Newport. We enjoyed the tide pools, aquarium & lighthouses that the area has to offer. It was a very relaxing two days sandwiched inbetwen a weekend of doing promotions for TMI & heading off to FL for boot camp.

Micah & Isaiah explore the tide pools






A morning at the aquarium-






Postcard perfect....