Proud Husky Fans

This is one of the identical quilts I made for Jake and his brother Andrew, who lives in Minneapolis. Andrew has his in time for Christmas and here - if you look closely - Jake and Justin are trying out the softness of the quilt. Hmmmm...I think it passed the test. Are you asleep boys?

Lego Robotics Tournament

Justin participated in a Lego Robotics team at school that met every Wednesday for 2 1/2 hours. This is Justin's team that competed at the Clackamas County level to see if they could make it to the state competition. The requirements were that Justin and his team were to program a robot that they built to do specific tasks that were outlined in the competition rules. The tasks were simple, such as moving in a large arc, stopping at the right spot, then either dumping a load, or picking up an object, then returning to the base. Their team anxiously watched the scoreboard all day and were so sure they had won 3rd place and a spot to compete at the state level. They did not take into consideration the technical judging that weighed quite heavily on the scores. Overall, Justin's team took the award for the Robot Competition and will not go to state. Here the team relaxes between judging.
Here Justin and his best friend Trevor (right) exit the technical judging area.
The team prepares their robot for competition at the table shown on the left. This was during set-up, because during the actual competition rounds there were to be no pictures taken.
Here is the team after winning the Robot portion of the competition.
Justin gets his turn at holding the trophy. Overall- it was a great experience and Justin is considering trying again next year.

The Boys' Football Game

Justin invited a few friends- Trevor, Wyatt, and Adam - to play football at the school. Jake was the permanent Quarterback and the boys played two-on-two. Here - Justin has the ball and Adam is trying to tackle him.

Justin was tackling Adam and while he was being tackled, Adam lateraled to Wyatt. Nice play!

Trevor has the ball - Justin is blocking Wyatt. By the way - Trevor and Wyatt are wearing the ugly Oregon Duck colors!

Rock, Paper, Scissors was the way the two captains chose teams. All the boys had a chance to have everyone on their team at one point or another.

Jake draws up plays with fallen leaves and sticks. The boys listen to his expert analysis. Hmmm... running or pass play?

More expert instruction by Jake... they should have to pay for this kind of coaching.
Here's a great shot of the boys lined up for a play.

The boys running out, trying to get open! The day was great!! All the boys were exhausted but were hoping to play again next weekend. Justin has decided that he wants to make this a weekly event - pick-up football with the boys.

Beautiful Bike Ride

This is a beautiful bike ride we went on recently that took us along the Columbia Gorge! Just awesome! We had a great time as a family!

Gorgeous view behind the kids here!

Great picture of the boys! Here is where the girls went on back - and the boys went on ahead to see where the bike trail went. The trail ended up taking the boys through a bunch of construction and on a busy road. Well- now we know not to go that way!

I turned the camera around and took this while I was riding. A bit risky - but it turned out nice with the view behind Ashley here! It was a glorious day!

This is another wonderful view that we had along the ride! Just amazing! We can't wait till next year to try this route again!

Go Dawgs!!

Justin got the chance to go to his first college football game with Jake. The Huskies against the USC Trojans. The Huskies lost 27-24, but that was closer than was expected. Justin's comment was "It was so loud mom!"
The guys had a great time driving up together. Beautiful view! Driving home at 9:30 pm was rough - especially since Justin fell asleep within the first 1/2 hour of the trip. It was a great trip they will both remember!

Who's Taller?

Earlier this month, Ashley finally passed me up. She is VERY proud of it and here is the proof. Way to go Ashley!

School's In...

Here are the kids waiting for the bus on their first day of school this year.

Is that Paul Bunyun??

Above - Ashley and Justin each get a turn to stand on the remains of the tree. And here they are taking a break in the middle of the job to enjoy a fudgsicle...one getting more on their face than in their mouths.

Timber!

We decided to take our massive tree down that has been giving us problems. It "sheds" everywhere and the birds have nests which lead to plenty being dropped on our cars.
So...down it goes.
I was supposed to take the picture as it was falling... but I was too concerned about Grandpa's truck getting hit...oh well... we got the job done.
Here is Jake limbing up the tree so that he could get the rope around for bringing it down.
Jake did a great job getting the tree ready for the big fall...the only accident was a cut on his leg from the chainsaw. Really not big enough to mention...he wished it was bigger so it was worth showing off. All in all, our family worked hard (including the kids) and the tree was put into the burn pile almost completely the same day it came down. Great work kids!

Summer Fun Too

Our makeshift bike rack... after a long ride it seems to be the most logical spot for the bikes...kind of like a hitching post.
Ashley and Christy hanging on the deck...
Ashley showing her new bike...
Justin received a hat to drink from for his birthday and he thinks that it is just the coolest - he's trying to show us how wonderfully it works!

Newport Beach

Beautiful view... but I don't think Justin wanted me to take this one.
It was a gorgeous day at Newport...
A few surfers and beachbums...
Ashley and Justin enjoying the views...

Summer Fun

Justin has had a ton of fun on his Street Surfer which is a kind of skate board with two wheels instead of four. He makes it look too easy! Here he shows us his moves.
Justin and Ashley have been doing loads of waterballoons. They try to carry them around for hours at a time...they really don't throw them much until it's time to come in for the night.
Time in the pool keeps them cool... this is the smaller pool and more recently we get a bit bigger pool. They spend time in it even when it's only 65 degrees! Crazy kids just can't get enough.
The Sudoku master hard at work on another fiendish puzzle.

Biggest Fish Story

In this case, the story is true... Jake caught the biggest fish of the week... 62 inches and 122 lbs!!
That is one big Halibut!! Way to go Jake!
Another great pic of his big catch! Now that's a lot of meat! Good thing we like fish!

More fishing in Alaska...

Crab legs anyone??

I believe he's a natural crab fisherman - perhaps a stint with "Deadliest Catch" is in order... notice the beautiful view in the background!

Fishing in Ugak Bay, Alaska

The plane ride to Ugak Bay, Alaska... this was a trip that Jake's boss Bill Scott gave to Jake and their Seattle, WA rep. Jerry. A great trip overall, with loads of fish caught! Jake came home with over 50 lbs of fish! Yum-Yum!! I better learn to cook it all!
A view from the plane... breathtaking! Jake said that Alaska is even greener than Oregon... I didn't know that was possible. Just beautiful!
Just one of the Lingcod caught by Jake on the trip...

The gang also did a bit of crabbing!