Sometimes, when I have a few moments to reflect on what we do I have no idea how we do it. These moments of quiet time I cherish.
Note: sorry this is going to be a long post as I am not as good as Jessie typing up quick updates. One, you will see we have been rather busy, two, I don’t really like typing on my phone to post a message, and three, I like to reflect a bit about what I am going to say.
It all started last week on Thursday when my niece Amy and her boyfriend stopped in on their way to the coast. We had a “mini” pub crawl through Tigard. Not our best showing but it sure was easier than going into town. We finished by watching the Beaver game at Big Al’s and while it looked like they had a shot to win it. They could not follow through.
Next day we had to get up for work and that afternoon we flew to Spokane for the start of our Labor Day whirlwind tour. Friday night went to dinner with my mom and sister once we got into town. Saturday we had a fun BBQ at my sisters house and got to meet my (ugh hate saying it this way but you know you are old when your nephews and nieces (the ones that YOU changed their diapers) start having their own kids!) Great Niece, Allie, new dog. What a great demeanor. She was playful and loving and goofy and fun. Perfect for a teenage girl (or a brain cancer survivor – hint hint Allie). A mix of a belgian malinois and blue heeler so you know she is going to be smart. She had the malinois coloring but the blocky head and smaller stature of a heeler. At some point Jessie and I will get a dog and something like this little gal would be a good fit.
Once everyone went home we went to visit Jax (Jaxon) and Tara. We always seemed to have a conflict on past visits so I have not seen him since he was a baby. It was fun to play with him kicking the ball around on a wonderful Spokane fall night. We got to play with some bugs and he just loves to run. Damn these kids grow up fast!!!
We then made a trip over to visit mom one more time before we had to get up at 4:45 to catch our 6 am flight to Boise. It was great to see her and let her know I am doing well. I have found it is one thing to talk to people on the phone or via email. When they actually get to see you it really sets in that I am currently doing quite well and expect to continue this way.
Sunday morning off to Boise for Tyler and Haley’s 16th birthday (Jessie’s nephew and niece). Seriously, this was a weekend to make both of us feel old!! Once we got into town we had a quick lunch and off to Idaho City and the hot springs. I guess there used to be a place here for quite a while but it got rundown. Looks like they got new owners (or an influx of money) and built a new facility that is very nice, TheSprings. If you find yourself in the area I recommend checking them out. After a good long soak we went back to town for cake (our second boont cake that weekend) and ice cream followed by dinner at a pizza place. Monday was hang with the twins time with Jessie being the math tutor and changing the word problems to have a “Portland Theme”. Haley is learning quadratic equations and here is Jessie explaining how we have goats to eat the blackberry bushes in vacant lots and wooded areas. (this replaced horses in the original problem as Jessie felt horses were not nearly as interesting as goats). Jason and Becky prepped for a BBQ (two in one weekend, nice!) as Jessie and I did our fantasy football draft. After the BBQ we visited Jessies family then headed to the airport for an 8:30 flight back to Portland. I think everyone got in at the same time as the airport was PACKED. I have never seen so many people waiting for buses to the economy lot. We had two red buses come in and both filled up and there were still people waiting to get on.
While it was a fun trip and great to see everyone – I was pretty pooped and ready to rest. Sadly, it was the start of going back to work full time and a packed week so the rest would have to wait. Will continue the week in another post to break these up a bit.
