feeling hot hot hot! and I love love it!

A Trip for Dad!

Here's a few pictures of our trip. It's about time I post them!

We first drove to Seattle and visited Andrew's H.S. friend Brenda, unfortunately we didn't get pictures taken. Forgot to grab the camera I guess. Then we drove up to Camano Island to stay with my brother Brian. He and Angee were so graceous in letting us stay with them last minute.



Here's all the cousins together. From left to right: Boston, Jerricho, Solomon, Chad, Madison.

We visited a couple more of Andrew's H.S. friends, Jodi, and Sherri.

We stopped in to say hi to Andrew's sister Kim and the kids. It was very good to see her as well. Conner is growing. He's almost as tall as his mom!

That Saturday night, we traveled back down to Seattle to catch the Mariners vs. Diamondback game. That was very fun. This was the boys first professional baseball game. Mariner's won, so that made it even better!

Wouldn't you know, luck would have it, another of Andrew's H.S. friends, Jennie was there!

Right after the game we drove down to Lincoln City, OR. to visit Andrew's sister DeeDee. We did so much while we were there, but it was most precious to see Deedee again. We miss you Deedee!

We went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, OR. That was very cool. I touched a shark and a sting ray. We say many fish, seabirds, seals and otters.











We visited the old Historic Lighthouse that is no longer in use. Then we walked down to the beach there, and flew kites. This is also the time when Jerricho lost his pants in the water as seen in the video below.











"Let's Go Fly a Kite up to the highest heights,
Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring . . ."


After our visit for a couple of days at the beach and with Deedee, we began our drive back home but stopped in Tillamook to tour the Cheese factory.















Yummy cheese, and very YUMMY ice cream. The kids liked seeing them make the cheese and the ice cream.




















We just had to stop at the falls since we were driving right by them. Gorgeous. We took the hike up and Solomon said "how beautiful".

That concluded our trip. It was productive, and fun.
Happy Father's Day Daddy. Hoped you enjoyed seeing your friends and family, AND the game, and the coast, and everything else.

Bumper Sticker

I saw a bumper sticker on a car the other day:

"If you can read this thank a teacher.
Since it's English thank a soldier."

And the best dance performance of all time . . .

Because I just have to post about him.

As weird as Michael Jackson was, you can't deny how incredibly talented he was. Great performer, great music, great dancer. It's weird to think that one of my (gen xer) icons has passed away. He WAS the 80's. And he was soooo cute -- pre- '90's anyway.

This is my favorite song by MJ.

At the Beach

Piano Duet

Here's a video of Solomon and I playing "Alouette". It's near perfect!

Solomon the Photographer

Solomon received a camera for his birthday and he hasn't stopped taking pictures. He has become quite the photographer. Some of the pictures he has taken are really amazing, and you can see he has a different view point of many things in his 8 yr. old world.

Unfortunately for me, he is also capturing me at the most inopportune times! I didn't even know he took this picture . . .

. . . and I promise: I SWEAR: Jerricho was NOT begging me to get off of FACEBOOK -- he just loves climbing on things!

Hearing or Deaf? Video Art

I am just so proud and impressed by my good friend Sherri's artistic ability that I just have to share this. She is a wonderful artist, and one of her projects in her art class was to make "video art".


See below at the bottom of the page.

In her words: "This is a video made from 1400 pictures taken as I drew and smudged..This video shows my conflict as a child trying to fit into a deaf world and a hearing world but being forced to choose between one or the other instead of embracing both cultures. Being told I have a great voice for a deaf person, or that I am not hearing enough. I am me and I am OK ."

Trip to Cally

We are home after a vacation to California. What a trip - figuratively and literally. My sister Allie, her son Coltin, myself and my two boys, Solomon and Jerricho all piled in the car and heading to Fresno to see my grandma. Allie and I met up with my older sister Rachel and her boys Jimmy, Jacob and Zachery, as well as our parents in Fresno, so we could all visit g'ma together. Seeing grandma was rewarding and challenging.

I have always felt a special bond with my g'ma. She was so musically talented and influenced music in my life. I remember when I was five years old I called my g'ma on the phone to see if she'd drive down to Southern California to play the piano for me while I sang "You are My Sunshine". This is a song that g'ma always sang to me, and to all the grandkids. It's a very special song. She did, and I sang on stage at a church talent show while she accompanied me on the piano. G'ma couldn't read a lick of music but was phenomenal on the piano - playing by ear. She could jazz up any song you wanted. If she didn't know the song, you could just humm part of it, and she'd be able to play it in no time. I also remember once when I was about 13yrs old, we visited my g'ma. I remember sitting at the piano playing the duet "Heart and Soul" with her, improvising throughout trying to get each other to mess up. The song lasted 20 minutes! How fun.

The challenging part of the visit was seeing grandma struggle with her dementia. She remember many things, but mixed up the facts, and added bits and pieces of everything together. Very confusing. She did remember all of us at some point. She remember that I played piano and was a music teacher, and we sang "You are my sunshine" together. But, the things she would tell me were mixed up facts about her past and about the news, or other people she knows. It was hard to see my strong, and very smart and talented g'ma be so confused. But she still could sing! I wonder if there was a piano around, if she could still play.

The rewarding part was to see her again, and to have the opportunity to tell her the things I've wanted to for so long.

I'm glad I saw her even though it was difficult.
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While in Fresno, Allie and I also met up with our Ex-step-cousin/friend Christine, and her mom-our ex-Aunt Lynn. It was fun to see them.
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Then, we traveled down to Rachel's house in the San Bernadino Mountains. We stayed there for a few days visiting - good chats, lots of laughs and kids playing. I haven't gone down to see my sister in years, and going there this last week has made me realize how much I miss her! Wish we lived closer together.

While I was in Southern California, I was able to go see a very good friend (the one friend I've known the longest too - 2nd grade), Karrie. I was able to see her at her home with her two boys Conner and Owen, and her husband Patrick. It was so good to see her. It had been 12 yrs since I saw her. We had lost track of each other which was hard for both of us - but thanks to the blessing that FaceBook can bring - we found each other again! (Go FB!) That was great to catch up and see that we are just as close as we've always been.

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Allie, the kids and I piled in the car again and drove up north back to Idaho. It was also fun to go on a road trip with my sister Allie. We had good chats and laughs as well.

All in all it was a much needed, good little vacation. I need to get to Cally more often!