Wow! What a wonderful vacation! If you would like to see a sample of my photos please click on "My Photo Site" under my links. We had a lot of fun exploring the amazing array of new and exciting sights. From Bears, Moose and Bison to Mountains, mud pits and Geysers, it was like being in a whole new world! Please enjoy the pictures I have so far and I plan to post a few of my absolute favorites (sadly not all 389) on the blog itself for you to enjoy! I have decided that Jonathan and I should take our children there sometime in the futeure when they are our age to see the differences that will take place. It was a lot of fun to spend a week with all of you who came and I can't wait to visit and share pictures and stories with those of you that we missed having along :)
God Bless!
The Up's and Down's, In's and Out's of daily life with a loving husband, a sweet boy, a fun-loving gal and a new life in the Philippines! God has indeed blessed us.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
Dear Milton and Theo,
Since your anniversary we have enjoyed keeping you company out at your farm. However, recently we have wittnessed how busy you have become since deciding to move, and we felt that it was time for us to move on. Truthfully we were beginning to become concerned that we would be accidently taken to the dump or sold at a garage sale. Therefore, we found it necessary to vacate your lovely facilities. We hope you do not feel too bad, for we have truely loved your company.
Recently your family came out to haul wood and we felt it was the perfect opportunity for us to hitch a ride. Therefore we stowed away in their wood loaded trucks.
Since that time we have been enjoying the home of your son. While there we discovered their plans to visit Yellowstone National Park. Since the Mrs. and I have never really been outside of Washington we felt that this was just what we needed. After discussing it with the rest of the your family they have agreed to let us tag along. We are truly grateful and expect the trip to be very enjoyable.
The Mrs. and I have been busy getting ready for the trip. We went to the supermarket to stock up on whatever we might need for the trip and then we set to the task of packing.
Which was quite difficult since we have never really had to think about such things before. However, we feel we have finally successfully accomplished these tasks. We do hope that we can once again visit you once your life has become more settled. You will have to give us a tour of your new place! We will continue to keep in touch. Thank you very much for your care and hospitality. Give Mike our best.
Your Friends,
Mr. and Mrs. Flamingo
Since your anniversary we have enjoyed keeping you company out at your farm. However, recently we have wittnessed how busy you have become since deciding to move, and we felt that it was time for us to move on. Truthfully we were beginning to become concerned that we would be accidently taken to the dump or sold at a garage sale. Therefore, we found it necessary to vacate your lovely facilities. We hope you do not feel too bad, for we have truely loved your company.
Recently your family came out to haul wood and we felt it was the perfect opportunity for us to hitch a ride. Therefore we stowed away in their wood loaded trucks.
Since that time we have been enjoying the home of your son. While there we discovered their plans to visit Yellowstone National Park. Since the Mrs. and I have never really been outside of Washington we felt that this was just what we needed. After discussing it with the rest of the your family they have agreed to let us tag along. We are truly grateful and expect the trip to be very enjoyable.
The Mrs. and I have been busy getting ready for the trip. We went to the supermarket to stock up on whatever we might need for the trip and then we set to the task of packing.
Which was quite difficult since we have never really had to think about such things before. However, we feel we have finally successfully accomplished these tasks. We do hope that we can once again visit you once your life has become more settled. You will have to give us a tour of your new place! We will continue to keep in touch. Thank you very much for your care and hospitality. Give Mike our best.
Your Friends,
Mr. and Mrs. Flamingo
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Shotgun Shells come in more than one Size?
Hello, This is Jonathan making a blogging appearance. I was recently invited to go trap shooting by Gary, a member of our church. He gets a group of guys together to go shooting at least one Tuesday a month. Normally, being my anti-social self, if I were invited by an acquaintance to participate in an activity I would turn them down, at least the first time they asked. (This is especially true if the activity would exclude Tonia, and was something I had never tried and was pretty sure I would not be good at). However, trap shooting sounded interesting and Gary sweetened the deal by providing the gun, shells and transportation.
I drove up Tuesday night after work, grabbed dinner at a teriyaki place, and met at Gary’s house at 6:30pm. There were four other guys there so our total party was six. We arrived at the range. Gary gave us each a gun (mine was double barreled, very cool) and Box of shells in a holder which strapped to your belt. . (I was pleasantly surprised at the thought of shooting a whole box). We then went inside to pay. As we walked in I was watching the shooters currently outside on the range. They were consistently hitting the target (a 4 inch bright orange, clay disk, called a pigeon) sending orange pieces flying all over the range. I remember seeing one-person miss and thinking “with a whole box of ammo I hope I can at least hit one”. I followed the guys up to the counter and paid the $5.50 to shoot. Thinking I would rather have a $5 bill in my wallet then four ones I paid with a $10 bill and a $1 bill. The guy behind the counter asked if I wanted “one round”. This confused me because I thought that I already had a box of 25 rounds. I said something intelligent like “um, sure.” And he gave me $5.50 back so I figured I had gotten it right.
We then proceeded to wait and small talk for about 10 minutes until room opened up for us on the range. I generally hate small talk and this is why I avoid social engagements like this. Gary is extremely nice but on the surface of thing we do not have a lot in common. He is just about to retire and so we are at different stages of life and have different hobbies and interests. However, I took part in the conversation, mostly asking questions about how to trap shoot “better” with out giving away that the largest gun I had ever fired was an air powered pellet gun when I was eight. I’ll pause here to note that by the end of the evening we had moved beyond small talk and I have deeper appreciation of Gary.
Ok, so they called our names. At this moment, you have as much idea as to what happens next as I did at the time. So I did what any one would do, I followed the crowd . . .
[This the is way trap shooting works, you have a group of five shooters. Each shooter lines up at a shooting station. The stations are in a row about 16 yards from the trap house. The trap house is a building sunk down in the ground which now holds a modern automatic machine which shoots clay disks randomly in one of about 7 trajectories. Each shooting station has a microphone, which will recognize a human voice. So, when you yell “pull” it launches the pigeon. Each shooter takes one shot and then the next shooter takes a shot until all have made one shot. This repeats for 5 shots per person and then you rotate down one station. This is repeated until each shooter takes five shots from each location for a total of 25 shots. This is the afore mentioned “round”. Each set of five shooting stations has a range employee or “Trapper” who sits in a tall chair and tallies each shooter’s hits and misses.]
. . . Fortunately I was the last of our group of five (Gary gracefully opted to shoot with a different group leaving just us 5). I watched happily as most of the people in our group missed their first shot. “hey, I’m not the only rookie”, I thought. I proceeded to call “pull”, and nothing happened. I repeat “pull” a little louder . . . nothing. I quickly repeat again “PULL” hoping no one will notice that I am to incompetent to operate the voice activated launching system. This time an orange dot flies from the trap house. I quickly pull the trigger with a satisfying “BLAM”, that I can hear through my ear protection, and a decent kick to go with it. Of course I miss, but that is fine by me I have outwitted the voice activated launcher, and hey I still have 24 shots to hit something. My next shot is also a miss but I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of it. I reload and take my third shot “pull” – “click”. Now what? “pull – click” is not anywhere near as fun as “pull – BLAM” (although the clay pigeon is in equal danger either way). I look down for obvious blunders: safety off - check, correct barrel - check, gun loaded – check. I decide to try again. (Someone once said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result, but hey it worked with the stupid “pull” machine earlier). “pull” – “click” Same result. By now the other four guys are all looking at me wondering what is going on. Our trapper has now realized this particular set of 5 shooters are not the most experienced and he gets down to help me out. He knocks out the shell and we replace it with another. I try again. “pull” – “click” Now I’m really holding things up. By now I’m sure I have the attention of everyone on the range. Sure enough am soon greeted by a gentleman in a green hunting jacket who asks what’s wrong (as if I know – the gun won’t go “BLAM”). He opens up the gun and knocks out the shell. He notices that it is a 16-gauge shell. He presumes correctly that I am firing a 12-gauge gun and as a result the narrower 16 –gauge shell has slipped down the barrel beyond the reach of the firing pin. (I pause to point out that it makes no sense that shotgun shells get narrower as the gauge gets larger and bullets get bigger as the caliber gets larger. Go figure. I continue . . .) I now realize that when Gary gave me the box of shells and the holder there were two extra shells in the holder. These were the ones I used for the first two shots. However, my whole box was the 16-gauge shell. By now, Gary had arrived and apologized for the confusion insisting that I shouldn’t be blamed because I didn’t know anything (although he put it much nicer then that). He gave me a new box of 12 gauge shells and I finally proceeded with my third shot. “Pull – BLAM” another happy miss. Only 22 shots left.
Things improved from here. The gentleman in green has now identified me as a rookie and a potential danger to the other individuals within firing distance and decides it is wise to stick very closely to my side. As he monitors my progress throughout the rest of the round, he offers friendly instruction and tips. On my fourth shot I was awed by the site of multiple pieces of orange clay falling to the ground. I hit it! Wow, my goal was accomplished and I still had the better part of a box of shells to shoot. The round continued from there, with me hitting one out of four shots or so, and the gentleman in green offering new tips along the way. These tips must have been working because I continued to hit the occasional target. However, I tended to only be able to execute one tip at a time. Thus when he said to keep my feet balanced I forgot about following the target with my barrel even after I pulled the trigger. Never the less, I ended the round impressed that I had hit more than one target and feeling quite happy.
I then found out that we had time (and shells) for a second round. So, the five of us hurried in to pay for a second round. We came out in time to watch Gary start his first round. We discovered we were quite happy he was not in our group because he would have certainly shown us up. After missing the first shot (which hardly counts because he was not warmed up) Gary proceeded to hit 10 in a row finishing with 21 out of 25 hits.
We were then up for our second round. My instructor had decided that I was safe to leave on my own and so I was on my own. I hit two of my first shots. This gave me the goal of hitting 40% for the round. I held one better than this pace for the next ten shots. However, started to get better and I hit 3 of my next 5. With five shots left I realized I was doing as well any anyone in our group of 5 (two of whom had gone more than once before). My confidence was growing and despite missing my next shot I was determined to do better then my companions. I hit my next to shots and with only two shots left I was convinced I was something special; after all this was my first time. By now my shoulder ached from the recoil of the gun, but my pride would not let me consider changing my grip because I was on a roll. I hit each of my last two targets finishing with four straight hits. I finished the round with a total of 14 hits out of 25 (over 50%)! Even better I beat out the other shooters in my group (the last thing my ego needed).
We all thanked Gary promising him we would come again if he invited us. I hope he asks again soon. Based on my last four shots I’m almost considering getting a shotgun of my own. But my shoulder is quite sore, so I think I’ll hold off for now.
I drove up Tuesday night after work, grabbed dinner at a teriyaki place, and met at Gary’s house at 6:30pm. There were four other guys there so our total party was six. We arrived at the range. Gary gave us each a gun (mine was double barreled, very cool) and Box of shells in a holder which strapped to your belt. . (I was pleasantly surprised at the thought of shooting a whole box). We then went inside to pay. As we walked in I was watching the shooters currently outside on the range. They were consistently hitting the target (a 4 inch bright orange, clay disk, called a pigeon) sending orange pieces flying all over the range. I remember seeing one-person miss and thinking “with a whole box of ammo I hope I can at least hit one”. I followed the guys up to the counter and paid the $5.50 to shoot. Thinking I would rather have a $5 bill in my wallet then four ones I paid with a $10 bill and a $1 bill. The guy behind the counter asked if I wanted “one round”. This confused me because I thought that I already had a box of 25 rounds. I said something intelligent like “um, sure.” And he gave me $5.50 back so I figured I had gotten it right.
We then proceeded to wait and small talk for about 10 minutes until room opened up for us on the range. I generally hate small talk and this is why I avoid social engagements like this. Gary is extremely nice but on the surface of thing we do not have a lot in common. He is just about to retire and so we are at different stages of life and have different hobbies and interests. However, I took part in the conversation, mostly asking questions about how to trap shoot “better” with out giving away that the largest gun I had ever fired was an air powered pellet gun when I was eight. I’ll pause here to note that by the end of the evening we had moved beyond small talk and I have deeper appreciation of Gary.
Ok, so they called our names. At this moment, you have as much idea as to what happens next as I did at the time. So I did what any one would do, I followed the crowd . . .
[This the is way trap shooting works, you have a group of five shooters. Each shooter lines up at a shooting station. The stations are in a row about 16 yards from the trap house. The trap house is a building sunk down in the ground which now holds a modern automatic machine which shoots clay disks randomly in one of about 7 trajectories. Each shooting station has a microphone, which will recognize a human voice. So, when you yell “pull” it launches the pigeon. Each shooter takes one shot and then the next shooter takes a shot until all have made one shot. This repeats for 5 shots per person and then you rotate down one station. This is repeated until each shooter takes five shots from each location for a total of 25 shots. This is the afore mentioned “round”. Each set of five shooting stations has a range employee or “Trapper” who sits in a tall chair and tallies each shooter’s hits and misses.]
. . . Fortunately I was the last of our group of five (Gary gracefully opted to shoot with a different group leaving just us 5). I watched happily as most of the people in our group missed their first shot. “hey, I’m not the only rookie”, I thought. I proceeded to call “pull”, and nothing happened. I repeat “pull” a little louder . . . nothing. I quickly repeat again “PULL” hoping no one will notice that I am to incompetent to operate the voice activated launching system. This time an orange dot flies from the trap house. I quickly pull the trigger with a satisfying “BLAM”, that I can hear through my ear protection, and a decent kick to go with it. Of course I miss, but that is fine by me I have outwitted the voice activated launcher, and hey I still have 24 shots to hit something. My next shot is also a miss but I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of it. I reload and take my third shot “pull” – “click”. Now what? “pull – click” is not anywhere near as fun as “pull – BLAM” (although the clay pigeon is in equal danger either way). I look down for obvious blunders: safety off - check, correct barrel - check, gun loaded – check. I decide to try again. (Someone once said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result, but hey it worked with the stupid “pull” machine earlier). “pull” – “click” Same result. By now the other four guys are all looking at me wondering what is going on. Our trapper has now realized this particular set of 5 shooters are not the most experienced and he gets down to help me out. He knocks out the shell and we replace it with another. I try again. “pull” – “click” Now I’m really holding things up. By now I’m sure I have the attention of everyone on the range. Sure enough am soon greeted by a gentleman in a green hunting jacket who asks what’s wrong (as if I know – the gun won’t go “BLAM”). He opens up the gun and knocks out the shell. He notices that it is a 16-gauge shell. He presumes correctly that I am firing a 12-gauge gun and as a result the narrower 16 –gauge shell has slipped down the barrel beyond the reach of the firing pin. (I pause to point out that it makes no sense that shotgun shells get narrower as the gauge gets larger and bullets get bigger as the caliber gets larger. Go figure. I continue . . .) I now realize that when Gary gave me the box of shells and the holder there were two extra shells in the holder. These were the ones I used for the first two shots. However, my whole box was the 16-gauge shell. By now, Gary had arrived and apologized for the confusion insisting that I shouldn’t be blamed because I didn’t know anything (although he put it much nicer then that). He gave me a new box of 12 gauge shells and I finally proceeded with my third shot. “Pull – BLAM” another happy miss. Only 22 shots left.
Things improved from here. The gentleman in green has now identified me as a rookie and a potential danger to the other individuals within firing distance and decides it is wise to stick very closely to my side. As he monitors my progress throughout the rest of the round, he offers friendly instruction and tips. On my fourth shot I was awed by the site of multiple pieces of orange clay falling to the ground. I hit it! Wow, my goal was accomplished and I still had the better part of a box of shells to shoot. The round continued from there, with me hitting one out of four shots or so, and the gentleman in green offering new tips along the way. These tips must have been working because I continued to hit the occasional target. However, I tended to only be able to execute one tip at a time. Thus when he said to keep my feet balanced I forgot about following the target with my barrel even after I pulled the trigger. Never the less, I ended the round impressed that I had hit more than one target and feeling quite happy.
I then found out that we had time (and shells) for a second round. So, the five of us hurried in to pay for a second round. We came out in time to watch Gary start his first round. We discovered we were quite happy he was not in our group because he would have certainly shown us up. After missing the first shot (which hardly counts because he was not warmed up) Gary proceeded to hit 10 in a row finishing with 21 out of 25 hits.
We were then up for our second round. My instructor had decided that I was safe to leave on my own and so I was on my own. I hit two of my first shots. This gave me the goal of hitting 40% for the round. I held one better than this pace for the next ten shots. However, started to get better and I hit 3 of my next 5. With five shots left I realized I was doing as well any anyone in our group of 5 (two of whom had gone more than once before). My confidence was growing and despite missing my next shot I was determined to do better then my companions. I hit my next to shots and with only two shots left I was convinced I was something special; after all this was my first time. By now my shoulder ached from the recoil of the gun, but my pride would not let me consider changing my grip because I was on a roll. I hit each of my last two targets finishing with four straight hits. I finished the round with a total of 14 hits out of 25 (over 50%)! Even better I beat out the other shooters in my group (the last thing my ego needed).
We all thanked Gary promising him we would come again if he invited us. I hope he asks again soon. Based on my last four shots I’m almost considering getting a shotgun of my own. But my shoulder is quite sore, so I think I’ll hold off for now.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Camlann Medieval Faire
Hear Ye, Hear Ye!
Now begins the tale of 4 friends, Lord and Lady Rowe and Laird and Lady Ferguson, who traveled to Camlann to Enjoy the faire, the feast and a bit of friendly competition! Pray Tell, please enjoy this most delightful rendition, told in the illustrated form.
May God Bless all who tarry at this page.
And Long live the King!
Now begins the tale of 4 friends, Lord and Lady Rowe and Laird and Lady Ferguson, who traveled to Camlann to Enjoy the faire, the feast and a bit of friendly competition! Pray Tell, please enjoy this most delightful rendition, told in the illustrated form.
May God Bless all who tarry at this page.
And Long live the King!
Friday, August 11, 2006
Finally Done!
Hey all! I am sending this blog via e-mail, so we will see if this works.
Last night I finished my sewing for the medieval faire, I expected it to be done a little sooner in the week, but I am very glad I have tonight off from sewing! I just have to clean up my mess. Many thanks to Jan, Teresa, Diane and Laura for helping me last weekend, I couldn't have finished in time without you. Sewing in a group is a LOT more fun than doing it alone.
Tomorrow is the Faire! I will have to tell ya'll about it. And send pictures of course.
Our house hunting has come to a pause, it looks like our price range is a little to low to find something that is decent. Unless we find a miracle house, we will be staying where we are for a little while longer.
Well that's all for now! -- My blog is getting kind of lonely out here in cyberspace all alone, ya'll should blog.
God Bless!
Last night I finished my sewing for the medieval faire, I expected it to be done a little sooner in the week, but I am very glad I have tonight off from sewing! I just have to clean up my mess. Many thanks to Jan, Teresa, Diane and Laura for helping me last weekend, I couldn't have finished in time without you. Sewing in a group is a LOT more fun than doing it alone.
Tomorrow is the Faire! I will have to tell ya'll about it. And send pictures of course.
Our house hunting has come to a pause, it looks like our price range is a little to low to find something that is decent. Unless we find a miracle house, we will be staying where we are for a little while longer.
Well that's all for now! -- My blog is getting kind of lonely out here in cyberspace all alone, ya'll should blog.
God Bless!
Monday, August 07, 2006
Ice cream and other matters
From the Street of Dreams to the Terry-Taylor Garage sale, I have had a busy weekend!
The design team went to the street of Dreams on Thursday and we got to tour 6 multi-million dollar homes. They were incredible! Each one of them was above and beyond what any family would ever need and even over the top of most things you could want. It was incredible to see. I cannot believe that there are people who actually live in homes like the ones I saw.
This weekend Jonathan and I headed down to Longview to see what treasures we could find at the terry-taylor garage sale. I did quite well if I do say so myself. I found a bread-machine for my mom, a futon for my brother, and ice-cream maker for myself and lots of clothes of course! Gloria, Laura, Teresa and I got to model our new clothes for Grandma Ruth, it was a lot of fun :)
Later than evening, Diane came over and we decided to make our own ice-cream, Jan found Grandma Ruth's recipe, stating that it was the "best in the whole world" so we picked upt he necessary supplies, and spent the next hour and a half making ice cream. And Jan is right, it is the best! Jonathan and I can't wait to make it a 4th of July Tradition.
The drive home was rather eventful, We had Jeremiah's Futon in the back of the Explorer and I noticed that the check engine light was on and that the temperature guage showed very hot. We slowed down and turned on the heat, then as it had only dropped minimally, we pulled over and let it rest for a while. When we headed back out 30 minutes later, we took it very easy on the way, but it seemed to be okay. We finally arrived at my parents house a little after 10:30pm and dropped of the futon. We got home at midnight and plan to take in the rig to see what is causing the problem so that we will be ready to go on our trip to yellowstone in two weeks.
Now it is Monday! I will try to keep ya'll posted!
God Bless!
The design team went to the street of Dreams on Thursday and we got to tour 6 multi-million dollar homes. They were incredible! Each one of them was above and beyond what any family would ever need and even over the top of most things you could want. It was incredible to see. I cannot believe that there are people who actually live in homes like the ones I saw.
This weekend Jonathan and I headed down to Longview to see what treasures we could find at the terry-taylor garage sale. I did quite well if I do say so myself. I found a bread-machine for my mom, a futon for my brother, and ice-cream maker for myself and lots of clothes of course! Gloria, Laura, Teresa and I got to model our new clothes for Grandma Ruth, it was a lot of fun :)
Later than evening, Diane came over and we decided to make our own ice-cream, Jan found Grandma Ruth's recipe, stating that it was the "best in the whole world" so we picked upt he necessary supplies, and spent the next hour and a half making ice cream. And Jan is right, it is the best! Jonathan and I can't wait to make it a 4th of July Tradition.
The drive home was rather eventful, We had Jeremiah's Futon in the back of the Explorer and I noticed that the check engine light was on and that the temperature guage showed very hot. We slowed down and turned on the heat, then as it had only dropped minimally, we pulled over and let it rest for a while. When we headed back out 30 minutes later, we took it very easy on the way, but it seemed to be okay. We finally arrived at my parents house a little after 10:30pm and dropped of the futon. We got home at midnight and plan to take in the rig to see what is causing the problem so that we will be ready to go on our trip to yellowstone in two weeks.
Now it is Monday! I will try to keep ya'll posted!
God Bless!
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