Fundraising Dinner

Happy to see our friends the Evans. He's a judge with the superior court and we love them all to pieces. Isn't it great that such a good man sits as judge of the community?! We heart him and his cute fam! Here Alexis is showing our ticket #68 (they were on #40). We waited a while, but it was worth it.

One of our community members passed away last week and a local burger joint decided to do a fundraiser for his family. This good man was a deputy with the Sheriff's department and also coached football and basketball at the high school and middle school. He was 37 years old and died of a sudden heart attack while playing a pick-up basketball game. He leaves behind three young children.

We decided to converge on this small restaurant and make that our dinner plans. We were delighted to see so many of our friends come out and support this man's family. The restaurant eventually ran out of food. Makes you glad to live in a small town sometimes.

Paintball War

My gun-totin', hunting lovin', NRAer, Derek, was thrilled to be invited to one of his wrestling teammates house the other day for a paintball war. His friend's family has about 3 acres that they have transformed into a paintball course, complete with building and trenches. Derek had a ball and can't wait to do it again.

Evan tourney basketball 2010-2011

Our tournament basketball season hasn't gone as well as we'd like these last few months. We have a new coach that is not as committed as we'd like, and they have taken too many players (13) to make it really fair. Evan (number 15) is holding his own, as usual. I tried to post a video, but it isn't working. You'll have to use your imagination, I guess!

School ball just started and I'll post a video or photos of that soon as well as the tourney stuff.

Derek Varsity Wrestling 2010-11

Let the games begin!

Ohh! Getting ready to throw this kid around...

Already had the pin within first 30 seconds.

THAT'S how its done! :) My kid was a beast this match.

So far, "The Boy," as JD has called Derek since he was born, has done quite well in his favorite sport this year. At this point, he is undefeated in district at 160 pounds and just placed in his last two big tournaments. No bad for a sophomore. We're a little frustrated with the program and coaching, but have to stay quiet to keep the peace and support our kid. Derek loves the sport so much we're just happy he is having individual success. JD coaches him each dual (one school against another) and at the tourneys (multiple schools) too. His coach may be bothered, but JD isn't going to stop coming and Derek really wants his dad with him.

YW Fun

A cute puzzle my counselor did with the girls. On one side of the puzzle piece was each girl's name and the other side (when assembled together) spelled out our ward. Good bonding object lesson!

Group shot we took to send to another YW who wasn't able to be at the activity.

Had a fun night with the YW making soup and goofing around the church kitchen. They are cute. It was stone soup where everyone had to bring something to make the meal a success. Needless to say, I think they got the point.

Allergies....not!

Evan at the old allergist getting a breathing treatment. FOR WHAT?!!

At the new allergist where NOTHING but a sensitivity to dust (bottom left) comes up in the testing. As you can see, Evan is not in anaphylactic shock or pain due to the dust tests.

Last year, we brought Evan into the pediatrician for his yearly bronchitis and sinus infection. Everyone in our family gets them at least once a year. The pediatrician said that it might be due to allergies in Evan, so we had him tested by a specialist. The allergist came back with alarming news: Evan was allergic to over 40 things, including chicken and Buck the Dog. Also, he was deathly allergic to dust mites (was 3 points away from anaphylactic shock) and is suffering from asthma. What?! I said, "But the kid is a four-sport athlete and we've never had ANY breathing problems before?" The doctor said it isn't that uncommon, but that he was recommending shots immediately. What kind of parent was I?! This news devastated me to the core and I profusely apologized to Evan for neglecting his health. We got him into the shot regimen immediately and regular allergist check-ups.

One year later, I was due to have his allergies checked again. Nothing had changed in his health and he even got his yearly bronchitis. I waited for the allergist (as I had done MANY times) for nearly 2 HOURS in the waiting room before he emerged and spent 3 1/2 minutes (I timed it) telling me Evan was the same. I calmly explained to the doctor that I would not be returning due to his lack of respect for my time and that I would like my records changed. He argued with me about staying with the practice. We walked out.

I made the appointment with another allergist in Vancouver and brought Evan's records with us. The new doctor walked in and said, "I'm not sure how to tell you this, but your kid doesn't have allergies." Needless to say, I had Evan RETESTED only to find out that he's sensitive to dust and I should put allergy covers over his mattress and pillow. That's it? Yes. That's it. No 40 things, no chicken (that included bouillon, broth and nuggets), no anaphylactic shock, no asthma. We put that kid through three shots a day three days a week for a YEAR?!

We are beyond upset and are considering legal action. What about our time, money and trouble? To cap it all off, the old doctor has called me four times at the house trying to get me to return to the practice and even left me a message telling me that "it would not be in my best interest to go to another practice." WHAT?! Stalking me in a somewhat threatening manner?

Stay tuned for the rest of the story...

Glassblowing Date

Our boxes and the shards of glass we use to color the clear glass.

JD & Terri, December 2010.

Dipping the clear ball into white glass.

Firing the glass to adhere the colors.

JD and super-cool hippie, Ian.

JD and Ian rolling his blue and red glass shards.

Ian blowing the first puff of air into the glass.

JD is inserting air into the ball by blowing into the small tube.

All done and ready to remove!

It was my turn to plan a fun date and I decided to find something I KNEW JD had always wanted to try: Glassblowing. Seems kind of random and out-of-the-box, but definitely something he has always wanted to do.

I was eating my breakfast in December while watching the morning news. Our local news profiled a glass company that was offering the opportunity to make your own Christmas ornament. I called the company and booked me and JD for the next weekend.

We headed to the Pearl District of Portland (all the artsy-fartsy people are there--very trendy) and finally found the building. I hadn't told JD where or what we were doing (which is VERY hard for me because I am not a good secret-keeper). He was thrilled to find out it was glassblowing.

Inside this huge warehouse they had 6 or 8 kilns and loads of beautiful artwork everywhere. They had us put our names on our own square boxes that would house our ornaments and then we picked out our colors. JD went very masculine with blues and greens and I was more chickish with purple and pinks. They both turned out awesome and it was a great date when we finished off with dinner at a Thai restaurant. Kind of a "bucket list" item we checked off that day.

I so enjoy spending time with my best friend. We definitely need to do this more often...