Fun Times with Treasured Friends

Friends from Marysville FMC who are like family, David and Debbie, came to visit us during their vacation.  What a treat it was to visit together, and we got to show them the Sutherlin area.

Finishing up lunch at Tolly's in Oakland. 

It was about 100 degrees on the days they were here.  We ended up down at a park on the Umpqua River, which didn't really have a beach, just shallow areas with a lot of slippery rocks.  David, Faith and Griffin cooled off in the river.  With the air conditioner working overtime in our apartment, we ate dinner together then I shocked everyone by winning Mexican Train Dominoes!  Good times!  Thanks David and Debbie! 

Our New Best Friend

We've enjoyed the sunshine, the weather has been beautiful!  However, our apartment has been SO HOT!  After Fir Point we reached the end of our rope and purchased our new best friend, Arctic King!  It's a portable air conditioner.  (We're not allowed to have window air conditioners in our apartment.)

I wouldn't say our apartment is cool, but A.K. has made it much more comfortable!  Ah, relief!

Sutherlin Dog Park

It's not easy living in an apartment, especially if you're Klaus.  Gone are the days (for now) of opening the back door and letting him run out to the backyard to take care of business or play.  We have to put his harness and leash on, carry him down the stairs and walk him out to the patch of grass and bushes next to our building.  This is a pain, I'll admit, and I look forward to the day when we can get back to having a fenced yard for him.

One evening, Griffin and I had taken Klaus for a walk and we decided to check out the dog park. It's close to our apartment, but I had the idea in my head that a dog park meant no leashes and the dogs run free. I envisioned Klaus running and running never to be caught or being mauled by a large angry dog. As we got closer I got more and more excited. The Sutherlin Dog Park has two VERY large fenced areas, one for smaller dogs under 30 pounds and the other for large dogs. That first time we went, no one else was there. This was a good chance to experiment with Klaus to see how he'd do. HE LOVED IT! To be off his leash and run, run, run put him in doggy heaven! The park even has water for the dogs to drink and balls to play with.

Since that first time we have been back for several visits. After Fir Point, we let him go into the area with a couple other dogs, and he did well. (When Klaus stayed with Clyde, he played with Clyde and Emily's dogs.)

Griffin and Klaus getting exercise

A big drink of water after a lot of running

Klaus bringing the tennis ball to Faith

FIR POINT CAMP, Glendale, OR

Our second camp started on Monday, August 6th.  Vaughn headed out first thing in the morning, because he was supposed to help with setup.  The kids and I waited until afternoon registration started to arrive.  Fir Point Camp is an independently run Christian camp, and they have their own camps.  When those aren't going on, other groups like the Oregon Conference of the FM Church rent it.  There were two camps going on at the same time; the youth camp for grades 6-10 and a kids camp for grades 3-5.   Faith attended the youth camp, and Griffin, kids camp.  This was strange for Vaughn and I because the kids stayed in cabins with kids their own ages and had cabin leaders in charge of them.  A late '80s 25+ foot travel trailer was Vaughn's and my "cabin" for the week.  We were told that we had the luxury accomodations this year - it had air conditioning!  Vaughn and I had three assignments for the week, 1) help with dinner, which meant being in the kitchen by 2:30pm each afternoon and working until around 8pm. 2) observe both camps, looking for how we'd like to be involved next year and 3) help where needed.  Vaughn also played guitar with the worship band in the evenings at the youth camp.  He gained a lot of good experience.  My favorite part of the camp was when Vaughn and I helped by leading games at the kids camp. 

Friday morning, Klaus, who had been staying with Clyde, a friend from church, appeared with him at camp.  (Clyde's wife, Emily had been helping all week.)  It was a joyous reunion!  When the camp ended early afternoon, the kids and I were ready to get home to our apartment.  Vaughn stayed and helped pack up the massive amounts of stuff used each year for camp.  It gets stored at our church.

Griffin listening to the Bible story of the day

Griffin made it through the obstacle course the cleanest of anyone

Playing a unique version of "tag" with kids camp

Faith running during "water war" day

The ultimate slip-n-slide

Vaughn playing his "music"

The grill master in the teddy bear apron

Yep, we're in the right place!

Swimming time was a favorite of both kids

Vaughn cracking a lot of eggs for the next morning's french toast batter.

Family Camp

All year we look forward to Family Camp at Warm Beach.  Reconnecting with friends we only see once a year and spending larger chunks of time with the Johnsons and Vaughn's mom and dad, and nieces and nephew are just part of the appeal of camp.  We had probably one of our best groups of 3rd and 4th graders we've ever had, so that made the morning time very fun.  Even taking over the children's worship time with the other coordinators went relatively smooth once we worked out the bugs with getting the right AV equipment.
Faith and Griffin each attempted new experiences at camp.  We also got to eat several meals with my Grandma Wiley, which was wonderful.  I tried to soak up as much time with her as I could. 

A little mini golf in the afternoon

Maclain ready for his ride

Griffin attempting to get on a very tall horse for his first ride

This is who actually ended up riding Griffin's horse - me, Gretchen.

Faith, ready to ride Buster

A little nervous before attempting the high ropes course

Faith climbing to her first and only platform.

Mady, a monkey, on the high ropes, swinging from tree to tree.  This wasn't her first time.

A mother's fearful expression

Dinnertime with Mika, Natalie and Faith

Griffin - so happy to hang out a bit with Kaden

Dinner with Grandma when Erik and kids visited

Oooooo.....

Ahhhh....nothing like a Warm Beach Sunset!

Visiting Marysville and Birthday Consolidation

Sunday, July 29th, after church, we headed north to Washington.  It was weird thinking about how the last time we did the trip was moving day.  It was a LONG drive, for there was A LOT of traffic!  I was so glad I told my mom not to have dinner waiting for us because we didn't arrive until after 8pm.
The next couple days were great being guests at my parents' house.  Again a strange experience!  We enjoyed watching the Olympics on TV and hanging out.  Faith got to visit with her friend, Jamie, and Griffin had a little play time with buddy, Shae.  I did two phone interviews (with no job offers), got fingerprinted for my Oregon Teacher License, and Vaughn and I checked on our house which still hadn't sold.  We did get to briefly visit with neighbor, Mike, so that was a treat.

Another part of our visit was celebrating my birthday, Shaana's (which was the next day), and Vaughn's (in September).  We went to Round Table Pizza in Woodinville.  The pizza was average - which probably explains why we had most of the restaurant to ourselves.  As you can tell from the pictures, it was nice to be able to have room to move around, dance, and not have to worry about loud children.  Lance had picked out a tasty chocolate cake that had plenty of frosting for Vaughn and Shaana.