January 24, 2007

Today is Rob's 39th birthday. This picture must have been taken when he was about 6 or 7:



This is how he looked tonight. He and the kids were teasing Emma with a laser light and laughing their pants off.

. . . this is how he looked when he was about 22. We met in March of 2006, just after his 18th birthday. It's hard to believe we've been together almost 21 years. Happy 39th birthday, Rob!! I love you!

The kids were being very silly tonight on the way home from church and they just wouldn't settle down. It didn't seem to matter that it was after midnight . . .

Gloria January 24, 2007

Zach, January 24, 2007

January 23, 2007

Back in late October, we ran sound for a promotional event for Bogus Basin. Our pay for the event was 5 season passes to the mountain. In celebration of Rob's birthday (Jan. 24th), we headed up to Bogus this afternoon.


It's not easy packing ski/snowboard equipment for 4 people, so we got a later start than Rob had intended (my lack of excitement about the whole thing also caused me to move a little slower). Dale had agreed to help teach the kids so he went up early and got his fill of the more difficult runs before we got there. He got a big kick out of all of our stuff as we unloaded the van and just had to take this picture:

Things started out pretty badly for me on many levels. The ski boots we bought on E-bay were high-performance racing boots (Dale informed us of this later in the day) and they were horribly uncomfortable. I was also feeling very conspicuous in my red and purple puffy second-hand "ski" jacket. There's nothing like snow pants and knit caps and puffy coats to lift the self-image (not). So, here I was in boots that were too tight and made me lean WAY forward and clothing that made me feel like the Stay-Puff Marshmellow Man, completely unable to walk 2 feet in front of me. Rob was a very good sport and managed to get me into my skis and over to the bunny hill while Dale took the kids and their snow boards and started to show them how to manuever. The kids took to it pretty quickly but I was miserable. After just one completely failed attempt at moving a couple of feet, I asked Rob to find me a place to sit down so I could watch the kids. He found a pole about half way up the bunny hill and, literally, leaned me up against it. This worked out ok at first and I was able to take some good shots of the kids:

Rob and Dale were very patient teachers.

This arrangement worked out fine for a little while, but then the kids were ready to try the chair lift up to the top of the coach. They made sure I was ok with it and the four of them left me there. . . it was pretty quiet. I watched the other beginners for awhile and then I mostly felt sorry for myself. I thought about my family having fun without me. . . this would just be the beginning. . . I am over 40 now. . . life is mostly over anyway. . . I shed a few tears. . . Then something kicked in and I heaved myself away from the pole and reached for my skis that were lying just a little ways off to the side. Somehow I clicked my high-performance ski boots into place and started to pray. I didn't have far to go, but it seemed like a long way! About this time, Rob was at the top of the hill and called to me. It was too late. . . I was headed straight for the bottom, skis straight, head down, and lots of fervent prayers going up. It was actually kind of fun. I decided to stop by sitting down when I reached the bottom and Rob reached me about that same time. My 40 year old body didn't fall apart or even hurt as I got up and dusted myself off. I decided it was actually kind of fun and things turned around for me in that moment!! Rob helped me get the hang of it again and Dale gave me some good pointers and before I knew it I was going up the conveyer belt to the top of the bunny hill. Things went pretty smoothly as I continued to ski down and ride the conveyer back up so I was finally ready for the ski lift to the top of the coach. Piece of cake. This picture is of Gloria doing a face plant off the lift while Rob and Dale quickly come to her aid:

I spent the rest of the evening skiing down the hill and learning all kinds of tricks and tips from Dale. I have to admit that I was very proud of myself. I even let Dale take a picture when all was said and done so I could hold onto the moment:

The trip back was beautiful since you can see all of the lights of Boise down below. This isn't a great shot, but it'll do:

So, what seemed like a day that would end in disaster turned out pretty good. We're planning to go again next Thursday with the stipulation that we can trade in my top-notch ski boots for an old pair of comfy granny ones!!

Gloria January 23, 2007

Zach January 23, 2007

January 22, 2007

I had a spur-of-the-moment meeting with my good friend, Tracie tonight!! It turned out that both of our boys had to be somewhere in the same time frame in the same general area so we went to McDonalds and had ice cream. We had a good laugh about the whole thing feeling like some kind of scandalous, secretive meeting. We had a great time catching up on happenings in the last couple of weeks and we talked more about the babies- the twins- she'll be having in August (or July)!! I'm very happy for Jeff and Tracie and the kids but sad for myself. They're moving to DC in March and I won't get to see the babies when they're born. This will be Tracie's second set of twins (Austin and Corrie are 12 and older daughter Ashlie is 15). I was thrilled to be the first one (besides Tracie and the Doctor, of course!) to see that they were definitely twins on the ultrasound!! It was very exciting!!

Gloria January 22, 2007
These two pictures were taken just after midnight, but I'm counting them for today anyway!!

Zach January 22, 2007

January 21, 2007

We stopped at a fish hatchery on the way home from the quiz meet and took a group photo.


Gloria January 21, 2007

Zach January 21

Very happy to be reunited with his playstation.

January 20, 2007

Saturday was our third quiz meet of the year. It felt tougher this time but it could just be that I was feeling a little too competetive. I told the kids that it was so much easier when they were right in the middle of the pack- at the first meet, they came in a solid 6th out of 12 teams. Then they had to go and work really hard and take 2nd place at the second meet. It just feels wrong to me to want to win so badly at Bible quizzing!!! Each round, I found myself praying that we would win, that the other team would get an error, or better yet, would error out! I would stop myself mid-prayer and piously pray that everyone would do well, but I didn't mean it. I don't think of myself as a competetive person, but I'm sure my blood pressure was way up there. I kept telling the kids not to think about beating the other team but to concentrate on doing their best. I'm sure I meant it on some level, but I was a little shocked at my own deep-seated feelings of wanting to wipe the rest of them off the map. Maybe I should reconsider this coaching thing!! I managed to get through the day without having a heart attack and at the awards ceremony, the team took second and Zach took second individually. They did really well and it was because they had an interest in the material and it showed in the way they studied. The next meet is in March and I'll need a reminder to take my blood pressure meds.

My good friend Gregg Koskela took this picture and posted it along with more quizzing stuff on his blog: http://greggsgambles.com/

Zach lost his 1st place standing from the last meet to Talli Koskela. . . I was very proud of Talli and we didn't mind at all that she took 1st place-honest.

Gregg and Gary. . .

These next photos were taken on Kristin's Mac- it's a great program that takes distorted pictures through a camera in the monitor. The kids always have a great time playing with it and seeing how crazy they can make themselves look.

Gloria had a fun time while I was gone and didn't really have a chance to miss me. M's birthday was on the 18th so the girls celebrated on Friday. Kristin took them to the Y to swim, out to dinner, and then home for a slumber party. Gloria isn't a great sleeper at any time and has an especially hard time at over-nighters, but she did great. Kristin knows Gloria and all of her little quirks well and she very patiently takes care of her. My sister's family picked Gloria up the next day and took her to lunch with my mom and dad at Red Robin. She spent the rest of the afternoon with Shelly and my nephew Ethan while Rob and Dale ran sound for a band at the Fiesta Bowl parade. When Dale and Rob picked her up in the evening, they took her to dinner AND a movie- what a treat!! Rob and Gloria had plenty of daddy/daughter time on Sunday and (in their words) did all the things I dislike doing- sleeping 'til noon, going to the mall, browsing through Costco, and going from store to store looking for a pair of skate shoes. I hope they got it out of their systems. . .

Gloria January 20, 2007

This was taken on Kristin's Mac. . . it was the most "normal" so I'll post it as Gloria's daily picture!!

Zach January 20, 2007

(Taken at Sherwood Friends Church)

January 19, 2007

These three girls have been friends for a long, long time. Gloria and M were friends before they were born (as Gloria likes to say) and they met E when she was not quite 2 years old and they were about 9 months old. They have a very sweet friendship that always makes me smile. They've gotten themselves into a few scrapes, but they mean well!! When they were 4 and 5 (I think) we were all staying together in a dorm at George Fox for Yearly Meeting. Our new pastor's, Gil and Louise, were staying in the same dorm and we were anxious to get to know them. The girls had been playing in another room very quietly- too quietly. When they came out, we knew what had been keeping their attention for so long. E had very neatly colored the faces of the other two with markers!! Gloria was a beautiful shade of blue and M was orange. Every inch of their faces was colored in, right down to their eye lids. E had been very thorough!! E's mom was horrified, I thought it was funny until I realized it may not come off, and M's mom looked for a camera. We took them in to see if Louise had any ideas. She had a good laugh about it and found them some cold cream. It came off pretty easily but they both had a bit of a tint for a couple of days. Unfortunately, the need to get it off was greater than the need to take a picture, so we'll only remember it through the memory. What a great memory!!

Gloria January 19, 2007

This picture was taken Friday at the church just before the bus left.

Zach January 19, 2007

This picture was taken on the bus on the way to Quiz meet #3 (more on that later!)

January 18, 2007

I was very glad I had my camera handy when Zach and Gloria put on an improptu "show". Zach is playing on a pre-programed drum machine while Gloria is groovin' to the beat. I had to ask her where she learned to dance like that!!!

Zach gave me a taste of my own medicine when he snapped this picture of me sitting at my desk. I know I could have deleted it, but it really does reflect my life. I accomplished quite a bit today at work and I always enjoy being able to check things off my list. I'm working on my year-end books and looking at totals and averages for our business. I realized tonight while I was working that Rob and I have worked together full time for 3 years now. It's amazing that we are still together!! :) What is really amazing is that we actually work really well together. While it's not my dream to own a sound company, there could be worse things!!!!

Gloria January 18, 2007

(photo taken by Zach)

Zach January 18, 2007

(He may be getting a little tired of having his picture taken everyday, but he's being a good sport about it!!)

January 17, 2007

We started attending church at BFC in May of 1994. We had not attended church as a couple before but I was convinced I needed a church home to raise my family. My parents were attending BFC at the time and we had been married there in 1990, but the real clincher was the bulletin advertisement for Saturday "open gym" basketball. We started attending regularly and Rob has played a lot of basketball in this gym over the years. He doesn't have as much time to play these days, but tonight he and Dale had a great time and burned a few calories just for the fun of it.

Gloria January 17, 2007

Zach January 17, 2007