So what's been going on around here lately...

Rand and Forrest climbed Mt. Hood. (pictured in the header above) Well, they didn't make it all the way to the top. About an hour from the summit they encountered a blizzard, so they decided to come back down. I mean, what's the point of going up if you can't see ANYTHING? (I'm actually probably not a good person to answer that, because I can't see why I would want to climb a mountain anyway. As much as I do love Mt. Hood, I think everything that is interesting about it is to be seen below the timberline. I mean look at those photos. There are no trees, no moss, no pretty little creeks.. I digress..) But look at that grin on Rand. He eats this stuff up. Every picture of the climb he is grinning away like that. He so loves those mountains.

Forrest on the other hand I wasn't so sure of. At first he didn't seem so interested. More like, "Fine, yeah, if you want to climb a mountain, I'll go with you." But as the day approached and the guys watched videos about it (ones with helicopters crashing during rescue attempts, no less) he perked up a bit. Toward the end he was more like "I really wanna climb this mountain!" Well, he made it to the end-that is, guys older and bigger and stronger than he turned back before he did and it wasn't until everyone turned back that he did too. So he came home with a smile and a straight back and that is a very, very good thing in the life of a 15 year old boy.

We went to the "Apple Pie Day" event in Salem (capitol of Oregon, in case you haven't covered that yet.)

We climbed to the base of the golden pioneer.

There it is more off to the distance.

Every Oregon child climbs the golden pioneer. And visits Enchanted Forest and roller skates at Oaks Park, at least once... (Well, maybe not if you are from Burns or something, that is a pretty long way to go, but otherwise, no excuses!)

We also visited our representative, Bill Kennemer, who was very receptive and cordial. He talked about trying to get prayer meeting going and no one showing up and feeling alone down there in Salem. Well, that's probably so, here in liberal land. We shouldn't under estimate the power of encouraging our government leaders. They are people just like us, and it can't be very easy to withstand the tides they encounter. So I thought we should do more of this sort of thing as we can.

There we are on the capitol steps. I didn't get a picture of us all together-a friend took this one and I lifted it from his facebook page.. But, there ya go..

We also have another teenager! Three of them all together now, can ya believe it?

Elisa is the kind of kid that would make any parent smile. She loves babies, her church, her friends..

We've also been dealing with allergies and headaches this last year and she's endured discomfort like a trooper.

So, that's what I have time for today. Hope you are well and happy!