We were able to spend Thanksgiving with Dan, again, this year. We flew from here to Las Vegas and rented a car for the 5 hour drive to La Quinta, CA. Dan is working for FedEx but was able to get the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off so we had 2 full days to spend with him. The weather was perfect with blue skies and temps in the 70's. Much to be thankful for, for sure!



Amy's 4th Nutcracker is now history. She danced 3 roles this year - Snow Doll, Snowflake and Flower. The Snow Doll role was part solo and part duet with the Sugar Plum Doll, danced by her friend, Adrienne (pictured below)


The role of Herr Drosselmeyer has been played by the same woman for 26 years - here's a pic of Amy and her friend, Emma with a tired Drosselmeyer after the 3rd performance.


Below is Amy pictured with her friend, Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane has her Snow Queen costume on but she also was the Sugar Plum Fairy at the Saturday evening performance. All this fall, Amy has been learning and practicing the title roles of Snow Queen & Sugar Plum Fairy along with Sarah Jane. Her teacher has told Amy that he is getting her ready for next year - so we'll just have to wait and see.

Someone - who shall remain nameless - gave Charlie a new set of eyebrows. He was not amused.

A recent sunrise from our back deck. Beautiful...

Amy attended the Homecoming Dance at Bend High with a few of her girlfriends.

She's 15!!! And, in Oregon, that means you can take the test for your drivers permit. So far she hasn't asked to go take the test. We will keep you advised!

Dan & I had another opportunity to see a Duck game. This year it was against Washington State. On Friday, Dan attended his meeting with the U of O Advisory Board for the College of Arts & Sciences while I shopped in Eugene. We had dinner that night at the Deans house then got up Saturday morning ready for Game Day. The Presidents Pre-game reception is always a treat but viewing a game in Autzen Stadium can't be beat. Enjoy the slideshow.

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Nancy & Jason Barnes September 30, 2011

Our niece, Nancy, was married on September 30th to Jason Barnes. It was a lovely day - their vows were exchanged on the roof deck of the EcoTrust Building in downtown Portland's Pearl District. It was fun, it was nontraditional, it was very spiritfilled, it was totally Nancy & Jason. We were privileged to witness and take part in their special day.






And, to make a great event even better, my brother, Bob and sister-in-law, Holly came to Bend after the wedding. It was a short visit but we thoroughly enjoyed having them in our home and showing them around town.

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South Sister Trek

This past Tuesday, Dan & I took a long walk. It was a longer walk than our normal hike with the dogs down in the canyon. This was a walk that defines many Central Oregonians. If you have accomplished this walk, many say, you are an official Bendite.

I am talking about the hike up South Sister. This is a 10,000+ foot mountain in our "backyard". It is the easiest and most frequently hiked of the Cascades. Just about 'anybody' can do it - at least, that's what if been told. Well, Dan has done it - twice - but, I guess, I am still a slacker.

Actually, we started out knowing that we didn't have time to reach the top. We had to be at school @ 2:45 to pick up Amy. It generally takes at least 5 hours to reach the top and then you do have to come back down. So, we had a convenient excuse to reply to all our fellow hikers when asked if we were headed to the top.

The 1st mile and a half was a steady up hill climb (pretty grueling, actually) till we left the tree line and came out into the open. Then, we were on the flats for a while and I thought - hey, this isn't too bad. When we hit the real steeps I knew I had used up my legs in the beginning 1 1/2 mile. We manged to get to a few of the snow fields and saw some 'spring' flowers just starting to bloom. It was a glorious blue sky day - perfect for our purposes - just to enjoy the beauty of our surroundings and revel in God's creation!

Maybe next year!

summer's over already??

School started on the 7th so I guess it really is over. July & August seemed to be a blur of ballet classes, performances & camp, and more classes. We did get a 2 week break at the end of August - one of those weeks we spent in AZ. Here's a quick run down of some summer highlights:

~ thru most of July & August, Amy took ballet class with 3 different schools/instructors so there was lots of scheduling and driving. We are so happy that everything in Bend is within a 15 minute drive. I did a lot of reading while waiting between classes.

~ Our nephew, Mike, was on a cross country trip with 2 college buddies and made a stop in Bend. It was quick but so great to see him and hear some funny stories from his college cohorts.





~ Amy performed in Central Oregon School of Ballet's production of "Giselle"


~ Amy and I went to Portland in late July to join my niece, Nancy, at her wedding dress fitting. We had a great time at lunch and shopping in downtown Portland. I think Amy tried on every dress in the Betsey Johnson store!

I must say, Nan is going to be one spectacular bride! September 30th is the BIG day!

~ In August, we took Amy to Eugene for a week long dance camp at the Eugene Ballet Academy. This camp did not provide any overnight accomodations so we had to get creative. Staying in a motel for 6 nights was not in our budget and driving 2 1/2 hrs over the mountains each way for 6 days did not seem like fun so...
I put together a little advertisement asking for 'volunteers' to take our kid for a week. And the ballet school posted it on the door. We didn't get a response till the day before we were leaving. A lovely family that had a daughter attending the camp stepped up and took Amy into their home. Amy was a bit apprehensive but she ended up having a wonderful time and has made a good friend in the deal.



~ Our big project this summer involved tiling the dining room floor. When we bought our house we knew we would want to replace the crummy carpet eventually and so we started with the smallest room. Of course, Dan did most of the hard labor - and it was alot of work! But it is beautiful - so worth the effort. Now onto the family room...




~ Earlier this year Dan & I started volunteering at The Giving Plate, a local food pantry. Our involvement has gradually increased to the point now that Dan is the Chairman of the Board of Directors. In these hard economic times, we are seeing that more and more people are finding themselves in need of a little help and we have the time and desire to help out. Amy has also found time to get involved, so it is truly a family affair.

~ The last week of August we spent at a time share in Sedona, AZ. Here is a slide show of our trip.

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Amy has finished her 1st week of High School. She may even go to her 1st football game tonight - Go Bend High Lava Bears!! -
Of course, Dan is thrilled that college football is finally here. His beloved Ducks didn't fare too well in their opening game but there is always tomorrow!

As Coach Kelly says, "Win the Day!"

Critter Attack!

Three weeks ago Charles, Isabella and I (Dan) had an "encounter". You may know that some combination of Nancy, Dan, Charles (golden retriever) and Isabella (black pug) take a walk down in the Deschutes River canyon, which is a block from our house, each day. Before telling you about the encounter, I should set the stage a little bit.

Last winter, Charles and I diverted from the normal trails and service road to walk through one of the heavily forested areas. While walking along, I noticed the biggest deer I have ever seen standing in the path we were following. Huge antlers ...... I don't know how many "points". He was perhaps 25 feet away and just stood there looking at me. Meanwhile, Charles was behind me busily sniffing around. Using his vaunted senses and his every instinct, he failed to realize that there was a big critter in our path. When I tried to point it out to him, he continued his business at hand. When I called to him in a more pressing way, he realized there was something out of the ordinary and finally noticed the deer. He made a half-hearted run at the deer and uttered one woof. Happily the deer ran and Charles came back to check on my well being (actually to hide behind me). Only then did I recall that I had just read in the paper that morning that a woman down in California had been pretty well beaten up by a deer in what sounded like a nice suburban setting. Glad the big boy we ran into was not itching for a fight!

The stakes got a little higher 6-8 weeks ago when a couple of cougars were spotted down in the canyon where we walk. There were lots of warning signs posted, but we continued our usual walks anyway ...... albeit with a wary eye for big kitties. There was even a picture in the local paper showing one of them in someone's back yard. After a couple of weeks of keeping a wary eye, let me just say that it did not end well for the cougars when authorities got involved.

So now to the attack. Sometimes I like to play a "hide and seek" game with Charles while we walk. That means hiding along the path so that his "vaunted" senses can be honed to precision as he searches for me. (He is pretty bad at it so I usually have to call him.) Anyway, three weeks ago Isabella and I had hidden along a path and had to call Charles to alert him as to our whereabouts. After finding us, he went ahead of us scouting the way back home. In no time I heard blood curdling cries of anguish, as if in the throes of death, and scuffling about in the underbrush just ahead of us. It was Charles. A rather large doe had whupped him real good. (Mind you, Charles cries more readily than John Boehner so the cries of anguish may have been overdone.) Charles got up and could walk, but he looked like he was in pretty rough shape.

Ordinarily this would seem like the end of the story, but the deer reminded me of a kung fu fighter who takes out the first guy and then goes looking for the next guy. Well, this deer started looking for the next guy, i.e. walking toward Isabella and me with seemingly bad intentions. Fortunately, it stopped about 20 feet away. I became even more concerned when I threw a large stick at it, and it didn't move. The deer gave me a look of "What are you gonna do about it?" Screaming and hollering at it did nothing. So I backed away while looking for another stick, but most of them were old and rotten. Rather than mind its own business, the deer started stalking us as we backed away. With Charles hiding behind me, I walked away from the area looking for whatever weapons might be available ... a big rock, a stick, whatever. The deer kept stalking us, staying about 30-40 yards away. When I thought we had finally gotten away from the darn thing, there it was again..... only 25-30 feet away. This time I throw a rock about the size of a baseball at it - missed. It did not flinch. Charles was in a state of shock and could only walk along as in a daze so he was of no help. Finally we got to the place where we can get out of the canyon, and happily no deer was on our trail. You might say that I was pretty relieved.

I estimate that the deer followed us for a couple hundred yards or so. Charles was pretty subdued for a few days, but at least he did not appear to have any broken bones. My guess is that he got kicked, but I don't know. Maybe his subdued state was just paralyzing fear..... or the realization that "he got nothin", which I continually remind him of anyway.

"Peter & the Wolf"

About 2 weeks ago Amy participated in a performance of "Peter & the Wolf". Here is a slideshow of some of the performance. The last 2 photos are of her solo in the recital portion of the show - unfortunately I couldn't make them fit the slideshow so I hope you don't get a crick in your neck. ;)

Enjoy!

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