Under the weather

April 2009
The Emergency Room & Hospital Stay


All of the kids have been sick over the past couple of weeks -- Gracie, in particular. She had a double ear infection and the doctor believes she had pneumonia. To make matters worse, we had to take Gracie to the Emergency Room the other day. She had a skin condition that eventually resulted in leg pain so bad that she could not walk. At the hospital they tried to put an I.V. in and missed four times. By that time she was crying uncontrollably. Eventually things calmed down a bit and she was admitted to the hospital and stayed over night. The interesting thing about all of this is they knew exactly what it was, but they indicated that the cause is unknown and, in fact, it all goes away on its own. The biggest risk is to the kidneys or digestive system, but the doctors said things in that regard looked good.

Thankfully, things got better just before we were set to go home (as you can see by the much missed smile on her face in the picture above). The child-life specialist gave Gracie a dolly (Gracie drew on the face of the dolly) and let her take care of the dolly the same way that the doctors took care of her -- i.e., an IV, bandaids, blood pressure checks, etc. Gracie really liked this and I think it helped her understand what went on a little better. The nurses were great. They checked on her regularly and were very nice -- they even brought her mini bottles of shampoo, toothpaste, etc because she saw some in the bathroom and wanted some of her own to take home. Although she will need to go in for regular check-ups over the next year, she is doing well and is almost back to her old self.

Easter

April 2009
Easter

The Artist - Her medium of choice is paint, and her subject......a butterfly, of course.

Our bucket runneth over (with Easter Eggs).

Dividing the spoils -- lots and lots and lots of candy.

Easter Eggs we all decorated. The kids loved it.

The decorating in action. The kids also built a boat and painted dinosaurs and butterflies.

The week before we watched General Conference, which was very good. We spread out pictures of gospel topics on the floor (i.e., boy praying, girl reading BofM, picture of Joseph Smith, picture of temple, etc) and if the kids her any of those topics mentioned by a speaker in Conference they let us know and we gave them a piece of candy. They loved it.

Church Ball

April 2009
Stake Tournament Basketball Champs


Church Basketball Champs - McLean 1st Ward.

Reed played on our ward basketball team here in Virginia. They ended up being tournament champs, beating each team in the tournament by less than 3 points.

Home For Rent

This home is looking for good renters -- do you know of any?

NW 175th Pl & NW Autumn Ridge Dr, Beaverton, Oregon, 97006

Available Immediately. Reasonable Rent. Call 503-816-0326 for additional details.


Front of house - two car garage.

Backyard with shed, swingset, and patio. Beyond the backyard fence is the park (gate is in back right corner).

Gas fireplace and bay window in front room.

Kitchen and eating area, which connects to both dining room and family room. Large windows throughout.

Master bathroom in upstairs master bedroom. Double sinks and jetted tub.

This two-level 2,200 square foot house was built in 1986 and is located at the end of a long, quiet cul-de-sac in Apollo Ridge and backs to Autumn Ridge Park (gate in backyard fence provides direct access to the park and adjoining forest, soccer fields, and playground equipment). In addition, it is within approximately one mile of Highway 26, the Tanasbourne shopping area, Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District, and more. It is also only a three-minute walk from the Latter-day Saint church. The MAX line is conveniently located at three locations: 158th and 185th, with a park-and-ride at 170th. Schools are McKinley Elementary, Five Oaks Middle School, and Westview High School.

Spy Museum

We went to the spy museum the other day with Rick and Jan. It was really cool. They detailed the history of various American and Russian spies, video clips on how to bug a room and how to pick a lock, and lots more. They even had a car with James Bond-like crime fighting gadgets. They also had spy computer games and gadgets you could buy at the gift shop. They had walls and ducts you could climb inside of. Lots of cool stuff. They wouldn't let you take any pictures though. We went without the kids, which was a good thing, because it is really geared towards older kids and adults.

Gracie and Andrew House

April 3, 2009
Gracie and Andrew House
Gracie practically lives in this house. She loves it. She even added dirt and seeds to the plant in the planter boxes in front.

Even Andrew likes the house. I guess you could consider him the man of the house.

If you could see inside their house you would see two chairs, a bunch of sticks and rocks on the shelf, and some toys. They actually request to eat their lunch in there some days. In addition, they sometimes play "The Three Little Pigs." One is the pig inside the house and the other is the wolf outside the house. They are pretty funny.

As you can see there is also a vanity mirror and a "porch" Munga made for them. This is where they park the "car." I am guessing that once summer is in full swing they will be adding a swimming pool to their pink estate.

Cherry Blossom Festival

April 2, 2009

Cherry Blossom Festival




It was chilly!

The magnolias are amazing as well.

The cherry blossom festival is a big deal here. At this time every year they have all sorts of events to celebrate spring time. The cherry blossoms are most prevelant at the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C.
We are so glad Munga and Grandpa Tanner could be here to enjoy it with us!

Supreme Court

April 1, 2009
Supreme Court

I got to see and hear first hand the opening arguments for Polar Tankers vs. Valdez, a state tax case at the U.S. supreme court. It was very cool (I know - I'm a nerd - But what do you expect from a tax accountant)! The place is enormous. With the pillars and sculptures it feels like you are in Greece hundreds of years ago. Everything is very formal there, and the inside is nothing like you see on Law & Order. I had to wait in line with a few friends from 7AM till just before 10AM to get in. Even then, we almost did not get in (they only let about 50-70 people in and we were handed numbers around 60). During the opening arguments the attorneys argued, but both took a bit of a beating from the Justices, as they were asked various questions. All in all, it was a great experience.

Air and Space Museum

March 28, 2009
Air and Space Museum


This is a picture of a space shuttle at the museum. There were tons of airplanes there, too.

Rick and Jan came to visit us that week. We loved having them here. They enjoyed the air and space museum as well. While there we watched a 30 minute iMAX video on military jets on one of the largest screens ever built. It was so loud the kids had to plug their ears at times.

Andrew loved the airplanes. One of the airplanes flew faster than the speed of sound. Some were older fighter jets, some were made to land on water, some were made for show, etc.