Dresses from Jenny's Childhood

Jenny inherited a box recently that had a bunch of dresses she'd worn as a kid. It was dress up time for Zaeda.

The things kids will do for Pokemon cards

 Oliver's new obsession is Pokemon cards and they've become useful currency in our house. You get 10 in a pack, and he'll do all sorts of jobs to earn them.

One Pokemon card earned by washing windows, inside and out.

This is our cat Lilly. We've had her for about 11 years. Has she ever appeared on this blog before? She's not very social, but this day she came out to play Pokemon.

Found this selfie on the camera after I taught Oliver to use the timer. 

Here is my neighbor Chris. He helped me drop a huge limb off the tree in the back yard. And he didn't demand Pokemon cards for helping me. But I did offer him some beer.

Oliver earned one Pokemon card for helping me gather the firewood from the limb we dropped.

Here is a grappling hook I made to pull down widow-makers -- large dead branches, hung up in the top of the trees-- before they fell down on someone..

Zaeda will also do odd jobs for Pokemon cards, but she doesn't play with them. It just bugs her brother when she gets them.

Stormbuilders! Lego Team

Oliver's lego team submitted their project, a bridge, to the big Lego build-off at OMSI.  He had a great time building it with his friend Nicholas and some other boys. Everyone got to build a section.

Boys being goofy: Oliver and Nicholas

Oliver and Nicholas

Team Stormbuilders

Snowed In

Seaside, January 2014

Last week, we joined the extended Price family for a terrific time in Seaside!

Oliver gets very serious about his beach science!

Zaeda's first Haircut

For the first time ever, Zaeda had a little professional work done on her hair. They didn't take much off!

R.I.P. Peet Evers 2000 - 2014

In his first week's with us, after he'd gotten over the typical Humane Society infections and colds.

A couple weeks after getting married in the summer of 2000, Jenny and I started our little family by adopting the sickest kitten at the Humane Society.  We named him Peet and he grew into a very loving adventurous cat. We installed a cat door and gave him free run of the outdoors. We used to find him roaming several blocks from our home in NE Portland. He caught many songbirds before we loaded him up with so many bells he jangled like a Christmas sleigh. For as often as he crossed busy city streets, tangled with cats, dogs and racoons in back alleys, we honestly expected him to meet his end much earlier than yesterday. But he was lucky. And so were we. We'll always remember him as effectionate and playful, a cat who loved to climb up on shoulders, purr in ears, and sleep on laps.   

In recent years, he slowed down his bird hunting, but he still prowled our back yard. He lived an ideal feline life. The kids loved him. We all loved him. 

We'll miss you, Peet.