My Sister, The World Traveler

My sister, Cheryl, just returned from Thailand, where she was teaching English through a Christian ministry. I encourage you to check out her blog, read some stories and look at some pictures of her adventure!....... Click on "Cheryl and Kevin" under "Other People We Think Are Kinda Cool" to the right.

Grammy and Pappy Time!

In front of Mt. Hood at the look outKiddy pool fun......wears Amya out!
Amya loves watching Grammy get ready


Amya loves posing for pictures. She is such an angel!

Creamcycle Baby!

Family Time

Fruit Loop

On Sunday we decided to do the "Fruit Loop" which is a 35 mile round trip self guided tour of some of the area's orchards and farms. We chose 5 of the 35 stops and picked blueberries, tasted wine, fed farm animals and took in the sights.Blueberry pickingAmya loved the baby ducks!

A lavender farm

A Day In The Desert

Insitu had a demontration day on Saturday out in the Oregon desert. We watched the Scan Eagle launch and "land" in the Sky Hook.
The Scan Eagle was flying at about 2,000ft, sending a video down link with amazingly detailed images of us looking up at it!
Dan designed the "arm" (the horizontal bar) on the Sky Hook.

Here are a couple video clips! Turn down your volume, it was windy!

Launch

Catch

Grammy And Pappy Are Here!

Grammy and Pappy are visiting from Vermont!

(Elmo is never too far away)
(see!)

Trying on Grammy's shoe!

Story Time!

Grammy and Pappy came to story time today.
Good friends share things......even their name tags!

Time to boogie!!

Insitu Sells To Boeing

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1216785311210440.xml&coll=7
I don't know if this link will work...(if anyone knows how to do this by clicking on the title instead of this link, can you tell me how)
This should be a link to the story about how the company Dan works for just sold to Boeing! I guess people at his work are pretty excited about it.

Don't Try This At Home

The blood mobile showed up at Dan's work last week and Dan thought... hey, I haven't done this since college, but why not give it a try!... that was one of the last thoughts Dan had before going out for the count! Upon waking, 10 seconds and a crazy dream later, to people with gloves and masks shaking him, Dan's survival instincts kicked in and he tried to "escape" and jump off the table. Two hours of rest and cookies later, I was called to come pick him up. The best part of it all is, he actually did give blood that day!

Boat Cruise

We went on a paddle boat cruise with Dan's company today. Amya loved it...she definitely doesn't remember that she spent her first four months on a boat because everything seemed shiny and new to her.

(I don't know what happened here, but I think it is cool!)
...Dan, in the middle of a conversation with a co-worker...
Some of the sights

One Fish Two Fish...

Actually, one fish...but yeah! Dan caught his first (real) fish with a fly rod!

Elmo

"Obsessed" may be the best word to describe Amya's feelings towards Elmo, but it doesn't quite seem strong enough. Elmo doll, Elmo book, Elmo DVD, Elmo toothbrush, Elmo sneakers. The other day, she had to take her Elmo washcloth with us on our errands. To the post office, gift shop, grocery store...the Elmo washcloth was there, cuddled up next to her cheek. Before we left Michigan, John drew and Elmo "tattoo" on her hand. The first gas station we went to, Amya ran up to a stranger (a big trucker guy) and pointed to her hand saying, "Elmo! Elmo!" He didn't know what to make of the situation, so he politely smiled and walked by. Amya was visibly disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm.

Elmo gets to do whatever Amya is doing...eat, drink, get her face washed (Amya requests an extra wipe, so she can attend to Elmo's messy face). The other day she wanted to put a bow in Elmo's hair, of which he has none. Poor Elmo got a bow clipped right to his eye!

When Playing Jenga With Your Family, Don't Lose...

.

..it was either this, or walk into the lake up to my waist. It was a cold day, and a cold lake.

(I don't know how to rotate videos)

Vacations Rock!

We're back from our vacation to Michigan to see the extended Nelson families! We had so much fun (even Amya...if it doesn't look like it, it is just trick photography). Great Grandma Mema, Burt and Chris Ann, all four Nelson kids with spouses and kids gathered on Lake Michigan for a week of fun! Here are some (and I do mean some) of the pictures to prove it!

Thank you Petersons, for taking care of the kitties while we were gone!

Summer Bugs

(look how happy our daughter looks!)

You can't have too much bug spray around!

Eastern Oregon

We had to stop for a diaper change in eastern Oregon. I was struck by how beautiful the simple scenery was... take a look...

Say Cheese!!

Here are some staged/posed pictures!

(is this symbolic for the two boys who are still baking? humm...)



(pretend that Amya is happy in this picture)