Down by the River

We made our first trip as a family down to the Columbia River a couple days ago, just to walk a ways along the water on the Vancouver side.  It'll be fun to go back sometime when the weather is warmer. Some amazing houses on the bluff overlooking the Gorge! Mount Hood was beautiful right behind the kids but it didn't show up in the picture, unfortunately.

Stealthy Sniper

Last night, Jordan introduced Jillian to his Nerf guns. If you watch the first clip closely, you'll see the stealthy shooter bounce a Nerf dart off my head.

Having nailed me once, she gets locked and loaded to try again, but she's laughing so hard she really can't get a shot off.

And in Scene Three, I finally acknowledge her presence.  I love how, about halfway through this clip, she pantomimes pulling the trigger.  

So gangsta.

World Premiere Video Here!

Here it finally is . . . a video slideshow of our big Both Hands adoption fundraising project from Saturday.  And catch this:  It features four brand new pictures of Jillian that we received just today.  They were taken last week.  We also got some updated info about her that was very encouraging and I'll share some of that here on the blog in the next day or so.  One month for today, we depart for China!

It's Done!

Saturday was our big Both Hands project and it was a fine success.  The weather was perfect, we had an awesome team that worked long and hard, and I think it turned out very well.  I will post only a few photos here because soon I'll be able to put up a video that shows the project more completely.  To everyone who helped, I don't think we can say thank you loud enough or often enough.  We appreciate your sacrifice!

An Early Start

As I mentioned before, we are doing a Both Hands project to raise funds for our adoption expenses. You can learn more at http://palmersworld.blogspot.com/2012/08/bringing-orphan-home-by-serving-widow.html or www.bothhands.org/muntz. To put it concisely, a team of volunteers has joined us in fixing up a widow's house and we are seeking sponsors for our day of work with all donations going toward Jillian's adoption.  Our workday is this Saturday but we decided to get an early start this afternoon.  My sister and her husband came down from Seattle to help Jeannette, Jordan and me.

 This is a picture from a few weeks ago, just to give a "before" look at the back porch:

Today, we cleared all the junk out from behind the shed.  We hauled off almost two pick-up loads of garbage and yard waste.

Jamey power washed the driveway and the whole house to prepare for repainting the trim and eaves, and to clean up the siding that we won't be painting.

Jordan took down the house numbers so that we can replace them with something a little more stylish . . .

So we got a good start but Saturday is the big day.  We're expecting to have about two dozen folks working on spreading bark chips, weeding, painting, reroofing the shed and more.  Wilma's very excited!

A Quick Family Trip

Last weekend, we went down to Klamath Falls for a couple of nights to attend Jordan Lyman's wedding and visit our old church. Here are a few photos from our drive home.

At Salt Creek Falls, a quick stop near Oakridge as we drove to Eugene . . .

On Monday, we spent the day on the lake with Jeannette's brother, Scott, and some of his family.  I enjoyed reading my Grisham novel in the front of the boat . . .

Something Old Becomes Something New

When we moved to Vancouver from Indiana, my mom gave us their old dining room table and chairs, which had been part of our family for as long as I can remember . . . at least back to 1964, I imagine.  I wish I had a "before" picture to include here but I don't have time to hunt for one.  Anyway, last week, Jordan repaired the burned spot and Jeannette painted the entire set a glossy black.  Here is the result!

Nesting

Jeannette's been on a home improvement kick lately.  She thinks she may be nesting in preparation for Jillian's arrival.  The good news is that she hasn't needed my help very much with any of this, other than access to our credit cards. 

She finally got rid of the dining room set that we bought in December 1985 as we moved into our first house.  The chairs were so rickety, you wondered if they would collapse under you whenever you sat down.  She found the new set on Craig's List for just $75 and it came with seven chairs.  It doesn't match our other furniture perfectly but it'll do a good job for us for the foreseeable future.

She also got Jordan to work repairing my mom's old dining room table, which had a burned spot in the middle.  He filled the hole with Bondo and then sanded it down.  We'll paint the table and chairs to hide his work.

Jeannette's been hard at work in the yard, too, as usual.  I asked her to give brief tours of the back and front of the house so you can see the work she and the kids have done.  She's done some painting, laid a little sod, brought in about three yards of bark chips and more.

A Family That Colors Together Stays Together

Jordan and Melody spent a couple of hours diligently filling in My Little Pony coloring books this evening.  Jordan can stay inside the lines now.

All Together Now for Mother's Day

Jordan and I picked up Phil in Chicago last night and brought him home from college, arriving in Fort Wayne around 4:30 AM. This meant that Jeannette didn't get to go to church with all her kids this morning but we tried to make up for it by taking her to Red Robin for lunch. It was the first time we've all been together since January. Melody exclaimed, "We're a family again!"

Phil gave her some silk pajamas . . . I have her some dark chocolate and the final season of 24 on DVD . . .

Jordan gave her a certificate for dinner and a movie . . .

Melody got her a new toe ring . . .

Christmas Season Snaps

I just have not had time to keep this blog up . . . I doubt too many people are even checking it any more! Nonetheless, here is a collection of photos, in somewhat random order, from the last few weeks.

With my new friend, Craig Crook. I was surprised at how few people at the party had ever heard of the town of Palmer, Alaska. Surprised? Devastated is a more accurate word for it.

Melody enjoyed holding Craig's new baby, William . . .

Jameson, warming his toes by the fire . . .

Our gift from my mom, sister and her husband . . .

Jeannette's new sweater . . .

Jameson got a couple of Nerf swords for Christmas. I was shocked at how much fun they were!

The gift Melody really wanted . . . swimming pool Barbie, with the pool and dogs, from cousin Alexia . . .

This shot is especially for Aunt Laura, to show off Melody's new outfit . . .