Great Family, Terrible Bloggers

No one questions our greatness as a family. But when it comes to blogging, mmm, not so much. It might just be that we're already on facebook (most of us), or that each family has their own blog. I don't know. Either way, I got tired of seeing "So I Guess I'm a Lawyer?" so I decided to do something about it.

Oksana and I visited Mom, Dad, Kelly and Kaysha over labor day weekend. It was a good time for all, especially Enchanted Forest and ESPECIALLY the boot slide! Awesome!

I hope everyone is happy and doing well.

So I Guess I'm a Lawyer?

It has been a crazy month.

In April I travelled to Washington D.C. for a job fair put on by the Presidential Management Fellows program. I had been selected as a finalist, and was looking forward to starting a career with the federal government. Now, the stories circulating about this job fair were tales of fortune and glory--finalists being bombarded with on-the-spot offers and countless interviews. In essence, all I really needed to do was show up, look good, and sign on the dotted line.

Now, either these stories are gross exagerations, or the federal government has stopped hiring altogether, or both . . . probably both. I walked around at the job fair, met some nice people, and collected all kinds of cool pens, pads and bags from the different federal agencies that were there (the International Trade Administration had really cool pens). I dropped off resumes all over the place, but walked away totally empty handed. I really only had one interview, and it was for an agency that buys missile systems for the military, you know, exactly what I've always wanted to do.

Anyhow, I came home thoroughly discouraged. Then one night I applied for a job as an immigration attorney in WA on a whim. The guy called me back later that night, and long story short we are now in Yakima WA. So far I really enjoy the work. Oksana is working from home, and seems to like it ok.

We are both looking forward to Sunriver!!

Stephen and Oksana

Random Pictures.

Thanks so much for the visit. We enjoyed your visit--all of you.

Jacob and Mahlia at Oregon Coast Aquarium

This is the first time I've had a shark swimming over my head.

The Dittos--checking out the fish under their feet.

Master lincoln log builders :)

Our house on Calapooia Street. Dawn was a baby when we lived here. Deyce and Deena were born when we lived at this house.

House we lived in on Front Street while we were building our house on 33rd in 1977.

Dad's set up for working on the cabinets. We're thinking of getting a patent. Maybe Stephen can help.

Christmas in Albany 2010

This is our new kitchen ceiling complete with recessed lighting. 15 watt led bulbs. Also crown molding accented to match the kitchen cabinets. Labor was by Jon Jones and Dean & Rosalind Robbins.
Jon helped do some of the demo right after Christmas and Dean & Rosalind took over from there. Much of the painting was done by Rosalind.

Here is the floor around the bar looking east. You can see how we took it to the other side of the office door from where it used to be. You can also see that we used about a 3" tall piece of tile for the base all around the tiled areas. This was a suggestion by Vern of Albany Cabinet. They did the work. He was right. It looks very sharp.

Here is a shot of the floor around the bar. We widened it and no longer have a metal strip. The carpet and the tile are about the same height. We also did a 45 degree angle instead of the rounded look at the corner.

Here is our new tiled kitchen floor. We put the tile on a 45 degree angle to the room. Looks very nice.

This is our new tiled entry way. It is very cool. Both types of cool. ha ha These tiles are smaller than the ones in the kitchen. Vern also decided to use a little darker tile boarder. The tiles used for baseboard in the kitchen and laundry room are also the darker ones.

We will be putting down new counter tops next week. Woohoo!!

Little Cousins

Logan and I had a nice little trip to CA this past week. Garrick made good progress on his dissertation while we were gone, and Logan loved having his cousins to play with. In fact, in the 20 or so hours since we've been home, Logan has asked to go to Evan's house at least 20 times. He just doesn't quite get that it is so far away.

That reminds me...Garrick's older brother and his family will be moving to UT this summer. We're excited to have them much closer and want to let you all know that we'd love to have even more family living in UT. Anyone? Anyone?

Well, I'm not much in the writing mood right now, but I did want to post these pictures. So, this is short, but hopefully sweet.

New house

Well the latest news in our life is we are not building a house in tangent. Long story short the appraisal did not meet the amount we needed to cover building. It felt to us that it wasn't meant to be. So we decided to look at other options just incase. We fell across this place and both love it. We have an accepted offer on the house and if all goes smoothly will be new home owners in 30 days or so! kaysha

Newport Marathon and Our Garden

Deena just before the halfway point.

Brent just after turning around at the halfway point.

Deena on her way back after the half way point. Look at that sky. VERY nice day.

The garden is looking great this year.

I added a new fence and six and one half new raised beds. What do ya think? We are excited.