Out with a bang.

Hey there,

We have been busy with the last part of this month.

We went to the opening night of the Portland Rose Festival because it ends with a fireworks show that dazzles.

This time, Ara brought along her friend Cheyenne instead of Sethanne, who apparently had something come up at the last minute (despite having been begging to go for nearly a year).

It was a good event – the parents are still in town for another couple of days before heading back on Sunday… so they got to see the show as well.

The next day, we took a trip to the coast to get Bowpicker’s Fish and Chips. Still as good as ever (and seriously good). After we finished eating, the kids begged to go to the beach, so we relented and went to one of the closer ones to us in Astoria.

They had a blast.

Until she didn’t.

Arabella is pictured here – with her phone. Some 10 to 20 minutes later, a wave came in, and at the same time, her phone dropped out of her hoodie. We have never seen that phone again. We pinged it, and it indicated a death at sea. RIP to her Android.

Later on that week, we had our 2nd-to-last Tuesday night bible study. Mostly uneventful. A couple of days later, we saw a bunny (who we had seen at the neighbors’ before). I was able to sneak up behind and grab her. The kids swooned over the little bunny.

We couldn’t get a hold of anyone, so it spent the night in our house. The next day, we were able to reach the neighbors, who thanked us for catching the bunny.

What else?

Let’s check them off. It’s been a week+ of fixing.

• We noticed our shower control needed to be replaced, so I’ve started taking it apart.
• Our floor has been buckling for years, so we need to replace it as well – nothing like 7k of work.
  • 7k? Why not just file a home insurance claim? Well… we shouldn’t do that. Why? Well, we had to file a claim 2 years ago for an ice storm that burst our pipes in the garage, and learned that if you make more than 2 claims in 6 years, you have a higher likelihood of being dropped or a drastic increase in your cost for the next 4 to 6 years. Out of pocket it goes.
• At the same time, our garage door sensors died, so I just installed new sensors (that work beautifully now)
• Did I mention our kitchen drawer? Yet another has to be replaced – so I’m on the task for that as well.

Fun times!

To round out the month, Arabella had a sleepover with Lynley (this was not her house; they went to her neighbors’ by accident). The last photo is of me leaving church. I had all of the kids with me, but not the wife. She had plans to spend the afternoon/evening with some friends.

I spent the afternoon and evening with the kiddos- they didn’t get too crazy on me, so I’ll take the win.

June is next?! No way. Yawheh!

just Pray