my life, my words.

Hey There,

It’s crazy that we are six months into this year.

Here we are more than a month after selling our car, still in a loaner.

On Saturday, we were driving home when we saw a Sheriff pull up and stop traffic. Someone was taking the curve too quickly and came into oncoming traffic. If we had been just a few seconds earlier… who knows what would have happened?

The next day we went to Church. Luca however was not wanting to go to Sunday school. He clung to his mama and refused to let go. She spent a good 20 minutes trying to convince him but to no end. He stayed with us and we missed everything that happened. We ended up having to leave the main area because he was being too loud and wouldn’t quiet down. At least the other kids seem to enjoy going.

On Monday I took a trip – down the stairs. My arm took the brunt of it. Scraping up against the wall and some items we had up before plunging into the stairs. I didn’t go the whole distance, but it wasn’t fun. I don’t recommend that trip for anyone. This is why we tell our kids to not leave everything on the stairs. I was bringing down trash and recycling to our outside bins when that happened. Ah well.

What else?

Hmm.. minor news? I have been spending some time painting around the house. Above is a before and after photo. If you zoomed in you would see that there is marker and all the other stuff that the kids had left on the door. So after cleaning it and scrubbing we painted over and it looks a lot better now. Not sure how long it will last, but I’ll take the win, even if it is only shortly lived.

Speaking of painting… we were able to completely remove the deck from the backyard and needed to paint the new boards that my dad cut and put up for us. (shot out to him!)

So, a few weeks after looking at the yellow I decided it would just be best to get the painting done. I took Arabella outside with me and we painted it down. It is nice to have it match the rest of the house now.

Hmm.. so what else?

We started going to a new dentist, because the old one made all our our mouths hurt for a few months, doing things that shouldn’t hurt. Above is a photo of Lijah who just finished his turn and was excited about his new toothbrush.

We also went to Costco. The kids were begging to eat at Costco so we stopped to get hotdogs. The two older ones were fighting with each other the entire time. Frustrating. Especially when people were staring at us because Elijah sounded like he was dying when he screamed. It doesn’t matter how much we talk to them about this, they keep on doing it anyway. Ugh.

“A man screaming is not a dancing bear. Life is not a spectacle.”
― Aime Cesaire

just Pray

It’s been a pretty normal-ish month. If you can have one of those at this stage.

I have been doing yard work (see the jungle I had to cut in the backyard).

Mark another change: we started going to a new church. New Hope!

Also, I sent back my laptop to P3 just the other day. It’ll be nice not having so many other items around and simplifying with the MacBook instead. The MacBook is nice because I can text and respond to stuff from my laptop (since I have an iPhone) and it’s logged into my iCloud account. I never had that option on my Windows computer.

What else?

Well, the Portland Rose Festival has kicked off. For the first time, we were able to take everyone down to see the fireworks for the opening night. It was fun! See below:

And finally, another change.

The kids recently destroyed our vacuum cleaner. I wasn’t thrilled by it, nor was Sky – and so for the past few weeks we have been using a dust buster rather than a regular vacuum (due to the cost). We changed that by getting this one from Costco. The last time we had a Dyson Arabella was so little. It makes the time seem like it’s going by so quickly sometimes…

Anyway, that was the newest change. Plus we figured our kids are animals 😉 so we got the Dyson ball animal.

What about the baby?

He is getting bigger each day (or it seems like it to us). Here is a photo we took of him in a onesie that P3 sent to the family after he was born. Cute photo for a cute kid.

Lastly… I have been treated in the last 2 weeks to two lunches at work. The first time was I was able to meet with the executive director and chat it up with her (which was pretty great – to be honest) and then we had a team event this week (pictured above, of the food). It has been odd to have any reason to meet up with anyone anywhere- after having been disconnected from others for so long as my last job.

The job? Is nice. I find myself enjoying what I’m doing. I know, I know – that’s crazy talk.

I must say it is pretty weird to have a job where you are treated like an actual adult. Like an equal. It isn’t something you think of I suppose, until it happens. It has been a slow fade for the last five years. But now? I’m talked to like an equal, not a less than. It’s something where I feel like… “hmm yeah I could get used to this.”

just Pray

Hey there

How is this for a photo of my first day?

It wasn’t my office, but the new boss’ house.

Afterward, we went to an Apple store and he purchased the laptop that I’d be working on (a MacBook Air) which I am excited about.

Also, had a chance to check out the office that the company has (nothing too crazy, but if I needed to meet with others I wouldn’t have to drive to Seattle or San Francisco – hope – rather about an hour or so into the office from where we live. I’ll however be working remotely, but good to know it’s there if needed.

What else? Hmm.. am I forgetting something?

I thought something seemed to happen this time of year… every year.. at the same time and day. Hmm..

OHHHH Yes.

Elijah! The birthday man himself.

He turned the big 7 this year. Having seen Ghostbusters in theaters he wanted to have a Ghostbusters-themed birthday which my wife was more than happy to provide him with. Afterward, he requested that we go eat some Sushi for dinner. So -this was my best chance at a photo with everyone. Since we weren’t all at a table or something it was hard to have everyone hear what was going on. Alas, we ended up with this photo.

Still captured the moment.

My silly boy. Elijah, you are a handful. You have given me a few gray hairs and wrinkles to match. This is a time of change for you as you are growing and getting bigger. I can’t wait to see the person you will become, the man of God that you seek to be now – I want to see this grow!

until next time

just Pray