Happy 2010!

Well first I promised some Christmas pictures so here goes....

Jon with some fancy gourmet tea.


Cody.....


Adam....


Lorelei....


On Monday the 28th and Tuesday the 29th Lorelei took care of the two kids that she babysat several years ago. It was fun seeing Maggie and Eden again. I took off work most of that week so I got to spend Tuesday with them too.
When I awoke Tuesday morning the temp was in the low 20's. A quick check of the weather report said that rain was moving in and the snow level would be at 4,000 feet. Being that we are only at 750 ft elevation....no problem right? So about 10:00 the kids wanted to go outside, so we bundled everybody up and went up to the campsite. The temperature was NOT warming up and sure enough, no sooner was the campfire going than it started to snow! How in the heck could they miss the weather forecast by this much.? Roads and freeways in Portland were shut down, cars were stuck on the road coming up and down our little mountain road. Oh well we stayed outside until everyone was thoroughly wet and cold.

Below Eden holds a warm cup of hot chocolate while Maggie decides if she likes the snow.





Eden and Cody having some fun on the sled .


All of the pictures from December can be found HERE

The day after the snow storm I got myself into a pickle (I know....what a surprise)...see there was this maple tree that was angled towards the power lines near the top of the property. So I decide... (sometimes my reasoning behind my decisions is questionable) that it needs to be cut down. So the big worry is getting the tree to fall away from the power lines. So I start cutting and putting chains and cables to pull the tree the way I want and I begin to get nervous. So I go back to the house to get Jon and the truck. We hook up the truck so I can pull while Jon finishes cutting the tree. Well to make a very long story short, I managed to get the truck stuck and I pinned my brand new Carhart jacket (the one Lorelei got me for Christmas) under the bumper of the truck!
We got the truck jacked up and freed my new jacket. Then we managed to get the truck out of the mud. Finally it looked like the tree was going to fall the right way so we put a come-along on it and winched it the rest of the way over. No problem.......of course now we had muddy chains and cables, the truck was a mess and oh yeah....my new jacket. Luckily Lorelei was in town so I put my jacket in the washing machine and it came out great!

New years was uneventful, nice and quiet. Adam came home on Saturday and he heads back to Portland tomorrow.

That's about all for now!

Glynn Jr.

More stuff...........

So on the 17th of Dec. Adam had his 20th birthday! We now have one less teenager. Adam, as most of you know is going to college at Portland Bible College. He is on winter break but he works near his college dorm so he stays in Portland. He actually worked on his birthday and he was grateful for the extra hours. Adam has worked so hard and is paying for his college almost entirely on his own! I was on a job interview in Portland a couple of days before his birthday so we met up for an early dinner.

Adam has turned into a "health nut" and I say that with the utmost admiration. He doesn't touch sugar, everything he eats must be natural and organic. He is running and working out and he's in great shape. Kudos to you son, we are very proud of you!

Jon is busy with school, basketball and church. If the team can pull together they may do well but our league is the toughest in the state.


On the 17th Cody performed in the schools winter recital. Cody has an amazing ear for music.
All of the pictures from the recital are HERE


Christmas was low key for us. Adam came home on Christmas Eve about 6:00 p.m. and had to leave on the 26th in the morning. We had a great meal and good fellowship. The oil needed to be changed in Adam's truck so we took care of that chore. Adam and Jon whooped up on Cody and I in Pinochle.
I took most of the week off and spent time on chores around the place. I cut down some trees and had a burn pile going on the 23rd. I was raking debris into the pile and set the rake up against a nearby tree. I turned back towards the tree and forgot about the rake and just like in the cartoons, I stepped on the end and WHAM. Busted my lip open and nearly knocked out a tooth. This was an hour before Lorelei and I were leaving to go Christmas shopping. So I spent the day going from store to store with cool stuff oozing out of my continually swelling lip. To top it off, somehow I got poison oak all over the back of my neck. Hmmm....I think it's safer for me at work.
The new chickens are finally starting to lay a few eggs. Queenie is doing well. The bird feeder has been jammed lately. Mostly juncos and chickadees and of course lots of quail. We also have a wayward female pheasant that has been hanging around (wayward because she has a tag on her beak so she must belong to someone).
I will post some Christmas pictures when I get to them.

Glynn Jr.

Lorelei's birthday and California visitors....

Well....Friday was Lorelei's birthday! We couldn't put all the candles on the cake......well....mainly because they wouldn't fit. So we put 3.



Actually the candles and the cake were supplied by Lorelei's friend Kelly who drove up from California with her son Ryan for a visit! Kelly is a bundle of energy and just a really great person. We had an awesome weekend.



We really enjoyed Ryan's company also. He loves the outdoors so we spent most of Sunday out on the property. Cody and Ryan had a blast. It was a bit chilly so we bundled up and headed up to the campsite.


One evening there was a never ending game of UNO going on.



Lorelei and Kelly went shopping and drove around looking at property.
We just hung out and had a good visit. Thank you Kelly and Ryan for helping to make Lorelei's birthday weekend one to remember!



Glynn Jr.

Thanksgiving......

Adam got home late Wed. night. We had a fun day on Thursday and Lorelei made an awesome Thanksgiving feast.


After dinner Adam had to show Jon some new jiu jitsu moves.




On Friday the boys and I got up early and did some Black Friday shopping. We picked up a few good deals at Staples and then we went out for breakfast. Adam had to leave around noon to head back to work in Portland.
All the boys are doing well!

Glynn Jr.