Karate Kid

Check out Ethan at his first day of Taekwondo lessons. Pretty snazzy in the new uniform, eh?







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First in a Lifetime

There have been many firsts here in Oregon, and here's another...mowing the lawn in February!



Everything grows in the mid-Willamette Valley, but now we know spring can also start when it should still be winter. Notice the spring flowers which have been blooming for at least two weeks prior to today.

Happy Valentine's Day

The Magic Tree House book series has been Ethan's favorite for a few years now. For V-Day he received "Leprechaun in Late Winter." While not having read it yet, he promptly added the new book to his MTH collection which obviously takes up the better part of his bedroom floor - at least when he pulls the books out of the bin.




Reportedly, Ethan has read all 43 books and many of the companion research guides that have been published. His personal collection holds 28 volumes. The September release of "Ghost Tale for Christmas Time" is eagerly awaited.

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Reading Fever

Thankfully, Ethan hasn't taken the sickness that Tim & I had during the past few weeks. However, this morning, we discovered that he definitely has a reading fever! I found him laying in bed this morning reading. "What are you doing?" I asked. "Reading. Shh...I'm almost done," he said. Two minutes later he was in our room carrying the book and grinning like a Cheshire Cat. He had finished the second book in the Peter Pan series. He read this entire 556 page book since Monday! Completely amazing. (He said it's a good one!)

More Updates from 2009

Everything, literally everything, grows in Oregon. Look at the size of this jonquil that grew outside our front door last spring.

Ethan participated in an Easter Egg Hunt at a local church. Actually, it was more like a Candy Grab. There weren't many eggs out there!


How do you like this crazy smile? Think he was looking forward to the candy????

Beautiful view of Mt. Hood from town.

All dressed up, but no diploma! My first graduation as a faculty member. About half the faculty on this side of the stage.


Ethan's first try at bumper cars at a local festival.

Scrabble Slam

Ethan has become a Scrabble Slam champion since Christmas. At first he didn't have a chance of beating Tim, who's quite the Word King, but he beat both of us soundly tonight! If you haven't played, it's great for developing vocabulary. Ethan searches and searches for a new, unique word that will work in the game. Much faster paced than regular Scrabble!

Our Reader

Ethan has always loved to read, but he's really taken off in the past few months. He just finished Peter and the Starcatchers this afternoon. (It's a series of 'prequels' to the Peter Pan story.) He just got it from the library on Tuesday of this week. Check out the page number total. He says he's broken his old record for the longest book he's ever read.