The Wood Between the Worlds

...This happens:

We came home from church last week on a ferociously windy day to find that our neighbor's carport thingy blew out of their yard and landed right on top of a good sized tree in our side yard, snapping it right in half! Poor tree. It was half dead when we bought this house and I was able to nurse it back to full health and it was getting nice and big and now...snap! What a bummer. It looks like I need to do some tree shopping.

We visited a very fun farm down in the Country...Canby, OR last week. There was a spooky train ride after dark, a hay pyramid to climb on with a maze inside to test your navigation skills, and of course picking up our own pumpkins! Now hopefully we'll get around to carving them before Halloween.

All of the festivities were after dark, but here are some pictures in the car on the way:

Brent's friend and colleague from pharmacy school came down to visit from the Seattle area. Brent and Allen went canoeing on Saturday morning and then we all went out to lunch at Old Wives Tales in Portland and took a brief tour of the Downtown Saturday Market. The boys were overly excitable during Allen's visit due to several Halloween parties and too much candy...we hope that Allen can forgive them and come back and visit again soon. Maybe next time we can go canoe around Point Defiance up on the Puget Sound!

These pictures are courtesy of Allen Shih:

I strongly recommend that you go view the music video for New Soul on YouTube. (I would put the clip on here, but I can't figure it out.)

Keeping it real:
I just have to say why this song means so much to me. I discovered it last year during Joshua's kindergarten year from hell. It was at the point where I had just about hit my lowest point. I could no longer take the negative comments from the teacher and the principal almost every day and felt that Joshua (a new and different beautiful soul) was greatly misunderstood and misjudged. This song pretty much described how I felt at the time and surprised me with HOPE for a happy end. I especially appreciated that the person making the mistakes wasn't asking someone to make her "normal" but tried to take others "by the hand" to go "far away" and see a different perspective. OK, now you can see why I was crying by the end of this concert. But the good news is, that at this time in life it is a cry for remembering hard times only. It is not a cry in the present tense. For this year, it seems as though Joshua never had any problems in school. And this end boosts my confidence so much because this was the end that I suspected all along. I always knew that Joshua would mature and grow out of his issues and it appears that he is and has. It just goes to show that the mother's intuition is always right!
yAeLnAiM official website...eNjOy!

Watch out the next time you try this little dance because according to Toby, this:

The one way that I can get the boys to agree to a hair wash is to allow them some time to style their hair. They make funny hairdos and laugh at each other. Then they look in the mirror and laugh at themselves. This particular day, they sported punker Mohawks.

Here are a few pictures of some fall planting that we did in our yard.

We had a fun adventure at the Great Wolf Lodge and Water park with some friends from our church ward (Edsons, Manisus' and Kerrs). We just had enough time to go up and enjoy the wave pool, water slides, hot tub and kiddie areas. Our kids had a blast playing with their friends. Brent and I had a great time going on the Howling Tornado with Tara, Brandon and Debbie. Sorry about all of my crazy screaming! We didn't take any pictures...we were too busy having fun. Here are some pictures that I found on the internet.

Ok, for any of you who are as excited about the Twilight Movie as I am, here is a link with some pictures from the movie that I have not seen before. It is the German Twilight Movie site. http://www.twilight-derfilm.de/. (Click on "Bilder".)

These are SO awesome! I am getting more excited for the movie. At first I was indifferent in the chosen cast, but as I get used to it I am starting to like it more. And I recognize many of the locations where these pictures are taken! Fun.

This is a really funny video of Joshua and Toby at the fish hatchery. The start/finish line of the race was located at the Leavenworth Fish Hatchery...providing hours of fun for the waiting tots. The humor of this clip lies in Joshua's enthusiastic antics and the fact that Toby follows him like a little puppet (which is what he does at home). He reacts so quickly, it's almost as if he can read Joshua's mind.

Alright, so we had a very fun weekend in Leavenworth. The crazy part came in the form of transportation to and from Leavenworth. The drive is supposed to take 5 hours each way from Portland...but it took us 7 hours to get there and 14 to get back (I'll get to that later).

The run was really great! Honestly, it was the best race all around that I have ever participated in. It was so beautiful! The weather was perfect. It was cool and varied between drizzle and breaks of sunshine. And as a plus I ran into one of my very good friend's (Joanne) younger sister during the race. I aways seem to run into someone I know running the race. Last time it was English's little sister. The costumes were awesome! People had lederhosen, drundels, braids, and bavarian hats. The food was awesome. And best of all, the proceeds went to fund cancer research. It feels so good to know all that moolah goes to a worthwhile cause!

Tomorrow we are leaving for this small Bavarian village in the Washington mountains. Every year they have the most excellent Oktoberfest! It has always been our family's tradition to go to Oktoberfest, since my dad is 100% German.

I will be running the Leavenworth Oktoberfest Half Marathon on Saturday. I am excited, but a little nervous. It has been a few years since I have run these distances. I started training a little late, and did a little too much in too short of a time. Thus, I have been nursing an overuse injury in my knee for a few weeks. But I have run 10 miles on it and now it actually feels 95% back to normal. I feel ready. This is supposed to be a pretty run along a river trail with the mountains and autumn leaves as a backdrop. I've also heard that they have polka bands playing along the route! They have a costume contest for folks who run in their German attire! And the 1-3 place prizes are authentic German beersteins! Not that I would win, but if I did I would ask for rootbeer in my stein.

Wish me luck!