Category: Out and About

The sites and scenes of our everyday life away from home.

Second Grade: Christmas Program

It’s time for the show!

The school put on their annual Christmas program tonight and it was called, “We Three Spies” by C.S. The kids did an awesome job and the message was AMAZING! So glad I bought the video!

I did take my camera but it’s just not up to par anymore. The best ones are below…

Program…

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Before the show both the violin class and the 5th and 6th grade band played.

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She just arrived on stage.
She’s on the right in the front.

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Isabel singing her duet part with Ms. Reece.
(She did an AWESOME job!)

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Back singing with the group.

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All the kids together.
Ms. Cameryn (far left holding the large bag – 4th grade) is getting ready to sing her amazing solo.
(this girl can sing!!)

2013-12-19 015_edited-1The program is just about over now, the kids are starting to show how tired they are.
All that hard work paid off with a fantastic program!
We’ll get the video next month – can’t wait to see the performance again!

The Christmas Tree Hunt

This morning we headed south to the tree farm to hunt down our perfect Christmas tree.

This is our fourth year going on the hunt and today was a gorgeous sunny cloudless day!

The temperature wasn’t ideal at only 24° but that made for some quick picking. We were in and out in about an hour.

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Ice crystal patches that were every where on the ground.
Would have gotten closer if I had the better camera with me.

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This is the one!
Daddy’s already cutting it down in the back and to the left.

2013-12-07 005_edited-1She’s all smiles. We got our tree and she got a cane.
Now it’s time for some frozen yogurt!

Birthday Party – Maddie

Today Isabel went to a birthday party for a friend from school.

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She had to wear her best party dress and go with clean hair and nails.
The silly face was optional.

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Party girls: Sydney, Jenna, Maddie, Allie, Mila, Isabel and Madeline.

The girls got their hairs done and their fingernails painted! They even had the choice of getting a bit of make-up too!

They had cupcakes, candy, pizza, sparkling apple juice, suckers, fruit cups and more candy! It was crazy wild fun and the girls didn’t want to leave for home.

Happy Birthday Maddie!

Western Terrestrial Garter

Or also known as the Wandering Garter snake.

I had no idea we had snakes in our area or neighborhood until today!

Isabel and I were driving back home from school when I noticed this reptile crossing the main road to our house. I thought ran it over but after stopping the car and getting out, we realized it was still alive. Luckily, I also able to get a photo with my camera too.

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It’s a Western Terrestrial Garter snake (which means it’s not poisonous to humans)
and it can get up to 42 inches in length.
This one was a good size.

2013-10-23 002_edited-1I tried getting a picture of it’s bright red tongue but it was to fast.

Isabel wanted to pick it up but I told her I wasn’t sure if it was poisonous to us, so we just observed it and it watched us.

Autumn Leaves

For the past week or so Isabel has been asking us to rake leaves. Normally we don’t have any leaves to rake but since our tree out front has produced enough to actually rake up this year, we let her rake them. We had fun!

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She’s got a big task ahead but she’s excited!

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Daddy helped, while she picked up hand fulls to get her pile big!

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While she was picking up leaves, she found a caterpillar.
It wasn’t moving so I don’t know if it was still alive.

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And now comes the real fun!!

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She runs.

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She leaps.

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She falls.

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She lands!

She did several leaps into the pile until it got to scattered and she didn’t want to rake anymore.

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Hiding in the leaves.

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Making “leaf angels”.

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She found another caterpillar. This one was stuck to the lamp pole.
This one was moving.

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Hurray!
Pure joy!

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Can you hear her giggling?
I can…

Concert: The D.A.

Last night, we headed to an area church to support our fellow Christian brothers in the new band: The D.A.

These brothers used to be part of another larger band called, DCB. While the leader of DCB, wanted to move on with his career and life. The D.A. wanted to stay together, so they formed a new band.

They are doing a great job and their music is another awesome addition to our collection!

2013-10-30 009_edited-1We purchased a bracelet and CD for Isabel.
(bracelet inside: I’ve never felt more found than when I’m lost in you.)
After the concert we waited around to talk with the band and to get autographs.

God bless The D.A.

Crater Lake – Day 2

After dinner and PIE, at Beckie’s Cafe along Highway 62, we headed over to a trail head just north of there.

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Rogue Gorge trail head.

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Have you ever seen a stump like this?
Most stump’s we’ve seen have been smooth.

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The living stump from the above photo.

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The tree that “feeds” the stump, goes up and up and up!

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Learning about the Rogue River Gorge/Chasm.

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Can you see it through the trees.
A very pretty area but hard to see with all the foliage in the way.

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Lava tubes just like the “natural bridge” we went to see this morning.

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The lava tubes that are mentioned in the sign above.
This area was very cool to see in person.

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Looking down stream into part of the gorge.

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Looking upstream.
So pretty and the sound of the water was so peaceful to hear.

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The uppermost area before the gorge/chasm.

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Before heading into the gorge/chasm the water cascades down.

2013-08-09 146_edited-1Feeling better after we finally got something to eat.
We have had a busy busy day! Looking forward to some fishing a bit later…

Crater Lake – Day 2 part 4

As we continue on our Rim Drive tour, the day is quickly getting away from us and we have so much more to see!

We bypass several overlooks and come along Cloudcap Overlook (ONLY open during the summer) on the east side of the lake.

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Cloudcap Overlook is the highest paved road in Oregon and is 1-mile long.

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Looking Northwest.
The sides of the caldera create shadows along the edge of the water.

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Looking west.

Whitebark pines cling to the surrounding area (not pictured) for survival, dwarf and contorted by the harsh winds that sweep across. Gino pointed them out just as we were driving back down the mountain. If I would have seen them, I would have gotten photos (next time!).

Our next stop along the drive was the Phantom Ship Overlook. The “other” island, they say it resembles a small sailboat (I’m not seeing it).

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This area is surrounded by trees, so views of the lake are seen through them.

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Looking Northwest toward Watchman Overlook.

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Our tour of the lake is about over and I think we are about done too.

The East Rim Drive road (only open during the summer!) is very bumpy and in need of repair. There are no guardrails along the way, which I thought was very strange, because the road got very close to the edge a few times!

Our last stop along the Rim Drive was Vidae Falls.

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Vidae Falls comes from a spring fed creek that tumbles 100 feet along the cliffs.

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Trying to get a good picture of the falls was a bit difficult but I was able to get a great shot of the sign!

That’s our day at Crater Lake, we would love to go back and see more. Right now it’s time for some dinner and then we are off again…