I caught up with Mike and Kelly (and the girls) at Mikayla's winter concert Thursday evening. They did a great job and it was so fun to see all of the seventh graders perform. Lots of Christmas activities in the next couple of weeks. I'll try to keep everyone posted :)

Yesterday we picked up Mom Peters, Lloyd, Nancy and Orv and came back to the house to watch Denver Bronco's play the Minnesota Vikings. How's about that defense!! Carol fixed Spaghetti and meatballs - way too good! We drove out to Willamette National Cemetery to pay our respects to Dad Peters. We returned to the house and Mike & Kelly brought the girls over for desert and entertainment :)   More to come soon.

Thursday, December 1st,we picked up Orv, Nancy and Lloyd Dyer at PDX and drove them to Mom Peters' place in Beaverton. Yesterday we drove them to visit the Matney's in Salem, OR. We had a great visit and a bowl of chili :) Last night we drove around the Portland International Raceway and saw the Christmas lights display - great job! Today we're going to get a sneak peek at Carol's dress rehearsal for next week's church children's choir presentation of "The Great Christmas Giveaway". Tonight we're going to White Christmas in Lake Oswego. More pics and info to come soon.

A couple more pics of the Phoenix race and Dinner at Red Robin - the whole gang! It was hard to go back to work after such a great weekend. Hope everyone is doing well, more to come soon.

On Monday, 31 October 2011 I flew out of Portland and attended a two day school in Chicago. It was fast and furious! Then I came home and got ready for Phoenix International Raceway! I left Portland on Saturday a.m. , met my brother Russ and his son John at the airport in Phoenix and we drove to the PIR track. We met my Dad, brother Don, and his sons Paul and Eric in the stands. And we also sat with Frank (Lynette's squeeze), Joshua, and Caleb (my two grandsons!). The weather co-operated and the racing was great! After the race on Sat. and Sun. we had dinner at Lynette and Franks place in Peoria. Thanks for the great food and entertainment (football)! This was the BEST trip I've had so far...everything went pretty well.

Hope everyone had a good time and returned home safely. I'll add more soon! 

This was a long week...anyway...it's the weekend! Carol & I worked around the house in the A.M. Then we picked up Mom Peters and headed for the beach :)  We had dinner at Mo's in Canon Beach (first picture). And Carol took the pooch for a walk on the beach. Payton slept on Mom's lap all the way home. It was almost 60 degrees and slight wind - perfect for this time of year.

These two pictures are from Depot Bay, OR. Look at the view the homes and hotels  (first picture) have - overlooking the Pacific! Have a great week...looking forward to the weekend.







This weekend Carol & I celebrated Carol's birthday by spending time on the coast. Friday evening we had dinner at Grande Ronde (buffet). Then we went down to Lincoln City and stayed Friday and Saturday night. Saturday we went to Newport and did a little shopping. We tried our best to bowl a couple of games - that was funny! Then we came back and walked the beach for a while and went swimming at the hotel. I love the Jacuzzi! We ate an early dinner and took in a movie - Killer Elite (complicated plot). The ocean shot above was from our hotel room window (with zoom). We left this morning - it was cloudy, but warm. Thanks to everyone for making this weekend possible!  

Did you notice the "Wheel Of Fortune" bus at Chinook Winds parking lot (last picture)? They were taping audiences for upcoming shows. More to come very soon.

Yesterday was Mom Peters' birthday...so Carol and Vonnie got together with the folks at Rock Creek Retirement Center and everyone had a great time! Jim & Vonnie Lash bought Mom flowers - great roses! And we had dinner in the guest dinning room. We were joined by Mike, Kelly, the girls, Linda and Ron Rangel for dessert and gift openings. Mom turned a young 85.  We took her to Annie Get Your Gun last weekend. We'll post more after the weekend - Lincoln City for Carol's Birthday :)  

Yesterday we took Jim & Vonnie Lash with us to Lincoln City, OR to the "Surf City" car show. As you can tell, it was raining (again). But, we still managed a few pictures. Carol had her hair done Saturday a.m. (bad timing :) )  We had luch at Mo's, then back to the house for some pinnocchle!

Hope everyone enjoys the pics! I'll post more soon - birthdays coming up!!!

Last weekend (Labor Day) we worked in the yard and added the last of the red rock in the front yard. And cleaned up the backyard a little. We took a little side trip to Lincoln City for Lunch at MO's - we are so spoiled :) This week I had to go to Seaside, OR for Patterson (my Job) and then drove to Florence and Coos Bay. I met Travis Mason (another Patterson Repair Tech) in Florence and we drove to Coos Bay. The next day we worked on Cerec software upgrade, then I drove 4 hours home. Really busy week.

Today we went over to Mom Peters place and we did some "deep cleaning". Then it was time to mow the grass (front & back), and wash the Patterson Van (lots of bugs!). Hope all is well with everyone - I'll post more soon.

What a week...we were travelling from Denver on Monday. That afternoon we really got alot of work done around the house. The rest of the week flew by! Friday night we picked up Mom Peters and went to a Bar-B-Q at Mike & Shiela Done's (Mom's Realator). It was a great evening...super food...great weather. Saturday a.m. Kelly dropped off Gracie and Savanah. Mike & Kelly went to the Seattle Mariner's game and spent the night. We took the little ones to....the beach! Wrong day to take Hwy 26...Hood to Coast Bike & Run was going on and they were going to meet in Seaside. So, we decided to go to Canon Beach. Great weather! And Carol packed lots of snacks and drinks :)  When we got home, we all couldn't wait to take a shower. The girls slept until about 8:30a.m. Sunday. Carol fixed breakfast for everyone (my favorite meal). Kelly & Mike picked the girls up around noon. It kinda got real quiet around the house for some reason.

We received a call at about 6:30a.m. today - my Dad said that my Mom had fallen on the way to the restroom last night. He had to call 911 to get some help. They took Mom to the hospital in Cheyenne and she'd fractured the right side hip. Surgery was early this evening. They were going to place a pin in the hipbone to strengthen the fractured area. Prayers are certainly with You, Mom!!! Dad said Mom could come home in about three days. More to come...

This is the 2005 car that I won on EBAY this weekend. The kurtbusch2008 is the codename for the EBAY person I bought it from. Look at the "color chrome" paint job! I ought to have it in about 5 days or so. Just thought I'd share!

Last Saturday, Aug 20th, Carol & I took Mom Peters to Denver to visit Orv & Nancy. Orv wasn't feeling very well and had lost alot of weight. Regulating levels of medications and oxygen has been a real challenge for Nancy and the doctors. That evening Nancy fixed a big meal and the Dyer clan came over. It was good to see Mike & Shari, Gary, Shannon, Morgan, and Ashley. On Sunday we went out for breakfast at Village Inn. And that afternoon Carol and I met up with my Mom, Dad, Susan (my sister), my brother Don and Sis-in-Law Chris at Crackerbarrel in Loveland, Colorado. Nice to visit with everyone, even though it was short. Nancy, thank you for the GREAT meals and hospitality. We flew home on Monday morning, Aug 22nd. And it was back to "the ole grind" today.

This week we've been removing white rock and plastic barrier material from the front yard. We decided to use red rock instead. And after many hours of preparation, we finally laid down new barrier and about 40 bags of red rock. It took us all day Saturday, but it was worth it!

Last weekend Russ & Roberta came up and we got together for a while. Friday night Russ brought half of the crew over and we ate dinner at Papa's Pizza, then we went to OMNI-Max and watched "the Hubble" on the BIG screen (with surround sound). Sunday, we met for a late lunch and we went to a park by the Beaverton Library - lots of stuff for the kids to do! Kelly and Carol put everything together (food, drinks, etc) and it worked out really well - thanks girls :)

Today was a catch up day for all of the house things I've put off until "the good weather" :) So, we hit the trim on the house early. When into the crawl space and cleaned it up from the construction crew (years ago!) and checked for bugs, water leaks and stuff like that - we're lookin' good! The bedroom door kinda hung up on the new carpet (last year), so we fired up the table saw and took 1/4 inch off the bottom - works great now. So all that's left is to watch the Nationwide Nascar race thisafternoon :)

More to come soon.

Mini- Vacation

We decided to make a few mini-trips this week instead of one long trip. So, we took off after work on Friday, July 8th and drove to Pendleton, OR and continued to Boise, ID to see Shay & Michael. We drove home on Sunday and washed the van and packed for Monday. Early Monday we left Portland and headed for Lynden, WA to see Zachary. Once we got there we had Jill, Brooklyn, Tylor and Zac come to the hotel and go swimming. We met Brian and had Mexican food for dinner. Dessert was at their house...so fun :)  The next morning we headed for home and then on to Lincoln City, OR.

Wednesday A.M. we drove to Seaside, OR to do some scouting for Jill & Brian, then back to Lincoln City. We drove home early Thursday morning so Carol could do her hair thing. At noon we picked up Jim & Vonnie Lash and headed for Jazz Alley in Seattle, WA to hear Brian Colbertson. Great show!!!

We drove home that night and crashed (went to bed) at about 1:30 a.m. Today Carol & I had commitments all over the place including the yard, helping friends, etc. And we still feel like we're moving when we're sitting on the couch :) More pics etc. to come! Pictures above are sunset at Lincoln City.

The PBR at St. Paul, OR

Thursday evening we picked up Jim & Vonnie Lash and drove to St. Paul to see the Professional Bull Riders. This was the only event. Riders came from as far away as Texas and Montana. The bulls were tough to ride - only 8 riders made the final ride. None of them rode the 8 seconds. So the win went to the first round winner.  This weekend we'll be putting new brakes on the van and gettin' her ready to get on the road next week. Friday, after work we're headin' for Boise, ID to see Shay & Michael. More to come!

New Car

I saw this die-cast 1/24 scale car on Ebay and couldn't believe the price. So, I bid on it - and won. This is a 2005 Chevy Monte Carlo, driven by Jeff Gordon, advertizing Star Wars III. It's got a special paint job called color chrome. It looks like they chromed the car first, then sprayed the paint on afterwards. I have the Star Wars I also, but, it's not color chrome. Just thought I'd share!

Last night, after work, we packed up the dog and drove to Cannon Beach. We had fish & chips at Mo's and walked on the beach for a while. We came across the really cool sand castle. The wind was calm and the sunset was great! Quick get-a-way , we were home by 10:30p.m. I will post more soon.

Madison's B-Day

Happy Birthday to Madison - Big #9! Hope you had a nice day, sure was great to have everyone over. Carol cooked a great dinner, the Mariner's won, and Jeff Gordon won the NASCAR race - so it WAS a GREAT Day!!! And the Maverick's won too!

I'll post more soon.

Friday, May 27th, we loaded the van and picked up Mikayla and Madison and headed south for Russ & Roberta's 30th Anniversary. We spent the night at Canyonville, OR and drove the rest of the way (Redding, CA) the next day. In Ashland, OR we hit rain that turned into snow!? We checked in at the La Quinta and cleaned up a bit before going to The Wegner Ranch. It was so good to see Mom, Dad, Susan, and Uncle Bob & Aunt Ev Crowder! Getting all of the kids together all at once was a real treat. I can't believe how they've all grown.
The renewing of vows was so nice - and the food was perfect. What a great time! The next morning we had a small breakfast and got on the road, heading back to Oregon. The girls were really good, and I think they had fun swimming and playing at the arcade. We had them home by dinner.

More news soon.