Black and Blue. or is it more charcoal...

Wow, a lot has changed in a matter of 8 days! In a little over a week's time, I have managed to schedule a surgery, have a couple job interviews, have my own personal chauffeur, buy a car and sell a car!

As you can see, I am between cars. THis was taken Saturday morning before the buyer of my blue Civic Wagovan came and I realized that the car we bought the night before was not black like I thought it was. More of a charcoal color. Still manly enough though.

Heidi has been so wonderful to me in all of this. She has not only been my nurse, but my personal limo driver, my car salesman and car researcher. She has been staying in contact with a lady in Hood River to buy her 91 Honda Accord, staying in communication with the multitude of people wanting to buy my Civic Wagon, staying patient with Kairis who is growing new teeth and I think staying sane!

I am so thankful for my lovely wife. I would not want to go through surgery without her by my side. She is my bride, my support and I am thankful for her everyday. Yes, I am thankful for my new car as well, It is a cool color and I feel more professional now. I do miss my stickers, but it's ok, time for a new thing.

Now, to start a new chapter.

Saying goodbye...

Having spent over 3 years on a daily basis together makes it much harder to say good bye (insert tears and that mid-nineties Boyz-2-Men song)...


As some of you may know, I have had an issue with my ACL for a few years and it has just recently given out for the last time. The first was on a razor scooter where I tried to hit the brake that ended up being the wheelie bar and I did a cool flip snapping my left knee in the opposite direction of which it was designed to bend.

This last Friday night, after an hour of playing in the community pool with our 18 month old cutie, we decided to use up our Burgerville gift card for supper and got chicken sandwiches. Somewhere between bouncing around with Kairis to "Tequila" and sitting in the little kid booths, I forgot I had a history of knee problems.

As I stood there by the jukebox with Kairis in my Right arm watching the records being changed, something hit me like Sammy Sosa's 500th Home run and I toppled. Kairis must have thought is was part of my dance routine or just another ride, but My knee said otherwise. I could not stand, and had to hop on one leg like a jack rabbit to the car with my left knee throbbing.

Fast forward to this past Tuesday when I go the the Dr. He says he wants to wait until the swelling is down and my range of motion is back before surgery. So, since ACL reconstruction is necessary, he is giving me 2 more weeks of ice and ibuprofen before I go under the knife. I know I will need a new ACL and some work on my meniscus, and who knows what else when he opens me up. We will hopefully have a surgery scheduled by the end of the week or early next week.

The good bye not only goes out to my ACL (because we said goodbye to that along time ago) but to my wonderful little Civic Wagovan. The joy of driving a 5-speed manual is , for the next few months, a thing of the past. My car will be someone's Craigslist treasure and I will have to find a boring automatic to commute in for a while.

So, a moment of silence for our departed friend . . .


"It's so hard, to say good bye, to yesterdaaa-eeeee!" . . .

Oh "NO"! (and other things to catch up on...)

Well, I have been meaning to blog since the beginning of the year and do my annual "year in review, so that will eventually come, but first, lets review our previous post on our Seattle trip. Yes it was weekends ago, but we spent the night at an REI in Issaquah WA to be first in line for the first time at a used gear sale. I sat down my water bottle and shirt at the front door at 6:30pm and we left for burritos. When we came back , we were greeted by 2 college age army recruits who thought they were first. I had to banter with them a while before they conceded their coveted "first place in line". I spent the night in the tent under the cover of REI's canopy while Heidi and Kairis slept surprisingly well in the back of the car! We did manage to get the big items we were hoping to get and even met a couple of nice people. The following weekend we decided to do it again and drove out to Kennewick WA (yes it is near Tri-cities, Umatilla and the other end of the universe). We pulled in right around 7pm and found that they really WERE a small store. I spoke to one employee and peeked through the windows to see that our mission would not be accomplished. So, instead of pitching our tent, we had supper at Denny's where we absolutely couldn't make up our minds about what we wanted, where Kairis stuck both a straw and a crayon in her water cup and the pepper shaker in Heidi's glass! After our dinner, we hopped back in the car and drove our 3+ hours back home. Thankfully there are no more sales for a while as we need to catch up on sleep.

In other news, I have recently begun tutoring both on the side and with a program called AVID at 2 area schools. It isn't much, but it is a great thing to put on the resume. Please pray for God's provision and guidance in all of this. We need more income, but it doesn't seem too possible with the current schedule. Ok, so on to the main title. Oh NO! Yes, as Heidi stated in the last post, Kairis is saying "no" and it is cute. Here is a video of her. The "annual year in review" will come... just not today!

18 Months!

Our baby girl is 18 months today! I love that our daughter's half birthday is in the month of February. This morning, Kairis decided (all by herself, while I was in the other room!) to move her potty down from where it normally sits in the bathroom and go poop! I know, that may be "TMI"....but I could hardly believe what had happened, until she summoned me into the bathroom to show off her accomplishment. Kairis is the biggest joy in our lives, and we thoroughly enjoy almost every waking moment with her, except when it's at 3am. ;) Well, I guess we don't mind those so much, after all, I think we're used to waking up in the middle of the night now.

Our little girl is saying things like "no", "bye bye", and "hi", and "baby" along with her other mutterings that surprise us from time to time. Her hair officially fits in a pony tail now, she enjoys running everywhere, she goes up to people and gives "hugs"...kind of...sometimes, it consists of her walking up to a friend, looking down and being bashful, and then slowly backing up before even touching them. ;) Yes, she's definitely still on the quiet side, but don't let that fool you! She is a very rambunctious toddler when she's in the comfort of her own home. She imitates what I do, plays "kitchen" and enjoys twirling to music. She adores Tim and slides (literally!) downstairs every time she hears the front door opens. :)

She loves "sharing" toys with friends and considers people "safe" if she gives them her toys to hold onto for safe keeping. She squeals in delight when she's around animals, and loves reading her new "Maisey Goes Camping" book. We love you sweet Kairis! Happy half birthday!