Ju’s blog

Is this the book that I was supposed to have a box of kleenex close?  I don’t know what it says about me, but I didn’t shed a tear.  It was a good “food for thought”, but not life-changing for me.  I’m usually a fast reader and this book took me forever to finish.  I think I couldn’t get past the “fiction” part, and if I want biblical teaching, I prefer the bible. (wow, that’s deep)  Although, I have starting listening to the bible on my ipod and I really like that.  (The Bible Experience- I got it for Christmas.  A reading of the NIV).  On our butte walks, we’ve discovered that some of my girlfriends like to think deeply and figure things out, and I’m just gonna ask Jesus when I see him.  In the mean time, I can ask the girls what they think.
But, the book that I’m sure I’ll need kleenex for is Marley & Me (life & love with the world’s worst dog).  I’ve had it for probably two years and haven’t got the guts to read it yet. 

Cousins Carson & Jamison

Jim’s mom, Marge, turns 75 this Wednesday so we celebrated this weekend.  Jim’s brother Dan and his family were here from Portland and our boys played hard all weekend with their cousin Carson.
It was a fun, full weekend with an awesome surf & turf dinner Saturday night.  Danielle & I even got to go shopping by ourselves a little on Saturday.  When they visit, there’s never enough time to do all we want to, but we pack a lot into a weekend.  The boys love the toy shopping with Uncle Dan, that seems to have become a tradition now.  Jim, Marge & Dan
 
Waterfight! (that’s Jim hiding in the garage and Jayden outside)

CuteCate- Did I mention that  have the cutest nieces ever?

Then yesterday we all had breakfast together at the golf club before the Dan Dover’s headed home and we went to church.  After church, the boys went home with a friend for the whole afternoon and Jim and I got to sneak out for a quick nine holes.  Then we were invited for dinner when we went to pick the boys up- we were pretty spoiled yesterday.  Dinner was pure comfort food- roast, mashed potates & gravy, veggies, crescent rolls, yum!
Now it’s Monday morning and we only have 5 days of summer left- yikes!  We plan to pack our week full of fun, but the weather today isn’t cooperating.  The high is only supposed to be 66 degrees. 
The only redeeming thing about summer coming to an end is that Duck football season is just about here. Five days until the first kickoff…

We’ve can really pack a lot of fun into a week.  It started last Wednesday.
We got a phone call- would we want tickets to the Brooks & Dunn concert?  Are you kidding?  We’d love to go.  Jim and I had a great time (the boys stayed with Grammy Jane).  One of my favorite things was that they started their concert by launching a hot air balloon- what a fun way to kick it off.

Brooks & Dunn

Then we had Jen, Libby and Peyton come for a few days.  I just love these girls.
Libby was showing us that she knew where Peyton’s nose was.

The boys love volcanoes, and they enjoyed the trip around the crater at Lava Butte.  Then we hiked through the lava field at the base and they imagined how the lava would have flowed.
After our tour of Lava Butte we headed to Crosswater Golf Course.

Last year at the Jeldwen Tradition golf Pro-Am, Jim caddied for a college buddy who was playing in it.  This year he got invited to play.  On Sunday, at the opening party, we found out who their pro was.  They got to play with Tom Watson.  If you’re a golf fan, then you’ll realize what an amazing opportunity it was…chance of a lifetime.  The boys and I came out to Crosswater and walked with the group for the back nine.  Tom was a really nice guy, helped them read puts, told stories and tried to get our boys to talk to him.  He didn’t have a whole lot of luck with that, but he might have won them over at the end when he signed their hats and gave them each an autographed golf glove.  Jim had so much fun, that he slowly walked off the 18th- he didn’t want it to end.
 
The family and Mr. Tom Watson

Today at the Tradition was Nike Junior Golf Day (and it was free!), so we checked it out and watch a golf trick shot artist, and then stayed for our free ice cream.
On our way back to town we went to Lava River Cave.

We had so much fun learning about lava tubes yesterday, that we headed to Lava River Cave today.  It was about 95 degrees outside and a cool 42 degrees inside the cave.  It’s 5200 feet long and we made it to the 3200 feet mark. 
The boys liked it although they were freezing. 
It amazes me that all of this cool stuff is within 25 minutes of our house.  We live in a really great place. 

Tomorrow we head back to the golf tournament, and then we’ll go directly to church campout at East Lake.  Jim will catch up with us later.

I don’t think I’ve blogged anything about his new job, but he’s liking it although he has lots to learn.  He is the Executive Director of the Heart Institute of the Cascades.  We’re excited about it and we think it’s a good fit for him.
Whew, I’d better go to bed, it’s late and I’m tired.
We keep playing hard and then staying up too late watching the olympics.
I’m off to bed.

My sister is such a good blogger and keeps us all updated on the happenings of her girls and you can even see a little of what we’ve been up to, so go check out her site: libbyandpeyton.blogspot.com
Maybe someday soon I’ll take the time to post an update on our lives.
This week will find us at the Jeldwen Tradition golf tournament and pro-am in Sunriver (Jim’s playing in the pro-am), and all the schmoozing parties that go with that, and then we’ll head to church campout at East Lake. 

It really doesn’t get any better than summer around here.  We love to play hard and be on our own schedule as much as possible.  I guess I like pictures more than I like blogging so here’s a pictorial update of what we’ve been doing.