The Last night

It is almost 1 in the morning here. I'm ready for whatever tomorrow dishes out. You'll know how it went if my next post is coming from Oregon! I hope it will be from Japan!

I've been thinking about what life will be like, what life was like in TX, and wondering at what God has planned in the next three years. I can't wait to find out!

Please pray everything goes smoothly!

We are almost there!

We ride a bus into downtown Seattle to pick up our passports. We have them now and if all goes well, we will leave the country tomorrow. Arielle and I couldn't find seat with the rest of the family. So we sat in the middle while they sat in the back. About half way through the ride I heard my name come up. I look to the back of the bus and see everyone smiling and waving at me. I really am popular down here you know! Alex was telling everyone about life, is what that was.

A very steep road



We had lunch by the water...and had lots of fans eager to see us!

I was reaching out to this one when another one came flying down and tried to snatch it from my hand.

We also went to the aquarium....that was a lot of fun

They also had Clown Fish

We finally have our passports!

The tunnels under ground

Chucky Cheese

Somewhere in all of this we went to Chucky Cheese....I think in Eugene. Sorry, it is out of order, but I just remembered we did it. And yes, I was scared by Chucky, but no I didn't scream! How would you like it if a 7 ft tall rat was standing right behind you when you turn around???

Surfing

There are some more pictures, but I'm waiting for them at the moment.

Seattle/Japanese

We met our cousins for dinner tonight at a Japanese restaurant. It was a lot of fun. The chef was really funny and good with what he was doing. At one point he asked if we wanted to try chicken sushi, when we all told him no, he laughed and said, "You don't have a choice."

Some of us have mastered eating with a chopstick better than others of me

That was very warm

Alex laughed and laughed

He asked if we wanted any more shrimp. I had been avoiding eating shrimp because I had decided about twenty minutes earlier that I was allergic to it. But then the chef said if you wanted more shrimp you had to work for it. He diced up a piece and tossed it to my second cousin. He missed. Alex then volunteered me. Not wanting to seem rude, I tried it and missed it as well. He went around the table until no one else wanted to try. There was one piece left. He asked me if I wanted to try again. I don't like to try something and lose, if I lose then I try it again until I win...that shrimp was a challenge. I tried again and actually caught it....wished I missed. I just kept smiling and nodding...while fighting the gag re-action. I got extra fried onions for that manoeuvre!

OR-WA

We headed for Seattle on Sunday

Isn't the view breath taking?

I was having trouble getting Alex awake Monday morning and so I told him that there were giant ducks outside....Canadian Goosen....I know it's really Geesen

Wrapping it up

As the days in Eugene was drawing to a end and Mom was running errands, Grandma and Grandpa came over and played with us at the campus for a while.

Who is that dashing good player?We also cleaned and packed....note the difference between the girls after 15 minutes of work, and the guys!

The Girls

The Guys

Cathing up!

I worked really hard this last week getting ready to head for Seattle. Here are some pictures!

Monday

TuesdayWednesday
Thursday

Friday

Saturday

We left Sunday.

Elevator troubles

We are in Seattle...I'm waiting for picture before I update to much. But we had our passport appointment this morning and it looks like we will be flying out of the country this week.

While leaving the passport office I got caught in the elevator door. While all of us were in Seattle a couple of weeks back, we would practice getting on the elevator in less than 10 seconds (that's how much time you would have for the bullet train). Once or twice someone wouldn't get on and Josiah would say, "In this scenario Dad is stranded in Tokyo." Well in that scenario, "Jared is going to have a very long ride to Misawa."

Arielle, Nolan, and I were getting on the elevator in the hotel. The door opens, a guy steps out, looks around.
"Is this the lobby?"
"No sir, it's floor 3." I'm thinking, look at the big 3 on the wall!!!
"Oh *beep*" He gets back on and looks at the number panel. "Which one is the lobby?"
"Number 1 sir." Arielle and Nolan are trying their best not laugh as I help this guy out. We reached the lobby and the door opens.
"Here is the lobby." I inform him. Instead of thanking me for helping him through this very hard time in his life, he just glared and walked off. I tell ya!

We're having trouble with the camera card thingy on the laptop and so we need to buy a white cord for it...but there will be pictures! lol

BACK to Seattle

We are BACK in Seattle. We have a lot to do tomorrow...please pray.

I'll give a more detailed update when I have more time...and don't have the AAFES employees sending me subtle hints they want us to get out of their store!

Template, part II

I've changed the template of the blog; just in case you hadn't noticed! I think I like it, there is a few things I need to work out with the writing on the sidebar.

I wanted it to be different, but not bizarre different. I wanted it to be manly, but not sporty. I wanted some sort of activity, and it has it.

Any thoughts? Questions? Concerns?

Template

I am going to try to do the thing that I have been scared of doing since I got the blog. Change the template. If anything out of the usual happens...say a missile gets launched towards your house then know I'm still working on it.

Can you hear me now?

I had some pictures I was trying to load on the computer...but not being very computer savvy makes it hard to do. I'll have to see if Mom can help me with it.

Mom and Krista are at the bank. I was going to go with them, but I missed them and was left behind. Bre is taking Alex and Stacia to get hair cuts. Arielle wanted to go...so did Nolan. That maxed out her car. So I'm sitting here trying not be hurt that everyone left me behind. lol
Bre just called on Krista's phone, she left it in her room. I saw the called ID was Bre so I answered.
"Hello,"
"Hey...who is this."
"Jared."
"Jared, ask Mom if..."
"I'm not with Mom, remember, y'all left me behind."
"Oh, I found them cheaper than I thought, do you want two?"
"Two hair cuts?" I'm thinking, what good is two haircuts at the same time????
"No, the pants."
"What are we talking about?"

Communication-The art of transferring thoughts, opinions, and messages from one person to another.

Monsters vs Aliens

I recently saw Monsters vs Aliens. It was funny....but I was scrutinizing every line during the whole movie and so I'm sure I missed some of the humor! I had a blast hanging out with the siblings and cousin, but here's my opinion of the movie.

My opinion of the movie isn't very faltering for whoever made the movie. Some may think, "back off Jared, it's just a little kids movie." And it is because that it was aimed for little kids that I'm going after it so hard!

Lets start with the one that was in your face. Evolution. One of the Monsters was "The Missing Link." I hope they weren't trying to be subtle with that character. He was a fish/monkey thing. But by making him one of the good guys he slides under the table as okay.

It seems to me that all of the kids movies nowadays are pushing the gay agenda. Finding Nemo, The Wild, Happy Feet, and Madagascar 2. And this is okay? The children are having this garbage injected into them at a young age. The Monsters are different from everybody else and are unfairly shunned by society. Society should just accept them for the way they are. It wasn't blatant, but the agenda was there.

Another thing was how it seemed to be making fun of George W. Bush. The president in the movie wasn't very flattering to the Presidential office. It is hard to explain the scenes from the movie backing this, but it did seem like they were mocking Bush. The constant attacks on Bush are unfair. Don't get me wrong, Bush made mistakes, but what he dealt with from the left wing media for 8 years was wrong.

Something in the movies favor would be that Susan didn't want to be a giant, but she made the best out of the situation and didn't complain and whine.

Poll results

It seems the Aggie's pulled out a victory. I don't know....I think this calls for a re-vote. I'm pretty sure some Aggie's voted twice! Oh well...we'll hook 'em next time!

I've run some errands with Krista today. Ran an errand with Bre. Krista and I went to the library. I think the lady at the desk didn't like us, because she was giving us trouble. When they made a mistake the lady was like, "It's an easy button to miss."
"At least it's not a hard one to miss." I offer some sympathy.

I woke up around 4:30 last night and did a check of the house after I thought I heard noises. A very unnerving job to say the least!

There's no pictures to go with this post...it's hard to take a picture and look subtle in a library! It is looking like we're going to be leaving soon...almost a month after we meant to, but that's alright!

RDD

WE continued work on the tree house and with some additional supplies from G'Pa we finished it! I can't get the video to load that would explain a lot of things, but we named it, "Revenge of the Drunken Duck." Or RDD. The thought being that we pushed the Duck down the river and it ended up in a tree.

I offer to chop off a loose branch

It can fit the two younger ones and Krista or I before it falls to the floor

I was siting on my bed doing devotions and Alex walks in. He sits down and proceeds to empty the air out of Nolan's air mattress. He walks out. He an Nolan walk back in. Nolan notices his bed. I am, of course, blamed for the mattress. After convincing Nolan I didn't do it, I go back to devotions. Alex leaves and Nolan starts re-filling his mattress again. Nolan stops and then empties Alex's mattress. These two think they are so subtle! lol

The Lake of much cloudiness

We went to a brown looking lake the other day. It was dirty, but back in San-Angelo there is a river called the Concho and that is three times as bad. I've swam in that before...scary.

We did chicken fights. I haven't done those in soooo long. When we'd try to do them at the pool the life guards would yell all sorts of hateful things at us. I don't think it helped when I asked him how mad he would be if I pushed him and his stand in the pool. I don't re-call if he said he'd rat-tail me, or drown me. I don't remember!

On the drive, G'Pa pointed out a gate and said, "People are dying to get in there so they had to put up a fence."

"Really? why are they dying to get in there?" I ask.

"It's a cemetery."

"Oh."

Later Mater

I'll give a more in depth post later, but I am alive and most everyone around me is still alive:)

I just put up Bre's shelves in her apartment...that was sort of hard. It was frustrating to have put the screw just a 1/10 of an inch off and then have to re-do it.

Better than the Drunken Duck?

We have had some very busy last few days! We've gone to the park... and had tea in Stacia's house

While in Crescent City ,we built a raft, The Drunken Duck (nicknamed U.S.S Submarine by Uncle Earl). While In Eugen we decided to build a tree house. We found a good tree and a pallet in the basement. Mom and Stacia were shopping at the time. Krista and Arielle climbed into the tree and I lifted the pallet over my head to them in tree. Nolan, Alex, and G'Ma were putting in steps for the vertically challenged, as Krista would say. We discovered a flaw in the plan: We didn't have a support piece for the middle.

Krista, Arielle, and I went back to the basement to borrow some wood from another pallet.
"Wouldn't it be funny if Mom were to walk in right now." I joked as I banged away with the hatchet. "I can see it now, 'Well Mom, we've decided that we've been inside to long, we're tunneling out!'" Right as I finished, Mom's head poked around the corner.
"Um, hi Mom." I hide the hatchet behind my back. I bet you can almost hear me saying, "wanna hear a funny story?"

We went back out and added the center piece. It is still weak and we need to take a rope and tie it to the branches above. G'Pa dropped by later with a lot of extra building material...I think we can get it really secure now!


I would argue that this is more sound than the Drunken Duck

I'm not sure why

I wasn't sure what exactly made them (Mom and Bre) video this. I saw a camera and came running so I went along with it and asked questions later! The occasional clown going across the screen would be me; except near the end, that was Nolan. Apparently, before Dad left they saw Dad and I talking. They promtly decided to sing, "Be a Man," from Mulan.

The Aggie's seem to be ahead on the poll. I'm sure some Aggie's voted twice! lol

Rain and Aggies in Oregon???

It poured rain on Sunday. I have not seen that much rain since we left Texas. After church I walked down into the basement and found that it had flooded. Uncle Nate, Dad, and I went to work moping it up.

I said something to the affect of, "I hate this summer," as we mopped up the water. Uncle Nate said something like, "You'll always remember this summer of 09...at least it can't get worst." Right as he said that, his mop fell apart. We all laughed. And then we were like, "NOW it can't get any worse!." But then the mop head fell apart even more....springs and such all over the floor.

I think we have a leak!

Good umbrella!

Wow...I didn't realize how scary looking I've been getting! It's been a long move!

Mom's laptop was doing something strange. While she was musing about what could be wrong with it, I said, "Wanna hear a funny story? It's about a little boy who made a mistake." (That's my catch-phrase!). Stacia looked at me and said, "Wanna hear a better story? It's about a super-girl, named Stacia, who kills a little boy who made a mistake." Violent little girl!

While getting lunch today I actually saw a guy wearing an Aggie t-shirt. I take back all comments about this area being Longhorn fans. I should have made the Longhorn symbol to him, but I was so amazed to see an Aggie in Duck country. Oregonians are more crazy about the Ducks than Texans are about the Aggie's/Longhorns!

They're Not Here

The day after we made it back from Seattle (Thursday) Josiah and Jamin headed back for Texas. They made it safely on Saturday. The family just keeps shrinking...Dad left today for Japan. Mom is still working out the whole passport problem; there's a hope that we could be blowing this joint sooner than expected.

The Water Falls

I'm trying to catch up from the last few days....this was Saturday...I think. We drove up to a water fall. I don't know if it was a pretty drive; I was getting car sick and so I stared at the floor. But the water falls were real pretty!

Dare-devils

It takes your breath away

Sisters!

All of the G kids-minus 2

Mom dropped her water bottle and so I went after it

Amazing!


While hiking I found a bush that seemed innocent...and so I started to tear the leaves off. I don't know why this seemed like a good idea...it just did! After I had satisfied by desire for destruction and was walking off, Dad walked up and was like, "I think this is poison oak." I spent some time by the river scrubbing my hands with gravel and wondering how I do things like this!

Another poll???

I understand that some may not know what the Aggie's or Longhorns are. If you don't know, just vote Longhorns. I know this is very exciting...but please try to only vote once! lol

We went to a waterfall today. While driving, Stacia told me, "You can't go to my ball." She must be mad at me for something...I'm not sure what. When I asked her what I was going to do she said just to stay in Japan. It's been a long time since the skydiving thing...so I don't think that's why she's upset. I don't think I've done anything recent to bring down suck wrath. Who knows.

Yesterday, Nolan and Alex were playing outside when they saw a snake. They have lived in Texas most of their life where snakes are somewhat detrimental to ones health. They came running in and wanted me to get rid of it.

After making sure the snake wasn't poisonous, I tried to put it in a sack and take it away. I could have put a "Take care of my baby," sign on it and left on someones porch...that would have been a surprise. I was to slow in getting the sack and so it got away. I'll be watching for it, though!

Could Longhorns be best?

I may be mistaken, but isn't the Aggie hand symbol a thumbs up? If so, then I saw a sign that gives me the impression that Aggie's are not the team of choice up here. The sign had a figure of a thumbs up...but it was crossed out. This would give me the impression that Aggie's are not liked in the Northwest.

I'm sure this is very important and could knock off the gravitational pull of the earth if the wrong people get a hold of this. I am soooo tired...or else I wouldn't be writing this!

Links

I hope this worked! The first link is from King5....just for the records, they took what I said out of context! The second link is from Komo4.
http://www.king5.com/video/index.html?nvid=377700
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/50117232.html?video=YHI&t=a

WE'RE BACK!

We are in Oregon again. We drove down from Seattle yesterday. We could be here for a very long time...or just a couple of weeks. It is all in the air right now. We did get our van back...but the passports are still gone.

The entire day after the van was stolen we had news crews coming in and getting our stories. Two TV stations and one radio station. You know that video I was saying I was trying to load that was sort of funny? The reason I thought it was sort of funny was because we looked like a circus trying to get out of the van. Also I fell out the door. Both TV stations got a hold of that video...so me falling out of the van is known by everyone!

Within minutes of the news clips going on we had a call that our van had been found. I'll try to post a link...we'll see what I can do. The hotel manager was starting to freak out when the radio station came in. He chased us (Josiah, Bre, and I) down to try to figure out what was going on. That was amusing.

After the news we had people all over Seattle reaching out and helping us. Really touching. We had totall strangers run up and give us popcorn. I'm even more popular!

There's not much else to say...besides keep praying. I've done some thinking about how I would react if the guy who stole our van walked into this room. At first I was like, "I'll tell him about Jesus...but first I'll punch his lights out." But then I decided I'd tell him about Jesus and then give him the chance to go and meet Jesus. I did some more thinking and realized that was the wrong attitude. In all reality, that guy needs more prayer than we do. So please pray for him as well.

Pikes Market

This happened the day before the van was stolen....so the fourth?

If you have ever spent much time with me you probably know that all it takes is a dare and I'll do just about anything! I don't know who it was who said we should wear our cowboy hats through Seattle...but we did. Josiah, Jamin, and I.

It was pretty neat. We walked around...watched people throw fish. Jamin got a picture riding a big old pig...but the camera the picture was taken on was stolen. Bummer. I could have blackmailed him with that someday...I don't know how...but I would have.

Those stairs were high...have I mentioned I'm afraid of heights? I don't know how I'm going to skydive in a few years...but I'll cross that bridge when it comes!

Throwing fish...they dropped a few

World's Tallest man...not Josiah, the dude behind him

On the harbor

Jamin and I found a spider web out on the dock...it was hanging above the water. For some reason we wanted to knock it into the water. So we tried...all we did was make it very mad at us. We were sort of disappointed.

After the van was stolen; we (the kids) didn't have much we could do while Mom and Dad worked out the problems that kept being thrown at them. We did a lot of swimming and racquetball. When a TV crew asked me what we did during the day, I was like. "UM.....racquetball." And Josiah threw in, "What we're doing right now." We were sitting on the couch.

Jamin and I had a lot of fun on the elevators...we were on the third floor. On the way down I positioned myself in front of the door like a secret service person...or so I fancied. The door opened, I stepped out and right into a guy. I step back to let the guy in. Jamin, not seeing our interaction, stepped out and into the guy. Jamin steps back and we let the guy in.

Another time I tripped getting out of the door and stumbled into a couple of girls. And then I had my cowboy hat on and pulled down over my eyes. I step off of the elevator and right into the same girls.

Another time, Jamin and I were getting on the same time as a dude in a suit was. Jamin joked with me and said, "I've always wanted to push the button." The guy steps away from the buttons and says, "Well here you go...I don't want to deprive you of your childhood dreams." Then he continued to make fun of Jamin the whole ride.

I know that seems like small stuff...but it has been about the only humor I've had these last few days! Jake, a friend in Texas, told me that once you put the cowboy hat on that life turns into a country song. He told me this after the trouble in Seattle...now he tells me!!! lol