Sore arms - Sunday, November 30, 2008

Yesterday we stopped at WalMart in St. Helens.   While shopping, Hanna bought a football.  Last night she and I went out in the street in the front of our house and threw the ball around for a little while.   It was dark and all we had for lighting was the street light, so we were not out very long as we could hardly see the ball.    This afternoon Hanna and I went back outside and threw the football for about half an hour.    Hanna was able to get a pretty good spiral on some of her throws.    Now for the down side - we both had to put a sports cream on our sore right arms.    I used a really stinky, menthol smelling cream and have just about been banished from the house.   Hanna was much more clever than I, as she used a cream with no odor.  But, now we can both brag about our football injuries to anyone who will listen.   

Update as of Tuesday, Dec 2nd.    Hanna's arm was fine by Monday morning.   I, however, am still sore.   The  best I could do was to lob the ball to Hanna, while she had some good zip on her throws - even though she had never thrown or caught a football before, she sure was in no danger from my throws.    Pretty poor performance on my part, since at one time, back in the Dark Ages, I could actually throw a baseball at over 90 MPH and a football with a pretty good flat spiral for 10 to 15 yards or so.

The Toyota is official - November 24, 2008

I finally got around to registering my Camry in Oregon.   All it took was getting the CA renewal notice in the mail, due 12/12/08, to get me to drive the 8 miles to the DMV office in St. Helens.   It took about 5 minutes to go over the paperwork and the very nice, polite, friendly DVM lady handed me my new plates.   $59 for two years.

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Update - Saturday Nov 15 to Sunday Nov 23, 2008

This last week was a normal, busy, typical week for us.    We had been planning to go to Gustav's German Restuarant in Beaverton for an "authentic" German dinner two weeks ago on Saturday Nov 8th .   Unfortunately, we could not go out that night, as I has some minor surgery the day before and just did not feel like going out.   Then the next Saturday, Nov 15th, DeeDee was not feeling well and again we decided to pospone going out for dinner. But, Hanna and I did go to the World Forestry Museum that day.  

 

Monday the 17th when Hanna got home from school she was really excited about what she had learned during wrestling practice.    And, every night this last week when she got home, Hanna was just as excited about all the new throws, takedowns, techniques, etc, that she had learned that day.    The only other girl on the wrestling team injured her knee Wednesday, so at this time, Hanna is the only girl on the team attending daily practice.    She gets paired up by weight and a- wrestling they go.  

Tuesday evening we all attended the Fall Sports Award ceremony at Scappoose High, where the Football, Volleyball, Cross Country, and Soccer teams were honored and outstanding student athletes received awards.   Afterwards, parents and athletes went to separate rooms to meet with their respective team members and coaches.    Hanna received a certificate as a member of the Cross Country Team (JV).   Two members of the team, a brother and sister, are ranked high in the state.    The girls CX Varsity team received a state Division championship award for their scholastic achievement.   Not only did the first five on the girls team have a 4.0 grade point average (the award is based on the five top members of the team), but all seven girls on the Varsity CX team had a 4.0 grade point average.

Thursday, we went to the Wrestling Team team meeting to meet the coaches.   After the meeting, when I was talking with the assistant coach, he said he was very impressed with Hanna's ability and they were really proud of her, her work ethic, and attitude.   We are very proud of her also, and know how proud Hanna's parents Dieter and Sabine must be back in Germany.  I can only imagine how daunting it may be, being the only girl on a team with 25 guys.  WAY TO GO, HANNA!!!

Well, last night we finally made it to Gustav's.   Not only was the food wonderful and very delicious, but Hanna pronounced it "authentic" and what you would get if you went to a restaurant in Germany.  Thank you Hanna for treating us to dinner.

Today, Sunday, Amber came over with Isaac and Abigail.   It was time for Abigail's lunch when they arrived and since Abigail just loves Hanna, Hanna and Abigail sat on the floor where Hanna fed Abigail.  You can see from the photos that they both enjoyed the experience.   I had fun watching Hanna's mouth as she subconsciously mimicked Abigail opening and closing her mouth as Hanna fed her.

After Abigail went down for her nap, Isaac, DeeDee and Amber went upstairs to the Craft Room to rubber stamp.   Isaac was doing pretty well, but got a little carried away and got stamping ink all over his shirt.   So, Grandma "loaned" Isaac one of her T-shirts.   It was just a little too big, but a large black paper clip at the back of the neck took care of most of the excess shirt, as you can see of the photos of the "best dressed rubber stamper in Scappoose".  Best dressed or not, Isaac still managed to get stamping ink all over himself.



 

The beautiful Northwest - November 15, 2008

On the way back to Scappoose from the Forestry Museum, we took Skyline Blvd north along the ridge of low hills that separate the Columbia River on the east from the Willamette Valley on the west.  It was about 4:10 PM and the sun would be setting in about 20 to 30 minutes.    All of a sudden, through an opening in the trees, we could see Mt. St. Helens to the northeast of us in Washington.    On any day when it's not cloudy, from Scappoose we can see Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and the tip of Mt. Rainier to the northeast of us in Washington and Mt. Hood east of Portland in Oregon.  But today, with the setting sun hitting the mountains, the view was especially beautiful, and since we were at about 800 feet in elevation, we could see some more of the Cascades behind Mt. St Helens, that are not visible from Scappoose.    Mt. St. Helens is the larger mountain in the photos.  I have no idea what the names are of the two snowcapped peaks to the left of Mt. St. Helens, but I do know that the little peak just in view to the left of the two snowcapped peaks is the very tip of Mt. Rainier.

Mt. St. Helens is 45 miles northeast of Scappoose and Mt. Rainier is about 50 miles farther north of Mt. St. Helens.   After living in Southern California, where you can see a couple of miles on a good day, I am still in awe of being able to see 45 miles to Mt. St. Helens, 74 miles to Mt. Adams, 95 miles to Mt. Rainier in Washington and 66 miles to Mt. Hood in Oregon, on any day there are no clouds.

World Forestry Center Museum - November 15, 2008

On Saturday the 15th, Hanna and I went to the World Forestry Center Museum in Portland.    The museum is dedicated to the preservation of forests and woodlands throughout the world.  We had fun with the interactive displays.   The one I enjoyed the most was the simulation of a smoke jumper's view as you leave the airplane and try to direct your parachute to hit the target on the ground.   I sat in a chair which simulated being in the chute and by pulling on the cords of the chute and adjusting for the direction of the wind, you could try to direct yourself toward a target landing site on the ground.    There was an altimeter that showed your distance to the ground and it was scary when you could see how close the ground was and how far away you were still from the target.  I landed within 50 meters of the target - I won't cop out on Hanna and say how she did, other than to say, she either landed way too far away to help or in the fire. Hanna also enjoyed the log cutting Timberjack simulator and sitting an an actual full scale Timberjack unit on display. 





 

OMSI - Tuesday, October 11, 2008

On Tuesday the 11th, DeeDee, Hanna, and I met Amber, Isaac, and Abigail at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) in Portland.    It was Veteran's Day, a school holiday, and the place was mobbed with mothers, fathers, and KIDS.   I called it a "zoo", to which Hanna said she thought we were at a museum.   I explained to her why I was calling it a zoo and she agreed.    We had fun, although we found the museum is really tailored to younger children.    As you can see from the photos, we enjoyed many of the hands-on interactive exhibits and Grandma and Isaac had a great time doing a puppet show.   Abigail spent most of the time just observing from the back pack or sleeping in Grandma's arms.  We spent about 3 hours there and could have done much, much more, but it was so crowded, noisy, and warm inside with all the people, we decided to leave when it was nap time for Isaac and Abigail.

 

Breakfast and other updates- Monday, October 10, 2008

On Monday, Oct. 10th, the Advanced Placement US History Class at Scappoose High hosted a breakfast to honor veterans.    DeeDee and I went and enjoyed a nice breakfast and visited with a friend from church who was also there.    We saw a couple of Hanna's friends from SHS who were there as part of the entertainment, Chelle - with whom Hanna goes horseback riding occasionally, and Brittany - from Hanna's Cross Country team.   Chelle is in the Jazz band that played a couple of songs for the vets and Brittany is in the choir that also sang for us.    It was really surprising to see how many veterans there were at the breakfast (easily at least several hundred) considering that Scappoose only has a population of 6,090.

The Cross Country (XC) season ended a couple of weeks ago.    Hanna said she wanted to continue in an after-school sport through the rest of the Fall and into the Winter, so during the Parent-Teacher conferences three weeks ago we stopped at the Athletic Department to find out what sports were available.   We were told, swimming, basketball, and wrestling.    Hanna wanted no part of swimming.   Can't say that I blame her.    There is only one pool in all of Columbia County, and that is in St. Helens, 8 miles north of us, which means the kids would have to go on a school bus daily for practice.  So that left basketball and wrestling.   Hanna said she had never played basketball as a sport, but had shot baskets in Germany and did very well.   She also said that since she has been involved in judo in Germany, she thought that wrestling sounded interesting.    

On Monday evening at 6:30 PM when Hanna finally got home from school she said that she had decided on wrestling instead of basketball.   There were 20 boys and one other girl who turned out for the first practice.    There was also another girl who was going to be on the team but could not make it for the first practice.   So, I guess we now have a wrestler living with us.

A phone call - Sunday, November 9, 2008

Sunday evening around 7 PM the phone rang.   It was Amber calling to say that Isaac really wanted to talk to Hanna.    Apparently Amber had checked a book about Germany out of the library and had been reading it to Isaac and Isaac just had to tell Hanna all about it.    Isaac, who is 2 1/2, knows all about using the phone to talk to people, although sometimes it is a little difficult to understand what he is saying.   DeeDee handed the phone to Hanna and then Hanna and Isaac talked for a little while.   We will be spending time with Amber, Isaac, and Abigail on Tuesday, Veteran's Day - a school holiday, so I am sure that Isaac will have a lot more to tell Hanna.    And, maybe Hanna can teach Isaac how to pronounce some of the words in German that Amber says she is not sure of.   We thought it was really cute that Isaac wanted to call Hanna and kept after his mom until she made the call.

We helped celebrate a 1st Birthday - November 1, 2008

 Saturday, Nov 1st, we helped Elijah Springer celebrate his 1st birthday.   Amber's BFF Christina (Simpson) Springer and her husband Steven live in Hood River, OR, and come to Hillsboro often so Elijah (now 1) and Alora (2+) can play with their "cousins" Isaac and Abigail.   Saturday afternoon, Amber called and asked if DeeDee, Hanna, and I would like to surprise Christina and meet everyone at Red Robin in Beaverton to help celebrate the birthday.

As you can see from the pictures, Grandma DeeDee is having fun helping Elijah eat his cake and later holding Abigail as Elijah explains to Abigail what it is like to be one, since Abigail won't be one until January 6th.    Abigail is not quite crawling yet, but really loves to exercise her legs and stand with help.   Abigail has also really taken to Hanna and has so much fun "standing" in Hanna's lap. Isaac also loves Hanna and had fun showing her how he colored the place mat.

Halloween - October 31, 2008

Tonight, it's finally Halloween.   Hanna spent a little while at Fred Meyer trying to figure out what she needed to get for a costume for Halloween.    She was not going to Trick or Treat, as she was going to go to the Friday night Scappoose High football game, but still wanted to get something to wear.   She finally settled on a wearing a few devilish items - horns and a tail, with a devil's pitchfork to shake at folks. Hanna helped DeeDee with answering the door to the ghosts, goblins, princesses, Batmen, Supermen, gorilla's, etc, who came to the door before she left for the game.    Our subdivision is Chinook Crossing West with 29 homes, and with the nearby subdivision of Chinook Crossing with 58 homes, there were a lot of little kids, all chaperoned by parents, who came to the door. What a great Halloween:   Hanna enjoying it for for first time; lots and lots of happy and safe little kids, nice polite teens, and best of all - no vandalism in the area. 

Oh yes, when Hanna got home from the football game, her first "American" football game, she said it was boring.    All they did was run in one direction, then in the other direction, than back again.    They stood for the whole game because the cement stands were soaking wet from the rain all morning and into the afternoon, but, at least the band was good  - and Scappoose High lost to Tillamook High, 29 to 27.  (Hanna also said that as far as she is concerned European football, or soccer as we call it, is also boring).

Getting Ready For Halloween - October 27, 2008

It's almost Halloween, a custom Hanna is not used to, since it is not celebrated in Germany.    I downloaded a "face" for the pumpkin from the Internet and gave it to Hanna so she could carve it in the pumpkin.   Hanna had fun drawing the face on the pumpkin, then carving out the pieces to make the face.    The only thing she did not really enjoy was the smell of the pumpkin when we cut the top off and showed her the strings and seeds inside.