Family events of spring

I've been bad about making posts lately, but I wanted to share some photos from some recent family events. I'm also hoping someone who got a good family photo from Matthew's graduation will share that. That might make a good new blog banner photo. I'm also interested in seeing photos from Maya's first communion.

Here's to the graduate

We haven't had any posts here in a while, and I know several family events and milestones have gone undocumented. But I wanted to pop on to wish Matthew a happy graduation. Here's to the Class of 2008!

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone over the weekend.

The surprises keep on coming

What? You mean no one else has posted here in the month I've been away from here?

Shocked! Shocked I say!

It's your day young lady

It's become something of a an unintentional family tradition. We tend to celebrate Suzanna's birthday early in our immediate little circle. In some ways it has worked out well, because Spring Break always seems to fall the week before her birthday. In the 10 years I lived in California, Spring Break was often a convenient time to make a trip home.

The good news was that it we got the better part of a week of quality time in such exotic locales as Pendleton, Portland, Seattle, Orange County, San Diego and Palm Springs.

Journal excerpt, March 31, 1997:

The last four days have been among the best in my life. I had the unequaled pleasure of spending that time with Suzanna and taking her on her first trip to Disneyland. I want to preserve every precious second in memory and carry that memory forever....

I can only hope that she had a good time and that the memory of this trip lives with her throughout her life. We spent two days in Disneyland. Like most children, she loves Disney movies and the characters. And she got a chance to meet many of the characters she reveres -- Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Jasmine, Aladdin, Cinderella, Snow White, Goofy, Chip, Dale, Pocahontas. It really is a magical place for a child, and through her the magic was worked on me. I have been to Disneyland twice before, but it was nothing like this. ... But this time I enjoyed it as it is meant to be enjoyed, through the eyes and dreams of a child. Suzanna’s aunts, Catarina and Marquita, also came over for the weekend from Tucson.

The bad news was I have rarely been able to see Suzanna on her birthday. There have been some notable exceptions. Suzanna and I even talked about one of those exceptions Saturday, which was the year Marquita and I drove to Oregon from Southern California.

Journal excerpt, April 18, 1998:

For now, I will turn my anticipation toward getting film from my Oregon trip taken to the photo lab and getting pictures of Suzanna back. Seeing that gap-toothed grin will make me smile. Her mom had a surprise party for her the night before her birthday and I got to attend. She had her cousins, Sarah and Matthew there... Martha and her husband Michael were there, and Marquita and Monica. ...

On Suzanna’s birthday, April 2, I met Monica and Suzanna’s school.... We picked Suzanna up and took her to the park. It was a lovely spring day in Pendleton, sunny, with only a hint of a chill in the air. We walked around the park and watched Suzanna play on the playground equipment and try to skip rocks in the creek. Pleasant, quiet, family-type moments – precious moments.

The most notable exception of those April 2nds, the very first one, back in 1991.

Excerpt from an April 3, 1991 journal entry:

Today, I became a father. OK, if you want to be technical, actually it was yesterday. But on Tuesday, April 2, 1991, I became a father at approximately 10:20 a.m. Such a day. The contrast of emotions is nearly overwhelming. The pride and the joy are immense. I want to shout to the world, "I’m a father. I have a baby girl!"

... I got the chance (no matter how awkward or out of place I felt) to see my daughter less than two hours after she was born. And I got the chance to hold her and caress her in my arms. Happy birthday Suzanna.

I've been thinking about that day a lot in recent days. It's hard to believe that tiny little creature, with the pudgy face under that tiny little cloth cap and the impossibly tiny fingers and microdot fingernails, with the lovely young woman who is celebrating her 17th birthday.


But on the big day, Suzanna's got a pretty full schedule, so we opted to resurrect our tradition of celebrating her birthday a bit early. Saturday was our day. We spent the afternoon together. We Explored a bit of the Pearl District where we found a nice little restaurant, Mio Sushi (with attractive decor, mouth-watering food and great service), cruised around Chinatown and downtown. Then we dodged rain, sleet and hail to venture into Pioneer Place. Afterwards, once we returned to her house, Suzanna demonstrated her skills on Guitar Hero III. I got to try it out too, under Suzanna's tutelage, but my skills definitely need some work.

Suzanna has taught me so many things over the years. One of those lessons is that special occasions don't always conform to preset dates on a calendar. What makes occasions special isn't just what number there is on the page in the datebook. It's the people you spend your time with that make occasions special.

Happy Birthday, Suzanna. Thanks for so many special days that all began 17 years ago on April 2.

A modern Sarah

My thanks to Sarah for providing some updated photos. These photos are much more indicative of Sarah as she looks today, now that she is 17.

I am certainly glad I don't have to deal with a candle representing every year of my age on birthday cakes anymore. From this photo, of Sarah with Andrew, even 17 candles looks daunting.
The other photos is Sarah getting ready to attend the Oregon FFA Convention in Pendleton over the past weekend.

You remember FFA, its the organizations that used called the Future Farmers of America. It's a great organization, but if you've forgive me for ranting for a moment, if there's one thing more annoying than acronyms its and acronym that doesn't stand for anything.

The rant aside, Sarah sure makes that classic-style blue cordoroy jacket look good! I'm trying to persuade Sarah to share some of her impressions from the convention in a post here on the family blog. I doubt I'm the only one who would be interested in hearing about all the excitement of the convention and Sarah's views on it.
My thanks to Sarah for sharing the photos. I hope she had a great birthday and a great time at the convention.

Happy birthday, Sarah

As of this writing, Sarah's birthday is just a few hours away. I had intended to write a post earlier, but the week got away from me.

Happy birthday Sarah! I hope your 17th birthday is the best one yet. I'm sorry I couldn't find a more current picture (if you have one you'd rather see in this spot, send it to me and I will be happy to change it).

There's lots of big stuff going on for our young family members. Sarah's birthday is Saturday. Easter is Sunday. Next week is spring break. Suzanna's birthday is is coming up soon, as is Andrew's.

There are lots of reasons to celebrate. So, have a great birthday Sarah. And to everyone, have a great holiday and a great vacation (if you get one).

Suzanna at the mic, Maya lays down the guitar groove

I'll probably get in HUGE trouble for this one (if it's ever discovered), but here's a little snippet of the fun had Sunday during the Rock Band festivities and Monica's enchilada fiesta.

Fortunately, there is no footage of my performance on bass.



And no one has won the Powerball, so don't forget to buy your ticket! $230 million!

Dare to dream big

OK, I'm pretty sure that no one from the family has visited this site for a while, which is OK. I'm trying not to take it personally. Either that, or I may have to amend my Powerball win plans.

Over the years, first when I bought California lottery tickets for big prize drawings and now with Powerball drawings, I have developed some common themes to my lottery dreams. Oh, sure, every once in a while I add or subtract details, but the basic dream stays much the same. I've been dreaming that dream again this week, now that the next Powerball drawing is all the way up to $153 millions. I know I probably won't win, but for 5 bucks I can let my imagination run free. The entertainment lasts longer and is cheaper than a ticket to a movie.

The megamillions dream goes something like this:

Of course, I would establish a trust fund for Suzanna, and structure it in such a way that she will still have some money left to take care of me after I frivolously spend all my winnings on bobbles and bling.

I would also set up some sort of trust funds for the family. I would need a financial manager to help me figure out the best way to do that, but the basic concept is that there would be a "West" fund, for my parents and brothers (and perhaps could benefit other in the extended family on both my mom's and dad's side). Then, there would also be a "Felix" fund (although that fund may now be restricted to active blog participants, sort of like a blogging scholarship).

There would also be some property acquisition. I'd pay off Monica's house and buy my parents' house and property, so that maybe my parents could retire and not have to leave the home they've lived in for the last 35 years.

Selfishly I also see two homes for myself. One, a winter home, would be someplace warm in the winter, like Palm Springs or San Diego or Phoenix or Tucson. It would have to have a pool and a hot tub and a nice back yard and enough bedrooms to host family members wanting a winter vacation. Perhaps it needs a casita, so visitors can have their own space.

The other home would be in Portland. Again, perhaps we are talking some sort of an estate here, so the Portland branches of the family tree could all move in if they wished. But again, there would need to be sufficient space to afford all occupants (and any weekend visitors) enough space for some privacy. For example, when Martha and Michael are in town and go to bed at like 8, the party can continue in the fiesta wing without disturbing their sleep. Equally important, when they wake up at O-dark-30, late sleepers, like me, won't be awakened by noisy coffee brewing.

And of course, I'd have to quit my job and become a professional blogger, which essentially gives me an excuse to do nothing, but to have a tax write off for all the high-tech digital computer toys I would want to play with.

Eventually, I may start my own business, to give me something to do and would necessitate people calling me "boss" and sucking up to me even. It would also give me someplace to go whenever someone tracked me down at either the Portland estate or the winter estate in Palm Springs to ask me for a favor, or money. "Sorry, I can't deal with this right now, I have to go into the office. We'll talk later." Then there would be an emergency business trip to meet with investors or clients or pursue new acquisitions. Oh, and I'd need a personal assistant so I could be conveniently unreachable via cell phone or e-mail.

I also haven't decided yet, but I am even thinking about possibly getting a new car. But I have to say, I'm torn. It would be awfully hard to part with the ol' '95 Dakota. Wait! I don't have to. Getting a new car doesn't mean I have to give up the truck (which I know Suzanna loves so much). I just need to make sure the estate has a place to part the ol' Dodge. Hey, I might even be able to afford to hire someone to wash and wax 'er.

And you want to know what the really cool thing is? Since no one comes to this site anymore, no one in the family will ever read this and they can't hold me to any of it! I'll have money to burn! Maybe I'll buy two cars and make sure the house has a 3-car garage.

Where's Matthew?

Kudos to Matthew for being one of the Citizen Cup honorees from Pendleton High School. Featured in the EO , a Citizen Cup award and he's got a birthday coming up on March 3.

Does the recognition ever end?

Do you see what I see?

So, did everyone watch the lunar eclipse tonight? Pretty cool, eh?

I feel like howling at the blood-red moon!

Thanks for being my Valentines

I remember back in grade school, every Valentine's Day I would spend what seemed like an eternity picking through that big assorted pack of Valentine's Day cards -- the ones you'd have to fold along the crease to fit in their cheap little envelopes. It seemed like the most important thing to pick just the right card for just the right classmate.

It seemed particularly important to pick extra special cards for the girl who was the focus of the crush of the moment. But of course it was harder to pick the right cards to give the boys in my class. They couldn't be too mushy or girlie. And of course some of the cards in the pack just sucked. They were too stupid. Those I would give to the people I didn't really care for in my class.

It's been a while since if given a Valentine card to anyone. Valentine's Day is most associated with romantic love. But the various crushes or love interests that have come -- and gone -- in my life didn't help me discover what love really means. Sure, there has been love there, but a love that is fleeting isn't the love I aspire to find and experience. Maybe that special someone is still out there, but not having a love interest by my side today does not mean there is not love in my life. There is a great deal of it from the people who taught me most what love is.

My parents and the family I was born into were the first to demonstrate that love. I didn't fully understand or appreciate that as a child or even as a young man. I didn't understand how they felt about me until Suzanna came along. Once I realized how much I wanted her to be happy and healthy and how deep the emotions ran, I finally began to understand how my parents felt.

I used to think the objective in life was just to find someone to love and I would be happy. Now, I realize that loving the people in my life, family and friends -- and letting them love me back -- makes me happy every day. I have been fortunate to be back close to family and some old friends again the last couple of years. That makes this a very special Valentine's Day. It's a day filled with lots of love.

So, thank you to my immediate and extended family for sharing so many moments -- large and small -- and for giving so much of yourselves and your love. I've tried to get better, more expressive, about showing or telling you all how important you are to me and expressing the love back that you all make me feel in abundance. Thanks for being my Valentines. And Suzanna, thank you in particular, for showing me the true meaning of that simple little and infinitely complex four-letter word.

Happy Valentine's Day. May all who read this find their hearts filled beyond measure and expression with the love of family, friends and lovers.

Fat Tuesday

I hope you are having a great Fat Tuesday!

So, what, if anything are you giving up for Lent when it's all said and done?

Super Sunday

Monica, Elizabeth and Suzanna hosted a fun Super Bowl party today. There were unconfirmed reports of a certain young lady dancing topless on a table. And the Giants upset the Patriots.

A good time was had by all. OK, Suzanna looked pretty bored. But everyone else seemed to be having fun.

A weekend of good food, good music and celebrating all things Elizabeth

The photos in the slideshow in the right side rail are from dinner at Cat's house on Saturday and Monica and Elizabeth's house on Sunday for Elizabeth's birthday. For those of you who were there, it was great to spend time with you this weekend. For those of you who weren't, we missed you all.

Elizabeth, I hope you had a great weekend. And thanks for sharing it with us all. And Cat and Monica, thank you very much for the great food. I should have brought home doggie bags.

It's official, I'm a winner

I finally cashed in my winning lottery tickets today from Christmas. I am now $15 richer than I was! Thanks Cat and Martha and Michael!

Of course, being part of this family is where I receive my true riches.

I hope everyone is doing well and having a great weekend.

Can you picture it?

I added a couple of photo slideshows to the side rail. One has some photos Suzanna took at the Hermiston watermelon giveaway in Portland this summer. The other is the photos I've uploaded to the blog so far.

Check them out and feel free to share your own photos for those of you who have signed up for the blog.

Is anybody home?

OK, people, where are all the new posts from our new contributors?

Sarah? Suzanna? Queen M? I'm talking to you in particular!

Tell us about your day. What's happening at work or at school.

I will try to post here regularly, but I also added my own personal blog, where I plan to post from time to time. If you want to check it out, here's the link. I made a post there about what I have to do tomorrow, which is serve on jury duty (yippee!).

Speaking of other blogs, if anyone knows of any other blogs they like that we should link to from this site, let me know. Also let me know if anyone else wants to share administrative duties with me on here. That will allow you to make changes to the template and other stuff.

Music for a wet weekend

A couple of years ago, Suzanna had an iPod on her Christmas list, and she got one, which was my first real introduction to the little gizmos. Before Suzanna got hers, and I got a chance to see a little bit about how they worked, I couldn't really see myself ever using one. They seemed awfully expensive. But not long after Suzanna got hers, I got one for myself, and now realize how great of an investment it was.

After putting music from my CD collection into the computer, I soon found myself listening to music I had not listened to in years. I also like the ability to just buy song I like, without having to buy whole CDs to get the one or two hits I want.

There is also a cool feature as part of iTunes that lets you share music with others. So, on a stormy, rainy weekend, I thought I would share one of my playlists with the family. It seems appropriate for a stormy weekend.

If any of you have any iMixes out there you have created, I'd like to check them out too.

In the meantime, stay warm, stay dry, and cuddle up with some songs about rain.

January celebrations

Well, here it is, early January, near the beginning of a New Year. It seems like I should be doing something. It seems like I should be celebrating something? What ever could that be?

Oh, yes, I know. I think there are some birthday's this month!

Happy birthday Michael (Jan. 6); my brother Ron (Jan. 18); and Elizabeth (Jan. 21)!

The partying just doesn't stop!

Great start to '08

Wow, 2008. Can you believe it?

The new year got off to a nice start, thanks to lovely hostesses Catarina, Maya and Isabel. Great munchies were served, but I am suspecting the fix was in during the games portion of the evening, as twice I was on the team with the early lead, only to have the teams Maya was on steal victory in the end.

But, I shant pout, because it was too much fun!

I am sad to report that I did not take my camera along, so I have no photos of the evening, including Suzanna's stylish new hairstyle nor do I have evidence of Isa wearing her new Christmas outfit. So, hopefully Cat will share some of her photos.

Also, since I haven't make a post in a while, I wanted to say it was great to see so all you desert dwellers on the web camera on Christmas day (I'm sorry you ended up watching us eat). But it was very nice to see and hear everyone, even if we all could not be together on Christmas.

I've been busy in the days since Christmas enjoying all my cool gifts as much as possible and scratching lottery tickets. I can't report any new-found massive wealth, but I do think there were a few winners in there. I'll have to take them in and get them checked, because some of those games were far too complicated for my simple mind to figure out. I need a ticket that just says "You Win" or You Lose" I guess. Either that, or I should have stayed in college longer and got an advanced degree to figure out all the rules, regulations, etc. When did scratch tickets get so complicated?

Anyway, I hope everyone's new year is off to a fantastic start so far. And I'm sorry to hear that Monica and Suzanna are sick (especially since I got hugs from both of them on New Year's Eve!) Now I'm going to be all freaked out every time my nose tickles for the next week or so.

Happy New Year all!

Happy New Year!

Here goes my addition to the family blog! I would like to first thank Gary for putting this together for our technologically challenged family.

Second, i would like to thank Cat for throwing a fabulous New Years Eve party! Thanks Cat!!! A great time was had by all of us and I can't wait for next year to see if you can outdo 2007!

Third, I just want everyone to get on their computers and add to this so we have something to entertain us!!!!

That's all for now....

By the way, Suzanna and I are sick again....hope you all don't get it, and you know who you all are......

Much love! Auntie Nina!!!!! otherwise known as Monica