tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-153812262024-03-13T10:11:39.307-07:00Ever changing lives! ~ HoboyoungThe Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.comBlogger339125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-87752883999998060532011-01-30T12:35:00.000-08:002011-01-30T14:38:05.025-08:00First Day of School<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TUXgh4LVkdI/AAAAAAAABDo/e2jeVTMVavw/s1600/DSC02120.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TUXgh4LVkdI/AAAAAAAABDo/e2jeVTMVavw/s200/DSC02120.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568103386933727698" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>John and Josie were very excited about their first day of school!<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>It is a beautiful day here so Derrick and I walked them to school, it is only a 10 minute walk from town.</p><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TUXPe-J7zlI/AAAAAAAABDQ/8HBE18dFWp0/s1600/DSC02119.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TUXPe-J7zlI/AAAAAAAABDQ/8HBE18dFWp0/s200/DSC02119.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568084645301177938" /></a><br /></p><p>Both of the kids were up early and were taking showers and eating breakfast with out any fussing! </p><p>Summer break has been lots of fun with lots of beach combing and snorkeling.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is John on "Boxing Day" - Dec 25th - notice the long curly hair.... he wanted to cut it short for school, so the curls are gone.</p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TUXaCBEVWrI/AAAAAAAABDY/s0inEwI_Gts/s1600/DSC02115.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TUXaCBEVWrI/AAAAAAAABDY/s0inEwI_Gts/s200/DSC02115.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568096242494692018" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TUXkbz5P4_I/AAAAAAAABDw/PpKdFHhGthg/s1600/DSC01854.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TUXkbz5P4_I/AAAAAAAABDw/PpKdFHhGthg/s200/DSC01854.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568107680751412210" /></a>The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-34395123747911293042011-01-02T16:29:00.000-08:002011-01-02T17:18:55.694-08:00Ring in 2011!!<div><br /></div><div>Happy New Year to you all!</div><div><br /></div><div>We were one of the first Countries to ring in the New Year this year! Kiribati beats Tonga by a couple of hours I think! </div><div><br /></div><div>We had a blast. All the ex-pats got together down at a local bar for some New Year's drinks and much needed catching up. I am not sure exactly how many people were there, my guess is around 30. Many countries were represented including; India, Canada, United States, New Zealand, Australia, England, Sweden, Fiji, and Italy ... </div><div><br /></div><div>To live on an island is interesting to say the least... it is island time and things get done, well when they get done. You just go with it. Crazy people live on islands, I have gathered! Well I moved to an island so that puts me in the crazy catagory too!!</div><div> So to have ex-pats here makes it even more interesting! The American are known as being arrogant and stupid. This is great isn't it? So the stereo type precedes you before you open your mouth. It is actually quite comical at times. I had someone from Austria ask me when the WWII started, I responded by asking this question; "Would you like to know when it actually started or when the US was involved?". The gal that asked me that just smiled, and said "oh so you know it was happening before the US was bombed." I just smiled and said yes I do know a bit about world history. </div><div>Just a few thoughts on "being the newbies" in town! Guess I need to ramp up on my World History! </div><div><br /></div><div>Let's see back to New Year's . One bar down and on to another. They literally closed the bar we started at and said, everyone up to the Balcony for drinks and dinner! So off we went to ring in the New Year at the Balcony Bar and restaurant. I started 2011 off right with a nice grilled fish salad! Yummy! </div><div><br /></div><div>After we did the New Year's countdown and had our first New Year's kiss we went dancing down at the Harbour @ a place called Mermaids. Very fun time. Lots of people dancing and having fun! </div><div><br /></div><div>Everything is in walking distance here - so after the dancing we walked back to town - to settle in from exhaustion. Really don't remember the last time I was up dancing at 2 am!</div><div><br /></div><div>Great time with great new friends, Happy New Year!</div><div><br /></div><div>A little about the Tongan culture, at 10 pm every church in Tonga is packed full! They go to church from 10pm - until midnight. At midnight the churches get out. The people either go home to bed or they go and drink until they pass out in the middle of the road. The majority of people go home.... however to see people passed out in the street is well not unheard of at all! It is new Year's after all, that happens every where in the world.</div><div><br /></div><div>The next day the villages come together and prepare food for everyone in the village, Tongan's are all about family and this is one of the ways they show it! </div><div><br /></div><div>I didn't know about the feasts, and attempted to go to the market on the 30th, stores are closed on New Year's eve and New Year's day. I did manage to get some chicken, but not with out a a lot of elbows being thrown at me! (I heard over and over "palangi", "palangi" , meaning foreigner. Very serious about food here - you don't mess with food! It's all good, I maybe skinny now in the Tongan's eyes, but I can hold my own in line! (Not as easy as it seams with 280-350 pound women on all sides of you!) Most of the time the Tongan people will bend over backwards to help you, just in the case of running low on food, it is a different story! </div><div><br /></div><div>We didn't starve over the weekend, it is all good!</div><div><br /></div><div>Next post will be of Josie's 6th B-day!! Our little girl is growing up!</div><div><br /></div><div>Not getting photos to post right now, but atleast you have an update!</div><div><br /></div>The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-88625333317815944982010-12-26T15:22:00.000-08:002010-12-26T15:38:38.372-08:00<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Been a while since I have blogged. Internet connection can be very frustrating here.<div><br /></div><div>Where to begin....</div><div><br /></div><div>after 5 months we have real electricity in our home! (Before we were running an extension cord from the neighbors)</div><div><br /></div><div>House is finished, small details left to do, but as we are on island time, it will gone done... eventually.</div><div><br /></div><div>John and I snorkeling at 'Enio beach. this beach is beautiful! They also have a botanical gardens there as well, we have not yet gone to the gardens.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TRfP-2zHSGI/AAAAAAAABCk/GNZUsPG1nPA/s200/emJohn.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 130px; height: 98px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555137344153536610" /></div><div>Kids are now officially on summer break - weird that it is December and it is hot and sunny here! Although I am very much enjoying it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Kids could kind of swim when we came.. but are really turning into fish now! Josie wouldn't go into the water by herself, and she is now snorkeling! So proud of her.</div><div><br /></div><div>My goal is to start blogging more, so you should see some more posts from me!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-48229784242344125632010-08-23T16:53:00.000-07:002010-08-23T17:18:44.232-07:00Dancing and SingingMost weekends at the market a village will come out or church group and sing and dance to entertain and "preach" at the people visiting the market. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/THMPmD7FrFI/AAAAAAAABCU/qsjd1RtJJyU/s1600/Tonga3+003.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/THMPmD7FrFI/AAAAAAAABCU/qsjd1RtJJyU/s200/Tonga3+003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508763915766836306" border="0" /></a><br />This past week was our villages' week. So the kids at the village spent most nights up at the local hall so that they would all be ready for the big day of dancing. John, Josie and Detrix got asked to go!<br /><br />Can you find them in the picture?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/THMLzEjeX2I/AAAAAAAABCM/b43ry5OAIHg/s1600/Tonga3+005.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/THMLzEjeX2I/AAAAAAAABCM/b43ry5OAIHg/s200/Tonga3+005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508759741228015458" border="0" /></a>The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-33320728481939424802010-08-04T16:05:00.002-07:002010-08-04T16:58:38.130-07:00Wedding Tongan styleWe were invited to the minister's wedding in our village. The minister has only been in the village for 1 1/2 and is marrying a lady from the next village over. We were very happy to be invited to the wedding and feast. The night before the wedding the women decorated the church with beautiful flowers, and white clothes.The bride is in front, the man in white is the minister... don't know who the man in blue is!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TFn62BYVT9I/AAAAAAAABB0/Yy3Rt1PGzpY/s1600/DSC01156.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TFn62BYVT9I/AAAAAAAABB0/Yy3Rt1PGzpY/s200/DSC01156.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501704225800146898" border="0" /></a>Note: Behind the couple is a cement water tank it hold approx 10,000 Liters of rain water. The church has 3 of them and they are public water. Right now are village has no well water - the well was contaminated with salt water when the cyclone hit last year. The entire village is dependent on rain water.<br /><br /><br />The weddings here take place on Tue or Thursday, there is a party after the ceremony. Then the bride and groom go back to their seperate homes until Sunday when they present the bride at church and have a small ceremony. Sunday after the feast and ceremony the bride and groom then go to the house they will live in together.<br /><br />Due to this wedding being the minister - nearly every family in the two villages prepared a table... In Tonga the more you have on your table the bigger<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TFn0Yl2WhwI/AAAAAAAABBU/ntYZnk3_b70/s1600/DSC01142.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TFn0Yl2WhwI/AAAAAAAABBU/ntYZnk3_b70/s200/DSC01142.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501697123123889922" border="0" /></a> status you have so the people literally spend an entire weeks salary or more preparing a table for others to eat at! The picture at the right is Maka, with the pig he killed for the feast. This was his own pig, and one of the bigger pigs he has.<br /><br /><br /><br />The villagers also collected money over the past couple of months and purchased a couple of cows to eat at the feast. The following pictures are of the cows hanging from the trees after they were <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TFn2N7K4BqI/AAAAAAAABBc/laDL0Q78eJM/s1600/DSC01143.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TFn2N7K4BqI/AAAAAAAABBc/laDL0Q78eJM/s200/DSC01143.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501699138891810466" border="0" /></a>killed, and then the umu (underground oven) that they cook all the meat and vegetables in. The vegetables here are mainly sweet potatoes and taro leaves. Taro leaves are close to tasting like spinach.<br />I went up with Derrick to where they were preparing the meat. They were very happy to have me take pictures, I then realized there were no women at all near the umu or any of the slaughtered pigs and cows. I was quick and taking pictures then I left the men to cut up the meat and prepare the pigs and cow for the feast the next day! Derrick was invited to stay and he sat and drank kava (local plant root) and cut up cow.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TFn3i2kADNI/AAAAAAAABBk/fvEZYTD3oYM/s1600/DSC01149.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TFn3i2kADNI/AAAAAAAABBk/fvEZYTD3oYM/s200/DSC01149.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501700597943897298" border="0" /></a><br />The picture is of some of the men in the village who dug the umu. It was atleast 6' deep and 10' long! I think a total of 2 cows, 5 pigs, other various animals and all the sweet potatoes went into the umu to cook overnight.<br /><br />The <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TFn5dHN3a4I/AAAAAAAABBs/qshWY8EiQvw/s1600/DSC01160.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TFn5dHN3a4I/AAAAAAAABBs/qshWY8EiQvw/s200/DSC01160.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501702698358500226" border="0" /></a>amount of food on each table was over whelming! Each table had on it; of oti ika (oh-tie-ee-ka) it is a raw fish in coconut juice with tomatoes and lime juice. Sweet and sour chicken, deep fried chicken, lu (corned beef wrapped in taro leaves) regular fish, chicken chow mein, mussels, clams, lobster and then in front of us was a whole cooked pig. I would guess there was over 300 people there from both villages. I must say my favorite thing to eat is the oti ika.... before coming here I had never tried raw fish, no sushi, nothing, but I wanted to try eveything when we moved here.. now it is one of my favorite things to eat!<br /><br />We had a great time at the wedding and feast, I might still be full from all the food! <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TFn9tz7dzCI/AAAAAAAABB8/FX_TdtF-IYk/s1600/DSC01159.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TFn9tz7dzCI/AAAAAAAABB8/FX_TdtF-IYk/s200/DSC01159.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501707383285337122" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The last picture is of just one side of all the tables, there was a whole other group of tables set up to the right.The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-24866959042346791442010-08-02T17:49:00.000-07:002010-08-02T18:21:09.412-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TFdqSgFb3iI/AAAAAAAABA8/wx9x7F-yTHc/s1600/DSC01264.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TFdqSgFb3iI/AAAAAAAABA8/wx9x7F-yTHc/s200/DSC01264.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500982335939272226" border="0" /></a><br />What a beautiful view we get to look at every day!<br /><br /><br /><br />Yesterday was the King's birthday. Because it is a royal holiday everything was closed, after a brief trip into town, then realizing everything was closed, we did what anyone does on an island, piled everyone in the car and went snorkeling at the beach!<br /><br />The kids played for a few hours in the water - it was perfect!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />What do you get at the end of a rainbow? We got three wonderful children! We had a really nice wind and rain storm on Saturday night, right before the rain storm we looked off of the back porch and saw a rainbow. There are people in the background collecting mussels, they must not have known to dig under the rainbow to find the pot of Gold! We have already found the pot of gold, with the three kids!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TFduE-T_oCI/AAAAAAAABBM/CQ7IV86lWlQ/s1600/DSC01260.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TFduE-T_oCI/AAAAAAAABBM/CQ7IV86lWlQ/s200/DSC01260.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500986501581742114" border="0" /></a>The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-38015752174696901982010-07-26T17:56:00.000-07:002010-07-26T18:13:11.580-07:00The "torch is coming"So I while back we had big news in town that the Olympic Torch was coming through town. All kids went to town (instead of school) and lined the streets waiting for the torch to arrive. We had a few conversations about why the Olympic Torch would be touring around the world now, didn't the Olympics just take place?<br /><br /> We arrive at 9am and we purchase the country's flag for each child... The teachers then begin instructing the children that they are to stand on the sidewalk and proudly wave the flag when the torch comes by.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TE4w9nMK-RI/AAAAAAAABAU/7w5JH-5_Uek/s1600/DSC01082.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TE4w9nMK-RI/AAAAAAAABAU/7w5JH-5_Uek/s200/DSC01082.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498386030116141330" border="0" /></a><br /><br />At 9:30 am we hear the plane fly over, this will be a while... the torch is coming from the airport to town a 15 minute drive. They will be running,<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TE4vrjPy7QI/AAAAAAAABAM/Eb6-B6BieI0/s1600/DSC01080.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TE4vrjPy7QI/AAAAAAAABAM/Eb6-B6BieI0/s200/DSC01080.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498384620308327682" border="0" /></a> ok we figure give them an hour, hour and a half... we will then see the torch. Over the next 3 hours we would continually go through a drill every 20 minutes or so of someone yelling, "here it comes!" All kids would then run to their designated spot and proudly hold out the flag. Minutes later we would be told, it was a false alarm. Pretty comical really. After 3 1/2 hours we finally see the torch coming. We were standing next to a gal from Austria and some other Americans we all wanted to know what torch was coming, it was not the Olympic Torch!<br /><br />We found out it was the Common Wealth games torch! The next half hour the people from England, and Canada had to explain that the Common Wealth games take place with countries associated with England. (This is what was explained to me... if it is different, sorry I still don't know much about the Common Wealth Games!)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TE4x5huFJdI/AAAAAAAABAc/2_CGRzcz2zc/s1600/DSC01084.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TE4x5huFJdI/AAAAAAAABAc/2_CGRzcz2zc/s200/DSC01084.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498387059439904210" border="0" />Can you see the torch? Definitely not the Olympic Torch!</a><br /><br />The funniest part of the whole day: When the torch finally came - all kids ran from the sidewalk and crowded in the street. The people holding the torch (not an actual torch at all) were walking not even trying to run! Too funny.The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-35295611837326346162010-07-25T13:58:00.001-07:002010-07-25T14:32:54.977-07:00We have arrived! - In Tonga
<br />
<br /><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CGARYKO%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">Well hello there, blogging world!<span style=""> </span>It has been a while.<span style=""> </span>Most of you already know that we have moved to another country.<span style=""> </span>We have moved to the South Pacific to the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">Kingdom</st1:placetype> of<span style=""> </span><st1:placename st="on">Tonga</st1:placename></st1:place>. Look it up on a map, it is near <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Fiji</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style=""> </span>We have been here for almost 3 months.<span style=""> </span>For the first month we were living in an apartment, or what we like to call, “the oven” it was ridiculously hot at all times.<span style=""> </span>We have since moved into our house that we finished while we were living in the apartment. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I wanted to start from the beginning and go through our lives as we arrived in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Tonga</st1:place></st1:country-region>, it has been quite a journey for us.<span style=""> </span>Due to the length of the time we have now been here – I have decided that I will just tell you some of things that have happened in no particular order.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TEyqpM7zt8I/AAAAAAAAA_8/-Agjad-2klc/s1600/DSC01017.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TEyqpM7zt8I/AAAAAAAAA_8/-Agjad-2klc/s320/DSC01017.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497956869935970242" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Josie and John arriving in Fiji - after our 10.5 hour flight!
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So from the <st1:country-region st="on">US</st1:country-region>, it is a bit of a journey to get to <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Tonga</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style=""> </span>If up in the Northwest area, it is a hop skip and a jump: <span style=""> </span>First get to LAX, then LAX to Fiji (10.5 hour flight) , we spent the night in Fiji (wanted to give the kids some time to play) had a great time, there is a hotel literally right next to the airport that has a water slide we all had a great time.<span style=""> </span>From <st1:country-region st="on">Fiji</st1:country-region> to Tongatapu (main island group in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Tonga</st1:country-region></st1:place>) then finally from Tongatapu to Vava’u(the island group we live on)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TEyoaf4neoI/AAAAAAAAA_0/j9Ui5P_Yw4Y/s1600/DSC01020.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TEyoaf4neoI/AAAAAAAAA_0/j9Ui5P_Yw4Y/s320/DSC01020.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497954418301565570" border="0" />This is John at Tongatapu apon arrival! Why he is not smiling I don't know!</a><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Whew… it was long trip especially with two kids in tow and 12 suitcases!<span style=""> </span>The kids did amazingly well, I was jealous of them on the airplane when I looked over and they were sleeping, they looked so comfy all cozied up in the seats.<span style=""> </span>We were fortunate and could sprawl out over 3 rows of seats!<span style=""> </span>Little Josie finally conked out on the long LAX to Fiji flight, John was so excited to be on a BIG airlplane that he watched every movie on the movie channels, he finally fell asleep with only 3 hours left on the flight.<span style=""> </span>So when we arrived in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Fiji</st1:country-region></st1:place> he was a bit tired.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We stayed one night at the resort across the street from the house we were finishing, and then moved into the apartment.<span style=""> </span>The first night in the apartment we got all settled and put some rice on to start dinner.<span style=""> </span>Then the lights went out.<span style=""> </span>No power.<span style=""> </span>Hmmm, I know I have a candle in one of the suitcases, search through 12 suitcases and finally find the candle – get it lit and then realize that the rice is completely burned!<span style=""> </span>The stoves are all powered with butane gas so it kept cooking even when we had no power.<span style=""> </span>Pretty funny, the kids were troopers and ate just rice for dinner.<span style=""> </span>We were all so tired, we crawled into bed, and were out in no time.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TEyr4EAaDdI/AAAAAAAABAE/FvDHzDpMZJY/s1600/DSC01026.JPG">Josie and John in Vava'u. First day at the beach in Tonga!<img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/TEyr4EAaDdI/AAAAAAAABAE/FvDHzDpMZJY/s320/DSC01026.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497958224749006290" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-31042456963760383472010-03-01T14:18:00.000-08:002010-03-04T11:14:25.718-08:00Tonga adventures<div><div>This a plantation on the small island of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Tapana</span>. If I remember correctly the island has 6 people, 2 dogs, and a goat.... Pretty cool.</div><br /><br /><div>There is a couple on the island that own the "Paella" <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">resteraunt</span>. The experience of going to this <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">resteraunt</span>, is not like any other I have ever had! Those of you that come and visit will want to venture out to this gem of a place. It is expensive, but worth it.</div><br /><div>You drive to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Ano</span> beach at the end of the road on the island of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Vavau</span>. <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S4w9ZzGNDdI/AAAAAAAAA_U/nLjTyfSEVvA/s1600-h/DSC00888.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443793563006340562" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S4w9ZzGNDdI/AAAAAAAAA_U/nLjTyfSEVvA/s320/DSC00888.JPG" border="0" /></a>You then take a small dingy to the island. To get on the dingy you wade into the water (oh, I loved this!! It was great - warm beautiful water) It is about a 4 minute boat ride - unless you have 5 people on this tiny boat, then it is a bit longer! The bay you cross is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">absolutlely</span> amazing! Yachts are anchored off in the distance, and sky is the clearest blue you can imagine. We left at 5:00 with the sky bright blue. It is very quiet and calm as you cross the bay.</div><br /><br /><div></div>(Picture on right is leaving <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Ano</span> Beach)<br /><br /><div>As we arrive on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Tapana</span> island you are greeted by a small but nice beach.</div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>The <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">restaurant</span> is only open by reservations when it is not tourist season. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443795452216744082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S4w_Hw9EGJI/AAAAAAAAA_k/peMmlaIFxwc/s320/DSC00889.JPG" border="0" />So when we arrived we were told to go explore the island. This was a wonderful way for us to see the beauty of Tonga. The first thing we came <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">upon</span> was rows and rows of pineapple plants. Now call me stupid, but I didn't know that pineapple does not grow on trees. Nope it is more like a "bush" it grows very low to the ground. The picture below is of the pineapple rows. </div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S4w9jFpCpgI/AAAAAAAAA_c/kAZtsjuXjw4/s1600-h/DSC00892.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443793722603120130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S4w9jFpCpgI/AAAAAAAAA_c/kAZtsjuXjw4/s320/DSC00892.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>After "getting lost" trying to find the other beach - we made our way back to the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">restaurant</span>. The <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">restaurant</span> and bungalows (you can spend the night) are very rustic, the views however are amazing. The bathroom is outdoor - very cool to see. Yes there was a toilet, and it flushed! </div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>The two people that own the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">restaurant</span> made everything by hand. The restaurant itself is made of coconut tree. The chairs and tables are all made from trees off the island. To see what one man put together was incredible. </div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>Water is gathered from the rainfall. It is safe to drink the water, as we did not get sick! Yeah. that was good news.</div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>As sun set we started to dine on traditional <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Spanish</span> cuisine. The food was good, but I think the experience of being on the island was just special. </div><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443798508625280754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S4xB5q9pPvI/AAAAAAAAA_s/Fsuf7HjDq38/s320/DSC00895.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div>After the meal our hosts started to sing and play guitar, Eduardo was very quite all day, and then he came out of his shell as he started to play his guitar and serenade us with a traditional <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Spanish</span> song. A "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">yachtie</span>" - (person that travel around on yachts) joined in the fun too!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>What made the whole experience extra special was the attitude of the owners.... "come take a look around, take your time" As we spoke with our hosts at the end of the evening she told us this story.....</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Tonga is a different way of life, you are not in a hurry when living in Tonga. They see many tourists come and go all year long, they can always tell the difference between a tourist and person that lives in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Vavau</span>. Not necessarily by how they look but by how they react to situations. She said when foreigners get "stuck in the bay" if the boat breaks down or something goes wrong they hear the foreigners yelling and cursing. On the other hand if a boat breaks down, or stops and it is a local, you hear laughing. What else can they do? There is no point to yelling and screaming, someone will be by and pull them to shore.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>We didn't know that we would have our own story to tell..... </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>As we left the island and got a ride back on the dingy. (It was dark out- nothing but the bright stars in the sky. We waded in the water and got in the boat) As we waited for Eduardo to start the engine..... we waited and waited..... and waited..... and waited..... he couldn't get the engine (it was a pull start motor) to cooperate. We sat uneasily at first... apprehensive to why the motor didn't start. Then as if we all remembered the story at once and we started to chuckle... really what could we do? We were still pretty close in about ten minutes into this Eduardo got the motor started. Derrick had been holding onto a rope to keep us from going back into shore, so Eduardo said let go of the rope. As Derrick let go, the engine stopped. It was. well really funny. So we sat and took in the night sky as Eduardo pulled the engine rope to get the boat to go! We finally got going and thoroughly enjoyed the ride across the bay.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>If anyone comes to visit us, I highly recommend going on this adventure! It was a wonderful experience. Glitches and all - made it a memorable trip!</div><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-21634833667082520702010-01-19T11:30:00.000-08:002010-01-20T12:42:08.632-08:00TongaI wanted to get the photos up..... it has been many many months and way too long! I have some wonderful stories that will soon accompany these. Enjoy.<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YJuOkxwNI/AAAAAAAAA_M/ZvBxVBENr6I/s1600-h/DSC00976.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428537090632696018" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YJuOkxwNI/AAAAAAAAA_M/ZvBxVBENr6I/s320/DSC00976.JPG" border="0" /></a> Last year we took a trip to Tonga! Tonga is located in the South Pacific near Fiji. It was a wonderful trip, we had an amazing time. We went to Tonga to check out real estate and business opportunities. What we found was amazing people living in paradise! We are getting our ducks in a row so we can move to Tonga and start a business.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YJclV3iPI/AAAAAAAAA_E/7fawLaes5dQ/s1600-h/DSC00933.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428536787506530546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YJclV3iPI/AAAAAAAAA_E/7fawLaes5dQ/s320/DSC00933.JPG" border="0" /></a> View from our hotel room in Vava'u, Tonga. An outer island in the Tonga group.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YJVRm15QI/AAAAAAAAA-8/qxNm_DzRuII/s1600-h/DSC00879.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428536661949932802" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YJVRm15QI/AAAAAAAAA-8/qxNm_DzRuII/s320/DSC00879.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>Derrick and I on our first day - putting our feet in the sand in Tongatapu. This is the main island.<br /></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YJNBUGF2I/AAAAAAAAA-0/3GtYun9LpD0/s1600-h/DSC00898.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428536520137381730" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YJNBUGF2I/AAAAAAAAA-0/3GtYun9LpD0/s320/DSC00898.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>these are kids playing along the water front in Neaifu, Vava'u. They play in the water after school. What fun they were having.<br /><br /><br /></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Stopping for some beers in the Mango cafe. Right on the water in Neiafu, Vava'u. This is located in the Port of refuge. The local 'yachties' hang out here. Great cold beer and wonderful pizza. Foster and Derrick.<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YJDuZR4tI/AAAAAAAAA-s/qg_JGe2YabA/s1600-h/DSC00917.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428536360440029906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YJDuZR4tI/AAAAAAAAA-s/qg_JGe2YabA/s320/DSC00917.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YI5tJUNGI/AAAAAAAAA-k/f-YUMw5mRRs/s1600-h/DSC00860.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428536188305945698" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YI5tJUNGI/AAAAAAAAA-k/f-YUMw5mRRs/s320/DSC00860.JPG" border="0" /></a> This is at the Kaleti resort on the main island of Tonga. The city is Tongatapu. Beautiful white sand beaches.<br /></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YIyCJnYaI/AAAAAAAAA-c/RagdZJZZyKI/s1600-h/DSC00878.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428536056505393570" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YIyCJnYaI/AAAAAAAAA-c/RagdZJZZyKI/s320/DSC00878.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Sunset<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /><br /></div><div> </div><div></div><div>One of our bungalows at the resort. Two rooms with an adjoining bathroom.<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YIo7R4YlI/AAAAAAAAA-U/BDny9tvzR7s/s1600-h/DSC00854.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428535900042191442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YIo7R4YlI/AAAAAAAAA-U/BDny9tvzR7s/s320/DSC00854.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Derrick and I on tapa island. We went to a paella restaurant there.<br /></div><div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YIgRF5qaI/AAAAAAAAA-M/MW9gYnuHcbw/s1600-h/DSC00896.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428535751278700962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/S1YIgRF5qaI/AAAAAAAAA-M/MW9gYnuHcbw/s320/DSC00896.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div></div></div></div>The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-54104012748126958912009-09-17T12:45:00.000-07:002009-09-17T12:52:34.729-07:00Muttin Bustin!<a href="http://www.komonews.com/home/video/59406407.html"></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Josie and John both rode sheep at the Puyallup fair last Friday. They call it Muttin Bustin... I knew John would want to do it but wasn't so sure of Josie being all gung-ho. Ofcourse she wanted to do it too. So away they both went, it was so fun to watch and the kids had a blast. We purchased the video so I will put it up soon. However we found out that Josie was on Komo 4 news here in Seattle! Quick clip of her - but oh so cute @ 4 years old. <br /><br />Here is a link, if the video doesn't work.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.komonews.com/home/video/59406407.html">http://www.komonews.com/home/video/59406407.html</a><br />More pics to follow!<br /><br />Hopefully the video is below.The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-38225723766338410782009-09-10T12:43:00.000-07:002009-09-10T13:16:24.257-07:00Sekui 2009<div><div><div><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SqlXh3EVwdI/AAAAAAAAA9k/im1uSnrJC4c/s1600-h/Sekiu+013.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379927469100220882" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SqlXh3EVwdI/AAAAAAAAA9k/im1uSnrJC4c/s320/Sekiu+013.JPG" border="0" /></a> We have had a pretty busy and crazy summer. This so I haven't posted since after the fiasco surgery in June. I am all healed and doing well. Here are some pictures from our fishing trip in Sekui, WA. We have gone with Grandma and Grandpa Cotton for the past 7 years... out of all the years, this was the best year for "fish caught!"</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>John Isaac caught his first fish, all by himself! Then he kept going, he limited on his fish when ever he went out on the boat! (Of course every fish that we got a bite on was then his!)<br /></div><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SqlYa8zXflI/AAAAAAAAA9s/L4iEKVWCvRk/s1600-h/Sekiu+011.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379928449892187730" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SqlYa8zXflI/AAAAAAAAA9s/L4iEKVWCvRk/s320/Sekiu+011.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div>Detrix became a wonderful navigator this year, he drove the boat in and out of all the other boats and in and out of the kelp beds. He tended to fall asleep if he was watching the rods! (hmmmm, teens sure can sleep alot) I am sure it had nothing to do with getting up at 4:30 am to go fishing!<br /></div><div><br /><br /> </div></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SqlXKxlEIgI/AAAAAAAAA9U/TwBxPHzGD3U/s1600-h/Sekiu+033.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379927072489873922" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SqlXKxlEIgI/AAAAAAAAA9U/TwBxPHzGD3U/s320/Sekiu+033.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Here is the crew after a great trip out!</div><br /><br /><div><br /></div>We had many great outings this year, we learned many new things about the boat. I have successfully learned how to backlash a down rigger, no one else can seem to do this! (this is a rare and finally tuned skill - Grandpa would <strong><em>not</em></strong> like me to teach to anyone!)<br /><br /><div></div></div>We also learned that "balls up!" is a new boating term!<br /><div><br /><br /><div>Josie and I hanging on the boat.... funny story. We put the crab pots out to see if we could get any crab. They haven't gotten many up in Sekui in the last few years but we thought we try and it would be fun for the kids to see how it works. So we put in the fish head and all the other fun stuff, off we go to drop the pots. we go out fishing and then later go find the pots and raise them up to see if we got crabs. Well we load up the kids, Grandpa and I on the boat to go find the pots... we search and search .... and search some more and go all over the area where we think we left the pot. But we can't fidn the pot! 1/2 hour later still can't find the pot! Now we are thinking maybe someone hit the crab pot line and the pot is gone forever. We find every other pot out in the area, but still not ours. We head back in after an hour of searching. Grandma meets us on the dock, saying, "well did you get any?" Our response was, no we couldn't find the pot! "You drove right by it!" she says. Grandpa and I are less then pleased with her at this moment. "Fine then, show me where the pot is, we searched everywhere and couldn't find it!"Grandpa said (ever so kindly). Grandma jumps in the boat and heads right to the pot! Grrrrrr. We had driven around the pot for an hour and never did see it! Grandma knew right where it was. So we get the pot up and......</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379930161552705122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SqlZ-lPCRmI/AAAAAAAAA98/FXTwQUQvGpY/s320/Sekiu+017.JPG" border="0" />WE GOT ABSOLUTELY NO CRABS!!</div><br /><div>We did have a very nice ride!</div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379929412429355986" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SqlZS-iHG9I/AAAAAAAAA90/6akSV2InhSw/s320/Sekiu+016.JPG" border="0" /></div></div></div>Josie and I hanging on the boat!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379934727087381138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SqleIVLU2pI/AAAAAAAAA-E/RSga8vLQ9hc/s320/Sekiu+007.JPG" border="0" /><br />We have no pics of Grandma this year... and here is one of the only ones we have of Grandpa..... great isn't it?The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-53166057091673678332009-06-11T13:36:00.000-07:002009-06-11T14:43:41.555-07:00New GoalsI had goals for this summer of running another half marathon, a few sprint triathlons thrown in there too... no big deal I thought. I am in pretty good shape. Then I find myself in the hospital for 8 days wondering how I will be able to get out of bed and make it to the bathroom. Things change, goals change in a blink of an eye. I am okay with that. So now my summer goals are redrawn... maybe a sprint triathlon in Sept. last of the race season. 1/2 marathon in Oct. A little rushed for a goal? maybe. Doable? I think so. Considering I now can't do anything for 4 weeks after surgery. The fact I can now walk to the bathroom, I am well very pleased about that! It is all in the perspective.<br /><br />Our family has had our share of trials. crap, sh#$. what ever you want to call it. I call it life. With this last set of things we have gone through, our 16 year old in the hosp. and then me in the hosp. there has been some grumblings from other people as to why this happens. Here are the scenerios.<br /><br />A) Things happen to you because you have done something to deserve them.<br />B) God doesn't give you more than you can handle<br />C) You have been attacked by the (enter here what ever the word you like) demons, devil, evil.<br /><br />A. So the ideais that things keep happening to us because of something we are doing. OK If that is the theory, just how does that play out? In the "organized religion" thinking there must be a door left open or a window for bad things to be let in so that these bad things keep happening. What the heck does that even mean? This line of thinking makes no sense to me at all. In this theory maybe I didn't pray enough therefor these bad things are happening? My response. Are you kidding me? So everything bad that happens in the world only happens to people that believe in God because they have something in their lives they need to pray against? What about the people that don't believe in God or a higher power, what if something bad happens to them? Does the theory still hold up? Nope.<br /><br />B. Ah the ever popular God doesn't give you more than you can handle thought. I get the theory. I take much pride in what our family has been through. We know pain, we have depth. This wasn't our first rodeo ride, it didn't shake us. We stand strong. So OK I get that. But what of the people that have never had anything major happen in their lives? What about them? You have never been given anything difficult, because you can't handle it. What does that say of that persons character? Do they have any? How would we define it? We can't because they have never been through anything. God doesn't trust you can handle it?<br />Pretty slippery slope if we go down that route isn't it?<br /><br />C. The last one that has come up is you keep being attacked by (whatever you want to call it) Again this is more in the "organized religion". If this is the case well, I smile from the inside out, I smile from ear to ear like a chester cat. I smile and a I smirk and I laugh out loud! I say then I must be doing something right in the kingdom of God to have the devil worried about little ol' me. Why aren't you being attacked? Shouldn't you be?<br /><br />No matter the scenario or what you want to call it, I like to just say life happens. Life is messy. There are good times and bad times, and things you do that hurt yourself, and things that others do to you that hurt you. And well, sometimes just .... things happen for no reason at all. They just happen. For me I just do my best to get up everyday and press on. What ever comes into my life today I will worry about it then. Forthe "religious people" out there, the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. Let's get through the rain together.<br /><br />So I am counting down the 4 weeks until I can start working out again... nothing for sure for two weeks, then I can start walking and possbily biking. I will take it slow one day at a time.The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-50305736394883610922009-05-29T22:35:00.000-07:002009-05-29T23:06:49.916-07:00A new addition to the power show!<div><div><div><div><div><br /><div>Derrick and Jimmy did an awesome <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">powershow</span> tonight. They were talking to a group of at risk teens about focusing on <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">positive</span> things instead of negative things. They also talked about steering away from drugs, and what road that can lead you on... They came in with a bang and shocked the kids as they jumped up on the tables and popped pop cans, and sprayed the pop all over! It is a great attention grabber. </div><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341490004661283474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SiDI29siqpI/AAAAAAAAA88/kmnaMtnHDV4/s320/DSC00686.JPG" border="0" /><em><span style="color:#000099;">Derrick called little John up and gave him a small phone book, and little John worked with all he had, and really ripped the phone book! When he was done, he threw the pages in the air, and yelled, just like Dad and Jimmy did! It was really cool to watch little John up there with all the big guys - John will change this world, just watch! <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341492407952064930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SiDLC2ptwaI/AAAAAAAAA9E/EhoieEN2uQs/s320/DSC00687.JPG" border="0" /><br /></span></em><br /><br /><br /><div>Both Jimmy and Derrick have hearts for helping people, and this show really had them at their best. Even in trying times, you can still help others... after all if you can't share with others what is the point of going through all of this crap? Here are some of the pictures from this evening.</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341487871149394050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SiDG6xvqyII/AAAAAAAAA8k/_7ZdgsCUbmo/s320/DSC00677.JPG" border="0" /></div></div>Derrick talking about obstacles.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341488475035190850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SiDHd7ZQxkI/AAAAAAAAA8s/Z9Cs6KCuiWU/s320/DSC00678.JPG" border="0" /></div>Jimmy after breaking the bricks (I missed the shot, Jimmy was too quick! -but I like this picture)<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SiDII0tb8PI/AAAAAAAAA80/jsTFgGPLhD0/s1600-h/DSC00683.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341489211975135474" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SiDII0tb8PI/AAAAAAAAA80/jsTFgGPLhD0/s320/DSC00683.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div>The kids tried to pull Jimmy and Derrick apart, but they couldn't do it!</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341493114568628930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SiDLr_AO2sI/AAAAAAAAA9M/EUnXR2MNoUg/s320/DSC00691.JPG" border="0" /></div><div>Derrick broke 2 sets of handcuffs tonight! The first pair he did, he just did as part of the show. Then at the end of the show, he told the kids that we had been going through some things with our son, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Detrix</span> and he was in the hospital. He told the kids he was breaking the cuffs for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Detrix</span>, as Derrick broke the cuffs everyone in the room shouted out <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Detrix</span>' name. It was a powerful moment. We will overcome. (This is Derrick right after he broke the cuffs)</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div></div></div>The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-52996971066507685322009-05-07T14:45:00.000-07:002009-05-07T15:12:55.513-07:00New Blog - Go ahead read it, great news ahead!I know my posts haven't been as frequent recently, I think I needed a little break from blogging. I am beginning to miss it, so I am sure my ramblings of life will be frequent - very soon! Great news for you I am sure! I am not running the full marathon in June, just didn't get started at the proper time to give myself enough training. But I am going to do a 1/2 marathon in October. Then maybe the Seattle full we will take it day by day. Triathlon season is fast approaching and I am getting pretty excited. I don't know how many races I will be in, but I am just happy to start some more <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">outside</span> training. The last couple of weeks have been rough trying to get outside with sideways rain, well isn't exactly making me get all <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">gung</span> ho to run or ride. I have not stopped riding all winter - so I am happy about that! That is my update for now.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />...... for the other news... the new blog! My hubby who is a chaplain has decided to start a blog. He has always been the most positive person I know and has helped me to become an <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">optimistic</span> person as well. Let's just say I was the "It will never work" person growing up. My husband on the other hand has always had a very positive attitude. So he has decided to write down his thoughts on various things <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">including</span> his understanding of God.<br /><br />Those of you who know us personally know that Derrick suffered a stroke on June 24<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">th</span> of 2006<a href="http://hoboyoung.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html">.(Press here to view the first post after the stroke)</a> It left him paralyzed on his left side. On <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">July </span>7,2006 he was miraculously healed and walked out of the hospital to the amazement and disbelief of his doctors. <a href="http://hoboyoung.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_archive.html">(Press here to view the post after he was healed)</a> To say that event has changed our lives is well an understatement. It changes how you view people and circumstances.<br /><br />So, go take a look at his new blog and let him know what you think!! Blog is: <a href="http://www.chaplainyoung.blogspot.com/">www.chaplainyoung.blogspot.com</a> Have a great day!!The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-88882748427611851882009-04-13T19:56:00.000-07:002009-04-13T20:00:47.736-07:00Easter fun<div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SeP71QAdvfI/AAAAAAAAA8U/bbPxcAwXdq4/s1600-h/eb.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324376076730613234" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SeP71QAdvfI/AAAAAAAAA8U/bbPxcAwXdq4/s320/eb.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SeP7xWIZKvI/AAAAAAAAA8M/YXlAj-zD8N4/s1600-h/bunny.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324376009655003890" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SeP7xWIZKvI/AAAAAAAAA8M/YXlAj-zD8N4/s320/bunny.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I have got to get pictures of Josie in her ballet class up - but here are some new photos of the kids that Grandma Mary took when they spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa Lou's house this past weekend.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324376186463665922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SeP77oy3PwI/AAAAAAAAA8c/6vLzeWeGTQE/s320/john.bmp" border="0" /></div>This last photo is of John "helping" Grandpa Lou dig up the septic, the funny thing is they were at there other granparents last week, with Granpa John and Grandma Priscilla doing the same digging! Too funny.<br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-34966486670242762592009-03-10T19:03:00.001-07:002009-03-10T19:12:29.421-07:00Judo- chop!<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SbccjB5tNpI/AAAAAAAAA78/MjkCPmYuGtg/s1600-h/DSC00318.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311745673638262418" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SbccjB5tNpI/AAAAAAAAA78/MjkCPmYuGtg/s400/DSC00318.JPG" border="0" /></a> Little John is taking Judo. He is learning all the moves and working hard. His favorite part is wearing his Gi, or as he calls it - his costume! Got to love it.<br /><div><br /><br /><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SbcczJHmK6I/AAAAAAAAA8E/MB6tg8ovolo/s1600-h/DSC00320.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311745950453476258" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SbcczJHmK6I/AAAAAAAAA8E/MB6tg8ovolo/s400/DSC00320.JPG" border="0" /></a>You can imagine what happened when little John did his first kick against this little boy ~ oops right in the privates~...... I didn't mean to.... he felt really bad. *on a side note* don't mess with little John!<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SbccRvLbzqI/AAAAAAAAA70/L4pywaqp9WQ/s1600-h/DSC00315.JPG"></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311745376554569378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SbccRvLbzqI/AAAAAAAAA70/L4pywaqp9WQ/s400/DSC00315.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Very happy wearing his Gi.</div><div> </div><div><br /> </div><div></div>The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-37710301153851132832009-02-15T13:07:00.000-08:002009-02-15T18:53:26.410-08:00I fought Joe Rogan!<div>For those of you that watch the UFC fights, you are familiar with the announcer Joe Rogan (used to be of Fear Factor Fame) He announces all the fights, and with our group of fight watchers - annoys the day lights out of them with his comments. He says he has fought, or uses the words, when I was in that position... it is a hard position to get out of..... however if you google him - nothing comes up with fighting.... (he claims on his bio he is a black belt, yada yada yada but no footage on you tube.......rumor is he fought once with BJ Penn in Hawaii, years ago in a sparring match... anyway no footage of such fight exists currently on the internet......if you have seen footage of Joe Rogan fighting send me the link!</div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div>So we had to get these shirts done!</div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303221970552622802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SZjUSNfWDtI/AAAAAAAAA7s/PtWcEmO5rlQ/s400/DSC03503.JPG" border="0" /></div><div> </div>Detrix. Derrick and Uncle John<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303137826760778946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SZiHwZcDZMI/AAAAAAAAA7k/8VMzpuXKL3A/s400/DSC03512.JPG" border="0" />This is the UFC crew that comes to watch all the PPV fights<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SZiGUAGH41I/AAAAAAAAA7E/ng1ZPCWwRUg/s1600-h/DSC03500.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303136239409947474" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SZiGUAGH41I/AAAAAAAAA7E/ng1ZPCWwRUg/s400/DSC03500.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Uncle John and Detrix<br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><p></p><br /><p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SZiHXiutpSI/AAAAAAAAA7c/AOFKj0geHHo/s1600-h/DSC03509.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303137399758234914" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SZiHXiutpSI/AAAAAAAAA7c/AOFKj0geHHo/s400/DSC03509.JPG" border="0" /></a></p><br /><p></p><br /><p></p><br /><p>They couldn't quite get Bill..... you would think they could get him?? wouldn't ya?</p><br /><p></p><br /><p></p><br /><p></p><br /><p></p><br /><p></p><br /><p></p><br /><p> </p><p> </p><p>The next day we had a Super Bowl party!!<br /><br /><br /></p><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303135241132975154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SZiFZ5OWJDI/AAAAAAAAA68/eiwEUbcFRUI/s400/DSC00012.JPG" border="0" /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br />It's a crazy buch for Superbowl!The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-55051484235383857692009-02-07T13:14:00.000-08:002009-02-07T13:33:06.615-08:00Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance!There are things our children do that at the time they do it, you just can't laugh. It is very funny, but you can't laugh. This was one of those times.<br /><br />My (just turned 4) 4 year old, Josie was playing with handcuffs. Now before you all roll on the floor laughing of why we have police handcuffs, get your minds out of the gutter. Derrick breaks the handcuffs when he does his power shows (as well as phone books, bricks of ice, re bar and bricks!) So she grabbed the hand cuffs I told her I don't know where the keys are please don't play with them. I knew I should have taken them from her, but I didn't so ..... she of course she hand cuffed her feet together. Pretty funny she couldn't walk and would fall over. I wasn't real happy as I searched the house and couldn't find the key. Derrick was on his way up north to a business meeting when I called to find out where the rest of the keys and handcuffs were so I could get them off her. Got the extra key - can't get the hand cuffs off. Josie by now is getting a bit worried it has been 15 min. I am now getting more and more ticked, because I can't get them off. After trying and trying I finally got one side off but I can't get the other side off. I am by now pretty angry that the cuff is still on her! It is about 10:30 am. John goes to his bus at noon. I don't have enough time to drive out to my mom's house and have Uncle John or Grandpa take them off and get him to school.... so Josie sat on the couch, with one hand cuff on her leg and waited until John caught his bus then we drove over to Grandma's . Uncle John was working at their house, so he could help us get the cuffs off. I thought about driving to a police station, or fire station - but I really wasn't in the mood to answer why we had the hand cuffs in the first place, and have them look at me all weird. Plus we have had an unfortunate incident with a cop a while back, so Josie is a bit afraid of police officers. So we went to my parents house. Uncle John has a straight face on, staring at her - Grandpa is staring at her straight faced - Grandma straight faced staring at her - and me too. Poor girl looked like she was on trial! All sunken down looking sad. At this point I wanted to laugh, cuz really it is pretty funny, but I just couldn't.... (Grandma looked at me, and whispered don't make me laugh! So we went in the other room and laughed) Uncle John assessed the hand cuff situation and realized they were broken. (that is why I couldn't get them off!) After a few trips to Grandpa's shop, Uncle John freed little Josie. She was pretty thankful and I don't' think she will be playing with hand cuffs any time soon. No pictures, sorry. Just imagine Josie sitting on the couch, handcuffed with four adults staring at her! Too funny. Oh the things kids do.The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-6589801400513494712009-01-22T13:26:00.000-08:002009-01-22T13:33:21.929-08:00It has been a while, sorry running shoes, I knew you would have a bit of a break after the marathon training - I didn't mean for it to run in the months time frame instead of weeks....<br /><br />Last night I started my love/hate relationship again with running. Just to prove to myself I could I did 5 miles... and you know what? I did it! I was slow, but it felt good to be out there in the 31' weather. I missed the soul searching I do on runs, I missed the complaining I do in my head, I missed the trail. The trail and I are friends you see. I know all the corners and what lies around them - in winter well I pretty much have the trail to myself this is both a blessing and curse - I love it cuz I don't worry about dogs knocking me over as you do in the summer time when the trail is so full - I hate it because I have these horrible thoughts of "what if" - you know the one's - what if someone is around the corner, what would I do? I decide in my head I could take on anyone who may try and attack me, after all - if they run at a slow turtles pace - I could so out run them! In my head I solve the worlds problems, and all my friends too! <br /><br />Jan total: 5 miles!!The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-77069146915573534722009-01-16T13:27:00.000-08:002009-01-16T13:29:03.164-08:00There is in every person's heart, a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.<br /><br /><br />Miss you Liz.The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-33171423020839408252009-01-08T13:00:00.000-08:002009-01-08T13:25:54.426-08:00Flooding<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SWZuwsqceHI/AAAAAAAAA6I/NGH2f4WlP_E/s1600-h/floodpic1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289036595295189106" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SWZuwsqceHI/AAAAAAAAA6I/NGH2f4WlP_E/s400/floodpic1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>The Weather channel joked it was the apocalypse, with flooding in Pacific North West and snow and ice storms in the East. . . It certainly looks that way - but the sky hasn't opened up yet with the voice of God so all is good right now. We live a block from the Cedar river, but we are in no danger of flooding and they say it crested at 10am this morning. I know people including family that have been evacuated as of late last night. If watching The Weather channel.(This picture is next to the running trail I take all the time - needless to say the running trail is under water - 2 feet of it!)</div><div>We have family and friends that were evacuated - As far as I know their homes are safe, so that is great news. It is a bit surreal to drive around the area and see the waters so high. We live near a golf course - across the street from our housing development and well, it is almost all under water - nice muddy, brown water - I called a friend just 6 miles from us, his home is ok, but he is stuck in his house, literally can't get out. Two of the major roads are closed and his car isn't high enough to get out. I told him we could come and rescue him if needed later tonight as the water level is slowly going down on that river. My SUV has a lift on it, and if needed I could test it - however I am not in favor of driving around barricades into unknown depths of water - even if it does look fun - He said he is ok with food for a couple of days so we will see what happens. I think he has hip waders, so we could probably meet him on higher ground. Thought I would give a quick update for those of you out of town on what was happening here around Seattle.</div>The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-69797829894165575412009-01-05T14:12:00.000-08:002009-01-05T14:30:20.127-08:00Princess turns 4!With all of the snow, snow and more snow - we have been busy playing outside! I haven't even thought of updating.... sorry. Snow pics to come, we had over 18" of snow... craziness for the Seattle area. It is hard to tell how much we had total, because it would melt a little then we would get hit again!<br /><br />Until the snow pics come, here are some fun pics of our princess who turned 4 on Dec 30th. We have a "you must buy her two gifts" rule in the house so she doesn't get jacked with the combo gifts... I think we can lift that rule if any of the grandparents want to buy her a car when she turns 16... I think that is fair. This year was pretty special, as she woke up and yelled to the house, " it is my birthday!" followed by the ever demanding, "where's my gifts?" lol. I just don't know where she gets it from..... hmmm. <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SWKG3eeVloI/AAAAAAAAA6A/M5diHdkM8QA/s1600-h/IMG_0777.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287937200117618306" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SWKG3eeVloI/AAAAAAAAA6A/M5diHdkM8QA/s400/IMG_0777.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I baked the cake (actually Josie made it with me) and then Grandma Mary rescued me and decorated the princess barbie cake. Josie knew exactly what she wanted and Grandma did every detail for her. Grandma Mary has the patience of a saint! Josie was extremeley - detailed in how she wanted it to look. When Grandma Mary was done - Josie was beaming... she loved it! Thank you Grandma Mary<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SWKGqptS76I/AAAAAAAAA54/4fZtpS4ANy4/s1600-h/IMG_0789.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287936979794849698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SWKGqptS76I/AAAAAAAAA54/4fZtpS4ANy4/s400/IMG_0789.jpg" border="0" /></a> We celebrated on her actual birthday by going out to lunch with Grandma 'Scilla and Grandpa John. (Thank you!) Then we had a family party on New Year's eve. Great time to go to Chuck E Cheeses... not really anyone there, it was nice. They played and played. <br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SWKGQ3Eqf4I/AAAAAAAAA5w/g6MoMpLKYCg/s1600-h/IMG_0792.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287936536705924994" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SWKGQ3Eqf4I/AAAAAAAAA5w/g6MoMpLKYCg/s400/IMG_0792.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>Josie with her favorite friend, Foster! </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>New Year's post to come with all the plans: </div><div> </div><div>I have decided to do the Rock and Roll Full Marathon in June! Yeah. Training officially begins the last week of Feb. Since I have taken the holidays off.... you know Halloween to Valentines day.... true Holiday season.... OK, hopefully not all the way until Valentines day. I am pretty excited to get back out there running. It is not easy to run in almost 2' of snow!</div><div> </div><div> </div></div>The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-80113735857636121392008-12-09T20:25:00.000-08:002008-12-09T21:09:43.740-08:00Vision Quest<div>I have been slacking on the updating - - Thanksgiving was great, lots of food and lots of company, I did make Jell-o and it was the best damn Jell-o ever! lol.<br /><div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div>Detrix made the wrestling team! (Varsity squad too) It is the first year he has wrestled, we are so excited for him. All the years of wrestling dad have paid off, he is one strong 15 year old. He <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/ST9GppWGZBI/AAAAAAAAA5I/yeJ5m6Wl9yA/s1600-h/DSC03422.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278014969588638738" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/ST9GppWGZBI/AAAAAAAAA5I/yeJ5m6Wl9yA/s200/DSC03422.JPG" border="0" /></a>says I have a wrestling meet, do you want to come? Of course we do. Dad drops him off at 6:30 am.... is this crazy - 6:30 am.... he says the meet starts at 10:00. We have never been to one - in oh 18 years! So we have no idea what this entails... </div><div>(Detrix is the one with the red showing beneath his blue sweat suit)</div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div>We load up the kids (reminder they are 3 and 5) and get there promptly at 10:00. It isn't just a meet it is a full tournament! Very cool there were all the schools in his league attending. So they start <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/ST9HGJVyHhI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/1hFSG0bcPFY/s1600-h/DSC03429.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278015459213581842" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/ST9HGJVyHhI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/1hFSG0bcPFY/s200/DSC03429.JPG" border="0" /></a>at the lower weights and work up. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div></div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div>The entire time I am there - I am thinking and remembering the <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/ST9KB2vTiaI/AAAAAAAAA5g/JHAqNO-QBcs/s1600-h/VQ.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278018684035762594" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 144px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/ST9KB2vTiaI/AAAAAAAAA5g/JHAqNO-QBcs/s400/VQ.jpg" border="0" /></a>movie <a href="http://www.fast-rewind.com/visionquest.htm">Vision Quest</a>.... I was in (ahem -so more like 23 or 24 years ago... ) Jr. High and we had some soon to be wrestling prodigies at our high school... that's right folks I don't have the remember when... stories of golden years for myself, I have to live through other athletes in my class! lol. (We had many state champions through out my high school years) I remember watching this movie - maybe it was because the guy was suppose to be from Spokane, WA - a mere 5 hour drive away... that is why we all loved the movie?? hmmm. Maybe I wanted to date a wrestler, me date, I never dated... Jr. high? dating? lol. I am going way back here. Most of this period in my life I have blocked out... but for some reason I remember Vision Quest.... weird I know..... back to my step-son and his wrestling!<br /><br />First surprise you pay to get in! Not a big deal, had we known, trip to the ATM problem solved. We waited and waited and had fun watching all the wrestlers warm up.... running around the circle of the mat, again... flash backs to the movie... you just have to rent it if you don't remember it ... very intense scenes.... lol.<br /></div><br /><div><br /><div>About noon Detrix gets to wrestle..... <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/ST9Hiz3ieOI/AAAAAAAAA5Y/WNaCwRQDTA0/s1600-h/DSC03443.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278015951665789154" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/ST9Hiz3ieOI/AAAAAAAAA5Y/WNaCwRQDTA0/s200/DSC03443.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><div><br />Detrix did so great - he has never wrestled for a team so he is up against guys that know all the moves, he lost the first match in points... he is super strong and a quick learner. His coach says every practice he is learning and growing as a wrestler. He shot his way out of two tough moves, and never gave up.<br /><br />The second match - was around 3:30... he was so pumped up for the match, I knew he really wanted to do well. He showed all heart, he had the guy beat right up until he got caught ... and pinned. He did so well, he was strong and showed no fear of getting in there and doing his best! We are very proud of him and can't wait to be there for his next meet. I can't wait to see how much he grows this season. </div><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/ST9NCOZEarI/AAAAAAAAA5o/6xHgfjIt9b8/s1600-h/DSC03433.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278021988919831218" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/ST9NCOZEarI/AAAAAAAAA5o/6xHgfjIt9b8/s400/DSC03433.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>John and Josie were troopers.. we were there for over five hours, and they were super happy to watch their big brother wrestle! Little John looks up to him and wants to be just like him, Detrix is setting a great example for little John. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>Our weekend was packed full, Friday was my Bunco night - I won money!! Yeah! (I hardly ever win, last year I won a whopping $1o.00) Saturday was the tournament and Sunday the boys went to the Seahawks game, while I took Josie on a early birthday treat(birthday is 12-30, she will be 4!!) to the Rainforest Restaurant, she has a love hate relationship with the monkey section... she loves to see them, but is terrified of them at the same time. We had lots of fun, us girls!</div></div></div></div>The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15381226.post-26751845218925552492008-11-23T18:41:00.000-08:002008-11-23T18:59:55.011-08:00I can to make Jello!One little mistake a few years back with my thanksgiving dish, and I get kicked off of making a "real" dish.... geesh....<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So the story is this:<br /><br /><br /><br />First a little back ground on Ribbon Salad: Our family favorite "ribbon jello salad" everyone loves the ribbon salad it is just a pain to make. Three layers of different jello - you have to let each layer set before adding the next.... you get the salad, ofcourse it is a jello brand recipe - so the middle layer is filled with stuff you would never think of putting together, but for some reason it tastes great... Needless to say I don't like making the salad, but I enoy eating the salad.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SSoYA4gRYPI/AAAAAAAAA5A/Y-ECfjCEMiw/s1600-h/jello.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272052717237395698" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 118px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 89px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lzGHolxZEsw/SSoYA4gRYPI/AAAAAAAAA5A/Y-ECfjCEMiw/s200/jello.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Sooooo........<br /><br /><br /><br />When I was pregnant with Josie - I got taken off of Jello duty (for once!!) and I was to bring the bean casserole dish.. you know the one green beans, mushroom soup, onions on top.... pretty easy to do.<br /><br /><br /><br />I go to the store (8 months pregnant) get the grean beans.. fresh ones, no frozen for me! Pick them out myself. Get all the other ingredients....<br /><br />Go home, prepare the beans, make the dish and take it to family dinner. All went well, until my aunt says, hmmm... I have never had this casserole before.... what do you mean? I say. You put sweet peas in with the green beans, did you see that on a show? With a bewlidered look I tell her I didn't put peas in the recipe, only green beans. I then look at my plate... low and behold I bought half green beans and half sweet peas! ooops!!! The funniest part is, I prepared the peas and didn't even notice I was cutting the stems off of peas and not beans! I blame the fact I was pregnant!!<br /><br />Didn't taste bad, pretty good really.... ofcourse I was taken off of green bean casserole ever since.<br /><br /><br /><br />We have done thanksgiving on Derrick's side of the family two years ago, then did my first all on my own thanksgiving last year (everything was great by the way!) so this year we are going to my family's again. I say - I will bring the casserole this year... why don't you bring the jello salad was the response! Geesh. One pea casserole mistake and I am back to Jello - wait until they see what I put in the jello this year!!<br /><br /><br /><br />Happy Turkey Day (early)!!The Young Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10077661736022646857noreply@blogger.com4