Douglas County's Outstanding Teen

Andrea competed in the Miss Douglas County's Outstanding Teen Pageant on Saturday night.
She did such an amazing job, we are sooo proud of her, for being confident enough to do something that was new and a little scary for her.
Mikayla was her "Little Princess" escort. They both looked so beautiful and had a great time together.
Andrea didn't end up placing, but said that she knew she had done her best, and that she had a ton of fun!
I really couldn't ask for more than that.
Here are some pictures......
This was dress rehearsal night... they had alot of fun!




After her interview portion.


Princess Mikayla!



During the opening number...


Waiting to hear the winners...


Dad with both of his girls!! He got both of them flowers.. they loved it!

Today I took, this picture of Andrea at the High School Blood Drive.... she is dressed up as the "blood drop"
She has really gotten into vollenteering for the Red Cross.
Nathan, tried to donate, but I guess clotted up and was not able to get more than half a bag..
Rex and I went over to donate. I was unable to because I'm on some antibiotic, and Rex did the same thing that Nathan did. So only got half a bag.

Here are a few pictures of Nathan during a track meet! He is doing the Triple Jump.









The base ball team played in Keiser at the Volcano's ball field. They are a AAA team. It was a really nice field. Each time they got up to bat they put there picture up on the "jumbo tron" it was pretty cool!

A new Sport!!

Well, once again, I've been very lazy in posting to my blog.
It's not that there hasn't been plenty to post about, I just can't seem to find the time to do it.
Josh decided to play Baseball this year, I guess he was talked into it by his buddies... It has been quite interesting watching him adjust to a new sport... He hasn't played ball since he was 7, he seems to be having a good time, and I know enjoys being with his friends.



Nathan is doing track, and I've been told is a natural at the events that they've put him in. He is doing the long jump, triple jump and Hurdles.... He is sooo fast, and just fly's down the track before he jumps. He also seems to get over the hurdles easily.
Andrea is SO happy to be done with Cheerleading, and is just happy to be hanging around...
Colton and Mikayla, are just along for the ride, where ever that happens to be...


I've been very busy at work, thats been a good thing to keep my mind off other things...
I'm not handling the adjustment to single parent, or just flying solo every day very well. I guess it has gotten a little easier, but still seems so hard to make it through each day. There are a-lot of things that have made this new situation a challenge for me, hopefully I'll figure out soon how to not just get through, but find some sort of happiness again...
Until that happens.... I just get up each day, and do what needs to be done....

Oaker Boys Basketball, 4th in the State!!

Well it was a great time in Pendleton!! The first game the boys played their best game of the year, came back to within one after down by 19, but just could not hold off the #1 ranked team in the state, and lost by 6. They won the next two games, for a 4th place finish in the state 2A division. It was so great to see Josh play in those games, and I got some amazing pictures of him.






This is Josh and his Coach Jeff Clark.


Here's the whole team with their 4th place Trophy !!!


It was a fun time with all of the kids, they really enjoyed being their for all of the fun! People in Oakland go nuts!!!
Rex was able to make a quick trip out, he got to Pendleton at 7:30 Friday, and had to fly back on Sunday morning, so it was a really fast trip, but it was great that he was able to see Josh play in Saturdays game, and the trophy ceremony. We were all SOOO excited to see him! And we enjoyed every minute!
He's back in Florida, but on a different Island, about 25 miles north of Key West... he said it was a little closer to the job. Not really any Idea how long it will be before we see him again. This company is pretty stupid, and doesn't seem to have their heads on straight most of the time. Its pretty frustrating, but I just keep reminding myself that its a job, and alot of people are out of work...

We had some excitement with our mamma pigs and dogs yesterday, She got out, and they chewed her up pretty good, not sure what is going to happen with her... we're still waiting on piglets, so we are all pretty nervous.
With Rex gone leaves me learning to do a-lot of "Man" things that I'm not used to doing, not liking it but figuring it out..
What else is there to do????

WOW !!!

Ok, SO I really do have better intentions than my post's are showing... Things have been a little on the crazy side the last few weeks..
This is the 4th week that Rex has been gone, and I think that I'm finally used to it just being me and the kids. Overall things have been running pretty smoothly. We had some help from family getting some more wood cut so we could be warm, since it is still COLD here. And we are still waiting on piglets to be born, that's not a good thing.. that means they may not make weight for fair. And of course with us headed out of town for 5 days... she'll probably have them while we're gone... and that to would be BAD!
I'm still trying to figure that whole situation out..

Here's a picture of Josh and Coach Clark right after the playoff game on Friday. With this win, the boys are now one of the final 8 teams in the State 2A playoffs...


Here's Josh after his turn cutting down the net! It was an exciting night!


And here are some pictures of the send off! I'm so excited for him to have the experience of starting in a state game!! The atmosphere in the Pendleton Convention Center is CRAZY... as are all of the OAKER FANS that drive close to 7 hours to get there. They really go all out.. I've been instructed by Colton and Nathan to take paint, cuz they want to paint their faces!! It's all part of the fun. And I wouldn't miss it for anything.











I can't wait to get there and hear Josh be announced starting the game! And just watch him play!! Their first game is Wed. March 4th at 6:30, you can listen to it on this site..http://www.osaa.org/basketball/2009/2aboys/2abbx.asp
It's going to be a fun time in P'town with my kids!!!

Wow, there's been so much that has happened since my last post.
On the 28th of Jan, my company laid off 46 people. I was very fortunate that I was not included in that. Notice that I didn't say effected... In my department there are 4 of us, the big boss, the back up boss, then the other 2 of us, it came down to that I could learn to do his job, but he it would be harder for him to match and learn my video skills. SO I was effected in that I am now learning a new aspect of the training department. I will not be booking venues for meetings, and setting up all that goes along with that. I guess I've added event coordinating to my job description. Plus there has been a huge push to get e-learning set up, to try and save on travel expenses. So that in itself is keeping me very busy.
I feel very fortunate to have a good job that I love and that is providing most of the things we need right now, since Rex hasn't had much work.
That leads us to this picture.....



this is a picture of the view from the hotel where Rex is staying in Key West, Florida. No he's not on vacation... he is working for Pac Tech Construction. He left on Feb 9th. He is suppose to be gone for 4 weeks then home for a week, then back out for 4 -5 weeks.... we'll see if it works that way or not.
I was definatly a basket case on Monday after dropping him off at the airport. But I'm finally adjusting to not having him here.
Its not the every day things that get to me... its just not being with him. It not fun at all.



Andrea received her FFA Green Hand award, and particitpated in the ceremony for a different award that was given, as she is the Jr. Secretary. She is "stationed by the ear of corn"... kinda an inside joke, is some thing she has to recite about what her duties as secretary are..



Basket ball is keeping us super busy, tonight is our last League game, it should be a nail biter. They beat us at home by one, at the buzzer.... Hope we can beat them tonight at their place. It will tie us for our Conference Title. Colton always waits for Josh after each game to give him a hug! They are great friends



Finally, I thought these were pretty funny pictures. Nathan changed the mattress on his bed, and decided to have some fun with the one he took off.... as Colton called it the "Stair Luge" It was pretty fun to watch! They were cracking up!

Well, my efforts to keep things more current on the blog, have not gone as well as I would have liked.
I've tried, but it doesn't seem to be working in my favor.
I had Rex's sister snap a quick family picture for us... I wanted to have something more recent. Don't we all look like were having fun!!
Brayden is planning to move to California, he is going to be staying with my friend Tammera, and working for her. He is the store manager at Panera Bread. It should be a nice change for him. Inside out of the weather, and not hared manual labor... however he has never been one to bake anything, so it should be an adventure.
It is going to be weird having him that far away, but I'll live
Rex's trip to Florida was postponed until the 24th, so he is here for another week, which is nice, but one more week with not work is hard.
I'm just happy to have him here.
I've been working on a new adventure, I've started broadcasting Josh's basketball games live on the internet. It is something that I've learned to do at work, and with Rex heading out to Florida, I thought it was a great way for him to be able to not miss out on seeing Josh play ball! So far it has been working well, I still have a few audio bugs to work out, but Its all coming together!
So oif your interested, check out ustream.com then search for oakerbasketball
It will tell you if there is a Live show or not... I think there is one recorded, but the quality isn't the greatest.
Anyway, it is fun and something new!