Curren at 4 months

October Saturday

Today was the first free day for Floyd since September 14th! After sleeping in, which we're learning to do in our old age, we got up and had a warm bowl of oatmeal, then we headed for the hills - of course with a good cup of Dutch Brothers coffee in hand from one of the many drive-thru coffee houses here in the Northwest. We weren't sure where we'd end up, but Floyd knows most of the logging roads in the hills, so we headed generally west. The higher we went, the clearer the sky and the more colorful the leaves. Sure nuf, we ended up at Oceanside, a small community along the beach. We had early dinner at Roseanna's Cafe, a cozy little place with a view of the beach (see photos above) - I had Basil Butter Steelhead stuffed with Shrimp!! Delicious!

Harvest Time

Fall isn't my favorite season, but once I accept the fact that summer is over, fall kind of grows on me. The leaves are turning to gorgeous yellows and reds. The fields are changing from the dry browns to the refreshed greens as the rains reappear. Days are shorter which makes evenings more conducive to quiet, indoor activities.

Floyd was home and is gone again, this time for only 3 days to Vegas for a college fair. The city holds no charm for him, but a ride into the desert in a rental during his free time does.

We are blessed with so much to be thankful for, and I'm thankful right now for all of you, my family!

Reporting from S.E. Asia

Yes, I (FS) am currently on the other side of the planet, having bounced from Hong Kong to Manila to Jakarta to Singapore and now to Kuala Lumpur. In another 36 hours I'll be in Bangkok, and then I can start thinking about getting back home and catching up on sleep and laundry. In the meantime, my list of names of students and their email addresses keeps growing, along with my collection of snapshots of skylines from my hotel room window and streets scenes observed from the bus as we head off to another international school.

Recruiting in Southeast Asia

Floyd is recruiting students in Asia for the next two weeks. I embedded the clocks to keep track of the time of day where he is at the moment.

He left Friday, 9/14, for Hong Kong for two days. Today, 9/17, he is traveling on to Manila (that's the reason for the current clock). Then it's on to Jakarta, Singapore, Malaysia and Bangkok before returning to Oregon on 9/30. (In the meantime, I'm going to spend some time in PA with Susan, Eli, and Curren!!)

Camping at Big Lake with a 3 year old!

We spent 21 hours tent camping with Eli in the Cascade Mountains at Big Lake, in the shadow of Mt. Washington this past weekend. You can see above our view of the lake from our campsite in the trees. Eli's favorite activity, I think, was throwing rocks in the lake. Although Eli thought the tent was really "cozy", he also found sleeping in a sleeping bag a bit restrictive. We enjoyed corn on the cob, hotdogs, and applesauce for dinner and bacon, eggs, and pancakes for breakfast. It was a memorable time for the three of us!!!

Day Trip

Jonathan and Floyd did a hike on Saturday to a lovely spot in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness area (a two hour drive from home). They followed the Whitewater creek on a 5 mile trail to Scout Lake, accessible only on foot. For Jonathan, this was a preliminary run for a future mission of reaching the summit of Mt. Jefferson via this route next year. The weather was perfect, with warm sunshine (in the 70's) and a cool breeze.