Dreams Coming True!

This morning at last Nicholas got to put on the pack that he's been loading and unloading as he checked and double checked his gear, dreaming all week about going on the Search and Rescue Snow FTX (Field Training Exercise). He gets to put on snowshoes and hike up to 10 miles carrying that little pack! After he gets there, he gets to dig a snow cave and sleep in it tonight! Aren't we all so jealous of him!

Will has been dreaming of a new pickup for over a year. He left early this morning to pick it up in Kellogg, Idaho. One of his many fabulous brothers-in-law, namely Doug, went along and will drive the Durango back. I'm sure you'll hear more on that soon.

As a young girl, I dreamed of being a famous author some day. I went to the Oregon Christian Writer's Conference today, and confirmed within me that while I enjoy writing and blogging, a famous author is not something I aspire to be. I did get to meet and have lunch with Dorcas Smucker and her daughter. I feel like I know Dorcas because I faithfully read and enjoy her blog and column in the Eugene Register-Guard. She spoke on writing essays about life's events, and her session was the best one out of the four that I attended.

At the conference, I spotted a friend across the crowded room who moved out of the area 16 years ago. We had a wonderful visit, but I was saddened to learn that she has a prodigal son who I am adding to my "prodigals and their parents" prayer list.

When I got home, I had a phone message from my cousin Cindi letting me know she's here from Arizona visiting her parents. I called and found out she and her mom were lying in bed eating cheesecake with blueberries, but I accepted her invitation to come visit anyway! So off I go!

Table Talk 3

Last night at dinner, Eric got to talking about Pope John Paul I, whose 33 day reign in 1978 was the shortest in history due to his unexpected death at age 65. Isn't it interesting that Vatican law prohibits a papal autopsy, so the cause of his death was never certain. Hmmm. After sharing some interesting details with us and discussing this fascinating situation, somehow the conversation degenerated to death investigations in general. I commend Will for his tact and sensitivity. I noticed when I left the table to start clean-up, the boys leaned in closer as he lowered his voice, apparently to share some details too gruesome for my tender ears.

A Day Out

We went out today. Not only did we go out, we stayed out as long as possible. Galen ordered us to come with him and Carol to visit some sites for our Oswald family reunion in 2008, so we complied. We looked at Aldersgate and Canby Grove, and our plan was to also head out to the coast to check out some places for people who wanted to go there after the reunion. As we were passing through Newburg, we thought it would be a good place to have lunch, but no restaurants were visible as we drove through town.

Will asked who we knew that would be familiar with Newburg. I said Dave and Judy, of course, their son was in college here for the past four years. I memorized their phone number many years ago, and I rattled it off to him. Will dialed it, a man answered and Will got right to the point, "Hi, this is Will. We're in Newburg and we'd like you to give us directions to a good place to have lunch." The response was, "Hi, Will, who are you?" Oops, I was just one little number off on the phone number. Unfortunately, the stranger he had called was not familiar with Newburg. Right about then we came across an Izzy's so we pulled in there.

By the time lunch was over, we realized it was too late in the day for the long drive in the rain to the coast. We happened by an RV dealership so we stopped and drooled over some fantastic fifth wheels. As we left, we commented on how good the sales guy was. Very low key, didn't ask a lot of questions or try too hard. We sought out another RV lot, much harder to find, long story that involved a call to Nick to get on the computer to look up the place. In the mean time, we came to to the Evergreen Avation Museum and decided to stop and see the Spruce Goose. We enjoyed browsing the gift shop and seeing that enormous plane from the second story gift shop. Galen and Carol spotted a brochure for the RV place we were trying to find and thought they then knew how to get there. Unfortunately, they left the brochure there and it wasn't as easy as it seemed. We managed to find it anyway. We stepped into a 5th wheel to check it out and a salesman hurried on over. His first comment to Will was, "Wow, you're a big one." Then he started asking us questions. I immediately made it clear that we were just looking, and he told us where to find the rest of the fifth wheels and wisely went back inside out of the rain.

As we were driving through all the wine country, for some reason it made us think of our brother Mark who lives in Alabama. So we called and chatted with him a bit. He was busy buffing the muffler on his motorcycle. He had a little incident on it and managed to burn his riding pants on the muffler, leaving a nasty black mark. Fortunately he nearly had it removed. It was fun talking to him. Cell phones are great.

We were having such a good time that we just weren't ready to come home. We stopped at a Starbucks in Salem for coffee where we all agreed that Aldersgate would be the best place for the reunion. Then we got our free piece of bread from Great Grains next door to it. Wow, great bread. Nex we drove across Salem to the state fairgounds where Carol had heard there was a backyard show. Once again we didn't manage to take the most direct route there, but pretty close. It turned out to be hot tubs and backyard kitchens. Interesting, I think Will is going to build me one of those outdoor kitchens very soon now.

Then it was our privilege to introduce Galen and Carol to the Sportman's Warehouse. It was the least Will could do when he learned they had never been there. I tried to talk Galen into posing for my camera in front of the elk sculpture in front of the building but he declined. So it's his fault that I don't have a picture to liven this up.

As we approached Albany, we decided it would be fun to rent a movie. We joined the rest of the wild weekend party people at Blockbuster, found a movie, stood in the long line, and made our way home. Popcorn and a funny movie was a great way to end the day. We are so proud, we all stayed awake for the whole thing, even though it was after 10:00 when it ended!

Another Call from Germany

Craig called today, and when he started talking about how great it is to experience the power of Jesus in his life and how he realizes that I have been right about it all along, I decided to grab a pen and take notes!

It has been a little frustrating not being able to communicate with him. We had been sending messages back and forth on My Space, but he hadn't been on there since January 20, his "new birthday". He said he's been spending his spare time reading the Bible, two to three hours a day, trying to make up for lost time! He has just finished 1 and 2 Samuel. He said they have been studying the father heart of God and he has been thinking about his dad a lot. (He called him today and they had a great conversation also.)

I mentioned that his 21st birthday is coming up (March 4) and asked him to give me some ideas of what to send him for his birthday. He got all excited and said "It would be so great if you would send me some microwave popcorn!" I had to laugh. I might want to send a little more than that for your 21st birthday! He said he really wants a Bible. He didn't even know where his was when he left, and he is using one of Kari's now. He wants an NIV Study Bible, so I shall go buy one tomorrow! I found out tonight that Eric has been using Craig's Bible, which is a New King James, and he wants to keep it!

He asked me if I would contact my brother John (who lives up in the Yukon) and let him know that he loves him and really appreciates the time a year or so ago when John gave him a ride somewhere from our house. John told him that God's hand was on him and prayed for him before he got out of the car. He said he felt the power of that prayer and felt that God protected him because of the prayers of people who love him. Thank you so much to all of you who have prayed for him. He asks for continued prayer as he often feels under attack from the enemy. He has been over a week with no cigarettes, and he says there is no way he could do that without God's help! Dawn, be sure to tell Tavin that God is answering her prayers!

I ran into Nick and Jessie Saemenes at a concert at our church Friday night. Jessie is Nathan's wife Kari's sister, and Nick was in the band Mere Image with Craig and Nathan. They were in Germany for Christmas. Jessie said she loved traveling with Craig, because being seven months pregnant at the time, she needed more bathroom breaks than the others - but Craig always needed them too! He has always been famously annoying to go places with because of his pea-sized bladder! Jessie said Kari had just told her that Craig saved his goatee when he cut it off and she was getting really tired of seeing it in her bathroom! She was about to put her foot down and say it has to go away! They were kind enough to email me some pictures. Here's Craig, Nathan and Kari at Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.

I am so grateful for God's mercy and grace.

Table Talk 2

Yesterday at lunch Eric said, "I've been thinking about something lately." Do go on. "Scientists are doing so much with genetic engineering these days. I think some scientists need to take on a project to make a little bear that is to a regular bear as a house cat is to a wild cat such as tigers, cougars, and so on. Imagine how great it would be to have pet house bear about the size of a cat or small dog! It would be so cute! Just like a living teddy bear!" Perhaps he will have to spend a million years in college and take on the project someday. We used to hope he'd find a cure for cancer....

As we discussed this matter, I reminded him about the list he made in sixth grade of necessities for his college dorm room which included a couple of pet raccoons, specifically a kodimundi. (Also on this list were "All flavors of Wheat Thins!) He assured me he still intends to have pet raccoons someday.

Pinochle

Last night was our turn to host the monthly pinochle group which we have been a part of for more years than I can remember. You'd think after hosting it every eight months all this time, I'd have it all figured out. A couple of years ago, we were about to play when someone asked, "No table treats tonight?" The host always provides dishes of candy/nuts at each table. I had completely forgotten. Will drove down to Cenex and paid a great deal more for a great deal less than we would normally have! So I figured I would certainly never forget that again.

Last night about an hour before the guests were to arrive, Will asked, "Did you get table treats?" For a chocolate lover like myself, you'd think that would be the highlight of the evening! How could I have possibly forgotten again! At least there was time for Will to run in to Fred Meyer. Sadly, he was somewhat harassed for his selection, as guests were already here when he returned bearing treats. I had told him to get nuts, chocolate candy, and jelly beans but not normal jelly beans, just the special ones. He came back with Life Saver jelly beans, Starburst jelly beans, and Jelly Bellies! Also a few other items, but nothing that I normally get. But it's good not to be stuck in a routine! At least last night my coffee pot didn't overflow and make a mess like it did, not once but twice during a previous pinochle party. The only other near disaster was after someone put a pizza ifrom Costco in the oven. (We have a snack break after two rounds of four hands.) I smelled something burning, so I came and checked on the pizza. It was still on the cardboard! The person who brought it said, "Well, when you buy them at Papa Murphy's you bake them on the cardboard!" Anyway, we rescued it before the cardboard really started burning. The food was great, the people are fun, and Will won prize. How could an evening be any better!

I guess playing with your Envy at the same time can make it even better. I hear my brother Doug was quite prolific with his text messaging yesterday. Will claims to dislike Pinochle because his parents forced his sister and him to play it as a family activity. However, judging from the amount of laughter emanating from his table, he manages to have a good time anyway.

This For The Nerds

Hello every body this is Nick McAnulty. I have never posted a blog on my parents blog so this is kinda new for me.

So tonight I was toying with the idea of creating a network drive for all the files my mom usually prints out for us all to see (such as the Saturday chore list!). So I started experimenting, and found out how to do this.

First I had to create a new file and share it among our network.
Then I had to map the network drive and that was that.

But I became obsessed with doing better and better. I created a network drive for every computer in the house. But I still wanted to do more so I had an external hard drive laying around so I networked the drive. I was excited about what I had done so I came downstairs to tell my father. He didn't seem too excited about it and called me an addict.

He also challenged me which was a lot of fun for me. He wanted me to make it so we could all view the same DVD at the same time from one computer. No sweat. I just did the same thing for that as I had done for all the other networked drives. So now we can all watch the same movie in different rooms on different computers.

Thanks for reading.
Leave some comments.

Sincerely
Nick McAnulty