Life in Washougal

Life has been a bit crazy and stressful lately and I obviously haven’t taken the time to write but there is much to be grateful for and many happy memories to preserve so I need to take a moment to record them. This is in no way all inclusive but just a few snippets that come to mind. (We have misplaced a bunch of pictures, like the first day of school and such... so those will have to come later as well.)

The House: We all love the new house and are constantly busy trying to keep it clean while decorating and finishing the unpacking. It was quite the saga getting our stuff from storage in San Diego but after several months it finally came. I will post pictures as things get put together, if they ever do...

Washougal: I like the town we live in. It’s pretty and within 1/2 a mile of my house you are on beautiful country roads with deer, rabbits and so many other beautiful sights. Yesterday Tom and I went on a trail run that is just three miles from our house and went around a beautiful creek and some waterfalls. We can go to the beach of the Columbia River just 2 miles from our house and it is beautiful, with sand to dig in and water to play in. It’s not Okinawa but helps us get our beach fix!

Portland: Living near a big city is great, we’ve been to lots of great places to eat and are hitting the concert scene! We’ve seen The Naked and Famous and Andrew Belle. We’ve got tickets to several more coming up!

Hood to Coast: We were fortunate enough to run Hood to Coast on a team with Tom’s brother Dave, his wife Adina, their friends and Tom’s sister Anne and her husband Peter. It was so much fun. It deserves a post all on it’s own but somehow it didn’t get done. The runs were great, the company awesome and we felt great (except when we lost our beloved inflatable shark decoration off the top of the car..so sad...)










Tom: Aside from being a super triathlete and participating in a Tough Mudder he is busy getting settled in at work. He works Wed, Thurs and Friday with his brother at Discovery Dental. They got a new sign with Tom’s name on it and it looks great. He loves being there and is getting adjusted to the new staff and the different way things are done. Now he just keeps hoping for more patients. Is it okay that I pray for people to break their teeth?

Tracey: I have been running to stay sane and enjoy the variety of places to run here after running around Camp Foster for three years. I miss Okinawa dearly and miss my friends so much but have really enjoyed the chance to be closer to family. Although I have a million different places I could shop I find that old habits are hard to break and I always go to the Safeway down the street and want to do the rest online. I’m busy trying to get the kids settled in, helping them make friends and get involved. I am Hayden’s cub scout leader which is fun and challenging. I look forward to making some more friends here and having game nights again!
My parents came to visit in September and we had a great time! I have been trying to convince them that it doesn’t rain here all the time like they think it does and it was great weather leading up to their visit but then of course it had to start raining the day after they arrived. We still braved it and went up to Mt. St. Helen’s and luckily the clouds parted just in time for us to see the volcano. It was freezing outside, we nearly ran out of gas and the visitors center we went to was closed for the season but somehow it was just fun to be together and we found a nice lake to walk around. It was so fun to have them here, we picked wild blackberries and made a cobbler and my awesome dad even painted our living room for us!!





Hayden: Loves living close to his cousins and wishes he could just move in with them. We are one mile away from Dave and Adina and Morgan is actually in his class at school. School started off a bit slow but Hayden understood he was the “new kid” and it would take some time. Things are going well now and he’s got some friends in his class and we found two boys his age down on the end of our court that he is working on getting to know them. One advantage to not having many friends is that he plays with his sisters a lot. He’s even been training them on how to play the Wii and they all love it. But mostly he wishes he could just play x-box all day and gets mad when I force him outside on the days it’s not raining! I’m sure he’ll have plenty of inside days in the months to come! He's been enjoying reading the Harry Potter series lately and comparing the books to the movies. He's now on book 5 and just keeps finding more differences!

Danica: Has grown up a ton since starting kindergarten. She loves school and has made lots of friends. As usual it’s been funny to watch how her and Hayden are such opposites. Hayden and Danica usually sit together on the bus. But, one day she got off the school bus laughing and smiling talking non stop about the funny boy she sat with on the way home. Hayden got off that day crying because the bus driver made him sit with someone else and he didn’t like it. Hayden’s favorite class at school is P.E. Danica hates P.E. so much that she constantly asks me if it’s Tuesday and begs me to not make her go. The teacher lets her go and just sit and watch but that’s not enough, she still stresses non stop. I finally agreed to go with her today and it seems that she is afraid of the teacher who is a giant of a man...we’ll have to work on that. She still loves gymnastics and has been going to a gym here. Last week they approached us and said that Danica is doing so well they want her to try out for the advanced group. She tried out yesterday, did well and enjoyed it although it was 2 hours long and she got tired. Now we just have to decide whether to take on one more big thing. When we are home her favorite thing to do is ride her bike, she always says "I just love it mom, I just love it!!"

Alyssa: I don’t know where to start with her. She is my smiley little buddy. Quick to give hugs and wants to make sure that I am always happy. If she sees me sad she rushes in to assure me that I will be okay soon. She goes to preschool two mornings a week and goes to ballet on another morning. It’s perfect for her. Some days she wishes she were 5 and could just do everything Danica does but she enjoys our one on one time as well. But no matter how much fun we’re having she still loves to go to the bus stop to wait for the kids to get home. She is learning to read and loves being big like every one else. Her goal in life is to make everyone laugh. The first weeks of ballet she kept acting silly and not following directions and I kept talking to her about it until finally she said “But mom, I have to make them all laugh!” I now see this in so many parts of her life, it makes all of her behavior so much easier to understand. She was the first kid to make a new friend here and loved to go around talking about “my friend” this and “my friend” that. She didn't know her name. There are little kids in our cul-de-sac and she just loves to go out and ride her scooter and bike with them.

Okay, I”m sure I have a ton more things to add but they will have to trickle in... I need this post up there. House pictures coming soon... honest... I am lucky enough to have guests coming this weekend so I’ll have to clean! :)