The Langeberg Blog

OIT Family Weekend

2012-02-11T20:44:00.000-08:00

Gordon's post from the Durand Blog:

We went to Klamath Falls to visit Charlie for the Oregon Institute of Technology Family Weekend. They had campus tours, casino games, a talent show, tailgator parties, and basketball games.

We didn't do any of that.

We spent forty-five minutes coding up Euclid's algorithm in C++, and then went for a hike. Typical geeks, I guess. Later we went to Red's BBQ for an early dinner.

Gordon forgot to say we hiked up the hill above OIT to the white rocks making up the O and T. It turns out the O and T look a lot better from the campus. The view from the hillside was great. There is a great view of Mt. Shasta but in the photo it just looks like clouds.

Charlie vs. zombies

2012-01-31T22:38:00.000-08:00

At OIT the students can sign up to participate in a zombie game. Basically, some students are the zombies and are identified by something like a headband. Other students are the humans and are identified by a wrist band (oh yeah, and the huge Nerf guns they are packing). So the zombies try to tag the human which makes them into zombies but the humans can defend themselves by shooting the zombie with a Nerf dart. Charlie signed up to play and I think it started on Monday. He posted this description on Facebook of his adventures so far. It sounds like a lot of fun:

Day 2, 1:20 PM:
I've decide to start writing down my experiences in this journal, I know, it sounds stupid, but right now its the only thing keeping me sane. Since the outbreak the number of zombies has more than doubled. Last night I modified my gun's Three clips into one with some duct tape and a spent round. After a half hour's practice I got pretty good at swapping out the clips quickly. Today I had a very bad feeling when I was heading for math class, I ran into a zombie and although it appeared he was shot a put another round in him for good measure. I got to class alright but it still felt like it was my day to die. I somehow managed to survive math class.

As I was exiting the building I knew something was wrong. Two people walking adjacent to me were pointing at me and smiling. This particular building has external pillars that form a + shape, which makes a rather ideal place for zombies to hide. I began slowly walking along side the wall, pointing my gun at the pillar knowing something just didn't add up. I peered around the corner of the building and saw a zombie hiding behind a pillar further down the building. My mind was racing, I took step, and then another, nearing the corner pillar. Then I stopped. Something was definitely wrong here. Something just beyond my ears recognition. The shadow! The shadow that the pillar cast. it was too wide, and the lines weren't straight. Opposite my side of the pillar someone was hiding.

I began backing up slowly, checking to make sure my gun was loaded. Then it charged me. It's agility was shocking as it rounded the pillar and nearly lunged at me. A shot rang out and then zombies face turned from blood-lust to disappointment. My hands cocked the gun as I struggled to suppress the adrenalin that threatened to dull my environmental awareness. I rounded the corner again to locate the second zombie. All I saw was a blur as the second zombie ran from its hiding spot. I backed away from the building with the pillars into an open courtyard. My brain recognized that the two guys smiling at me knew I was walking into an ambush. I distanced myself from the ambush site before slowing to a walk. I warned the two resistance members of the ambush as they passed me heading that direction. As I got a lunch and walked home I saw 2 more zombies, neither of them engaged me however.

I'm alive and safe for one more day, who knows what tomorrow brings.
Good luck and stay sharp - Charlie Durand

Jonathan turns 25

2012-01-29T22:39:00.000-08:00

I stole these photos from the Durand Blog. Elizabeth and Jonathan are pretty close with Elizabeth's cousin Rob and his wife Kelsey. On Sat. Jonathan turned 25 so Rob had them over for a birthday burger and fries.

Jonathan has a very handsome face when he's serious...
a look I don't see often!

Timmy reading the morning "paper"

2012-01-21T09:42:00.001-08:00

Landon 14 months!

2012-01-18T11:39:00.000-08:00

Since our visit to Oregon Landon started walking and is already learning how to run. He knows his nose, mouth, ears, eyes, and belly button. He's saying a few words and trying to learn new ones every day.

Seattle weather!

2012-01-15T11:16:00.000-08:00

Friday evening sunset and Sunday morning snow!

2012-01-04T21:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning 2011

Going to the Rhododendren Garden

2012-01-04T18:54:00.000-08:00

It was quite a warm day to go the Rhododendren Garden close by Nana's house, to feed the ducks and look at the waterfall and pond. We wore our rubber boots in case we found puddles to splash in. The ducks came from the pond, hillsides and across the stream. We squealed when they ate our bread.

We walked around the pond, up and down the stairways.

We sat on the benches by the pond and watched all the birds.

As we were leaving, we had a final visitor, right next to us, say 'goodbye'.

It's so warm (58*) there are even bushes beginning to bloom.

What a FUN day!

House Pictures

2012-01-02T08:55:00.000-08:00

Now that I've got all my stuff moved over to the new house I thought I'd post some more pictures.

Visiting the country cousins

2011-12-27T14:26:00.000-08:00

Christmas dinner at Mom's

2011-12-27T12:10:00.000-08:00

The gingerbread house! Again!

2011-12-26T10:24:00.000-08:00

Giddy up!

2011-12-23T20:52:00.000-08:00

30 years old and finally painted!
Anyone remember riding me?
Perhaps I'll last another 30 years . . .

Day at the Zoo

2011-12-23T14:30:00.001-08:00

Pictures from Landon's first day at the Tucson Zoo!

Engagement

2011-12-09T00:03:00.000-08:00

Gordon and Leslie Durand are pleased to announce
the engagement of their daughter, Elizabeth Durand,
to Jonathan L. Troyer, son of Tony and Esther Troyer
of Tillamook. A summer wedding is anticipated.

Thanksgiving at Lizzy's

2011-11-27T13:27:00.000-08:00

Gordon took this photo of us at Elizabeth's for Thanksgiving. The lighting wasn't the greatest but it turned out OK. Her new address is:
14729 SW 109th Ave. #4
Tigard, OR 97224

Sean and Sandra's wedding

2011-11-20T12:36:00.000-08:00

Marcia asked me to post some links to the blog for the wedding so here is what I have found:

The wedding will be Sunday September 23rd at Hotel Hacienda Na Xamena on the north side of Ibiza, a Mediterranean island off the coast of Spain near Valencia. It would probably be the best deal for those of us that can go to get together and rent a house rather than staying in a hotel. Also, I'm going to look into some sort of discounted airfare for West Coast USA to Ibiza and will post what I find out. I've check a bit online and right now it looks like it is about $1200 per person round trip from Portland to Ibiza (or Valencia), and $1100 for round trip from Portland to Madrid (if you fly to Madrid you will need to either take a train (~2-3 hours& $100) or rent a car ( 221 miles and about 3.5 hours) to get to Valencia and then it's about a 5 hour ferry ride to the island). I'm happy to help figure out the logistics if you want my help! I know this is super expensive and would like to help figure out a way to keep our costs down.

I'd like to get idea how many of us are thinking we might be able to go (if possible) and how many are sure that they can only send best wishes. I know they haven't sent out the invitations yet but have asked me to come up with a number from our side of the family to help with the preliminary planning. So, if you could let me know whether its a: yes definitely, OR we will try to see if we can work it out, OR not likely but will look into whether or not, OR I'd love to but there isn't any way.

November fun in the sprinklers!

2011-11-20T09:04:00.000-08:00

Since the last three family blog posts have been weather related I thought I'd post about ours too. I was in the kitchen when Landon decided to sneak over and open the screen door to check out the sprinklers. He was having so much fun he didn't even get distracted when I started taking pictures.

Anorexic snowman...

2011-11-20T08:14:00.001-08:00

Little Snowman

2011-11-19T09:56:00.000-08:00

Pouring rain and this guy is standing on our roof !!

2011-11-17T16:58:00.001-08:00

How to make Little Pies!

2011-11-16T22:34:00.000-08:00

Marielle is making some little pies for a school party tomorrow. It's the last day before a 10 day break. First she made the crust and cut out circles with a lid.

And then she shaped pie pans by forming aluminum foil over a contact solution bottle lid.

She spooned in a 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin pie and baked them as usual but for a shorter time.

Bubble-head Marielle with pumpkin thumb pie

First batch...

Nicole's Baby Shower

2011-11-15T16:19:00.001-08:00

Everyone enjoyed themselves, even the half dozen men who were there. I fixed that Manhattan Clam Chowder and a Baby Buggy fruit salad. One of their friends made some amazing cup cakes (gluten free) and we had some good laughs over a few of Zak's baby clothes that Wendy had saved for them...a HeMan T-shirt and a lot of funny outfits. Nicole said that when they get invited to an "80s" party the baby will have an outfit already!

Mysterious Rocks

2011-11-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

While I was staying at Mom's on Friday I went for a walk in her neighborhood. I was really surprised how boring it was!

I'm use to walking along the Rogue River where there is always a possibility of running across deer, fox, geese, ducks, blue haron, various birds of prey, swallows (and their babies in nests), turkeys, river otters, salmon, rabbits, kayakers and rafters. We've seen all of these plus evidence of bear, coyote and cougar. While I was walking in Medford, Gordon and Marielle were down by the river. This is a what they found...mysterious rocks- balanced on point. In the media Gold Hill often gets a bad rap but I feel so lucky to live in such a strange and wild location.

Happy Birthday Aaron!

2011-11-09T16:42:00.000-08:00

Thinking of you and wishing you a happy day!

All our love,

Grant & Anna

---------------------------------Edit: by Dwight-------------------------------

TaeShaun's 2nd Birthday!

2011-11-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

We had a very fun birthday party for TaeShaun on Halloween. TaeShaun enjoyed Ed's wedge very much - and his Mom and Dad were happy to have something safe for him to play on and get the energy out! Veda had fun on it too.
Tae wore a fireman costume and Veda wore a mermaid costume (from Backyardigans) to go Trick or Treating. Tae only lasted a few minutes. But Veda had a ball going from house to house with Mom & Dad.

Tae got a tool bench and mega blocks which were a big hit too.

Both kids "dug" into the cake before pieces could be cut. They giggled and giggled - thinking that was great fun. It was pretty cute.

New hair-do

2011-10-22T22:24:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about getting this new hairpiece. I think it would look great with my curly locks...

House!

2011-10-21T15:32:00.000-07:00

I just found out today that my bid was approved for this house!!!! I got a really good deal through the Good Neighbor Next Do Program. Here's some video I took. Closing takes about 45 days... so who wants to come visit?

A picnic in Lithia Park

2011-10-18T16:50:00.000-07:00

Mom and I met Marilyn in Lithia Park on Saturday for a picnic lunch. The weather was warm and the 5 dollar foot longs delicious!

Marcia & I hiking at Broken Top

2011-09-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

I went to Bend for the weekend and on Saturday Marcia and I joined Libby and her boyfriend Dean to hike around on Broken Top. We were just going cross country off trail and found a new area on the southeast side. Luckily the weather held and we had a really nice warm day. The glacier in the basin has grown since I was up there about 5 years ago. The road into the trailhead isn't maintained and Dean got out a few times to scout how I should drive through the ruts and rocks! It was totally worth it though!

New Trees

2011-09-25T16:29:00.000-07:00

Ed and I picked up 3 Red Sunset Maples today.
We have had 2 holes dug by the road, so got two rather gangly trees for cheap and got an amazing beauty for up front. I hope they live...

Charlie's apartment dorm

2011-09-23T16:42:00.000-07:00

I took Charlie over to OIT on Wednesday. He'll be sharing this quad with 2 other guys. They haven't shown up yet but I'm sure they will soon. There are 2 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms... so the question is who gets the single bathroom? I think they make the dorm "rooms" deluxe to make up for the fact that OIT is in Klamath Falls!


Charlie's bedroom

Charlie's closet!

His bathroom

kitchen/living room area

"I am ready to eat now..."

Eagle Cap Wilderness Backpacking trip

2011-09-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

Nick and I went on a semi-impromptu trip to the Eagle Capwilderness in the Willowa National Forest the last weekend. It was a long 6hour drive to get there. After getting to Enterprise Oregon late at night we hadseveral beers at Terminal Gravity (a great local brewery, but they did notserve food past 9 so we got our calories from strong dark beer) and passed outin my van. Being so hungry the next morning we over stuffed ourselves withomelets-biscuits and gravy combos which we obviously regretted 20min down thetrail. Thus we stopped and rested on what we called digestion rock (see pic.#1) for 30min, at that point so we had spent more time resting then hiking.After a reduction of flatulence and nausea we headed up to Frazier lake some 10miles into the mountains (pic#2-3). The night was cold but preferred it toaccidently eating mosquitoes when you talk. The next day we crossed overGlacier Pass (pic#4) by several more beautiful lakes, finally camping at Horseshoe lake. Thefrigid water soothed our blisters (pic#5) and after the sun set we had a fiascowith a camp stove (we only had one flashlight, and you wouldn’t exactly say itworked) ate a late dinner by boiling water over a fire. After the long hikedown and out I came to the distinct conclusion that I had packed at least 2times the amount that I needed. It was a lot of fun in beautiful country, nexttime I’ll wear real hiking boots.

A Happy Evening

2011-09-20T12:06:00.000-07:00

A big Thank You to Alex for picking Grandma up at the airport and taking her to the reception. I know she had a great time with you.

One more Picture!

2011-09-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

Just had to add one more picture of our trip.

Lake Chelan Trip

2011-09-16T20:57:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful day to go on a lake trip. Here are photos of the amazing 55 mile lake. The last picture is a herd of longhorn sheep we stopped and watched on the way back down lake. The tiny town of SteHEkin was a delightful lunch stop at the end of the long lake. The water was a beautiful crystal clear aqua. Tomorrow we head back to Portland to end a wonderful road trip in the Impala.

More photos from the North Cascades

2011-09-16T17:43:00.001-07:00

Greetings from the Pear Orchard

2011-09-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

We are having a ball today. Ate breakfast in Leavenworth and did a little shopping. Our lodging is at an Old Farmhouse outside of town in a lovely pear orchard. The house is LOVELY and the setting is quiet and peaceful. Here's a few pictures of our bliss!

You Tube link to Grant's video

2011-09-14T16:56:00.000-07:00

This was our first night out on our "road trip"- Grant made this video. Take a quick peek:
Grant's Video

More video's to come! (hee, hee)

2011-09-13T21:18:00.000-07:00

                                              Oh "Little Brother " look at you !!!
                                        HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY GNT I love you
                                                                    JB

A great hike!!

2011-09-13T17:28:00.000-07:00

I went for a 10 mile hike in the North Cascades on Sunday. It was so amazing and this is a picture of me half way down on the way back.

2011-09-11T15:41:00.000-07:00

Wishing you ever growing love and joy always.
And those great smiles forever.....

Happy Anniversary!

2011-09-10T17:35:00.001-07:00

Cooling Off On a Hot Day

2011-09-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

That's really, really big, Nana.

Yes, that's Roxanne and the kids on the bridge (far right).

The kids were quite the hikers!

We had a wonderful picnic lunch when they came back down.

Then of course, we had a little wading time in the creek.

Absolute delight!

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

2011-09-05T10:16:00.000-07:00

Kelly & Ken ~

Wishing you a very happy day!

All our love, Anna & Grant

Happy Birthday Dwight!

2011-08-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

Wish you could be off fishing today, instead of working. Glad you were able to spend a little time fishing during your summer trip. Hope you have a wonderful day and great next year.

All our love,

Grant & Anna

Ice Cream!!

2011-08-26T10:15:00.000-07:00

Mom and I had ice cream at Mora and in this picture Mom is trying lick both cones so they don't drip on her while I am paying for the ferry! Not a drop was spilled!

Happy Birthday Veda!

2011-08-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Veda's 3rd birthday yesterday with fun, smiles and laughter! Mama, Daddy, TaeShaun, Nana, Poppa, Alex, Elizabeth and her boyfriend, Matt, and another friend, Cassie and her daughter "E" (who is an Elizabeth also) had a fun spaghetti dinner together. Roxanne designed and made a very special cake for Veda. The kids splashed in the wading pool and kept cool in the heat of a pretty warm day.

Happy Birthday Janice!!

2011-08-19T10:00:00.001-07:00

Wishing you a wonderful day! Enjoy the sunshine! A big hug from me :)!

Happy 19th Birthday Charlie

2011-08-16T09:04:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Charlie's birthday on Sunday...

but today is his real birthday. This cake was so good even if the cherries weren't red!

My 40th reunion!

2011-08-08T18:07:00.000-07:00

I had a great time! Can you guess who these people are?

Another Fantastic Durand Family Campout!

2011-08-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

Charlie and his Durand cousins and an uncle put in at the McDowell Creek Bridge on the Santiam and floated down to Waterloo County Park, about an hour and forty minutes.

2011-08-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

Turkey Mama and babies

2011-08-01T06:50:00.001-07:00

Diamond Lake Group Shot

2011-07-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

I thought this one was the best of Roxy and Darrell. Check out the rest of facebook.

A Fond Farewell to Lucy

2011-07-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

After 16 1/2 years of love and devotion, Lucy was put to sleep yesterday. Bless her heart, she was blind, deaf and kept falling down the stairs. It was time. She really had become Grant's dog over the last few years and this is hard on him.

Floor Update

2011-07-22T12:27:00.000-07:00

It's installed, sanded and ready to be sealed.

Happy 25th Wedding Anniversary - Marilyn & Ed

2011-07-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

Wishing you a wonderful day!

All our love - Grant & Anna

Happy Birthday Sandra!!

2011-07-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

I wish we could all be with you to celebrate! I hope you have a wonderful day and another great trip up the Hudson River on Saturday! Have fun at the Drive-In!

Good Times in Bend & Sisters Quilt Walk

2011-07-12T20:59:00.000-07:00

We all really enjoyed
quilt shops, shows and site seeing and the good food at Marcia and Rich's

Evening Walk

2011-07-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

In the evening, we often go walking down to the river. Most nights we see wildlife but because it's evening, generally not rafters. Last night Gordon shot a picture (with his phone) of these people rafting. Where this photo was taken you can walk right up to the rapids so we could have reached out and gave them a high 5 as they went by. Except for one women, everyone on board was focused on paddling through and didn't see us standing on the rocks they were trying not to hit. A little farther on down river they dropped almost out of sight. The kayaker that was following them capsized. We walked on down to the boat ramp and there they were.

finally our madrone flooring

2011-07-05T21:56:00.000-07:00

Landon's first 4th!

2011-07-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

We took Landon to the Benson fourth of July parade and then to the community celebration at the park. He really liked watching all the people. They cancelled all the fireworks in the county because of the fires but we ended up getting a good thunder/lightning/rain storm to keep us entertained. Luckily it passed through before we barbequed. Landon even got to try some corn on the cob and put those 6 teeth to good use. It's been so nice having Dwight here for the last week. He's been a huge help and Landon loves his uncle Dwight!

Building a Castle

2011-07-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

Fireworks On Sunday Night @ Ocean Park

2011-07-04T19:30:00.000-07:00

We went down to the beach last night for a fire and luckily enjoyed a lot of fireworks to boot. Tonight we're headed down to Long Beach (about 10 miles away) where the city puts on their own fireworks display plus all the local's set off theirs too. We really enjoyed the old-fashioned hometown parade today at Ocean Park. The weather has been warm and sunny, absolutely delightful, but we miss having everyone here!

Smokey the Bear celebrated the 4th at Ocean Park with his friends the fire fighters!

2011-06-30T18:20:00.000-07:00

A BIRTHDAY WISH COME TRUE . . . .

2011-06-25T18:44:00.000-07:00

Birthday's come and birthday's go -

but this year's birthday for Ed will be a memorable one.

Marilyn, Ed, Grant and Darrell are all up at Diamond Lake

enjoying the sunshine, camping and FISHING DERBY!

18 beautiful trout caught on Saturday.

Atta boys!

Happy 21st Birthday Elizabeth

2011-06-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

We don't have any close up photos of Elizabeth when she was a newborn. Back then those sorts of cameras were very expensive. So I scanned this photo because I think it captured our love and happiness surrounding her birth.

Happy Birthday SEAN!

2011-06-17T16:21:00.000-07:00

A toast of cheer to you Sean! Happy Birthday!

George's strawberry patch

2011-06-16T17:40:00.000-07:00

George nurtured strawberries on the berm in Mom's front yard. This year they are a bumper crop and Mom and I have been enjoying them! The more I pick the bigger they get!

Happy Birthday to YOU!!

2011-06-14T21:18:00.001-07:00

Our wonderful neighbors had a party for Sierra even though I couldn't be there!

Happy Birthday Sierra!

2011-06-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

Wishing you a fun and happy day!

All our love

Happy Birthday!

2011-06-12T10:40:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday!

2011-06-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

Still looking good!

St. Mary's Falls Hike

2011-06-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

Colorado Springs from the trail

I took a "shortcut" off trail and found this deer leg/spine. I'm not sure where the rest of the deer was, but I got back on the trail as quick as I could. Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason!

Not much water in the falls today

Look at this worm!

2011-06-05T22:37:00.000-07:00

I found this worm in my rabbit manure pile... that's one big worm!

My blue eyed boy and his two front teeth!

2011-06-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from Landon's photo shoot in the backyard today. He wanted to show off his two front teeth. They have been a pain coming out, we're even trying an amber teething necklace. I think it looks super cute even if it hasn't seemed to help much. I'm still hoping. Landon will be 7 months old in one week. He's about 17 pounds and 27 inches long. He's been eating a variety of foods but his favorites are sweet potatoes and pears. He's sitting up very well now and working on coordinating his arms and legs so he can crawl.

We're so excited to see you all next month!
.

Cute Couple

2011-06-04T09:47:00.001-07:00

Elizabeth and Jonathan...
Lizzy and Jonny...
Liz and Jon...cute couple at the graduation.

Charlie's graduation from High School

2011-06-02T22:43:00.000-07:00


Just as it was starting to rain.

Looking into the future...

Charlie with 2 of his teachers

Glad that is over

NOW WHAT?

Mom's Fruit Kabobs

2011-06-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

Well, sorry Charlie that your party was cancelled! Grandma went ahead with her planned Fruit Spectacular and although you got a taste of it I thought you might like to see it too!

Gordon's Compass/GPS Android App

2011-05-31T18:48:00.000-07:00

Charlie created this icon for Gordon's App. Gordon put his App on Android Market last night and has already had 50 to 100 downloads. Check it out and download it here.

Manitou Incline

2011-05-29T16:35:00.001-07:00

Pictures from the third-annual Manitou Incline clime to kick off my summer!

Graduation Party delay...

2011-05-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

It looks like Sunday rather than Saturday will be a much better day for a BBQ. Same time, same place... just a day later. Mom, Lorene, Marilyn and Ed?, Gordon's Mom and Dad and maybe Grant and Anna will be attending. Let us know if anyone else wants to come!

Our Gerber Cutie

2011-05-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

I entered Veda in the Gerber $50,000 college scholarship contest. Voting will take place in July. I took the picture after I did her hair in tiny braids with clippies and then pulled it back into two pigtails. She had her leotard and tutu on and was sitting in the swivel rocker quietly for a moment. I can't imagine choosing a winner - as all the babies, toddlers and preschoolers are adorable (ok, there are a couple that are kinda funny looking! really).

When it comes up to voting time, I'll let you know just in case you'd like to participate. I would like to enter TaeShaun in the contest too, but I need a current picture of him - and he's moving so fast, I can't catch up with him to get a good photo. I've been trying!!

Happy Birthday Gordon!

2011-05-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-05-12T13:05:00.000-07:00

Landon at 6 months

2011-05-11T19:57:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if you all saw this new picture of Landon, just 6 months. Can't wait to get down to AZ to see him.

A couple of 80 year old guys splitting wood

2011-05-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

Nothing is happening on the Langeberg blog so I'm stealing photos from the Durands. This is a photo of Gordon's Dad (on the right) and his Dad's friend. The old willow tree and Gordon were about the same age. The stump measured 4' by 5'. They got at least 2½ cords of firewood out of it, maybe more, plus a huge pile of chips for the garden.

An excuse to listen to the radio

2011-04-29T10:25:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I called into car talk to ask them a question about the VW vanagon, and I got an email today stating that I will be on the show as caller #5! So if your by a radio tune it to your local public broadcasting station (or if your like me and only OBP is playing so just pay attention) this weekend 10 am Sat. and 11am Sunday. You can also listen online at http://www.opb.org/radio/.

a couple more of the new sisters....

2011-04-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

One pic from Friday night and one from Saturday after the ceremony!

Wedding!!!

2011-04-25T20:29:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few pictures from Sean's wedding in Vegas this past weekend. The first two are when the Sean and Sandra first saw each other after being separated all day. The next one is of the rest of the wedding party heading to the chapel. And the last one is the happy couple outside of the chapel after the ceremony. More pictures to come at some point, don't worry! Love you all, and wish you could have been there to celebrate with us!

Happy Birthday Leslie!!!

2011-04-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

Wish I could be there with you for a spa day!

Happy Birthday Lorene!

2011-04-19T03:52:00.000-07:00

Thinking of you and

wishing you a wonderful birthday today!

This dog reminded me of Zoe . . .
- inquisitive and ready for fun!

All our love, Grant & Anna

Diamond Lake has too many trout

2011-04-15T07:47:00.000-07:00

From the Mail Tribune:

Biologist Laura Jackson wants all of you happy Diamond Lake trout anglers to do yourself a favor and start keeping more of the fat rainbows you catch up there.

Oregon's hottest trout-fishing lake of 2010 has close to a half-million trout under the ice heading into the Saturday, April 23, spring trout opener, and that's simply too many rainbows to keep Jackson comfortable.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist is in charge of the 5-year-old reclamation of the lake, which was rescued from a tui chub invasion that once ruined the trout fishery and damaged the lake's overall health.

One lake-poisoning and four years of fabulous fishing later, the sheer tonnage of rainbows there is so great it is almost too much. In trout terms, the rainbows might soon start altering the lake the way chubs did in the 1990s.

"The biologist part of me is concerned that having too many holdover fish could alter the (lake's) ecology," Jackson says.

That's why Jackson has scaled back this year's fingerling plant from 315,000 to 200,000, in part to make up for the roughly 76,000 trout that anglers caught — and then released — at Diamond Lake last season.

As crazy as it sounds, that means fishermen need to stop releasing so many trout. You need to do your civic duty and keep a legal stringer of fat trout for your barbecue and smoker every time you visit this lake.

It's not that anglers don't like to eat these trout. The problem was that anglers didn't catch their limit and leave. They culled their catch, releasing 14- and 16-inch fish while targeting what seemed to be a limitless supply of 18- and 19-inchers that weighed 3 pounds or more.

"We should have a tremendous catch rate this year," she says. "Fishing is going to be phenomenal."

Happy Birthday Kelly

2011-04-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

Wishing you a happy day filled with love!

5 months!

2011-04-12T07:22:00.000-07:00

Landon celebrated 5 months yesterday! He weighs 15.8 lbs and is 27 inches long. He loves his jumperoo and Clover. He's showing a lot of interest in food so we'll probably give him some rice cereal in a couple weeks.

Happy Birthday Roxanne!

2011-04-07T09:39:00.000-07:00

Blogging for Health

2011-04-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

Some of you have already seen my post on Facebook about my new blog, but thought I'd share it here for those who haven't and might want to take a look. Leslie's blog inspired me to start this blog. I stumbled upon the topic of anti-inflammatory foods and their effect on the body just recently, and have become rather passionate about it. Many of the symptoms associated with chronic inflammation are diseases I have.

I try to be proactive in taking care of my health and I love researching different topics online, so this seemed a good outlet for me and perhaps other people will connect with it too. Younger members of the family probably won't find it very interesting - but perhaps the Langeberg siblings can find something of interest. Here's the link: http://antiinflammatoryfoods.blogspot.com/. I'd appreciate any input you might have.

Thanks and take good care of yourselves!

Spring photos

2011-03-31T16:50:00.000-07:00

Looking North from our yard. What a beautiful Spring day!

Marielle tried her hand at flower arranging.

JMS Mascot

2011-03-30T06:59:00.000-07:00

It's hard to teach middle schoolers... It's harder to do it in a full jaguar costume!!