Kids in Fall

It was a cemetery, but it was beautiful!

Miranda 13

Sarah 11

Brent 11

Bryce 9

It's the odd year...

New adoption - a dog!

Wednesday we adopted Lucy, a three-year-old yellow lab, a survivor of Hurricane Katrina. Her previous owners have a new baby and a young child and just can't find time to invest in Lucy.

She is very calm, doesn't jump on furniture, doesn't bark. I imagine when she is more comfortable, she's be more active.

Brent was kneeing next to her the first day, with his arm around her and said with such satisfaction in his voice, "NOW we have a dog!"

Mrs. Yu's visit this summer

This summer, Mrs. Yu and a government official (oddly named Chen, though this time male!!) came to Longview. We had an afternoon to visit. It was wonderful to see her again. To remember all she did to make it possible for us to add Bryce to our family.

Hoffer Family at High Desert Museum

Playing "Spoons" on vacation at Eagle Crest

Family Vacation

This is the last day of our vacation as we left the Eagle Crest resort and stopped at the head of the Metolius. We also grabbed a few family shots.

Crater Lake Oregon

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Mt. Constitution

It was absoutely beautiful. This shot is from Mt. Constitution (elevation about 2000 feet), just at dusk. It's a little windy here, but worth the drive! I wanted to bring up my telescope here but we lost the clear skies after Friday and I didn't get a chance.

Taking the Anacortes Ferry to Orcas Island

This is a quick shot of some of the eleven kids on the trip. Brent, Bryce, Ben and his sister, MaryAlice, and Sarah. John Weed is Ben's dad. We were blessed with mostly good weather, though it rained Friday night after we went to bed and off and on on Saturday. A little for Saturday night. Thankfully, everything dried out on Sunday so it was easy to pack up!

Kids on log at Cascade Falls

We hiked a pathetic half mile and my hip was hurting so bad that I had to veto walking farther. Oddly, I was able to walk 4 miles around Mountain Lake the next day with very little trouble. I took more pictures with Jan's camera and hope to have better shots later.

Campfire at Orcas Island

This is very blurry, but gives you a sense of the kids and the fellowship around the fire. This was a nightly occurance.

4th of July in Kingston

On the barque "Eagle" (US Coast Guard)

Bryce took this photo looking down the steps we had to go down (facing forward) and the steps were narrow and steep.

I have no idea how the people on board the ship know whose boots are whose.

The Hoffers aboard the barque "The Eagle"

Onboard the Coast Guard Cutter Eagle. It was a training ship called Horst Wessel when it was taken from Germany as a war prize in the 1940's. It reminas a floating classroom today, providing fundamental lessons in leadership, teamwork, and seamanship for Coast Guard and Naval Academy cadets. To maneuver the ship, cadets must haul more than 200 lines--their first lesson is to learn the name and function of each--forming more than six miles of rigging. They must also learn about standing watch, navigation, engineering and first aid.

At 295 feet, the Eagle drawfs the historical tall ships one third it's size. It's masts tower up to 150 feet, supporting 22,0000 square feet of sale reaching across teak weather decks.

The Eagle has retained other historical details, such as Germany writing on the VIP stateroom's bathroom sink, and the old title that remains beneath the Coast Guard nameplate nailed on top of the brass.

As the ship was coming towards Astoria, they encountered a storm about 150 miles off the Columbia River's mouth that pelted cadets with hail as they lowered and tied up sails in winds howling up to 30 miles/hour. Some of the cadets had painful red welts as a result of the hail.

The top photo was not actually on the Eagle, but in my livingroom after everyone came home and was relaxing with a book. Calviln and Hobbes has been a HUGE area of interest for the kids. Bryce gave me a book for my birthday and I already had 3 others.

Hoffers in Anna's driveway

The Hoffers really surprised me. They said they wouldn't be at my house until 9 or 10at night because they couldn't leave until Alan got off work around 4pm. It always seems like sucha short visit. But I was out at Freddies stocking up on groceries for their visit and I'd called them several times with questions about what kind of vegetables should I buy, what kind of milk do the kids drink (skim, 1% etc), what kind of sandwich meat do the kids eat. And then Bryce called me at 3pm and said "Anna, you need to buy dish soup also." Then he burst into laughter and said "We tricked you! We're at your house!" Alan had not slept well, and decided he wouldn't do well at work, so thought he wouldn't go to work and instead they headed down to Oregon by 10 am. I was so happy to get that extra time with them. We went out and saw Indian Jones and the Crystal something-or-other. (I kept my hand over Sarah's eyes through 2/3 of the movie!) We had a super visit. More photos coming.

Family get together in May

Family get together on Bev and Don's patio. Notice how AUNT BEV has her fingers up

behind two little boy's heads.

Don't EVEN go there !!

Trying to get these two to behave for one decent photo is a definite challenge. And I'm not sure who is worse.

Patti and Alan....Patti still laughing

In the backyard at Grandma's house. Patti was so serious when she first met Alan. She was in graduate school and stressed with all that cardiology and physiology. When Alan first heard Patti one day telling jokes after jokes (she saw something in a store window and it set her off), he stood there in disbelief. And she's still laughing.

2004----Totem Pole near house

How will Sarah treat her husband?

Love this quote!

Love these kids!!!

Hearing test

Ok, I had my hearing test. It was intensive. At one point, I wanted to hold my breath so the noise of my breathing wouldn't interfer with the tiny little sounds they wanted me to hear.

Results: I have a little hearing loss (about 5 decibles) in those upper regions...about women's voice level.

Now that I've been there, everything seems too loud to me. Go figure!

Brent in Sand

One of my favorite photos of Brent (you really need to click on this photo and pull it up full screen to appreciate this one!). Another Hoffer kid who always takes a great photo!
:)
Aunt Bev

Miranda at the beach

She doesn't take a bad picture. I hate her!!!

Ok, just a little jealousy....

Patti

A Blast from the Past --January 2002

Only Patti would attempt this

Only Patti would attempt to take the ENTIRE family to the opthamologist on one afternoon. And no one seemed to have a straightforward eye exam. Patti and Al need to go back for more tests. All of them need new glasses....to the tune of MANY dollars. Thank goodness that insurance will help with some of it.

And in addition, she managed to squeeze in a surgeon visit for Alan's shoulder, a gastroenterologist appointment for herself, and a pediatrician visit (semi-emergent) for Sarah with abdominal pain.

Now everyone is in bed, collapsed from a day in the American Health Care System. And hopefully Sarah feels better because after she got her eyes dilated, she told me on the phone "It's making me get a headache and I am going to pass out."

Sweet dreams everyone.

It would GAG a MAGGOT !!!!

An expression Mom used to use was "It would Gag a MaGGOT!" It took me years before I realized what it meant. Well, apparently my nieces and nephews are learning this early. Their mother took them to the Science Museum in Seattle where Sarah (who apparently eats everything including salmon and shrimp) ate 6 barbecued worm larvae. Sarah said calmly when I asked why she did that "I like barbacue."

Bryce ate one and then someone told him what it was so he ran outside and spit it out.

I told Bryce "Now I can NEVER kiss you again because worms passed over your lips." He retorted "Then I can't ever draw you a picture again."

It may be an easy price for me to pay. EWWWWWWWW!!!!

I found this photo on the internet and it was apparently for educators with this description for them:

Don't want to hand out candy? For the most brave among your students, try Larvets. These edible farm-raised larva are Bar-B-Que, Cheddar Cheese or Mexican Spice flavored. With only 9 calories per serving, these genuine farm-raised edible insects will be a real hit. Makes an unforgettable way to begin a food science or health unit. These completely dried, delicious treats are great fun.
Singles contain 5.6 grams

Thoughts to help the healing process

Maintain a positive attitude:
the power of positive thinking has been scientifically proven
by the National Institutes of Health
to lower levels of inflammation!














Take time to play---it is the secret of youth
and a great distraction from pain.













A growing body of research suggests laughing,
no matter what causes it,
can boost your immune system,
ease muscle tension and generally make you feel better.














We need 4 hugs a day for survival,
We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance,
We need 12 hugs a day for growth.
quote from Virginia Satir

Alan has surgery

Ok, it's only a 40 minute proceedure. Recovery is expected to last about 30-45 minutes.

I'm mildly terrified.

Miranda said, "It's not reallly surgery."

I said, "Anytime they put your dad to sleep and cut into his body, it's surgery!!"

Pray for us.

Patti

Kite flying at Rockaway beach

Dad helping Brent with his kite. It flew beautifully until it got caught on a chimmney and remained stuck on a roof!!

Bryce's wouldn't fly for anything until Phil figured out I'd assembled it incorrectly....changed the cross piece and it was up in seconds!

Lunar eclipse

Lunar eclipse from this week

Star-gazing

The boys and I got the telescope out last night and did some star-gazing. The boys insisted that the night was so clear and the moon was only a quarter...

It was so amazing to look up at the sky and see a smattering of stars and then look thru the scope and see a burst of stars everywhere. We kept looking at this one star right overhead...it was so orange, we kept thinking it must be Mars. We came in and checked the star chart on the internet and sure enough, it was!

A few nice moments with nature....now I feel so small!

Mama, Why Didn't You Tell Me?

Bryce asked me tonight on the phone, "Mama, why didn't you tell me about my brother or sister, Christy or Christopher?" He was seriously reprimanding me for keeping him in the dark. He said he wished he had his sister or brother now. I explained that it made me sad to talk about the baby we lost and that it had happened a long time before he was born.

He is sure thinking.

Bryce and Patti, Aug 2002

Bryce comforting Patti

The story of Bryce from this weekend reminded me of a series of photos of him from October 2007 when Patti opened up her quilt that everyone had helped on of Mt Hood and the Hood River Valley. Everyone had written a dedication/memory/or birthday greeting for the back of the quilt and Grandma had written a story about the time she had fainted in the kitchen and Patti was sleeping in the basement, heard the crash, leaped out of the bed, ran up the flight of stairs, and landed flat out on the kitchen floor (fainted). They woke up laying on the kitchen floor staring eye to eye. Anyway, as Patti started reading the dedication from Grandma, she started crying. Note how Bryce comes in to comfort her and throughout the entire time, he kept two hands on her shoulder and arm to comfort her. (I have 4 total photos of him doing this, but won't clog the blog with all of them---here are the best ones.)

And then the last photo is of the Hoffer family on the Mt Hood Quilt.

love,
Aunt Bev

We dropped Sarah off at her sleep-over and then the rest of us went to Chinese dinner at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant (with fabulous food!)

Bryce was laughing when we got there because he managed to hide and jump out at his dad and scare Alan (this is a feat of unspeakable skill!!) He was also excited to serve soup to us all from a large bowl.

However, after a few minutes of eating, I looked across at Bryce to see him looking near tears. I asked him what was wrong. He said, "Do you think it was very hard for my parents to give me up?" He also asked, "Do you know anything about them?" Alan and I were both crying and hugging him....reassuring him that we loved him and that it must have been VERY hard to give up a child.

You can imagine our fears...thank you all for your relationship with Bryce; it is clear he will need you all as he grows.

Patti