Quick weekend up to Oregon!

I found out sometime early January that George Fox was having a May Serve Reunion during their Homecoming weekend reunion. Some of my best friends were going to be there, and it would give me a great excuse to go see my long lost nieces and nephews that I dearly miss! So I looked at my calendar and at a plane ticket, and by God's amazing miracle I was able to go!

Since it was such a spontaneous trip, I decided to keep it as a surprise for my sister who would not suspect a thing, because with my two jobs, living in So Cal, the chances of me visiting are slim to none. Plus, she already knew that Tobin and I will be visiting in March...so even more reason for me not to be coming in February. So with the help of my amazing brother-in-law, I flew into PDX, Feb 5th, rode the Maxx downtown, and enjoyed a cup of joe at Starbucks, while AJ and Maryanne drove up to Portland for a "day of shopping." Facebook even came to my aid, as Maryanne conveniently and promptly put up a post, "We are on our way to Portland!" She was excited to get to spend some Christmas/Birthday money...little did she know her sis was there waiting for her. Kudos to AJ for getting everyone out the door early so they could come meet up with me. Well, the surprise was a success. I wish I had a photo, but your imagination can probably generate a close enough picture. I was sitting in Starbucks, trying to scan the area and see them walking up, but I had no idea what corner they would be coming up (due to parking). Anyways, I was trying not to look like a nervous stalker (by continually scanning everywhere and everyone). I guess I wouldn't make that great of a spy, because I got bored, started playing a game on my iphone, and wouldn't you know that's when they walked in, and I missed them! The next thing I knew, I heard AJ's voice say, "Hey!" I turned around, and the look on Maryanne's face was priceless...absolute bewilderment. She couldn't get her mind to grasp that her sister was sitting having a cup of coffee in a Portland Starbucks! It was such a great moment. I love my sis, and I love Porter who was also a bit confused, but happy for whoever would play peek-a-boo with him!

We then shopped around Portland that day, I got to finally use a Nordstrom gift card I had gotten for my birthday back in October (that's Marty!). We went back home, stayed up late, and had lots of fun. Mostly having Porter entertain us! He's such a cute kid!

Then it was off to Fox, for a May Serve Reunion. Every May, Fox sends a International Serve Trip to various countries. God blessed me with the opportunity to go May 2003 to Brazil! It was a life changing experience for me, even though I had intentions on going and changing other people's lives, God shaped my heart to continually love and pray for those a far!

A few photos:

Homoncles Reunited! So glad Sarah got to come all the way out from New York!

It was great to see both of them and my beautiful extended family nieces!

Jane and I

We then had dinner with the May Serve Team that went to the Phillipines, lots of catching up, seeing old friends, and just enjoying being together as Believers in Christ...amazing fellowship!

Then we went to a Bruin Basketball Game! We missed the girls game, and we sat on the old people side...so it was a little hard for me, but good none the less! =)

The Boyz

Cheese!

This short three days was packed! I wanted to get it all in! So on Sunday morning Maryanne and I went over to the Miller Redhead Household! It was wonderful to see all those little redheads running around and being able to play with them! Love them!

Porter loving the swing!

My newest niece, Kate...hadn't seen her since she was just a few days old!

The whole gang, minus Andy and Ruth making faces in the background. Thanks to my amazing brother's photography skills we got this photo!

Go to this link

because you can only see a portion of it here...the photo's too wide for this blog.

Then just before leaving, we walked over to a close neighbor's house, Jana and JJ, for a little preview to Superbowl. Maryanne and I had to leave just about when the game got started, so she could take me back to the airport, but that was ok...we got to chat a bit more on the way up without a little one making noises in the back (we love you Porter, just not always in the car).

Love the baby backpack!

Can't wait to be back there soon...more on that to come!

Let the Good Times Roll...

... and the boys get muddy;)

Christy is visiting family and friends in Oregon, Jenna is busy feeling pregnant, so Josh and I opted for a morning bike ride in the So. Cal Rain. Having thought ahead, borrowed a bike, and laid plans to cover a significant amount of single track in the hopes of another epic adventure - we awoke to Someone raining on our parade! We opted to make the best of it and packed up for a wet, and potentially muddy ride.

On our drive to the park we had opportunity to listen to a wonderful SEVERE WEATHER WARNING broadcast for the very region we would soon be riding in! They promised rain to pour down on us at rates of 1 inch per hour and that the mud would have potential to slide. Our response was along the lines of "thats interesting" and to "press on" as we are men not mice (btw where do they go in rain like this, every depression I saw was full of Mud or water).

Upon arriving at the base, we quickly donned our gear and started riding up the hill (hoping to stay warm) and just as quickly found that the mud here is similar in consistency to glue that is just about to set and deep enough to crest the sides of our shoes as we quickly found peddling difficult on a bike standing still. Luckily for us, the rain appeared to have only half the power predicted and the torrent running down the concrete drainage ditch combined with the strength of a good hill was less powerful than fresh legs coupled to the minds of hearty weekend warriors! Alas, the ditch only covered half the distance of the hill, leaving a couple of now significantly wet bikers to become significantly muddy pushers who stole the nicely graded gravel road that used to be in this very place.

Upon reaching the top of the hill, the planned route had shrunk and thoughts of maintaining high ground were second only to the thoughts of burning lungs (despite the downpour). We scraped a few pounds of mud off our bikes and again took to the saddle for a cross country ridge ride on single track. The first hill captured our attention as the increased body weight on our tires only added additional layers of mud and more weight to the bike which further perpetuated the more weight = more mud until being scraped off on all sides my our trusty forks. This was quickly forgotten as the steepness of the hill found us wanting the brakes that had by now been packed full of mud! To top it off, the less viscous mud - though decidedly more tenacious was fetching a ride on a mud ferris wheel to suddenly release it grip and attack the offending weekend warrior from both sides - which altered the riders ability to both breath and see! After surviving the first gravity challenge and again clearing ourselves and the bikes of a couple inches of mud we were able to begin legitimately riding again - thoughts of high ground having prevailed. It quickly became apparent that braking power would continue to be an issue as each downhill portion was very slick and the friction of the brake pads just as low!

Thats about when Someone decided that since lying was bad and that since a SEVERE WEATHER WARNING had ben issued - they better provide the truth to the broadcast. I am quite convinced that 1 inch per hour was a conservative estimate and wouldn't you know it, as I began powering up the next hill, the chain got jammed against the frame stopping forward movement quite suddenly. Now when your riding you don't really pay attention to the direction of the rain but standing on an exposed hill with a bike whose chain is not compliant with the idea of forward motion (though it claimed to have been attacked by some dark brown goo) - it becomes quite apparent the rain was moving faster horizontally than vertically and that it appeared to be more like a waterfall than mere rain!

Fixing a mutinous chain

By now it became quite apparent that deep inside each hearty weekend warrior is a little boy who really just wants to play in the mud, and that the evidence would be manifest as ear-to-ear grins when the advancing mud troops weren't looking!

Clearing the Brakes of Muddy Glue

Josh riding the ridge

Our Trail Down

Having succeeded in navigating the muddy single track, and finding our way back to some perceivable evidence of a road, we headed back towards the truck. The torrential rain by now having flooded the normally dry stream beds, the road had turned into a secondary means for the water to get downhill. While at first this appeared to make things more difficult, the water had removed most of the mud, leaving behind gravel and rocks. This made it possible then to ride or trusty steads back up the road if willing to ride in the stream of water flowing down the road - though straying from this stream invited another attack from the deep mud silently waiting for us. As we neared the apex of the hill again, we found evidence of someones apparent "theft" of the gravel road we know was formerly in the same location as the muddy stream we now traveled. Though not conclusive, the Muddy Caterpillar (the rather large yellow kind) hiding in the bushes and partial tracks on our stream seemed to point out the nefarious characters who secretly tried to prevent a couple of warriors from fighting a muddy battle, prevailing, and returning as smiling boys.

The lead stead covered in muddy gore!

The borrowed stead having survived the onslaught!