Latest news and updates...
12/25/08 - We had a wonderful (white) Christmas with all of our kids and grandkids here to celebrate. It was a special day and we topped it off with a walk down the snow covered sidewalks. During the walk, we stopped to make snow angels, have a snowball fight, and build a snow man. (See our Christmas 2008 photos!) It was a very Merry Christmas!
12/20/08 - We've been having snow most of the week since last Sunday. We started to thaw out a bit (after spending all of the early part of the week in the low 20's, and we finally got back into the 30's on Thursday, but today the snow rolled back in. We've had a light, steady snowfall all day since 6:00 am. I've uploaded some photos so you can see our white Christmas setting (although it will likely be gone by Christmas Day and, to tell you the truth, we wouldn't be disappointed to see it go).
12/17/08 - Can you tell that we've been busy! Updating this site with news hasn't been my best work, but here's a quick update. Casey turned 3 years old yesterday! We celebrated as a family on Sunday Dec 14 even though the day was filled with snow and it took us almost 2 hours to get from our home up to Vancouver, but Casey is worth it! On Tuesday (with lots of snow still on the ground) we took Casey to the Portland Children's Museum (which is right across the parking lot from the Oregon Zoo). We've got lots of photos from Casey's 3rd birthday in our Photos of grandkids page.
Annette, Jon and Joey moved to their own place on December 15. They are leasing a home in Newberg (about 20 minutes away from our house). It's a beautiful home in a nice neighborhood and Annette has already got her Christmas decorations up!
Mary received word in early December that she passes all her requirements to qualify as a National Board Certified Teacher. This was an exhausting and extensive effort on her part and she was thrilled to receive this honor. It took months of work, several huge submmissions of work, a video-tape of her teaching two different elements, and a long, grueling exam. But she did it!! Mary is one of only 8 teachers in her district to qualify for this national certification.
And it's been snowing this week! It's been cold (in the low 20's during the day) and our street is just packed snow, but it's been very pretty. More cold weather and snow is still in the forecaset for the next several days. We may have a white Christmas!
8/30/08 - Joey turned 1 yesterday! He doesn't seem too excited about this, but we are! We won't be having the full celebration with the family until Monday, but we enjoyed some special birthday fun on his big day. (See Photos in the "Photos of grandkids" tab.)
This weekend also marks the 10th anniversary of our move to Oregon. It doesn't seem possible that 10 years have gone by, but we certainly feel like this is home and we've now been here exactly half the time we spent in our Chino Hills home.
Jon, Annette, and Joey are part of our household and we're all doing fine. Jon and Annette finally got an offer on their home in Grover Beach, so please be praying that all goes well and that Countrywide Mortage accepts the "short sale." The housing market is especially bad in California, so this has not been a fun experience for Annette and Jon, but they are hanging in there and we know that God has good plans for them and that He is able to make good things come from all things.
Chuck will be heading to Washington DC for a conference in late September. He's taking a few extra days to enjoy the historic sights and really looking forward to seeing some special places.
7/20/08 - Melinda just returned from a week in Mississippi working as a co-leader for a small group of high school students who went to assist a church in Moss Point with their continuing efforts to provide assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina. It was a hot and sticky week, but Melinda had a great time and we've posted some of her photos on the "Other Photos" tab in the center column. Check them out!
Christine is also a co-leader on a missions trip for Rolling Hills Community Church, but she's in Nicaragua! We have received brief updates from her via email and they are all doing very well. You can check out some of the photos from their adventures at this website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carllacasse/ You can also check out their blog at this website: http://www.rhcchsmnicaragua.blogspot.com/
Annette Jon and Joey are all doing well and living here in our home. It's great to have them back home in Oregon and it has been very special to have them here with us. It's especially wonderful to be able to spend so much time with Joey!
6/29/08 - OK, so we're not very good at keeping up this site. : ( But, it has been an extremely busy couple of months. Mary wrapped up another year of school, Melinda and Christine moved out of the house and into a new apartment, and Jon, Annette and Joey moved back home to Oregon.
Melinda and Christine wrapped up their first year of teaching and immediately packed up and moved to a new apartment in Wilsonville near our home. They are enjoying having a place of their own! At the same time, Jon had accepted the offer for the new ministry position at Woodhaven Community Church in Sherwood (also near our home). Unfortunately, the housing market is very poor, so we're continuing to pray for the sale of their California home. In the meantime, Jon is starting his new job on July 1, so we opened up our home as a place for Annette, Jon and Joey to use as their own. As Melinda and Christine prepared to move out, we also cleaned, painted and recarpeted the downstairs so Annette and Jon would have a place for many of their own things. Little Joey has a bedroom of his own upstairs. It was a busy time for us. Melinda and Christine moved on June 15, then on June 17, Mary and I flew down to help Jon and Annette pack their remaining things and then drove the two cars while Jon drove a U-Haul back to Oregon. But we're all doing well and Mary is absolutely thrilled to have her little grandson and Annette here with her!
4/27/08 - Jon, Annette and Joey came up from California for a brief visit during the last few days, so we've added some more photos to our "Photos of Grandkids" area featuring both Joey and Casey! It's a lot of fun having them both together. Jon and Annette love their currrent church family and job in Pismo Beach, but they feel that God is nudging them to return to Oregon to continue their ministry while allowing Joey to grow up near his grandparents. Jon was here this week for interviews with a church in Sherwood. The interview process went very well and we'll know more later this week! Please be praying for God to continue to guide Jon and Annette through this process.