bending along...

Now that we are back in the northwest, we'll try to keep a bi-monthly blog pace going here. Perhaps the most significant changes in these two weeks are taking place with our chickens - who more than doubled in size in their first week with us (our Monday weigh-ins are providing many practical and tangible Drape Academy math problems). They're growing feathers like mad, and we've already moved them into a larger home (that they can fly out of if they decide to). They've made fast friends with Grandma Fran's guinea hen from South Africa (that's Dixie in the picture - the name that has stuck for chick #4), but to her chagrin, Torah (the Wenndorf's boxer) has yet to be turned loose with the chicks.

Last weekend we celebrated Matt's 10th birthday and Easter all in one (the Easter celebration included a re-enactment of the Passion - with the birthday boy in the starring role). We spread the celebration out to two days with a killer (and frigid) game of golf (the putting course at Eagle Crest) on Monday. While she did not win outright, Aunt Jeannie did score the only hole-in-one of the day.

The boys are soccering along, though the snow we've had this week put a little cramp in the outdoor time. While the rest of the northwest may be ready for spring to spring, we're happy to be having some winter, since we missed most of it on our travels. Our big fun this past week was having our dear Seattle friends, the Ritschers (Mike, Lisa, Teresa and David) come and hang out with us for a few days. We adventured up to the mountain on a cold, sunny-snowy day for dad-snow-shoeing and mother-and-child skiing. Good times... good times....

I made a quick Seattle trip a week ago, joyfully reuniting with a few folk, and doing some work on finding work. There are a few leads, and I'll keep you posted (and you're welcome to keep me apprised of any good leads).

So that's the quick update. We'll be back in a few weeks to keep you up to speed.

Bend Adventures

We are well settled into the end of our second week here in Bend already, soaking in the joys of the Austin place - horses and chickens galore. Yesterday we went out and got 4 little chicks of our own. We'll raise them here this spring (under Grandma Fran's keen eye), then bring them home to Seattle with us. We've each taken "ownership" of one of the chicks: Matt's is "Tembo" - elephant in Swahili, the blondest of the bunch; Andy's is "Rosie", the brownish-reddish one; Chrissie's is "Shirley" the smaller of the two blacks ones; and mine, the other black one, has yet to be officially named. We're considering "Kuku" - Swahili for chicken - but we're taking suggestions. The big yellow one is still just Chicken.

We hit the slopes at Mt. Bachelor this past week, although I got to play Lodge-Dad support team. Since I'm now 43 years old, I've decided to regularly throw my back out so I don't have to hurt myself more actively in activities such as snow boarding.

Other things.... Andy and Matt are both connected to spring soccer teams here in town, and loving it, and we continue to live it up with the cousins with fierce card games, trampolines and climbing on lava. And we're also keeping up on our chores.

Back in Bend

It's good to be home in the Pacific Northwest. Though we aren't all the way home to Seattle yet, we are settling into our home-away-from home at Grandma Fran and Grandpa Roger's (the Austins - Chrissie's folks). We're working on establishing some routine (a little more formalized Drape Academy and such), while taking advantage of being here in the wonderful high desert of central Oregon with Chrissie's family. We love getting to hang out with the grandparents and the Wenndorfs - Chrissie's sister and family (Jeannie, Mike, Caleb and Ben). The cousins are having a ball being back together.

Yesterday included a snow shoe adventure with the chicken, followed by a Pilot Butte Drive-In feast of burgers, fries, onion rings and shakes. It doesn't get much better than that. We'll keep updating things here, and will also add some end-of-the-trip summary blogs of great and trivial interest, so stay tuned.