My Birthday present

For my birthday this year Marcus got me a new camera. We bought our old Kodak camera back in Sacramento, so like 5 years ago. I think it predates our marriage and it no longer has a warranty. It works just fine but technology has come a long way. It's stabilizer leaves much to be desired, it doesn't take night time pics well but it has great zoom capability. It is also large and requires it's own bag. I wanted one that would fit in my purse, that was light weight and I really liked the new Samsung that has the front screen. I like it cause I am always taking pictures and never in them so I thought this would improve the shots I take of my self or at least limit the attempts I make at getting a good one. Ethan will only smile for so long. Well I got the one I wanted in Purple. It's a Samsung TL225 and it's amazing. I still have a lot to learn about it. I need to read the manual. It's definately not as user friendly as our Kodak, one of the things I like about it, but I will figure it out. I am super excited to use it! Thanks babe!

Stolpps signing off...

2nd time @ Solid Rock

So we gave Solid Rock another chance last Sunday. We couldn't make it to the 9am service like we had planned cause we had company all weekend & needed the sleep, but we went super early to the 11am service and found a spot in the family parking section.

The sermon was a little more normal based on a passage from Luke. The worship was really good too. We think we have decided to squat there for a while. No church is perfect and the longer we look the more time we loose. I want to get connected, meet some people and have consistancy for Ethan.

One of the neatest things they do is a BBQ every Sunday after the 11am service. It's a neat way to fellowship & one of the perks of going to a "big box" church. They can afford to do that kind of thing.

So ya I think that we have found a church. We still need to go to an informational meeting sometime and find out more about them like if they are affiliated with a denomination. I will check out the website more too.

Stolpps signing off...

Kim's a Harrington!

Kim & Erik's wedding was yesterday, July 10th, and I was a bridesmaid. The days activities started at 10:30 with my hair appointment but I woke up at 5am with Miss Hannah. It was still so hot in our bedroom that she woke up early & I couldn't get back to sleep after feeding her (no AC) so I took a shower, pumped, got Ethan's clothes out for the day (he showered with daddy after I left & after a hair cut), dressed Hannah, got all my stuff together (dress, undergarments, shoes, jewelry, etc.), fed Hannah again, left instructions for the day with Marcus & left. On the way I stopped by Dollar Tree and got cheap vases for the bouquets to set in & be decorations after use on tables for Kim. I got my hair done & then met up with Kim at her apt. I then drove her to pick up her dress from the dry cleaners (it was being pressed) and then we went to Shannon's hotel to meet up with her & Megan to do lunch. We got lunch at an Indian place near by and then went back to Shannon's hotel to get the cupcakes to take to the wedding site (Erik's folks house). Once there Shannon & I made the bouquets and Kim & Megan put decorations on the tables with some helpers. Then we all did our makeup and got dressed. Then it was time to take some pre-wedding pictures of us ladies by the photographer. Then the show began. It was such a happy wedding nary a tear was shed. I was just so happy for her. They make such a good pair! The ceremony was short & sweet and then it was party time. Marcus was super daddy with the kiddos the majority of the time. I made sure he was able to get food and go to the bathroom but other than that he was tending to their needs. The food was great! They had red & white wine and of course a keg. And champagne for toasting. Erik's mom had champagne glasses engraved for the wedding party which I thought was super sweet of her & a nice keepsake. Kim's gift to me was a travel jewelry box which I packed my jewelry in for the day & love, it's pink of course! Marcus had to leave early, around 9pm so after that I felt a little like a wall flower but it was a fun night and I was happy to be there for Kim & help make her day perfect. I hope she is happy with how it all came together & thinks back with good memories of her special day! Love you Kim and I wish you & Erik nothing but the best!

Solid Rock

This morning we went to Solid Rock. A big box church that was recommended to us by Haley & Chelsea Carlsson, Erik Harrington's folks (Kim's husband) & a couple we met at Kim's wedding. We thought that for it to be a big church they must be doing something right so we should check it out to see if we can handle it's size. We left with mixed feelings but plan to return and see if it's worth the sacrifices you make being a big box church attender. Just getting there was a little bit of a challenge. The turn lane to turn down the street the church is on was backed up to where we had to sit through about 6-8 light cycles. Then approaching the parking lot we wondered if we'd find parking. We went to the 11am service but there is a 9am service we may try next time and get there a 8:30am. They had new comer parking upfront so we took advantage of that. Walking into the building it was like a circus. Very crowded and loud, the 9am people were still leaving. We had no idea where to take Ethan so we made our way slowing through the crawling crowd to the information desk and asked. They have so many 2-3 year olds that they break them up in half by first name (a-l & m-z). The room was really cute though and Ethan ran straight for a train table like his at home. They were welcoming there and I felt like he was in good hands. After dropping Ethan off we entered the "garage" (that's what they call their sanctuary) and we were told they were all full. Feeling kinda upset that as new comers we might have to worship from the lobby or the video room, I almost walked out, but the gentleman that told us they were full found us again and had found us seats. So that made me feel a little more welcome but I still think they should reserve a small section specifically for new comers if they fill up that fast! But anyways, the worship was great, as I thought it would be and the message was good. The message was a pretty heavy subject, adultery, cause someone had leaked it to the staff that one of their own pastors was cheating on his wife, they confronted him & it was true. So that was what they had been dealing with as a pastoral team prior to this Sunday. So they announced it to the congregation and let them know he had resigned (but would have been fired), will still be attending and asks their forgiveness. The sermon actually spoke to me, not that I am cheating on my husband or anything cause I would never do that, but he talked about how our bodies are not just our own but God's and your spouses and that we should take better care of it so we stay appealing to our spouse. That it's our responsibility to help our spouse stay faithful and not look to another to fulfill things we don't provide. I thought it was a good sermon for any married couple to hear and to talk about later and learn from another person's mistakes. When the pastor came forward and admitted what he had done and asked the congregation for forgiveness and his wife & family for theirs as well he was crying, broken & vulnerable, it was pretty powerful. He made me cry. Seeing just about any man cry makes me cry but seeing him have the guts to do that, to take responsibility for his actions was moving. His wife may not have felt the same way, I'm sure it will take her a long time to forgive, it would take me a long time, if I could even forgive, but that must have been hard!

I think we will go back next Sunday!

Stolpps signing off...

Nasty neighbors

Our neighbors have caused us grief from the beginning. When we toured the house there driveway was clean, after we moved it became a junk yard. When we toured the house there was nary a bark from their dog, no sign of a pet, after we moved it Cujo started barking at all hours of the day & night at any & every noise. When we toured the house the air smelt clean & clear, after we moved in & the temperature started heating up the air smelt of dog poop. Peeked into the dog run from the upstairs window & saw that they probably hadn't scooped poop in over a month. Had discussions with Marcus about it with the windows open loudly & the next day the wife was out there cleaning it with a shovel bitchin about "if you're not going to do it than I f'n will!" A few days later he must have not though she did a good enough job and was out there with his favorite new toy, the power washer! Observed said nasty neighbor power wash feces, trash & hair under our shared fence line. Immediately called Marcus to share this new observation with him. We sat on it for a few days and after observing him on the 4th of July we decided that a confrontation in person with this man would only end in physical violence so we called our property management to see if we live in an HOA that might be able to mediate this issue for us. They are "looking into that" but unwilling to do anything else for us. I took pictures today because Marcus decided it was best to make them aware of this problem in a letter. he is drafting that and I will deliver it sometime this week. I hope this behavior stops without getting the police involved or we will be in an all out war with our neighbors and this is only our second month here. Good times!

Stolpps signing off...

4th of July with friends

We were invited by the Sesnon's to celebrate the 4th with them at their home. We brought the meat and they provided everything else including a bunch of fireworks that my pyro husband thoroughly enjoyed! He also enjoyed the carrot cake cause it had nuts and I usually don't put nuts in mine but he likes it that way :-)

Karen Sesnon's daughters were there too (well 2 of them, she has 3 & a daughter in law), Chelsea & Haley. I used to babysit for her when I was in high school when they were little, they are the youngest. Now Haley will be babysitting for us on Friday so we can enjoy Kim's rehearsal dinner at McNenniman's without them. The opportunity to be 20 somethings doesn't come very often & before we know it we will be thirty somethings with more kids, so we need to get some dates in while Haley is home from college! They are a huge reminder of how fast kids grow up. They among other kids I sat for make me feel so old! Chelsea is all grown up and has lived a very adventurous life and I admire her for that. She lived in Costa Rica & sold real estate for a while but currently lives back with Karen & Bob and is an amazing & new Teavana store manager. Her store is doing great & I am so happy for her. She just got a new Audi that Marcus drooled over while we lit fireworks. Haley is going to a christian college in Colorado and reminds me much more of my self. She seems a little less wild but I could be completely wrong. I was always studious but enjoyed a couple college parties but mostly liked being in a relationship not dating & hanging out in smaller settings with close friends. She is nannying this summer and I too did that during summers in college. I really enjoyed that along with lifeguarding at Westminster Woods but nannying made me better money! She & her boyfriends adventures together sight-seeing at local parks inspired us to take that day trip to Multnomah Falls the other day. So glad she took pictures and made me want to go. We may be a copy cat again and go to Punch Bowl Falls sometime soon too.

But anyways, we had a great time! Ethan got to know Haley better, Hannah got passed around and for the most part was really good , happy & awake. Karen has a box of toys for Ethan to play with & she made his night with a couple glow sticks that he slept with last night (too cute, found him with them this morning)! The food & fellowship made for a great 4th! We went home & immediately tried to get some sleep, it had been a long day (church & movie) but the neighbors lit fireworks (like the illegal in the sky ones that you have to go to WA to get) until about 2am drunk! Always a good idea! Gotta go & see if there's any damage to the house or cars.

Stolpps signing off...

Tualatin Foursquare Church

I will never go to another church without checking their website more thoroughly! Our friend Karen checked it out and saw a prophecy section I didn't see. Where members post their prophecies and then the elders vote on whether they are true prophecies of God. I guess some of them were interesting and this should have clued me in on this not being a church we would enjoy, but when I went on the site briefly to get the service time, I just saw some stuff about healing & channeling the spirit. Well...lets just say we will not be going back. It was so bad we had to sneak out. I left the sanctuary with Hannah, made up an excuse to get Ethan out of childcare, and Marcus met me at the car a few minutes later. If we had stayed we could have been there all day! Seriously! And hour of worship to start, lots of meditating on verses of songs for in my opinion an excessive amount of time, flags waving, spontaneous congregant prayer & outbursts, prophecies being revealed and any minute I could feel a person speaking in tongues coming on, so I needed to leave. After worship they prayed for a missionary & that took about twenty minutes and then they started worshipping again. The "teachings" hadn't even begun. We have a baby, we can't just sit in church all day. It's not that I don't believe that people can be healed in church, or that people can get visions from God or even that the holy spirit might cause a person to speak in tongues. I just didn't personally feel the presence of God with all the distractions they were creating for me. I didn't want to make them feel bad about how they seek God, so we left before I couldn't help my self from having an outburst of laughter or have a smirk on my face. It was a little out of my comfort zone. It just didn't feel authentic to me. I come from a Presbyterian church that made the transition from traditional to contemporary as I was growing up, so I occasional clap, close my eyes or sway, but I'm not much of a hand raiser, flag waver or dancer. But that's just ME. Please keep our church search in your prayers, thanks!

Stolpps signing off...

Columbia River Gorge: Vista House Crown Point

You could see this building from Rooster Rock, so we thought we'd drive up to it on the way back to Portland after Multnomah Falls. On the way we passed by some other falls but the walks were longer than we had time for so we will return to those places again on another trip. But the Vista House was pretty cool. Wonderful view from that high down into the gorge and beautiful stain glass windows. It had a cool gallery inside, gift shop & cafe.

Stolpps signing off...

Columbia River Gorge: Rooster Rock

This was our first stop of the day. The first park in a long line of parks in the gorge. We stopped here and bought a annual OR state park pass so we wouldn't have to pay a day use fee at all of the individual parks and so we could come back frquently. We hope to go on a day trip once a week. This park had a playground so we let Ethan out of the car to run around, get some engery out & play. He discovered tether ball! The trees were beautiful with overlapping branches and the lawns were beautifully maintained. OR tax payers dollars put to good use :-)

Stolpps signing off...

Columbia River Gorge: Multnomah Falls

This was my favorite stop of the day. It's beautiful even from the parking lot. You could just stop there for a few minutes and get on with your trip if you are just passing through or you can park & stay a while. It's a short 0.2 mile trek to the bridge or you can continue on for a full mile to the top. We took Hannah in the front pack and Ethan walked like a big boy just to the bridge. The park has a coffee shop, gallery, gift shop & restaurant. We'd love to try their restaurant sometime or pack a lunch & eat it at their picnic area. The walk to the bridge was easy. Completely paved and plenty of switch backs that made it not too steep. I'd like to do the full mile but not sure weather Ethan would do it. Maybe Marcus will let me go solo with Hannah in the front pack sometime while he stays back with Ethan. I'd love to get some pictures up there. Maybe next time!
Stolpps signing off...