Graduation 2008

I remember with fondness the day Zach was born... the way his sister cuddled him as an infant... the intense feeling of pride and awe as this new little boy joined our family. I've had many memories since then of my baby boy growing into a young man. And today he took another memorable step. He graduated from the 8th grade.


And to add to that memory, Zach was honored with the Presidential Education Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence.


Way to go, Zach! Welcome to your High School years!

800!

Today marked our 800th GeoCache find. We have been caching nearly every weekend with my cousin Sara. Today we went to Carlton, a small town just outside of Newberg, and then up into the Oregon coast range to the McMinnville watershed. This was a beautiful day.... temperatures nearing 70 degrees... beautiful vistas. And we found a couple of caches that we had been unable to locate previously. Here is the view from one of those caches.



On the north side of the mountains, we had to drive through a foot of snow in some places. A snowball fight just isn't the same when it is so warm!



Here we are at the top of the coast range. On a clear day you can see 9 mountain peaks. Today we only saw Mt. Hood as a hazy shadow.



I just love the places geocaching takes us. This waterfall was along side of one of the dirt roads we travelled.




Baker Creek runs out of the McMinnville watershed. Here is one of the scenic views we saw while seeking a cache.



What a fantastic adventure!

Zach at the Pentagames

I had the honor today of watching 9 students from Mountain View Middle School compete in the 25th annual Pentagames. Pentagames are sort of Math Olympics where students compete in a number of games that center around various math skills.


Zach was one of the competitors and did VERY well. I lost track of his winnings, but at the end of the day he had a half dozen or so ribbons pinned to his chest along with a couple of medals. Not only did he do well, but his 8th Grade team took best of the day for their division. And the school won for highest school score.

FaceBook Fun

Hi, my name is Dave and I'm a FaceBook addict.

Actualy, this social networking site has a lot of real fun ways to stay connected with friends and family that are scattered all around the world. One of the games on FB is called Friends For Sale. Using virtual dollars, you buy your friends which increases their value. Other friends are also trying to buy your friends, so you can see how the value circle can go.

I started this game after my daughter Kara was playing for awhile and her value had sky-rocketed. I made it my goal to raise enough funds through the Friends trade to buy my daughter. I made strategic alliances to help increase my funds, and finally at 6:30 AM on 6-Apr-08 I clicked the "Buy Kara for $117,241" button! Bet I won't keep her long as she is quite popular, but it is fun to have achieved my goal.

The Forecast Looks GREAT!

My son Zach is a fairly normal teenage boy. He is full of energy, loves video games, has a passion for Bionicles, and has a very vivid imagination which he acts out from time to time… OK lots of the time. I will admit that he sometimes gets on my nerves with his boundless energy.

But tonight I was honored to see a different side of my son. We spent a couple of hours at the High School for Forecasting Night, gathering information about his upcoming Freshman year in school. I was impressed by his thoughtfulness in picking classes, his care in choosing electives, and his reasoning behind the school he should choose (Newberg High School is divided into five small schools).

Sometimes I’m so close to the daily routines of Zach’s life that I miss the young man behind the long hair and creative imagination. I’m very proud of the man Zach is becoming. And I’m excited to see how the careful choices he made tonight will effect him in the years to come.

I have always been interested in genealogy. My active participation in research ebbs and flows based on my time and the tools I have around me. But I've discovered a cool new tool that is causing a resurgence in my ancestral investigation.

I've discovered Geni.com. This great web page is similar to social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace. I can invite my family members who can join and add the information they have on their family members.

On the first day, I personally added 100 names. In just 10 days, there are now more than 530 people listed in my tree, most of them added by other family members. How cool is that!

A First

My previous blog entry dealt with taking HS students to the coast where they will be helping direct a Jr. High retreat. One of those going, was my daughter Kara. Then about 5 hours later, Zach left to be an attendee of the same camp. I believe this marks the first weekend that both kids are gone on the same weekend and the parents are left kidless. Yikes... they're growing up!!!

Inheritance

A recent visit to my doctor revealed that I am mostly healthy. I was not surprised by the findings; relieved that I didn’t have diabetes. I do need to take off a few pounds and lower my blood pressure and cholesterol.

My research revealed that cholesterol is affected by diet, exercise, and genetics. While I can do something about the first two, the latter is part of who I am thanks to being my parents’ kid.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the traits and characteristics that are inherited. What parts of me are thanks to my parents, grandparents, and other ancestors? What am I passing on to my children?

I wonder if being a child of the King causes some “genetic” traits to be revealed in me as well. Sure I have responsibilities in staying spiritually healthy. But are there parts of my being that are a direct result of being God’s kid?

I sure hope so!

Christmas Came Late This Year

Christmas came later than normal this year. Our family celebrates whenever we can get the clan together. We celebrated 5 days late this year so we could surprise Mom & Dad with a visit from my Sister and her family from Colorado!

Here the Nieces and Nephew open the door to surprise Grandma.

We really surprised Mom, who took about 30 - 45 minutes to really realize that the Haines were really there.

All in all, we had a great time, catching up and celebrating. Can you tell that we enjoy family get togethers like this.

Exploring Oregon

I love the Oregon Coast. This past weekend we spent three days with my cousin Sara traveling the Southern Oregon coast geocaching. We spent time in Bandon, North Bend, and Charleston.

The more we travel and explore our state, the more I am convinced that we live in the most beautiful part of the world. There is so much variety and beauty. There is urban connection and rural solitude.

Incidentally, we found our 300th geocache as well.

Chinese Food - for India

I had chinese food for dinner tonight. That wasn't the highlite, though. For you see, this is a farewell dinner for the team of 11 who are going to India from our church. My purpose for joining these intrepid travelers is to support my daughter, who is one of the team.

This will be Kara's second time out of the USA (She went to Mexico during Spring Break.) But I am strangely calm through all of this. I'm proud of her desire to reach out to the less fortunate in the world, to better understand their situation in life, and to expand her world view.

I am completely amazed at how God provided for her trip. Her financial support came in well above what she needed and so she could support others on the team. She was inundated by letters of encouragment and commitments to pray while she is on this trip. WOW!

I invite you to pray with me for Kara and the team. You can stay up on their 15 day trip by visiting the team's official blog.

Quanity vs. Quality

My wife and kids have been out of the state, and I am playing the bachelor role. So what better way then to hook up with my GeoCaching cousin and heading out to break all our personal GC records.

We went to Lincoln City and went for as many caches as we could in a day... ended up getting 35. Then on Sunday we went to the gorgeous Mt. Hood and went searching for GCs that were in beautiful locations.

This weekend we found 40 caches, set new records, and enjoyed exploring God's creation (some enhanced or de-enhanced by man.)

The Concert Season is Over

For many, summer brings festivals and concerts from their favorite artists. But for me, the concert season ends tonight. For the past nine months I have had season tickets to concerts by my kids. Between private piano lessons, school concerts, jazz band, solo festivals and community band, my kids have showcased their musical talents.

I am so grateful that the musical gene has been passed to the kiddos. It is fun to watch them get excited about different music styles and instruments, and to watch their eyes light up when they see a musician who does exceptionally well. It is also fun to watch them hone their musical chops, improving their technique, and fine tuning their craft.

So this year’s concert season is over. And I only have three months to sew the buttons back on all my shirts before the next season begins.

Invisible Children

I just spent a couple of hours with some of the youth from our church who were showing a movie regarding the Invisible Children of Uganda. This is a documentary showing the suffering and plight of children who run from their rural homes to the cities to escape the atrocities of being abducted and forced into slavery, raped, turned into soldiers, or even worse, killed.

It seems impossible for me to express the impact this had on me, so I invite you to look at the InvisibleChildren.com website.

The documentary was very moving and made me wonder what I could do. I’m just one man and these kids are on the other side of the earth. Can I really make a difference?

And then I watch my daughter and her friends as they work to raise awareness of this African tragedy. Tonight they are recreating the 5-mile walk many of these kids take each day and night to go to school and then back to the safety of hospitals and other public places. They will sleep at the local hospital and then walk 5 miles back to school tomorrow morning.

These kids are putting action to their beliefs that we should do something. And while it may seem insignificant, they are jumping into action with the resources they have. So when did I become complacent and think that I couldn’t make a difference any longer? I fear I am making myself invisible out of ignorance and lack of action.