Halloween, Anniversaries and colds

Riley's Football Team 2008

Cline and Alli's 18th Anniversary on November 3rd

Miranda the cowgirl~Becca the princess fairy~Katie (friend) supergirl


Our Kate Lynn and her pumpkin

Cousins showing off their pumpkins






October went by way too fast. Now onto November. This month has started off with a very bad cold virus. Having a hard time shaking it. Cline and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary on Nov 3rd. He surprised me and took me to a very nice restaurant downtown called City Grill. It's on the 30th floor of the building it is in. Gorgeous view and very good food. It was very nice. We carved pumpkins with Betty, Dave and their kids right before Halloween. The kids had fun trick or treating. We had a trunk or treat at church earlier in the week. So they have enough candy to last awhile. I got to babysit little Evangeline for Ted and Jordi. She looked so sweet in her little lady bug sleeper. I just love her so much.

The Twenty Year Tag

I saw this on a friends blog site and thought it is a cool way to not only remember days gone by, but see where you have come.

Twenty years ago I:

1. Was 17 turning 18
2. Graduated from Aloha High School
3. Started working at Thriftway in the Deli Dept
4. Took art classes/sociology classes at Portland State University
5. Looked forward to being on my own
6. Hung out with my best friends Colleen Turner and Danette Sanchez (still keep in touch)
7. Got a '74 Datsun B-210 the previous Christmas and got my drivers license
8. Also hung out with my best friend Karie McLaughlin
9. Started going to Relief Society
10. Made silly movies and audio tapes with my wacky cousins Ted and Joe/Carmen and Jared and of course my brother Austin

10 years ago I:

1. I was 28 and living in my In-laws basement
2. Was the mother of three kids (ages 6,5,3)
3. Started going to Apollo College to become a Medical Assistant
4. Was the second counselor in the Primary Presidency of the Brentwood Ward
5. Making new friends
6. Just moved from Beaverton to Portland (having lived in Beaverton for 13yrs)
7. Focused on getting a career to help support my family
8. Taught preschool for Becky and Riley
9. Learned to sew
10. Enjoyed the last Bybee (Grambo) family reunion that summer

5 years ago I:

1. Was 34 yrs old
2. Mother of 4 children now
3. Was a stay at home Mom
4. Busy taking three of the kids to baseball/softball practices
5. Volunteering at the kids school
5. Was one of the Achievement Day leaders in the Ward
6. Loved making baby blankets for all my friends
7. Hung out as much as I could with Grambo
8. Found out I had a passion for writing poetry
9. Realized I was pretty good at it.
10. Was struggling with the illness/death of my dearest Uncle Cork

3 years ago I:

1. Was 36yrs old
2. Applying for any job I could with Kaiser Permanente
3. Was consumed with kids/sports/church activities
4. Was one of the Webelos Den Mothers in the Ward
5. Writing a ton of poetry
6. Decided to have some poetry published
7. Started working again for Kaiser in Cardiology
8. Worked on healing family troubles
9. Still heavily mourning the loss of my Uncle
10. Started our family anew

This past year I:

1. Am turning 38 yrs old
2. Enjoying living in Clackamas
3. Still working in Cardiology
4. Made some efforts to change jobs
5. Glad they didn't work out
6. Getting better at being a mom of 3 teenagers
7. Enjoying every moment of Katie
8. Learned to love Football
9. Have made some life long friendships
10. Started planning Miranda's Sweet 16

Today I am:

1. Enjoying that it is the first day back to school for the kids
2. Love that I have today off
3. Savoring the quiet in the house
4. Looking forward to reading my book (New Moon)
5. Am very excited for all the kids (Becky's first day of High school, Riley's first day of Jr High)
6. Appreciating my life and all my blessings
7. Happy to be doing laundry
8. Looking forward to when the kids come home and to hear how their first days went
9. Trying to prioritize
10. Just being lazy :0) (pretty funny being Labor Day and all)

Tomorrow I am:

1. Going to work
2. Coming home and taking kids to mutual/scouts
3. Starting my diet and getting back to exercising

This next year I am:

1. Going to finally get my motorcycle endorsement

So far this is it. Who knows what's next. Wow. Time flies. My kids are growing so fast. I'm just around the corner from 40! Holy cow. That can't be right. Well, football season is starting again and we are very excited. Life is sure busy with 4 kids. But Cline and I have learned over the years to find time for ourselves and each other. Even if it is 20 minutes a day of just sitting next to one another. I tag everyone on my list. So please share.

Joyous Day!

Sweet little Evan (that is the nickname I am going to call her. Ok by Ted & Jordi) made her debut this morning via c-section. She is so small and beautiful. She has dark hair and skin like Ted with a little face like Jordi's. Her eyes are big and almond shaped as far as we could see. They change so much in the first months. I can't believe Ted is a DADDY! Watch his cute grin as he introduces her. Very exciting. Jordi is doing as well as can be recovering from a c-section. All went well.

Evangeline Georgia Douglass

July 27, 2008

6lbs 3oz

18 1/2 " long

I'm off with Miranda and Becky to girls camp this week. Riley is off to scout camp. Katie will be spending the week with her favorite babysitter (lady who watched her when I worked). There family loves her like their own. So Katie is very excited. Cline will be coming up to both camps during the week and then bringing us "girls" home on Saturday. Wish me luck. I don't like camping and I'm stuck in the mountains with a bunch of teenage girls. AGGGGG!!!!! (JK) It will be fun. I am looking forward to it.

Here is some video of Jared and Tiffany's baby girl Macey who is 1yr. She was visiting her Auntie Carmen. We miss being a part of her life. She is so adorable. It is so exciting to finally see my cousins starting their families. Warms my heart. I guess me and my brothers jump the gun on having our children. :0)

Fireworks, Treks, Softball tournaments, New car

Most of the Corky's Pirates

Pretty Miranda

Me and my girls

2005 VW Jetta

Pioneer Sisters

1000 mile motorcycle ride

Well, where the heck did June go?!?!?! Good gravy so much going on these days. Cline and I went on the 1000 mile ride mid-June. It was so fun. Saw so many parts of Oregon and Washington I would have never seen otherwise. We did the Relay for Life walk in June. Becky sang at the talent show they had. Quite a crowd gathered as she began to sing. No one was really paying much attention to the other performers. They asked Becky to be last. She did great. She is so brave to get up there and belt it out. She has started voice lessons now. We celebrated Cline's 45th b-day on the 4th. Yep, he's that old. This year we watched the big firework show in our community of Happy Valley. It was awesome and we plan to do it every year. Then the girls had the pioneer trek for 3 days. Miranda ended up with a swollen foot because one of the hand carts rolled over it the first day. Poor girl. It was quite an experience for them both. I'm glad they chose to participate. Since Miranda gave up a ticket to see the American Idol concert for it. Then as soon as they got back from the trek they headed off to Grants Pass for the State girls softball championships. Cline and I were unable to go down for the 3 days of these events so they went with their coaches family. They are having a good time. Tonight's game will tell if they win or not. Among all the excitment I have hurt my back and ended up having to take it easy for a week and was out of work for three days. Supposed to lay flat and not lift anything. Boy, has that been extremely difficult. But I have sweet Katie and very concerned Riley to take good care of me when Cline is gone. And thank you Mom for being there when I really needed someone. We also got a new car. Got a great deal from a friend of ours who buys cars/trucks at the auction. We love it. Saving us tons on gas. Yahoo!!!

Rebecca singing "Wild Horses"

500 mile ride

Cline and I went on a 500 mile motorcycle ride. He is a part of the Rose City motorcycle club here in Portland. We started out in Biggs (Columbia Gorge). Then went through very rural central Oregon. Lots of twisty roads and gorgeous scenery. It was a blast. Cline has been doing this for many years. We got this new bike earlier this year. It's a Yamaha FJR1300. Very comfortable. This way we can do these rides together. We are going on a 1000 mile ride in June. It's an overnighter of course. Eight hours in the saddle is long enough for me in a day. That's with stops for ice cream and food. We both love riding motorcycles and this is something we can enjoy together.

Starting out in Biggs

Making a pit stop for ice cream in a one horse town called Shaniko

Stopped for gas and a rest on the grass in Maupin

At the end of it all they have an awards ceremony for a variety of things. Like youngest rider/oldest rider. That sort of thing. Cline and I got awards for having come closest in the estimated mileage of the ride. Him for being the rider and me for being his passenger. Silly. But we got these nice wood plaques. These are two of his buddies. Rich and Doug. They both got awards for coming in closest to the estimated time frame of the ride. He has another couple of friends Darren and Kiwi (his name is Jason, he is from New Zealand) who they all ride together with. We are all doing the 1000 ride together. Good times.

Hatch Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family tree picture - Family history

Hatch Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Blank family tree - Family tree software

Hatch Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Hatch Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

I got the job!!!!!

I just wanted to post that I got a job that I had interviewed for a week ago. It is in Ambulatory Care at Interstate Kaiser in N Portland. I love their campus. I have quite a few friends there and this will be a whole new experience for me. The plus side is my commute. It will be cut in half. Yea!!!!

Another tid bit. Becky is going to participate in the talent show at the Relay for Life event. She plans to sing "I'll Stand By You" by Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders. I am having a garage sale this Friday and Saturday. And the next weekend. All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. Please come out and support the cause.

Looking forward to warm weather.

Spas, flowers, music and upcoming interviews

There is so much I want to do to our yard. We had just cleaned up all the winter leaves and mowed the lawn. I can't wait for my roses to start blooming. I have climbing roses around each pillar along my porch. All different colors.




Katie wanted a strawberry plant. She is very excited to grow some yummy berries. We can't wait for more sunshine.

Saturday I finally used my certificate for a 1/2 day spa. It was my Mother's Day gift last year. Time just flew by and I realized I better use it or it will expire. So I spent the morning being pampered with a facial, then a pedicure. A light lunch and then off for a full body Swedish massage. Wow. That was awesome. Later on my Mom and Katie and I went to eat at the Old Mill Cafe next to the spa place. Both places are right on the corner near my house. Very nice. Then we ventured off to find Al's garden center in Gresham. It's not as big as the one in Sherwood, but it has gorgeous plants and flowers. My mom got me a Heliotrope flower. It is so pretty and fragrant.

Becky and Miranda left this morning for the school Leadership conference in Eugene. They asked Becky to sing the national anthem, but someone else had already signed up. So she has been asked to sing for the crowd anyway. She is singing Somewhere Over The Rainbow. The Katherine McPhee version. Of course she sounds beautiful. She will sing in front of about 700 students and teachers from all over Oregon at the Hilton in Eugene. Wow. What an experience for a 14yr old girl. She is still reeling from the school talent show. The girls are going to try and film it. I'm sure though that someone will have a video camera going so as soon as we get a copy I'll post it.



I've got another interview on Monday. So we shall see. Getting geared up for the Relay for Life. Another family friend has been diagnosed and is terminal. They gave him 2-3months. If you are interested in donating items for our garage sales (email me) or donating online please do. No amount is too small. Here is the link to our team site. You are welcome to come out and experience this incredible event. Thank you so much.


http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RelayForLifeGreatWestDivision?team_id=215596&pg=team&fr_id=5757

Rebecca Hatch the next American Idol

Becca you rock! Relaxing after an incredible performance. With Miranda and friends in the background. I'm so proud of her.

Riley in action at one of his games. He won his game today. Very exciting. He plays 2nd base and he made several outs. Go Riley!

Miss Kate has lost her two front teeth. I'm pretty sure she will get them before it's Christmas time though. Ha Ha She looks so cute without them. My baby is getting big. :0(

She did awesome. Grandma Sue accompanied her and together they blew everyone away with Becky's performance. She is very excited. Kids she doesn't even know are telling her she did great. Her math teacher called our house to congratulate her. It's a whole new world for Becca.

The girls play on the same softball team and they won their game also today. And Becky found out this past week that she is getting her braces off June 3rd. YAY!!!!!

Waiting in the wings.......

Sweet Baby Makenzie

Jordyn~Makenzie~Miranda~Stephanie

Sleeping Princess

Kate Lynn posing at Lithia Park

Had to stop and take a picture with the sign

~Ashland OR

Stopped along the freeway to get this one

The girls were glad to head home after 4 days

Cline and Riley on the Oregon 250

Goofy Girls

Lithia Park ~ Ashland OR

Stephanie Ann came with us

Rebecca looking beautiful

Miranda and that winner smile

Becca in Grampa Stringer's backyard

The title of this blog is how I feel about the whole job interviewing process. It takes a lot of patience. Like buying/selling a house. Everything is up in the air and you just can't predict how it will turn out. I'm waiting on word about the job I interviewed for and in the mean time I've applied for others in the area too. I just want to get on with it. It's been so rainy too. More sun would be a plus. Oregon spring weather is so strange. Now it's hailing outside.

We were able to have a nice visit with Aunt Chris. She is getting her house ready to sell so she will be here for a couple weeks. I went to Shady Cove to visit my Dad for spring break. Had a really nice visit. Did some thrift shopping and mall shopping. Drove to Ashland and saw my old stomping grounds. Had some nice talks with my Dad. Katie had a blast with Zach the dog and all the new stuffed animals she got from Walmart at 75% off.

Katie just came into my room and brought her little chair and a bowl of popcorn and said she is going to watch a movie. I asked her which movie and she very excitedly said the "Rain and Hail" movie. She plopped her chair in front of my slider door and opened the curtains to watch the hail hitting the window. She is so funny. Well, Cline and Riley went on a 250 mile motorcycle ride. We celebrated my brother Brian's b-day at Grambo's. Got to snuggle sweet lil' Makenzie. Played games. Had a good time. That's all for now.

Faith

Well, it's been awhile since I posted anything. It's not that there hasn't been a lot going on it's just been the daily grind stuff. We finally got the girls and Riley signed up for softball/baseball. Every year I tell myself this is it. And every year they want to play again. Just call me the Mom shuttle service. Thank goodness the girls will be on the same team again. They are playing for Clackamas girls softball. Miranda is also playing for her school. She is on a JV2 team. Although she just hyperextended her right arm so she is out of "physical" activity for a few weeks. Her arm is in a sling. Apparently she did it in PE playing volleyball of all things. Becky made honor roll again. She has been working hard. Both girls are doing well in school. Riley is a little harder to keep on track. I figure that is typical of a 12yr old boy. When he does buckle down he does very well in school. He likes school. His teacher has cancer so she has been in and out a lot this year with treatments. Riley wrote her a letter letting her know our family participates in the Relay for Life 24 hr cancer walk. He invited her to come out if she wanted. He is so aware of her and is very compassionate about what she is going through.

The "yuckies" came to our house for awhile. I ended up with strep throat. So far everyone is well now. Cline has been stressed out with the pressures of home building sales. With the market like it is things have slowed quite a bit. He is out trying to drum up new customers. This Saturday my Grandma Stringer passed away. I plan to visit my Dad during Spring break and go down to Redding to put some flowers on her grave. I am unable to make it to the funeral services this friday. I worry about my Dad and he said he was looking forward to my visit. She was 88 and had a pretty full life. I wish I could have visited with her one last time. I am so grateful for my faith. It keeps me strong and helps me to accept what life has to give. Work has been pretty stressful for me. I not only commute quite a distance things are getting a little dramatic. So I really have been putting my feelers out there for jobs on the "East" side of town. Well, just tonight I got a call for an interview with a clinic right down the road from my house. A prayer has been answered. I hope I get it. I will save so much in gas and maintenance on my Yukon. Plus, the strain of driving three freeways to and from. I really love working in Cardiology and I would miss it. This job is a float between Family practice, Interal medicine and Pediatrics. I always said I would never work Peds. Ugggg. But we make sacrifices and this would be a great learning opportunity for me. I feel so blessed to have my family and my home. I appreciate the wonderful support from all my family and friends. Oh, I was also asked to be the camp director for my ward. Along with another lady we are preparing to go to girls camp. Neither one of us has ever gone. Not even as teens. Yet another learning experience. I also get to be a "camp mom" with Miranda's age group. Yeah, a bunch of giggly 15-16yr olds. It should be fun. The girls are excited that I am able to come. I think this pretty much covers everything that has been going on lately. Sorry no pic's this time. Have a great week everyone.

~Makenzie Ann~

Makenzie Ann

February 16, 2008
7lbs 2oz

19 inches

I became a "Great Aunt" on saturday when my niece Jordyn gave birth. Everyone is doing good. It's been a long time since there was little babies around. I finally got out of the habit of looking in the baby girl section of every clothing store I went into. Oh well, I'm back at it. There are so many adorable outfits out there.

~GRAMBO~

I wrote this poem for my Grandma on her 90th birthday. She is such an inspiration to me. I have been so blessed to have her in my life. There are so many memories I have with her. I am so grateful that my children have been able to have a close relationship with her. Especially Katie. They bonded instantly and to this day share a wonderful friendship. She is turning 92 this year in September. I nicknamed her "Grambo" when I was a teenager because she is strong and a fighter. I wanted to have a special name that was all her own. She has overcome so many obstacles in her life. At the time Rambo had come out and my cousin Ted and I were joking around about having a picture of Grandma with a machine gun in hand and bullets across her chest. You have to know our humor. Well, it stuck and all these years later she is affectionately called Grambo. She even signs her cards to all of us that way. This poem says it all for me. I love you Grambo!

My Grandma

Born and raised

In a home filled with love

Adversity after adversity

She would somehow rise above

Through it all

She is always giving

No matter how hard

She keeps on living

Transcending the years

A sea of emotions felt

With faith so strong

Enduring the hand she has been dealt

Generations of lives

That have tenderly been molded

A compassion so deep

As it is lovingly unfolded

A treasure so valued

Beyond compare

A woman so special

We are truly blessed to share

For my beloved Grambo on your 90th birthday ~ Love always, Alli September 7, 2006