Hi Everyone!
We have some new pictures posted on our blog site.
Feel free to take a look!
http://dustinandsarah.blogspot.com
--Dustin, Sarah, and Abby
____________________________________________________________________________________
Have a burning question?
Go to www.Answers.yahoo.com and get answers from real people who know.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We had a very busy weekend full of family. It was difficult gettting back into the swing of things on Monday. Long weekends are so nice! Now we are gearing up for Christmas. Dustin put up the Christmas lights last night and we will get a tree this weekend. Since we were gone over Christmas last year (has it already been a year?!), we are twice as excited for this year. We hope to make Abby's first Christmas special, although I doubt she will remember it.
I can't believe how fast Abby is growing. Last month she weighed in at almost 10 pounds! She's more vocal every day. She is also full of smiles. We have gotten her to giggle a few timesand it's so cute that we can't help but laugh along.
Parenting is a huge adventure, and we have found that every time we think we know something, she changes! It's a constant game of catch-up! I appreciate my own parents more each day. I don't know how they did it with two kids!
I will be working on updating the photos in the album a bit more regularly. So you can watch Abby as she grows and changes.
--Sarah
Dear Friends and Family,
There have certainly been a lot of big changes around
here recently! Abigail, of course, is the biggest of
them.... well, not literally. At seven weeks, she's
now up to about 9 pounds! However, that little
nine-pounder has done more to change our lives than
just about anything else... ever! She's getting cuter
by the day, and is now very alert and perceptive of
her surroundings. Her noises are taking on shape, and
she actually rolled from her tummy to her back
yesterday! She got so angry about being on her tummy,
I think she did it out of sheer frustration! She has
slept "through the night" (about 6 hours) several
times, but is certainly not making it a regular habit
yet! I didn't know I could still get by on this much
sleep... I thought after college days that was all
over, but I guess not!
We sold the little white 4-Runner and bought a 1988
Mercedes for $400 to be our new "backup car." It has
awful paint and a lot of other issues, but did pass
DEQ with flying colors and is now legally registered!
It is a joy to drive! With a lot of work, it could be
an absolutely beautiful vehicle!
The job we moved up here for, at Troutdale Aircraft
Service, is no longer. The boss there has a way he
wants every little thing done, and for me, it seemed
to change daily. After being chewed out several times
for things I still don't comprehend, it was time to
start looking. Although there was a lot about the
company that I liked, I finally turned in my two week
notice. Three days from what was to be my last, the
boss told me he didn't think I was working up to his
standards, and that I should go home and spend time
with my family before starting my new job. As much as
I would like that, I responded that I really couldn't
afford it, and would do my best in the next few days.
"Well, you'd better go home anyway," he said. That
kind of encapsulates the situation. When any employer
begins to care about the "bottom line" more than the
employees who make it possible, I lose respect for
them.
That afternoon I rolled my toolbox out the hangar
door, about three hundred feet east, and into the
hangar door of Advanced Aircraft Service. Whereas
most of my former co-workers expressed wishes that
they could leave as well, my new co-worker said he had
been working there for a year, and looked forward to
coming to work every day. I started working there the
next morning, making a better wage, and in a MUCH
better atmosphere. I already know, after only several
weeks, that this is a job I won't mind staying with.
I am so glad for the change.
Sarah is getting back into the swing of things. Her
Avon business is taking up the few minutes when she
isn't taking care of Abby. If any of you are
interested in ordering for the holiday season online,
please let us know, and we will be sure to make it
possible!
That about wraps up the "Big" news, and all of the
time I have right now. There is so much to be done,
and so much less time to do it than there used to be!
God bless you all!
--Dustin, Sarah, and Abby-P
Dustin and Sarah Radford
1500 Pleasant View Drive, Apt. #125
Gresham, Oregon 97080
Home (503) 665-2732
Mobile (please call only if you can't reach us at home first)
(503) 841-0770
"May you live all the days of your life"
-Johnathan Swift
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Hi all!!
To those of you who were unable or unwilling to access
our pictures on myspace, I appologize. It just
happened to be the easiest place to upload them at the
time, and I didn't realize you couldn't view them if
you weren't a member! We have uploaded pictures of
baby Abby to our blog, which is fully public, at:
http://dustinandsarah.blogspot.com/
Feeling not quite as exhausted... tomorrow Abby will
be two weeks old! Thank you so much to all who sent
cards and gifts, they are much appreciated!
Off to change a diaper!
-Dustin
Dustin and Sarah Radford
1500 Pleasant View Drive, Apt. #125
Gresham, Oregon 97080
Home (503) 665-2732
Mobile (please call only if you can't reach us at home first)
(503) 841-0770
"May you live all the days of your life"
-Johnathan Swift
__________________________________________________
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Announcing the arrival of Abigail Paige Radford!
August 20th, 10:52 AM
7.0 Lbs. 19.5 inches long.
YAY!
See pics at: http://www.myspace.com/dustinandsarah
We're exhausted!
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Dear Friends and Family,
It has been a very crazy month. Upon our return to
the States we drifted back and forth to parents'
homes, doing serious vehicle maintenance, visiting
friends, and all the while searching for a job and a
place to settle in. I am happy to say that we've
found both, and are nearly finished getting the
necessities out of boxes!
After sending resumes up and down the west coast and
from Alaska to as far as Hawaii, I finally found work
not so far from our families in Troutdale, Oregon (for
those of you from further away, we are on the
outskirts of Portland). The company I began working
for this last week is Troutdale Aircraft Service, and
although I can't really say a lot about the really
important things like how we all get along in the
shop, what I do know I like. Although the majority of
work will probably be on mid-size piston-powered
planes such as Cessna 180 series and larger and Beech
Bonanzas, the company is also a service center for
Cirrus (the largest builder of certified private
composite aircraft) and TBM Socata, a mid-sized
turboprop, and doesn't work on smaller planes and
trainers, which will be a nice break. I spent
yesterday working on a turbine-powered airplane, which
was before now a very rare event. The shop is nice,
new, and well-kept, and the company has been growing
rapidly. It is very comforting that during this time
of year, which is regularly a time when maintenance
shops are searching for work, we have more than we can
fit in the door! Another thing which really impressed
me is that every mechanic is issued a laptop computer
for their toolbox which is linked by wireless network
to all of the other computers in the shop. All of our
paperwork, and a large amount of our service
information is available instantly right there on my
toolbox!
Although Sarah and I are considering buying a home
within the next few years, for the immediate future we
will be living in an apartment. We spent two long
days driving around the area looking for a place to
live, and finally ended up in Gresham, which is a
20-minute drive to work. We found a fairly new
2-bed/2-bath apartment on the ground floor, much
larger and nicer than our previous one, and still in
the mid-range price bracket. The complex is very
large. Although we like the fact that there is a
patio, pool, spa, hot-tub, exercise room, and covered
parking area, I was definitely sold by the fact that
garages were available! I can now putter around with
my tools without leaving home! We have a
respectably-sized stip of lawn between us and the next
building which isn't bad, although I understand that
from the third-floor apartments Mounts Hood, Ranier,
and St. Helens are all visible.
Speaking of mountains, we are now only about an hour's
drive from great skiing at Mount Hood, a fact I hope
to take advantage of before the season is over. When
that's no longer an option, I hope to try my hand at
windsurfing! The Columbia Gorge, right in our
backyard, is known to be the best place in the world
to windsurf, and now that we've sold the little
sailboat we had, that's the closest I might get to
sailing! One thing is for sure, there is plenty of
wind! It seems blow about 90% of the time here at our
apartment, and is even more reliable and extremely
stong at the airport, which is quite near the river.
Sarah, on the other hand, is very busy around the
house. She is really making this formerly empty
apartment a home, and constantly planning for the
baby. She is hoping to put my time in the garage to
good use by encouraging me to build bookshelves,
tables, and of course a crib for the coming Radford.
I'm not sure how much I will get done, as my last
major woodworking project took over a year to complete
(!), but I will enjoy trying!
Now that we have two bedrooms and bathrooms, and even
a bit more space through the rest of the place, we
hope to have a bit more company. If you happen to be
passing through the Portland area, please give us a
call or send an e-mail. We are fairly near the
airport, and would love to see you! Although at the
moment the largest part of our furniture is a set of
bookshelves, we will be happy to sit around on the
floor with you and spread out sleeping bags and
camping mats if you want to brave a visit soon! We
are hoping that in the near future we will be better
equipped, and a visit might be a bit more comfortable
and stylish, but we want to extend a welcome any time
you can visit!
With all that in mind, I have included our new contact
information below. We had quite a time getting our
phone connected, and would have had to wait two weeks
for phone service if I hadn't been persistent and
explained Sarah's condition. In the meantime we got a
cell phone, which we plan to keep with us. If you
want to contact us, please try the home number first,
but if we are unavailable, don't hesitate to ring our
mobile. Although we don't have very many minutes of
talk-time (unless you call on a weekend), we can at
least "touch base" and plan to talk more later.
This certainly turned into much more of a tome than I
had planned, but the sun is shining and I have boxes
to pack into the garage and a Home Depot to locate...
We would love to hear from you!
In His Plans,
-Dustin and Sarah (and Baby) Radford
Dustin and Sarah Radford
1500 Pleasant View Drive, Apt. #125
Gresham, Oregon 97080
Home (503) 665-2732
Mobile (please call only if you can't reach us at home first)
(503) 841-0770
"May you live all the days of your life"
-Johnathan Swift
__________________________________________________
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Dear Friends and Family,
Last you heard from us, we were recovering from a very
odd Christmas in south-eastern Spain. Those of you
who don't already know it may be surprised to learn
that we are now back in Oregon, and very busy! We
didn't want to make a general announcement until we
had visited with our parents, and that's why I didn't
mention that the evening of our camping trip beneath
the airplanes in Casteldefels (which I mentioned in my
last letter) we were both rather shocked by a
"positive" indication on a home pregnancy test! Of
course, Sarah didn't sleep at all that night, and as
soon as it was light she shoved me out the tent door
to go get another one, which gave the same indication.
As you can imagine, that was the beginning of a big
shift in our plans. Not only did Sarah soon begin to
feel too "out of it" to enjoy travelling, but we
suddenly had a real need to get back home and "settle
in" somewhere!
We had been staying in a small town called Santiago de
la Ribera, or "La Ribera" for short, which is on the
south end of a strip of coastline dominated by English
vacation-homes and resorts. There we encountered an
English bookstore in our quest for books on the
subject of pregnancy. The proprietor connected us
with an Englishman who manages rental properties in
that area (see www.casacomforts.com if you're
interested), and we stayed in a nicely furnished
apartment on the cliffs above the Mediterranean for
the last two weeks of our stay.
Since Sarah was feeling worse than she had before or
has since, we didn't do a whole lot other than take it
easy. The highlights of our time there included a 360
degree view of New Year's fireworks from the roof of
the apartments, building a sandcastle, and wading in
the Mediterranean. I took a few short trips into the
neighboring city of Torrevieja as well, and was
impressed by the huge street market, the expansive
public nativity scene, and the intricate sandcastles
built by "professionals" on the beach there.
When it was time to leave, we boarded another
inexpensive Ryanair flight, and as the snow-capped
Pyrennes range slipped beneath our plane, the fact
that we were going home finally began to become real
for me. I was sad, because it may be some time before
we are able to travel again, and of course it will
never be the same. At the same time I began to feel
the slightest twinge of excitement which has grown
ever since with the reality of being a father.
We arrived in the London night quite tired, but were
getting very used to going through customs and the
routine of international air travel, and so it went
smoothly. Since we were now somewhat familiar with
London as well we had an uneventful trip to our friend
Heidi's apartment where we "crashed" on the futon.
The next day was our only full one in London this
time. In the morning Sarah and I did some souvenir
shopping for family and friends, and then had a lunch
of "Kebab," one of our new favorites. Sarah was too
tired for anything else that day, but I decided to
take the "tube" down to the Imperial War Museum. My
mechanic's brain was set to whirring by tanks,
rockets, airplanes, and a miniature submarine. I was
amazed by the sheer size of some naval guns mounted in
front of the museum. They must have been fifty feet
long, and with a bore big enough for a child to crawl
into. Finally I made my way through the Holocaust
exhibit, perhaps the most complete and graphic of its
kind. It was very sobering, and I had a thoughtful
ride back through the rush-hour madness of the London
Underground.
That evening we had dinner with Heidi at one of the
ubiquitous chicken restaurants of London. Although
ours was unusual for its spicy Portuguese flavor,
there is an amazing number of fried chicken
restaurants in that area. The amusing part about it
is that most of them have names such as Southern Fried
Chicken, Kentucky Fried Chicken, American Fried
Chicken, and sometimes Halal Fried Chicken...
In the morning we had a long metro ride all the way
across London to Heathrow airport, where we eventually
boarded our British Airways 747, which rolled out from
the gate promptly at the scheduled time. Heathrow is
a huge airport, and we probably taxied for 15 minutes
before rolling slowly to a stop where we sat, and sat,
and sat..... finally the pilot announced over the
intercom that a passenger whose baggage was on board
was not himself on board, and that we couldn't leave
with this situation and would go back to offload the
baggage. We then made the long taxi back to our
departure gate, where we waited for some time before
the pilot announced that instead of unloading the
baggage, they had located the missing passenger, who
would be aboard shortly! We eventually began moving
again, only to find that due to our delay we would
have to use a different, much more distant runway. We
must have lost our place in line as well, because it
was almost two hours after our scheduled departure
time that we actually left the ground. The pilot told
us that they had loaded on some extra fuel and that we
would use it to make up some of the delay, which we
apparently did, since we didn't arrive two hours late.
(I still wonder two things... did they actually fuel
the plane with all the passengers aboard? And...
does this mean that they don't fly as fast as
possible, even on a 10-hour flight? I wonder if
people would be willing to pay for the extra fuel if
they knew it would make the flight shorter?)
When we touched down in Seattle it was raining, and we
have been enjoying the wet Northwest weather ever
since. I have been looking for a job, and we have
been to our first doctor appointment. Sarah got to
see the baby "wave" to her on a sonogram! I was quite
jealous.
Well, that brings to an end our trip to Europe. We
learned a lot, saw a lot, and did a lot which will
stay in our memories forever. If we come to visit you
soon we may bore you with our pictures, which may also
seem to last forever. Perhaps it won't be too long
before we begin to feel the travelling "itch" again,
but for now our thoughts are on how to best prepare
for the new Radford which is scheduled to arrive
sometime around the end of August.
Please keep in contact! Now that we are back "home" I
should have more time for writing, and would really
enjoy more personal e-mails.
May God bless you and yours,
-Dustin, Sarah, and Baby Radford
"An ADVENTURE is trouble you got out of..." -Jim Stenberg, high-school English teacher.
We will have no address other than e-mail during our trip, but our mail is now going to the address below. The phone number will be current until we leave.
Dustin and Sarah Radford
2357 Rodney Ct.
Springfield, OR 97477
(541) 928-8647
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