Merry Christmas!

Christmas seems to have snuck up on us this year. I guess that's not surprising since we were on the other side of the world for 2 months, and didn't return until just a few weeks ago. We are doing things much simpler this year - fewer decorations, no lights outside, not going overboard with gifts. While those things are nice, it feels good to simplify (and also to know that there won't be near as much stuff to clean up!). It's so easy to get caught up in all the "stuff". Life was very simple when we were in Papua New Guinea. There were so few distractions that you couldn't help but get to know people better than you might in a different setting. That's something we want to try to continue here. It won't be as easy, but it will definitely be worthwhile. Anyway, back to Christmas......

We finally managed to get our tree decorated on Saturday.

On Sunday Abby was in her first Christmas program. The kids recited a poem and sang a song. She did very well, and we received several comments about her performance that morning. Having been placed directly under a microphone, and not being shy, it was no surprise everyone heard her loud and clear! You can see that the video starts shaking because Dustin is laughing.

We will have Christmas dinner with my family, and then my sister and her family will be staying with us for a few days. Abby is very excited to see her cousins again! It's been over a year since we visited them in North Dakota. We plan to take lots of pictures and try to post them here.

As far as pictures from our trip, we have LOTS, so it may be a while before we can get them organized and in a good format to post here.

Merry Christmas!!!

Time flies...

We have gotten settled here in Canby, and really enjoy the town. There is a park down the street, and the library is a little further. There is even a grocery store within walking distance. Dustin enjoys the shorter commute. It only takes about 6 minutes for him to get to work.

Abby is now 20 months old and speaking in full sentences. Sometimes it almost seems as if you can carry on a real conversation with her. I can't believe our baby is now a toddler. The only quiet time around here is when she sleeps. We recently moved her into a toddler bed and she loves it; she has actually started napping again! She really enjoys playing outside in the dirt. Ladybugs and worms fascinate her, and one day I caught her stretching a worm like a rubber band. She asked about eating it, but luckily she didn't try. Abby also enjoys helping in the garden with the planting and weeding. However, she is going through a phase where she loves to sit on everything, so we have quite a few smashed flowers.

Our garden area is much larger this year. We also have some berries, grapes, and fruit trees. At the rate we're going, we may finish the first round of weeding by the end of summer!

We went to the tulip festival in Woodburn a few weeks ago. If you've never gone, I recommend it. Especially if you have kids. There is a huge area for kids to play, with slides and inflatable bouncing things. There is also a cow train you can ride on to see the tulips. It was an incredibly bumpy ride, but lots of fun. Abby had a great time. She went down the big slide several times, climbing up the ladder by herself. By the time we left, she was so exhausted that she dozed on Dustin's shoulders on the way to the car.

We are starting to think about camping. Abby is big enough that we won't be able to sleep in the bus like we did last year, so we'll have to try a tent. It should be an interesting experience. If we get enough practice, we should have it down by the time our church camp-out happens in August!

Future pilot?

Not even 14 months old and already showing an interest!

Up Before Light for Tofu and Bananas

This morning at 5:30 AM our alarm went off. This is quite unusual, even on a weekday. It is even more unusual that I will roll over and let it go until Sarah turns it off. She hit snooze... twice. The advantage to living in a house over an apartment is that I can turn a CD all the way to top volume to help get us rolling, and the neighbors don't complain, even if the sun isn't up yet.

By 6:20 we were out the door. After a few bites of breakfast, a lot of mad scrambling, and cramming three layers of clothing onto Abigail, we pinned racing numbers on Sarah and Abigail and headed downtown to participate in the "Race for the Cure" fundraiser against breast cancer. After a bumpy ride on a schoolbus shuttle, we found ourselves in Waterfront park, next to the river; the first wave of what would be 46,000 runners and probably another 20,000 supporters. Booths were set up along the length of the park which housed corporate sponsors including radio stations, Yoplait yogurt, a jeweler, and an Irish dairy! The sponsors were bent on being sure no one went hungry or without a hat or keychain! As the pink-clad crowds thickened, we battled our way through to stand in lines for handbags, yogurt, bananas, pink underwear (from Macy's), energy bars, hats, bottles of water, cubes of tofu, boxes of soy milk, and cubes of (delicious!) cheese! We were handed stickers, keychains, and coupons for innumerable items. Had we wanted, we could have even had a free massage or manicure!

I should mention the pink. Probably one in every two-hundred people there was male. The place was literally swimming in estrogen! Pink is the official color of support for the fight against breast cancer, and almost everyone was wearing some pink, not leaving out the grandmas with hot-pink dyed hair. If you didn't come wearing pink, you could get pink stickers with which to decorate your face or pink foam bunny-ears from the Energizer bunny.

At 7:30 the first wave of runners, the 5k race, departed. The news helicopter hovering overhead filmed the sea of pink surging through the barricaded streets of downtown Portland. At 8:00 we rushed to the starting area, quickly loaded Abigail into her "backpack," and Sarah and Abigail started on their 1-mile walk. I had the heavier burden of cameras and the amazing pile of pink objects and food we had acquired.

It didn't take long for them to finish, although with the crowds, it was more of a "stroll for the Cure" than a race. Fortunately we had agreed where to meet afterwards, although since I was waiting there, I wasn't able to be at the finish line. After another half-hour waiting in line for a hat, during which another group of (running) runners departed, we elbowed our way through the still-thickening crowd back to our schoolbus. Sarah and Abigail accomplished something neither of them had ever done before, and we still made it to church (a little late).

She's Standing!

The day after her birthday, Abby decided to stand. I was sitting on the couch and all of a sudden, she was standing right in front of me! Ever since then she has been pulling herself up on everything. A few days later she started cruising, going down the couch and around the coffee table. Now, in the mornings when Dustin brings her in the bedroom, she crawls over to the side of the bed, pulls herself to standing, and says "Hi!" Her newest words are hi, froggy, and puppy.

Birthday Season Continued

Abby had her second birthday party last weekend. The Smith family met at Pietro's Pizza where Abby enjoyed her first taste of pizza, opening presents, and birthday cake. Grandma Smith let her play with the cake a little before it was cut, and pretty soon she was digging away. After she had her own piece, I glanced over to see her stuff half of it in her mouth!

Birthday Season

It's hard to believe that one birthday can involve so much stuff. Especially when the birthday girl won't even remember it! We celebrated Abby's birthday with the Radford side of the family last weekend, and will be celebrating with the Smith side this weekend. Then, of course, we will do something on her actual birthday. Her favorite part so far has been the paper and ribbons. She wasn't too sure about her cupcake, licking it tentatively and then only eating a few bites. We'll see if she goes for the cake this weekend.

Abby's First Camping Trip

For weeks, through the hot and into the comfortable weather, I was really looking forward to our camping trip. It was to be the first one since before Abby arrived. We spent all week getting ready. I spent a lot of time on details on our 1977 Volkswagen bus like hanging the funky green curtains as Sarah finished them, installing another seat belt, and lubricating the squeaky windshield wiper mechanism.

Friday night we wore ourselves out packing the bus and cleaning up the house... and we still had a few things to do Saturday morning before we rolled out of our driveway around nine. The drive to the coast went very well. We headed north on I-5 to Longview, Washington, watching the cars whiz by at seventy while we cruised at a leisurely fifty-five. Although the bus would probably go seventy, it certainly isn't designed for it, and since we were on a leisure trip, I wallowed in the idea of being able to drive slowly, enjoy the scenery, and avoid the stress and heart-attack that the caffeine-slurping cell-phone junkie driving 85 raced past us to reach. At Longview we re-crossed the Columbia river and then floored the throttle to maintain that 55mph over the sometimes steep road to Astoria. The bridge from Astoria into Washington is narrow and looks easily tall enough for an aircraft carrier to drive under (especially when you're driving a wobbly VW over the top). After the tall arch it cruises along for half a mile just over the water... probably only a few feet deep. It was at this point that I first noticed that the weather was not what I had hoped. The occasional light showers were becoming less occasional and more regular. We drove straight through to our campground about twenty miles up the peninsula in Long Beach. Fortunately Abby was able to fall asleep when we pulled the curtains closed in the back of the bus, and got in a nap just before we arrived.

After checking in and looking around, we took the proprietor's advice and headed several miles back to Ilwaco to check out the trinkets for sale at the modest Saturday Market and get a bite to eat at Ole' Bob's Seafood. We have a backpack carrier that we put Abby in so she can ride up high and we can get around. As we walked, we overheard nearly everyone we passed comment on it, and got quite a number of compliments! This continued throughout the day, much to our surprise, since we thought they were quite common. After a fresh crab melt and some clam chowder we headed back to Long Beach. We parked some distance from the beach, due to traffic, and walked down the main street. If ever there was a "tourist trap" Long Beach is it! There are amusement arcades, theme restaurants, and knickknack shops packed solidly on both sides of the street; and you can buy a shirt that says "I Love Long Beach, WA" without walking more than ten steps from any spot on the whole street.

We walked down to the beach where the annual "Sandsations" sand-sculpture contest was just ending and grabbed free hot-dogs before inspecting the sculptures. Unfortunately the tide was coming in quickly, and since we hadn't brought our wading-shoes we only got to see the backs of some of them. We wouldn't have gotten a whole lot wetter in the surf, however, as the rain was quite steady by then, and the wind was gusting strongly. We saw several castles, penguins, a mermaid, and the Deathstar, but the highlight was King Kong, who's shoulders and head jutted up six or seven feet above the beach.

It was nice to get away from the soggy crowds and head up the peninsula to the "Jumpin' Good Goat Dairy." On the way Abby grabbed a nap, and we were all ready to go again in time for the daily tour. Abby is intrigued with all animals, and grinned hugely when the little "kid" goats nibbled her fingers. I tried my hand at milking the goats, since Sarah was too shy, and found it quite easy... most of the work consists of installing and removing the vacuum tubes that do the actual milking! After that we visited the billy-goats and sampled the dairy specialty cheeses... quite good really! Several were a bit too "goaty" for us, but some had very little unusual flavor, and we bought one to bring home.

By the time we headed back to the campground it was very windy and pouring rain. The inside of the bus was fogging up, so I used several strands of wire and a multi-tool to temporarily wire the heater fan... something I wasn't expecting to need when we planned this camping trip in the ninety-five degree weather! Unfortunately something else in the system is bad, and I had to settle for wiping off the windshield with a rag. The windshield wipers on the bus then began to squeak. As we neared our campground I saw three bear cubs run across the road and remembered that they had mentioned giving left-over goat milk to a bear that hung around the goat farm! I wondered if Abby smelled anything like left-over goat milk.

It was time for Abby to go to bed soon after we arrived, so we "reconfigured" the bus by folding down the back seat into a bed, and set up Abigail's portable tent-bed (inside). In the midst of the pouring rain and trying to get the cooler and stove and everything else we needed where we could reach it for dinner without waking Abby, I tried to slam the sliding bus door (which never does close quite right), and it fell off it's front rollers! I grabbed it and tried to maneuver them back into place, at which point the back roller fell off it's track, the back lower corner of the door bent against the ground, and I had the whole thing in my hands! The rain continued to pour down, although I couldn't get much wetter than I already was, as I dug into the far corners of the bus for screwdriver and flashlight (never go ANYWHERE in a VW without tools!). I finally determined that the back roller would go on with a bit of finesse, but for the installation of the front rollers nothing would suffice but a swift kick. After that it was "as good as new," but we were a bit more cautious with the door the rest of the trip!

I was glad for a short lull in the rain (if not the wind) during which I cooked dinner. At least I have a lot of experience using that type of camp stove... every once in a while living on a boat and in a (previous) VW bus comes in handy. I dumped the large box of firewood which we had brought all into the fire pit at once, box and all, and lit such a conflagration that the whole campground (or at least our neighbor's tent) would have become a raging inferno had it not been for the soaking weather. We didn't last too long before crawling into the back of the bus and into our already-damp sleeping bags. By this time everything was moist. The humidity inside the bus was only slightly less than that under a running shower-head. I whispered a chapter of "Through the Looking Glass" and turned the flashlight off. It was far from the end of the night, however. The rain drummed down on the roof of the bus wildly like a hailstorm on a kettle-drum, and the wind rocked us in a way which called to mind boats and oceans. I don't know how many times I awoke. Several times I heard the small jingling sound made by a toy we had left with Abigail. She must have been awake a lot too, but not once did she cry or make any other noise but that little jingle. Some time around 2 AM the storm let up and we got a little sleep.

Everyone was ready to go in the morning. Sarah wanted to go straight home, but I knew we needed to have breakfast first, and so cooked up bacon and pancakes with tea while at the same time packing up the bus for the road once again. It was once again raining steadily. After wiping the condensation from the inside of the front windows with paper towels (so we could at least see a little) we headed for home. Halfway there the squeaking from the windshield wipers became so intense that Sarah was afraid it would wake up Abby from her nap. I had considered bringing WD-40 along... but had to settle for a squirt of cooking-spray, which fixed the problem immediately (at which point it quit raining). We got home around two in the afternoon to find sweltering heat and sunny skies.

Although this camping trip had probably some of the worst conditions I have ever encountered, we got home in relatively good spirits. Tired? Yes! Abby went straight to sleep. Glad to be home? Yes! It was so nice to be out of the soggy bus. Successful? YES! Abigail's first camping trip... and we didn't pack up and drive home before breakfast... ;-)

Finally...an update!

Well, it's been a while since we have updated this. Quite a bit has happened in the last few months, so I'll give a brief overview. In February we moved from our apartment into a rental house. It's probably twice the size of our apartment and has lots of open space for Abby to roll around. We also have a large fenced yard and a garden. Dustin has spent lots of time in the garden and recently put in an irrigation system. The plants have loved the hot weather and now it's looking a lot like a jungle! Unfortunately, the aphids took over the broccoli so none of it has been edible, but we've had lots of lettuce and strawberries and a few carrots so far.

We sold the Mercedes (it turned out to be very unreliable) and got a '77 VW bus. It needs some interior and exterior work, but it runs well and Dustin drives it to work. We hope to gradually turn it into a campmobile.

Abby is becoming less like a baby and more like a little girl every day. She'll be 11 months old on Friday! She rolls or scoots wherever she wants to go, and there is rarely a dull (or quiet) moment around here. She eats like crazy! Her favorite food groups are paper and shoes, but she'll eat anything we feed her :) We got a cat, and Abby loves her. The feeling isn't mutual, but the cat is tolerant and loves the attention.

Dustin still like his job. The last few weeks were a bit slow and he had some unexpected time off, but we enjoyed having him around. He is currently working toward getting his flight instructor rating, and recently finished a ground school class through PCC. He also bought a small (tiny!) sailboat (with holes in the bottom!!) and has been fixing it up.

I've been busy trying to keep up with Abby and the housework. The price for a bigger house is extra cleaning! Between Abby and the cat I have to vacuum everyday. I also decided to try canning. So far I've done raspberry sauce and mint jelly. I'm hoping to do a bunch more over the next few weeks.

We are going to camp with Abby for the first time this weekend. It should be an adventure! Especially since we'll be camping in the bus!

I hope to start updating this site every week or so, so make sure to bookmark it! I'm sure I said that last time, but this time I really mean it! :)

-Dustin, Sarah, and Abby

Updated Abby pics

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

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Happy Thanksgiving!

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

Rolling Along...

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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Easier viewing of Abby photos!

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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Abigail Paige Radford

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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