Graduation and Photos and Pride!

My son earned his high school diploma last night. It's been quite a process for him, and we are all very proud of him for putting in the time and effort to see this through. Although he earned his GED some time ago, he wanted to prove that he could do more than pass a test. It was fun to celebrate his accomplishment, and heartening to hear stories of other grads who have persevered to pursue their goals. I was inspired by the diversity of ages and life situations of these community college students. Here are a few highlights of the evening:

You can't go wrong, being led by a pipe band!

outstanding in his, er, crowd of grads

the 2013 graduates

my son is the handsome one in center of photo   :-]

a moment of action in a long night of sitting

didn't I tell you he's handsome?

on the big screen!

the moving of the tassels -- we're done!

Yucky Trip, Great Scenery

I recently had to travel to my eldest brother's home to help take care of his estate. I've heard that losing a sibling is more emotionally stressful than losing a parent, and perhaps that's true. In this case, though, my other brother (Jim) and I have long anticipated a random phone call about our elder sib. We knew it would happen, just didn't know when.

It was a difficult week, indeed, but there were bright spots. There was great support among family members and new friends. The weather was good for most of the week, and I got to take a few photos of things that Tom had seen almost every day for the past 30 years. Northern California and Nevada are beautiful, if stark, and you just can't beat that backdrop of bright blue December sky.

I hope you find these pics restful, as I do.

Another Post by Polo

Hello. I am Polo, here to rite again. I know much more things now than when I first rite here. I been practicing. Still trying to understand "smellcheck" but Mom says it will make my words better for your reading. Silly 'puter -- I know it can't smell. Anyway.

I have been working on many many things in family and house. I very, very good at getting treats out of Kong Toy. Mom and Dad laff and laff, for five minutes. Then I win and eat good treats.

When Mom makes food in Kitchen, I pay close attention. I wanna learn how to make food. I like food very much. Mom doesn't let me see what she does up high, but I watch everything I can and remember all. One day soon, I make food. If I make enough, might even let Family have some.

I have a crate in Kitchen. I don't have to use it except when it's raining outside. Mom goes to work a lot. I wait. Crate is okay place now. I even go in without Mom leading me. I can sleep there and then Mom comes home and makes food. Yum! Soon, very soon, I do that too. Mom will be suprised. Anyway.

ManBoys aren't scary as I thought at first. But I still must bark at one who looks like Jesus picture. He's quiet and worrysome. I bark, he pets. I bark, he pets. It's okay, but I bark and then he pets. Other ManBoys are nice, except when I take their shoe toys to chew. Yum!

When I first come here, I did not know Stairs. It was hard and slow to climb bumpy leg-tangling hill from Bedroom every morning. Now, I can do Stairs much better, hardly ever trip. And, of course, Stairs help me play with Kong Toy and ball. I drop toys down, Stairs make them go fast, I chase and catch. Fun stairs.

Mom still makes me go in awful Car. Yuck. But walks are good. Here's a picture she took. We're both smiling -- Mom thinks I'm cute; I see Bird behind Mom and want to chase. Anyway. We're happy.

The Kingdom of Rufus!

King Rufus is lord of all he surveys, as long as it lies within the bounds of our new fence. Finally, finally, we were able to complete the fence around our back yard, and Ruf isn't the only one who's happy enough to roll in the grass!

Two years ago, Rufus had an unfortunate encounter with the neighbor's cat. Since then, he's been nearly banished from chasing his beloved Preciousss-es (aka tennis balls). We couldn't trust him to stay with us, in our yard, if temptation came mincing by on cat paws. It took longer than we hoped, but now there's a good fence to keep Rufie in and other dogs or coyotes out. If a cat hops over, it had better be able to run.

It's a beautiful sunny day, so I've got the kitchen door wide open. For the first time in Rufie's life, he can go outside at will. Amazing! Of course, he's on the floor at my feet right now. But he has gone out a few times, and loves the freedom.

What's a little surprising to me is how this fence gives me a sense of freedom. Now that I know exactly where the line is between our yard and the neighbors, I can boldly go right up to it and stand there. Amazing! Now that there is a tangible boundary, I see that for years I have stayed well away from any appearance of touching their property. It's been a respect thing, but maybe there's a little fear in the mix. I wouldn't want them ever to think that I was presuming to encroach on their lives, so I shrunk back. Our yard is much wider than I had let myself imagine!

Next time you see me, if there are grass stains on my clothes, you'll know I was reveling again in the vast expanse of green that is ours!

A Picture's Worth...

...a thousand words? I'm speechless.

Rufus Will Never Be a Nurse

It's too bad that Blackie is so old and immobile. Her performances as the family nanna are legend. Rufus, on the other paw, hides from the sound of illness. The best medicine he offers is a constant and thorough licking, which is not usually appreciated by the patient. That said, Rufus has done well as a nighttime companion, encouraging sleep and modeling it quite effectively.

I have always been afraid of the words "brain injury". The last seven months have brought one head injury and two concussions into our family experience. The first injury, a framing hammer falling on my son's head, did not result in a concussion but did require stitches in a foreign clinic. The second one, a concussion, was scary but that son healed quickly without complications. This third injury, to the third son, was much worse. Full emergency response, hours in a hospital emergency room, several days in the hospital, and now home. Thankfully, we have not seen significant personality changes or memory loss beyond what seems to be normal for a teenaged boy.

Okay, so now that we've covered each of the boys with a bonk on the head, we're ready to be done with this chapter. I realized during an outing yesterday that my sudden and absolute need to return to my son's side was either (a) mother's intuition or (b) an anxiety attack. It doesn't matter which it was, the effect was that I was compelled to cease all conversation, get in my car, and drive straight home. I didn't even bother to call first to check, I just had to be there.

Yes, I have been praying for my sons, before each event as well as after. God is ever present. Things happen. But God is good and He has ultimate control. He will not necessarily suspend the natural laws of the universe just so His children will not have to experience pain, but He is near. How can one make a logical argument for the sovereignty of God in the midst of emotional upheaval? For me, right now, that doesn't matter. I can't explain it, but I trust Him to carry us through the accidents of dropped hammers, slick floors, and uncontrollable skateboards. And more.

Even if Rufus can't wear a nurse's cap, God is there.

Don't Steal My Photos!

I just read a newspaper article about companies using random photographs from the Web in ad campaigns, without permission and without remuneration. Let it be said, if anyone steals this photo of my son (on the furthest starting block), they'll have to pay us BIG MONEY.

This photo of my very own son at the King County Aquatic Center is authentic, unlike the photo illustration the dogs used in their year-end post of family highlights. That really is Jon, in lane two, getting ready to begin one of today's races. It's possible that one of Pete's good friends is also in this photo, but I couldn't tell you where he might be.

What a beautiful facility this is. Waveless pool, big enough to have two complete swim meets happening at the same time, deep and blue and lots of fancy details. It was a great way to cap off the season.

Our Top Ten (but remember we can't count)

The wise dogs haven't directly witnessed many of the family events this year, but they've heard the stories and feel confident that they can share adequately about what their humans have been doing. For their part, they've enjoyed regular meals, love and pets from their people, and many a good frolic in the back yard.

It was fun watching Jon try out competitive swim, even though he had no prior formal instruction. He loves, loves, loves the water, and had the opportunity to be on a very small team last school year. He's on a larger team this year, and is one dedicated guy. He's taken 12 seconds off his 100-meter time already this season! The coolest meet of last season was the finale at the county aquatic center. Big, beautiful facility -- and Grandma got to come watch, too.


Andy graduated from technical school and is now a certified automotive technician. Yeah! He and his good friend found the parking-lot graduation ceremony to be every bit as meaningful as they had anticipated... but it was "a-okay" to be done!


There were actually a couple of tuxedo events this year. Jon got to wear his first one to a formal dance. Andy donned one as he performed the duties of best man at his friend's wedding. Not only did he stand up for his bud (without fainting), but he also acted as spokesman during the reception. Great job!


Peter has enjoyed playing tennis for three seasons. As a sophomore, he had never picked up a racket but some good friends encouraged him to join them. This fall, he was able to participate in a sub-district tournament. The weather was horribly rainy and windy that day, so the tourney was abruptly moved to an abandoned warehouse. Okay, not a warehouse, but a failed sports facility that had courts to rent. (That's him at the near right.)


Another Pete highlight was a missions trip to Mexico. He was privileged to help build two new houses for local families during a one-week stay near Tijuana. One of the most memorable parts of the trip involved a falling hammer, a visit to a local medical clinic, and five stitches in his scalp. Our verbally adroit youth pastor told me in a follow-up conversation that Pete's bandaged cranium reminded him of the Asian pear in the photo above.


While Pete was out of the country, the rest of us worked on painting our house. This would not have been possible without the fantastic work of generous church friends. Because of their combined expertise, the main painting was completed in less than three hours! It was quite amazing, and the results are much appreciated.


A much-anticipated family reunion took place also while Peter was on his trip. It was wonderful to see almost all of my cousins from both sides of my family, all in one weekend. There were joyful hugs with beloved family members whom I had not seen in several years, and youngest and eldest got to meet some more of their large extended family.


Another wedding this summer -- our nephew's -- was a beautiful outdoor event. It was a wonderful occasion, although marred by Grandma's injury in a fall shortly before the ceremony. It's hard not to think of all the distress that happened as a result, but the wedding itself was very special.


In all the years of doing a high school varsity football score book, there have been many highlights. This year, our team was selected to play the first game of the season at Qwest Field, home of the Seahawks. It was fun for the folks to see the inside of the stadium, but even more fascinating to get to be on the field itself and to go behind the scenes and see some of the non-public areas. They had a great time, the boys won their game, and another fun season ensued. Mom (Katharine) looks forward to doing this every year, and is so thankful that there have been coaches who are happy to allow her on their sidelines for an up-close view of the action.


Another mini family reunion occurred when Mom attended a state convention this fall. Besides seeing many wonderful black Labs and one chocolate Lab in Spokane, two cousins and an aunt who hadn't been able to go to the summertime reunion received her into their home for a wonderful supper and an evening of delightful conversation. Our aunt adjured us to never lose touch, and we promised to honor her wishes. With pleasure, Aunt Rae!


Mark has had many high points in the jail chaplaincy this year, but we'll let him detail those on his blog. For the most part, they let him come and go from the jail, so he always comes home to us and it's all good.

There were many other high points, some of which have been noted in other posts, but these are the ones that sprang to mind today. Next year will bring another graduation, the completion of another swim season, more time spent with family and friends, thousands of ball-throwing and -watching sessions in the back yard, and time spent in fellowship (for the humans, anyway) with God and His people.