End of summer catch up

So to start off my poor Trooper died a while back, the water pump blew up, literally. The thing that was notable about that is that he was just about to hit a big milestone, or more appropriately a BIG mileage: 250,000! I had my camera ready and every thing, but then BlAm! 249,999.5 and D-E-A-D! Oh well we got it fixed and all is well now.


Also the kids went camping with Gma and Gpa Nelson this summer. That was really ambitious on their part for taking 5 grand kids under the age of six camping for 3 days, but they all loved it. We met up with them on day 4 and went out to see Mt.St. Helens. It was quite awe-striking. It had been 30 years since she blew her top and still there is very little that is able to grow in the area. The power of nature is seriously amazing. Hear are some pics of Helens and the kids.




We have had a very busy summer. We have had great times camping and hiking and playing at our beach. I think that we have been to the beach most this summer. Usually we go down there for 3-4 hours. The kids play in the sand and wade in the river. It's chilly but it's so much better than all the chemicals and stuff that you would get at a lukewarm swimming pool. It is neat that there is so much here on our road taht we don't HAVE to go much of anywhere. We even have a wonderful Blackberry patch to pick from.

Business has been busy for me this summer. I have helped a lot of clients thru the design process and now they are all entering the installation process; I should have nearly $100K of install happening this fall! Not bad for the first year of biz. Next year things should really take off as the search engines pick up my site and as my reputation grows. That's exciting.

This weekend was Fern's 4th B-day. My parents (Nelson) came over and my sister too. we had a fun day and enjoyed seeing Fern and her characteristic exuberance in opening her presents.


We are loving life out here. We feel so blessed that we were guided to this place. Life is so much richer when it is simpler. Sometimes we get things too complicated. It doesn't need to be that way. When I lived in El Salvador, I noticed that despite them being the 2nd poorest nation in this hemisphere, that the people of that country were very content. After many months pondering on it, I realized that the more 'things' you have the more things that you have to worry about. Remove things, and unnecessary programs and time wasters, like TV, and life slows down and you can breathe and sense the peace and happiness that the universe provides. anyhow, a closing pic. Enjoy