various little things

Today we'll share some various little happenings from the Nelson household.
First off, you'll remember that the head gasket in my Trooper blew. The mechanic estimated around $1,000 to fix it. I can't justify putting that kind of money into a 4 cylinder motor and will be too small for us in the near future. So we decided to sell it. W/in 6hours of posting it online, I had a buyer who bought it without dickering on price. I got a really good price for it too.

I took the earnings from it and went to the car auctions yesterday and got a 2000 GMC Sonoma for a company rig. I got a great deal on it. After I get it cleaned up and have my graphics installed I'll post some pics.
I'm sure going to miss my Troop. It was my most favorite car that I have ever owned. It was a sad sight seeing it being trailered off.
My next rig will, hopefully, be a mid-80's Toyota Landcruiser. Something like this. (After I'm done)

Minus someone else's wife of course! Our family has begun planning our Great Alaskan Adventure. We hope to take 35 days and drive to Alaska, explore around, and take a ferry back with multiple stops to see/do fun stuff. We will take with us a rig like the one pictured above, 2 sea kayaks, 4 mtn. bikes, tents, canned food, stove, etc. Several of the roads traveled will be 4-wheel drive routes. Hence the rig. It is going to be epic! We plan on doing this in a couple of years, 2020 to be precise! We'll need that much lead time to save up and get everything prepared.
Work is slowly picking up. I have several health care facilities wanting to talk to me about designing a Healing Garden for them. My first one could be for a hospital here locally. Eventually I hope to cover the entire PNW including Alaska.
All's well here. Lovin' life. I'll leave you with a bit of valley beauty.

More wet.

So we just got flooded again.
It was about a foot higher than last time.
It's sounds terrible, but it isn't that bad.
We had a grand time yesterday getting the house and yard ready, and playing in the puddles.
At around midnight our home was sitting in water. Our food room got about 4 inches.
The nice thing about our home is that we still have heat and light when it floods.





With all the hassle of moving our stuff out, and then back in. And the inconvenience of not being able to go anywhere for several days, I can't see myself wanting to live anyplace else. I think Lyn would say the same. It is wonderful here. Every place has it's drawbacks, but this place has more than it's fair share of benefits.
I think that we could/ might be here for life.

Happy new year

Now that we are significantly into the new year we felt it was time to put up a post.
We'll look Henry's B-day then at some Christmas pics, next we shall delve into Henry delving into a corner, and then who knows what we'll do from there.
So here goes.
Here is Henry's B-day. we had a small little dinner. We celebrate Henry on his half B-day, aka Henry Day. He wanted Salmon, artichokes w/ Herbes de Provence, and wild rice. He's quite the little gourmet. [Now Tidwells: doesn't this look uncannily like Paul? I think so.]
Henry is 7 and is getting very excited to be baptised next year. So now we are on to Christmas, my most favorite time of year. I love spending time with family in a nice warm house. I love eggnog. I love our annual family Christmas open house. I think that it is probably one of the top 3 events for the year. White Friday is number one for sure. I love having all my friends and those that I am excited to become better friends with come by and share in warmth and treats. Christmas day was a lot of fun too. Santa treated us nice, but our family was even nicer. Our Christmas would not have been possible w/o help from those we love, and who love us. That is what we have explained to the kids as to why people give gifts; because they love us.

Here is Henry with one of the gifts that he loves. Legos are always a hit with him. He can play with them for days on end. And he really makes neat stuff.
Here is the kids with their Grinch and his dog Max watching The Grinch after all has been opened. Silly kids. Fern adores the Grinch, which would be just like her.
Henry really is excited about his bike, we have picked out the colors and some neat things that are going to make for a cool bike. Here is the before

As you can see it's kinda beat, but watch and see how it turns out.
About a week after Christmas Henry Fern and I were horsing around. They had been turning the lights off on me as I was changing clothes after church. (our light switch is outside the door! ?) Then the came in and hoped under the blankets, I then ducked out and turned the lights of on them. 30 seconds later we hear a thump and then Henry comes out screaming, with blood all over. We said a prayer for him and then took him to the new ER in Redmond. He was quite the trooper thru it. The doc wanted to do stitches, but Henry told me earlier that he did not, so I asked the doc and he said that they could just as easily use glue. So it was, Henry got Glued up, and is all better now, but he will have a gnarly scar for some years to come.









I'll put some spaces in so you can put it up, off the screen. It was hard to look at for us too.







Any how. I have been playing private investigator for a local attorney. That has been fun.
I have been busy trying to find a winter job. I hope to find something that I can keep throughout the year. Perhaps working nights. I have also had an early start on landscaping this year. I can't say if it is due to the economy, or my hard work or my amazing network. But I am experiencing projects and interest fully 4-6 weeks earlier than in the past.
I have been so bus that I felt like Henry needed some Boy Time. So we went to the REI climbing wall and had his first experience with climbing. He went straight up that wall. Like a pro. Then he did a nice job coming back down, and I taught him a bit about rappelling.


Pretty impressive eh? It was about 35 feet up. I made it up the 45 feet column, but nearly died doing so! I need to get in better shape.
Any how we are having a nice time here in our wonderful home and are enjoying running our own business'. In case you missed it Lyn started her own custom sewing and alterations biz. It's called Resergence. You can see a link to her website on the left, just below the link to grounded. (which by the way you should check out and see the cool things I have been designing for my clients)
We are all in good health and hope that you are too.
Happy new year.

I'm dreaming of a wet Christmas...

So we survived our first flood. Although our landlords just called it "high water". According to the weather service it was considered "major flooding". Either way we got thru it. It was a good learning experience. We learned to get out earlier than we would have thought. We missed our opportunity to leave. Good thing it wasn't a stage4 flood, we would have had to spend the last couple of days up stairs! We got to see what was happening at which stagees of the river, and we have had good family time.





From this last pic, I'll tell you that the river is normally about10' lower. On the right-hand side is where our fire pit normally would be seen.
Anyhow Christmas is under way and it is fun to watch the kids be so excited about it. They spend hours playing 'elfs'. They run around in their little elf hats and pretend that we can't see them. Here is our Christmas tree right after we got done decorating it.
Merry Christmas everyone!

White Friday -Christmas tradition

Christmas season is upon us and we are so excited! This is my favorite time of year. Before I get started I would like to thank all those who have sponsored Henry's bike project, it is much appreciated. It's not too late to join in, as we still could use a sponsor for the paint. (See Post Below)
One of my most favorite traditions is Christmas tree hunting. I think that I would like to rename it White Friday though, as a contrast to the oh-so-popular Black Friday (It's called Black Friday because it is a stain on the Christmas season)
Anyway, the day after Thanksgiving, we all load up and head out into the mountains above Leavenworth,WA to find The Perfect Tree. It is an all-day event, with mom bringing a picnic complete with Champagne glasses for our ginger ale. Usual it is so much fun, but this year was spectacular. The weather was amazing, the surroundings were beautiful, and I had such a great time. I found some time by myself as I was hunting and I laid back in the snow, and let eh sun warm my face. I felt so at peace. I almost felt as if I was a child curled up with my mother. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes (one that incidentally my company was founded on) "Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountain is going home; that wildness is necessity".
Anyhow, I digress. So it was a fun day. We had a great time, and found the perfect tree. Check out the photos and I'll write more at the bottom.

It was that pretty!




cousins




Wow! Huh?!


(Isn't she a cutie?)

So that is what it all looked like.
Tree permits are only $5 from the USFS, for any tree under 12foot. Although you do have to add in $ for gas, It is a wonderful and inexpensive family tradition that beats fighting off mean crowds in a Mega-mart just to get a good deal on some cheap junk that you probably don't need anyhow. Take your children to the mountains, let them feel the peace and beauty that is there.

Anyhow, Merry Christmas to all.

Christmas wishes

Caleb has a really cool idea for Henry's Christmas present and it involves all of you.
Several months ago Caleb found a nice used bike for cheap. (Henry has grown out of his bike and will need a new one by next spring.) The problem with the new bike is that the tires have been skidded down to threads and are nonfunctional, as are probably the tubes. The handbrake is shot and the grips are worn out. You might be asking why Caleb got such a bike and the answer is that it was cheap, has a good frame, and most importantly it will be a fun project for Caleb and Henry to work on together during the long dark winter. Caleb imagines giving it a custom paint job, like the last one.
"So how can I help?" you may ask. Well, we are looking for people to "sponsor" different parts of the bike. The plan is that Christmas morning Henry will open presents from various family and friends and discover the above-mentioned items and then Caleb can bring in the bike and explain it all. So we are asking for sponsors for the following things:
front tire ($15)----thanks--
back tire ($15)----thanks--
front tube ($6)----thank U--
back tube ($6)----thanks!--
grips ($16)-------thanks--
handbrake ($20)--thanks!--
paint ($10)--------open--
You don't need to buy the item--you could just send us a check stating which item you would like to sponsor and we will buy the correct/matching pieces. Also, if nothing is in your price range, we could do partial sponsoring of items. This could be a really cool way for everybody to give a gift that you know will get used and loved. Nobody rides a bike like Henry. This is Henry last summer when he was five! (on the custom bike dad made him) Feel free to respond via phone, comment, email or facebook--whichever you prefer. Thank you all very much.