Lego Exhibit At OMSI

So, its no secret that my kids love legos.  I mean what kids don't?  They are awesome!  Recently, a new exhibit opened at OMSI and we knew we had to take the kids.  It is a spectacular exhibit!  An Australian artist named Nathan Sawaya creates amazing statues consisting entirely of Legos.  His work is amazing!  There were also a few up from local Portland artists.  It was all very cool.  And, of course, there was a place for the kids to design their own Lego artwork.  Good times at OMSI.  So glad we splurged for the membership last year!  We will definitely be renewing!

Castle

Rescue

Peace

Writing "Aloha"

Another angle; and $100

Skulls

Reflection (this one is my favorite!)

Star Wars!  (This one is by a local artist)

Cool designs (I think this one is also a local artist.)

With Aunt Jill in the Chemistry lab

Blurry Basketball Photos

Jeremiah has been involved in a basketball league through the city rec center for the past few months.  he loves basketball, but he has a difficult time participating in team sports.  He did a great job in kickball last fall, so we thought we'd try him out in bball.  He did great.  Overall, we were disappointed with the program, but glad he got the experience.  Last night, they had a final "game", in which Jeremiah made 6 baskets (Of only 13 scored on his team)!  A couple jump shots and several lay-ups.  He has the height, just needs the discipline and better sportsmanship.  We're hoping to find another league for him to be a part of in the future.

I took 12 or 13 photos, but most came out crappy.  These 3 are the best ones.  Way to go J!

After a lay-up (yes, it went in)

A jump shot (I don't think this one went in)

Team work

Alayna's First Concert!

On Saturday night, I took Alayna to see JJ Heller, a Christian singer/songwriter.  We've taken Jeremiah to several concerts over the past couple years (and even a couple when we lived in Santa Cruz, when he was a baby) but they've all been too loud for Alayna, who is very sensitive to loud noises.  JJ Heller is perfect because it's just her and her husband, who plays an acoustic guitar.  Alayna had a great time!  Our friend (also named Sara, and spelled correctly!) joined us for the festivities.  It was a great night of awesome music.

Excited!

Toothless grin

With our friend Sara

Her ticket

Simple stage set up

Mommy and daughter 

Dave, JJ, Audrey Assad, and bassist, Nathan

JJ Heller

 It was unique in that JJ and her supporting artist played a lot of songs together.  

It was awesome!

 Dave and JJ

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Can you even believe that it's March already?  2012 is going by so quickly!  I remember buying the Gomez tickets back in early December and thinking how far away February seemed.  And now, our weekend Nor Cal visit has come and gone just like that (*snap*).  Later this month, it will have been ONE YEAR since Peter left Phoenix and moved to Portland for the next great adventure of our lives.

That year has gone by so fast.  We knew it was a huge step of faith to pick up our lives and start over again in a new city when nothing was really "wrong" with our situation in AZ (other than the fact that we hated living there).  Time and time again, God closed the door on relocating to CA.  And then, when the possibility of Portland came about, it took us a year to build up the courage to take the leap.  And within a year of that leap, we were moving.  We knew we were making the right choice.

Then, in October of 2011, Peter got an email about a job offer for Santa Barbara county (a job he had applied to in September 2010).  We spent about a week going back and forth about whether that was our chance to go back to our beloved home state and ultimately decided that God wanted us to remain here in Portland.  You see, by this time, we had already connected with an amazing church family here, made friends in the neighborhood, and I was halfway through my LAST term of pre-requisites for the nursing program.  And, we LOVE living here.  We love the people, the weather (yes, even the gray days, though it hasn't been even half as bad as we were warned about--so much sun this winter, I was starting to get a little annoyed!), the lifestyle, and our Church (Imago Dei).  And we were fully aware that we could not afford to live in Santa Barbara county on one income.  And there aren't very many options for nursing programs there, and none for a BSN, which is becoming the preferred degree for hospitals when hiring new nurses.  Besides, Peter had a job here (though he was still on temporary full-time status, with no benefits or paid time off) and we weren't really wanting to pick up and move our lives AGAIN, after only 6 months.

Well, in January, Peter reached his "cap" for the number of hours he could have with the county on a temporary status and was "demoted" to on-call.  With on-call, he could only get 30 hours a week and many weeks he didn't get that much.  It's been very rocky with our income since the new year.  I can't say we've had much of a budget to work with and we have had to resort to using the credit card for a few things.  In February, he was finally offered a full time job (WITH benefits) with the county, but by this time, he had heard about too many employees being flip flopped back and forth between full time and temporary and he decided he didn't want to always have that uncertainty looming over his head when budget cuts had to be made.  So, he applied to work with the city as a 911 dispatcher.  And he got the job!  He starts March 15th.  It's such a relief to know that we will have a steady income again!  It is a different work environment than Peter has ever experienced.  He has always worked directly with people within some sort of social service situation.  So, this is going to be completely new for him.  Prayers are appreciated that he can adjust and excel in this new working environment.

Even through all the uncertainty with employment during the past two months, we never thought for a moment that God doesn't want us HERE or that He would not provide us with what we need to push through this temporary lapse in income.  Our savings is basically gone and we've had to resort to the credit card for a few things, but I've done my best to stretch our limited dollars, and I have no doubt that we will be back to debt-free and putting money in savings again within a couple months of full time employment.  God is good and we are so grateful that he brought us to Oregon and has helped us to thrive here, both physically (have I mentioned that I've been flare-up free for over a year and a half now?  Well, I have--longest remission since I was diagnosed 23 years ago) and spiritually.  Even through our moments of unbelief, worry, and fear, He remained faithful.  What an awesome God we serve!!!