Much to be Thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Though I have been listening to Christmas carols for the past week or so, I was still able to enjoy the holiday. We had a wonderful day with the grandparents. Spencer and Sarah are still in Canada, Les is hunting, and Wendy and Michelle were somewhere else, but the rest of us chowed down.

It was special to have Lucas with us, finally, and to enjoy time with the grandparents. I am so thankful to have them with us here!

Otherwise mom, Lucas, and I have lazed around-not doing much of anything! Can't beat that? I hope you all had an equally as enjoyable holiday! Be sure to check the web album for more pics!

http://picasaweb.google.com/misswood23

A jaunt through the woods

Last week Mrs. Cairo and I took our kiddos to the forest for a hike. It was the end of our unit on forestry and turned out to be a great day. We took 60 kids and only one fell-much to the surprise of my sister Cheryl and Lucas who were betting on 10 kids down! Ha-take that! There was minimal whining and the weather even cooperated! It was a great day and Tonya and I always have fun when we can get out and about!

Otherwise things have been going along just great. Tonya and I had our big veteran's event on the 6th. The kids did a wonderful job and the turn out was outstanding. Mom and Les came down and they brought grandpa too. In the end we had about 250 veteran's and their families for the dinner. It was a lot of people! Grandpa said he had a very nice time but next year he wants to help! :) Of course!

Lucas has been busy working and moved into a place of his own. We are headed to P-town for Thanksgiving this week, a small crew made up mostly of grandparents, so it should be a nice day.

Hope you all have a great week and wonderful holiday!

Alive...

Greetings to you all. I am sorry to say that it has taken me this long to get on my computer and blog...but lets just put it this way. Today, I pulled my blinds for the first time in three weeks, because it was the first time I was here in the day light in three weeks...I wanted to blog about our great weekend visiting Spencer and Sarah in Bamfield (that was two weeks ago) then I wanted to blog about the Greek fest (that was last weekend) and now here I am...and all I have to blog about is weekends. Bamfield was amazing. We spent the weekend hiking around and cooking. We even got to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving...that was great! We saw three bears, a bunch of eagles and lots of great starfish.

Last weekend, we had the Greek fest which was a blast and went super well. Other then that I have mainly just gone to meetings. Oh, well last night was the school carnival and I did make over 200 snow cones which was very fun! Needless to say it has just been busy. I keep praying it will slow down so I have big hopes. My greetings to you all especially Chrissy who I was supposed to call back a week ago, Sarah Glathar who I was supposed to email three weeks ago, my mother who I wanted to go see two weeks ago, my brother who I havn't talked to in days, Kendra who lives 10 minutes away and I haven't seen in weeks, Melinda who is back from her honeymoon, Jess who's blog I haven't even been able to check, Megan who I haven't called back all week...hmmm should I go on...Oh you too Kels...congrats on graduating...hope to talk to you all soon...or at least in April when I am not president anymore! :) Be sure to check out our Bamfield pics on the web album http://picasaweb.google.com/misswood23

A Great Weekend!

We had a great weekend. As you can see above, one part of the weekend was a trip to the waterpark with Sam. Corvallis's water park has an end of the season dog party before draining their pools. Lucas and I were a little hesitant, not knowing what it would be like, but it was a blast! Sam about freaked out when he saw ALL of the dogs and WATER! Oh my gosh, what else is there, except maybe a pool full of food! :) Anyway, the whole thing was an absolute riot, unfortunately the pics aren't very good because he never stayed in one place long to take a picture. There was way too many friends and too much to do to waste time on a photo-op. This event will now be a permanent on our event calendar, as I am sure it is on Sam's too!

We also went to a wedding. My very good friend Melinda and Jeff were married this weekend and it was great! We had a wonderful time dancing with lots of old friends and catching up on all the news!

Now, we are getting ready to head up to Canada on Friday to see Spencer. With Spencer and Sarah preparing to move around Christmastime we want to get up to Bamfield one more time!

Hope you are having a great week so far! Be sure to look on the web album at the swim party pics! http://picasaweb.google.com/misswood23

Time with the Fam

We had a great Saturday up in Portland. Spencer and Sarah were down to celebrate Chris's wedding (Sarah's brother) so we were actually able to celebrate Spencer's birthday! That was a special treat as I have not seen Spencer around his birthday in years!

With grandpa and grandma we cooked out and hung around for a great Saturday. What is even crazier is that after our trip up to Bamfield next month I will have seen Spencer in August, September and October...that is crazy! :)

Otherwise everything else is status quo. It has been a busy week and I am looking forward to a somewhat unplanned weekend...that will be a treat!

The picture above is one I will cherish forever...I am grateful for every moment I get to spend with my grandparents and feel so blessed to still have them in my life. (See the web album for the rest of the pics)

Have a good one.

Back in the Saddle Again

Well, it is two weeks in and I think I can come up for air for a little bit! The beginning of the school year is always so insane, I can hardly believe all that has to happen each day. I do have a pretty great class...so far. I have enjoyed the first couple of weeks and what we call the "honeymoon period." This is the time when they still walk in a nice quiet line because they are a little bit afraid and not sure what might happen. :) I like this time of year!

However, I am pretty grateful for the weekend. After a week of meetings and late, late nights, I am looking forward to some R and R. I am also very excited because Lucas and I are headed to the parents tomorrow to see Spencer and Sarah for Spence's birthday. They are in town for the weekend and that is pretty exciting!

The pic above is my room this year. Mom took this the day she came and helped me organize all of my cabinets; something I am so grateful for!

Hope your September is going great! Miss Wood

One Last Hooray!

Well, sadly, summer has concluded in the life of us. Lucas has started his new job at Corvallis Clinic (which he loves!) And I return to work Monday. This is a sad day, truly. Before giving into the daily demands of life back at work Kendra and I spent some time in Bamfield with my brother (but no Sarah, we missed you Sarah!). After a very uneventful trip up to Bamfield we spent time boating, hiking around, and spying on neighboring boaters. The weather was outstanding, though the wildlife count was not so much. We left with a measly count of: 1 Heron, a few eagles, propoises, and two elk. Yes, those are all beautiful animals, and each was enjoyable to look at but we were in it for the gold-whale and bear. We saw no sign of whale at all and A LOT of bear poo. Sadly the poo never took us anywhere, though every pile was always fresh...sad day.

After chilling in Bamfield we started our trek out...leaving at 5 am in order to be in Victoria in time for our 10:30 am ferry. Unfortunately, we didn't quite make that ferry. The bottom line is this: lost on endless logging roads with no gas and no map....oops.

Five hours later we popped out on some road and alas we made it to Victoria in time for the 3 pm ferry. Yikes! :)

However, fun was had by all and it of course makes a good story! Now, I am sadly back to work. Yesterday mom came down and helped me organize cabinets so I at least feel better going Monday. Who doesn't feel good when their cabinets are organized...right Jess? :)

Hope ya'll are doing great!

p.s. Bamfield pics are posted on the web album!