Regional Chess Tournament

The Coos County Regional Chess tournament determines who will move on to the state tournament, and we're packing our bags! Elisa was too young for this one, but Julianne and Caleb both did very well.

Julianne ended up with three wins, one loss, and one draw. Her big win of the day was against Mikey, the chess coach's son. She was so nervous when she found out she'd be playing him, but we encouraged her to take her time and think through her moves. She did just that--and won!
Her loss and draw were a little heartbreaking, since they were both to players she knows she can beat. Brad and I both were extremely impressed by her attitude. She took it with a smile on her face, and we're as proud of her maturity as we would have been of that 1st place trophy. She still gets to go to the state tournament as an alternate.

Caleb continues to build his reputation as someone you don't want to mess with on the chess board. Before the tournament started, another mom was telling me that all the boys were hoping and praying that they wouldn't have to play Caleb. It's really fun to watch him play; he is serious and deliberate, but not cocky. I even saw him offer advice to one of his competitors.
He came through the tournament undefeated, for another 1st place trophy and a ticket to the state tournament!
The kids are counting the days until the state tournament on March 3-4 in Portland. The bad news is that I won't be able to go because I have AYUSA national training meetings in San Francisco. Thank the Lord for text messaging!

New additions

Introducing Julianne's new dwarf hamsters! She held on to some of her Christmas money, just waiting for the pet store to get a good selection of dwarf hamsters so she could fill Hugs' absence in the cage. The gray one is Nellie, in the middle is Penny, and that white cotton ball is really a tiny hamster named Cloud.

Oh, and Julianne isn't the only one who loves having hamsters in the house!

Oregon Sunshine

Around here we call it Oregon sunshine, and we've been having a real scorcher lately. This afternoon the kids and I drove around (on the roads that are above water) to get some pictures. Brad has a couple clients that can only reach their homes by boat. In all fairness, Coquille experiences some flooding most years, but this year is something else.
OK kids, I think we should turn around here... The picture doesn't show it, but there was actually a current in this water.


The gate is now closed, prohibiting you from driving (?) into Sturdivant Park. In the summer, you would drive through this gate and the road would curve to the left, with baseball fields to the right and a playground in the background. The park is currently merged with the Coquille River.

Kids & honesty

Tonight we ate at one of our favorite restaurants in Coos Bay. It's a Mexican place and we used to eat there quite often when we lived in North Bend. Our chips & salsa had been devoured, but our meal had not yet arrived and it had been some time since we'd seen our waiter. We used to get unbelievably fast service at this place, so tonight was really unusual.

I said to Brad, "I don't think they like us anymore. They never refill our chips & salsa anymore and this is the slowest service I've ever seen from them, and they're not even busy. I think maybe they're a little offended because we always share meals."

We returned to our regular conversation, when all of a sudden the waiter appeared and said, "More chips, amigos?"

Elisa broke into a huge smile and said, "I guess they do like us!" Brad and I both started to casually laugh it off when she continued, "Mom was just saying..." and that's all she got out before I clamped my hand over her mouth.

The waiter went off to refill our chip basket, and we nearly fell out of our chairs laughing. Elisa was confused about what she'd done wrong, but she did enjoy all the laughter. We had to have a little talk about how with many things, including honesty, there can be too much of a good thing.

Keeping busy

There's nothing terribly exciting to tell, but I hate to go too long without an update. I've been staying quite busy with all my AYUSA responsibilities since taking over as Regional Director on Jan. 1. It's lots of fun, and there's always something interesting going on.

Our local TV news, KCBY, called me asking if they could do a follow-up story on the exchange students. (They covered their arrival in August.) Yesterday I went to the studio for a 5-minute interview that will air this Friday on their News at Noon show. Later this month I'm holding a mid-year orientation for all the AYUSA students and KCBY will send a reporter to cover it. I'm guessing they'll tape a bit of our orientation, interview several of the kids, and probably do a short interview with me too. This is a great time for this story since we are just starting to look for host families for next school year.

The kids and I are back into the swing of things with school. In addition, Julianne and Caleb are both playing basketball and also involved in chess club. In between Kindergarten lessons, Elisa stays busy drawing pictures and playing with Polly Pockets and beanie babies. She's got her heart set on taking ballet lessons--I keep trying to let it slide, but she's not forgetting.

Marie is doing fine too. She brought home a good report card and I think everything is going well at school. We still love her dearly and she becomes more a part of the family each day.

Brad continues to build his business and still loves the job. I feel blessed that he is good at finding a balance between work and home so we never feel neglected. Our pastor has been on sabbatical and Brad had the opportunity to fill in preaching the past two weeks. He did a wonderful job!

So there you have it in a nutshell--an update on our busy little family. Leave a comment or drop us an email. We haven't heard from anyone in ages.

Pedro heads home

Pedro was the first student I ever placed, and today he came over to say good-bye. Pedro was on a semester exchange which he has now completed, so he heads back to Brazil tomorrow. He's been an outstanding exchange student: friendly, adventuresome, adaptable, and fun. He is well-liked at school and our family thinks the world of him. He will certainly be missed!