Archive for the Fun Photos – General Category

And the Little Dog, Too

Jul 29th, 2010 Posted in Fun Photos - General | no comment »

New from my photo blog: And the Little Dog, Too.

Joe Turns 11

Jun 30th, 2010 Posted in Fun Photos - General, Joyful Moments | no comment »

Joe always enjoys life to the fullest and his birthday is no exception. He gathered 4 of his best friends (plus Sam) for a birthday sleepover and the boys were having non-stop-fun together the entire time.  While I can’t believe that he’s 11 and going into 6th grade, I’m so impressed with the great kid he’s become and look forward to seeing him continue to blossom in middle school.

After Joe’s buddies left, we journeyed downtown to Powell’s and searched for good book deals. Joe found 3 that he liked. Then, we continued on to the Deschutes Brewery for Joe’s favorite wings. Now we’re home and chilling before we head out to Joe’s baseball game. We’re hoping for a win in honor of his birthday 🙂  Chances are good. Joe’s team is #1 in the District and hopefully on its way to a place in the State Tournament!!!

Love you, Joe.

Joe Gets Promoted

Jun 16th, 2010 Posted in Fun Photos - General, Sherwood Schools | no comment »

Joe’s 5th Grade Promotion celebration was a great finish to a fabulous year at Edy Ridge Elementary. A surprise highlight of the morning was his receiving the President’s Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence.  I am so proud of all that Joe has accomplished this year.  He’s shown himself to be a self-motivated, lover of reading and learning. That’s going to take him far in this world. Many thanks to his teacher, Kelsey Moore, for creating such a strong sense of community in her classroom this year. The kids were incredibly  bonded with her and each other. All of them are well-prepared for the next challenge…middle school!

Grandma’s 80th Birthday

Jun 1st, 2010 Posted in Fun Photos - General, Good Eats - Recipe, Joyful Moments | no comment »

My grandma, Mavis Hamel, will turn 80 years-old on June 4th. What a great reason to celebrate!  My mom hosted a family brunch on Saturday and all of the local Hamel clan was able to attend.  I think everyone had a good time. My boys are always excited to see Noah, my cousin Danielle’s 3 year old.  All of their cousins are older and spread out across Oregon, so Noah is a real treat.

I tried out another excellent recipe from the What Can I Bring? cookbook by Anne Bryn. Tomato Pie was delicious and will be a great addition to my cooking arsenal when the tomatoes in my garden overwhelm me.  I’m thinking it could easily be a zucchini pie as well.

And, of course, I took photos. I’m really happy with the photos of Grandma and various members of the family. I even snuck into one for the group shot. Thank goodness for timers. We had a little technical difficulty with my new remote control so we had to use the 10 second timer. Next time we’ll have the remote ready to roll so I don’t have to run back and forth.  However, I do recommend going back to check the photo in the viewer at least once to make sure you can see everyone and that you like where you are in the photo. I’d love to be tucked away in the back next time 🙂

Happy Birthday, Sam

May 2nd, 2010 Posted in Fun Photos - General | no comment »

My baby is 8 today! Sam is enjoying his birthday to the fullest. A sleepover with his bestest two buddies, doughnuts for breakfast, presents and Red Robin for dinner. Fun, fun, fun.

Clean Water Festival

Apr 28th, 2010 Posted in Fun Photos - General, Fun Things to Do, Sherwood Schools | no comment »

Yesterday I had the pleasure of chaperoning Joe’s 5th grade class to PCC-Sylvania for the annual Clean Water Festival. The Clean Water Festival is designed for 4th and 5th grade students to learn about water and how it relates to our world. Water experts from Oregon and Washington work with 4th and 5th graders to explore water science and watershed ecology. It was very fun and educational day. We played a salmon migration game, wetland bingo, watched a “green” magic show, learned about the Missoula Flood that created the Willamette Valley and found out how much water we use just by brushing our teeth. It was pretty cool. During lunch, the kids got to be inside a giant bubble. We also played with the worms in a worm bin, saw the bacteria in a drop of unfiltered water and laughed at a giant jar of the objects found in sewer pipes (the guy at the booth said that all sewer guys keep collections…too funny). Of course, all of that was a hit with the kids.

The festival is every year, but there is a limited amount of space. I highly recommend applying to attend if you have a 4th or 5th grader.

Photography Blog

Mar 30th, 2010 Posted in Fun Photos - General | no comment »

I’m getting in the groove on my photography blog now. I’m trying to focus on photo ideas and tips. Check it out if you get a chance. You can also follow me by being a “fan” of  Angie Windheim Photography on Facebook.

Spring Break at Bella Beach

Mar 26th, 2010 Posted in Fun Photos - General, Fun Things to Do, Good Eats - Restaurant | no comment »

Some thought we were crazy for booking a house at the Oregon Coast for Spring Break. But, we were game for anything. Bad weather meant huddling inside with books and movies and good weather meant we were extremely lucky and we’d spend our days on the sand. Well, we got sooooo lucky. The sun shined every day and we even had to lose our sweatshirts ’cause we got too warm. Awesome.

We had an excellent time. We rented a house in the Bella Beach neighborhood just north of Depoe Bay and south of Lincoln City. The neighborhood was full of the cutest beach houses ever. We’ll definitely go back and maybe rent a larger place to share with another family and stay longer. The beach was very nice and semi-private. No cigarette butts anywhere. And, that part of the coast has the BIG waves. The kids were very impressed. In fact, I’m afraid it turned us into beach snobs. We visited the main Lincoln City beach on our way home and left almost immediately. The beach was dirty, too windy, too crowded and then the Tsunami warning system kicked in (false alarm, but boy was it annoying).

We took some time to explore Depoe Bay’s little shops, watched the whale watching boats (but no whales) and bought some candy (Fuddy Duddy Fudge is yu-um). And, we explored the tide pools at Boiler Bay. It’s a steep trail down and some seriously technical climbing up and down the rocks. The boys loved it.  Ben, of course, had to try one more thing before we left and sliced up his knee. Why is it always that “just one more thing” that gets us into trouble???

Regardless, we enjoyed our time there and it was a glorious 3 days on the Oregon Coast.

Oh, and where to eat you ask? We mostly had our meals in, but the McMenamins Lighthouse Brewpub in Lincoln City had great chowder and a crab/shrimp melt. The Kyllos in Lincoln City was OK. Nice view. The fish and chips were tasty but the chowder was a little disappointing. Next time we’ll try the Blackfish Cafe that claims to have the “best chowder on the Oregon Coast.”

Gasp – I Have a Teenager

Mar 14th, 2010 Posted in Fun Photos - General, Joyful Moments | no comment »

Click here to view these pictures larger

Ben turned 13 on March 13th. Wow!

He scored a goal in his soccer game, ate Tracktown Pizza with his Grandma and Grandpa in Eugene, had 3 of his very best friends over for the night and got some very fun presents. We “finally” gave Ben a cell phone for his birthday. He is literally one of the last kids in Sherwood’s 7th grade class to get one 🙂  But, I’m glad we held out. He is more responsible now and we got to hang on to our “kid” for much longer.

Luckily for me, Ben has not turned into “one of those teenagers” overnight. He’s a great kid and I don’t expect that to change dramatically as the teen years engulf our family.

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Maggie the Lioness 1996-2010

Mar 11th, 2010 Posted in Fun Photos - General, Joyful Moments | no comment »

Our lovely “lioness” Merry Margaret (Maggie) is now resting in peace after a long, well-lived 14 years. Our hearts are very sad this week, but the weight is lifted slightly knowing that she lived with spirt and greatness even in her last days.

Maggie, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, was more than a handful from the get go. She chewed siding, ripped up flowers, dismantled a Japanese Maple and eventually learned to leap a 6 ft fence (still don’t know how she did that). Maggie also stole tomatoes off the vine, dug holes so deep you couldn’t see her shoulders and would swim in circles until she yelped from exhaustion if we let her near water. She was crazy and so full of life that we loved, loved, LOVED her. I’m not sure if I ever truly asserted myself as the “alpha female” in our relationship, but it was worth sharing the title for her.

Maggie was a lover of tennis balls, snow balls, rawhide chew sticks, compost piles (no joke) and the beach. She rarely got cross with another animal (even goats, cats and the annoying little dogs we tortured her with).

We loved you, Maggie, and will remember you always.