A Note and Random Photos

A brief update on our lives (since I am still trying to play catch up with photos from Minnesota).

We are still in West Linn, Oregon staying with my sister Koo. She has gone from living as a young single adult to having a houseful of active, loud kids and an older sister. The kids are adjusting to living in a town home where the old lady in the house below us is not a fan of loud thumps - or really noise of any kind. I do a lot of shhhhhh-ing. There is a great park within walking distance, a pond with lots of good looking bugs and tennis courts (the kids are teaching themselves how to play).

After a month of ward-hopping, research and talking to every Mother I could find willing to talk schools, I have decided on an area where we hope to live once I have a job. It is called Bethany and is West of Portland. We spent last Sunday attending church up there and driving through the neighborhoods, stopping to look at the schools the kids would attend.

I spend most of my days looking for a good job and I am starting to panic that I will not have a job before school starts - that would not be good. Looking for employment is challenging in this environment and everything is done on-line. I am finding myself at a disadvantage having stayed home to raise children for the past decade. It is discouraging to spend hours and hours every day sending out resumes into the black hole of the Internet only to get no feedback or calls. Last week I applied with four temp agencies to see if I can get into one of the larger companies here in Portland through contract work. Keep your fingers crossed for us and if you have any contacts in the Portland area who work for Intel, Nike, Kaiser, Legacy, Providence, Columbia etc. please introduce me!

Portland is a beautiful place and we try and get out an explore as much as we can. I have been posting a lot of photos on facebook lately because they are so easy to send from my camera. My nice camera has not seen the light of day for far too long.

The kids are adjusting well and seem happy for the most part. They miss their friends in Minnesota but life is OK because we are together! It is so nice to see them developing relationships with their relatives now that they can see some of their cousins every week as well as Aunts and Uncles. I know everything will work out and we will settle into life on the West Coast. We love you and miss all of our dear friends who have been melting in Minnesota this summer!