Fun Weekend In Beaverton Oregon

We had a great weekend in between the rain showers. The kids went
shopping for their Halloween pumpkin and Ethan enjoyed opening a
birthday card from Grandma and Grandpa. The rain gauge shows we had a
little over 2 inches of rain. Marcie came up with a creative way to
carry groceries into the house.
Jeff and Bertha

Trip To The Dentist In Beaverton Oregon

Today was the day for the kids 6 month dental checkup. This was the
first time I have seen a dentist give the kids sunglasses to wear
while in the dental chair. Here is Marcie getting her teeth cleaned.

Marcie Callahan Against Aloha Oregon Soccer Club

Here is Marcie playing Keeper in yesterdays match against the team
from Aloha, Oregon. Marcie gave up one goal in the first half. Better
yet, in the second half she played Forward for the first time this
season and scored her first two goals of the season. Both of the goals
she scored required fancy foot work to get past the defender and fire
the ball on goal. Marcie's team won 6 - 3. Click on each picture to enlarge the picture.

Marcie Callahan Playing Soccer

Here are pictures of Marcie playing soccer last Saturday at Schiffler Park in Beaverton, Oregon. The Orange Peels won the match by a score of 5 -1. Marcie played keeper the second half of the game and did not give up any goals. In these pictures she is playing fullback and doing her best to get in on all the offensive raids. Click on each picture to see a nice enlargement.

Ethans Cub Scout Uniform Pack 595

Thought you would enjoy pictures of Ethan in his Cub Scout uniform. He
is a member of Pack 595 of the Cascade Pacific Council. His first
Pack 595 meeting is on Monday September 28th 2009. This is Ethans
first year in scouting. We are very proud of Ethan.

Douglas Cheah Was The First To Text Me Last Night

Congratulation to Douglas Cheah from Malaysia for being the first one to send me a text message using the free widget I installed last night. Douglas sent a text at 1:50 am last night. As promised I am posting a picture of Douglas and his sister Tatiana on our journal.

Added SMS (Text) Message Widget To Our Journal

Be the first to send Jeff a text message using our new widget and I will mention your name in our blog.

This evening I added a free SMS (Text) widget to our Callahan Family Journal. The widget allows anyone without a mobile phone to send me a text message free of charge. The widget is on the right side of our blog and only requires you enter your number. Its does not need to be mobile number, it can be your home number or an international number for those members of our family in Malaysia.

We thoroughly tested the widget this afternoon and are observing it takes 5 - 10 seconds for your message to reach my mobile phone. Give it a try...

Jeff and Bertha

Dad Teaching Son How To Skid In Beaverton Oregon

After a nice day at the lake, Jeff decided it was time for Ethan to
learn proper technical moves to lay a long skid on the street. Ethan's
first couple attempts resulted in short little scratch marks, however
by his forth try he was laying down longer ones. This is one of many
tricks Jeff will be teaching this summer and next.

Jeff and Bertha

Trip To Commonwealth Lake Park In Beaverton Oregon

On Saturday we took Ethan and Marcie to Commonwealth Lake which is a
couple miles from our home. The lake is known for it population of
friendly ducks that will come up and eat out of your hand. Here are a
few pictures of the kids and Bertha feeding duck approved food to the
ducks.

Jeff and Bertha

Cherry Season In Beaverton, Oregon

Today is Fathers Day and the kids are helping pick cherries from our
backyard tree to make cherry cobbler. We are able to grab the low
hanging cherries with the garden rake. The higher cherries are out of
our reach and will be treats for the birds and squirrels.

Here are pictures of Marcie and Ethan after spending 30 minutes raking
the cherries out of the tree. Ethan wins the award for the biggest
cherry.

Jeff and Bertha

St. Cecilia Church Expansion Beaverton, Oregon

The church across the street from our home is beginning construction
on expanding the school and the church. The heavy duty equipment
arrived last week and is beginning to move dirt around. We plan on
taking pictures as the project continues onto the summer.

Here are pictures of Marcie and Ethan posing in front of our home and
across the street in front of the construction equipment.

Jeff and Bertha

President Obama Writes Fourth Grader a Memorable Absence Note

One June 11, 2009, John Corpus let his 10-year-old daughter, Kennedy, skip her last day of fourth grade at Aldo Leopold Community School to attend a packed town hall meeting where she could see the president of the United States up close.
But things turned out to be more exciting than either one of them imagined.

First, President Obama called on Corpus to ask a question about his plans for health care reform. As he posed his query, he let drop that his daughter was skipping school to see the president.

Does she need a note? Obama asked.

Playing along, Corpus said he would take Obama up on the offer. To his surprise, Obama was serious.

"What's her name," Obama asked, reaching in his suit pocket for a pen. When Corpus answered "John," Obama repeated: "Her name?"

"Kennedy," Corpus replied.

"That's a cool name," Obama said, as he started to compose the missive.

"To Kennedy's teacher," read the note, written in black ink over the president's distinctive signature. "Please excuse Kennedy's absence.... she's with me."

Super Storm Hits Beaverton For Five Minutes On Saturday

On Saturday we experienced the most bizarre weather event we can remember in the 10 years we have lived in Oregon. At 3:45 pm a cold front moved over our area in Beaverton, Oregon and for about 5 minutes we experienced a 1/4 inch of rain with 50 mile per hour winds.  

Bertha was home with the kids and described the sudden event on par with one of the worst rain and wind storms experienced while living in Malaysia. Jeff was driving down highway 217 in Beaverton and described the sudden pounding rain and hail as making it impossible to see out the windshield of the car for the better part of three minutes. Windshield wipers on high couldn't not sweep the rain and hail away fast enough to see. After the mini monsoon passed, Jeff counted 50 cars on the side of the road during the last 1/2 mile he drove home.

After five minutes the storm had moved on to the northeast and left a trail of snapped trees within a few blocks of our home in Beaverton. See above pictures Jeff took of blown over trees in the neighborhood.

Below is an article which ran in the local paper this morning describing the brief storm.

Here is a radar picture of the storm as it passed over Beaverton. The area in red under the X is where we live.

From Five Minute Storm In Beaverton, Oregon - May 2, 2009

Sudden, severe thunderstorm slams Beaverton

5/2/2009, 7:09 p.m. PDT The Associated Press

(AP) — BEAVERTON, Ore. - A sudden, severe thunderstorm hit Beaverton, cutting power to thousands, killing one person and capsizing two sailboats.

One person died Saturday afternoon when a tree or branch fell on a car on Southwest Barbur Boulevard. He was not immediately identified.

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Washington, Columbia, Clackamas, Multnomah and Clark counties.

Power went out to about 30,000 customers of Portland General Electric, mostly in Beaverton, Lake Oswego and Tigard.

Learning How To Pitch A Horseshoe

On Sunday, April 26th, we took advantage of sunny weather and took the kids over to Elsie Stuhr Center to learn how to pitch horseshoes.  First thing we figured out was the distance between the pins was more than the kids were able to pitch the horseshoe. So we modified the rules and allowed the kids to throw the horseshoe about 10 feet.  

We played for about 30 minutes and everyone came away having enjoyed themselves.  Here are some pictures of Marcie and Ethan pitching the horseshoe.  I came across this instruction video that does an excellent job explaining how to pitch a horseshoe. 

Jeff and Bertha

Nicholas Callahan Graduates From Navy Boot Camp

   One Year Old                   Six Years Old

         Twenty Years Old

On Friday January 30th 2009,  Nicholas Callahan, son of Lori Callahan graduated from Navy Boot Camp at Great Lakes Navel Station in Illinois. Nicholas successfully completed eight weeks of Boot Camp and was immediately sent to the Navy Technical Training Center at Lakeland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas to continue his Navy training as a Master At Arms. 

Great job Nicholas, we are all very proud of you.

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Bertha

Running At Beaverton High School

Today we are taking advantage of the dry weather by walking down to
Beaverton High School to get some exercise. Marcie decided to work on
clearing the high hurdles. The weather is partly sunny and 45 degrees.

Ethan Lost A Tooth

On Thursday night Ethan decided it was time to have Dad pull out his first loose tooth. So at 6 years of age, 3 months and 13 days, Ethan is now sporting a gap where his center incisor tooth once was. The tooth fairy arrived last night and left Ethan a $5.00 bill under his pillow. Knowing Ethan he will want to spend his tooth money this weekend.

Jeff and Bertha

2008 Christmas With Santa

Here is a nice picture of Marcie and Ethan with Santa in December 2008. Santa was at Washington Square Mall in Tigard, Oregon. Marcie asked Santa for a remote control helicopter and Ethan asked for a Sponge Bob cartridge for his Nintendo DS.

Lunch At McDonalds In Buellton California

We are heading home from our vacation in California and decided to
fuel our bodies at McDonalds in Buellton, California. Here is a
picture of Ethan and Marcia playing on the McDonalds Play Place. Ethan
is in the yellow helicopter and Marcia is in the red fire engine. We
only have 905 miles left to go to arrive home.

Jeff and Bertha

Making Christmas Cookies For Santa

We are spending Christmas at Jeff's sisters home in Murrieta,
California. Santa will be coming tonight so the kids are making
cookies with Duncan Hines frosting for Santa. Below is a picture of
Bertha, Marcie and Ethan with the cookies they made.