Year of Transition - (1 of 3)

This has been a year of transition for us. This time last year we were dreaming about how cool it would be to live in the Portland area, and here we are! As the year winds down, I was reminiscing with some pictures. These are some of my favorites from 2008. For the most part, these are all taken with my camera phone (I remember thinking, What a waste! Who needs a phone in his camera?) I'll share these in 3 installments, 9 pix at a time in roughly chronological order.

The above picture is from our Whitehall cabin porch last March. We saw more snow during March and April at Whitehall than we had the previous 9 years (that might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but not much).

Pennsylvania dogwoods (also from the porch of our cabin).

Tess is a pretty girl (and she knows it), and I think she might have a little crush on me. Will (13) can't remember life BT (before Tess). We've had her since she was a puppy. She's the dog we always dreamed of... even if it did take her about 5 years to become that dog. Maybe there's the kernel of a sermon in there somewhere.

These two shots (above and below) are from Highland Hammock State Park in central Florida. I traveled to Florida to spend some time with my mom in May. She was in pretty rough shape from Thanksgiving of 2007 through the spring, but she's doing better now. She turned 87 last month!

These two shots (above and below again) are Cook Forest (near Clarion, PA), one of my favorite places in the world. I've climbed the firetower since I was a little kid, and the rocks below are another favorite play place. (I don't remember playing on them when I was a kid, but I sure enjoy it now!)

This is our adopted dog Sparky. We brought her into our family when her long-time owner passed away. She's supposed to be the same age as Tess (11 now), but she acts a lot older. She can't hear very well, and sometimes she acts confused. Was I talking about Sparky? ...or me? After a haircut, we call her Yoda. Can you tell why?

We also call Ben Yoda after a haircut... no, not really. Ben had his first job last summer at Whitehall Camp & Conference Center. His main duties were serving as a lifeguard, but he also did more than his share of weed whacking and dish washing. It was a good experience. Now we're 2600 miles away from there, and we all miss our good friends at Western Pennsylvania Ministries of the Church of God.

More to come...