Summertime...and the living's easy!

The livin's easy, that is, if you're not studying for the bar exam. If you do have the misfortune of doing that, well, I feel your pain. But summer is off to a roaring start here in Eugene. Drew's baseball season has completed, the Olympic Trials are in full swing, and we're looking ahead to our impending move to Seattle (more on that in another blog post). I know we haven't posted anything new for awhile, but here are a few recent pics from the early days of summer.


Nothing says "summer" like s'mores


My 'lil sis and Missi


I love this picture because the perfect caption would read "Anyone care for a friendly game of badminton." (read in an English accent to get the full effect)


I think Sam has marshmallow permanently affixed to her cheeks.


My dad at his backyard birthday party. Note the camp director in him has all of the s'more fixins in his hands.


Drew is getting his hula on! The judges gave him high marks for the perfect placement of his hands.


Our friend Reese and Sam at Reese's birthday party


Mmm...doesn't get much better than minor league baseball on a summer night with a bag of Cracker Jacks.


Sam at the Emeralds game. I love the way her hair is falling around her face in this picture, but notice the Cracker Jacks on her cheeks and chin. I think I'm beginning to see a pattern here.


Me and Missi at the baseball game. Photo credit to Sam.

Ohh To Be Young Again...

So this summer I'm watching my friend's two boys, which so far has been smooth and easy. They get along with Drew and Sam very well, and they are about the best mannered kids I've met. So the first day they were over, Cruise Director Drew decided to make up a Star Wars battle routine to one of his favorite songs. Here it is for your viewing pleasure. My favorite part is the very end when Sam goes down. Enjoy!

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I want to see this movie

This is a new movie from Portland filmmaker Dan Merchant. I heard an interview with him this morning on OPB radio. If you've seen it, let me know what you think.

Lord, Save Us From Your Followers: Why is the Gospel of Love Dividing America?

A Cherished MOMent...

As I'm writing this, my sweet kids are outside (in the windy, yucky weather) playing... TOGETHER! Drew got home from school, and asked his sister to play outside with him. For some of you lucky folks, that's not a big deal. But in our household, that's huge! I can't think of very many times that he chooses to play with Sam without being prompted by mom or dad. I might actually get a shower today. What a blessing!! As John has had to plunge full force into Bar prep, I am so thankful the kids are getting along. One of the many reasons I know there is a Mighty God that loves us!

Catching up on odds and ends...

The subtitle for this blog entry could be “A Big Week for Drew”

Drew did a great job at the spelling bee. He ended up finishing in second place behind “Beverly,” a girl with savant-like spelling knowledge. Drew ended up being eliminated on the word “which,” which he spelled “wich.” He was a bit bummed out by this because he totally knows how to spell this word, but we are totally proud of him and he did a great job.

It was a big week for Drew. Not only did he have the Spelling Bee on Friday, but he had his first piano recital on Sunday. He played three songs and did really well. Pics and perhaps even some video to follow.

On Tuesday night, Drew’s baseball team had their first game with “kid pitch.” Basically that means that all of the games until this point have been played with a JUGS pitching machine delivering the pitches to the hitters. The last four games of the season have kids pitching. Drew and I have been working a bit on pitching and he has really wanted to pitch, but I honestly wasn’t sure if he had the control he needed. Well, after he pitched pretty well in practice, he got to pitch in the game on Tuesday. He only pitched for one inning, but he got two strikeouts and one groundout. He also had a few walks and one hit batsman, but on the whole he did a great job and he was totally pumped. I have photos and video of his pitching performance that I took on my phone, but I can't seem to synch them over to my computer, so you'll just have take my word for it!

My summer of discontent

One would think, perhaps even presume, that the summer following graduation from law school would be a carefree time filled with picnics at the park and afternoons on the golf course. Au contraire my friends…I just started my Barbri bar exam class on Monday and it is terrible! It’s like the drudgery and monotony of my first year of law school all over again – but even worse! If I ignore your phonecalls, emails, voicemails, and text messages for the next 8 weeks or so, please don’t take it personally – I’m just immersed in studying for the bar exam.

Taming the Suburban Wilderness

Last night we decided to have a suburban campout. We've done parts of this adventure from time to time (i.e., roasting marshmallows for dessert), but we've never really done the full experience. We set up the tent, roasted hot dogs for dinner, had s'mores for dessert, read stories by flashlight in the tent, and even cooked breakfast over the fire! The kids seemed to love every second of it, and I slept surprisingly well for being wedged in between two bedbugs. I was also reminded of how much work it is to live your life outdoors and how dirty everything can become! Overall, thought, it was a really fun experience...


We roasted hot dogs for dinner.

Checking out the tent.

So if Drew's stuff is taking up half the tent and Sam's is taking up the other half, where am I supposed to sleep?

Notice that Sam is wielding a knife in this picture and that she has a slightly demented look on her face. Is this supposed to scare me?

Nice expression Drew! I think that my squinty eyes might have had a bit too much campfire smoke...


Mmmm...have you ever had smoked eggs for breakfast? I hear they're a delicacy in certain parts of the world.

We even cooked up sausage over the fire!

You can tell that the kids are totally ecstatic about the campfire cuisine Dad cooked for them.

Visit to Pre's Rock

Around Eugene, Steve Prefontaine is a legend. "Pre" ran for U of O in the early 70s, and his gutty running style and larger-than-life personality made him a huge fan favorite. At various points during his career, Pre held every American running record from the 2,000 to 10,000 meters, something that has never been duplicated by any American runner. I think part of the reason that Pre became (and remains) so popular in Eugene is because he had something of a renegade spirit to him, a trait that many Eugenians (sp?) possess.

To avoid rambling on, Pre had a disappointing performance at the Munich Olympics in 1972 and came home to Eugene with his sights set on the '76 Montreal Olympics. He rolled his MG Convertible coming home from a friend's house one night and died at the age of 24. "Pre's Rock" is where the accident occurred and is located in the south hills of Eugene just minutes from campus. I've always wanted to go up there but never took the time to do so. Until yesterday. Missi and I went up there with Sam, and we were touched with how the place has become an informal "shrine" to the legacy of Pre and to the sport of running. People have left their shoes up there, race bibs and medals, and even letters to Pre. I'm glad that I won't be moving away from Eugene without having visited Pre's Rock.

Two last bits of info: Today, May 30, is the 38th anniversary of Pre's death. It was purely coincidental that we visited Pre's rock just a day before the anniversary of the accident. Feeling inspired, we checked out "Prefontaine" from our local library and watched it last night. It's a pretty good movie and Jared Leto is surprisingly convincing as Pre. If you don't know the basic story of Pre and Bill Bowerman, I'd highly recommend watching this movie.





Great shot by Missi showing the Nike Zoom Haywards, a shoe that Nike says is modeled after Pre's drawings of what he wanted in a shoe. Pre's name appears on the tongue and there were only three colorways originally released: one in Marshfield High School colors (where Pre went to high school), one in Oregon colors (the ones I have), and a version in USA colors (to commemorate his participation on the Olympic team). There have since been other colorways released.

Can you spell “PROUD”?

Drew came off the bus yesterday just absolutely beaming. He looked right at me and said: “Dad…you’re not going to believe this. I’m in the finals of the spelling bee!” Before we left for Mexico we learned that he was going to compete in the semi-finals, but we’d heard that the word “colossal” had eliminated him from moving on.

Well, I guess he made it far enough in the competition to be one of only two second graders who are in the finals! We’re very proud of him and, yes, we’ll be some of “those parents” on Friday. You know, the kind who are there with the camcorder and digital cameras trying to get 78 photos of their kid as they attempt to spell “courage.” That will be us.

And while we’re on the topic of spelling bees, if you still haven’t seen the movie Spellbound, you absolutely most go out and rent it or check it out from your local library. That’s an order. I mean it. It’s an excellent movie.

Mexico Vacation Recap

On Sunday, May 18, Missi and I headed south to Mexico with the Foglios for a week-long vacation in Playa Del Carmen. It was definitely one of the most memorable vacations I have ever taken. The scenery, the resort, and the people we vacationed with were all AMAZING. It would take me a really long time to describe everything we did during the week, but some of the highlights include:

-Snorkeling in turquoise blue water and seeing some incredible marine life and coral formations.
-Beach soccer on a secluded white sand beach
-Renting a Jeep and exploring the island of Cozumel and a Mayan ruins site
-Hours of water volleyball in South America’s second largest swimming pool
-Fruity concoctions ordered from the swim-up bar
-Delicious meals with unique flavors
-Late night iguana hunting
-Chilling by the pool for hours

Between Jesse's camera and our camera, I think there were like 500 photos taken during the week, so there is no way I could post them all here. The following is just a sampling, but if you want to see a slideshow I created, it’s posted on YouTube here (warning: the quality of the slideshow significantly degraded when I uploaded it to YouTube and the second/third song of the show somehow disappeared).











It was an awesome week!

Just what the world needs: another lawyer!

Well, we made it! I officially graduated from law school on Saturday, May 17, but making it to graduation was definitely a team effort. It was a bit surreal to be standing there with my classmates in our goofy looking robes and hats and realizing that we had reached the end of a long journey.

I was so thankful to have so many of my close family and friends in attendance for the commencement (that means you Adam, Jeff, Foglios, Wallaces, and many others).

Our commencement speaker was Elden Rosenthal, a somewhat-well-known Portland defense attorney. He gave a very spirited speech, but it was so political that it didn’t seem to resonate very well for that event. If you really want to see his speech, it is available online here.

After the commencement, we had an awesome graduation open house over at our house, where we were joined by even more family and friends. Thanks to all who came to help Missi and I celebrate this occasion!


We did it!

I paid $80,000 and spent three years of my life and all I got was this lousy piece of paper!? Jeesh!

Missi and I with Kirk, my office mate for the last year (he was Editor-in-Chief of Oregon Law Review and I was Operations Editor) and a really great guy.

Some of the guys at the open house

My grandpa and I. He has been, and will continue to be, one of the most influential people in my life.

Doesn't Get Much Better Than This

Talk about a great day. I spent all this morning with four of the best guys in the world playing golf on a brilliantly sunny day. That was followed up by a graduation gift in the form of a surprise trip to the Nike Employee Store with Adam, who is visiting from Austin for my graduation. The only way this day could get any better is if we all went out to dinner and followed that up with poker. Oh wait…that’s what we have scheduled for tonight! More pics to follow from this great time with great friends.