Author: Jennilyn

Last weekend, David and I went camping at Battle Ground Lake State Park. It seems funny to go there since my parents’ house is only a couple miles from there, but hey, it’s still out in boonies as anyone who’s driven to my house would say. The highlights of the trip were seeing my aunt with her sisters and a few uncles, a bunch of cousins, their spouses and kids, my cousins’ cousins, my parents and grandparents and my youngest brother, Rex. Well, lets just say there were lots of people, and some dogs, too.

My brother, Travis, is now in Groningen, Holland, rooming with his friend from the States. They both hope to sign on with FC Groningen, a division 1 soccer team there. Best wishes to them both!

My heart and prayers go out to my brother, Travis, right now as he is in Europe, trying out for a professional football (soccer) team. He arrived in London the morning of the bombings. Mom and Dad called a number they saw on t.v. so that if he arrived at a hospital, they would call us. We waited anxiously for quite a while, but then received an email from him saying he was alright. He and a friend had waited in line for bus tickets when they found they had been waiting for a long time in the wrong line. They got in the correct line but, by then, a bus had been bombed and transportation was shut down all over the city. Thank God, he’s ok!

Currently he’s in Belgium, but may be headed to Holland if things don’t work out with getting to play on a team that can give contracts. Go Travis! We’re dang proud of you!

So for Stupid Movie Night™, we ate tater tots (What else? Gosh!) and watched “Napoleon Dynamite” with my brothers Cory and Rex, Clark and Mary, and Jess and Nate at their house. Then we watched stupid movie #2, “Encino Man.” I had to show David some of the interesting vocabulary such as “wheezin’ the ju-uice” and also why Clark and I say “Awwww Dave!” What a great time of just hanging out, playing with the Rommel’s kittens and kids, getting new ring tones for Mary, and catching up on life in general.

David took the day off for my birthday and took me to the beach! It was a beautiful day at Ft. Stevens Park. I’ve camped there as a girl many times, so it was fun to show David the old shipwreck, the lake, and Battery Russell (old war fort). At the sea shore we hiked up the sand dunes a bit to find a warm spot away from the wind and watched a line of pelicans fly low inbetween the waves. We ended up taking a nap right there in the sand, and David got a cool V-shaped sunburn on his neck. We ate rice pasta with chicken at the lake, and watched some guys catch 2-4 inch long fish and throw them back. Then I took him to Battery Russell. The fort is made of cement and it is really dark in some of the rooms. Once, when I was little girl, I peered around a dark corner and saw a creepy man who was unshaven and dirty, who started laughing a deep “heh heh heh” that scared the stuff out of me. To this day, that place gives me the creeps, but for some reason I still go back.

David makes me laugh. Just when I am tempted to feel “ho hum” about some mundane routine, he starts spinning tales and making light of everyday situations. For instance, my diet is limited by many food allergies. And so, while I try not to complain, I do get tempted to view the ever-familiar meal of rice and chicken as dull and repetitious… until David invites me into the world of imagination where I am a villanous chicken eater. Every place that I go… every state, every country of the world that I visit, is only to feed my ravenous hunger for ALL THE CHICKENS OF THE WORLD. I seem very innocent as I listen politely to conversation, until I learn that the stranger, friend, or foe is a chicken farmer. My eyes glint and my salivary glands kick into over-drive. “Chickens?” I think to myself. “Gotta get more chickens!”