A Very Long Time…

Well, summer is basically over now and I am way behind on many, many things – this blog just being one of them.  There have been all kinds of things to keep us busy this summer – trips, weddings, camps, exchange students, etc, etc.  And, now school has started again and fall is fast approaching.  This may sound a little far-fetched, but it’s true – I’ve got about 3,000 pictures to go through and I’ve only had a few minutes here and there to work on them.  You’ve heard the saying, “how do you eat an elephant?”  Answer: one bite at a time.  Well, I’m taking it one bite at a time and hopefully will have things in a state to be shared soon.

Tonight I worked a little on Nicole’s wedding photos and I should have them up soon.  This one was a couple of days after the wedding, when Dustin and the kids were helping me get the lights set up for family pictures.

 

I thought this one of Dustin and Avery was adorable.

Oh, and I’ll try to post regularly over the next couple of weeks until I get caught up.  Just one bite at a time…

Ammon

I’ve been wanting to practice some techniques with taking pictures in full sunlight for a while now but there hasn’t been much of the two things necessary for it, time and sunlight.  But it seems that summer has finally come to western Washington and somehow I ended up with a few extra minutes tonight.  So, after dinner Ammon and I rode our bikes to the school and I snapped a few shots.  I’ve still got some different variations I’d like to try out, but I’m happy with the first attempt.

 

A Mother's Day Wish

As you are well aware, last Sunday was Mother's day.  Rosa says it's her favorite day of the year - not only because of being able to honor our mothers, but because all of my usual Sunday morning meetings are canceled and I get to go to church with the family and generally "hang out" with her all day.  I have to admit that I look forward to that particular aspect of it as well.

Anyway, on Saturday when I asked her what she would like for Mother's day, she said she only wanted two things: 1) a clean house, and 2) a new family picture.  So, Saturday was spent cleaning and Sunday when we got home from church I gathered everyone together for the picture.

Now, our kids are getting older it's true.  But, it's still a little like pulling teeth trying to get them to all "stand here", "don't fidget", "push your glasses up", "look happy", "yes, you will cooperate and take a decent family picture or else", etc, etc.

As I was going through them last night this one immediately jumped out at me and became my favorite.  I was taking some test shots to adjust the lighting and caught one of those "candid moments in time" and thought I'd share.

Stay tuned for the more "official" shots.

Spring? It's Just Wrong

I don't know, maybe it's the same everywhere else in the world. All I know is things are a bit off up in the great Northwest.  So far it hasn't been much of a spring.

 

 

 

 

And yes, we did put an umbrella over the pear trees.

"Yuko", by Khalina

Just act calm and be yourself, then you won’t catch any attention. That’s what they always say. I know that it’s easier to say something, than to actually do it. How is everyone else a normal dog, but not me? Being a strange exotic dog isn’t easy at all. Everybody stares at you; some call you an alien, and other’s call animal control as if I’d hurt someone. Most say I don’t have feelings, but they’re wrong. I have just as many feelings as anyone else and I’ll prove it. I’ll show humans that I’m an ordinary dog.

Sadly, I have to hide whenever I’m in an urban town. When people see me, they think I’m deformed or something. At night, I have to find left over berries. I’m sort of a vegetarian, though I will eat cooked meat on occasions, though I don’t hunt like some of the real beastly dogs around town. One thing I enjoy doing is flying. I guess that’s what makes me exotic, my freakishly large ears and wings. I try to ignore everyone’s rude remarks, but it gets really tough when some of the children and teenagers bring out water balloons. I really don’t like kids that much. I’ve never met a single child who didn’t scream or laugh when they’ve seen me...

Yesterday, I saw this poor dog being abused. I couldn’t help it, but I interfered. I snapped at the man and scratched his wrist. This got him mad and he broke my wing. Luckily, for me and the other dog, we managed to escape. I was surprised at how the reaction the dog gave me after I practically saved his life. He didn’t flee like most dogs do when they see me, but he came up to me and helped me lick my wound. Soon, he thanked me, and then left. He probably has a family of his own. I never saw him again.

Of course, I’m on my own again, going from town to town. I’m meeting other dogs, sleeping in a tree, on a roof, or in an attic. I’ve helped other animals and even a few humans from time to time, but I’ve never been thanked ounce, except for the generous Labrador. There’s one rescue I’ll never forget though...

It all started when a large commotion was suddenly starting. I was confused and younger then. From all the noise, there was one sentence I could hear clearly, a child was stuck in the fire. I wasn’t sure exactly where the fire was or if there even was one, though I knew I had to hurry and see for myself. While running, I decided that it would be much quicker to fly then run. So, I flew in the air and quickly spotted the burning building. Diving, I heard some screaming of a woman. She was the mother of the lost child. I looked around. Why wasn’t anyone trying to blow the fire out? Some fire men were sadly nodding their heads, saying it was too late. Sometimes, humans can be so selfish and lazy.

It was hard to decide whether I should help or fly away. I strained my ears to listen for any more information and what I heard was all the information I needed.

“Mommy, help me, please.”

I’m thankful for my large ears, they saved a life.

I fearfully dove in and quickly found the hopeless little girl. She was still breathing, though she looked lifeless. I crawled under her belly and she was safely propped in between my wings. Panting, I flew out. Nobody noticed me fly out. I dove towards the weeping mother and barked. She looked up at me and screamed. This caused everyone’s attention. I flipped over and the girl woke up, landing in her mother’s arms. The girl stared at me in horror, as if I did nothing for her and I was just flying around for no good reason.

I left.

That was a few years ago and the look the girl gave me sends me chills when I think about it. She was so selfish. I’ve done so many things for people and they never do anything in return. I catch a burglar and cops shoot at me. I put out a fire and nobody thanks me. I’m not only a small fan of kids, but I really don’t like humans in general.

Now I’m outside, behind a restaurant. If I’m lucky, the small amount of light can hide my ears and wings. That can earn me a few scraps of fruit, I think.

2 Years later

I am happy. Along time ago, I didn’t know what happy was. Now I do and I like it. I’m a pet to an old Asian man. He calls me Yoku, one of the Japanese gods. The man keeps me warm and feeds me fruit and rice. I don’t mind people as much.

Others say I should act calm and be myself. Maybe they’re kind of right. I love being scratched behind my ears. I may not be a normal dog, but hey. I like being treated like a king. Maybe

I can’t prove everything to humans, but it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m old and happy.

The End

Fourteen years, and it's only the beginning

Today marks our fourteen year anniversary!  When I first met Rosa I fell in love with her immediately.  Now, as time has progressed, I realize that the love I felt then is but a small flicker compared to the way I feel now.  I am so happy I have someone so special to stand by my side, and want nothing more than to have her with me through the eternities. 

Cats and Dogs

By Khalina Shurtz

Cats and Dogs

Some people say that dogs are better than cats.
Some people say that cats are better than dogs.
Some say that dogs are more fashionable wearing hats.
Some say that cats are more graceful not eating frogs.
Sometimes someone will say dogs are cuter with rats.
Sometimes someone will say cats are smarter in fog.
Some people say that dogs are better than cats.
Some people say that cats are better than dogs.

To me, they’re all equal.

Happy New Year!

Well, it’s the beginning of a new year already and I can’t imagine how time could go any faster.  It seems that these days all you have to do is blink and another week has gone by.

Some of you may have already seen this update with our Christmas card this year, and if you didn't please don't be offended - it was a light card year for us and we'll try to do better next year.  Basically, this is always a good time to give a brief summery of what we've been up to.

So here goes...

Summer (the dog) has finally become the dog we all wanted.  She has calmed down a lot and loves to lay down on your lap and just be around everyone.  Her favorite thing to do is sit on her chair by the front window and bark at anything that happens to walk/fun/fly past.

Ammon turned eight this year and is pretty much your typical eight year old boy.  He’s in third grade, is into soccer, video games and cub scouts.  He recently discovered that even he couldn’t escape the bad-eye genes in the family and now has glasses.  We all think he looks much smarter, and quite handsome with them.

Khalina turned eleven this year and is really growing up quick.  Much too quick if you ask her dad.  She’s almost as tall as her mom and her feet are even bigger – and now they are started to share clothes.  How scary is that?!  She’s in fifth grade this year and loves to draw, research various animals (foxes are the mammals of choice recently), and play with her friends.  Khalina has been playing soccer this year as well and has gotten pretty good lately.  She also is in the orf ensemble at school and is really enjoying that.

Chad is going on ten years at Microsoft and is still staying busy as ever.  He works on one of the products in Office as a developer and still can’t believe they pay him for doing this kind of thing.  During the couple of hours a day that don’t involve work or sleep, he stays busy between working with the young men in the ward, going to random family events, or working on his favorite hobby – taking pictures of Rosa.

Rosa has been selling Avon for the last couple of years and over the last year it has really grown.  She loves doing it and spends quite a lot of her day in various Avon related activities.  She enjoys scrapbooking, sewing, crocheting, and is still very much involved with the many Clay Aiken fan clubs.  She is currently serving as 2^nd councilor in the primary presidency and really loves working with the primary aged kids in the ward.

Over the summer we had another Japanese exchange student named Shiori Masaki and had a great time with her for the couple of weeks she was with us.

There have been many, many things that have kept us busy – from soccer games, to reunions, to camping trips, to just spending time with family and friends.  There have been struggles for sure, but we have been blessed and have been able to make through them all.  We have our health and family and the strength that comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We are very thankful for all the wonderful experiences of the past year and especially that we could experience them together as a family.  We look forward to what 2008 will bring.

We wish you all a Happy New Year!

"Smile", by Khalina

“Smile”

It was a beautiful spring morning and a proud vixen mother had laid birth to 3 beautiful red fox kits. She was very proud. The first kits name was Niaku a beautiful female with a high elegant tail, just like her father. Then, there was a handsome male named Hashi. He was very alert and with delicate sharp eyes. The last was the smallest of the 3 and her name was smile. She was gentle, sweet, playful, adventuress, and had the most beautiful tail and ears. Vixen was overjoyed to soon hear that her best friend had also laid birth to 3 males and 2 females.

The next morning vixen brought her kits to go and visit Rosalina, Vixen’s friend. Hashi was overjoyed when he saw more foxes to play with. Niaku held her head hi to show if they played any game she would be the leader. Smile stayed out of the group of fur and examined each fox carefully. She didn’t know there where more foxes like her in the forest. Finally, Smile joined the group in playing a game of chaise his or hers tail.

Moments later, the mothers finished talking and decided to introduce each others children to each other.

“Hello. My name Rosalina and these are my 5 bundles of joy,” Remarked Rosalina. “First, are my two females, Jincho and Manashi.”

“Then there is my three males Riku, Saru, and Peko.”

Vixen replied saying “There adorable! These are mine Niaku, Hashi, and Smile.”

“There perfect, just perfect” Rosalina complimented.

Soon, they left for home. When they reached there den, Smile asked her mother, “Why didn’t you tell us there are more foxes in the forest?”

Her mother replied softly saying, “I wanted to surprise you.”

Weeks past, soon it was a month. The 3 kit’s fur was changing. Now, to a mixture of red, orange, gray, black, and white. Again, they left to go visit Rosalina again.

When they reached the den of Rosalina, the 6 of them were grooming each other. Hashi joined in and licked Manashi’s muzzle. She licked his ear. Niaku and Smile joined in. Vixen smiled sweetly and helped groom Rosalina’s kits.

Hours later, the small bundles of fur slept.

When the moon was barely showing light through the den, Smile realized that she was in Rosalina’s den. She looked from side to side reviewing her mother, brother, and sister, and made her decision that they were spending a night with their good friends. Though, Smile didn’t mind. Picking her self up, she trotted over by Peko and laid her head on his back. He twitched his ear, than was again in his small little slumber. They rested peacefully the whole night.

In the morning, they all awoke. The 2 mothers nursed there own and the other’s kits. Smile stayed by Peko, quickly becoming attached to him. Moments later, they went off to the river leaving Niaku in charge of the rest of the kits why’ll they were gone. They all wrestled with each other and playfully bit each other’s noses and ears.

About half an hour later, the two mothers returned, and again fed there kits with predigested food and a little bit of milk. Finally, the 2 mothers went to rest in the sun. They didn’t notice the giant spotted owl hiding in the tree.

When the 2 adults fell asleep the kits were again in there wrestle game. They also, didn’t spot the owl. As Hashi was scampering, the owl silently flew above him and dove for him. Vixen heard Manashi’s cry of warning and swiftly ran towards the owl. She leaped as high as she could. It was too late. Hashi was never coming back.

The foxes all whimpered small cries of sadness and loss. They also trembled in fear, thinking the owl might come back any moment. Vixen and Rosalina were extra cautious. An owl is an easy prey for an adult fox, but a young fox is easy prey for an owl. Manashi grieved the most. Hashi was her best friend always there for her and made sure she was never lonely. Too afraid to leave for her own den, Vixen spent the night at Rosalina’s den again.

The next morning, the 2 mothers again left, but told the kits to stay in the den. It was very boring inside the dark, cool den. Peko spotted a mouse and in his instincts he had to chase it. Smile joined him and they ran of towards the den entrance closer and closer towards outside. Niaku yelled something about not to go outside. Though, the 2 kits ignored her. Quickly, they were out.

It was a trap. The owl had caught a mouse placed it near the den and waited for a kit to come out. His trap worked. He flew down speedy quick and picked up Peko by his back. Peko let out a small hopeless cry only heard by the emerging kits and bewildered Smile. Realizing what had just taken place; Smile jumped up and sank her fangs into the owl’s leg. He cawed out and shook with anger, but Smile held on tight. The furious owl dropped the bleeding Peko and started pecking at Smile. She slashed at the owl’s throat and he cawed out in pain. Smile fell down about 3 feet, only to land on her mother’s back. Spotting the fallen owl Rosalina dashed towards it, shredding it from piece to piece. Smile and Peko had both started to lick each other’s wounds, to try and make the bleeding stop. Finally, it did with a little help from the others and soon they were all deep in Rosalina’s den.

The next morning, they arose and again started to groom Smile and Peko’s wounds. They were lucky too not loose another kit. After they finished grooming, the 2 mother’s started to question everyone.

“What happened!?! Why were you outside? “Both mothers asked.

“Were sorry! There was a mouse and we couldn’t help but to chase it,” Smile started to cry.

Vixen mumbled something and buried her nose in the dirt. Peko and Smile could tell she was being bothered by something. They wanted to help her. But how? Peko had an idea.

“I don’t remember clearly, but their was a screech when I made it outside and the mouse seemed to be gone, but all I could see was the owl attacking me and hear Smile’s high ringing sharp cries. Then, I all of a sudden I felt this burning pain in my back and Smile’s vicious grrrr’s. Then I think I fainted. Though, after I awoke I saw Smile falling, with the owl pushing her down faster. It was horrible, but then I saw a blurry flash of orange and I feel my ma picking me up and see Smile on Vixen’s back. I was so relieved to be alive.”

Smile ran up and hugged Peko’s back. She was so happy to have such a loyal friend, one that she could count on. Rosalina rejoiced and all of her foxy friend’s threw her in the air and cheered saying, “SMILE! SMILE!”. She was a true friend and hero.

THE END

The Turkey Who Wished It Was a Peacock

A Thanksgiving story by Khalina Shurtz

Once upon a time, there was a turkey, who lived on a farm and wanted to be a peacock. This wish he had all started out when his mother was butchered for Thanksgiving. All the other Turkeys were proud to be such a wanted animal, not even realizing how unlucky they were. Turkey and his mom were smart and they knew all about it. But soon Mama Turkey was a fine Thanksgiving Meal too.

One morning, the day before Thanksgiving, Turkey awoke. He was very nervous, afraid that he would be one of the “chosen” ones. All the other turkeys were exited and ate as much as they could to survive. Turkey was on a diet and only ate a good section of the trough, just to keep him alive and never stole from the other turkeys. He missed his Dear mother, for the last words she said to him were, “My dear beloved son, on the night of Thanksgiving, pick the brightest dandelion in the farm yard and finest red corn you can fine. Then, find many other fine organic colors and chop them with the leaves, find a friend and share the feast. If you do this you and the friend will appear suddenly out of the farm and will be peacocks. None will hurt you, for you and your friend will be much too beautiful to harm. Hurry, the farmer is coming, run; I am much too old to escape quick enough.”

Turkey thought of these words and softly cried. He missed his mom so much. Stick, the female turkey noticed how sad he looked. She walked over to him and asked him what was on his mind that bothered him, for Thanksgiving was soon and that was supposed to be a happy occasion, or so she thought. Turkey told her the story and how much he wanted to be a handsome peacock. Stick replied in a soft tone saying, “I can be the friend that goes with you.”

Turkey agreed and off they were, to get ready for tomorrow’s feast. They picked leafs of many kinds and many different types of flowers. From roses to dandelions the pile of leafs, flowers, and corn became bigger and brighter by the minute. 

The next day was Thanksgiving and the 2 turkeys were ready. Farmer came out earlier then usual and Stick and Turkey didn’t expect that to happen. He sneaked up on the 2 and picked up stick. Quickly, he scurried off. Turkey had to save his friend! How could he be a peacock with out her?!?

“Turkey! Help! Please help me, Turkey,” Stick gobbled.

Turkey sped towards Farmer and leaped on the back of his head and pulled his straw hat down. Farmer stopped and chased Turkey, not even realizing that he had just dropped Stick. He made a giant leap and landed on the dropped hat. The farmer patted off the dust on his overalls and turned back to were he left Stick, but the only thing he found was a rude waste, just for him. Farmer decided to just take an unhealthy fat turkey instead of the perfect healthy Stick. He walked off towards his farm to meet his scowling wife.

When Turkey reached Stick, she got up stuffed her head in his chest feathers.

“Thank you so much. You saved my life! I almost became a Thanksgiving dinner.”

Turkey just replied by saying your welcome and nodded his head. Finally, they decided they should be off towards the stash they had created the day before.

When they reached their stash, they first gave their Thanksgiving thanks.

“Thank you for my intelligent mother who helped me and Stick become peacocks. I also thank you for meeting Stick, to have her as such a loyal and beautiful friend.”

Flattered Stick answered saying,” I am also very thankful for Turkey’s mom and to have him for being such a kind friend and a heroic hero.”

They slowly ate the feast, munching carefully and proudly, exited to find their new future as Peacocks. As they each finished their last bite, they gave one last look at each other and smiled.

As they each swallowed the last bit of food they closed there eyes as they felt the cool wind blow past them.

Stick opened her eyes first. She gaped when she saw Turkey. He was a beautiful winter white, full of streaks of a baby blue. Turkey opened his eyes and looked at his own reflection in the water right by him. He stuttered and fell backwards, then picked himself up.

Turkey and Stick were the happiest Peacocks/turkeys in the world.

 

Christmas in 1981

[Note: Rosa wrote this up for one of her friends the other day and I thought it would be fun to share.]

I came to America from Cambodia in early January of 1981. 

Everything was so new to me, the people, the land, the homes, the cars, and so much more.

Our family didn’t have much then except for the clothes on our backs.  We came as refugees to live freely in America from our worn torn country.

So many holidays to celebrate and I had never celebrated any or knew of any at all.  I was about 7 years old.

We lived in Tacoma Washington when we first came to America.  There were 7 of us kids and the youngest brother was born in America and of course mom and dad didn’t speak any English at all then. 

That first Christmas in 1981 we received a dinky Charlie brown type Christmas tree from someone we didn’t know because our family was poor and could not afford one.  It was the most beautiful tree to me with lots of roomy branches to hang paper angels that I learned to color and cut out at school and then we hung some popcorn strung together.  There were no presents under the tree and Christmas time grew nearer and nearer.

Then about a week before Christmas a wonderful couple from Church brought us beautiful gifts for each of the family members.  There were 10 gorgeously wrapped gifts with each of our names on them.  I had one that had a beautiful bow and colorful wrapping of Santa Clause, snow falling around him.  I could hardly wait to open my present.  Everyday seemed like forever. I wanted to rip that present open but I knew I had to wait and so I did sadly.  The day came finally and it was Christmas morning.  Everyone opened their gifts and they were so happy to get all their goodies.  Finally it was my turn to open mine.  I carefully untied the bows and then un-taped each end of the nicely wrapped gift.  After I opened it up, there was a brown box. Inside it was a pair of ugly, worn torn boots that were not even my size.  Sadly I was very disappointed and cried and wondered to myself.  “Why did someone do this to me?”  I felt hurt and torn.  It isn’t April Fools Day.  I had a miserable Christmas day while the rest of the family were laughing at me.

This is the one special memory of a Christmas miracle and what Christmas is all about even if it started out sadly for me.  That evening before Christmas night ended, the same couple from Church brought another beautiful gift with my name on it “Ratana”.  It was only to me and no one else.  I opened it and I felt like a little angel.  This time I gave everyone that sad look on my face before I opened it because I wasn't ready for another surprise like the old boot from my first gift.  Inside this lovely gift box was a beautiful, furry new pair of boots.  They were dark red and fluffy and so warm.  Everyone told me they loved me and just wanted to surprise me later and that the first gift was not meant to hurt or make me cry.  I wore the boots everywhere I went.  It was to save the best for last.

I learned from that day to always give good gifts to others, the first time around, no matter what.  And that Christmas can be pretty special.

Not really a post

I know, I know.  Why bother having a blog if you're not going to post on a regular basis?  I don't know how often you get over to the photos side of our site, but I have been pushing up a few pictures over the past few months, with lots more to come.

Here's some of the highlights:

At the beginning of the summer I had grand plans to get out into the great outdoors and hike, hike, hike.  I had an itch and it needed to be scratched.  Unfortunately, I'm still itching.  But, we did get out once to Lake 22 when the sun was actually shining.  It's not too late yet and now that I'm working with the YM again perhaps I'll find an excuse to get out.

In May Ammon turned eight (wow!) and he was baptized.  It was a neat experience and it was very nice to have mom and dad with us.  During that same weekend I went with mom and dad to visit the San Juan Islands.  It was a beautiful day with beautiful scenery, and a great chance to hang out with the folks.

Ok, I'm stopping for now.  I've only just begun, but I've still got a few hundred photos to go through from the reunion in August.  Feel free to peruse the various galleries.  This is one of my favorites.

Spring Break 2007

The oregon coast was especially nice this year.  We've made it a family tradition to spend our spring break on the Oregon coast somewhere, and this year we picked Cape Lookout State Park (just outside of Tillamook).  The very first year we did this will always have a special place in my heart, but this year would be a close second.  It was wonderful.  The weather was perfect, the area was simply breathtaking, and I'm not sure there could have been anything that would have made it better.  I've posted most of the pictures here.  And, I should also note that the pictures include those from all the cameras there, not just mine.

The old way, the new way

As I get older my memories tend to get a little more embellished and selective, if that makes any sense.  I don't know if they become less accurate per se, but perhaps a little more filtered.  In other words, I remember the really good things and forget that there may have been some bad in there as well.

It's no secret that I love photography as well as taking pictures.  Yes, there is a difference.  Perhaps I'll do a future post describing my take on those differences.  And I love to look at pictures, almost more than taking them.  I get excited when other people go on vacation because I know when they get back they'll have a set of pictures - and with any luck I'll be able to sit down and look at them.

I have always loved slide shows.  Mom and dad may have different memories about me, but I remember loving when we would go to grandma's house and they would pull out the slide projector and load up each of the trays.  We'd lay down in the living room with the lights out and watch as each of the pictures went by - each with their own story and memory.  The pictures were of times past, and seeing them allowed some to re-live the times, and some just to catch a glimpse and share in them.  Dad has a bunch of slides from his mission in Scotland, and I loved to look through them.  We didn't have the full slide projector in our home, but dad had a small viewer where you could put one slide in at a time and then look at it through the light.  It was almost like being there.  When dad talked about the "Highland Coos", we knew exactly what he was talking about.  We'd seen them too through his slides.

Over the past 15 years or so I've taken a lot of pictures.  And most of them are in albums on our bookshelf.  At times I've sat down and opened them to re-live some of our own memories.  Every once in a while the kids would sit with me and laugh about something or someone in them.  I love that!  But what I craved was the ability to sit everyone down and to have an old fashioned slide show.  To get the kids in the room and douse the lights and show pictures on the wall while we talked and laughed.

So I've done it.  In the last few years I've gone completely digital, and that has allowed some latitude in my dream.  Over the past few weeks I have built a Media Center PC.  There are a lot of features on it, but the number one thing for me is I now have a way to show my photos in the family room on our TV.  Sure, it's not an ultra-big HD fancy TV, but it works and the pictures look great.

So now I get the kids together and lay back on the soft.  We douse the lights, put on some music in the background, and re-live our memories together.  And it's heaven.