3/4 White WINS

Hello All,

It has been awhile since I have updated the blog. Katie keeps reminding me that I need to updat the blog. We have a million pictures on our camera that need to be uploaded.

Anywho! The Beaverton 3/4 White Football team won it second game of the season. It was 27 - 0 trouncing of the Southridge Skyhawks which makes it a little sweeter. Southridge is the big rival for Beaverton. The team played a perfect game. We executed on offense and team tackled on defense.

More blogs to follow. I will be doing a lot of updating next week. Best wishes!

Three Games In

The Beaverton 3/4 White team is three games into the season. As you know, we started off the season with a big win against Aloha. We have struggled in the last two games. We lost our second game to Westview 20 - 12. We lost our third game to Lincoln 27 - 6.

The Westview game was a tough fought battle. We were down 6 to 0 at half time. We came out and tied the game up at 6 to start the 3rd quarter. We gave up a big play to go down 14 to 6. In desperation, we were throwing the ball and they intercepted the pass and ran it back for a touchdown. The players all had a great time and thought the game was a blast. I think that is what it is all about!

We will not talk about the Lincoln game. Let's just say that we need to work on some tackling this week. We did win the second half which was great for our players. At halftime, they wanted to come out and win the second half. They did a great job of coming back and leaving the field with their heads up!

We are Beaverton!

Race for the Cure

The family did the Race for the Cure yesterday. Nancy, Katie's Mom, spent the night on Saturday and join the rest of the family for The Race. I stayed at home and cleaned. I just donated some money to Autie Heather's walk. It sound like I missed a grand time. Katie was joing by Alexis, Connor, Nana, Heather, Phillip, RJ, Jack, Auntie Barbara and Erin. Here are some pictures that we emailed to me from Nancy. Enjoy and you are interested in doing the walk with the family next year please drop me a note.

I am it NOW

Well, I was sitting here eating my lunch and I was reading Mama Erwin's Blog and it looks like I am it! I have been tagged! I hope you enjoy!

4 Places I lived:

1. Portland, Oregon (where I currently live)
2. Daharan, Saudi Arabia: I was there with my parents. My step-dad was stationed there. I had some great friends but all I remember was the HEAT!
3. Corvallis, Oregon: It is were I graduated High School from and went to college at Oregon State University.
4. Enid, Oklahoma: I spent about 6 years there. The home of Vance Air Force Base!

4 Favorite Foods:

1. Dim Sum: I have an issue of eating until I am miserable! I love it!
2. Thai Food: Anything that is Thai is okay with me.
3. Katie's Spaghetti: I do not get it as much as I would like but she makes the best spaghetti.
4. Katie's Carrot Cake: It is like the spaghetti. I did not ask for it my birthday this year. I will next year!

4 Jobs I have Held:

1. Mortgage Broker: It is what I currently do. I love helping people get into a home!
2. Pre-School Teacher: Oh my...I think it is better if I do not say anything. I did meet Katie there.
3. Baseball Coordinator: It was a summer job. One of the best jobs I have had. Getting paid to teach kids about baseball!!
4. Paper Mill Laborer: All I can say is that I had the job during the summer and it kept me in college!

4 Places I would rather Be:

1. On the football field, coaching!
2. Any place with Katie, Alexis, Connor and Abbey
3. Golf Course...I do not care which one, any will do!
4. On the river...FISHING!!!!

I do not know who to tag now!

Work

Good Thursday to everyone. I hope that everyone is doing great. I am doing wonderful. I thought I would post a little blog about my job.

I am a mortgage broker. Yes, even when the mortgage industry is making front page news with not so good news. Times are definitely tough for people in the industry. I would have to say that I am pretty blessed right now. I am having some of the best month I have ever had since getting into the business about 4 years ago. It is like my boss has said, "If you are trained properly, you will survive these tough times." I guess he trained me properly. I will say that it is tough seeing people that you have developed friendships with lose there jobs because of the volatility of the industry. I wish them all the best.

I will say that I am getting a little tired and am looking to take a couple days off. I don't think I have had a vacation since we went to Disneyland last year. I think I was still working during that vacation. It is one of the bonuses of being a broker. You get to work even when you are on "vacation". I think I really just need to get away and recharge that battery. Don't get me wrong, I love the job but I just need a break. I guess I will see if I can trust someone to handle my file and clients.

On the other side of things, if you need mortgage help or have mortgage questions please feel free to shoot me an e-mail. I am always more than happy to help people out and answer questions. Even if you are not getting a loan from me, I want to make sure that you get a great deal. E-mail me at sam@fcgmortgage.com

Thanks and have a great day.

Race for the Cure

Katie asked me to put this on here. If you have read Auntie Heather's Blog (mamaerwin.blogspot.com), you will see that the family is doing the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Katie and the kids are also doing the walk. I will probably sign up also. If you are interseted go to this website: www.komen.org.

Thanks!

Sumpter Valley Railroad

Here is the last post for our Unity Lake Trip. While in Sumpter, we not only got to pan for gold but we also got to ride on an original steam engine. It is called the Sumpter Valley Railroad. The train ride goes through the Sumpter Valley. It is beautiful. We had an opportunity to see where the dredge did most of its work. Connor was lucky enough to sit in the engine where the train is operated. You could feel the fire that creates the steam. It was a great time.

Unity Lake and Sumpter are definitely something that we will be returning to as a family. We will probably try to spend more than two night there this time. We might even take some family along with us. Enjoy!

First Game for 3/4 White

Saturday was the first game the Beaverton 3/4 White Team. We played an Aloha team at Aloha High School. We did an excellent job. We won the game 30 to 19. It was quite a performance by the players. We also kick three point after attempts which is two points each in our league. It is not too often that you get a player that can kick it that far let alone high enough. We are 1 - 0 now.

The family also made it to the game. Connor was a little upset because I did not hear him call my name three times on the sideline. I guess that I was little focused on the game. Katie took some pictures of the game. I will post them as soon as I remember to bring the camera into work.

Our next game is this coming Saturday at Beaverton High School. We are playing Westview.

Sumpter

Sumpter---what a place. My boss, Tim, suggested that we go there while we were at Unity Lake. The family is glad that we took his suggestion. We had an excellent time in Sumpter, Oregon. Sumpter is an old mining town that was founded in 1862. It is the home of Dredge State Park and Sumpter Valley Railroad.

Dredge State Park is the home a large electric dredge that was used to mine gold in the Sumpter Valley. One end of the dredge would pick up sand, gravel and dirt. Inside the dredge, the soil would be filtered so all that was left was gold. The remaining soil and rocks would be dumped out the back side. This would fill things in so there was not a big whole in the valley. Here are some pictures of the dredge along with two cuties kids in the world!

There was plenty to do at the State Park. Connor did some panning for gold with a State Park Ranger. Katie had to do a little helping. Connor found some gold along with some fool's gold and agates. Some pictures of him panning for Gold.

There are issues with the blog server. More to come later along with pictures.

September

Hello Everyone,

I cannot believe that it is September all ready. It seems like a month since we went to the game LAST week. We have a fairly decent weekend coming up. My third and fourth grade football team has their first game on Saturday. We are playing the Aloha Warriors. We are ready!

Alexis and Connor are going to a birthday party on Saturday. Their friend Addison (daughter of Matt and Hillary Brubaker) is turning one. Connor is always excited to go to a birthday party and Alexis is always up for a ride. I am not sure if I will make it because our game ends about when the party is supposed to start.

I am sure the Tieman's and Woodward's will cook up something this weekend. We always tend to figure something out. I guess I do not have the ability to just sit around the house like the other members of the family.

Best Wishes! Here are some pictures from during the game!

More Coin Toss Photos.

The Coin Toss

Oh my goodness, Connor finally got to go on the field. We met the marketing people for OSU Athletics. They gave Connor and I our field passes. They even upgraded our tickets from the south end zone to the fifty yard line! I was pretty pumped. We said bye to mom and went down to the field.

We had about a 30 minute wait until the coin toss. We watched as the Beaver and Utah players came on to the field. The Beavers came out of the big black helmet that Connor is standing in front of. Look at the size of number 75. Oh my goodness, Connor thought Ah-ye (Richard) was big. We got our picture taken by one of the marketing people. The offensive line is warming up behind us.

When there was about 5 minutes left during the warm up, the marketing people took us to the 50 yard line. We could not believe how many people were in the stands. IT WAS SO LOUD. I think Connor was a little nervous and excited all at once. You can see that in the picture of him at the 50 yard line with 40,000 people screaming. As time approached, the captains came out and gave Connor a high five. Connor got to hold Jeff Van Orsow's hand while they walked on to the field. Van Orsow is famous for knocking down John David Booty's pass in the win over then Number 3 USC last year. As you can see in the picture, Connor comes up his waist. Those guys are so BIG. Alex Serna also gave Connor a high five.

Well, he walked out with the four captains for the coin toss. Katie says they put his face all over the Pac-10's largest JumboTron. I was so busy watching him on the field that I didn't even look up at the JumboTron. Our friend's Tim and Kathy said they heard them annouce his name over the PA system. Connor walked back with the Captains and that was the end of the coin toss. I will say it was one of the greatest parent moments I have had. It is not everyday that you get to see your child walk on to the field of your most favorite sports team during a game.

Pre Game

We finally made it to Corvallis, the home of the Oregon State Beavers. Connor has been so excited all day. We tried to get him to sleep on the way down but that was not really a option in his opinion. We met my mom, Ah-ma, at her office. She had an opportunity to show off her grandchildren!

We gave Alexis (picture of her in her new OSU hat) to Ah-ma and they went their way and Connor, Katie and I went to the pregame festivities. There was a ton of things for Connor to do. First he got his Benny Kids Club shirt and eye black. We got a good picture of him and his eye black. At that point, he was ready for the coin toss. It is a good thing that there was plenty of things for him to do.

He got to do a baseball, basketball and obstacle course activity in those big blow up structures. He also did one were they put a big vest on him that was attached to bungee cord. He had to run as fast as he could and see how far he could go. He didn't go very far but had a great time. He also had a chance to take a picture with Benny the Beaver and in front of a Oregon State Police car. Game time was getting closer.

Go Beavers!!

Well, the college football season starts tonight! The Beavers are taking on the Utah Utes! It is going to be a tough game in my opinion. Connor is part of the Benny Beaver Club. We got a call on Monday from Oregon State. They asked if Connor wanted to be the "Coin Toss" kid. I did not really give him a choice and told the yes!!! I think he is finally getting pumped up about being the "Coin Toss" kid. I am know that I am pumped probably a little more than him. I think it will hit when he walks out in front of 40,000 Beaver fans! Pictures to follow!

Unity Lake

We took a tip to Unity Lake a couple of weeks ago. It was a great time. We or should I say I did not realize that it was going to be such a long trip. It took us about 5 hours to get to our destination. The kids did a great job in car. Here is what we had to look at most of the trip.

We were pleasantly surprised when we got to our destination. We rented a cabin. It was not much but it had some beds and electricity. The only disadvantage was we had to hike across the campground to get the the bathroom. We had running water and showers though. I would say the view out our lake was well...i will let you decide. Here are some pictures of the sunset.Pretty amazing! I guess the only "issue" was all the bats flying around at night looking for bugs. We actually kept pretty busy while we were there for the two days. I will add another blog about that. I should really get back to work. We are definitely going back next year. We might even take some family with us.

Alexis Jean

Alexis Jean Tieman-Woodward! She is going to have fun when it comes time to fill her name out. She is nine months old now. I cannot believe how fast those nine months have gone by! It seems that just the other day I was holding her in my arms at the hospital. The above picture is when she was five months old.

The other picture is a more recent picture. She is started crawling on her hands and knees about a week ago. She is moving items around the house so she can walk from place to place in the house. Katie thinks it is a matter of time before she starts walking. Before I know it, I will have teenage boys knocking on our door.

Connor

Connor is four and half years old. I swear that the kid doesn't stop until he goes to bed at night. I do not know how many times that I have wished to have a tenth of his energy. I love the kid to death. He is always asking questions because is always wanting to learn.

Connor has a ATV. It is a bright blue quad that his grandfather purchased for him. It is something else. The best part is that it is gas too. He loves it! It is all he can talk about when he gets back from spending the night at his grandfather's. Here are a few pictures of Connor and his quad. I will be posting a video soon! I swear that the kid is going to be a dare devil one day!

Connor is starting his last year of preschool in a couple of weeks. I think that everyone is pretty excited about the fact that he will be going to a "big" kid school next year.

Welcome

Hello-

This would be my first experience with blogging. Please bear with me. I wanted to start this after seeing my "sister-in-law" start one. I thought it would be a great way for friends and family to keep up with us.

The family is pretty simple. We have myself, Sam, Katie aka MOM, Connor, Alexis and Abbey, the family lab. The pictures are of Alexis and Connor. Alexis is nine months old right now and Connor is four and a half years old. Abbey (picture to come soon) is going to be four years old in September.

I would have to say life is pretty busy right now. Alexis is starting to move around the house. Connor is playing soccer. This is also Connor's first "team" sport. I am working and coaching a third and fourth grade football team for Beaverton Football. Mom is doing a stellar job of making sure that everyone is where they are supposed to be and keeping the household together.

This is hopefully the start to a great blog. Thanks and leave comments!