To the Pig!

We had a company retreat for Celilo yesterday. It was a pretty long winter for us, and Jax and Ben wanted to do something nice. We are doing a pretty large function at this remote lodge and Ben, Jax and Mindy were so blown away by it they had us come back.........

So, you drive for a pretty long time out into the middle of nowhere. After following the directions as closely as possible, on a single lane back country road, we FINALLY see this



THe Place was Way, way, way over the top. Too crazy to describe. THey made a bonfire for us........



We cooked a pig. It was.......mmmmmmmmmm.........Well, you remember that comment about once a foodie? Well this was a whole house full of them.



That night we toasted each course. And the main course toast was simple.

"To the Pig!"

Lego from a kids view..........

Looks so much different........Like from Nathaniel's view. No wonder he likes to play with his little city..........








Celilo hosted Women of Wine (WOW) last night........couple of shots from the kitchen while we fine tuned......(where we taste the items against the products one last time and argue, to the last minute about what goes with what.........and jess just shakes his head.)





Once a foodie, Always a foodie.

Spring..........

Means Easter!
Lots of projects for Easter. Gingerbread house? Sure, why not.



The Gingergbread house came complete with one of those disasterous house collapse moments as well.............



We did Eggs..............


And visited a friends house for an amazing (now becomming) tradition of the family egg hunt.




Complete with a diveway session and daredevil bikeriding by their son........



And a Random Julia shot..........


"...Can't Bust em!...." :) M

March..............

What a Month!

We Started withe Clean Energy Harvest conference, and a few days after that I ended up filing for the chairmanship of the Hood River County Commission. That immediately touched off a firestorm of protest! It was a crazy couple of weeks. I've never been called so many names for wanting to spend more time away from my family.

The furor culminated in what was called by bunch of people "The Monday night Lynching" I was asked to resign, and the current Chair, Rodger Schock, in a very classy move, actually did resign.

Here's the room just before the fireworks began..............




And here's what I went and did afterward.........


The result of the protest was that I've agreed to "stand still" in my election while the protest candidate, a Mr. Ron Rivers attempts to get on the ballot for the Fall election. I'll reserve my personal comments on this public post, but suffice it to say, no good deed goes unpunished in Hood River County. Ron Rivers seems like a nice guy, and I'll look forward to working with him.

Lets see....

Had an AWESOME Wine Dinner with Charlie Hoppes as our guest. His wines are very, very nice, and the food was over the top. I cannot wait until the Penner-Ash Dinner in May.

Charlie Hoppes




And one of our guests, Craig McCurdy. Great night.




There are a bunch of Wind Turbines being delivered over the spring, a bunch a day. It appears there are about three sections per tower,



The Turbine and the blades. Makes for alot of wide loads...............

Did a little Rotary Bowling............



And took my Son to a castle....


Very cool family event of a friend. Really special time.

Talent Show at Down Manor


And I noticed that Tum-A-Lum is still selling FSC Lumber. Stoked.


March-A mixed bag, but I'm still here...........................

Harvesting Clean Energy Conference

A good couple of days at the Harvesting Clean Energy Conference. Hood River County is planning a renewable energy infrastructure for small scale projects, and this was our kick-off exercise.

The Meeting was very, very well attended.





The Highlight of the conference, however, was the Neo-Con, Former Head of the CIA James Woolsey speech..................



....Where Mr. Woolsey pretty much outlined how important it was to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. You know it's serious when a former head of the CIA shows up to tell you you are doing a good job. Renewables have arrived.



(James Woolsey holding court in the hallway just after his speech. Harvesting Clean Energy Conference, Spokane Wasington, February 27th, 2006)

Hawaii 2006

Another trip to Hawaii for Family. Tough travelling with the two kids, but totally worth it. It was Chinese New year........So My sister served us Gao (traditional New Years Cake) and ate Plum Mui (Chinese Candy.......)


One of the great things about traveling to Hawaii in February is the Punahou Carnival. I've been wanting to take Nathaniel to the Carnival for awhile. It's a great time. Here's some photos.........

Manulani (My Sister) picking a Haku Lei for Janellen


Janellen with said Haku Lei


THe Sisters, hanging out on the grass.........

Later that afternoon, we played games on the Arcade......


And Nathaniel rode on his FIRST EVER! Carnival ride. (check out the Aunties taking photos........)



So, lets see..........We hung out at a friends house, and he had an electric car......(random)



And we got to see a classic Hawaii event, a jaapanese couple taking photos on the beach......



And later that week, we went to my sisters 50th bithrday party.....It happened to be on Superbowl Sunday............so, we hijacked a TV and some cable reception for an "Only in Hawaii" Superbowl event.........





Oh, and we ate lots of food...........(Ahi sampler at HOKU, in the Kahala Mandarin)



Great Trip!