1. Own a house
2. Have children
3. Get married
4. Buy a brand new car
5. Travel to Tibet
6. Visit all 7 continents
7. Put my kids through college
8. Visit Mt. St. Helens
9. Visit Mt. Hood
10. Go Scuba-diving (preferably somewhere pretty)
11. Go on a “Best Roller-Coasters of the USA” trip

I have always enjoyed model trains. My mom got me started with model trains when I was a young boy. I still have all of the model trains and track that my mom purchased for me, including a fairly large layout. All that is missing is laying the track and scenery. Part of the reason I joined this club is to learn about model railroading so I can eventually setup my own layout. I have already learned very much about model railroading and look forward to learn much more.

Click the image below to see some pictures I took the other day. Be sure to read the picture descriptions as I try to explain what you are looking at.

Warmest wishes for the holiday season! In January we finally closed on our house in a Portland suburb and have been diligently working to make it feel more like home. We planted two rose bushes in the front yard the first week of April with the hope of adding more in the years to come. We painted the dining room and one of the bedrooms, and are still trying to decide on a color scheme for the other rooms of the house. We have a list of other things we would like to change – big and small – but still enjoy it as it is.

Painted Dining Room

In March we adopted a dog from a local rescue group. Miss Cleo is a six year old corgi and Tibetan terrier mix. She’s a relaxed and affectionate dog and we’ve enjoyed adapting our lives to include her.

Cleo (Click the image to see more)

In June we traveled down to Sacramento to spend time with Emilie’s parents, sister and her family who had traveled from Kansas for the visit. In August we got to join Ben’s extended family in Cambria, CA for a week long vacation at the beach.

For our two year wedding anniversary we adopted a kitten from a shelter. Elwood will be a year old in March and is a spunky little tuxedo cat. He has brought a quite a bit of excitement to our lives.

Elwood and Ben (Click the image to see more)

Also in September we had the great opportunity to participate in the Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure at the waterfront park in downtown Portland. We hope to be able to do this event annually.

In November Emilie participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and is proud to declare that she was able to meet the 50,000 word requirement before the close of the month.

Ben is still working for the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon Ministries as their main Web Developer and assisting in tech support. Recently he helped launch new web sites for each of the organizations contained within the Sisters’ ministries. Emilie is still enjoying her job working for Insight Schools, Inc. as the Receptionist and Administrative Assistant. She had the opportunity to travel to South Carolina and Nevada to help with information sessions for the schools Insight was starting there; she also gets to write for the monthly company newsletter.

December has been a fairly low key month for us, aside from the excitement of the snow storm we’ve had this past week – unusual for our area. We look forward to the New Year and the joys it will bring.

With Love,

Ben & Emilie

I decided to shave it off and grow a full beard during the month of November because I have never had a full beard before.

Here I am after 25 days of hair growth with little trimming.

Having a full beard was a good experience. I liked how I looked and I liked how it felt with one exception. I did not like having a mustache. It always got in the away of my activities which include eating and kissing my lovely wife.  I decided today that it had to go. I had some fun with different hair designs as I cut it off and I took pictures for some proof.

Stage 1: Shave off Mustache

Stage 2: Make myself kinda look like Wolverine

Stage 3: Mutten Chops with a Goatee

Stage 4: Arrow Sideburns

I still have the arrow side burns as I write this, but I think I will remove them before work tomorrow.

Update: I did shave them off soon after the picture was taken.

The cat side of her is very cuddly (she loves getting up on the couch with us while we watch TV).

She is also quiet (even though our current cat is louder than her) and calm (she stays calm even when Emilie and I run around the house chasing each other). She is a pig because she sorts when she is sniffing and snores when she sleeps. It is so very cute when she is sniffing quickly because she sounds exactly like a small pig. Her dog side is everything else (peeing, pooping, eating, etc.).

We love our Cleo!

We had a plumber out on Monday to fix all of these weird little things the previous owner had managed to over look or screw up and was discovered in the home inspection. Like the standing water under the house because of a clogged sump pump… I came home from getting a load from the apartment and saw water gushing from a pipe in front of our house in to the gutter. A very good thing. The plumber said he thought they pumped out near 400 gallons from under the house! Now that the pump is fixed though, we shouldn’t have that issue any more.

I am very much looking forward to getting a garden started come spring. I am already researching planting techniques and all sorts of other fun stuff. The yard is pretty much a blank slate so anything I do will be a nice change. I’m thinking of putting in quite few rose bushes, some rhododendrons, maybe a hydrangea or two… I need to start drawing out the plans. I really shouldn’t put anything in the ground until late March at the earliest because of the late growing season around here.

Over President’s day weekend Ben and I flew down to LA for his little brother’s Bar Mitzvah. The weekend was jam packed with exciting events, including a trip to Magic Mountain for the two of us. It was so nice for me to finally meet the extensive branches of Ben’s family, many of whom for one reason or another couldn’t make it to our wedding. What a crowd to share my first Bar Mitzvah with! The visit was far too brief, but never-the-less a delightful one.

Ben’s dad gave us a call not too far in to December with news that he had a free ticket for Southwest that he had to use by the end of the year and what a better way to use it that to come up to Portland for a brief visit. What a nice little treat. During his visit the three of us took a trip to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) to catch the Star Wars exhibit before it left. Afterwards we enjoyed a nice dinner in down town Portland, all the while enjoying the extra little sparkle the city gets around the holidays. When we got back home, Ben and his dad lit candles for the third night of Hanukkah – a new but exciting experience for me.

On the 23rd Ben and I attended a fun little holiday gathering across the river in Vancouver and got to meet some new people as well as reconnect with some friends we hadn’t seen in a little while.

Christmas Eve and Day were both relatively uneventful. We spent them both at home, enjoying each other’s company and a little time off together. We exchanged presents Christmas morning and ate a nice ham dinner that evening. We watched on of my holiday favorites, “A Christmas Story”, and Ben worked feverishly on his new Knex roller coaster set which had been a gift from his family. Hopefully we will build family traditions over the coming years to enjoy.

That’s it from the newlywed home for now. Until next time,

Emilie