the Vandersluis Family

Piper's in town

2009-12-29T18:23:00.000-08:00

Pete, Kristin & Piper
spent the night in Fresno
on their way to Shaver Lake.

Piper was her happy little self.
We just couldn't get enough of her.

She's the BEST!

Dinner with Piper

2009-08-05T17:42:00.000-07:00

Jon flew to Bend so he could drive back to Fresno with me after I worked a stretch of nights. We made a stop in Sacramento on the way down. Kristin made a delicious meal & desert for us. I captured a few photos of Piper as she ate her couscous. She managed to get only about a spoonful in her mouth & the rest of it was everywhere else. Jon, "Mr clean" was right on the clean up. She was quite entertaining, & cute, as you can see

FYI: These pix are BEFORE she started tossing it

Piper's "APRON" parade!

2009-05-05T22:15:00.000-07:00

2009-05-05T22:03:00.001-07:00

Snow in April

2009-04-29T00:30:00.000-07:00

The sky looked pretty threatening.
I was sure it would rain,

but low & behold we had snow instead.

It looked like tiny styrofoam balls.

I'm not ready for winter to be over

so I was very excited about the snow.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long.

The sun came out about an hour

later & that was the end of my snow day...lol

The lovely Seattle home of Tom & Debbie

2009-04-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks again!!

Tom's "midlife" toy...lol

2009-04-20T16:50:00.000-07:00

Getaway to Seattle, Washington

2009-04-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

Nathan & I went up to Seattle to visit my nephew Tom,

who recently moved out west from

Tennessee with his girlfriend, Debbie.

My sister Rita, my niece Anne & her husband Rob

were visiting also from Kansas City.

We had a GREAT time getting reacquainted with Tom,

getting to know Debbie, being w/Reet, Anne & Rob,

seeing the sites & eating many

different ethnic foods, as well as beer.

The Space Needle that was built in 1962 for the Seattle Worlds Fair.

Seattle sky line looking west

Tom, Rita, Anne, Rob & Nathan

Anne & Rob

Mt Ranier off in the distance

Family visits Bend, Oregon for Nathan's 30th birthday!

2009-04-02T01:41:00.000-07:00

Piper LOVES popcorn!

Pete, Kristin, Nathan & Piper

Aunt Julie & uncle Nathan woke
Piper up to say good-bye. She looks dazed.

Grandpa Jon & Piper

Piper in her red coat

2009-01-14T15:00:00.000-08:00

Piper is 11mo. old now.

I'll be in Sacramento to celebrate

her FIRST birthday, February 16th.

Where has the time gone?

White Christmas 2008

2008-12-25T09:15:00.000-08:00

Bend, Oregon

Janice takes a "CHILL" in Bend after our trip into the ditch

2008-11-05T22:24:00.000-08:00

360 degree's into the ditch

2008-11-05T20:19:00.000-08:00

I started my drive up to Bend on Tuesday with my car loaded down & I was pulling our utility trailer that was "way to heavy" according to Nathan. My good friend from work, Janice Jackson was kind enough to make the trip with me. It sure made the drive much more enjoyable. Janice would say, "yea, right". On Tues evening we decided to stop for dinner in Klamath Falls, which is about 2hrs from Bend. In the restaurant there was a lg chalkboard with road conditions & closures on it. Hwy 97 to Bend was closed probably for the night due to a double fatality about 40 mi away. Well, that was fine with us as it was pitch black out & snowing. Nathan had also told me to stay put as the roads are far worse at night & people drive crazy at the beginning of the winter. We had no problem finding a "motel" & the restaurant even gave us a 10% discount on our meal because we were "stranded"...lol. The next morning we left fairly early and we didn't really see much snow until we were nearing the fatality site from the night before. I had my car in four wheel drive & I was only going 30mi. an hr....I'm not lying. Janice is my witness. The road was one HUGE sheet of ice. We had just passed to pickups that were in the ditch when I think the trailer started to slide. There was no correcting it. We slid all the way around & as I was thinking were about to go in the ditch side ways, which would have made us roll, the weight of the trailer pulled us the rest of the way around & we ended up backwards in the ditch. The trailer landed along side a tree & the entire back end of it/lights etc were buried in dirt. Janice got on the phone to AAA as soon as we came to a stop. I was crying & she was consoling me. I said a few choice words as you can probably imagine. AAA said they could be out in an hr. & I said there is no way I'm going to sit in this ditch for an hr. So we assessed the situation & I got back in the car & started rocking it to & fro to try to get up the embankment to the road. I actually got the front end up to the edge of the road by doing it that way. But I needed more traction to pull the trailer out of the trees. As an old MN native I was stuck in snow more times than I care to remember. I called Wayne, a friend in Bend & he told me to put my cables on the front tires. Janice & I were sure that the truckers driving by enjoyed seeing us lying in the snow & dirt trying to get those cables on. Of course no one stopped to help us. I really don't blame them because had they tried we would have had another fatality. Once we got them on it took awhile for the traffic to clear so we could work our way up & onto the road. We didn't want to cause another collision. The car was not damaged at all, nor the trailer. I was so upset about our near death experience that I forgot to take any pictures. I've included pictures of the my car & the back end of the trailer on our arrival here in Bend....:-)

Moving on...........Bend, Oregon or bust!!

2008-10-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that I've taken a job at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, OR. I will be working in labor on the night shift. Yes, that's what I said, "the night shift". It's the only full time position they had available at the time they made me an offer. Believe it or not, I'm actually looking forward to it. I'm sooo totally ready for a change. I'll miss all the people that I have worked with for the last 19 1/2 yrs. Many helped make an unbearable day bearable and there were alot of those days. I'm going to try & maintain my per-diem status @ St. Agnes. Once I get my schedule up there I'll know whether or not it'll be possible. It's a union hospital & it's not self scheduling....:-(

So......... to the end of the line I go!

Piper & grammy's little adventure to the park!

2008-09-29T22:09:00.000-07:00

I went up to Sacramento for the day to see Piper (& her dad).
We went for a long walk which took us by their neighborhood park.

Lo & behold we had the swings to ourselves.

We swung together for a little while & she just squeeled....:-)
I thought I'd try her in the kiddy swing which she was just has excited about.

The faces she made as the breeze hit her face were so funny!

It's all about the tags...

2008-09-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

...... & to Piper, it's serious buisness!

Piper's many expressions in 2 min. or less

2008-08-30T15:17:00.001-07:00

She just loves her toes...;-)

2008-08-11T18:38:00.000-07:00

She's quite the little beauty after her bath.

In a stylish robe & all!

Uncle Paul meets Piper for the first time

2008-07-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

Scout gets a bigger "place" to sleep at night

Days gone by..........

2008-06-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

Piper is developing such a little personality.

You just have to smile at her & she gets so excited.

She makes me giggle, she's so darn cute!

4 month old Piper

2008-06-20T19:51:00.000-07:00

Piper is 3 months old

2008-05-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

Can she get much cuter?

Piper has a melt down. She hadn't seen her "grammy" for a month.

I haven't lost my touch....:-)

Asleep in grandpa's arms. Note "Ann" curled up in a ball nearby..:-)

Pete, Kristin & Piper's dog, "Scout"

We spent one night in Sacramento w/Pete & Kristin on our way home. I'm sorry to say I didn't get my fill of Piper.

Breath taking view of Mt. Shasta on our way home from Bend.

2008-05-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

Visiting Nathan & Julie in Bend, OR

2008-05-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

Kehau (my niece) & RoseMary (my sister from Kona, HI)

Ron & Katy (my bro & sister-in-law) came to see us in Bend for one night.

They were in OR for Noah's (my sista's son) graduation all the way from Austin, TX

Kehau & her dad Glenn

This was Glenn's second visit to the mainland from Kona in 30yrs.

Rose, Kehau & Glenn came to Bend from

Eugene, OR where Kehau lives for the day!

Nathan & Julie

"the Boys"

Na' & Julies dog "Colby"

Nathan & Julie's dog (a Golden-doodle) "Clark"

Piper is 2 mo. old & she cont. to WOW us!

2008-04-13T13:15:00.000-07:00

Spending time with Piper at 6wks old

2008-04-05T16:46:00.001-07:00

We LUV her to piece's...:-)

We tried to get a girly shot, but she
went into a full whale after I shot this.

As you see this one is a blurr...:-)

She DOES NOT like anything on her head

Piper is growing at an amazing rate!

March 15, 2008Piper is one month old

2008-03-21T14:41:00.001-07:00

Breast milk drunk!!

This is the face Piper makes when

she is about to fill her diaper....:-0

"U go girl"

March 8, 2008 3wk old Piper

2008-03-09T15:19:00.000-07:00

Showing off PIPER!

2008-03-01T18:56:00.000-08:00

I went up to Sacramento on the 19th to help Pete & Kristin out for a couple of days. Those couple of days turned into 5 of the best days I've had in a long time. As you probably can imagine the days flew by. I helped out most I think, by taking the night shift. Piper slept in her Moses basket near me in the family room. When she would wake up I'd change her & bring her to Kristin for breast feeding & when she was done Kristin would bring her back to me & I'd settle her in or rock her until the next feeding. This way Kristin & Pete could sleep for a few hrs in a row. Wow, whats that? They both are doing amazingly well with Piper. I'm VERY impressed. Pete even jumps in to change those dirty diapers. He was pretty cautious at first, but he sure got the hang of it quickly. I've added pictures from each day I was there.

ENJOY!

February 24, 2008

2008-03-01T17:51:00.000-08:00

February 23, 2008

2008-03-01T17:33:00.001-08:00

February 22, 2008

2008-03-01T17:18:00.000-08:00

February 21, 2008

2008-03-01T16:15:00.000-08:00

February 20, 2008

2008-03-01T16:14:00.000-08:00

Introducing Piper Warren Vandersluis

2008-02-16T21:28:00.000-08:00

She was born today, 2/16/2008 at 8:56 a.m.

in Sacramento, CA

wt: 5#-13 oz.~length: 18 in.

Kristin, Piper and Pete

Sleeping Beauty !

~Precious soles~

Should I show them my eyes or not?

Is she SWEET or what?

~ A tired dad & a wide awake baby ~

Grandma Roxy I see you!

Welcome to our BLOG....:-)

2008-02-05T20:19:00.000-08:00

After seeing Paul Viger's blog,

I decided to share my families events with you as well.

We hope you enjoy our blog as much as we've enjoyed theirs.