Showing posts with label Sunrises. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sunrises. Show all posts

Friday, December 13, 2013

Our home's first Thanksgiving

At last... Thanksgiving dinner at our own house!  To sweeten the deal, the Dallas Cowboys took down the Raiders for a televised win.


Opening our home for our first ever Thanksgiving dinner in Beaverton has been a long time dream of ours. Kathy put a lot of effort into the preparation, and it really paid off.


I, on the other hand, woke up in the middle of the night to work the early shift like on any other Thursday morning.

Deicing a Delta 737 at PDX airport, just before the Thanksgiving sunrise


Thanksgiving morning at PDX was busier than in past years. Delta Airlines was generous enough to hand out meal vouchers for those of us stuck working on the holiday. Our Tokyo flight was a late arrival, giving my crew just enough time to rush upstairs to the concourse for breakfast at Beaches restaurant.

Five sides of bacon.  Ron Swanson would be proud of my man Rockee.



On the way home from work that afternoon, I picked up our friend Sarah (pictured at the top of this post). She was in between living situations and had no one to spend Thanksgiving with.  Our family welcomed her in.


Lena remains the center of attention after our Thanksgiving dinner.

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Of course, the whole Vancouver family couldn't fit into our Beaverton dining room. So on Friday afternoon, the Brown, Davis, Hamilton, and Sorensen families gathered together at my parents' house in Orchards.














God has given us so much to be thankful for this year. Our cup runneth over with far too many blessings to list here. Most significantly, we have been blessed with a wonderful family, a vital student ministry, and a happy life.

And in less than four weeks, we'll be rushing Kathy to the delivery room for one more reason to give thanks!


Next up on Garth's Blog...

The Black Crowes rock downtown Portland!


Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Rebirth

Update:  New pics were recently added to last week's “Lena’s First Zoo Visit” blog post (link).



One thing I'll miss about my early morning shift at Delta: Catching these gorgeous sunrises at PDX airport!


Thank you, Delta Airlines, for keeping me employed 17 years as of today!  Yesterday was the start of my new sleep-friendly Delta work schedule.  I already feel like a brand new man!

That means goodbye to waking up at 2:30 each morning for work.  Au revoir to scraping by on 3.5 hours of sleep a night.  Arrivederci to reduced intensity workouts compromised by extreme sleep deprivation.  Adios to looking and feeling like my actual grownup age!


And what to do with all of this anticipated energy, renewal, and vigor?  Here’s a hint:  God, family, friends, and coworkers are about to witness the Garth that has been long forgotten.  The real Garth.  I’m ready to start feeling like myself again.  Physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally--   I’m ready to whip myself into the best shape of my life!


This new schedule will require squeezing in significantly more hours for (and commuting to) work than in previous years.  But the time left over will be consumed by loving, living, serving, and adventuring.  And that’s what Garth’s Blog is all about! 




Here's a small taste of what's coming in the next month or so on Garth's Blog...






Camping and hiking in the Olympic National Forest... and other outdoor adventures!




Lena's first visit to Enchanted Forest!






A Daddy-Daughter photo blowout for Father's Day!






And premiering tomorrow night on Garth's Blog...




An outrageous, five part travelogue on how my attempted weekend in China led to the temporary seizure of my U.S. passport in Micronesia last month!!