Fruits of Miracles

A week ago yesterday, my pregnant wife's water broke. 24 hours later, a week ago today, our first daughter was born, three weeks early, @ 6 lbs. 15.5 oz.; 19.75"

To me, birth is a miraculous thing, but reflecting back on this particular birth it seems there were additional miracles encompassing the miracle of birth itself. Why did the water break break so early? Why did we have to wait an extra day before official labor commenced? How did all of that timing coincide with the particular people who helped us?

I feel that all of those things were actual answers to prayers and fulfillment of blessings and comfort. And that’s not to mention the miracle of having a girl after a trend of five boys!

I saw God’s hand in all of this and I saw the same hero in my wife that I saw with all our babies.

After spending all day Thursday in the hospital, bored to death, while my wife was slowly drained physically and emotionally by the unproductive contractions forced on her by the Pitocin, we were pretty discouraged. The only comfort was being able to hear the baby's heartbeat on the monitor and know both she and Heather were still healthy and safe. By dinner we turned off the Pitocin, said more prayers, and tried to enjoy a relaxing evening in our hospital dungeon.

In answer to our prayers, with no more help than some previous cervix softening medications, my wife started contracting on her own around 1am. I was unaware of her contractions until 2am when I recognized that she was in true labor. I folded up my bed and geared-up for the part I hate the most-- watching helplessly as she suffers inconceivable pain and agony.

After a few hours of intense torture, my wife was only at 3cm. Laboring so painfully long, so early in the morning (after a full day of forced contractions), with very little progress overwhelmed us and we decided to try our first-ever epidural.

I've always been nervous about it and had reservations about epidurals partially because my wife is generally sensitive to medication. When the anesthesiologist came moments later he resolved most of my concerns and started preparing for the epidural.

Suddenly I noticed a different reaction during the next contraction--my wife was pushing! In just about 20 minutes, my wife went from a 3 to an 8! This prompted the anesthesiologist to move faster, but almost in a blink, my wife was pushing again and the head crowned.


The anesthesiologist ended up delivering the baby about 10 minutes before our doctor arrived at the hospital. The whole labor was about four hours. As surprised and somewhat unprepared for the baby to come three weeks early as we were, if we weren't already in the hospital when the labor started, its possible we might not have made it to the hospital in time--let alone to get settled and prepared.

Although we had competent nurses helping, if we hadn't asked for an epidural, there would have been no doctor to deliver the baby...and we still didn't have to go through with the epidural. [Note: I say 'we' knowing full-well that it really means Heather.] We found out later that the anesthesiologist who delivered our baby used to teach OB classes--what are the odds.

This was a unique experience for us, but the whole process was a witness to me that God is mindful of our needs and, although He allows us to learn through some difficult challenges, He is always nearby to offer comfort and support. I know God loves His Children.

My youngest son's expression is a good representation of how all my boys feel about their new baby sister.

Our New World of Photography

We've always dreamed of having a decent camera to satiate our appetite for developing our photography skills. Thanks to Uncle Sam, we received our Economic Stimulus gift and that dream came true. I can't guarantee our skills will improve, but the pictures will certainly improve over those of past camera's we've owned.

We didn't get the fanciest, highest featured camera, but we got one that seems to be just right for our amateur needs. We bought a Nikkon D40 6.1 mega pixel, Digital SLR Camera with a bonus zoom lens with vibration reduction for under $600 from Costco.com. It has more features and options than any camera we've ever owned.

So the past few days we've been experimenting with the camera. Although I still do some post-shoot editing, most of it is cropping and a little brightening in some cases. Anyway, here are a few results from our new camera (click on picture to see detail better):

Spring is the perfect time for testing colors and close-ups. I love the depth of field this new camera provides. And it has some nice vivid pictures...its not washed out like the point-and-shoot tended to be. And the focus is tons clearer than our point and shoot.

How about moving targets? I was stunned when I saw how clear this seagull turned out in mid-flight. On top of that the blurred background makes it stand out.

Friday night the beach had an eerie orange haze as the sun set giving a fitting backdrop to the skeletal remains of Peter Iredale.

One of the best tests is the moon. I was quite pleased with how well the zoom lens took shots of the moon. This picture was cropped and still has a lot of detail without the grain--a testimonial to the value of increasing mega pixels.

This is one of my favorites. Not only does this cropped shot say a lot about the capability of the camera, I was also fascinated with the unique opportunity of snapping wild life in action in my own backyard. I was fascinated at the scope of this scene. It's like a single snapshot of this mortal life: start of new life (the specks of pollen came out so clear I was surprised), our reliance on each other, and death completes the circle.

More Spring in the NW 2008

Tall Order for the Columbia River

On Wednesday, I heard on the radio that an over sized ship carrying an unusually large cargo was anchored in Hammond, OR waiting to resume its journey to the Port of Portland (OR) until Thursday morning when the tide was low enough for its 185 ft. tall cargo to clear the nearly 200 ft-high Astoria-Megler Bridge. We decided to take a look:

The giant 490ft wide crane sits firm on its Post-Panamax (too big to fit through the Panama Canal) carrier and rests briefly after a month-long journey from China.

Before sunrise Thursday morning, when the tide was low, the Columbia Bar Pilots quickly outran the fog that was rolling in from Young's Bay and slipped the Zhen Hua 17 under the Astoria-Megler bridge with four feet of clearance. (Daily Astorian)

It's hard to see just how giant this structure is with the massive mouth of the Columbia River. But you can get a little reference if you look at the little dots (windows) on the sides of the ships and consider that each row of windows is about one story high.

After clearing the Astoria-Megler bridge just ahead of the fog, the Columbia River Bar Pilots turned the ship over to the Columbia River Pilots for its more difficult challenge: the 195ft Lewis and Clark Bridge at Longview, Washington...

A Few Pictures of Recent Trips to Lacamas Lake

Here are a few pictures from some of our trips to Lacamas Lake in Camas, WA.:

All kinds of vegetation: Trees, flowers, moss,....(The picture used for the blog title also came from Lacamas Lake Park.

One of the waterfalls in the "pot holes" section below the dam.

My son spotted this 'alligator' as we were walking down the northwest inlet of Lacamas Lake.

This picture was taken on one of the snowy mornings. The weather was weird that day with a mix of snow, rain, sun off and on all day. I really like the contrast of the branches with the pure blue backdrop with a hint of white clouds in this picture.

I love my youngest son's expression in this picture. He demanded I take a picture of the plant. I like how this picture turned out with the plant standing out in focus in fulfillment of his request, while the subject I wanted (my son) fills the background with just a slight blur. Everyone once in a while our little cheap, reconditioned 4.1 mega pixel point-and-shoot takes some better-than-usual pictures.

Lacamas Lake, Camas, WA

Camas, Washington is where I grew up (at least through my social years of middle school and high school.) I have a ton of good memories of that city.

I get quite depressed whenever I visit, though. It has changed a lot from its former, small-town culture. Most of the homes are expensive homes and the whole characteristic of the town is different. The forested areas and fields I used to play in are now crammed with expensive homes with no yards. The tree-lined roads and beautiful natural creeks and forest oasis' in the middle of the neighborhoods are traded for money and replaced with gigantic homes that stomp out all of Camas' raw beauty. It's like going to the movie theater that you've gone to forever, sitting in your favorite seat and then all of a sudden a super large person plops down right in front of you, blocking your view every time. Makes me feel like those who took over Camas don't appreciate the value of what was originally there. I suppose that's the typical story of community growth--or maybe I'm just jealous that they live there now...and that they can afford such nice houses.

However, regardless of all those changes, there are some constants that have been preserved for which I am grateful.

One of them is Lacamas Lake and Round Lake up the hill to the North almost out of town. The Lakes themselves are pretty cool, but the awesome stuff is the below the dam in what we called the 'Pot Holes.' Who would have thought hidden away in this small town was some of the prettiest natural carved rock features and waterfalls. As the water tumbled over these rock beds, they would dig deep pits and create several waterfalls. This was my playground for several years of cross country (we had the best course in the division), track, and school field trips. My brother even did his trail improvement Eagle Scout Project at the park.

Here you can see Lacamas Lake which is connected at the south to Round Lake (not labeled, but obvious). At the southern-most end of Round Lake is the dam and the myriad of trails taking you through some beautiful forests with creeks, and water falls, and plant life and a ton of interesting things to soak up. In the bottom right corner (in the dark green vegetation just east-northeast to my High School Football stadium (the high school has since relocated) is a little white patch...that is the long, cascading falls. Comparing it to the stadium, you can get a feel for how long it is.

The other constant is the place of the world's best french fries, Top Burger. Every time we visit Camas we get an order of fries...and sometimes we splurge and order a malt too. The food is still as good as I remember it. I think another reason why I like eating there is because of the many times I would go there with friends.

Top Burger is the building on the corner of 15th and Everett. The clue is all the cars in the parking lot! I used to live about six blocks to the west on 15th st. My High School is (was) a block to the east.

So this Spring Break we took a trip to Camas for a nice walk and some good fries! And I reminisced the good 'ol days.

Wintry Spring Day

Spring has officially begun! Spring is my favorite season--the weather warms up, flowers start shining bright colors all over, the sun stays out to play longer and longer. Everything is new and fresh and waking up.



Today started out as a normal day of rain, rain, rain, here on the north Oregon coast--quenching the grass and flowers' winter thirst (OK, so they drink almost daily, year-round here).

The flowers have already started stretching out in the warmer weather and longer sun. The grass also has been reaching towards the sky taunting the lawn mower.

However, as the day progressed another wonderful surprise sprinkled this spring day: SNOW!!! Giant, quiet flakes of whipped ice peacefully floating from the sky and gently lighting down, in contrast, on the dark evergreens and bright green grass.

Enough snow to magnify the excitement of Spring Break as the boys capture the opportunity to play in this rare treat to the North Oregon Coast.

Although shaken a bit by the surprise, the spring flowers remained bright and warm in counterpoint.

More Photo Quiz

A circus tent post? Tight-Rope?

Is this Mt. Kilauea?! A glowing furry thingy?

Maybe an alien petting its dog??

Is this in a swamp? A glimpse of part of a caterpillar?

Speaking of caterpillars...this looks like the fuzzy kind.

Guest Blogger: T

Super Mario Galaxy is fun. Red muhsrooms Make you have six hearts. Green mushrooms give you 1 extra life.Collect power ups such as Bee suet,Ranbow star,Fire plant,Ice plant,Boo- suit,Spring suit.

Mystery Pics 1

I thought I'd try something in an attempt to be fun. Can you tell what these pictures are? Click the pic to see if you got the right answer:

Hmmmm. Interesting Colors and texture.

Where's the beef?!

Is this from some alien world? Actually much of its world is ironically still a mystery.

Jaws of death?!! To some wonderers and passerbys, perhaps.

Juicy Orange, Strawberry, Watermelon flavored?

Recent Photos

Ecola State Park (Oregon) during golden hour before the sun is dowsed by the Pacific Ocean.

And the plane jumped over the moon.

I like the silhouette with the blue-ish layers in the background.

Portland Oregon Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the reflecting pool.

Can't go without more 3-D pictures to add new depth to the incredible view at Ecola State Park.

Flash Attacks

These are some great flash animations by artist, Alan Becker, that I was introduced to today. The artist mentioned on his gallery website it took three months to make the first animation and five months to make the second. There is a lot of detail, so you have to watch them more than once to catch it all. Very well done!


Animator vs. Animation by *alanbecker on deviantART



Animator vs. Animation II by *alanbecker on deviantART

Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum

Since I've been in a video mood (much more interesting than my commentary, in my opinion), here's an animated slide show of McMinnville, Oregon's Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, home of the Spruce Goose, that I made a few years ago. Its a good snapshot of some of the cools things to see there.

Just the Spruce Goose alone is an amazing site. It's housed in a large airplane hanger...practically takes up the whole building and dwarf the dozens of other fascinating planes on display. The Spruce Goose is basically a giant flying boat made out of laminated wood set in layers. It sits 79 feet tall, 218 feet long, the wings span 319 feet with eight 3,000 horsepower engines driving 17 foot diameter propellers. Its first and only flight lasted about one minute as it flew almost a mile distance at 70 feet altitude to the surprise and silence of skeptics. Pictures can't capture the magnitude of this unique aircraft.

Please enjoy a quick, virtual tour of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum:




Technical notes: This video was also an experiment with some of the transitions, music, and pan-and-zoom features that Pinnacle Studio video editing software provided.

Super T And The Runaway Ship

Can our super hero save a ship from utter destruction as a larger, out-of-control ship plows towards it. Watch and find out!



Shortly after my dad gave us our first video camera as a combined birthday present, I experimented with the blue screen (chroma screen) feature of our video editing software. This is how the cheesy, ad hoc experiment turned-out.

For the blue screen we used an amazingly effective blue blanket draped over the back of the couch--this is how we could fly. I hung a blue tarp from the ceiling for the backdrop...but, as you can see, it didn't work very well--too much white light reflection.

Anyway, even with all of its obvious imperfections, its still one of my favorite creations...especially since it was more or less a create-as-we-go (improv) situation. Plus I really enjoyed spending the few hours with my middle son who was very cooperative.

Its amazing what you can do when you just lose your job and have a little extra time on your hands all of a sudden. Its was a bit relaxing during a very stressful time.