Thanksgiving

For this year's Thanksgiving, our family went to the Oregon coast in Pacific City. Some friends of our's own a cabin right on the water, and we got permission to use it for the week. My sisters (shaunna and Kristine), as well as our mom and brother went down on Monday, and our dad and Shaunna's husband, Eric, came down on Wednesday. It was great. We rested, took walks, and played games as a group. Here are some pictures:


Mother and Kristine

Me trying to shoot a balloon. I have to admit, I

am not a very good shot.

Mother and Shaunna.

Eric and little Eli.

Here are the adults playing a game of Settlers of Catan


Kristine and a shotgun. She sure knows how to shoot!


One of those beautiful coastal sun-sets.

Ethan. "Such a cheesball!"as Kristine said.


The women preparing and cooking the food.


More people playing games.
So, as you can guess, we had a very enjoyable time!

Charles Baldwin

Mr. Charles Baldwin is a Presidential Candidate for the Constitutional Party. In case you don't know what that is, it is a Party trying to put the Constitution back in society. Every year, it has a candidate going for the President's seat. this year, the candidate is Charles Baldwin, or Chuck Baldwin. I have done some extencive research about him, and I found out that he is a pastor, with a wife and 3 children, and his vice president would be Ron Paul. He has no experience, except for running for vice president in '04. I would have voted for him, except for the IMPORTANT factors:

- No experience

- Says, "George Bush is a radical terrorist

- Wants to pull out of Iraq and Afganistan

- He can't win

Those are some things that I don't like about him.

Barak Obama

Democrat nominee Barack Obama is state senator of Illinois. He has had over 18 million voters in the U.S.A. in the primaries, and will have a whole lot more in the General Election. Here are some of his beliefs:

- He has voted and believes in Pro-choice (pro death)

- He believes in the 180 Billion Dollar Bailout

- He believes in "Spreading the wealth around" or socialism

- He believes in pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan

- He is a socialist!

Another word for socialism is mild COMMUNISM!!! Those 5 things in the list above are the things that make me vote against him.

Another question about him is whether he is REALLY a citizen. First of all, he refuses to put out his original birth certificate to even his fellow DEMOCRATS! And when he finally put it out, it is probably a fraud. There is no birth stamp on it. Second of all, when his parents divorced, he went to Indonesia with his father. Then he went to school there. So what is the big problem? Indonesia was at war at the time. and no one could go to school unless he was a citizen of the country. So he would have to become a citizen of another country, and then how could he be a citizen of THIS country? Constitutionally, no one can be a president without being a citizen. and do we want a person who hasn't been born in the White House?

Debate....

Well, the debate is over. I really think that McCain should have taken the gloves off on Barak Obama. But he didn't. He should of mentioned William Airs many more times. But I did like the line where he said, " Senator Obama, I'm not George Bush. If you want to go up against him, you should have campaigned 4 years ago." That is a really good argument against those who won't vote for McCain because he has similar views. In about 3 days, we will know who got the votes off the debate. Right now, they are about even in the polls. So McCain still has a chance against Obama.
Well, for those of you out there that are voting for Ron Paul, or Chuck Baldwin, my advise is to vote for someone who has a chance. EVERY VOTE COUNTS! Hitler won the dictatorship in Germany by only one vote! Also Rutherford B. Hays only one by 1 vote. That proves it. Every vote for McCain is a vote against socialism. It is going to be a tough 3 weeks until the election. If I could vote, I would vote for McCain. leave a comment, please.

Pictures of Willie the Dog

Willie up close
Willie and us boys...
Just Willie...
Willie and Ethan...

Those are pictures of Willie: our new beagle.

P.S.: Post me a comment, please!

Animals....

Well, we already have two cats, very cuddly ones at the least, and yesterday, Mom and Dad walked in from "doing errands" and there was a brown and white beagle with them! It is 2/12 years old, and very cute. We got it on craigslist, a local buyer-seller program, And we figured out it was a beagle. I guess people have bred a beagle to be calmer. well, we got one. Our 2 cats, Sidney Kid, and C.S. Dexter Haven, were both named after a movie called Philadelphia. Well, we kept the movie in our pet's names. the dog's (a male) name is Willie. I will post some pictures as soon as possible.

Recent Life

Well, It is my turn to get sick. I got some sort of bug that has been going around. I was sick in bed for nearly 3 days. Now Ethan has it, and my mom thought she had a sore throat yesterday. Uh, oh. At least if she gets sick this week, it will be the weekend with no school.
Other than being sick, I am just really busy with school.I am kind of bad about blogging, since I am quite busy, and other stuff. But I am trying to find more time to do it.
On the political stance, though, there is more and more of a chance we are going to have Barak Obama for President. He is at least 10 points ahead in the polls. If we get him, well, we have the leader we deserve. I sure don't want him, though! John McCain isn't my favorite choice, but he's all we got besides Barak Obama (well, I don't want to vote for Charles Baldwin, either). McCain needs to "take the gloves off". I hope he does.

My Sister's Children:

The Beach Trip

Me fishing at Garbaldi
Ethan at the same place
Both of us fishing
Ethan happened to see a dear right smack in the middle of Pacific City. Look at the tongue!

boy did I have a great time! The Tostis were very generouse in doing this on a 2 day notice. The first day there, we did some kayaking, and unpacking etc. We also did some checking on where to go fishing the next day. Every night, we watched a movie and ate ice cream. Quite a treat!

On friday, we did more kayaking, and had water fights. Plus, we went fishing in this mucky lake of which I have no pictures, and weirdly enough, that was the only place I got fish. 5 smallmouth bass. After that, we went up to fish at Garbaldi, Or. It is on the Tillimook Bay. We caught nothing there, but snaging lines and loosing lures. It was still fun.

On Saturday, our last day, we went to a small river, the Little Nestucca, and fish, made dams, and, on accident, I fell in. BRRRRRR! It was cold! After that, we went home, ate lunch at 3:00 and went fishing on the Big Nestucca for salmon. We only caught 6 pounds of sticks and kelp. It was still lots of fun. After that, we went home and had a water fight in the ocean and were VERY cold before we had a shower.

We barely made it to church on time, and still 2 minutes late! Here are the pictures:

PS... please post a comment!

Family Camp Pictures

Part of the family

The "Family Monkey"

Camp Sport: Volyball
At the Boys Crew Table.

Me working in the kichen

The last trip... maybe

Family camp was great! Every day after All-Camp Sport (including volyball, ballon hand- off etc.), about 30 people played prison ball. That is the best part, I think.
This year, I was old enough to join the boy's crew. It cleans up the kichen and washes the dishes. It was a lot of fun! By next week I should have pictures. After family camp, 2 weeks later we started school. No more trips until Thanksgiving. Late in the first day of school, mom recieved a phonecall from Dad, saying that we boys were going to the beach! Today we are going to leave. I will tell you all about it when I get home.

Summer Traveling

Wow! I just noticed that boy have we been travelin! June 6th, Kristine left for my sister Erika's house in Texas with a less than a 24 hour's notice. Erika had just had just given birth to her 3rd baby the day before. It was quite uneventful exept for the usual with a new-born.
On July 1st through the 19th, Ethan and Mom went to Texas. I believe it was the 13th when the baby's (named Oliver) intestines just kinda just fell to his middle. Kristine, who was still there, said it looked like a large lump. After that, the trip was uneventful.
During that time, me and Dad went to Reno, Nevada. It was to be our last trip to Reno to see Grampa Bowers. He passed away on August 3rd. During that time I had heat exaustion and altitude problems. Reno's at 4,000 ft. Other than that, it was enjoyable.
After that, Kristine and me went to our church Bike Trip, told in the previous entry.
Then Grampa died, and we had to go to Reno for the funeral. About 125 out of about 1,000 reletives showed up. I did get to meet my great- aunt agness and Mary. Both are Catholics. They are very nice. They both live in Helena, Montana.
And the last trip we have planed is to go to our church Family Camp. When me, Kristine, ethan and Mom come home from it, I will tell you all about it.

Bike Trip

From July 21st to 25th, me and kristine plus 23 other members of our 2 churches came together and rode our bikes out to 45 mi. NW of Portland, Oregon. And for 4 days we rode bikes all over the area.

The average miles we did per day was 40 or so. But one day we did 54 miles round trip. It was a lot of fun! In the evenings, we would have a sermon preached by the pastor who leads the bike trip with a co. I have no pictures of us riding together, but someone video-taped us. So I will try to maybe get those and post them on the blog. I was a rookie this year, so I didn't know how or who to pick a water fight with (there are lots on every bike trip). So on one ride, I got clobbered by 2 people! Someone said, "that's what happens to you rookies! Don't pick a fight until your a veteran on the bike trip!"

It was lots of fun! I wish it had never ended. Next year we are going to the coast to bike. This year we bike the area of Vernonia, Oregon. I will get pictures on as fast as I can. Oh, and please leave comments on my blog if you can.

My First Flight

I first flew an airplane in June of 2008. Not to long ago! A pilot just happended to be available at that moment. He was a PPI (Private Plane Instructer).
He took me up in a Cessna 172. That is a small airplane that can hold 4 people total. Once we took off, he gave me the controlls! It was so much fun!
The airplane is very sencitive. If you will barely push the weel, it will tip the wings quite vionlently. When you fly, there are so many things to keep track of! Your speed, your wings tipping, and even the engine. I think it is fun.
Here are some pictures:

E-mailing

my email address is:

grant@titussystems.com



Feel free to e-mail me!

updating

I am going to try to update my blog every other day. I will fill you in on trips I take to everyday life.

About Me

I am an 11 year old boy who has 4 older sisters and 1 younger brother. I have a mother and father who care for me more than anyone in the the world (except God). I love sports including football, and karate. My favorite thing to do is to fly aircraft... preferably a Cessna 172. I also like reading, working, playing with my brother, and learn things (school). like most of my friends, I am homeschooled by my loving mother and youngest sister (who is 26). I live in vancouver, Washington.
My brother's name is Ethan who is 10 years old. My 4 sisters' names are: Kristine, 26. Shaunna, 28. Erika, 30. LeAnne, 33. I love them all and they love me.
I am a Christian. Me and part of my family go to Hillcrest Chapel. It is an independant church.
My favorit verse in the bible is probably John 14:27: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let them be afraid.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! I hope you visit often. I have decided to make this blog a private one, because I feel that Blogspot is just to public. Someone could just stumble across your blog and start sending me junk. I suggest that for a password, you use your initials or part of your name.