Silver Creek Falls

Well, okay I guess the creek wasn't exactly silver...

But after an hour and half ride on a 107 degree day in an 16 year old car...with no air-conditioning...(how hot does a car get on a 107 degree day?)...the water was very inviting for the kids..and we brought squirt guns to add to the festivities.



It was a sibling reunion...including my brother Tony and his family, sister Mary and her family...and even my Step sister Sabrina and her family were here from England. Even though I was so dazed from the heat I could barely put words together, ....it was nice to see everyone.

Despite assurances to the opposite, the car was hotter on the ride back....but the children were soaking wet which probably saved them...as the minivan only has opening windows on the front 2 doors. Markie and I closed these windows most of the way...because the wind was so harshly hot....it felt like a feverish dream.

Tony and Beth and Beautiful Cousin Kids!

Any mention of "rocket fuel" will captivate the attention of a teenage boy with a pulse...But Uncle Tony's chemical and mathematical explanations punctuating his narratives and description of work at NASA......were jaw dropping and vista expanding for Mark and Kevin Adams as they huddled infront of the swamp cooler fan and talked about propulsion accounting, and the chemical nature of rocket fuel.

Gabriel and Abraham played several rounds of Star Wars Pocket Models, while the little girls played dolls. Squirt gun fight, and even a pillow fight broke out as the kids played on and on. Jason and Kevin and I accompanied Gabriel on one of his fiddle tunes...that he will be using at a contest this weekend, and all of the kids got to play together on Suzuki tunes, and share their favorite tunes to wild applause. Aunt Beth and Uncle Tony have done an amazing job with their beautiful children...they are delightful, fun loving kids.
I remember those early Suzuki days, and what a challenge and commitment it is to work musically with children almost every day. Both Ezra and Abraham are amazing developing musicians and great kids.

Isaaiah had a great supportive crowd to encourage her at her yellow belt pre-test, which she passed and Tony got to ride in the electric car with Mark as we headed out and back to and from that test in SE Portland.

Markie started a fire (I still call him Markie)...in the fire pit and Mark barbecued delicious chicken. We also had a garden grown salad. The kids played poking sticks into the fire while Uncle Tony posed chemical puzzlers to the delight of the older boys.....and explained the chemical nature of fire. (I should have video taped that)...Kevin later commented that he had no idea that fire had such a "back story".

Fun at Bryce and Summer's House!

This amazing photo was taken by Bryce Hansen....and he has other amazing photos. Gabriel and Isaaiah had a super fun sleep over at Bryce and Summer's house and then the whole family was invited to a barbecue and stargazing by the fire on Saturday night. As you can see, everyone had fun on the trampoline, eating yummy food, caring for baby goats and playing hide and seek in the dark.



A note about the slideshow, it was made at Photobucket, then the "html" code was copied to the "html" page on the blog post....BUT!!! I had to add the "end tag"...don't know why, but they don't include that in the "html" sometimes...so the first part of the html goes : < embed ....blah blah blah....so the end tag (usually missing completely)must go < / embed > (but no spaces). If you don't edit this....it tends to throw off the format of the whole page...causing your side bar to sink to the bottom.
So whatever word is after the <...at the beginning of the html...That same word must be at the end with the brackets and forward slash...as shown < / embed > (but no spaces) like this.

Fiddle Videos from the Open Contest 2009

Here are a bunch of interesting videos from the main contest...later I want to put up the swing round....

This is Wyatt Maw , playing Flatbush


Tristan Clarridge playing Shuckin' the Bush, Velvet's Waltz, Crafton's Blues


This is Jesse Wyatt...Shuckin the Bush


Tristan Playing AppleBlossom, Golden Fiddle, Hot Foot




Chestnut Waltz....the kids are learning this one strictly by ear..


Tiiti's Polka apparantly


Andrew Wilson! Velvet's Waltz, Swing 42


I record many things that I don't recognize the name of...so that we can learn tunes that aren't as common...this is a cool hoedown that I don't know the name of.


Alex Depue - Leather Britches...I recorded this because Gabriel used to play this tune on his very first contests...this might be a harder version who knows.


Alex Hargraves ...from Corvallis Oregon


Tashina Clarridge

Wedding Waltz?:


Buddy! playing Grey Eagle, and a waltz and Me and My Fiddle....


Tashina...I think this might be The Wedding Waltz...which Tristan played Cross Tuned last year (look for the video with the 2007 Weiser videos)