We're up and running again!

Here we are, back in the blog-sphere. (is that even a word?) anyways, Joanna set this up so that any one of us can get on and fill you in on what we've been up to! cool, huh? this way Mandy can update from her home in OR, and Tiffany will be able to tune in from wherever she'll be from when she gets married in Dec.

Way to go, Jo!

So.. what are we up to? well, dad and the boys have been slammed with work. they were working days AND nights for a while... but things are looking up! (or slowing down) and help is on the way... (i.e... Nathan)

We broke ground for the house, after getting permits last week. It'll be about another month before we get any further, because the soil was incredibly wet... the backhoe sunk up to it's axles. But the operator has some mad skills, and he got it out. =] great job, Darrell! we really appreciate your help.

We also took down two pine trees in the front yard. (actually, Justin did it, mostly and Jack. Then other people helped get it all into a couple piles with all the firewood stacked)

Annndd... tomorrow we're going to the fair!! I'm excited about that! (I haven't been in like...a year!) =]

So, Joanna says that hopefully we'll be putting up some pictures soon...and I'm going to get to bed.

Goodnight, and God bless you all!

August 8, 2007

August 8, 2007

Home again!
After nearly two and a half weeks of vacation, it’s good to be home again! I always thought that vacations were supposed to be for rest and relaxation but it seems to be the opposite for us! Now that we’re back we can relax and recover from our vacation…
Pizza Night: For those of you who might be wondering, Pizza Night will resume next Friday, the 17th, at the usual time and place, in the usual manner…. For those of you who might not know what I’m talking about… YOU (and yes, I mean you) are invited to our house for homemade Pizza and fellowship on Friday the 17th of August. All you have to bring is yourself. Email us for details.
So, where was I? Oh yes… Let’s start with Saturday night, The Booher Family had their annual reunion concert. It was awesome to see three generations on stage, sharing the love of music that had been passed down to them by their grandparents and great-grandparents!

Mandy and Gabe, singing at the reunion concert

Guests began arriving Sunday afternoon…and Music camp began! With over 270 in attendance, mornings started at 5am for the kitchen crew (led by their fearless leader, Gabe Booher, and consisting of several of our very own Dortignac kids) and evenings went well into the next morning! Sleep was at a premium but food, fun and fellowship were very plentiful!

Apple turnovers!

Charity, helping

Justin and Merrie, after 'hand cubing' 15 lbs of cheese!

The day’s classes started at 9am and went into the early afternoon, then there was free time, and almost every night had some sort of activity! Monday night we heard the incredible Gimble family featuring Johnny Gimble on the fiddle, do a whole concert!

A late night run up to the local view point

Merrie's turning 'cowgirl' *shock*

Annie too!?

That's Alyssa!

A late wedding gift...'cold hard cash'. Yes, that's cash in a bottle of frozen water!!!

'Running sound' (Thanx to Paula for the picture!)

Dancing

The girls sing 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy' with Ben on the bass

We all enjoyed getting to know the incredibly talented Voetberg family better, learning each others names (first and middle!) during meal times…and challenging them to a game of basketball! ;-)

The Bball crew! Back row: Chris, Justin, Mom, Will, Dad, Jack, Joby, Elisha, Joe and Lisa Voetberg Middle row: Annie, Mandy, Merrie, Kaylee, Joanna, Annie, Liddy, Lilja and Brice Front row: Charity, Tucker, Rudy, Heidi, Vance, Alyssa, Trevor and Deter

And yes, I typed all of those from memory!

When Sunday morning rolled around, it was hard to say goodbye to everybody! Justin and Will headed straight home from the camp so that they could be at work on Monday and the rest of us went back to Gabe and Mandy’s house for a little R+R before the reception on Sunday.
The reception was a blessing, seeing old friends and meeting new ones, hearing the Boohers sing some more…cake is always a good thing too! :P
One more sleep and it was time to hit the road for home! The bus ran great again and we drove all the way thorough the night, arriving home at 3:30AM!
Looking forward to seeing some (or all!) of you at Pizza Night!

God Bless,

The Dortignac Family

“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12

July 29th 2007

July 29th

...one week later
I can’t believe it’s almost been a week!!
On Monday, most of the family stayed at the camp to help with clean-up…Then on Tuesday, we joined the extended Johnson family for their annual blueberry picking escapade! Ah, the taste of fresh blueberries right off the bush (or do you say, ‘tree’…maybe it’s ‘vine’?). Whatever it’s called, it sure was a fun experience! All said and done, we brought home over 180 lbs. of blueberries!

Big 'n ripe

Tons of Bluberries

No update is complete without a picture of Heidi!

Once the picking was done (in other words, we had more blueberries than we could use) the next item on the agenda was the annual river freeze…I mean, swim.
Wednesday was spent sorting, packaging and freezing blueberries (and peaches that had been picked previously).

Assembly line

Then we took a break and went shooting! I mean, how can you go to Oregon and not go shooting! Seems to be a tradition now.

Firing line

Get that bird!

Thursday: The K family was very gracious to invite us over to spend the afternoon/evening with them. After serving us lunch, we all piled into the bus and headed to the S’s ranch for a swim in their swimming hole…what we didn’t know at the time is that it would take 15 min. on 4-wheelers over rough trails to get there! That was a blast!

The 'swimming hole'

We all (ok, not ALL of us but most of us) enjoyed jumping off of the 25’ high rocks into the water.

Tiffany, taking the plunge!

Merrie!

Will, diving off the falls

Dad shows us how to do a 'Swan Dive'

After we had all sufficiently cooled off, we rode back to the ranch for a tour.

Becky drove the bus from the ranch house to the Elk ranch...and we all survived!

Hunters paradise

Face off!

Charity!

Smile!

Look at those racks!

Super Chick!

Friends

Alyssa!

That's my gorgeous mom!

Photographer

Friday found us helping with set-up for the Annual Booher Family Reunion Concert which was on Saturday. All in all, we’ve had a ton fun!
And that’s all you get for now…stay tuned for more adventures…
Blesssings!

The Dortignac Family

July 23rd 2007

July 23rd

On the road again!
I can’t believe it’s been one month since the wedding! Life in the D family settled back to ‘normal’ relatively quickly. With lots of help from our out-of-town labor force, ;-) clean-up was a cinch! Gabe and Mandy came back from the honeymoon in time to spend a nice relaxing 4th with us before they headed out to start their new home.
A week later, we packed up the bus and followed them. We left home Thursday night (9PM) and drove through the night. Praise the Lord for causing the bus to run perfectly! The only excitement on the way up happened around 3am when we were involved in a head-on collision at 70 MPH! Don’t worry, we won…
We arrived at Gabe and Mandy’s house right after lunchtime and enjoyed hanging out for a few hours and then we headed to Bend, Oregon for Camp Dwight!

The house is behind the trees

Charity on the bridge in the yard

The girls, making a peach cobbler!

For those of you who don’t know…Camp Dwight is a family camp for ALL ages (and there really are ALL ages in attendance). Once a year, for a weekend, people come from all over the states to enjoy a time of sweet fellowship with other believers! Starting Friday afternoon, the weekend is loaded with activities form good old fashioned camp meetings to volleyball…and everything in between! The best part about the camp is it’s completely free. If you want more information, send us an email.
…ok, I’m done with my commercial… Here are some pictures…

Looking down the hill toward the RV area

Back toward the hill the last shot was taken from...with the Slip-n-slide!

Trevor on the zip-line

Standing in line for the zip-line

Yep! That's mom!

Meeting time

Barn dancing

Lots of good food!

Serving line

Sunset

So that's the beginning of our vacation...we'll be here for two more weeks...one week of 'free time' and one week of music camp! Stay tuned for more...

Blesssings!

The Dortignac Family

July 16th 2007

July 16th

And we have...an update
We are currently~ doing the dishes. (Well, for the most part. ;) )
"We should've sang this song at Mandy's wedding! 'Well I'm gonna miss her, when I get home! Right now, I'm out on this lake shore...' ""Guys! I'm sweeping the floor!""This is how Jack shoots...""That's what I call bad reception.!""...This is how Justin shoots..."" 'There's a hole in my bucket Dear Lizza, Dear Lizza, There's a hole...' ""Is that the Jazz station?""Alyssa, get the dust pan!"" 'Well than fix it dear Willie, You silly, Dear Willie...' ""...This is how Jon does a lay up...""Is that the radio?""Yep.""...This is how Willie shoots..."hmmm.... :,

********************************

The dishes are done now. Someone successfully found the radio station they were looking for. The little kids have migerated to the front porch where they're having jumping contests. Mom and Dad are listening to music in their room. The sprinklers are running. The screen door just slammed. A cell phone is ringing. People are chillaxin'.(?) Mandy's married. Life has, for a couple of weeks -you might say- gotten back into the normal swing of -life. And tomorrow we're gonna start getting ready to spend a few weeks with Mandy and Gabe up in Oregon! Yahoo! ~Back to normal. I don't know why I said "normal" 'cause it's more like new -this swing of life- now that Mandy lives in Oregon. I'd say we'd probably die with out her if it weren't for free mobile to mobile, emails, and a supply of postage stamps! ;) Okay, we'd be sorely depressed. No, God is good and full of grace for us all! I shouldn't talk like that! ~We're very much looking forward to visiting her soon!
Well, that's what I've got guys. So, have a nice evening everyone! And don't forget to enjoy it! :)

~The Dortignacs

June 28th 2007

June 28th, 2007
Introducing #15, a boy!
Arriving around 5:30pm on Saturday the 23rd, with what everyone agreed was Mom's easiest delivery yet, Gabriel Owen Booher joined the family. At 6'3" he makes a record in height for new arrivals around here. We are all just as excited, (or maybe more) to gain the new brother as his family is to gain Mandy as a sister.

The newlyweded couple

Thank you all for coming to share in the most special day of our lives! We appreciate the time and effort each one of you put into being there.
A very special thank you goes out to our parents. Thank you for loving eachother, and for loving us! Thank you for teaching us in the ways of the Lord by your genuine examples. Thank you for all your encouragement and support through likfe. We love you Mom and Dad! Thank you to all of our wonderful bridesmaids and groomsmen. Thanks for being such true friends. You have each impacted us...(in a good way), and we are honored to have you standing with us today!
Thank You:Mr. and Mrs. Tim Lynch, for being our wedding coordinators, and so much more!Mr. Josiah Lynch, for dealing with the trash detail.Mr. and Mrs. Darrell Gramm for running the kitchen! And a big thank you to all of you others who were helping out there.Miss Aimee Weston, for making the wedding cake! And Mrs Meriwyn Thompson for doing the sheet cakes.Uncle Tim and Aunt Sarita for doing the photography! Also Miss Michelle Bracey, Mr Jeremy Naylor, Mr Philip Callis, Miss Eden Callis, and Mr John Fiala.Aunt Elieen, for the countless hours you spent making the bridesmaids dresses!Mrs. Nancy McIntire and Cristin, Miss Bethany Tiss, Mr. Nathan Weathers, Mr. Chris Dortignac, and Miss Annie Dortignac, for helping with the music.1st Jon Outhouse Rentals...yes, thank you...Mr. Paul deGrasse and Uncle Rick, for providing the sound system!Mr. Will Dortignac, Mr Ben Torkelson, Uncle Mike, Mr. Darrell Gramm Jr, Mr. John Naylor, Mr. Jon M-V, for doing the videography.Mrs. Nurys Nunns and crew for doing the doing the decorations, and the Pirelli family for providing most of them! Uncle Hardy and Aunt Sheri Laskey, for providing the wedding favors, and making the flower girl dresses! And more...All the flower crew. You guys did great for a first time!Mr. Parking Attendant, Flashlight Waving, Radio Carrying guy, and crew! We couldn't have done it without you!The list goes on and on, but the program doesn't.
We are so grateful to you for all your services, and thank you from the bottom of out hearts!Love,Gabe and Mandy
Our new address will be:Gabe and Mandy BooherP.O. Box 1969Redmond, OR 97756(541)588-6069Email us! gabeandmandy@inbox.com.

January 9th, 2007

January 9th, 2007

January 9th already!
Time sure can fly by. Yet some of the events from the past two months seem like they happened just last week.
Introducing a living room and a dorm trailer for the boys! These two improvements have made living in this house so much more workable and comfortable for us! We especially enjoy having a couch to sit on when we read the Bible in the mornings!

Here Gabe is taming the monkeys by singing to them.

Sorry, no picture of the boys dorm

trailer...yet...?
Having company has definitely been a highlight for us! Since the last update we've had company from OR, CO, AZ, PA, Northern CA and Taiwan, not to mention our dear friends who live locally, and who we enjoy seeing on more of a weekly basis! Very fun times!

Dad, captivating a bunch of young people

Our friends from AZ came by one Sunday and we stayed up until about 2 AM discussing scripture with them and playing volleyball and air soft wars.
Gabe Booher came by on his way back home. He stayed a few days and I think we only let him sleep a total of 6 hours. (Maybe a slight exageration). We went out to his sister's house one morning, arriving at 6 or 7. She served us all breakfast and we used their yard for shooting! That was a "blast!" Amazing hospitality by the Thompsons! (Thanks guys!)

The best shooting range in So Cal! ;)

Go buddy! Shoot dat thang.

We got together with some friends from Taiwan in December. The Suns, and Aunty Christina and Minna got a real kick out of shooting guns for the first time, and we got a kick out of watching them!
The Currans family came and stayed with us for a few days and we had a fun, jam packed time surfing, contra-dancing, going to a tea party, visiting Trader Joes, touring the dump/transfer station, cooking, eating, reading, singing and just visiting together!

All of us girls in one shot!!

L to R, Heidi, Hannah, Kaylee, Hillary and Tiffany

Dad and Mr. Currans heading out to sea

Yeehaw! (Hey Currans, don't forget to come back to practice!)

Wid Lyman was here from Pennsylvania last week. He drove his big orange rig, which really is beautiful no matter what you might think! It was great seeing him again! We met the Lymans in OK, and Wid used to come over every afternoon to spend his free time painting with us. They are very generous, kind hearted people!
Can't get the picture yet, it's on somebody elses computer
The Johnson family from Oregon didn't stay with us but they came over 3 times and we were glad to see them! If you ever need some energy just look at them and you'll feel rejuvinated. :-) We wish they didn't have to move up to Oregon. They are missed by everyone down here.
Some of the highlights from this month besides seeing out of town company...
At the beginning of December Dad and Justin flew to Minnesota to take a class in granite installation. Justin did his first granite job shortly after that! Having an in-house granite installer will be a huge help to the business since we can at least speak the same language and know where our granite guy is if he doesn't show up.
We celebrated several birthdays in December. Trevor shared a party with Sean Bracey. We all met at the park to go frisbee golfing and then we went to the Bracey's house for dinner. That was a memorable party, we're still enjoying the discs that the Bracey's gave to everyone who played!

The birthday boys

Waiting to surprise Sean

No, Chris, no! Don't jump!!! It's just a frisbee.

For the girl's birthdays in December we all went ice skating and then spent the rest of the evening playing games. I think we've gone to more parties this month than ever before.

Playing Mennonite Manners

I think these guys have some issues

On Christmas eve we had a special evening service where every family who came had to share something. Afterward we shared refreshments and volleyball, and appreciated the fire pit that Jim F. left at our house several weeks ago. In fact, we've been using it at least once a week...

Go little Dortignacs!

Christmas day, Dad, Will and Mandy started early and headed out to the beach. Mandy took pictures while Dad surfed and Will used his fins and boogie board. After a big breakfast at home we wandered over to Papa and Grandma's house to visit, and then headed to Uncle Mike and Aunt Nancy's house, where Dad's side of the family was, to visit some more and eat. We were really happy to see Great Grandma O'Malley! She looked amazing on her 93rd birthday! That evening we visited Pastor Sam to wish him a happy birthday too. (He and Grandma share a birthday.) We sat around in his room and sang for about an hour. All in all it was a great way to spend the day!

Papa!

Tiffany, Dad and G.G. O'malley

Dad turned 50! We had a small party of about 60 people on his birthday, which was the day after Christmas. Dad finally broke down and got a short board and after 3 days of being pounded around in the surf he was able to stand up! Persistance paid off! He hasn't been surfing since... ;-)

On December 29th we went to the Creighton's Christmas ball. We were glad we had some

practice at dancing before hand.

Um, doesn't look too graceful there

On New Year's Eve we had a spur of the moment pizza night that lasted well into the new year. Most of us kids stayed up and went straight to the Rose parade to view the floats before it started. We met with a bunch of friends first to carpool down there, and then went back to our friend's house for a big huge breakfast and a great game of football afterward. Around 2:00 PM a few of us were more than ready for bed so we headed home, but the die hards stayed on and watched their first college football game and ended up going 38 hours without sleeping since we all had to visit and talk about the weekend when they got home.

Most of the group at the Rose Parade

Singing to keep warm drew quite an audience

This week Chris and Justin are up in Lone Pine, somewhere up by Mammoth, doing an electrical controls job. Everyone at home is kind of wandering around missing them. JK! It's not quite that bad! They are missed, but our schedule is keeping us so busy we don't have much time to sit around and cry in their absence.
Last Sunday we were all encouraged to catch a vision, set some goals and move forward. "Where there is no vision the people perish..." Proverbs 29:18 It's amazing to see it play out in daily living... Set some goals and take the first steps, the rest follows through kind of the same way a car will go where you steer it much easier once you get it moving.

Hope you all have a Happy New Year!