Ethan Brady Staples

Well little Ethan has finally made his appearance in the world! He made his arrival around 4:20 p.m. on 6/19/08. He is 8 lbs. 11 oz. and he is 20 1/2 in. long.

Brad waiting patiently

my nephew
dad showing him to mom
the fam!

Portland Headlight

Well yesterday I decided to take a break from applying to jobs and take my friend Sarah out for the day! It worked out for our friends Sharon and Erin to come along as well. The weather had been saying it would be cool, but sunny so we decided to head to the Portland Headlight or some know it as Cape Elizabeth. The sun never did come out, but at least it didn't rain. We had a great day walking around and taking pictures. The Portland Headlight was a fort along the coast for defense. Unfortunately between being on the ocean and the enduring the harsh winters they don't preserve that well. And for some reason many people can't seem to have respect for our history and have done quite a bit of spray painting on the remains of the fort. The Goddard mansion sets a little off fromt the shore, but is now fenced off since the remains are unsafe to walk around under.
The lighthouse here is the most photographed lighthouse in the world and is actually the lighthouse in my header for my blog. Which reminds me, thanks Greg, for taking the time to make that for me. I appreciate it. Enjoy the pics!

Memorial Weekend

For Memorial Weekend I had the priviledge of going to my favorite place in the world!!! Most people don't believe me, but the few that I have managed to get to camp at Madagascal always want to go back for more. I've never been to a more peaceful place in all my life and I'm hoping for many more weekends there this summer!
This weekend was mostly for cleaning. All the neighbors were up, but we didn't have much time for catching up. We made it to camp friday evening and vaccuumed enough of the camp so that we could sleep there. Saturday Dad and Bern built bunkbeds in the bunkhouse while mom cleaned the rest of the main cabin. I was sent out for groceries and somehow Bern talked me into doing his laundry.
I was able to get quite a bit of pleasure reading done! In the evenings Bern and I would enjoy a game then we would all hit the hay! Usually we would have a campfire going, but it is still pretty early in the summer and it was freezing cold and the blackflies were so thick we weren't able to spend much time outside. Sunday we attended Lee Baptist Church with our grandparents and then my cousin Sean came out for the afternoon. It was his 19th birthday! Bern and I took Sean for a canoe ride where Sean enjoyed scaring me every now and then by rocking the boat! The water was extremely cold and I had no desire to go in.
Monday Dad and I cleaned out the loft! We took down the old mattresses and holders. They had been up there since the camp was built and they were extremely heavy!!! I'm not sure what they were made of but I'm thankful for the way mattresses are made today! Nan and Gramp along with Aunt Bobbie came in for our last dinner at camp before we left. It was a lot of fun. Gramp challenged me to a game of cribbage and trimmed me good at the end! I'm sorry I do not have any pictures at this time. I took all of them with Bern's camera and so I do not have the memory card.