Westmoreland Asays

View of Wilhelm Mortuary from the trail I recently lamented to Meg about my dis-like of having church at 1:00 p.m., because it's difficult to do anything significant either before or after our meetings, and how I wish the weather was better last Sunday (because I didn't have extra meetings, due to my status of single-parentness ) so we could have gone on a family hike in nearby Oaks Bottom, as the trail was recently reopened after Mother Nature damaged its usefulness last spring. My brain fails to process from time-to-time, but thankfully Meg was actually home and able to suggest that I take the kids right now, as the sun had just come out and we were home early (Stake Conference was done by noon). Aaron and Ian enlisted to the cause, and we set off on the short trip via bike. Ian, Warrior Ian has been riding his balance bike for nearly two years now, and he has mastered the act. But as he was leading us down the steep hill to Oaks Bottom, he started wobbling, lost co...

Ian catching some air in Sellwood Valentine's Day came and went like never before. I came home from the office to see my wife +Megan Asay  walk out the door, luggage in tow, to the bus stop, which would take her to the train station, which would take her to Seattle to spend some time with her girly friends.This left the four boys home to fend for ourselves, which is actually simpler than it might seem, as I'm not of those incompetent, bumbling dads portrayed on television (my favorite: Hal, from Malcom in the Middle , although I feel a lot of sympathy for him). My flamboyant feet After taking the older two to school by bicycle on Friday morning, Ian and I met a former co-worker at Grand Central Bakery in Sellwood. I expected to find a quiet hangout, but it was overflowing with people and noise. I guess everyone else in the neighborhood was taking a vacation day, too. We hung out there for a while before breaking free and walking the neighborhood and soaking up the...

My wife decided to leave me alone on my birthday (as in alone with all the kids), so we celebrated a week in advance. She even let me decide what we would do. Most of you probably guessed roller skating and Japanese food--my life is an open book. I picked a restaurant in downtown Portland based solely on the fact that they serve okonomiyaki, the dish I cherish the most from Japan (it would require forever and a day to explain). And because I called an hour beforehand to reserve a seat, they let us sit in a special section that barred shoes and let us sit on the raised floor (sadly, no tatami mats). Meg cheated on Saburo's by ordering smoked salmon sushi. She should have known better, but after one bite she noted that her salmon was raw. I tried it and it was surely smoked salmon. It was also much rawer than she preferred, so I disposed of that cold, nasty fish for her. The okonomiyaki was nothing like I remember it from my halcyon days in Japan, but it was probably worth going...