Red Curls

New Camera!

After years of drooling, Sean and I finally took the plunge and bought a nicer camera. We got a Nikon D5100, and so far, I love it! I still have a LOT to learn, but I love a fun challenge! Here are some of the pictures I've taken... someday, I'll figure out how to match up the right lens, shutter speed, f-stop, ISO, as well as focus and composure to take great photos! But I have the most adorable test subjects that let me practice until my heart is content!

Seaside

Grandma and Grandpa Richardson (my mom's mom and step-dad), along with Aunt Debbie (mom's sister) and my cousin Lisa are in Seaside for the week on vacation. With it only being a little over an hour, we had to go see them! They live in Provo so we don't get to see them nearly as often as we'd like. 

Today was the 75th anniversary of the Seaside Aquarium, which means adults all got in for 15 cents, and kids for 10 cents! It was a teeny aquarium, but the kids loved it. And you can't beat the price!

Brayden warmed up to Grandpa right away!

 Everett had a blast looking at all of the creatures, saying "whoa!" or "wowww" over and over. He's so adorable!

 Cousin Lisa showing Asher the starfish

I put this picture in here so you could see the sky. Look! It's blue! It was a GORGEOUS day to be at the coast!

This is a random brick door we walked past. I thought it was too funny, so we took a picture :)

They are staying in the Worldmark Resort in Seaside, where they had heated pools! So even though we were right on the sand, we got to swim in warm water. It was fantastic!

Everett loved it, even though this picture doesn't really show that.

The kids had a blast splashing around in the kiddie pool and did not want to get out!

It wore them out. Within minutes of getting back inside, they were both almost asleep on the couch.

It was so fun to visit with everyone for a little while, and to have an amazing day on the coast! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for letting us come and play!

And, I was so very grateful that we were heading back towards Portland at 4:30 pm on the Friday before Memorial Day, than towards the Coast. Whoa, buddy. It is going to be crazy over there this weekend!

Fountains

Camping

Sean took Brayden and Asher camping last weekend up at Tim and Danika's property in North Plains. They had SO much fun! They can't wait to go again. They loved having s'mores for breakfast!

Bike Ride

Last time we were in Enumclaw, Daddy, Sean, Quinn and I went on a bike ride. We biked to Deep Lake where Mom and Will were running. It was a BEAUTIFUL morning and perfect for the ride!

CERT

Horrible picture, but this is a pic of me that was taken at the event

(This post is for you, Uncle Rick!)

A few months back I signed up to be on Beaverton's Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). There was an 8 week (22 hour) course that I had to complete, but now I am a certified CERT member! The purpose of CERT is to teach members of the community how to be beneficial in times of crisis. Earthquake, volcano, terrorist attack, etc. There are 10,000 people in Beaverton, and only 900 cops/firemen/EMTs. There are over 1,000 CERT members and we are trained (lightly but efficiently) in search and rescue, triage, cribbing (lifting heavy walls using levers and fulcrums), and fire extinguishing, among other things. 

This past Saturday was CERT Mayday. 200 CERT volunteers all showed up at the Tualatin Valley Fire Training Facility in Sherwood where we participated in a 6.5 hour long drill. There were dozens of victims dressed in full moulage and the entire day we got to practice how we would respond in a real life crisis. (The scenario was that a gas main exploded and an entire neighborhood, including an apartment building was on fire.) As a Ham Radio Operator, I got to be on the Communications Team. I got to work with medical first, then search and rescue (SAR). I was on SAR Team 3, and my job was to communicate with the SAR Command Team back at the Incident Command Center (or Headquarters). It is through this communication that our team knows what we are to do next, and to relay the information back (house on fire, 4 victims in critical condition, etc) so they can send us more resources if we need it. 

Funny story: when I was talking on the radio I'd say "SAR 3 to SAR Command" and "Affirmative SAR Command". I felt like I was talking to Buzz Lightyear!

On our lunch break, a life flight helicoptetor came and landed. We got to hear how we can be beneficial to the Life Flight crew if they ever came and landed where we were helping out. We got to look inside the chopper and see how the gurney worked. It was so cool!

At the end of the day, I was the team lead for a group of 14. Our task was to rescue a victim (a fire hose in the shape of a human) that was crushed under a cement wall, and another wall had fallen on top of that.  We used levers, fulcrums, metal rods, and scrap wood. We built scaffolding at the end of the wall, very carefully lifted the first slab and using the metal rods, rolled it down the scaffolding. It was a long and grueling process but it was so satisfying to successfully lead a team of 14 people that were all at least 10 years older than me. 

At the debrief afterwards, (brag moment that I don't want to forget, so forgive me!) we were talking about how the day went. The guys that were in charge were up front mentioning what went well, and what didn't go so well. The head guy was talking and he said "Kimberly, where are you?" I raised my hand and referring to something earlier in the day he said "I was so impressed when you and how you handled that. Good job for stepping up to the plate when you felt it wasn't being handled well." He continued to praise me for a minute or two, then went on to praise other teams. But to be the only individual picked out of the crowd made me feel pretty good! 

I love being a CERT volunteer, and being able to help out in the community. Even if it's just volunteering to monitor a public event like a parade or an event at the Library, I love feeling like I can actively help my community. Even more importantly, if/when a natural disaster does occur, I hope I can use my skills to make a difference in my home, and my neighborhood. I definitely couldn't do this without the support of my family, and I am SO blessed that Sean and my boys are so happy to support me in this new found hobby of mine!