Family Camp Out

Last Weekend we went on a family camp out with the boy scouts at Camp Clark. This is Scott in the kitchen with Kyle to the left and Will to the right of him (The Pirates). They were in charge of cooking dinner Saturday night. There was maybe 30 people total at the camp out. Saturday evening we all performed skits. Scott performed one with the Pirates. Westen and I perfomed a skit with Kate. Kate had a blast performing a skit of a little girl crying over her lost teddy bear.
The camp out began on Friday evening but we didn't arrive till Saturday.
Scott and Westen ran 7 miles Saturday morning and then Westen and I visited the Cooking Light Fit House in Wilsonville before heading out to Camp Clark.
Camp Clark is close to Tillamook off of the coast. It is boyscout property. Kate had a blast playing on the beach. Kate, Westen, and I stayed in platform tents that were already on the site. Scott slept in the main building with the other members of his patrol. The weather was in the mid 60s for the weekend and we were lucky it didn't rain on us.

On Sunday Westen went hiking with the boys to a tree fort. Kate and I stayed back at the beach. Then the boys scrambled up a rock face. Where he could see fantastic views of the ocean and beach.

We returned Sunday afternoon after we stopped at Tillamook for Ice cream. Kate, Scott, and I all fell asleep on the way home.

Weekend update by Avi

We had a beautiful hot weekend with temperatures up to 97 degrees on Friday and Saturday!
Saturday I ran with girls from my running group for 5 miles, and Scott and Westen ran 8 miles! Scott is training for a half marathon in June with a team from Wilsonville High School. They ran 8 miles, their longest distance so far, In 80 degree weather!

Saturday afternoon we got a way from the heat in an air conditioned building after finding an obscure toy museum made up of one man's enormous collection. You could harldy find it except for a little sign on a side door of a building. The sign said " open 12 - 6 Monday through Friday or by chance." We got in by chance:) It had toys from the 1800s on. It was very interesting, Kate enjoyed playing I spy, and best of all it was free. My mom would love the place! Later that day we went to a 40th Birthday party for a friend from my running group at big park in Portland. It was a huge party with 80 people. We missed the bike portion of the event but enjoyed big park and playing games. We were happy to discover another great Portland park.

Sunday we drove to Silver Falls, about a 45 minute drive from Wilsonville and spent the afternoon there. It was very crowed! We went on a 2.5 mile hike with Kate where we got to see and go under two of the State Parks 10 waterfalls. Kate did pretty good hiking it although we were moving at a very slow speed. Afterwards Westen, Scott, and Kate cooled off with water guns filled up from the river.

Today Westen went to work at Apcon as an official employee! We are all very happy he got the job. I have quit my job and get to stay home with Kate and Scott this summer:)

GOT THE JOB!!

Just got the offer letter. Probably start next week some time.
Yippee!!

2nd Job Interview

Had my second job interview at Apcon today (for a different position with in the company). It went really well. I feel like I expressed my knowledge of the subject well and portrayed myself with enough confidence show I know what I'm doing but not so much that I appear arrogant.

I'm contracting there again Wednesday and I hope to fine out more about the outcome of the interview at that time.

4/8/08 Weekend update

We had a very nice visit with Debra and Rose last Thursday and Friday. They drove from their home in Tacoma to come visit with us. Rose and Scott got along great. Rose does beutiful skethces that she brought to show and Kate had a wonderful time drawing with her and Debra. Kate loved the attention. Westen and I really enjoyed visiting with Debra. Kate and I went to a tulip festival on Saturday in Woodburn. A 25 minute country drive from WilsonvilleThe weather was cold and wet but Kate had a really good time! The tulips, from what I here were pretty wimpy this year compared to previous years. You can't really see from this picture but there were rows and rows of them. Sunday April 6th was my Dad's birthday. Happy Birthday Dad! He and my sister will be going to Bermuda the end of this month.

Day on the job

I work all day today at Apcon. I worked as a one day contractor for both the company and I to get a feel for each other. The job was interesting and the people were friendly and helpful. I did the job well and believe they appreciated my skills. I have to wait about two weeks for them to finalize there hiring process.

Earth Hour

In observation of Earth Hour we turned off the breaker to the house for an hour from 8 to 9 PM. We played hide and go seek and told ghost stories. I’ve attached a picture of the family being silly, I’m sure it will make you laugh :)

Westen's Job Interview

So now that Avi told everyone about my job interview this blog seams like the appropriate place to transmit my story as apposed to a mass emailing.

The job: I applied for a job at Apcon. It's a manufacturer and distributor of physical layered switches used in test beds and enterprise level computer networks. The position I applied for was Web Developer.

The Interview: I had the interview yesterday and it went well. One of the down sides to being quick to respond is I was the first person interviewed and I have to wait till they finish interviewing before I here back from them and hope I'm not forgotten while I wait. It was not a technical interview so the questions were more describing myself and my skills which I prefer over answering technical questions as that seams to just turn into a game of trivia and doesn't accurately portray how I would be in the position. I felt I connected fairly well with the three interviewers. There body language indicated they were happy with me and would probably hire me if on one else applied and seamed more qualified. One of the interviewer said there is lots of entry-level and senior-level talent in the Portland area but not very many mid-level developers so it sound like I have a good shot at the position. My next step is to draft a thank you letter and deliver it to them some time next week.

Thanks to everyone for the happy thoughts.
-Westen