Merry Christmas Update 2024

 

An actual blog post from the Wigtons 

coming in December!  Stay tuned!

Up, up and away!

Going up in a hot air balloon has never been something I thought we'd ever do.  When we arrived in Oregon, Ben made some connections at the airport that led to his becoming the new inspector and part-time mechanic for a local hot air balloon company (very part time second job).  So, this happened as a result.

I documented the whole process as it's not something most people do every day, and thought there might be someone interested.  First they tip the basket over and hook up the envelope (balloon).

Below is a picture of the top of a hot air balloon, it has a separate circular piece of fabric called the parachute that can be opened by the pilot to release the hot gases to descend.

On one side they are preparing for the lift.

 On the other, volunteers are filling the envelope with air (intermittently firing the heaters into it).

These two guys are hard to see, but they are running along as the envelope quickly raises up off the ground, helping it stand up more slowly.  It looked like fun.

 We all piled in (did I mention it was a 6:30am take-off?).

 Look up!

 ...and we're off!  They gave Phoebe a platform so she could see over the edge of the basket (she's not taller than her big sister quite yet).

 Beautiful Newberg, Oregon reminds me of England...

...only with mountains (see Mt. Hood).  We reached 2000 ft at our maximum elevation.

The landing was more than "bumpy", she told us to get into crash position, we hit a field, then stood up and watched as we slow motion bounced up then back to crash position for a second "THUNK!"  We hit the side of a ditch before finally landing.  Our pilot asked Ben and one other guy to get out and help move the basket.  You'll hear our pilot talk about whether the envelope would come down on something sharp like a sign or stake in the field.

Then everybody else got out of the basket, but the pilot asked me and the kids to stay in, we didn't expect to be tipped over!

Then, we were all invited to help roll up the envelope and to push out the air.

 Juni and Phoebe were thrown on top to help roll out the air

It all fit in this bag and loaded onto a trailer that also carried the basket.  We rode in the van that pulled it back to the air field.

Volunteers who sign up to launch and chase hot air balloons get a free pass to ride every seventh time they volunteer.  Seems like a fun retirement idea.  

They served us a fancy breakfast when we returned to the air field.  It was a memorable morning! 

I just have one question.  Why is it "a hot air balloon" and not "an hot air balloon"?   

February in Review

Some of our February highlights include driving East an hour an a half to the mountains to play in the snow in Sisters, OR...                                  

                                     
                                       

Sisters in Sisters!

From the top of the sledding part of the hill:

From the tippy top of the hill, about 5,500 feet:

 ...and driving an hour and a half West of us to get sea level to play at the beach the same week as our trip to visit snow in the mountains.

                                      
                                      

              (Some beach rocks, in case you were wondering)

                                      

                        February was also when Juni learned how to ride a bike in one day (oh glorious day!),

                                     

and Ben starting back to riding his bike to work (which he did from our rental home when we first got here, but hadn't since September after our move).  Now he rides to work any day it's not raining, which is about 50% of the time.  He was recently promoted to Avionics and Modifications Team Lead at Garmin AT Repair Station where he is also Chief Inspector.

We also decided it was time to get back to normal chores around the house.  The kids now help with dishes and laundry, set and clear the table, sweep the floor, and clean the bathrooms regularly in addition to keeping their own spaces clean.

Don't worry, they still play every afternoon after school with the neighbors and get to be kids.

As do we!  Here we are with our buddy, Gouda, the Guentner's Garden Center gorilla who lives close to our house.

This is the month that I pulled a tooth out with pliers for the first time.  Ezra had a loose molar that was bothering him, so we fixed that problem.  I'm also back to cutting Ezra's hair.  We aren't doing much besides school and playing right now, we're still getting grounded.

Here's some Oregon observations from February:

The tsunami-like cloud we saw one day.  We have seen three huge rainbows since arriving in OR.

The weather here is temperate ranging between 30-70 all Winter. I have NEVER in my life experienced such a warm February, most days are in the 50s or 60s.  It's finally raining consistently as we were told it would in Oregon.

THAT is why I see fast food places with covered outdoor seating.  The weather is moderate enough year round that as long as one is protected from the rain (and wearing a sweater), you could sit outside year round.  

We have a covered back porch and we didn't think much of it until others visited and said, "Oooh, that'll be nice in the winter!"  Yup!  Of course, it's fun to play in the rain too.

This is a tree near our home that I just love so much!  The kids laugh at me when I pull over to take pictures of things like this.  It's for you, my lovely dozen blog readers.  I do these crazy things for you, which makes me kinda crazy, I suppose, or is it you, for reading this?

Finally, I've been wanting to share the cars with you! They have normal cars here, but they also have a disproportionate number of old cars.  The reason?  No salt on the roads!  If it gets cold enough to snow, they use sand, but all the rain usually washes it away.  We love seeing old Slug Bugs and other vintage cars all over the place.

In the news, Oregon State Capital building has all fifty state flags outside it, or at least it usually does.  This week, it removed the Mississippi state flag from the circle of state flags after giving Mississippi fair warning that it needed to lose the bars and stars from it's flag or risk it being removed from our courtyard.  Mississippi was not apparently phased by Oregon's threat. 

This is the new invention that has Garmin employees talking as well as little ones in my family.  Evidently, we HAVE to save up for one.  I'm not so sure about that.

We love you, you crazy readers, you!  Thanks for visiting our little place in cyberspace!