Now that school and the crazy moving of Stephanie's internships are done we found ourselves with out a house to call our own, since we had previously sold our Hillsboro, OR house. Well time to look for a new home but WOW there are some crazy real estate times and a pretty bad time to buy a house. We started looking through the internet and print publications and quickly found that houses were being sold within a week for quite a bit more money than we would have anticipated. God did bless with a spectacular house a couple of weeks after we started looking. We decided one Sunday to look through the paper for homes and found one that seemed too good to be true. We called and it was actually still available so we called and set up a meeting. It was amazing and we submitted a contract that evening which was accepted. After a pretty unplesant loan experience we managed to hold the mortgage broker's hand and get everything signed.
 
We now own an amazing house in Battle Ground, Washington. Our new place is 1850 sq feet and has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. The house has a two car garage, mud room, wet bar, many covered overhangs (perfect for SW Washington's winters), and two fire places. The kitchen and most of living area have been updated in the last couple of years and are great. The family room really had seen better days so we are now busy getting that into shape. The house also has a 20x40ft inground swimming pool with a diving board, a Cal Spa Hot Tub, a 8 person Sauna room, and an amazing 20x40 shop perfect for Richard's woodworking. The propety also has a U-Dig-Arborvitae farm on the back of the 1 acre lot and a wonderfully taken care of yard. All this means a TON of upkeep but also that we can entertain and really have a great time there. It was the only house we had looked at that we could see ourselves living in and we are blessed to have been able to buy it. Here is a satellite photo of our house with some of the items pointed out. It is a little blurry but hey since we don't own the satellite I can't realy complain. We will try to get some pictures of the place up on our Sipe Family Photo Gallery soon.

The optometry boards people really love to string you along .... but we got the results a little while ago and she passed her last set of national and her state boards with flying colors! Her licenses are being sent out and she is already lining up fill in days to work for other OD's in the Portland, OR metro area. She hasn't found a full time position yet but is having pretty good luck finding fill-in work.

Well, graduation is over and Stephanie is now Dr. Stephanie Sipe, OD! Graduation was a bit rainy but we wouldn't expect anything else from the Portland, OR area during this time of year. Graduation went really well and we were so proud of her. Richard and Stephanie's families were both there and it was a long but fun day. We got some great Stephanie Graduation Pictures which can be found on the pictures section of our website. She will be taking some time off to enjoy being done with 4 years of Optometry school and look for a OD position in the Vancouver, WA, Portland, OR metro area.

This past weekend Stephanie finished her LAST set of National Optometry Boards and her Oregon State Optometry Boards in Fullerton, CA at the Southern California College of Optometry. If everything comes out like we think she will have passed both and they will be her last set of boards! We have three weeks left in Fresno and then she will be DONE with school too. Her graduation is in May but we won't know about the last set of boards scores until June. Then, if she passes, she will get her license in July or August and officially be Dr. Sipe. Thanks for all your support during her 4 years of schooling.

We had a great weekend with my sister Carmen at the Mojave National Preserve. We drove there from Fresno, about 6 hours, on Friday night and arrived around 11:30PM. Carmen drove from The Grand Canyon and had just arrived when we got there. We camped at the Hole-in-the-Wall campground. It is a really nice campground in the desert with potable water and nice sized sites. There are no showers or flush toilets but this is the Mojave desert remember. It has been a very wet year in the desert so the flowers were blooming and there were lots of signs of some pretty heavy rains. All of the washes had been cleared out and you could see where the water had run off the road. I guess the desert is so dry that it doesn't absorb hardly any water even when it rains so they get flooding pretty easily. We were up about 4000ft and it was COLD at night, around 35 with a very blustery 20-35 mph wind. Not what we expected for the desert. We spend Saturday roaming around the Joshua Tree Forest and seeing the sites. Sunday we packed up and went to try and find a waterfall they said might be running. We did find a stream which was crazy to see in the desert and Sunshine really enjoyed but the wash was too overgrown because of the rains. We decided to sit down and relax on a large rock for lunch and enjoy the day. You can view pictures of our Mojave Desert Trip if you want to get a better idea of our desert trip.

Hmmm. Here we are in Fresno, CA for Stephanie's last Optometry rotation. We just finished setting up our Eagle Crest Vacation Rental near Redmond, Oregon and here we sit 12 hours away in central California. California might sound pretty nifty but we are not impressed. I would much much rather be in the Portland, OR area any day. California is just NUTTY. There are stupid laws for everything and these dumb "This ____ is known to the state of California to cause cancer" signs everywhere you look. Everything down here seems to be ALL about image. Everybody has to look perfect and drive the nicest cars with all of these expensive rims and paint jobs. Their clothes are all designer and they must use more hair dye per capita than any where on earth! Steph and I have enjoyed going to Yosemite and geocaching so there are a few saving things. The allergy season has been nuts down here so I am barely surviving thanks to my allergy meds. For pictures of what we have been doing here visit The Sipe Family Photo Gallery. Steph is heading to the NORA (Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association, International) conference in chilly Chicago in a few days so Sunshine (our Labrador Puppy) and I will be here all alone. We are counting down the days until we can head back up north and see the family.

We are so excited. Our Eagle Crest Chalet will be completed on Feb 18, 2005 ahead of schedule! Our builder, Sun Forest Construction, has been great and we are very happy with the Chalet. For pictures of the chalet check out our photo gallery or go to our Eagle Crest Vacation Rental Website. We have been busy getting all of the utilities turned on and the hot tub heated and ready to enjoy! We already have some renters booked for July and would love to have our friends and family stop by to enjoy the place. Don't let it sit empty when you could be enjoying it. If you would like to book the chalet just give Richard a call at 360.903.7141. We will be spending the week from Feb 14 - Feb 19 down there setting everything up and would love some help .

YEAH! YEAH! Stephanie passed boards with flying colors This one was a tough experience because it was packed with pharmaceutical drug questions and interactions. Now she has one set of boards left this year. Her last set of Boards is actually a test of her Optometric skills and she will do great!

WOW! What a horrible time to have to drive across the pass to Eagle Crest. While we were at dinner it started to snow in Vancouver and we knew that things were not going to be great for our drive. Why are we driving at the worst possible time across Mt. Hood pass to Redmond, OR? We have to pick out a new carpet color at the builder supply company and if we delay any longer then it will delay the finishing of our chalet and we don't want that. So here we are at 10pm driving the 3 hour trip to Eagle Crest. Things were not too bad until we got over the pass. We got stuck behind a couple of slow moving semi's and made the harrowing pass in the dark. The road looked like it could be icy but it also looked like it could be not so we were careful anyway's. Turns out when we tried to stop for a break we realized that it was so icy that we couldn't stop! We saw a couple of trucks in the ditch. Turns out they had three days of freezing rain before we drove down there. We made it down there OK and checked into our room in La Quinta. We love the La Quinta hotels because they are very pet friendly, nice, and reasonably priced. We picked out our carpet (it will look great) and made our way over to check on our Eagle Crest Chalet. For pictures of the chalet check out our photo gallery or go to our Eagle Crest Vacation Rental Website. Construction on the Chalet is going along great and we are excited to move in.

Every year Steph, Carmen, Mom and Dad Sipe spend the weekend closest to Christmas at a snowshoeing cabin on the Tilly Jane trail on Mt. Hood, Oregon. This year Christmas Eve was Friday and Christmas was Saturday so we spent Christmas on the mountain. We hiked up Christmas Eve but alas it was a hike and not a showshoe because this is a non-existant snow year. It was even worse than hiking on the dirt because the trail was covered with 2 inches of ice. Steph and Dad both fell on the way up the hill and it was quite a trip. The cabin was as wonderful as ever and we had a blast. This was Sunshine's first trip and she really really enjoyed it. She would have liked more snow but so would we. We had a great Christmas Eve service in the cabin complete with communion and bullitens and lots of bible reading and hymns. On Christmas we took a walk up to the Cloud Cap Cabin and on up a bit. It was the least amount of snow we have ever seen up there, there was even dry pavement! We got some great photos, check out the photo gallery. It did end up snowing on Christmas evening so we had a white Christmas. The snow was a blessing and made for a nicer trip down the mountain because the ice now was a little covered. Another great year on Mt. Hood and we look forward to many more.

Just when we thought it was safe, Stephanie had her second round of Optomerty boards. These aren't quite so killer as the first but they were still a very stressful experience. Two days of testing in Hillsboro, OR. This time the test is more over optometric drugs and treatment so it isn't so difficult for Steph. She survived and now we just wait a couple of months to see the results.

We just purchased a home in the Eagle Crest Resort in Oregon (About 3 miles west of Redmond, OR). We really just purchased a plot of land and a plan for a house but in March 2005 it will be a house. This is an investment we have made and we are hoping to be able to manage it ourselves and rent it out to vacation renters. The house is a beautiful chalet that sits on the 9th hole of the Ridge Golf Course. It is 3 bedroom, 2 bath and 1488 sq. ft. It has a huge deck with a very large hot tub on it and a detached two car garage. There is a large master bedroom and a loft that overlooks the living room. It is our Eagle Crest Getaway! Eagle Crest is an amazing resort with tons to do and we are excited to have a house there. Everything in the house (including the house its self) is new and top of the line and we are looking forward to being able to provide our guests with a great vacation.

Its good to be home! We have enjoyed our time on the Islands but it is nice to be back in Washington. We have missed our friends and family and our puppy, Sunshine. We didn't get to rest long, though, because I had to drive up northeast of Seattle and attend a National Ski Patrol OEC refresher. Urgh. Right from 85 degrees to 25 degrees in an instant. We did learn, though, that the La Quinta hotels are a great place to stay with pets. We had Sunshine and there was no extra fee and almost everybody on our floor had a dog :) (you find these things out when you walk down the hall and the other dogs bark).

My parents are here and they are loving it. We have been to almost every sunset and my dad has taken hundreds of pictures, just check out the Sipe Family picture gallery to see! Mom and Dad Sipe and Steph went to go see the Audubon Bird Sanctuary near Waimea Bay, about ten minutes away from us and had a blast! It was their best time while on the island and they got to see tons of different plants and animals and just a beautiful place that really looks like what you would think is Hawaii. We did get one big adventure, although it wasn't a stay in the Kahuku Emergency Room, it was still fun ... We went very early in the morning to the Hanauma Bay bay preserve to go snorkeling (another must do when you are in Oahu) and I left the lights on. :( The car doesn't have a dinger so when we got done the car was dead. A very nice employee helped me jump the car and we were on our way to go climb Diamond Head Crater. But, when we got there and turned off the car it wouldn't start again. We did the hike and then tried to get someone to jump us but people were not very helpful. We got one jump-start but the car soon died... Then a very very helpful guy in a red Jeep Grand Cherokee (thank you sir so much where ever you are) gave us a jump and then when we stalled a little bit down the road, gave us another jump. From then on I learned that I couldn't let the car go to idle so I had to keep one foot on the accelerator and one on the brake. Well once we hopped on H1 (one of the 3 interstates on the island) we got slammed in rush-hour traffic and I had to spend the next two hours in stop-and-go traffic driving like this. We finally got to COSTCO and purchased a new battery. WHEW crazy.

When you live in Hawaii all of the sudden everybody wants to come and visit ;-) Stephanie's parents arrived and they are having a great time here. Over the Labor Day Monday Holiday Stephanie and I went hiking and swimming at a local waterfall. Sounds nice, Huh? Well it is NOT. Turns out there are a bunch of reasons not to swim in any fresh water here in Hawaii and one of them is Leptosporosis, a very very very nasty bacteria that I happen to have contracted. After swimming in the waterfall I became very sick and it progressed the first week the Harrier's were here and I ended up in the hospital Saturday evening. After many tests convinced the doctor that I really did not just have a stomach flu, I was given IV antibiotics and my 102 fever broke that night. I was sick for the next week but then after some oral antibiotics I finally got to feeling better. Steph's parents and us took a trip to the Big Island (Island of Hawaii) and had a blast touring the island. We saw the volcano's, waterfalls, a luau, and swam with the dolphins by the Captain Cook Monument. If you ever go to the big island you HAVE to rent a kayak and drive down to the put in and kayak across the bay to the Captain Cook Monument. Make sure you kayak over around 9am - 10am because that is when the dolphin's come in to relax and feed. We swam with them for a good 30 minutes. It was amazing to see them swimming right underneath us and then jumping on the surface. Stephanie had a blast and it was a dream come true. We also had a lot of fun on Oahu, just check out the Sipe Family picture gallery to see!

WOW! We are now living on The North Shore of the island of Oahu, Hawaii. After much looking and difficulty we decided to rent a Vacation Rental for our 3 month stay in Hawaii. The rental market on Oahu is insane and there are not really any apartments to be had and if you find one they are about $1100 for a studio! We found a pretty good deal for a 1 bedroom condo in the Turtle Bay Resort near Kahuku, Hawaii. We are located in an amazing resort on the 3rd fairway of the Fazio golf course (there are two championship golf courses in the resort) and we can walk down the street to the Ocean and an incredible nearly private beach. There are honu (Sea Turtles) everywhere near the bay (thus the name of the resort) and we spend many evenings walking down to see the sunset. We are playing a ton of golf with our Hawaii Local golf cards for cheaper than you could ever imagine ($4 for 9 holes at a course right on the ocean). This is a great experience. We miss all of our family and friends but both of our parents will be visiting us.

All of the house craziness is finished and with the generous help of all of our friends and family, we have moved to Ridgefield, Washington. We are now living with Stephanie's parents. Since we are moving to Hawaii in two months to start Steph's first rotation and we will only be home for three months after that, it was great that they invited us and Sunshine and Puddy into their home.
Our new address is:
16115 NE 31st Ave.
Ridgefield, WA 98642

Since Stephanie will soon be going on Optometry rotations and we will be away from the Portland area for 6 months of the next year, and I do NOT want to live in Oregon any longer, we decided to put our house for sale. First off, why no Oregon? Mostly it is Walmart,politics, and tax issues. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the North West and plan to stay here as long as possible. We will probably end up across the Columbia River in Vancouver, Washington where our parents live. Politics mostly is because of the Portland influence on the rest of Oregon, although I agree that Washington is still on the "Left Coast" at least we are far away from socialist Seattle where allot of things happen and Washington hasn't gone completely crazy. Pretty much it all came to a head with the decision by the Portland City Council to start issuing Gay Marriage Licenses. Taxes is mostly the reason because Oregon has a very very hefty personal income tax and keeps raising our property taxes and is constantly attempting to institute a sales tax on top of the income tax. Even though I work in Washington, where there is no income tax, I still pay the full Oregon income tax so might as well move 30 miles and enjoy a shorter commute and less taxes. My #1 reason for leaving Hillsboro, though, is the proposed Super Walmart that is trying to come in right across the street! Mind you, we live in a 100% residential neighbor hood serviced by 2 lane roads with 5 schools within 2 miles and no Interstate access for about 3 miles. We have stopped them for now but it is only a matter of time ...
 
Good News, though, our house sold in 4 hours!!! Yes we sold it ourselves in 4 hours. A neighbor bought our house to use as a rental. GOD truly blessed us and showed us what HE wanted us to do.

WOW! What a surprise. Aaron and Sarah Harrier came over on New Year's Eve to celebrate the New Year and GOD celebrated with about 6-8 inches of snow. This was a HUGE surprise because we usually don't get snow here and there was no warning that it was coming. It snowed so much that Aaron and Sarah were stranded. We just took it in stride and played lots of games and took the Explorer out to get some food and have some fun driving in the snow (do not try this at home). Anyway's it went from fun to crazy when we got about 1 inch of freezing rain on top of the snow and the fluffy white stuff became frozen in ice. The now looked glassy and you could walk on top of it without falling in. In the beginning it was pretty funny because Sunshine would go out and walk very very gingerly because she never knew when she was going to fall in. After a while, though it didn't matter because you could drive a truck on the snow / ice and not fall through. We know because people were trying to drive around. Well, Aaron and Sarah were stuck for another two days and we had to get them some more cloths etc. before they could finally make the 30 mile drive home to Vancouver.

Christmas is here again. We have been busy enjoying time with friends and family. We are heading up to Mt. Hood this weekend for our annual weekend snowshoeing trip. The snow has been falling and we are really looking forward to the trip. We would appreciate your prayers for a safe and fun trip. Sunshine will be staying with friends (THANKS Mark & Heidi) this time but we are hoping she will be able to go next year. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and hope you have a wonderful celebration of Christ's birth.

Wow! We (well Rich) have wanted a dog for a long time and finally decided to get one. We now have a very very active 9 week old pure bread Labrador Retriever. She is allot of work but is a good dog overall. The puddy (our cat) isn't so happy but she is getting used to the addition.

YEAH! YEAH! Stephanie passed boards with flying colors It was a tough experience but she did great. Now she has two sets of boards left during her 4th year, but they are more practical and less general science.

Pray for Steph, on August 5th and 6th she will spend all day taking her first set of national optometry licensing boards. The boards are very difficult and stressful. Please pray for knowledge, calm, and the LORD's hand on her during the exams.

Its that time again. Our anniversary is here so we are sending out our 3rd Annual Sipe Family Letter. It is a little late going out but we hope all enjoy it. If you didn't get your copy let us know and we will fix that :)

We participated in the American Cancer Society's annual Relay for Life in Vancouver, WA. The event is a 24hr walking relay to raise money to fight cancer. Stephanie's family has been hit hard by cancer and her parents lead a team from their church each year. Her grandmother was in town and it was great to spend time with her and participate in the event.

We went backpacking on Mt. Adams with Richard's parents. It was an amazing weekend with beautiful weather and amazing views. We hiked in and stayed for two nights. We always have a good time backpacking with Richard's parents over the 4th weekend Check out the Sipe Family picture gallery for pictures of the trip.