Miles Hochstein - February 2003, in Portland, Oregon.

2003 was quite a year. We lived through endless househunting, the excitement of a new preschool for our daughter and first grade for my son, the illness and death of my father in law Shmuel Troper (1 July 2003), the purchase of an old house in Portland next door to my mother in law Judith, my own father's Thanksgiving day fall and broken hip, and a few other alarms and excursions. I also tried my hand at commercial portrait photography in late 2003 and 2004.

Above: Snowball fight, Mount Hood, Oregon - January 2, 2003. Photo of our son by Leora.

Above: Leora and our daughter, January 2, 2003.

Above: January 18, 2003 - Peter Pan and Tinkerbell battle against Captain Hook, swords and magic wands waving wildly.

Above and below: January 23, 2003.

Above: The photo to the left of my son with Leora and a medical technician was taken during a routine diagnostic medical procedure. My son is fine. Still and all, may you not experience the inside of hospitals.

Above: July 2003 - Sometimes girls just want to have fun. So Andrea , Jill , and Leora dressed up in silly frilly dresses. I don't get it, but they seem to be having fun, and they insist it's cheaper than psychotherapy.

 

Above: Mt. Tabor park, Portland, 16 August 2003.

In mid-July 2003 (photo below) we headed for Sauvie Island on the Columbia river for a hot day in the sun. I spent the day hiding in the trees and reading. My family thought I was just being my usual "antisocial" self, but I simply cannot sit on hot sand under a hot sun, even under a shade tent. I just wilt.

The beach is basically my idea of hell on earth. I mean, I moved to Oregon to get away from the sun, and then it turns out they have summer here. What is that about? When is the rain going to start already?

But the kids enjoy the water, and since I was able to read in the shade I was happy too.

My sister-in-law Emily says that a happy childhood lasts a lifetime. That makes sense to me.

Above: Leora Troper, Mount Hood, Oregon, January 2, 2003.

Above: With my daughter in a hollow tree stump in Tryon Park, Southwest Portland, January 1, 2003, family outing.

Above, Leora and our children in a Brasilia EMB-120 turboprop, April 27, 2003, returning to Portland from California after a visit with my parents.

Above February 2003 - My daughter gets a haircut.

Above: My son and his cousin, Mt. Tabor park, August 17, 2003.

Above: This is how my six year old son saw me at the memorial service for my father-in-law, Sam Troper, in early July 2003. The service took place in the Rhododendron garden adjacent to Reed College.

Below: December 20, 2003, Hanukah in Portland, Oregon with Michael, Leora, my son and daughter and their two cousins, at Judith's home. Looks like it may have been the second night Chanukah.