Lauren's Ballroom Showcase

Make sure you wait about 25 seconds for dance to begin. This first one is the Viennese Waltz to the song "Once Upon A December".


Again, make sure you wait for the video to run 25 seconds or so before the dance comes on. This one is the Mambo to the song "Mambo!".



Lauren really loves ballroom dance and will be continuing class in January learning the Waltz and Cha Cha.

Connor's Band Concert

I tried to post another video but it wouldn't upload. Connor still enjoys playing the clarinet and loves to try new music.

Kiersten's Preschool Christmas Program

A few musical selections from Kiersten's Christmas Program.

A Partridge in a Pear Tree?

Christmas means time to put the Christmas tree up.  The tree had not even been up for a couple of hours when we found a surprise in the tree.  Definitely not a Partridge!  Morgan thinks he is so sneaky but after a few pictures, Keith pulled him out.  Fortunately he has not made a repeat visit.

Thanksgiving

I realized I have been very neglectful to the blog.  So here goes. 

We went to Utah over Thanksgiving and spent a very fun and tiring weekend with my parents, my sister, and her family.  My mom, sister, Keith and I were dedicated to shopping the sales and found us not only up at 3:45AM on Black Friday but also making visits to Old Navy and Michaels on Thanksgiving Day.  All the cousins got along well and were happy to see each other again.  James was especially happy to be with his Lauren again.

We also took everyone to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.  My favorite tree was a huge one covered in red lights.  There must have been thousands and thousands of lights.  It was really cool to look up underneath the branches.  

As always, we had a great time and can't wait to come back to Grandma and Grandpa's for another visit.

A Hot Date

No pictures to go with this one only because we weren't supposed to take any. Keith's name was drawn to fly down to Portland on his boss' airplane and attend the Portland Trailblazers game. I got to go with him. We boarded the plane and quickly got settled in comfy seats and enjoyed a drink, water for me and Sprite for Keith, and warm mixed nuts. It is only a 35 min flight from Seattle and it quickly passed.

We were met in Portland by a bus that was literally 2 steps from the boarding stairs of the plane. The bus shuttled us over to the Rose Garden where we entered under the building. On the bus we were given Executive Guest badges to wear. Once at the Rose Garden, we went up to the suite and enjoyed salmon kabobs, pizza, shrimp cocktail and other goodies. After about 15 min. or so, Keith and I, along with 6 other people were led down to the basketball court. We were lucky enough to have courtside seats. We were almost at center court and had a great view of the game.

We were allowed to order anything off the menu so I got chicken wings, fish and chips, and Dibs ice cream for dessert. Keith shared the wings, had a hamburger, and a pint of ice cream for dessert. We were stuffed!

Highlights of the game include the Blazers winning, a player from the Detroit Pistons stepping on Keith's toe as the player threw in the basketball, and Fernandez from the Blazers almost running me over and patting me on the shoulder as he returned to the game.

After the game, we were led back to the bus and taken back to the plane where we enjoyed hot chocolate and a gianormous cookie on the ride home. It really was a fun night and I would love to go again if we have the opportunity. A big, huge thank you goes out to Keith's boss!

By the way, the kids survived just fine without us for the evening. A neighbor checked in with them and they texted us a few times. They even saw us on TV!

These are 2 targets from practice tonight. the center 2 targets are sight in targets. Not to bad for someone that never had shot a gun until this summer.

Ballroom Dance

Lauren is taking Ballroom Dance this year. Currently they are working on the Mambo and the Viennese Waltz. Here is a short video of the first part of the Waltz. They added more onto it tonight including a lift! Lauren is pretty nervous about the lift but with practice, she will feel more comfortable. Her showcase is December 17.

Halloween

The kids and their candy stash! We did the Ward Trunk or Treat and then went to a friends neighborhood. I think it will keep the kids in candy till at least tomorrow night! Lauren was a witch, Kiersten was a devil, Hunter wore his skeleton shirt, and Connor and Bryce didn't dress up but still went for the candy.

Another Great Craigslist Find

Our new acquisition today is a 37 gallon fish tank complete with a nice table stand and tons of food and supplies. The price was just right... FREE! Connor, our aquarium guru, is head over heels excited to have a larger aquarium to set up. So far, he has cleaned it and filled it with water. Now we have to let the water filter through to clear up the sediment. Once the water is clear, we will begin to add plants and fish. This will make 7 aquariums of various sizes throughout the house. I'm sure glad fish don't make any noise or chew up shoes. Much better than a puppy!

Capitol City Jr. Rifle Club

At Boy Scout Camp this summer, Connor placed 1st out of all the campers in a Marksmen contest. This sparked an interest in shooting which led to Connor joining a rifle club. He has to go to Olympia once every week which fortunately we split with another family in our Ward. Connor's coach says he has great potential as a marksman. Eventually, Connor will be in competitions held all over Washington and Oregon. There have even been members of this club who have gotten scholarships to college and gone to the Olympics. No pressure!

Kiersten's 1st Field Trip

Kiersten went to the Edgewood Fire Department for her Preschool field trip. Keith got to go with her. The couple of preschool classes before the field trip were spent learning about fire safety, stop lights, and fire trucks. One day she came home and asked Keith where our special meeting place was. Needless to say, she was WAY excited to go to the fire station!


Kiersten with her Sunbeam and Preschool friends, Kendall and Nora.


Sitting in the drivers seat.



Checking out the oxygen tank.

Goofy Kiddos

An Early Birthday

Connor and Bryce decided they wanted BB guns for their birthday this year. Since their birthday is on Friday, Keith took them down to Cabellas Saturday to pick up their guns since we knew a trip down there this week wasn't going to happen.

I can't believe the boys are turning 13. It seems like just yesterday when they were so tiny and I had no idea what to do with twin babies. Now I just have no idea what to do with twin teenagers!

Look Ma, No Hands!

Kiersten's Cool Trick!!

Kiersten Goes to Preschool

Kiersten finally started Preschool on Thursday after weeks of counting down the days. She had a great first day! She started off by putting on a name tag and then right on to painting! Kiersten had Oreos and apple juice for snack, had recess, learned "Little Miss Muffet", and got to have free play. She said everyone got to pick a toy, bring it back to their seat to play with and then when they were done, they had to find a home for their toy. I really hope this lesson of finding a home for your toys starts to work it's way into our house! Kiersten can't wait to go again next week!

Preparing for the Winter

After many days spent on canning this past month, here is what I have accomplished. With the peaches, pears and apricots, two of my friends came over and we worked together to get all of our fruit done. I feel more prepared for the winter now and look forward to enjoying the "fruits of my labors". I joked with my friends that I will not let anyone touch anything we worked so hard to bottle until October. We'll see if I can hold out that long.

This year I bottled for our family: 20 quarts of pickles, 12 half pints of cherries, 3 1/2 quarts of cherry pie filling, 7 pints of blueberry pie filling, 7 quarts of applesauce, 38 quarts peaches, 35 quarts of pears, 15 quarts of apricots, 9 1/2 quarts of pear sauce, 13 half pints of jalapeno pepper jelly, and 13 pints of pizza sauce.

I learned a lot and especially enjoyed working together with my friends. Already I am planning what I want to do next year. Hopefully I will acquire a pressure cooker so I can venture into canning vegetables.

Ward Campout

We went camping this weekend at Ensign Ranch up in the Cascades about an hour and a half from our house. It was the first time our Ward has ever had a campout. We had a great time and Ensign Ranch is full of activities. Two brave souls took the kids who were over 8 years old floating down the Yakima River on their tubes. The kids loved this adventure but were freezing when they got out of the river. Keith jumped in and quickly turned numb. I don't know how the kids lasted so long in the cold water. They wanted to go again, but after a hairy ride for the adults and some of the kids, it was decided that once was enough.

On the way to the drop off zone.

Another highlight was the slip and slide. With the help of a tube, you could slide all the way to the end of the rubber mat. Hunter thought it would be fun to become a human Life Saver roll!

All the boys in at our campout had a lot of fun making chains going down the slip and slide hill. By the time they reached the bottom, the formations had broken up but everyone is smiling!





There was also horseback riding. I led Kiersten around on this horse named Micah. She got to ride for 15 minutes. Micah liked to stop especially as we neared his food. It took some healthy tugs to get him going again. Kiersten liked her ride but was happy when it was done!

Lauren went on a trail ride with Harry the horse. After a 15 min orientation video, she got to ride for about 45 minutes. There was a group of 7 riders plus 3 workers. It was great fun for her! I thought it was pretty cool she could ride by herself and not have to be doubled up with a more experienced rider. I hope a pony will not be on her Christmas list!


We also went on a hay ride around the camp with the Auna's. Kiersten and Lauren really like to hang out with Tania and Ruth! Ensign Ranch is about 325 acres and houses lots of campsites and also an area just for Girls Camp. It took an hour for wagon to drive all of the loops around the various campsites.



We had a great time! The only downside were the vast number of yellow jackets that made their appearance anytime food was out. There were several bee stings among our fellow campers but fortunately, none of our kids were stung. I am very thankful I didn't get stung either. To this day, I have never been stung by a bee and hope to keep it that way! Keith and I look forward to the next time we can go camping. Hopefully the kids do too!

More Crabbing and Fishing

While Connor and Bryce were at Scout camp, Keith took Hunter crabbing several times. Overall, they caught 5 red rock crabs and 2 dungeness. Keith cooked them up and put them in the freezer for another day. When the boys came home from camp, Keith took all the boys fishing. Bryce caught a 20 inch pink salmon which is also now in our freezer.

First Crabbing of the Season

After the Blue Angels we went to Dash Point to try our luck at crabbing. 2 hours later we gave up with only one keeper and lots of hungry kids. We gave our solo crab to a fellow fisherman and headed home for supper. Not crab but chicken!

The Blue Angels

Waiting for the show to start

Kiersten and Hunter dipping their feet into Lake Washington

Connor picking blackberries before the show

"Fat Albert" started the show

Today we went to Seattle to watch the Blue Angels perform. We left in plenty of time to find a spot and ended up with great seats right on Lake Washington! It was sunny and hot but a breeze was blowing off Lake Washington so it was almost perfect. Kiersten got impatient with waiting for the show and was ready to leave before it even started. I'm pretty sure the rest of the kids were impressed with the acrobatics.