Fall 2010/Winter 2011

This past fall brought some changes for our family. Alan and Nathan started middle school. They seem to be enjoying it so far. They have great teachers, and much less homework than they had in elementary school.

Hannah started Kindergarten. After a bit of a rough start (a few injuries and missing me a lot), she's doing well now. She has lots of good friends and loves her teacher.

Roger ran his first marathon this fall! He ran the Portland Marathon with our friend David. The next runs he has planned are a 15k and a half-marathon, and he doesn't plan to run a full marathon again!

Nathan played soccer this fall, and was on an amazing team that was undefeated this season. It was fun to watch the games. Right now he plays basketball for the middle school, and also enjoys band and youth group.

Alan played football for the middle school this fall, and they were undefeated, too! Right now he is involved in youth group, band, and jazz band.

As for me (Denise), I've been enjoying the challenges of working at a high school and two elementary schools, and last week began working at two additional elementary schools. Besides working more this year, I've also been learning a lot on the piano and starting playing with the worship team in church. It has been very challenging for me, but I love it!

Buddy goes a little crazy after my longer days at work, and can be very naughty. I'm always threatening to get rid of him, but the kids love him. Can you see why?

Catching Up

2010 so far has been about as wonderful as 2009 was terrible. This summer we had a great time with family and friends. Some highlights:

Alan and Nathan are teenagers now! I would say, "This is best age ever!" But Roger would remind me that I say that about every age (for the boys). I would argue that I never want to live with an 8-year-old boy again, but otherwise he is right. Seriously, though, we are really enjoying them as they are becoming more independent, responsible, and thoughtful, and as they are developing their own personalities and interests. We are also seeing their faith in God deepen and grow, and it is wonderful to hear examples from others in the community how Alan and Nathan live out their faith and aren't afraid to share it with others. Another highlight was spending time with family. Here we are celebrating August birthdays with cousins. This is what their presents are beginning to look like more and more!

We also celebrated Roger's parents' 50th wedding anniversary at a family reunion in George, at church, and at a family dinner pictured here (along with the trip to CA last spring). Congratulations, Mom and Dad!

In August, we went down to CA to spend time at my parents' house. Hannah had fun with her cousin Mya.

We got to meet my new nephew Eli!

We spent time kneeboarding, tubing and waterskiing.

We also had fun visiting horses at the neighbor's house, playing in the sand, playing Airsoft, celebrating my mom's birthday with my cousins, and swinging!

We went to Great America on my mom's birthday, and had a great time on all of the rides there! The kids loved going on rides with Beppe, Pake, and Uncle Aaron!

While we were in CA, we got to spend a day at Yosemite. The kids hadn't been there yet, so it was great to be able to introduce them to one of my favorite places in the world!

Hiking and camping were definitely highlights of the summer. Alan and Nathan camped 6 times over the summer! Here are the kids at Mt. Rainier. They had a great time playing in the snow!Here is a picture of our campsite at Ohanepecosh. We camp there every year and love getting the great spots by the river!

Other camping highlights include Roger and Hannah's Daddy-daughter camping trip, and our trip to Kalaloch with some friends, pictured here.

Soccer

We finished up another soccer season last night. Roger did a great job coaching 18(!) 9-12-year-old boys, including many who had never played soccer before but now love it! Alan played goalie and forward most games. It was fun to watch him, because he was very focused and energetic on the field.

Nathan was a great defender! He was very aggressive and determined to stop opponents from getting past him.

The team tied for second place overall, and it was really fun to watch them improve over the season. I loved watching the older ones guide and encourage the younger/newer players, and seeing the boys shake Roger's hand and thank him after games. They were a nice group of boys. Great job, Wolves!

4th of July Weekend

My family came to visit!Besides watching the World Cup and going to a soccer game, a softball game, and church, we...

enjoyed a visit from the ice cream man,

blew bubbles,

played with Buddy,

went to Tumwater Falls,

and did lots of fireworks!

We did it!

Jessica and I ran our first 5k today! We weren't quite sure what to expect, and running in a race is certainly different than running on our own. We are both excited to run again, but maybe not Sound to Narrows! Most of it was uphill, and we were not prepared for that. Still, I did better than I expected, and Jessica only beat me by a little. :) Lindsay and Roger ran the 12k and both beat last year's time, so that was great! It was Lindsay 10th time running it, and Roger's second.

Boston Harbor Marina

30 years ago, Roger went on a field trip with his preschool to Boston Harbor Marina.Last week, Hannah got to go on the same field trip (same preschool, same weekend, same place!)

They even played on the same beach afterward!Roger was pretty sure he hadn't been back there since his field trip, so he was thrilled to go along with Hannah! It was a beautiful day, and the kids loved looking at the starfish, crabs, sea cucumbers, jellyfish, etc. and playing on the beach nearby!

Running

While we were in Indio, Roger twisted his ankle while running beside a golf course. He had been training for the Capital City Marathon, but had to take a couple of weeks off after this injury. It's hard to tell how swollen his whole foot was in this picture.He recovered fairly quickly and was able to run the half marathon this weekend. It was a fun event, since about 15 or so others from our church ran the marathon, half marathon, or 5-miler. Everyone did a great job!I decided that 5 miles is too far for me (for now at least), since I've never run much (except when forced to in volleyball conditioning), but last year I committed to running a 5k this coming June. It's not always easy to fit in training, but I've got two very willing running partners!