Recap of 2011

This past year has brought many blessings and challenges!

Andy:

This year has been fairly eventful for Andy. He turned 21! He graduated from Wenatchee Valley College and is currently gearing up to move to the West-side to attend the University of Washington. Andy has met a sweet young lady, Yulia, while attending classes. She is from Russia and I love her accent! Andy definitely lights up when he is around her. She is also attending the UW (probably the motivation for him to move there). While I have him here though, I have recruited him to be my weekly gym buddy. Lucky guy! I do look forward to spending some time with him.

Casey:

Casey is now a Senior and is enjoying many of the trials Senior year brings! He started the year off as a captain of the Manson Trojan Football team. As you can see from the x-rays below, his football days were nearly derailed. Luckily, the bone he broke was not a vital one, and the doctor released him to play after only missing four games. He helped lead his team to the first level of state playoffs (not sure exactly the wording here, but you get the idea :)). He loved playing so much so that after making the Varsity Basketball team, he had to be reminded that we do not tackle players in basketball. Casey has managed a full load. His day begins at 5 a.m. with him heading off to seminary and doesn’t usually end until around 8 after practice and the long drive home. He has kept his grades up and recently submitted an application for BYU! I am definitely proud of this young man of mine.

Kelly:

Kelly continues to work for Town Toyota and is now serving as Elder’s Quorum President in church. He takes is calling seriously and is always finding ways to help others. Almost every Wednesday finds him at church in meetings or doing paperwork. He is my inspiration and rock. I am one lucky lady! Kelly is definitely a man of many talents. The week before Thanksgiving found us with no dishwasher, no washer, and a fridge on the fritz as well. And we were hosting Thanksgiving dinner! Needless to say, I had prunes for hands. Kelly ordered a new dishwasher and washer, while we hope the fridge would last til after Christmas. The dishwasher came in on the 23rd of December and Kelly spent the evening installing it. He also decided to order a thermostat for the fridge and replaced it himself—saving us about $1000. Still no washer though; they say we won’t get it until February now.
Me:
Talk about an eventful year! I ‘graduated’ to fourth grade and have been trying to wrap my mind around everything these students need to learn before I send them off to fifth grade. I LOVE it! I decorated my room with a Harry Potter theme and enjoy stepping into Potter World every day. I am still serving as the Secretary for Washington Association of Bilingual Education and enjoy working with such dedicated educators. I have been blessed to have two awesome walking buddies and we walk every afternoon that we are able. I continue to enjoy spending time with my sis, Cindi, and her three boys. They are all growing so fast! This year, I am trying something unique (not)! I am setting goals.
1)Read my scriptures and journal daily (love my new journal and plan
to use it!)
2)Attend the temple once a month (anyone up for a few trips?)
3) To take singing lessons (anybody know of someone who does this kind
of thing?)
4) To take photography lessons (see comment above :))
5) To be able to run the Pig Jig in Manson (Help Shannon and Celeste :))
These aren’t my only goals, but I thought I should be realistic about my expectations.

Oh ya, I almost forgot our latest addition to the family!
George:

Casey found George lying in our driveway completely lethargic and on the brink of no return. He called me frantically insisting that I get all the necessary items for nursing this kitten back to life. (I hate cats! I am allergic to cats!) Needless to say, he is now a healthy spoiled rotten kitty cat!

Time for Another Update!

Where to begin when so much has been going on. It seems as if the minute we say next week we will have more time, the days fill up with important things to do!

On the 14th, I was given the opportunity to travel to Seattle and be presented an award for continuing professional development. They provided a great meal and a pretty plaque. Kelly went as my support and we enjoyed some time with just the two of us.

On the 15th, Kelly, Casey,Marcus and Alex Vanderholm, Paul and Joe Toolson, Kelly McClellan, and Jeff Hinkley went and helped some members of our church. I took advantage of the time and shampooed the rugs upstairs. Fun!!!

The following weekend, we went to the State Park in Chelan and helped clean campgrounds and rake leaves for Make A Difference Day! There were only about 10 of us, but we dove right in and finished the job.

Casey was able to play in the last four games, and did a great job! Unfortunately in the three way playoff game (game #5), Casey was kicked in his leg and was sure he had rebroken it. He was so upset, he didn't even celebrate the fact that they are first in their league. They beat Brewster 0 to 20! Way to go Manson!!! As you can see below, he is still healing and will be back in the game this Friday.

Before fifth game:

After fifth game:

Pretty darn proud of that boy of mine! Here he is #63 taking down one of the other team.

Classroom pics coming next!

Time...Where Does It Go?

So much has happened in the past three months that I am not sure where to start.
I was able to get into my new room on the 20th of August (our 23rd anniversary and only 9 days before school started). Being in the 'older' grades, I decided to go with a Harry Potter theme. I love it! My mom came up and helped me paint murals for my room, and Kel came up with some great ideas as well. I will take pictures this week and post them. I am SO enjoying this year! I was worried about joining the fourth grade team and how well they would accept me. So far, life is good!
In early September, Casey broke his leg while at football practice. Panda,Casey and Marcus had been doing monkey rolls and Panda landed on Casey's leg. This is the third leg Panda has broken. The last two were on the opposing team! This happened on a Friday and we spent that weekend in the Tri-Cities. Casey practiced hard on Monday, but was tackled on Tuesday and caused Kurt Toolson enough concern that he suggested I take him in for an xray. Knowing I didn't have time during the day, we headed up to the Chelan Hospital to check it out. It took us about two hours to finally have an xray taken and the nurse assured us it wouls be another half hour before we would have results. So when the doctor walked in within five minutes I knew it wasn't good. Sure enough, he had broken his fibula. That was an incredibly tough moment. Knowing how hard Casey had worked during the summer, that his was his senior year, and how excited he was to play,as you can imagine he was devastated. The doctor told him to stay completely off of it for six weeks, gave us a cd with the xray and told us to call Dr. Dame on Friday. Casey went ahead with his team to the first game of the season in Ilwaco, and I went to the doctor for him. Dr. Dame was worried because they hadn't put a cast on it,so he sent us to see an orthopedic surgeon in Wenatchee. We went on Monday and Casey walked out without crutches. Long story short, he was able to play in his first game two weekends ago and his homecoming game this past weekend. (Pictures to come)
Our oldest son, Andy is making plans to move to Seattle in late November and has decided to attend the University of Washington. His girlfriend moved there this September and they don't think they can handle living so far apart.
I know there are a lot of things I am leaving out, but my brain is shutting down. So, I will take pictures and post more later this week.

Salt Lake and the Real World

So, we dropped Casey off at BYU after having the most AWESOME french toast ever! It's a wonder I didn't gain 15 pounds! Kelly and I then spent the day together and enjoyed our time. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we spent the majority of the days in the geneology library researching Kelly's family.
On Tuesday evening, Kelly and I went to the Bountiful Temple with Trevor and Christa Peterson. (Trevor is the missionary who first started teaching Kelly) We were able to perform sealings and then went to get the best custard (ice cream) ever! We also had the oppotunity to meet Trevor's parents.

On Wednesday, we went to the 'This is the Spot' where Brigham Young declared "this is the spot." :) We walked around and looked at all of the statues and the incredible view.

Thursday, we went back and hiked up behind the statues and took these awesome pictures.

On Friday, we spent the day at Seven Peaks Waterslides and enjoyed a very relaxing day! Can I just say... I LOVE wave pools. We then went to the Salt Lake Temple and loved it! The Celestial room is beautiful! I love that temple, inside and out!

We spent the rest of the evening rushing around looking for an extra carry on to ensure we would be able to get everything back home. We had to pick Casey up at 7 in the morning and get to the airport (an hour away) by 10:30. We returned to the hotel, and I asked Kelly if we should check into the airline early or wait til we got there. We knew we were in a push for time, so Kelly told me to go ahead and check in. I tried for about ten minutes, and after much panicking, I decided to check with travelocity. Well...... I discovered we didn't fly out until Sunday!
So, Casey spent the day resting in the hotel room. Kelly spent the day at the geneology center, and I spent the day shopping! We had a great time!

Then it was back to the real world! I walked with Celeste on Monday and then did some running and walking on my own. I don't know what I was thinking, but I committed to running a half marathon with a coworker in October.

School starts in a very short time, and I have yet to be able to get into my new classroom! Yikes!!!

End of July

On the 19th, I had the good fortune of traveling to Seattle with Shannon and Celeste. We went to a chocolate factory and learned all kinds of things about chocolate—all of it new to me! What fun! Although, I was reminded that I really do NOT like dark chocolate. They had us taste three or four different chocolates varying from 90% to 75% real cocoa. We then went to see the Troll under the Bridge and enjoyed lunch at Dick’s. We visited Pike Place Market and walked through the statue park. At the end of our trip, we stopped at Deception Pass and walked to the waterfall. It was breathtaking. Shannon and Celeste then taught me how to play Pooh sticks. I won. Of course I accidentally let go to early. We walked, talked, ate, shopped and enjoyed ourselves immensely. I look forward to next year’s trip!

We came home on the 21st and I headed back to Seattle on the 22nd to be moral support for my sister Cindi. She is going to college to get her Special Ed degree and has to take a few different tests. She is a lot like her big sister and test anxiety tends to get the better of her. She survived and we had the opportunity to spend some child-free moments just enjoying ourselves. We were back in our room by 7 and Cindi was asleep by 9! (Her boys still get up in the night) Oh how I remember those days when if I had the opportunity to get some sleep I did.
This past week has been a whirlwind. Casey had his senior pictures taken on Tuesday, and I on Wednesday had the opportunity to go up to Becky Fluegge’s house with the young women. They were having a sleep over and I was invited! (They needed a driver, but I know they really wanted me to come) On Friday, Kelly, Casey and I flew to Salt Lake City, picked up a rental car and drove to the outlet stores in Park City! We found a few great deals (Vans for $15) and enjoyed each other’s company. Andy stayed home to take care of George. He let me know that I really didn’t need to call him every four hours to make sure he was feeding him. So I am waiting until it’s been four hours and a minute.  On Saturday I swear we visited every pawn shop in Salt Lake. We then went over to the Peterson’s (Trevor was one of the first missionaries to actually teach Kelly the discussions.) and his wife prepared an awesome dinner. She made creamy pasta with homemade bread and brownies from scratch! I couldn’t resist, so I had half a brownie with ice cream and hot fudge. YUM!!! Kelly and I are going to meet Trevor and his wife at the Bountiful Temple on Tuesday. We take Casey to BYU tomorrow and then Kelly and I have five days to ourselves. Whatever will we do?

My computer connection is terrible and wont let me upload any pictures..so pictures to come.

Fun, Fireworks, and a Furry Critter

These past two weeks have been full of experiences. We were invited to a BBQ at the Thomas household and enjoyed good food, good friends, and lots of laughter! I love watching Casey interact with this great group of kids! My cheeks hurt from laughing.



While we were waiting for the fireworks to start, I tried to snap a photo of the kids. It didn't work out so well.



After the BBQ we went with the Toolson's to Wapato Point to enjoy more great friendship and awesome fireworks! I think this was the most relaxed Fourth of July I have had in years. I loved seeing the fireworks reflect on the lake and illuminate the boats.



This firework was pretty neat!



The Fourth of July also brought us this furry little critter. Casey and Kelly first noticed the kittens the week before and hoped that mom would come back and take care of them. When we returned home late on the fourth, this little one was in the middle of the driveway with its sibling nowhere in sight. Kelly stopped and moved the kitten back to where it had been earlier. The next day, I received a frantic phone call from Case. The kitty was not moving and desperately needed food. So, now three very allergic people had a kitten living with them.
Casey named 'her' George and was adamant that it wasn't Georgia it was George! Well after our visit with the vet, we discovered he was right!

Ahh Summer...

This week has definately been a week of accomplishments. Monday was a fairly uneventful day. I spent the day hanging out with my sister Cindi and her three boys. I had intended to stay home and get things done, but the pool was calling my name. On Tuesday, I did stay home and literally scoured my house! It felt so good to get things in order and organized! Cindi came up on Wednesday and shampooed my carpets while I worked hard weeding the bank in front of our house--no small job in itself.



Cindi and the boys spent the night so that they could celebrate my birthday (Thursday) with me. The best gift my sister could have given me was time with her and her boys! In the morning she did my hair and then we went shopping. We then spent the rest of the day hanging out at her house. Kelly came and picked me up and we enjoyed a burger and fries at Lakeveiw Drive-In---yummmmm!

Friday I had to return to reality and finish what I had started with the weeding. I litterally spent hours outside doing my best to finish. I am still not sure I accomplished what I set out to do, but I am trying to be happy with it.

I started my weekend, by going out to Cashmere to help my mom, Cindi, and my nephew's bride set up tables for their wedding that night! It was a pretty wedding and I am glad I was able to help out.

Last night, Kelly invited me to help him out with a couple of critters he had found living under the shop entryway.



Two cute teeny tiny kitty cats! I am deathly allergic to cats, but how could I not help feed them. We are not sure if the momma has abandoned them or not, and we didn't want to risk it. That was quite an experience. The kittens were so young they had no idea what to do when presented with milk in a bowl! We had milk everywhere.

That's my week! Unfortunately, I don't think next week will be any less busy.