Christmas...Past, Present & Future

Karen sent this questionnaire to me in an e-mail and rather than fill it out and e-mail it on, I thought I would just blog it. Why? Because it just brings so many Christmas memories to mind that I wanted to have saved some place. Plus it gives me a chance to post this funny picture of Cooper with Santa from the Ward Christmas party (classic Cooper expression--or is that Bob??) What Mormon kid doesn’t have memories of a ward Christmas party with Santa coming to visit?? (Ward Christmas parties, that’s a whole other blog by itself!)
Anyway, it’s a little long so if you don’t read it all I won’t hold it against you. (Although I did read all of Karen’s). So Karen, here is my response to your e-mail (I took a few out and added one of my own):

Wrapping paper or gift bag? I love wrapping and have since I was a little girl. I’m not very good with bags—I can never figure out to get the tissue in right. Spencer loves to wrap too (hardly suprising for those who know him).

Real or Artificial tree? Already covered in previous blog.

When do you put up the tree? We always go get the tree the first weekend after Thanksgiving weekend.

When do you take the tree down? Usually a day or two after Christmas. It always looks forlorn without the gifts under it.

Do you like Eggnog? I love eggnog and this year we accidentally discovered Pumpkin Eggnog which we like even more.

Favorite gift you received as a child? I really can’t remember a particular favorite. I CAN remember always having a really difficult time going to sleep in anticipation though.

Do you have a nativity scene? I have two. One is a little miniature mouse set that is really cute but a little worse for the wear since it has been around for about 10 years. The other is an old cardboard one that the Church produced sometime in the 50s that I found in the Ward Primary closet one time when I was tossing out really old stuff that hadn’t been used in years. It is exactly like the one we had when I was a kid and I always loved it. It has three parts to so it is kind of 3D and has beautiful soft tones and wonderful lighting. I think everyone in my family would know which on that is. I took it home because it hadn’t been used in years and years and probably never would. It reminds me of growing up.

Worst Christmas gift ever received? It was one that I totally wanted so much it was practically and ache. I had picked it out of the Sears Christmas catalog and really wanted this Barbie-like doll called Dollikin (something like that). I wanted it instead of a Barbie because the arms & legs moved—Barbie’s legs moved but not like this doll and Barbie’s arms were stiff. That seemed really cool—until I got my wish and found out that the arms and legs were jointed not smooth like Barbie’s. She couldn’t wear a bathing suit or sleeveless shirts or anything. It was the first lesson I think I ever learned about being careful what you wished for without really thinking (researching) first.

Christmas Cards ... Snail mail or E-mail? Snail mail but mine are probably going to be New Year’s cards this year!

Favorite Christmas Movie(s)? It’s a Wonderful Life which I had never seen until I moved to Seattle so I didn't know it was a Christmas classic.

What's your favorite Christmas show(s)? The Grinch (classic—not Jim Carey) and Charlie Brown Christmas

When do you Christmas Shop? Every year I have wonderful intentions of doing it before Thanksgiving (looking all year round) but I never do. I’m a shameful last minute shopper. (Hence mom & dad’s gift not arriving until January this year.)

Have you ever 'recycled' a Christmas present? Yes, I am a shameless regifter. Particularly when working in advertising. We always got these great gifts from vendors and it was easy to wrap them to give to the kid’s teachers (sorry Karen) or co-workers, or a white elephant thing.

Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Lisa’s Swedish Pancakes on Christmas Eve.

Favorite Christmas Song? I love O Holy Night AND any Jim Reeve’s Christmas song—which any offspring of Bob Vaden (at least the girls) would tell you is a must have part of Christmas. I was seriously excited when Karen sent us a Jim Reeves Christmas CD. I usually load the CD player with Christmas songs the day after Thanksgiving. I have two other favorite CDs (besides Jim Reeves). One is a Time Life 2-disc compilation of classics like Bing’s White Christmas, Carpenter’s Christmas Song, Perry Como, etc—it even has two Jim Reeve’s songs. My two favorite songs on it are by Roger Whitaker who as a lovely voice and sings Ding Dong Merrily on High and Rocking. I would highly recommend a Christmas album by him. The other is the 1st “A Very Special Christmas” album with songs by the Eurythmics, Stevie Nicks, & Bob Seger. We have one other Very Special Christmas album that is okay (love Lyle Lovett singing Jingle Bell rock) but not as good as the first one.

Travel at Christmas or Stay Home? We stay home. We did make a trip to Idaho one year and I was seriously excited because I thought after years in Seattle without it that there would finally be snow for Christmas. I was so bummed when there wasn’t any! That was before we had kids and after a scary trip to Idaho at Thanksgiving one year we decided that it was a trip best taken anytime other than the winter. The roads can be scary between here and there. We always spend Christmas Eve at Dan & Lisa’s with the whole Chandler clan (that’s where the Swedish pancakes come in) and usually have Oma & Opa with us Christmas day.

Open the Presents Christmas Eve or Morning? The kids have a gift exchange with their cousins (each kid draws a cousin to give to) and we have a white elephant exchange among the adults on Christmas Eve. Our family presents are always opened on Christmas day.

Does Santa wrap or not (I added this question)? When I was growing up, Santa never wrapped (he didn’t have time) so the gifts from Santa were always left under the tree unwrapped. In Dennis’ family he always wrapped. (I guess he had time because there were only 4 kids in Dennis’ family and there were 8 in mine.). So, when we got married we had to compromise. For years, Santa left the gifts for the boys unwrapped and Mrs. Santa wrapped the gifts in the stockings. A few years ago, Santa started wrapping again—mostly so the boys had to wait until we were ready to get out of bed and see what he brought. (They can unwrap Mrs. Santa’s gifts in the stocking while they are waiting.)

Do you decorate outside for Christmas or just inside (or at all?) Inside and outside. In fact, I have put up the outside lights for years because it is not Christmas without them to me. Even when I was 8 months pregnant with Cooper (okay basically 9 months) I put them up—climbing the ladder and everything. Got to have those outside lights!
Favorite Christmas cookie? Frosted sugar cookies—yum, yum. I usually make tons because I love frosting & decorating them and eating them. The kids are good for frosting about 5-8 and they are done—leaving oh, about 100 for me to frost.

Do you believe in Santa? Sheesh—who doesn’t??

If you could have a single Christmas Wish that was just for you and you alone...what would it be? The same as Karen’s “to see all my family at Christmas”—including some that are no longer with us.
Now, this has brought me a bit of the Christmas spirit. Thanks Karen.

The Quest for the "Tree"

Every year for the past 14 years (maybe more) we have trekked down to Centralia for our Christmas tree--except maybe one year when Oma and Opa were sick. We have gone to a tree farm and trooped up and down and around the field until we have found just the right tree. We have actual audio and video evidence of Oma's yearly admonition to "Be sure to cut it close to the ground" so we get the full tree (it's true--it happened every year). For a special photo album that the Chandler brothers (well their wives anyway) made for Oma & Opa one year, my contribution was two pages worth of Christmas Tree trek photos and memories. Some years we were joined by Chandler brothers and family, but most years it has just been us and Oma and Opa. We would get their tree and our tree on a Saturday morning. We would stay in Centralia Saturday night and help them decorate. Then we would come home Sunday and decorate ours that night. Even after Oma & Opa moved to Seattle three years ago, we have continued to go to Centralia. We would drive to Centralia, get our trees, have lunch at the famous Oly Club in downtown Centralia and come back to Seattle to decorate Oma & Opa's tree. Until this year. It wasn't because of the flooding, although that may have affected us had we chosen to go down there. It was soccer tournaments, busy schedules, the cost of gas, the time....we just couldn't do. So instead, we trekked down the road a few blocks to the Boy Scout tree lot next to the local Catholic church, which was the same place we went the year they were sick. We wandered around the parking lot until we found the perfect tree--or a least the best one available. Of course it was much more expensive tree than we usually get being a "city tree", but when you figure in the cost of gas and lunch in Centralia the other way it was pretty much a wash. We still helped Oma & Opa decorate their tree and then actually did ours the same evening. Oma even made chalupa for dinner which is one of our favorites. Many of you have probably been the recipient of my annual Christmas newsletter and photo of the boys. The photo comes from our Christmas tree quest. I did take pictures of the boys this year but it wasn't quite the same. We did have a snowstorm that day so it made it a bit more festive. I am so not into the season this year that I may not even get my letter out. So I share this picture with you 1) because I think it is funny and 2) it still represents the season and memories of the season. Who knows if we will ever make it to Centralia for a tree in the future (Oma is threatening to buy a fake tree). The main point is that we have many wonderful memories of Christmas tree quests that we will share forever. It will be something that will always be talked about. "Remember the year when..." So in the end, I am thankful to have so many wonderful memories of the quest for the tree!

I Love Scrabble!

It's true, I really do love Scrabble. I have since I was a young girl and played it with my mom and sisters. My fondest memories of growing up are of being gathered around a table with family members to play a game--not always Scrabble. Playing board games or card games has always been a thing we like to do as a family when we get together. In fact that is one of the biggest things I miss about not being close to my family. Dennis likes to tease me about Scrabble, particularly about the fact that in my family it isn't cut throat--we actually help each other! I have been playing Scrabble lately on a fairly regular basis with two very dear friends of mine, Peg on the right, of Lucy & Ethel fame and my half-marathon inspiration; and Michelle on the right, a wonderful, genuine loving person whom I adore (okay, truth be known I adore them both--and not just because they play Scrabble). This picture is from this past Tuesday (12/4) when we squeezed in one quick game at 6:30pm after Cooper's basketball game. Peg and Michelle both have two kids, a boy and a girl each and all our kids get along really great together and have fun. The kids often come too when we get together. It's a great time. The picture on the right is the final results of our game. As you can see we did a great job of covering the whole board and had some cool words. At one point early on, I will admit that I had to show my tiles to Michelle and Peg because they were so funny. I had all vowels and a blank. Not ideal for making any whopping high score! Despite that, I did end up with the winning score in the end that night. I think it was because I was wearing my 'E' & 'L' Scrabble earrings myself. And yes I do have a pair of Scrabble earrings. Another friend who makes jewelry made them out of actual wooden Scrabble tiles. Why 'E' and 'L" you might wonder? Lucy and Ethel of course! Peg has a matching set. Also, those up on acceptable two letter words will know that "el" is acceptable but "le" is not. In fact many Scrabble experts will tell you that knowing the acceptable two letter words is the key to high scores. Za and qi were recently added to that list--and yes, I guess the fact that I know that makes me a bit of a Scrabble nerd! But I think that means I am in good company.

Seattle Half

The Seattle Half Marathon that is. Some of you know that I have been training for this for a few months (some of you may not). Today was the auspicious day of the big event. I had been anticipating this day with a certain amount of excitement and dread. What if I couldn't finish? What if I was so pathetic I finished last? These top two photos where taken at the finish at Memorial Stadium at the Seattle Center and as you can see from the photo on the left, I didn't finish last. In fact I did quite respectable for myself. My goal was to finish in two hours and thirty minutes. My actual time was 2:27:37:9! It was an amazing thing to participate in. There are over 14000 participants in all the different races. You can either walk or run the Half or walk or run the whole Marathon. The runners of the Half Marathon started from the Seattle Center at 7:30am. My friend Peg and I were somewhere in the middle of the pack (I think) when the horn sounded. It was kind of anti-climatic because we didn't move for a minute or two. It was exciting when we started off though. You run down 5th Avenue which is a major street in downtown Seattle until you come to the I-90 Express Lanes. At one point 5th Ave starts to rise and it was incredible to see just how many people were in front of us. You run on I-90 until just before it starts to cross Lake Washington. (The Marathoners actually run all the way across the Lake and back as part of their route.) You get off and start running on Lake Washington Boulevard which is right along the lake and home to amazing houses (not that you really notice them). I was still running with Peg which was pretty amazing considering how much taller she is than me. That all changed though when we were confronted with the first slight hill. Peg "loves hills" and I really didn't do much pre-training on them. That is where I started to fall behind her. Not that I minded. I really didn't think we would be together as long as we were. Just to digress for a moment to tell you about Peg, she was my elementary school auction co-chair two years ago. After a series of "escapades", we decided that we were a bit like Lucy & Ethel. It varied who was Lucy and who was Ethel (it depended on who had the hair-brained idea.) She is fun, full of life, caring, kind, and many other wonderful things AND she loves to play Scrabble! How can you not love a person who loves to play Scrabble! She is the one who when she found out that running a marathon was on my "list" said "Maybe you should try running a half-marathon first" and then said she would do one with me. That's the kind of friend she is. We even purchased matching tops when we picked up our packets before the race. The picture on the right is just after I finished the race (that's why my mouth is hanging open I guess). She was waiting there to give me a big hug!

Back to the race. Once you reach the end of Lake Washington Boulevard the course starts to climb. Which seems rather unfair because at this point you are somewhere between 5 to 8 miles into the race. At one point there is this long uphill stretch. I had to walk. It was just too tiring to run. Once I got to the top though I started running again and managed to run most of the rest of the way. You run through the Arboretum which is a beautiful natural area and then onto this road that is winds along the side of a hill. Then it's pretty much a downhill 3 mile jaunt from there. But right about that time I thought I wasn't going to make it because I could feel myself running out of gas and my feet hurt. Thank goodness for jelly bellies made from power drinks! They kind of tasted like aspirin to me but they got me through. Just when you think you have seen your last hill, they throw you a last one about 2/10s of a mile before the finish! I had to walk that one too. But again once I got to the top I was able to run the last bit into Memorial Stadium (adrenaline I think). You can see from the top picture that there are people along the side and sitting the stadium cheering on (as they are all along the course). I almost cried I was so excited! It is an amazing thing to think you did something like this especially at the age of 45! There was Peg to greet me and right behind her came Dennis. This last picture is one Dennis took at home. He took another one first which I will save but not publish. It's not particularly attractive but it really captures how I felt at that point--tired.

Not too tired to do it again though. Peg and I (and maybe Dennis this time) will be running the Whidbey Island half-marathon in April. This time I get to be Ethel because I promised Peg if she ran the Seattle with me that I would run the Whidbey with her. Lucy & Ethel all over again!

Do two half-marathons in the course of 6 months equal a full marathon?? I think so and I will get to cross another thing off my "list"!

Confessions of a Soccer Mom

The regular soccer season finished last weekend. The season lasts 8-9 weekends in the Fall. This year we got lucky and never has super bad, cold weather. We did have some rain but who can't live with that in Seattle!? Cooper's team, the Cougars (yes, a hard name to bear in a Husky household) are still pretty much playing at the "herd" stage of soccer, which is all the players on the field cluster around the ball. Once in awhile some one will break away from the herd with the ball and depending on how alert the goalie is will score a goal. This year you did see an occasional attempt at passing. Cooper loved playing goalie (as did most of the boys) and was alert most of the time. His team finished pretty well--although at this age they still don't "officially" keep score but you know every boy on both teams knows who won the game in the end.
Spencer had a new coach and alot of players were new this year. The new coach continued the great groundwork laid by the previous coach and the team continued to play as a team and are fun to watch. Spencer isn't the most agressive kid on the field but towards the end of the season did start to use his superior height (compared to almost all other kids his age) to his advantage. (I love the picture on the right because it looks like he is about ready to sit down.) He was generally the tallest kid on the field (but not necessarily the biggest) all season long. He's not much into sports but seems to enjoy soccer. His team is in the city tournament which starts after Thanksgiving and is double elimination. You want them to do well in the tournament but there is a secret part of you that wants it all to end well before Christmas!
Tucker loves soccer almost as much as he loves sleeping. His team got lucky and won two games this year. They actually have some pretty good raw talent on their team but it has never been harnessed to work together as a team. Being on the high school team really helped Tucker improve his game. The team scored about 10 goals all season long and Tucker scored 5 of them (and he played defense on the high school team so didn't score one goal all season long). He was the "Corner Kick" guy. Any time there was a corner kick no matter where he was on the field, he was the guy who kicked it. His team is also in the city tournament but we don't have to worry about even coming close to Christmas. If they win even one game it will be a miracle.
So you might wonder what are my "confessions"? I have to admit that I don't totally understand the game. Like when are they "offsides" and why? It seems to me that being in front of the defenders is a good thing but apparently not always.
I have a hard time just sitting and watching--my feet have been known to involuntarily kick the ball. Sometimes I spend more time socializing with the grown-ups than watching the game.
I'm secretly glad when the season is over because the longer it goes, the colder it gets. That's why it doesn't make me so sad that Tucker's team won't do so well in the city tournament. Spencer's team however gives me cause for concern.
I think the trophies they give to the kids at end of the season are stupid--trophies are so meaningless now because everyone gets them regardless of a winning or losing season. (I'm sure the trophy making business loves it though.) One of my favorite lines from "The Incredibles" is "I'm going to make it so that everyone is special because when everyone is special then no is." (something like that). Luckily the trophy thing goes away as the kids get older and Cooper is the only one still getting trophies.
I like being the "bad mom" who brings twinkies, ding dongs or other bad stuff as snacks for after the game. Everyone wants to be so PC with the healthy snacks that I love going against the grain. Although I do have to admit that I tried to buy healthy stuff for Cooper's team this year.
I completely forgot the weekend I had snacks for Spencer's soccer team. When the game was over I just left the field and went to the car before the boys walked off. Luckily there was another boy missing that week so all the boys thought it was his mom who forgot. (I told Spencer he could them at practice the next week that it was me who was the lame mom.)
Soccer is a fun sport to watch and a great sport to play for most kids regardless of their athletic ability. It is fun to watch my boys play.
This year we stepped into a new arena--basketball for the first time. Cooper is trying it this year. It is the most hilarious thing to watch! The nice thing? The games are indoors and only last about 30 minutes. Gotta love that. I will post some pictures later on.

Captain Jack and a Play on Words

As requested Aunt C, here are the pictures from Halloween. As you can see, Cooper took on a little Jack Sparrow persona. Getting him to agree to the "eye liner" (washable Crayola marker) was quite a task but I think it really completes the outfit. The fencing sword was some promotional thing that Dennis got from work. (How it goes with AAA is a mystery at this point) The shirt is one of Dennis' and the jacket is one of mine with 3/4 length sleeves. The hat with attached hair is of course what makes the whole ensemble work. I suppose he could be Captain Hook (if we had a hook) but that's a different generation and I don't recall that he wore eyeliner, but I could be mistaken there. (I may not have been paying close attention to a detail like that as a kid.) He and I were the only ones to go trick-or-treating together as both Tucker and Spencer wanted to go with friends. I guess that is what happens when you start getting teens & pre-teens. We only went down the street two blocks on both sides and up one block past the house. That is as much as he wanted to do. Which is certainly fine by me as it was plenty of candy. But had I lived in a neighborhood this size I would have been out till that pillow case was full! (Pillowcases being the preferred trick-or-treat bag of children all ages). We did take a little neighbor boy with us who had a skeleton costume with a rubber skeleton head. He was quite comical as he went up and down the steps to the houses. I am not quite sure he could see all that well. After a while I had to carry his bag. (He had been out before we started so his was half full when we began). I was sure he was going to take a tumble down one of the longer sets of stairs, skewer himself on the fencing sword and well...But, luckily we got him home in one piece with his bag full (not a pillowcase--he's not yet wise in the ways of maximizing candy capacity). I will let you figure out the costumes of the other two boys for yourselves. Both boys came up with the ideas themselves--although Spencer may have gotten the suggestion from a girl at school. Spencer went trick-or-treating with three girls from his school. His only complaint was his mask got sweaty. I'm not exactly sure how full his pillowcase was when he got home because he squirreled it away into his room immediately. He is very protective of his candy hoard. He did not wear his costume to school (no masks allowed) but he did have fun wearing it out in the neighborhood. Although the net result of the plastic mask for this pubescent boy (not pre-pubesecent because his puberty is in full swing) was a serious rash around the nose. His skin is SO sensitive. Tucker's costume inspiration came while he and I were at JoAnn Fabrics looking for foam for a shark head (ala SNLs land shark) he was imagining he could construct. Since the foam was a bit spendy and I wasn't exactly sure on how he was planning to construct the shark head, he came up with this idea. I think it speaks for itself. The ego of a teenaged boy (at least mine) knows no bounds. He did say it garnered extra candy when it was explained, but I think that was probably only when the person handing out the candy was a guy. He came home sans candy because he gave it all to one of his friends he was out with. I guess he figured he could mooch off his brothers or eat the mounds of candy that I purchased forgetting that we never really get that many trick-or-treaters. That would be 4 according to Dennis who was manning the door while Cooper and I were out. He could have given each kid a full bag of bite-sized candy and still had one left over. As it is the giant tupperware bowl is still half-full of candy. Ah don't you just love Halloween!

Rated PG

What!? Two posts in two days. (I had to get at least two in October--and yes, there will be Halloween pictures but they may not be posted officially until November). Rated PG for those squeamish or PETA among us, more of the Triumphant Hunter (in hand-knitted chapeau). Dennis took this with our old camera and I had to post it. I don't know whether it was before or after the afternoon nap. I think before as he always looks a bit droopy eyed after napping (see photo in previous post). The dogs name is Sandy and she is a go-getter! Pretty nice as dogs go and I really am NOT a dog lover. (Live in Seattle awhile and you'll start to hate them too--or at least their owners, but I digress).

You may have wondered in my previous post "But where is Miss Kim?" Never one to miss out on trampoline or hay jumping she was sadly laid up from a previous encounter with said hay. (The big black thing next to the sofa is her foot brace). She lounged about gracefully indoors as you can see in this photo. She was busy crafting a masterpiece with crayons and markers which is sure to be published by her orthodontists and net her $50 from said orthodontists. It was appropriately Halloween themed with a ghost, pumpkin & bat, all sporting braces. The "slogan" was "Don't go around with scary teeth! Get braces to make them neat. (My contribution--all those years in advertising....) Sure to be the winning entry for the month of October. This can be said unequivicably after veiwing a previous year's calendar and seeing the sad lack of talent when compared to Miss Kim. (I also noticed that she officially no longer looks like a little girl. She is definitely a young woman and much more grown up looking. It happens.)

I spoke about Rachel's new toy but did not post a picture of the kids mugging for the camera. I didn't notice the back lighting coming in which of course made the kids dark in the picture. This is not a great picture because I really had to lighten it to get the kids faces. But you see that the biggest hams are the littlest and the biggest kids. Spencer and Leah could hardly get any face time with the rest of the camera hogs--especially the two youngest. You can see that they were having alot of fun with the computer.

You'll note that I am once again posting late at night--well late for me. An unusual occurance for me as during the week I generally like to be in bed by 9 or 9:30 (because 5:30 comes so darn early). Tucker has a late start at school tomorrow so I thought I would be "generous" and give him the day off from seminary. He is way too quick to point out to anyone who gives him a hard time (because he's generally always there) that if it was up to him he'd still be in bed. Makes me glad that God has blessed me with the ability to somehow get up every morning to get him there. There's no other way it would ever happen because I am SO not a morning person. Never have been in my whole life until now. Amazing. Honestly though, I am glad to have a morning to sleep in too. Who knew that 7:15 was "sleeping in"?? Not me before now.

At Long Last

Perhaps you have been wondering if I was ever going to update this space. I can't believe that I last posted in September and October is over in two days. I guess I was waiting to have some photos to share. This is from our trip to eastern Washington this past weekend for the annual pheasant scare. (I guess I shouldn't make fun, it's been a long time since they came home empty handed). This is in Aleta's "barn". The kids spent a little time jumping in the hay--not much since the trampoline was more fun. That's Leah and James in the picture with Spencer & Cooper. James & Cooper were fast friends that day. James remarked when we first arrived "He (meaning Cooper) is being a very nice boy to me" It was too funny. As promised I took the photo of Rachel with her new blonde locks which are actually more blonde highlights than a shocking full head of blonde hair. I think it looks quite nice myself. She might post a picture on her blog as she has plenty of her own to choose from. She got a very nice Mac laptop for graduation that has a built in video lense and software that allows her to take photos and manipulate them in a lot of different ways. But just in case she doesn't here's a sneak peak. Lovely girl. All the kids spent a bit of time with her and the laptop taking funny pictures. Maybe she will figure out how to post the really funny one of Cooper with the little tiny face on a big round head (bigger than his usual head) with a small chin.
This is the picture I like to call "Return of the Triumphant Hunter". While we spent the day at Aleta's, Tucker and Dennis spent the day out pheasant hunting with Dennis' good friend Bill. This is actually Tucker's 2nd trip out with them but this year for all his traipsing around all day he actually came home with a pheasant. Well actually I guess he only traipsed around half the day. Apparently the 2nd half of the day he spent sleeping in the truck and left the traipsing to the middle-aged men. Go figure, a perfectly healthy teenaged boy is outdone by two middle-aged guys. But then, Tucker can easily be talk himself out of doing pretty much anything if sleeping is the alternative! On Sunday he got to practice driving in Bill's little truck and decided that driving a stick shift was alot harder than he thought. Bill was even brave enough to let him stop on a hill. (I frequently have to apply the dashboard break when I ride with him to seminary in the morning.) But then Bill has already successfully raised a teenaged boy himself (Brian his son is 24--I think) so I guess he has probably already seen it all.

This last picture I had to share because I think it is so beautiful. This is the quilt that Aleta has been making for Dennis & I. She has made quilts for all of her sisters and I think mine is the last in a line of amazingly beautiful quilts. She and I picked out the fabric two years ago. She used some that we picked out and some that she had on hand (you never really know how they are going to go together until you start peicing them--at least that is what she says). You can't see the details of some of the fabric but you can see the incredible work she does. I can hardly wait to see the finished product. I can't even begin to imagine how she finds time in her life to do this. But then I am constantly amazed at what talented, smart, energetic, committed, generous, loving, kind, funny and plain old amazing sisters I have--every one of them! Life has blessed me in so many ways and one of the biggest ways is my family.

(Oh and in case anybody was wondering, Spencer is now officially 1/2 an inch taller than me! And he is quite proud of that.)

Then and...Well Just Then

I thought about doing another then and now but since I am the one who takes most of the photos and I am not inclined to do a self-portrait (ala Spencer) there aren't any current photos of me. The mandatory school yearbook photo that is taken at work doesn't count either. Although last year's wasn't too bad really. I dug this up because the ASB leader at school requested a middle school picture from the staff for some contest she is planning for the kids. I'm not positive that this is really a middle school picture because I can't remember which grade I was actually in when this picture was taken. Could be anywhere from 4th to 6th. The only other choice I had was an 8th grade photo and that is a face that is best not revisited. So this is the one I turned in. I guess you can see now where Tucker gets the flippy ends on his long hair. Kind of makes me wonder how he would look with a cute little white barrette in his hair. It also really shows how much Spencer really does look like me. Cooper too. I'm not sure I remember much about being that age. Perhaps when I am old and slipping into dementia it will all come back to me.

Spencer Turns 12!

I don't know what you would call these. Blackmail? Payback?? Today is an auspicious day. Yes, we all know what it means nationally, but more importantly to us, it is Spencer's birthday. These pictures are evidence of what he did this summer when I was at work. My camera was just lying there (in it's case) begging some young, pre-teen to take self-portraits. I guess things get a little dull when mom is not around. There were actually about 6-8 pictures--even after I told him to stop taking pictures of himself. What did Spencer want for his birthday?? He has spent many hours contemplating this very issue, crafting and re-crafting birthday lists which he places on the refrigerator for all to see. He has been dying to have a cell phone. For what reason we are not clear. Chances of that happening are...well, use whatever trite saying that comes to mind about never. (Hence the re-crafting.) He loves movies so there is always a variety of those on his list as well as gift cards. Top of the list though (with cell phone out) was a digital camera which is what we got him. Future as a photographer? As long as he leaves these pictures out of any portfolio maybe he has a future. Some amazing things about him in recent months:

• His voice sounds like he is getting a cold--no confusing him with me on the phone any more
• His feet are nearly as big as his dad's (he's wearing Tucker's soccer shoes from this past spring)
• He is growing what Cooper likes to call "armpit beards"
• He is within about an inch of being taller than me
• He is the tallest boy on his soccer team

In other words he's growing up!

Then & Now

Since everyone else was doing these before and after photos, I thought I would jump on the bandwagon. I do have some before and after photos of my kitchen but that is not what I am sharing (although it is pretty amazing actually). This is a more personal before and after or actually then and now. I have had a tradition of taking a picture of the boys on the first day of school since Tucker started kindergarten (got the idea out of some magazine). And so I have a pictorial chronology of how they have grown and changed. We also take picture with their teacher on the last day of school--although that is only through elementary school. I think you can figure out which are the befores and which are the afters. Scary how much they change and how fast it happens. Tucker is just three short years away from being gone. I just won't think about that right now. I'll do my Scarlett O'Hara impression and think about it tomorrow. And yes, that is the same rug lying in front of the door in all the then & now pictures as Spencer so brilliantly pointed out. I have always meant to get something different but have just never gotten around to it. Just not a priority. If you have my name for Christmas there's an easy gift! Cooper is too close to his first day of school for there to be much of a difference. Although I swear he must weigh at least 20 pounds more than he did in kindergarten. That boy is going to eat us out of house and home as the saying goes. So here is a picture of him in front of his favorite vehicle--the mini Cooper naturally--complete with "The Italian Job " wheels. (Not our car, it's friend's).

Camano Cupcake

A few weekends ago the boys & I spent two days at our friend's cabin on Camano Island. This is the view from the deck of the "cupcake cabin". The cabin is octagonal and kind of looks like a cupcake. We had glorious time and the weather was absolutely lovely. The highlight of the two days was "killer croquet". The boys would set up these elaborate and impossible croquet courses and compete against each other and our friends Neil & Steph. They would make up rules like if your ball went in the sand or fell down the stairs you had to go back to the start. The wickets(?) were set right in front of said sand and stairs. Needless to say there were some really long games. Fun was had by all. That's Neil in the boat with Cooper. I rode in that rowboat with Neil last summer and it was pretty tippy. I tried not to think about that as Neil rowed Cooper parallel to the shore. Neil also helped Tucker with the Algebra correspondence course we signed Tucker up for this summer. He's a great guy--Neil (well, and Tucker too). Yes, it is true that Tucker's parents are unbelievably cruel and made their son study math over the summer. Obviously the strain of it all was too much for Tucker as you can see in the picture. He actually slept like that for probably 45 minutes. Perhaps he will be motivated by this summer's experience to actually do better in math this year so he won't have to repeat it again next summer?? Only time will tell.

Long Hot Days of Summer

Except in Seattle that is. This past weekend was the annual Chandler pilgrimage to Twin Harbors State Park on the Olympic Peninsula where where camp next to the beach. It's August so one would expect cool nights and hot days. Wrong! The trip there was marked by periods of light rain followed by heavy rain followed by no rain followed by light rain...It just kept changing about every 10 miles down the road. When we got there at 1pm it appeared that things were clearing up. Luckily it did and that evening the kids (all 9 Chandler grandkids plus 3 additional teenagers) were able to enjoy the surf--as the sun set. Yes, it's true, our children were out enjoying the ocean around 8:30 in the evening. Now if you had ever experienced the Washington coast you might think to yourself "How could they stand the near icy cold water?" Believe it or not it was the warmest water I have ever felt in the 15 years we have been going there. Global warming? you say. Well, maybe. I think it was the fact that the current/wind appeared to coming from a southerly direction (El Nino perhaps) rather than the Northerly (Arctic) direction it usually does. The kids enjoyed trying out skim boards (Cooper's pix), digging in the sand and jumping in the surf. It's a good thing too since the next day started out wet (well rainy). It sort of cleared around noon but it was windy at the beach and most of the grown-ups spent the time huddled in chairs with David's big truck blocking some of the wind. Shortly after they left the beach around 3 or 4 that day it started to rain and it basically never stopped! It either sprinkled or outright rained the whole night! It was the rainiest weekend we have ever spent there. However, it is only the 2nd time in about 15 years of going there that we have ever been rained on. The nice thing was that it wasn't cold. We have been there when it was colder (without the rain). Regardless, it was a fun time for all.

Whitewater & Such

This is our little group just before we set out for a little whitewater adventure on the Salmon River. Dennis' friend Bill was our guide and has been navigating the river for many years. The girl next to me is his daughter Laura. Cooper is not in the picture because he didn't want to try it this year--even though we said he could. It was hot, hot, hot that day (102 in the shade). When the wind blew upriver it was not refreshing it was more like turning on a blow dryer. The best way to cool down is jump in when the water was mellow. I am not channeling Cap'n Jack in the photo but discovered that my wet shirt felt very refreshing on my head. Periodically I would wet it again and rewrap which really helped keep me cool. It was a very mellow trip down the river. Bill avoided most of the major rapids since he hadn't fully recovered from breaking his shoulder last year. In some of the major rapids we didn't even get splashed! That was the culminating adventure of our "outdoor" week. It started in Mackay where we visited my family, played some golf with my brother and then headed for Wildhorse which is more in the middle of nowhere than Mackay is. It is somewhere between Mackay and Sun Valley, down several dirt roads at the end of which is a campground. It is a lovely campground right by a creek. When the mosquitos are under control it's quite lovely. Luckily we got the best campsite with the fewest mosquitos! We all had good time hanging out with family, floating on the river and relaxing (see pix of Spencer & cousin Leah). There was a little beaver pond on the river that I jumped in three times. Keep in mind that is "pond" is filled with freshly melted snow (that's how far up in the mountains we were). The first time I jumped in I came up gasping for air and thrashed my way to the shore (I'm not much of a swimmer and when you trying to get your breath back it's even harder). After I caught my breath I guess I thought it was so enjoyable that I had to do it again. Tucker jumped in with me the 2nd and 3rd time--we were trying to get some action shots with the camera. Unfortunately we only ever caught the splash at the end. It was too cold and rainy the next day to try again. I heard after we left that my sister Karen also had an adventure in the "pool" however, hers was not as pleasant as mine. From Wildhorse we headed to Riggins where the raft picture was taken. When we weren't rafting we were hanging out in the pool trying to stay cool. It was a great vacation as always!

Every Boy Needs a Dog

As much as he would want one (and he does) unfortunately it's not going to happen. However, there are opportunities out there for dog loving boys. He was in dog heaven this weekend when we went for dinner at the condo of our Relief Society President, Ann Romish and her husband. They have two dogs (one in Cooper's arms, the other quite similar) and their son who is deaf/blind came over with his golden retriever service dog who was a real beauty and very friendly. Cooper was in dog heaven. They live on the 9th floor in a high rise in the U-District (as in UW for those not familiar with Seattle) with a fabulous view of Lake Union and the Seattle skyline. They are fabulous people! There was also a heated pool which despite the windy, chilly evening was also enjoyed by the boys as you can see from the photo of Spencer.

Last week Spencer finished his last day of elementary school (sigh). He is moving on to middle school next year. The last week of school was pretty much one big party. The picture with the girls is from the 2nd to the last day when they had a field trip where they went to the Space Needle (which gave me a headache--I guess I'm getting old) and they "rode the Duck" which again if you are from Seattle needs no explanation but if not, it's a big silver boat looking thing on wheels with a canopy over it that tours around Seattle on land and water. It was a rather fun day. The girls are just three of the six that are his friends. He's quite the ladies man.

The Young & The Restless

I had to post this picture just because it is so Cooper. The boy is in constant motion and everything he does is over the top. From eating to smiling he can't do anything in a small way. I took a bunch of quick action photos one day when he was playing catch with Dennis. Mostly I missed the action--guess I need to practise more--but I did manage to catch one or two pretty good shots. His smile lights up his whole face and you just can't resist that infectious grin. It just doesn't get any hammier than him--except maybe his Grandpa Vaden. He is so much like Grandpa Vaden it's scary! All the way from eating butter (by itself) to the wooden poses for photos at times. He can't sit still for 2 minutes without having to make some noise, squirm, say something, or just move. He has constant clammy hands and feet, his head is perpetually wet from sweating and every day he comes home from school dirty from head to toe. From the Chandler side he gets a hearty appetite. He has been known to eat two huge hamburgers (with bun) and then ask mom "Are you going to finish that?" about her half eaten burger. The picture says it all. That's Cooper.

Field of Dreams

The oh, so controversial baseball field across the street from our house reopened last week. Dennis' baseball team of 13 & 14 year olds played their last game of the season there on Wednesday, May 30th. The field is controversial because it is artificial turf. A group known as "no plastic grass" dogged it every step of the way. Construction was originally scheduled so that it wouldn't disrupt baseball season (or at least only a minor disruption). But the NPG group litigated, complained, stymied, etc. so that construction started way later than planned and the only game the kids got to play was this last game of the season. Dennis coached the team despite not having one of our boys on the team. He said he enjoyed the season but will not be back for a repeat next year. You can see how beautiful the field looks--particularly when framed by a gorgeous day in Seattle (yes, we do have those-more than most people suspect). The field has been in constant use since it opened--more so than it was ever used on any given evening in the past. Sure it would be nice to have real grass--but, there are those occasional not so gorgeous days that make a grass field impractical for the amount of abuse it gets. Now if the dog owners can just manage to take the "no dogs on the field" sign seriously and stay off, all will as it should be. (The kids on the field are not his team. His team was dark blue and they lost the game 8-0. Small wonder with bruisers like those on the other team!)

Beavers on Broadway

Spencer picked this picture out himself and the size too saying something to the effect of "because I'm larger than life" That's not the exact quote but it was something along that general line. No modesty there. However, I digress. This is a photo from his recent musical performance at the school. Yes, the production really was called "Beavers on Broadway". The school mascot is the mighty beaver. Imagine the terror of all the other school mascots. I guess it is more PC than some other mascots. Once again I digress. He (Spencer, not the beaver) was one of 7 major characters that the muscial centered around. They were "new kids" at school trying to adjust and using songs from musicals to help them. Groups of kids performed pieces from musicals while the "new kids" watched from a magical stage door and then figured out what the message from the song was supposed to be. Spencer played the neurotic, nervous kid who was afraid of everything. Miky the yawning boy in the picture was the athletic, skateboarding risk-taker boy. The kids performed songs from the King & I, Sound of Music, Damn Yankees, South Pacific and a few others. It was really quite well done. A mom who in her former life was a dancer on broadway was the director. She did a great job! Spencer's big selling point is that his voice carries (thanks to some stellar genes from Oma). He has been in the school play for the past three years and really enjoys it. His loud voice isn't his only selling point, he is also a pretty good little actor. Spencer's group of kids sang "Happiness" from You're a Good Man Charlie Brown. There were two matinee perfomances during the day Friday for the school and two evening performances for parents and extended family on Friday and Saturday.

JVC Soccer Dude

The Ballard Beavers JVC soccer team just completed a very successful season going 8-1-2. It's the first Freshman soccer team they have had in 40 years if Tucker is to be believed (sometimes is information can be a little suspect). Perhaps it's best to say it's the first on in a long time. Tucker played defense all season long and apparently did an excellent job according to one of the dad's who's a coach himself. Personally I'm still trying to figure out what constitutes being offsides. It's all very confusing. This is from the 2nd to the last game of the season (and the 1st one I remembered to bring the camera). It was a rainy, cold day so the boys got a little chilly. It as been a great experience for Tucker but it will make returning to his not so excellently coached rec league team a bit hard. We are quite proud of him for trying out and being determined to make the team despite skepticism on the part of his parents that it might be possible. Yes, I admit we were trying to prepare him for not making the team. We'll see what happens next year. Lest you are wondering about milestones in the other boys lives, Spencer has two musical performances coming up which will be featured soon--a broadway musical and a piano recital. Cooper has started "little league" machine pitch baseball with the Boys N Girls club so I will be sharing some highlights of him as well. He is quite the little hitter I must say.