Christmas Cheer

This is Spencer with his cousins Emma and Kelly on Christmas Eve. They are great pals and have lots of fun together. Kelly is a Freshman at the UW and Emma is a Senior in HS. They made a fun little scavenger hunt for the for the three youngest boys to do on Christmas Eve.





















Cooper on Christmas morning. He LOVES penguins as I think I have mentioned before. He also recently celebrated his 10th birthday (12/21).




















Spencer loves Christmas. I think he pretty much wrapped every present--even some for himself. He is always asking "got anything to wrap??" I think he liked it this year. He didn't get all 37 things on his list (of course) but he got a few.

Tucker wanted camping gear and that is mostly what he got for Christmas. I think he really is serious about want to hike and camp more. Perhaps he will be ready soon to go on a Death March with his Uncle Chuck and Inkom Crazy Lady??

In Search of the Tree

Every year since Tucker was a baby we used to go down to Centralia and cut down a tree with Oma & Opa. This continued even after they moved up here to Seattle--until last year. Last year we got a tree from the lot where Tucker was working because we got it for free and we just couldn't find a good time to travel all the way to Centralia to get a tree.

This year Oma decided she had had enough of fresh trees and bought an artificial one. They boys are still trying to get over the shock of it.

We decided we wanted to cut one down again. Instead of heading south for Centralia we went north to Stanwood where Douglas and his family live. Dennis researched tree farms online and we selected the first one on the list. It just happened to be right off the exit to Doug's house. In fact it was probably less than a mile away from his house.

It was fun to tromp through the fields and search for the perfect tree. We finally agreed on one that was a little shorter than usual and a little more full on the bottom, but perfect for hanging the tons of ornaments we seem to have collected over the years.

I didn't realize how the star was really making the top lean until I took the picture. Oh well. I do love the smell of the pine of the fresh tree. We also go some cinnamon scented pine cones so the house smells really nice.

I threw in the cross-stitch stockings for Des. When I was around the same age, I was really into cross-stitching and it lasted for years & years. I made stockings for each of the boys--even though they have really cute ones that Oma made for them--and also made the ones here for Oma, Opa & Dennis. I also have a cute little doorknob hanger on black fabric that is really cute. I don't cross stitch at all anymore, but it is nice to have these little keepsakes.

I think I might be getting more in the Christmas spirit. Still haven't done any shopping to speak of. Although I did manage to get an invite out for Cooper's birthday yesterday. And so it goes.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Just a couple pictures from our Thanksgiving weekend. The Miste/Cooper picture are the place markers that Spencer made for everyone for dinner. He loves doing that for special occasions. I think he is pretty darn creative. The paper is obviously pre-printed but the names are pure Spencer. Note the gravy spill on Cooper's--no explanation necessary other than it's Cooper's which should be self-explanatory.
The day after Thanksgiving Tucker worked and hung out with friends and Spencer went shopping with a friend. That left Cooper home with mom & dad by himself. When asked what he wanted to do it was go to the zoo. So that's what we did. He totally loves the zoo and it was a beautiful, sunnyish kind of day. Fun day with mom & dad.
Saturday the two younger boys and I went to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox which is one of the weirdest movies I have seen in a long time. Creepy animation to boot. The boys didn't laugh once I think--three thumbs down. Although I have heard that some people think it's the best movie ever--must be a different sense of humor than mine. (Maybe the Napolean Dynomite crowd).
Dennis & Tucker went to the shooting range with Dennis' brother Dan and his son James.
A fun weekend for all. This weekend it's the search for the Christmas tree. Maybe that will get me in the mood. I have done zero shopping. Spencer pointed out the other day that I didn't even put out the advent calendar Oma made for the boys--still haven't, that's how bad I am. Here's hoping the tree gets me in the mood.!

Halloween Eastern WA Style

We drove over to Eastern Washington this past weekend for the annual pheasant scare. (I guess I shouldn't call it that since Bill & Dennis generally get a pheasant or two for all their traipsing around the Palouse.) We went sans Tucker who had to stay home to work.

On Saturday, Dennis goes out with Bill and I usually drive from Pullman to Colfax to visit Aleta. So here's a few pictures from the trip.

Spencer, Kimberly and Leah played a rousing game of Phase 10. Much to Spencer's chagrin, Kimberly pulled out a win on the last Phase. The girls are getting so grown up looking. Kimberly is a Junior in high school and Leah in in 8th grade--same as Spencer.

James is looking more grown up all the time too. It's hard to beleive he is 5 already. Of course I am always thinking he is older than that. He had a great time with Cooper and was sad to see him leave (or maybe it was the Lego men that Cooper had brought with him).

Jumping on the trampoline is always a fun time too. The kids stayed out there for quite awhile, even though it was a very blustery day. They had some game going that involved someone laying in the middle pretending to be a "dead man". James was in 7th heaven to have two new playmates, and boys at that!

After our day at Aleta's we headed back to Bill's house in Pullman to get ready for Halloween. Cooper & Laura carved pumpkin together. Then Cooper

got dressed to go trick-or-treating. He was very excited to be the Grim Reaper. I especially like the skeletal gloves. Kind of creepy.

Laura & Spencer volunteered to take Cooper out in the neighborhood and although neither of them dressed up, they still managed to come back with their pockets full of candy. The said they never actually asked for candy, that people just gave it to them. Cooper made quite a haul with his pillowcase too of course.

Now last but not least, the creepy family photo. I hate the inside out eyelid thing that Dennis does, but you have to admit that it does make a great Halloween picture!

Hawaii

So here are a few pictures from our trip to Hawaii. We were there from October 17th to October 24th--so a nice long trip. It was alot of fun and a very relaxing trip. The first picture is of a the catamaran we got to go on for a sunset cruise. It was a very balmy evening and I didn't get seasick, but Dennis did. We did the cruise on Wednesday. The new picture of us on the side panel of the blog is from this cruise.

The first picture is the helicopter we got to ride in for an hour tour around Maui. That was the way coolest thing we got to do on our trip. It was amazing! I've always wanted to ride on one so this was pretty awesome. This is the view from the helicopter of the hotel strip where we were staying on the north end of the island. We stayed at the Westin Ka'anapali.

This trip we decided to take the road to Hana which is a 30 mile windy, twisty road on the south end of the island. This was one of the stops along the way. The water was this incredible blue and there was all these volcanic formations in the water. This one kind of reminded me of a turtle. It was really cool to see the waves crashing against the rocks. There was a blowhole but no water ever shot up through it.

This is another shot from the road to Hana. There was this cute little town way down in the valley with a white clapboard church that looked really cool. I was trying to frame it through the plants. I thought the pictured turned out kind of cool.

Dennis went boogie boarding with this other couple that we spent quite a bit of time with. We found this great beach just north of where we were staying and the waves were really good. Some of them would have gone right over people's heads if they were standing up as they came in. I didn't do any boogie boarding myself, but Dennis had a great time.

I don't know how we missed this tree the first time we went to Maui. It is in this square in Lahaina a little coastal, tourist town on the north coast. It is a huge banyan tree. I know it looks like alot of trees, but is is all one tree. You can see all the twisted, gnarled stuff in the middle, but all the ones that look like separate trees surrounding the middle stuff is part of the main tree. The sign says there are 19 different major "trunks" for this one tree. It was totally cool.

Yes, I know there aren't really any pictures of me and Dennis, but we didn't really take any of ourselves. It was kind of weird to be there without the kids to take pictures of. We only took a few of us and they weren't all that great. Oh well. It was a really fun trip though.

GRRRR! I Hate Computers!!

I have been trying to update my blog with pictures from our recent trip to Hawaii (last week) and haven't been able to make it work because of our stupid computer!! Between our computer at home & the computer at work I am going crazy. I takes my computer at work 20 minutes or more to warm up every morning. The good news is that we are scheduled to get new computers at work in December. Meanwhile I just have to grit my teeth and find other things to do while I wait for the computer (s) to get it together.
I was able to get one picture on as you can see, but that is it! The only reason I can do this is because I am using Dennis' laptop. Unfortunately, I do not have access to the photos from Dennis' laptop.

The Old Man

Dennis' 50th birthday was Wednesday, October 7th. We both took the day off and played golf together. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, perfect for golf. He had a great round and despite being barely able to walk I did pretty well (The new exercise routine at the gym the day before left my quads like jello. Going downhill even slightly was a bear!) That's how we celebrated the day of his birthday.
Since it was his 50th after all a party must be held (even though I didn't want to, party pooper that I am) and Wednesday being the middle of the week and all it had to be another day and someplace else. Kathy (Oma) graciously allowed us to have it at their place. Luckily Saturday, the 10th was also a pretty decent day and we held the party in the back yard. We had most of his family (including his aunt & uncle from Port Ludlow) plus a few of our friends. It was a very nice evening. We had tons of Mexican food and everyone just hung out in the back yard.

We lit a fire in an old washtub so that everyone had some place to get warm as the night got a little chilly as the sun went down. The kids also strung up some Christmas lights to give a little light and set the mood.

I figured I would throw in this picture of me, with my friend Peg and sister-in-law Lisa just because I hardly ever include pictures of myself.

Have I Done Any Good...

I was watching the Sunday morning broadcast of General Conference last night (that's the beauty of satellite TV & being able to record stuff to watch it when you want) and listened to President Monson's talk about doing good. I actually saw the "challenge" in the Ensign about how he wanted everyone to do something good as a gift for his birthday. I had wanted to get my Primary class to do that and even wrote a letter home to the parents about it, but for whatever reason never got any further with it than that. I was feeling a little guilty as I saw the little montage of all the things kids/people had sent to show what they had done because I totally planned on doing that with the primary class, but....

Anyway, I was still feeling that challenge for myself to try to do something good every day. I guess blogging about it is my way of publicly acknowledging that I plan to do that and it started today. I had thought about it last night and made a commitment to try to do something good today. I even remembered that commitment this morning as I was driving to work, which is pretty amazing for me to actually remember something the next day!

Then of course I promptly forgot it for the rest of the day. I was driving home later that afternoon and realized that I actually had done something good today!!

We had a little power outage this morning at the school. The main transformer blew at about 7:30 am. We had about 1/3 the power we normally have which meant no computers, no intercom, and very limited lighting. We did manage to get through the whole school day, but Seattle City light said they had to shut the power completely off 10 minutes after school let out so they could do the repairs. True to their word, the power went out abruptly at 2:45pm.

Unfortunately one little 6th grade Somali boy happened to be struggling with his stuck locker and worrying about missing bus when the power suddenly went out. It was the literal straw...he was so upset he started to cry about all of it--stuck locker, missed bus, dark school. Now came the debate about who could drive him home. You are supposed to have a special "license" in order to drive someone home--which I don't have. Unfortunately though all the people who did have the special license were already driving another student home or had meetings. Apparently in emergency cases someone without a special license can drive students home. That was me! My good deed in the world today was to drive the little boy home!

Here's hoping that there is some good deed I can do every day. (Not that I am going to blog about it daily, it just seems like a worthy goal) Most days it probably won't be anything as dramatic as today, but it seems like just trying would make the world a little brighter!

3rd Time Lucky & Other Stuff

Tucker next to his third vehicle in a year, through no fault of his own as past posting attest. This time around he is driving a 5-speed (which he loves) Honda Civic. Seems like it will be a nice reliable car for him. Although not as cool as the Trooper of course, the gas mileage is waaaay better which beats cool any day. He has already started adding stickers to the back window.

Spencer turned 14 on September 11. Mom & Dad chauffered by Roberta came up for the occasion. We had a birthday dinner on Friday night (pot roast, mashed potatoes and butterschotch pie) which was ready just in time for their arrival. He opened presents and this next picture is a picture of his list (he prepares one every birthday and Christmas) with the top item clearly crossed out with a big "No". What was that top item? you might ask. That would be the lap top that Dennis said "No way in ... was he going to get" What's that right next him? Why that would be the laptop that Dennis got for free from work! We added some ram and a video drive and we now have one very happy 14 year old!

Here's Cooper on the first day of school. I was not there to take the picture (how sad is that) because I had to go into school early. Spencer took his picture and Tucker took Spencer's. Tucker doesn't start school (community college) until the 29th so no one took his picture. Cooper rode his bike by himself to school that day and has pretty much done the same thing every day so far. Pretty independent kid.

Here's a few from our visit to the Cupcake Cabin over Labor Day. We were going to go to a resort near Mt. Hood but due to the unplanned rescue of Tucker after his Trooper broke down and the return of the half-dead cat, we postponed it until another time. Luckily for us our friends, the Roches were still game to have us visit the Cupcake Cabin. We went up Saturday morning and stayed until Sunday afternoon. The weather was iffy, but a few games of killer croquet were still played, as well as Perudo and other card games. It was nice to get away even overnight. We are planning another visit the first weekend in October.

The Cat Came Back...But The Trooper Didn't

Who can blame Kabuki, the psycho kitty, for taking the tempting opening placed before her? When her family left her for a week vacation in Idaho and left the boys' bedroom window gaping wide open, what formal feral kitty wouldn't leap at the chance for freedom and jump out the window despite the two storey drop?? Then why not enjoy that new found freedom for oh, let's just say, about a month & a half, causing the aforementioned careless family to give you up for dead. Then let's say after the freshness of the all night partying has worn off and you are feeling a little bit hungry you decide to head for home. Wouldn't you know, some would-be good Samaritan finds you just outside your family's house with your leg stuck through your collar looking like a concentration camp kitty and decides to turn you into an emergency animal shelter. There some kindly attendant notices that the collar, which formerly had your leg stuck through it, has a tag with your name & phone number on it. She calls the family after 10pm at night to let them know you have been found. The message for one reason or another is not received until later. At 7am the next morning your contrite owner picks you up from the shelter and is given the advice that perhaps you should be taken to your regular vet. Given your emaciated, flea-covered condition, your owner wishes you had a regular vet to be taken to. However, seeings how you didn't, she takes you to the one closest to home.
Now your life hangs in the balance. Resusitating you will be $$$, so mom tries to call dad for advice. Luckily for you, dad is not available and mom just doesn't have the heart to approve termination. So you get to have vet care and I.V.s for two days. Even after all that your prospects are still somewhat iffy. You come home painfully thin and barely able to stand. How you progress over the Labor Day weekend will determine your longterm life prospects. But so far, Kabuki the psycho kitty seems to be getting better each day.
As for the Trooper, that's Tucker's car. He took it on a camping trip with friends to the Oregon coast this past week where it peacefully succumbed to transmission failure. Sadly, it now rests-in-peace in a junk dealer's "lot" in Lincoln City, OR. (That's the short version of the story). The free car turned out to be not such a great deal after all.
This week will go down in history as the week of Kitty & Car Trauma!

Beach Camping 09

Every summer for the past 15 to 16 years, the Chandler clan (more or less) has gone camping on the Washington coast by Westport, WA. It is an annual tradition that the Dennis Chandler clan has never missed (even when I was 8 mo pregnant with Spencer). It is something the kids look forward to all summer long and are sad when it is done.
Over the years various people have joined us (or not some years). This year we had a group of 22 people with friends and relatives combined. The picture on the left is Spencer with his two Chandler girl cousins Kelly and Emma. They have been pals all their lives. It is great to see how they interact and have fun together.

This picture is Tucker with his cousin James. It gives Tucker way more credit than he deserves. I happened to snap it at just the right moment when Tucker let go of James' shoulder. He immediately grabbed right back on. He never was able to take a footstep on the line without holding on to James. James brought the line from home and ran it between two trees at the place where we camped.


This is Dennis flying James' parachute kite. It must be fun because lots of people tried it out while we were there. On Friday night the wind was so gusty that it lifted people off the ground. I didn't see it, but apparently it is pretty fun if you are the one being lifted. Personally that would make me a little nervous.



Cooper spent about every moment he could boogy boarding in the waves. Keep in mind that the ocean on the Washington coast is not exactly warm. Okay, it is not even remotely warm. Last year it was surprisingly pleasant. This year it was slightly chillier despite all those climate change claims of higher temps. Cooper and his cousin Trevor spent alot of time on the board. Both really got the hang of "catchin' a wave" and frequently could ride one for quite a ways into the shore. Cooper would do it over and over and over. I liked going out into the water myself. There is something quite mesmerizing, or compelling about the ocean that just draws me in. I only got wet midway up my thighs though. I just couldn't bring myself to go further than that this year.
We got incredibly lucky with the weather. It was drizzly all the way to the beach, but it seemed like the closer we got the better the weather got, which is unsual because usually it's just the opposite. Friday afternoon when we went the the beach it was absolutely lovely. Saturday was a great day also. The wind was a little chilly which kept most of the kids out of the water for the most part. There was some wading, but the only serious "swimmers" were Cooper & Trevor (undeveloped nerve endings I guess). We had great food, great campfires both nights and just an all around good time.
Who knows how many more of these we will have Kelly and James graduated from high school this year so it is the beginning of kids moving on. It has been a great Chandler tradition with some really fond memories though!

The Super Activity

These are some pictures that Spencer took on the Super Activity he and Tucker when on last week (well obviously he didn't take his own picture AND his camera survied the dip in the creek at Wildhorse.) The Young Men youth leader took boys 14 and above on a hiking trip along the Washington coast. Brave, brave man. It was a group of 13 boys and 3 leaders. The hike 5-7 miles each day from Tuesday through Thursday. They ended the trip with surf lessons on Friday which both boys enjoyed quite a bit. Tucker has decided that hiking is really cool and wants to get more "in to it". They both said they saw some amazing scenery and the trip was cool--despite all the hiking and subsequent sore legs. (Maybe some day they will be prepared to make the annaul "death march" with Crazy Lady. He didn't get any pictures of the surfing because his batteries died after the first day. Oh well. He did get a few pictures and some of the leaders took a whole bunch so perhaps there will be more memorable pictures. It is so great that their YM leader is trying to do these "mega" trips with the boys. He is building memories for these kids that will last a lifetime. I know it is a lot of work but it is an awesome thing he is doing!

Family Ties That Bind

This is a picture of my mom with all eight of her living siblings. Before we were headed to Idaho, mom had mentioned that they were planning a get together while we were visiting and would I be interested in coming. I could tell she really wanted me to go but I just said we'll see when I get there. She asked again after we got there and I said I'd see how I felt after playing golf the day before. The golf turned out to be 16 holes of 50mph wind in our face (only two holes where it was at our back). I told her I would see how I felt when I got up the next morning. Luckly I felt pretty good so I said I'd go. Spencer opted to come with me. Turns out that Spencer & I were the only non-sibling/spouse there.

It was so much fun to see my aunts and uncles. I hadn't seen any of them for several years and it was the first time in a few years that ALL of them were together at one time. I told them right up front that I was going to be obnoxious and take pictures and if it bugged them they would just have to get over it. Luckly they had been planning on some group pictures because I also informed them that it wasn't optional as far as I was concerned.

Everyone had a very nice visit and it was lots of fun listening to them reminisce about "mother" and "father" which is what they all call Grandma & Grandpa Hall.

I have very fond memories of the annual Hall reunions that happened every summer as I was growing up. It was always exciting to anticipate seeing cousins, aunts and uncles--and there were lots of us. It's funny how blood ties can create a real sense of family with people you only see once maybe twice a year. Those were some very happy times.

It was hard to get all those siblings to sit still, look in the right place and stop giggling and talking. They were almost worse than pre-schoolers! I took lots and lots of photos of each group (girls, boys, both and both w/spouses) so I could be sure to get at least one good one. Luckily I did get at least one good one of each group.

It was an awesome day and I am so very glad I went.

(If you are interested in seeing or having photos just let me know and I will send you a Picasa link to them all)

I Love Freezer Jam!

It's true, I love freezer jam! I have a particular fondness for raspberry. That is why I took the time just before leaving for Idaho to do a little freezer jam processing today. I guess I should have visited my freezer before buying all the raspberries I purchased today. If I had done that I would have discoverd about 18 more similar containers of raspberry and strawberry jam! I guess I thought we ate more of it from last year. Oh well.
But, I didn't visit before purchasing 4 flats of raspberries (or were they 1/2 flats--I always get confused) so what can you do but get them ready for freezing. It's not like we are going to eat them all--especially since we are leaving on Saturday for Idaho. So, I get the less sugar/no sugar pectin and off I go.
I purchased the blue plastic containers several years ago on sale. I guess I didn't remember purchasing so many (between those pictured here and the ones already in the freezer from last year). I was trying to get just enough raspberries to fill the little blue containers that I had that were empty. Unfortunately, I always overestimate in my berry purchasing. Happens every year (maybe that's why there is so much in my freezer). Luckily I learned the trick from my mom of freezing the jam in freezer baggies otherwise I would have been in trouble with my four boxes of raspberries. The baggies keep just as nicely as the containers.
I don't know how to can. Never really learned, so it's the freezer method for me. I always preferred the freezer kind anyway.

Some People Have Good Karma

I think I mentioned that Tucker originally didn't want the Subaru because it wasn't "cool" to which I replied "Son, you can't afford cool" Apparently he can when it's free! Yes, the car you see to the left was free!! (Not the ham standing next to it but the actual car). Dennis was telling a co-worker about the search for a replacement car for Tucker after the accident. Kyle (the co-worker) casually says he has a 1998 Isuzu Trooper and Tucker could have it if he wanted. Just like that. What's the catch you might wonder? Well, it needed to be licensed and the check engine light was on. That is an automatic failure at the emissions testing place and you have to pay at least $150 to get it fixed or approved if not fixed. (Kyle thought it was $500). So Dennis & Tucker went to check it out and of course thought it was a fine vehicle. They drove it home. Just before going to the emissions testing place, Dennis unhooked the car's computer after which it had to reboot or something. Regardless, the "check engine" light stayed off long enough to pass the emissions test (it turned back on about 20 minutes later). Licensing it was just under $100 and the front wind sheild needs to be replaced, but that's it. So while not exactly without a cost attached, it was a free vehicle to Tucker.
It was a little dirty inside because Kyle had been using it for dump trips, but nothing a little afternoon elbow grease by Tucker and Spencer couldn't cure. It obviously is not as fuel effecient as the Subaru was, but heck it was free! And the cool factor. Oh that's way up.

It Happens to Everyone

I guess it is inevitable that you will have a fender bender at some point in your life. And, if you are a teenager (or old), that is probably going to happen sooner rather than later. We would be dreaming if we didn't think it would happen to Tucker at some point. Yesterday it did. Of course we kind of assumed that it would be Tucker's fault, but in this instance it wasn't! Shocking I know. I got a frantic call from him yesterday at work around 11:30am saying his he had crashed into the back of a tow truck (how ironic is that??) and that it wasn't his fault because there was an oil slick or something. I can't say that I was exactly maternal. I was having a crappy day myself for various reasons so the first thing I said was "I don't need this today, I just don't need this." and then follwed that with "Oil slick? Yeah, right." Regardless of the intial "all about me" response, I did ask who was in the car and if everyone was okay (luckily yes). Then I hopped in the van (luckily I hadn't walked to work that day) and drove down to his school and the scene of the accident.
Turns out there was an "oil slick" which stretched almost 20 blocks!! I hit a little of it on my way to the accident. It was like hitting a patch of ice, where your brakes kind of seize up.
Tucker had been taking 3 friends for lunch and was coming to a stop at the light right by his school. He hit a particularly big patch of oil and all effort to stop was pointless. The thing that stopped him was the tow truck in the lane next to him. He ran right into the part they hook up to tow you. It looked like he was going to be towed. The tow truck driver and the guy in the truck behind him both confirmed to the police that Tucker was not speeding but driving slowly and there was no way to avoid the accident.
It was pretty scary but as I say, no one was hurt. Tucker is a little sore today and I told him to check on his friends to see how they were today. Unfortunately, his car is not. It's pretty much a goner. We only had it insured for liability because it was so old. He's pretty bummed about the car naturally.
So here's the kicker to the whole story. Turns out the "oil slick" came from a fire truck!! It was leaking transmission fluid all the way down 15th Ave. Tucker just happened to hit the big pile where it had stopped for the light. In fact the fire truck was not too far in front of them! I guess they figured it out about three more lights down the street and finally pulled over. According the the cop at our accident, there were a couple other fender benders reported north of where we were. They ended up closing off most of the street for the rest of the afternoon. Dennis is hoping to get some kind of compensation for Tucker from the city for the fire truck basically causing the accident. I'm not holding my breath on that one.
Best thing is to just focus on the fact that no one was hurt. It could have been much worse, but fortunately, someone was looking out for Tucker yesterday!

Baseball & Woodshop

You may have been wondering what we have been up to since it has been so long since I posted. Me, I haven't been up to much other than major hay fever, sinus congestion and itchy eyes. The weather here has been really warm, and I always get this way when the weather starts to heat up like that in the spring.

Meanwhile, Dennis has been coaching Cooper's baseball team. They finished the regular season in 2nd place (out of 4 teams) and that's the way they ended the recent seasoning tournmant. In fact, all four teams ended in the same spot. The tournmant was a nail biter though, especially the last game. They were playing the #1 team and needed to win two games to stay in. Dennis is a pretty mellow coach and I think the parents and kids like him. These pictures are not from that game howevernnis figured it was going to be a blowout because he had used up the alloted number of pitches for both his best pitchers, so they couldn't pitch in the game. He had to use the B team pitchers. They performed incredibly well. Dennis' team lead the whole game and it had to go into extra innings when they were tied at the end of 6 innings. At the last at bat for the #1 team, we had the lead and they needed to score two points to win. The son of Dennis' assistant coach was pitching. He's just this little, itty-bitty kid (about the same size Tucker was at that age probably) and he got two outs on them and we still had the lead. It looked like we might just pull it out, but alas, it was not to be. The other team won on a very close throw to 1st base followed by them stealing home to win when eveyone wasn't paying attention after missing getting the out. Kind of a cheesy way to win if you ask me. The boys were a little disappointed naturally, but Dennis did a good job of building them up and pointing out how amazing it was that they played so well with the not-so-good pitchers.

The baseball pictures of Cooper are not from that game however. That was a hot Saturday afternoon. Cooper played catcher the whole game. He traded off playing catcher with another boy on the team. He did a pretty good job of it too. Takes after his mom & dad since we both played catcher when we played baseball. Cooper actually had an amazing triple in the final tournament of game. He's a pretty decent batter when he watches the ball or doesn't swing at high pitches. We were all ready for the season to be over. The games were every Wednesday & Saturday from mid-April through May and they were usually long and painful to watch (lots of walks). The final game started at 6pm and didn't end until 9pm.

This other picture is of Tucker's latest creation in Woodshop. He was quite proud of it. I think he took this picture

so he could post in on Facebook. I think he did a really good job on it. He made me a smaller candle holder for Mother's Day. It looks equally as nice, though much smaller. I am getting the feeling that he is not going to be a desk job kind of kid. He works two jobs now, one at a local Safeway and the other at the local fruitstand where he worked last summer. He totally loves the hard work and he does work hard at the fruitstand.

I guess if I was fair, I would give Spencer some equal billing but I've already posted a goofy self-portrait of him in an earlier post and that's still pretty much what's available picture-wise. He left his camera on the coffee table recently and Dennis was checking out what pictures he had, which Spencer calls "creepy", but if he didn't always take pictures of himself maybe it wouldn't be so "creepy". Once again they were all mostly self-portraits, some of which gave us quite a chuckle. Such a funny kid. Maybe when he is at "Idaho camp" his aunt help him learn to take pictures of things besides himself!!