Chandler Happenings

Snowmageddon 2012

2012-01-20T11:44:00.000-08:00

Now those of you who live in areas where you lots of snow will find it slightly ridiculous that a city like Seattle could be closed down by a few inches of snow. But sadly, it is true. Generally once a year, we get a good snow storm (though last year we didn't) and it pretty much brings everything to a halt, even though they prepare for it as much as you can. Why? you might ask. Well because it only happens once a year why would you go to the expense of an expensive fleet of snow removal equipment--enough for the greater Seattle area (Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, etc...). You wouldn't, though they did finally concede that salt might not be a bad idea despite the "environmental concerns". So this year's snowmageedon happened this week. This first picture is from in back of our house where the resident racoon made his way through the snow.
We did not have school on Monday as it was Martin Luther King Jr day and we were supposed to out doing good deeds and marching in the street in honor of Dr. King. (We stayed home and my friend came for Scrabble). The weather forecast was very sketchy as to when or if snow would actually come. So, on Tuesday we had a two hour delayed start of school--just to be safe. Shortly after school began it started to snow--at least in the north end of Seattle where our school is. Parents began to freak out and our phone was ringing off the hook. Just as the first group of kids went to lunch the District decided we would have a two-hour early dismissal--giving us one hour to get it all together. Let's just say the phone never stopped ringing. The kids left at 12:20 and by about 1:20 it had stopped snowing. Next picture is our front porch.
The weather forecaster originally had declared that the biggest snow would come on Tuesday and by Wednesday it would be rain. Later it became Wednesday could see the biggest one-day snowfall since the 50s. Around 4pm on Tuesday came the call there would be no school on Wednesday. Looking out my window I wondered why--there was nothing in our area. I knew outside areas had been hit pretty hard so I could see why they cancelled their school days. At 2:30am when I got up to go to the bathroom it was still the same and no snow was falling. By time Dennis left for work at 6:30 he said there might be an inch of snow. By time I got up (much later) there was 3 to 4 inches and it was still stacking up. Enough to justify the school closure--whew! (Picture of the garbage can to show the actual snowfall--though this is from today so it has shrunk)
And yes, 3-4 inches is enough to lock down Seattle. They only plow a few major major roadways and leave all the side streets as is. Feel free to blaze a trail in your 4 wheel drive if you have one (and dare be on the street with other idiots blazing a trail!) My friend walked over from her house and we spent the day playing Scrabble while our kids went across the street to sled on the hill at the park. Can't beat that. Still the forecasters were saying rain would be coming by Thursday when the tempurature was supposed to be in the upper 30s. Thursday came along and brought freezing rain (which is an interesting phenomenon if you care to read about it elsewhere). Dennis stayed home, lit a fire in the fireplace, my friend and kids came again to repeat Wednesday and the snow never did turn into rain. Speculation was ripe for whether school would be out again today, Friday, since rain was forecast again. (I think this next picture is funny because the wheelbarrow looks like it is smiling--which I didn't notice till I downloaded the picture)
You guessed it. School was cancelled again today. It is raining, but it will take quite awhile for it to wash away the snow. People are still sledding across the street--getting every bit of enjoyment out of our one week of snow as they can. All these pictures are from today. We probably got 4-5 inches on Wednesday, another inch or two on Thursday and now we are just waiting for it to become a memory.
That's another reason to like Seattle. You get one week of snow--enough to just kind of enjoy it and then it is gone. It doesn't hang around for months and months turning ugly and it only takes on storm to get you out of school for a day or two. You can't beat that--though the "snowmaggedon" aspect from the media standpoint is a tad ridiculous. It is a nice break from the rest of our winter weather which is dark, dull, grey and rainy.

A Visit from Dad

2012-01-05T21:10:00.001-08:00

Dad came for a visit for Christmas. We decided to invite him because Cooper turned 12 on his birthday and that meant he was ready to be receive the priesthood in our church and be ordained as a Deacon which means he would get to pass the sacrament during church services as well as other responsibilities. Dad has ordained all the other boys so it was a tradition. With mom's passing in August I figured Christmas at home might be a little tough so we asked him to come from Cooper's birthday until after his own birthday on the 29th. A nice long visit. We took him on the Christmas ship cruise his second night here.We got to eat dinner and cruise Lake Washington with a flotilla of all sorts of boats decorated with Christmas lights and listen to very nice Christmas music. Despite his expression in this photo, he DID enjoy the cruise.

When he visted in September, Dennis let him wear this nice brown leather jacket that he bought at Value Village. Dennis decided that it looked so nice on him that he gave it to him to keep when he came at Christmas. We gave him the gray scarf for a Christmas gift and he is wearing one of Cooper's baseball hats.

We visited Pike Place Market (towards the end of his trip actually). It was very crowded and he decided that he really didn't need to visit it again any time soon. We also wandered through one of the few remaining antique stores near the market. He DID enjoy that.

One of my favorite things at the Market are the flowers that are sold by the Hmong people. A big group of them settled on farmland near Carnation and they grow flowers and sell them at the market. The arrangements are always unusual/interesting and fairly inexpensive as flowers go. Spencer took this picture (in fact all the pictures except the 1st one of course) of some of them. Not sure it does justice to the flowers, but the different colors give you a little idea.

This is Dad & I coming down the stairs from the Market. I think it's funny because we almost have the same mouth expression--except I look happy and he looks grumpy.

Okay I know this is random, but I threw these two pictures of Cooper in because they were in the same folder where Spencer had uploaded the pictures from Dad's visit. They cracked me up so I just thought I would throw them in for fun.

They are from this summer at our friends the Guidos' cabin in Riggins, Idaho. Cooper is a regular fish when we visit and spends all his time in the pool. Spencer was testing his photograpy skills. It think they are hilarious.

This last picture I like to think of as the Three Wise Men. This is from the Chandler "Little Christmas" on the eve of Christmas Eve. Dan & Lisa throw a big Chandler gathering at their house where Swedish pancakes are served along with all kinds of other yummy food. When everyone saw these guys sitting on the sofa we had to get a picture. The Wise Men are (left to right); Lisa's dad Philip Wickstrom, Dad and Dennis' dad Dwight. Dad & Dwight are both 82 and I think Philip is a little younger but close in age. It was so funny to see them all sitting together on the sofa!

Dad had a great time at the party talking to everybody there and everyone loved having him. Kacee's older sister wanted to adopt dad. Doug almost started crying when he saw dad (didn't know he was coming). We had a white elephant gift exchange and one of mine was a container of Cox's Honey (best honey in the world straight from Rigby Idaho) which dad had shipped me in the mail before coming up. It was meant for Lisa but Doug ended up stealing it for his wife. I thought they might come to fisticuffs. (I did give Lisa her own container on New Years' eve when we got together).

I wasn't sure what to give dad for Christmas (always tricky and even trickier thinking about him taking it home on a plane). The scarf (mentioned earlier was an easy one cuz he could wear it. I also got two picture frames and put in a couple of old pictures I had scanned from his slides back in 2004. This first one cracked up all the "boys" because I look just like Spencer did when he was a baby--same semi-crusty expression (without the bonnet of course).

The next one I also love because the of the dreamy, faraway look in mom's eyes and they were so young. Of course both of them made him cry, but then so did pretty much any conversation with anyone--including waitresses, shop keepers, random people in the store, etc. Though these did make him cry, not just choke up so that probably wasn't fair of me. I just thought he should have it.

I also made him filled cookies (thanks to Inkom Crazy Lady for the recipe). He put them in a big baggie, packed them in his soft luggage and checked that bag on the plane. I asked when he got home how they survived. He said great. Not sure I believe him but then he says "they taste the same" no matter whole or crumbled!

Tae

2011-12-01T20:18:00.001-08:00

You asked for it and here it is. For those of you curious about Tucker's new girlfriend, Tae, here is a picture for you. Tae is half Japanese, half Honduran. She is a Sophomore at the Univeristy of Washington and Tucker met her at his cousin Kelly's sorority--which of course tae is also a member. She is a very sweet girl and Tucker is quite smitten with her. The spend pretty much every day together. Dad met her when he came up in September and gave her two thumbs up. We like her too (when we get to see her). This cropped out of a bigger picture that Spencer took for the Sorority. Tae has had Spencer take photos for the sorority twice now and he has done a pretty good job (though he says he won't do it again because some of the girls "are not very nice".) So now you have met Tae.

T-Day

2011-11-30T21:17:00.001-08:00

This year we spent Thanksgiving at our house with just our family, Oma & Opa and Tucker's girlfriend Tae. It was a small group compared to past years. I always make pumpkin pie and rolls (the same rolls we always had when I was growing up--Parker House). Dennis does the mashed potatoes and Oma brings dressing and Waldorf Salad plus relish items. Usually we cook the turkey on the BBQ but this year we did it in the oven and it was great. Spencer, by choice, is always in charge of table decorations. He makes place cards for everyone each year from the craft paper we have. These are this year's place cards. He always amazes me with his creativity. He got these leaves off the tree out in front of the house, dried them off (it was rainy & yukcky on T-Day) and proceeded to make these awesome place cards!
We weren't actually totally alone that holiday week. We had seven little visitors for the week. My friend Michelle was "fostering" a pregnant cat for a local shelter. The cat ended up having six adorable kittens a few weeks before Thanksgiving. Michelle and her family were planning on going to Florida for the week for the week of Thanksgiving and needed someone to watch all the kitties while they were gone. Spencer volunteered (he was motivated by the $50 Michelle said she would pay). Tucker was all for it because he had come to Michelle's house with me one time and met all the kitties and was totally like a little kid about it. So we had the kitties from the Saturday before Thankgiving until the Monday after--basically 8 days. Long enough for all the boys to get attached (well mostly Tucker & Cooper). They even named all of the kitties. These pictures are of a couple of the kitties in Tucker's vest pockets. The striped one they named Doug.

This one may or may not be Tolouse, Thomas O'Malley or Simba. There were three gray kitties (two that were identical--born in the same sac), and a tiny black & white kitty (Marie). Yes, most were named from Disney's Aristocats movie which Tucker & Tae had recently watched.

My personal favorite was Marie because she was the smallest. They were extremely cute, especially when they were in a feisty mood. We also had the mama kitty which we called Mama Kitty. They stayed mostly in the downstairs bathroom but we boxed in a section of the hallway outside the bathroom when we let them out to play. We didn't want them all over the house, mostly because they were major pooping machines. Cooper made the mistake of feeding them some milk one day--boy did we pay for that one in a major, runny way! So yes, the downstair smelled a little poopy, okay alot poopy, but it was still fun to have the kitties for the 8 days.

And no, we did not end up keeping one despite Cooper's fervent wish that we could. Despite their awesome cuteness, kitties become cats and we just were not into having another one! It was fun while it lasted though. Well not so much for Spencer as he was on kitty litter patrol everyday, plus he was afraid of Mama Kitty for some reason. For the rest of us though it was fun--even Dennis on occasion.

Last Meet

2011-10-21T20:26:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Spencer's last meet of the season for X Country. There were 10 schools at the meet. Spencer got to run for the JV team which was the next fastest boys after the Varsity team for Ballard. He was supposedly number 14 so he just made that. (There was a third race that was for all other boys who were no Varsity or JV). So every team there was running their top 14 too so it was a race of 140 boys. His last race last week he ran the same course in 20 minutes even.So, he was running with a faster group than he usually does and he said he could tell it and thought he had done a pretty good job. He ran the race in 19:17! That's a big leap in x-country. He was very excited because his goal had been to break 20 minutes and he sure did it. It was a great way to finish off the season. I think if he keeps running with a faster goup of kids his time will continue to improve.

I know I keep make posts where Spencer is the topic. Spencer would say that's because he is my favorite (not true). We don't see much of Tucker these days between his work and his girlfriend. Cooper is playing soccer but it is on Sunday and Dennis is the only one who has been going to the games and he has not been taking pictures. Both are doing well though.
Dennis & I took a trip to Phoenix a week ago and had a great time. We played golf four days in a row. We had a great time. Sadly I got sick while we were there. Not sure if it was a cold or finally letting go of the stress of the start of school and other things. Still sick a week & a half later.
Today would have been my mom's 82nd birthday. Not sure what I can say other than that.

Things We Did This Summer

2011-08-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

Visited Idaho. These first to photos are by Cooper who went for photoshoot drive with Grandma, Aunt C & Spencer. I loaned him my camera so he could take pictures too. With one day of "rest" in between (acutally that would have been a day of work for Dennis & I) we were off to the Washington coast for the annual Chandler campout.

We actually got excellent weather this year for a change from the past couple years. The water was still really cold but that did not stop Cooper the boogie board king from being in it pretty much all day.

Home for a week of work then it was off to the central Oregon coast. Dennis got some trade for a free motel "suite" right on the coast in Florence OR. Famous for it's huge sand dunes & rugged coast line.

This photo was taken by Spencer near the end of a "moderate" 3.5 mile round trip hike. We actually didn't make the full round trip. We turned around shortly after he took this picture because we were concerned about the sun going down before we could get back. We think it ended at this beach you can see down below, but we will never know.

This was the view from the "middle" of the hike which is on the other side of the "moderate" hike hill that the first picture is taken from (again photo by Spencer)

This is the top of the light house that is in the middle of the "moderate" hike. (photo by Spencer)

This is the lovely beach you could see outside our motel window. We walked about a mile down the beach and back.

Spencer hamming it up (photo obviously not taken by Spencer)

Cooper's "island". It was gone by time we turned back to head the other way.

We were joined on our Oregon adventure by Dennis' cousin Barbara (taking the picture), her husband Darren (in the hat & white shirt), their son Christian & daugther Caitlyn. Since we have a free, 3 bedroom suite and they were headed home to California and planned to go through Florence, we invited them to stay with us. We had a great time. Darren joined Dennis & I for a round of golf at a really great course right near our motel.

And yes, we did try out the sand dunes. Maybe we just are the adventurous type because it seemed more scary than fun. We rented a four passenger dune buggy for 1/2 an hour, of which about 10 minutes of it found us stuck on a side hill fearing that the buggy would tip over. You really can't tell from the photo, but the front week is about a foot off the ground the back driver's side wheel was buried and there was about a four foot drop-off on the drivers side. Luckily we were able to flag down one of the rental guys and he came and got us out--after which we headed directly back to the rental place.

Back safe and sound at the rental place. Cooper & Spencer got a little neck jolt from Dennis driving us off the ledge of another dune. It really was deceiving out there. You really couldn't tell as you came up a ridge whether it would be a smooth slope on the other side (which you could go down) or a straight drop (which you couldn't). Not sure if going with driver would have been less scary as they drove like a "bat out of hell". At least we can say we did it though.

After one day of "rest" (another work day) we headed off to Riggins for our annual rafting trip with the Guidos. Always a fun time that never disappoints. This year the waves seemed particularly high and Bill soaked me every time (perhaps that is because I was sitting up front).

There is always fun to be had afterwards as well in the Guido's pool. Cooper could spend 24/7 in it. He entertained Laura and Spencer for about an hour throwing these littl rockets across the pool and having them race to bring them back to him. I was surprised at how long they played that game.

Cooper with the "rockets". They all had a great time and the weather was awesome.

And that is what we did. I know there is still a little bit of summer left for us, but I am back to work on Monday and it's a jam packed three weeks until school starts on Sept 7th so who knows if we will be able to squeeze in any more adventures in this summer. The ones we did do involved alot of driving, but we had a blast on them all.

Happy Birthday from Spencer

2011-07-10T18:25:00.000-07:00

For my birthday in May, Spencer gave me a "photo shoot with dad" because "we didn't have any good photos of the two of us" and "since mom always takes the pictures we don't have any good ones of her". He also insisted that we "dress up nice" and he would pick the location. So Saturday he laid out some "choices" for me on my bed (which were all black) and I talked him into a little color and made Dennis change from the blue and white striped button up shirt to the plain blue one. (I thought with me almost in all black and him in tan and a striped shirt might be a little too much contrast or too much going on). We trooped down to the Locks and Golden Gardens. It was a little too sunny and figuring out the lighting was a little challenging for him. He took 98 pictures and only kept about 5 of them. The subject matter apparently wasn't too cooperative either. According to Spencer "one of you would be smiling or the other wasn't" So this is is first attempt. We are gonna give it another go probably some evening when the light is softer rather than midday like the first attempt. I put in the black and white version because the color is a little washed out. Not bad for his first attempt I think!

Movin' On To Middle School

2011-06-17T21:43:00.001-07:00

Today was Cooper's Promotion from elementary school not Graduation but Promotion. It's the end of 14 years at that school which seems pretty amazing. The poor neglected 3rd child had a little ceremony with the rest of his 5th grade friends. This first picture is with his three best buddies Avery, Nick & Jack that he has known since before kindergarten even. We call them the 4 musketeers. All but Nick are headed to the same middle school where I work.

This is Cooper the ham with his principal, Mr. Floyd. He has been the principal for only two years of the six that Cooper has been there. In his time there he had 3 different principals.

Cooper was asked with a group of friends to present the 5th grader's "gift" to the school which was new basketballs for the school.

I added this one just for fun because it is Cooper again being a ham which pretty much is every picture ever taken of him. Parents from his school always talk about what a nice, fun kid he is and how much the love being around him. It's awesome to be the mom of such a happy-go-lucky kid. He really IS awesome!

I just threw this one in for fun. This is Tucker on the back of his truck with his good friend Justin. The back of the truck he just wrecked one Wednesday! Yes, it is true another vehicle bites the dust. Well actually it can be repaired luckily but it seems he is not capable of having a car for more than a year without doing damage. I can't really imagine what it would be like to be a new driver in a big city myself. I never got in a wreck as a kid, but I didn't have as much traffic to contend with of course. Hopefully things will go better for him once we get the truck repaired!

Still Not Much to Say

2011-05-27T15:43:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Cooper from last year when the kids who did crossing guard got to go to Wild Waves as an end of the year celebration. I posted it for lack of something better. Cooper is finishing up his last year of elementary schools and if I remember to bring my camera I might just have some pictures of some of the festivities in the future. Remembering the camera being the key point.
Spencer finished up the track season with two personal best times at the JV Track Meet. He ran the mile in 5:30 and the two mile in 12:01. His coach is expecting him to be one of his "top runners" in cross country next year.
Tucker continues to work (very little) and go to school (one class). In his free time (alot) he mostly hangs out with his girlfriend, Tae. He met her at his cousin's sorority and we have met her once when she came over for dinner. She is a nice girl.
What can I else can I say other than it continues to rain up here on a regular basis, although there are moments of sunshine occasionally now. Today appears to have been mostly sunny in Seattle. I say appears because Dennis & I went up north to play golf (for my birthday which is today) and the weather was not as nice up there--should have stayed down here to play. Although Dennis is a happy camper because he shot a record score today. Me, not so good. Oh well.
As to birthday celebrations, I have requested pasta for dinner and apple crisp for dessert. Mostly I'm just glad I don't have to cook. We WERE going to go to the Oregon coast for the weekend (then I really would have had some pictures to post and something to say) but I did mention that rain thing we have going on here so you can understand why we didn't. We will probably go some other weekend this summer when the weather may be better. I say "may be" because it appears to be shaping up as one of those rainy summers that we haven't had in quite awhile. Not that I am truly complaining because it beats the weather in the midwest by a mile. Tornados vs. drizzly rain--I'm fine with the rain!
So there you have it. Not all that interesting, but at least it shows that I'm alive!

A Post About Nothing (in particular)

2011-04-04T19:30:00.001-07:00

I put in this picture from Spencer's track meet because that is the only new picture I have of anything to share. I didn't even take this picture myself that's how lame I am right now. There is a parent who goes to the track meets that tries to take pictures of lots of different kids. Spencer has had three track meets now and we have attended none. Why? Well because they have all been at a high school somewhere far away and the weather has been super crappy. So being the uncaring parents that we are, we opt to stay home rather than go sit in the rain for a couple hours. We stink it's true. Spencer is running the mile and the two mile. At his last race he ran his personal best and shaved 5 seconds of his last time. He ran the mile in 5 minutes 40 seconds. It's setting up for a really good cross country season next year. His coach says he is expecting really good things from him and can't wait to see what happens with him in the next year or two. I think he has found his niche'. Speaking of rain, can I just say that I am so sick of the rain this year! The weatherman reported that we had 3" more rain that for the month of March than normal. Now that might not seem like alot, but trust me it is when you have to wake up to it day, after day, after day with no end in sight. We have had occasional patches of sun on a given day but have yet to have a full day of sunshine. Rumor has it that we might see a change in the weather towards the end of the week but I'm not holding my breath for that one. I certainly has gotten old and that's all I have to say about that or it could be depressing!

Just to keep things random, Cooper has become and oragami fiend. He likes to get on Youtube and watch step by step instructions on how to make things out of paper. He has learned how to make some pretty cool things. If I wasn't such a lame mom right now I would provide a picture right here....but I didn't. I have actually given him permission to use the craft paper I have had for years and years just sitting on the shelf. I figure someone should get some use out of it. It also keeps him from using the paper from the printer. No mattter how many times I tell him to use the scrap paper, he is always pulling out fresh paper. The good thing is it is working his brain, spacial skills and hand/eye coordination in a different way than playing video games. (The penguin picture is in here just to break up the monotony of all the typing. They are Cooper's favorite animal so the placement is appropriate--just pretend it is really a picture I took)

He was just in a play at school (again no pictures--however some friends had their cameras so I am hoping for some photos from them). The play was The True Story of Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde which was about as "true" as you can be in a 20 minute play. Big ham that he is, he got a lead role and played Dr. Jekyl. He did a pretty good job and projected well. His best bit was his evil laugh which I'm sure he would be happy to perform if asked. He also got a good laugh during the question & answer session at the end of the play when he called the boiler room which is in the basement at the school the "Dungeon of Sorrow" in a very dramatic voice (you had to be there I guess).

Tucker is finally back in school taking a pre-math class. I call it pre- because it doesn't count. It is the math class he needs to take to get to the math class he needs to take to get to the one that actually will count. Luckily he tested and got to move up two math classes so he didn't have to take four classes to get to one that counts. He seems to be ready to apply himself but time will tell. I volunteered him at Cooper's school to administer spelling tests to kids in Cooper's class twice a week. They had sent out an e-mail saying they needed help and I was thinking about taking one day a week from work to do it and then I thought of Tucker and what a good thing it would be for him to do. He such a good kid, he didn't mind me volunteering him and already did his first tests last week.

So that's the end of my randomness. Now at least I can come to my blog and not feel guilty because I have finally updated it. Whew that is a load off my mind!

Sigh - Tucker is 19

2011-03-05T11:56:00.000-08:00

So very true. Don't know when it happened, but we all got older. Yes, I know I have about a week behind (his birthday was literally a week ago Saturday). I've got no excuses. We had a little family celebration which didn't include the usual Chandler Mexican fare. Tucker opted for Swedish meatballs and Caesar salad oddly enough. The nifty vest he is wearing in the photo was made for him by his Aunt Lisa similar to the one she made for her own son, James, for Christmas. He also got a new stereo for his truck, tickets to Comicon (or Nerdcon as Spencer was want to call it) and quite a bit of cash which is always useful for a poor boy like him. (Comicon is a comic convention which is happening right now as I type. A three day affair at the convention center featuring comic book authors, illustrators plus other Sci Fi kinds of thing--complete with people dressed as super heroes, Star Trek & Star Wars characters, etc. So yes, Spencer is correct in calling it Nerdcon). Tucker is currently working at Office Max though not as many hours as he needs. He is supposed to be looking for more work...or hopes that his old job at the Dirt Exchange will be available again soon (it's getting more towards construction season again so hopefully that work will pick up). He will be back in school again in April so he won't have quite as much free time on his hands as he does now. He's still a pretty awesome kid (if mom's are allowed to weigh in) though he is currently suffering from that self-centered, ego thing that lots of kids this age seem to have. This too shall pass I assume. It's hard to believe my little 6 pound 8 oz baby turned into this 5 o'clock shadow (well okay a day or two without shaving) boy!

I've Got Nothin'

2011-01-22T11:44:00.000-08:00

I keep thinking I should update my blog. Then I think, "With what?" I could tell you about my new cute boots that made me fall 5 times at work the first day I wore them with the big brown bruise on my left knee pictured as proof. Only I didn't take a picture and how thrilling is that anyway.

I could tell you about our Christmas but pretty much the only pictures I took were from this day where we got our tree. I have none at all of Christmas itself.

I could regale you with stories of Cooper's comical basketball team, but I've only seen one game and don't have any pictures of that either. Although it is funny to watch them finally get "called" for things they have been doing for year--traveling, 3 seconds in the key, double-dribbling, stepping over the line when throwing it in. Really only a video could do it justice, but I haven't got that either.

I could tell you of Spencer's high school woes, but that's just a typical teenager story. Plus it would probably just add to his misery knowing it was shared. Suffice it to say, he will survive it all and look back on it in wonder one day just like we all did.

How about Tucker's school and employment constant changes for a topic of conversation. No, that's not really anything new either.

So lest you think life is all dull and uninteresting for me, here's proof that you can be surprised. Dennis spent this past week in Florida, which he pretty much does annually. On Friday, the day he was returning I got this lovely arrangement at work. The funny thing was, when it was delivered I was on the phone and ignoring it. Imagine my surprise when my co-worker looked at the tag and brought over to my desk. I was still wondering who could have sent me flowers (it's true). When I read the card I almost started crying. See Dennis rarely sends flowers (can't even remember the last time) so when he does send them it is always surprising and that makes it all the more special.

Maybe I do feel like I don't have anything interesting going on right now. The reality is while it may not necessarily be interesting, I've got everything. At least everything I need and that's what really matters.

Cooper is 11!!

2010-12-22T15:48:00.000-08:00

Crazy but, true. Cooper celebrated his 11th birthday on 12/21. He actually started the celebration on Monday 12/20 with a sleepover with four of his school friends. The boys were told at 11:30 they should turn off the TV where they were playing video games. Apparently that was interpreted as just turning off the video games because I had to tell them to go to turn off the TV and the lights at around 1:30. Somewhere in there they may or may not have fallen asleep briefly. Dennis had to yell at them at 4:30 again that it was too early to be awake and to go to sleep! Oh to be young and stay up like that all night (not really).

Cooper is a fun loving, always smiling young man. He loves to laugh and is often doing just that. He loves to play with any kid any age. On his actual birthday, Dennis had arranged for our whole family to go on an Argosy cruise around Lake Washington with the Christmas Ship. It is a little flotilla that gathers every night and may include just the Christmas Ship which has a choir on it and the dinner ship which is the one we were on if the weather is bad or if the weather is nice many ship oweners join in the "parade" around the lake. We got lucky and the weather was nice so there were probably about 10-15 boats all decorated with lights and such that followed along. The Christmas ship stops twice to perform for people on shore and all the other ships gather round. We got a lovely four course meal and the lounge band sang Happy Birthday to Cooper (and a few others on board). It was lots of fun for the whole family. Something he will probably remember for awhile.

Winter Wonderland

2010-11-22T15:34:00.000-08:00

You'd think we lived in Idaho and not Seattle. The forecaster have been saying we would have a wetter & colder winter than we have in some time. I guess they were right. We did have school today but only a 1/2 day. It started on time and got out two hours early. That means we do not have to tack an extra day on at the end of the year (yeah!). We however, still the biggest wimps in the universe when it comes to snow. We have maybe 2-3 inches and the city is practically at a standstill. I asked Spencer my budding photographer to run out and take a few photos to commemorate this glorious occasion where the forecasters have gotten something right (at least for now--we still have the rest of the winter to go).

Our street corner

Fire hydrant on the corner
The neighbors hours and a look at the snow blowing sideways. That's also a big part of this snowstorm. Gusts up to 40 mph or more.

The view looking south down 22nd street.

The 2-3 inch accumulation.

The storm is supposed to blow through about 10pm tonight and the temperature for tomorrow is forecasted to be below 30 all day. Who knows what that means for a school day (or not). Meanwhile the poor neglected 3rd child (Cooper) is out trying to sled on a cardboard box, because of course it never snows in Seattle so why on earth would you have a sled?!

Visit To Aleta

2010-11-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

Halloween weekend we drove over to Pullman so Dennis could scare some pheasants. Okay they actually shoot them (I guess that is scary for the pheasants). While Dennis scared pheasants the boys (Cooper & Spencer--Tucker had to work) and I went to Leah's volleyball game. It was a little trip down small town memory lane. Lots of fun. Volleyball has really changed since I played it (well that was over 30 years ago after all). Here's Leah in action and Kimberly playing in the band.

Kimberly did a huge project for her senior project. She volunteered to spearhead the repainting of a huge railroad boxcar that sits on the side of the track/football field. Aleta said Kimberley ended up doing alot of the work herself. So here is a "before" picture that is the boxcar behind the one Kimberley did which is what hers looked like before she painted it.

Here is the after picture. Amazing isn't it!! Kimberley did a great job didn't she. Aleta said one time the football team was practicing when she was painting and they gave her a "standing ovation. Pretty cool huh!

It was lots of fun to hang out with Aleta & fam. Always a fun weekend.

Unlike everyone else, I do not have a Halloween photo to share. Poor neglected third child, Cooper did not get any photos taken by his bad, bad parents. He did go trick-or-treating and got lots of candy and I guess that's the whole point.

XCountry Kid

2010-09-23T19:50:00.001-07:00

I was going to post something around his birthday, but the pictures are still on the camera. So instead I will post about Spencer's new sport this year. He joined the Ballard High cross-country team. He has pretty much been running every day since August (except when he got his wisdom teeth out). He's not the fastest but he's not the slowest. He seems to be enjoying himself despite the constant running and being tired. We are pretty proud of him for sticking with it and doing his best. He gets up for Seminary at 5:30am every Mon-Fri and runs after school from 2:45 until 5pm. Needless to say he is one tired puppy at the end of the day. Here's just a couple pictures from recent meets. He keeps getting better every week. He has been cutting of a few seconds every race. Look at my pale boy run! However, at last weekend's meet is was sunny (weird but true for Seattle) and scorched is arms and neck.

So I was hoping to do a birthday post for him because he got his biggest wish ever. A cell phone! With an actual plan that includes all the texting he wants. And, it wasn't me that caved--it was Dennis. Weird I know. It was so fun to give him the present. He was so surprised. He hadn't even put it on his wish list for his birthday, he was so convinced it would never happen. Fun times.

Beach Camping 10

2010-09-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

Okay it was over a month ago I know, but that gives you an idea of how my life has been going lately (translation--all I have been doing is working). But I knew I needed to change of my blog so here it is.
As most of you know we go camping every year with the whole Chandler gang (minus Oma & Opa now--but that's a bitter story for some other time) plus various add-ons. This year it was a little cold and a little rainy but we endured.
We stopped at Spencer's old piano teacher's house on the way because she lives in Olympia. We hadn't seen her since the baby was born so we wanted to see little Sophie. Lisa has four girls now! I wanted to get a picture of her & family with Spencer because they will most likely be moving to California soon. As pictured they are Allison, Isabelle, Lisa holding Sophie and Spencer holding Emma. Emma is very quiet but a little cuddle-bunny that I would always hold while Spencer had lessons. She had changed the most of all of them since the last time we saw them. I also spent time reading stories to the two older girls at various times during lessons as well. We will miss this really sweet family! This is Spencer with his cousin Kelly (middle) and a friend of hers from her Sorority, Allison (one of the add-ons this year). Spencer always shares a tent with his girl cousins because they are such good pals.

Did I mention that it was pretty cold?? Somewhere between 50 and 60 degrees. That did not stop our intrepid boogie boarders, Cooper & Trevor w/Kevin in tow. The spent hours and I do mean hours boogie boarding in the 48 degree water.

Trekking to the beach the first day at about 4pm. Where they stayed until probably 6 or 7.

That really isn't grimace of pain or cold on Cooper's face, they literally had a blast! (Me I was sitting on the beach with a sweatshirt on wishing there was a fire).

I thought this was a really sweet picture of Kevin & Trevor.

Spencer & his cousins spent a little bit of time trying to get pictures where they were all jumping together. I was off to the side trying to figure out how to time it with my darn camera. These are the best ones I got. I love Emma's vertical leap in this first one.

Spencer just looks joyful in this one.

Cailey, the little blonde is a gymnast (nationally ranked) so it's not surprising she can get that gymnastic looking pose in the air.

This is David with one of his two dogs, Walter. I just thought it was kind funny. David is quite proud of his cowboy had because his noggin is not exactly easy to fit (over size 8 which always requres a custom hat)

My battery died and that is all I got. It wasn't the best weather, but as always, camping with the Chandlers is memorable and fun. I don't know how many years we have left of this tradition but I hope a few more!

2 1/2 Weeks

2010-08-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

First I have to say that usually we only visit Idaho for one week every summer so it was a real treat this year to be able to visit for 2 1/2 weeks! Spencer, Cooper & I left on Wednesday, July 14 and drove the Montana way. It's always beautiful but full of construction.

First Stop Wildhorse
We arrived at our first stop which was Wildhorse Campground located in the beautiful Copper Basin which is about 35 miles NW of my hometown. It is beautiful as I said and features a gathering of some of the Vaden clan (we are not allowed to call it a reunion). It features hiking, four wheeling, mosquitos, crafts (for kids & grown-ups alike), sleeping in tents (for those of us who don't have campers or motor homes--personally I like the tent), mosquitos, playing in the water (although this year it was too cold for jumping in the beaver pond). In otherwords it is a lovely time--despite the mosquitos.
Here's one of the crafts the kids did this year. They had a ball painting their blocks of wood and mod podging on paper (yes, you can still mod podge!). Doesn't Cooper look like he is trying to cheat off Alec??
Just a shot of how beautiful Wildhorse is. It is a beautiful valley with Wildhorse Creek running through it.

Spencer with Riley on the way back from our hike to the waterfall. We saw three of them on our hike.

Next Stop Yellowstone

After a few days at Wildhorse we went to Mackay where we showered, relaxed, Cooper & I played golf one morning and just hung out. We convincec Celiac to take a three day trip with us to Yellowstone. See her blog link for some of those details. She takes much better pictures than I. It was a lovely whirlwind trip--alot of driving but totally worth it. I hadn't been since I was a very little girl. You forget how beautiful and amazing it actually is.

Spencer & Cooper really did have a good time--despite what their faces might say otherwise.

The first night there we drove out of the park down to the Grand Tetons National park to stay in a "rustic cabin" (translation--no coffee maker or blow dryer in the rooms--oh how does one cope under those circumstances?) Here is a shot of the rustic (?) cabin.

Here is a shot of one of the two bedrooms we had in the rustic (?) cabin. Each of us had our own bed. It was quiet and serene in a beautiful setting. There was a scooter gang across the way in another cabin but they were tame. Notice the writing desk and there were about a bajillion towels we could use in case we need to shower several times in our overnight stay. All in all it was absolutely beautiful and I would stay there again in a heartbeat (in fact a few nights there would have been totally lovely, because we really didn't have time to explore the area much). Coulter Bay Cabins in the Grand Tetons in case you are wondering!

The next night? Well not so serene and peaceful. We decided to stay in West Yellowstone rather than drive the three hours home to my mom & dad's place--bad decision. Should have known it was a bad omen when they didn't have our reservation (despite my spelling my e-mail twice over the phone). The guy at the desk really was nice and tried to help. He had one room he had "saved" for us and accommodations being scarce this time of year in W. Yellowstone we took it (ask me about the hotel we almost got in Big Sky Montana by accident some time). Anyway, when we got the the room, this is what we found.

Air conditioning with a view...straight out to the pool!

Air conditioning installed by real professionals. And boy did it work well. NOT. By 11pm we were roasting so Celiac called and asked for a fan. They gave us another room instead (someone hadn't shown)

I guess cleaning thouroughly is not a high priority at the West Yellowstone Inns & Suites.

The next stop was actually river rafting in Riggins, but I really didn't take any pictures there other than Brian trying out his new birthday raft in the pool. So,

NEXT STOP MACKAY

Here's just a few shots from our Mackay visit.

Mowing grandpa's lawn (actually for Cooper the blades were not in operation)

The cousins on a "scavenger hunt" that required photographic proof.

LAST STOP REDFISH LAKE

We tagged on with Randy's family for a visit to Redfish Lake which is located near Stanley Idaho in the Sawtooth mountains. We had pretty good weather in between the thunder storms that rolled over the lake. We did manage to get in some good water fun.

Tucker wakeboarding at Redfish Lake.

Dennis waterskiing at Redfish

Me before waterskiing at Redfish. I was just thrilled that Icould still do it! This was just before my second run that day. I did pay for it the next day (or two) in soreness!

Two & half weeks of absolute fun. Love my family, love my home state. Loved the whole trip!

Odds & Ends

2010-07-05T10:40:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't posted in awhile, okay a month ago. Here's just a few things that have happened in the last little while.

Tucker became a reader!! (See the book in his hands!)

It's true, just out of the blue Tucker decided to start reading. This is the boy who probably read less than 5 books in all of middle school and high school. You know that saying "If you read to your child, your child will be a reader" With Tucker I always figured that was bunk. I never read to the other two boys as much as him. I guess he was a late bloomer is all. Since he started about a month ago he is always reading now. He takes great pride in finishing a book in a day. Go figure. I guess you should never lose hope.

We took a trip to the Cupcake Cabin. This is Cooper doing a happy dance while playing croquet.

Cooper went to Ft. Clatsop where Lewis & Clark spent the winter when they made their big trip. I came along as a chaperone (my one field trip of the year). It was an interesting trip. The kids were great. The parents, not so much.
Spencer was "promoted" to high school. We don't call it graduation because it's not. We have a little outdoor ceremony which lasted about 35 minutes. Just the right length. Here is Spencer with a few of his many girl friends. He doesn't really have any friends who are boys, but tons of girls.

He also won a major award that was voted on by his teachers called the Harold Hines Award. It is more or less given to students who do good things for others and stand up for others. I was very proud of him winning that award. As a few parents said to me after, "that is the award you hope your kid wins"

Here's Spencer at the Cupcake Cabin. I just like the picture I took.

Tucker did graduate from High School but opted not to "walk" in the graduation ceremony, hence we have no pictures to share of his big moment because there wasn't one. We are proud of him nevertheless. He is working hard this summer with two jobs--Safeway & the fruit stand--and an occasional stint at the Dirt Exchange. So really 2 1/2 jobs I guess. He is a hard worker.

He keeps having bad car karma though. Last Wednesday we got a call from the Seattle Police at 5am. It seems that someone or ones had stolen Tucker's car right out from in front of our house, taken it over a few blocks away in an alley an proceeded to strip it of all the lights and the battery. They probably would have taken more but must have gotten interupted in the process. So here are a few pictures of the car.

Someone in the neighborhood said they saw it being driven by not too long before we got the call fromt the police so it happened between 4am & 5am. I can't believe I didn't hear his car start because it is really loud because the engine races. Dennis was able to find a car on Craig's List that he could get parts from so they took a "man trip" on Friday with Cooper and got most of the parts back. It is most of the way back together now but we wonder if it might be stolen again some time. Poor Tucker and his cars!

That's pretty much what's been what lately.

Little League

2010-06-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

The baseball season is actually winding down. We are in the "playoffs" portion right now. Dennis coached Cooper's baseball team again this year. They have had a pretty good season--at least a winning season. Which is actually pretty good when you take into account some of the players on the team. I have been the official scorekeeper for the team all season. This because none of the other parents would step up to do it. Although one mom said she would do it but wondered if "you had to pay attention to the game if you were scorekeeper". Not a joke. So, by default it ended up being me. I guess it was a good way to get me to go to all the games. I don't mind keeping score as it is a good excuse not to have to participate in social chit chat with the other parents. Not that I am anti-social...well okay maybe I am.

Cooper is a pretty good little player. He looks like a hitter when he is up to bat. Not that he always is a good hitter but he looks like he should be. Dennis has him playing catcher and 1st base and he does a pretty good job at both positions. Takes after his mom and dad (and Aunt Karen as I recall) in playing catcher. For some reason the way he throws always reminds me of Celiac. I don't know whether it is the bend in the wrist, the position of the arms, but there is something in his throwing motion that just looks like I remember her throwing. That's not to say that he throws like a girl. None of us Vaden chicks "threw like a girl". We all had pretty decent throwing arms back in the day. I do kind of miss playing baseball. I have very fond memories of playing church ball as a teenager. It was alot of fun. Peggy coached us every year and we always did pretty well against the other wards in Lost River Valley. People always used to be amazed at how well I played left field. I always attributed it to being afraid that Ardena MacInelly would beat me up if I missed the ball. Dennis & I played in an advertising softball league for awhile when we first got married and that was alot of fun too. After the kids though we just kind of faded out of it. Coaching Cooper is a way for Dennis to get back in the game I guess. Although he does say that his arm gets sore if he pitches too much to the kids. That's middle age for ya!

Photos are by Spencer because of course I was keeping score and "paying attention to the game".

Then (1985) & Now (2010)

2010-04-16T17:28:00.001-07:00

These pictures are from my mission, 25 years ago (gulp). The gorgeous blonde was my mission companion for four months. Her name was Gitte Hansen and she was from Denmark. We served together in Loraine, OH and had a great time together. Every month we would beg for just one more month together. We must have been persuasive because we got four months. People would ask if we were sisters, which of course I thought was totally "awesome" (as we used to say alot back then). Not sure how Gitte felt about it.
Of course we both returned to our respective homes after our missions were through. Both of us married and became the mother of boys (Gitte has two) and settled down into domestic bliss.
We have kept in touch over the years through Christmas cards mostly. Gitte even called me on the phone once a few years back which was a very nice surprise. We would always talk about seeing each other one day but not necessarily with any expectation that we would.
So you can imagine my surprise and excitement when Gitte e-mailed me a few months ago about possibly come to see me ever so briefly. Seems she was planning a trip to Salt Lake City for General Conference and thought she might plan a little layover in Seattle. I was pretty "psyched" (also a word we used alot back then). Well it worked out perfectly, because she flew into Seattle around noon the Wednesday before we had our Spring Break. I picked up her and her mom (who is totally a cutie) at the airport. We were able to spend that day through to noon on Thursday together (she spent time with another friend here in Seattle from noon Thursday to noon Friday).
We had a great time (or should I say awesome) reminiscing about old times, old friends, old companions and also catching up with each other. It was amazing how little time it seemed had passed and yet it has been 25 years!! We seemed to just fit right back into that groove of where we left off. There was no awkwardness (well except for the fact that I am a lousy housekeeper and they were staying at my house.) These "now" pictures are from Sunset Park just a few blocks from our house. I also took them to see where the kids go to school and I work, the church building, and the UW campus.
She had a jam packed trip (literally, it was crazy) so it was super cool (another word we used alot back then) that we got as much time as we did together. I hope some day I can return the visit and go see her and her family in Denmark. I will have to add that to my "list".
Dennis says he thinks we both look better now than back then. All I know is that it was fun to see her again. I'm so glad I know her and that she is still a part of my life. She is warm, generous, caring, thoughtful...all those good things. It is a friendship that I will treasure forever!

California Spring Break 2010

2010-04-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

We just got back last night (1:30am--after driving staight through) from a Spring Break Trip to California (we did take two days to drive down though). Here are some highlights in no particular order because putting them in order would take too long! (I just figured out today how to upload more than one photo at a time--how stupid is that?)

So, we went to the beach of course--twice. Even though it never really got above 70 and was a little bit chilly. If you are in California, you HAVE to go to the beach no matter what.

We visited "the cousins". These are actually kids of Dennis' cousins. Not sure what that makes the relationship. First cousins once-removed, 2nd cousins?? This was Dennis' Uncle George & Aunt Joan's where if you step across the doorstep you are guaranteed to gain at least 10 pounds! Seriously!
Of course we went to Disneyland. Will have to look for the first picture we took 7 years ago for a little then & now comparison.

We visited the wax museum. We actually did see one "live" celebrity on our trip. The comedian Chris Rock cut in front of everyone while we were in line for the roller coaster at Disney (when you are celebrity you don't have to stand in long lines). He was still outside the ride when we left and Tucker couldn't resist saying "Hey Chris Rock". We didn't go close though, he had a big body guard.

We also saw the walk of fame as well. Spencer really wanted to find Sandra Bullock's star (he's a big fan) but we never did see it.

Cooper played with the train at Dick & Doris' house (Dennis' aunt and husband). She has a big train set-up in her living room. He was thrilled!

Bumper cars at Knott's Berry Farm. They were pretty lame.

We rode almost all the coasters at Knott's. I thought it was pretty cool that I still was able to ride coasters without getting sick--until the next day that is. My back was killing me and still hurts. Oh well. This ride Tucker & Cooper believed Dennis when he said they wouldn't get wet. After about football field length drop straight down into water how could you believe that??

Nobody got lost.

Although there were bouts of pouting.

A windy day at the beach. The kite flew for a little while.

Visited the Long Beach Aquarium with Dick & Doris, which we did the last trip as well. It is an awesome aquarium. Makes ours here in Seattle look amatuerish. It was really nice to spend time with them.

It's good to be home though!

SAM-e

2010-03-18T17:18:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law and I were talking at Tucker's birthday party and she mentioned this supplement called SAM-e that she had been taking that was supposed to help your mood be better. She had been taking if for awhile and really thought it had helped. I thought it might be worth a try. My only worry was whether I could swallow it or not with my whole small esophogus thing. It is an over the counter supplement so I went out and bought some.

Naturally what I found was big pills that there was no way I could swallow them whole. Luckily it is easy to break into little pieces (with a meat mallet) and then swallow the pieces. It is supposed to take about two weeks for it to really take effect and I have just barely been taking it for about that amount of time. Can't really say yet whether there is a noticeable happier mood, but I think so. Doesn't seem to have any bad side effects like lits of things do. It is supposed to help depression, osteoarthritis, liver disease and fibromyalgia. Now I just have to find someplace where I can buy it cheaper than one of the drug stores. Looks like there are some really good bargains on line so I think I will try that. We'll have to see if I seem to be "happier"!

Idaho Adventures

2010-02-22T19:02:00.000-08:00

Spencer, Cooper and I visited mom & dad over our Mid-Winter Break--not Spring Break, that's the end of March, but mid-winter break because you can never have enough breaks from schooling in the Seattle Public Schools. Anyway, we flew from here to Boise, rented a car and drove to Pocatello where we were able to spend a little time with Karen and also, bonus, Celiac! It great to spend time with both. Monday we drove from Poky to Mackay and spent the rest of the time with mom & dad. The boys played in the snow....
Went sledding down the Mine Hill almost every day, often accompanied by Kendra, who is a little speed demon on the sled!

This is me just moments before my sled flew out from under me and I landed, really hard, on my tailbone after only going about 1/2 way down the hill and on my first run no less--ouch. With tears almost coming to my eyes, I slowly made my way down the rest of the hill and that was the end of my sledding escapades for the trip. My tailbone is still trying to recover!

The day after the sledding "accident", Randy took the boys & I snowmobiling up Pass Creek. I rode behind Spencer and Cooper rode by himself. I think both boys were pretty proud of being able to drive the snowmobiles themselves. It was a beautiful day and a really nice ride despite my sore tailbone.

All and all it was a fun trip and a nice visit. I am glad we made the trip!

(Sorry we missed you Amy. I was mixed up about when our flight left Boise and we had to leave sooner! See you this summer though)

Budding Photographer

2010-02-05T18:33:00.000-08:00

As you can see by the name on each of these photos, they were taken by Spencer. This is what he has been doing in his spare time lately. All of these were taken inside the house. He takes them and then goes on Picasa or this other website and maniupulates them. These are just a few from the last couple of days. I think he has a really good eye for someone who knows next to nothing about photography other than point & click. I think they are really clever and interesting, but then I am his mom I guess. I am hoping to find some kind of photography camp for him this summer but so far haven't found anything online. Will keep looking since it apparently is something he is very interested in. I definitely think he has potential!

On a completely different note, I guess the romance is over. Tucker informed us tonight that he broke up with Caitlin. Didn't seem too cut up about it. Says he wants to "focus on school right now". Whatever.

Lethargy vs. Motivation

2010-02-02T18:17:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking that maybe I have SAD (seasonal affective disorder). You know the one where you get the blues when the weather turns gray. (Like that ever happens in Seattle--ha). In thinking about it, it seems like every year around November I start to get blue, lose motivation to do anything (and I mean anything). It generally seems to last through January and some into February. Now I don't know for sure, but it seems pretty suspicious that I get this way nearly every year.

This year I was cruising with going to the gym. I could get my sorry behind out of bed at least 3x a week for serious exercise. My main motivation was that I would say to myself "You're going to Hawaii, get your butt out of bed" or "You're going to Hawaii you don't need that cake/brownie/candy, etc" This worked really well until I actually WENT to Hawaii in October. After I came home I had nothing to tell myself for motivation, but managed to still get to the gym at least twice a week and still 3x sometimes. Then November hit and it got worse and just kept going that way.

It's not just the gym, it's getting out of bed, leaving the house to go anywhere, doing any kind of housework. I just want to curl up in the chair with a book or worse, just lie on the couch doing nothing. How pathetic is that.

It's not like I wasn't seeing results from going to the gym which has sometimes been the case with exercise things I have done. You feel like you are working your butt off and no butt is coming off!! I was actually seeing some butt coming off (not to be crude but there it is). I WAS seeing results and feeling good about it all. Then came November, then December and January.

So here it is February, the weather has been really nice here in Seattle. Still rather gray, but the days are getting longer and we are seeing some sunshine. My gym membership is up for renewal and I am hesitant to renew it in case this lethargy, inertia, whatever it is continues. Or maybe that's just the motivation I need. (That and the fact that I can tell I am totally losing what I worked so hard for all last year!)

SAD, well who really knows but it seems mighty suspicious to me that my motivation seems to be going up with the lengthening of days and improvement in the weather!

(Not my picture BTW, just one I found when I googled seattle weather pictures)

Tucker Has A Girlfriend

2010-01-13T17:09:00.000-08:00

Yipes! Shortly after writing about how Tucker was longing for a girlfriend in my Christmas letter, Tucker got his wish and announced that he officially had a girlfriend. Her name is Caitlyn (at least I think it's spelled that way and no, I don't know her last name--I'm not even sure Tucker does).
She is a Senior at Nathan Hale High School which is across town from where Tucker goes to school. Which of course begs the question "How did they meet?" She is a friend of a girlfriend of one of Tucker's friends--it's complex.
She has had dinner with us once or twice and seems like a very nice girl. She even puts up with Dennis' bad jokes. They spend alot of time at our house and Tucker has not even met her parents yet. Hmmm.
It's still a hard thing as a mom for your boy to have a girlfriend. I can only imagine how traumatic it is to be the mom of a girl with a boyfriend. As you can tell by the cat who just ate the canary smile, Tucker is quite pleased.

Christmas Cheer

2009-12-29T10:05:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-06T17:38:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-03T21:00:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-02T17:28:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-01T21:06:00.000-08:00

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!!

2009-10-29T18:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-11T17:47:00.001-07:00

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...

2009-10-06T20:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-04T15:48:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-09T17:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-25T12:28:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-09T16:08:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-10T20:15:00.000-07:00

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!!

Mother's Day

2009-05-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

I have been wondering what I could do to update my blog. I like to keep it current but it seems my life has been so ordinary that to post anything about myself, the kids or Dennis would be incredibly boring. Then in thinking about Mother's Day coming up I thought perhaps a tribute to my mom would be just right. (Mom I know you are a silent watcher so this is for you).

This first picture is of my mom when the family lived in San Francisco. Not sure if it was before or after I was born, but I do know that at the time she was a mother of five (with three more to come). That in itself is amazing! The fact that we all grew up to be functioning, mostly sane adults with normal lives of our own is another tribute to my mom (dad too, but it's not his day).

I think my mother was beautiful. She had wicked red hair, a small waist, bird legs--a petite fireball at 5'3" (maybe). She has since shrunk down to where I'm not sure she's even 5 feet tall--still a fireball.

Mom has always seemd serious and reserved and yet, I can remember occasions growing up where we sat around the dinner table laughing until somebody almost wet their pants. In her own quiet way she has supported, nurtured and encouraged all of us to be the best we can be. Sure there have been disappointing choices that all of us have made in our lives, but through it all mom has been a quiet force of love, a steady rock in any storm, a powerful example of faith & strength, an anchor that has held us all together as a family. Not an easy feat with 8 different personalities (9 if you include dad) all vying for attention, love, support, etc. I for one never felt any lack or favoritism. Her love encompasses us all equally in our own right.

We were never a rich family by any stretch of the imagination, but it never seemed like we were lacking. Mom knew how to stretch a dollar to it's limit, get the most mileage out of any shopping trip to the store, make the most out of any time available. She was hard, okay impossible to keep up with.

I know she harbors some regrets/guilt about being a working mom when my younger sisters and I were growing up, but I look at that with pride, wonder, amazement. It helped me get through my own stint of being a working mom with small kids. I knew that if my mom could do it and under much harder circumstances than mine, I could too. Her example helped me get through and appreciate just how really hard trying to do it all is. I wish I could say that I was half the hard worker that she is. I am a mere shadow of her. Thanks mom for being such a great example and giving me strength.

You'll notice that the pictures I have included have only been of mom with me and my sisters. The first is my two older sisters Karen & Roberta, who are amazing mom's (and now grandmas) in their own right. Life has not been a breeze for either one. There have been disappointments and hardships, but both have shown amazing strength and resilience. They are women of faith, love, devotion and virtue. They make me laugh, smile, cry and thank God for their presence in my life. I feel blessed to be their sister.

The 3rd picture is me with my younger sisters. "The three little girls" as we were called. Kind of a collective. My younger sisters are also amazing. The are talented, funny, and caring. Aleta is the mother of six fabulous kids who she mother's with incredible serenity. She is the most quiet of all the outspoken Vaden girls, but don't let that quiet/serenity fool you, it masks a magnitude of inner strength and faith that you would be hard pressed to find in any person. Now in this Mother's Day tribute Celiac (not her real name of course) would argue that she is not a mother. I would beg to differ. Although life has not blessed her with children of her own, she has been a mother, friend, mentor, confidant, blessing to pretty much every one of her neices and nephews (and her own siblings) at some point in their life. I think each and every one of them know that she loves them and that she is there for them. There are a few I think who can honestly say that without her love/support things would be much different in their lives. That is something you cannot discount or make light of. She has also been that same beacon of strength and hope for many a friend in her life. She is a mother in the truest sense of the word!

We are all products of one (and I know I keep using the same word) amazing mother. Each of us can look at ourselves and see traits, characteristics, strengths, habits, and personality we have gotten from our mother--whether gentically or through example. I am incredibly blessed to have such women in my life!

EE Update

2009-05-01T22:50:00.000-07:00

Not that there is too much exciting to report. I had been using a steroid inhaler to "bring down the swelling" in my esophagus. The doctor decided to switch me over to Prednazone (?) which is a stronger steroid. One of the women I visit teach is a nurse and she said if I didn't want them she'd take them. Apparently, she had to take them for an ear infection once and she said they really gave her a zip. She lost 15 pounds and felt like she was thirty again. I guess it remains to be seen what side effect it will have for me--probably not a loss of 15 pounds (darn!). I have also made an appointment to see an allergist. Since EE is primarily allergy based it seems to make sense to me that in order to keep it from cropping up again you would need to try and find out what made it happen in the first place. Seems to me the steroids would only treat the symptoms not the cause. So that's pretty much the deal on the esophagus front. I'm sure you were all waiting with baited breath for that thrilling update.

Oh and the pictures, that's just so there was something to make this blog entry more interesting. This is what happens when Spencer takes his camera to school. At least he has some other people in the pictures with him instead of his usual "self-portraits". In the top picture, that IS one of his favorite facial expressions to "make". Bottom is two of his good friends Imani and Cailey. There several pictures in this vein. At school he can always be found in a flock of girls. I have candy on my desk now and he and a group of girls come visit me daily. Of course, the word is spreading and the crowd keeps getting bigger so I don't know how long I can afford to feed them all. Good thing there is only a few more weeks of school!

Go Susan Boyle!

2009-04-17T19:36:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

If you haven't already seen this on YouTube you have to check it! It is totally cool on so many levels~~not judging by appearance, not being cynical, etc... It brought tears to my eyes the first time I heard/saw it. It's amazing!

Eosinophilic Esophagitis

2009-04-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

What is Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EE)?
Eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) is a disease characterized by swelling of the esophagus (the part of the body connecting the throat and the stomach) caused by an allergic white blood cell, the eosinophil. Symptoms of EE can range from severe heartburn, difficulty swallowing, food impaction in the esophagus, nausea, vomiting and weight loss. There appears to be some age-related differences in symptoms, with younger children having more symptoms of weight loss, and older children and adults having food impaction and difficulty swallowing.
It is not exactly clear what causes EE, although this disease may be related to other allergic diseases, particularly asthma. People with EE frequently have a personal or family history of other allergic diseases such as hay fever, food allergy and asthma. Recently, there have been studies showing an association between food and environmental allergies and EE.
What Allergic Triggers Commonly Cause EE?
Various studies have shown that patients with EE have positive allergy tests to various foods, and that avoidance of these foods led to the resolution of EE symptoms. Foods reported to be the cause of EE have included milk, eggs, peanuts, shellfish, peas, beef, chicken, fish, rye, corn, soy, potatoes, oats, tomatoes and wheat. Of these, the most common food triggers are milk, egg, wheat, rye and beef.
How is EE Diagnosed?
The diagnosis of EE is generally made by performing a biopsy of the esophagus, with evidence of eosinophils infiltrating the esophageal tissue. A biopsy is performed via endoscopy (a camera inserted into the esophagus), usually by a gastroenterologist. There are many other diseases that can cause eosinophils in the tissue of the esophagus, including gastroesopheal reflux disease (GERD), parasitic infections, fungal infections, inflammatory bowel disease, certain cancers, recurrent vomiting, and others. These diseases need to be ruled out before EE can be diagnosed.
Once EE is diagnosed, an allergist will typically perform extensive allergy testing, including looking for food allergies and environmental allergies, such as those listed above.
Why Am I Posting This?
Well apparently this is what I probably have. I went in for an upper endoscopy yesterday (as opposed to the lower one that doesn't sound fun at all). I thought I would be getting my esophogus stretched so that I wouldn't choke on things so much. Well that didn't happen. Instead I find out I have this EE thing and will get some kind of treatment for it. Apparently this is something that you can have all your life and not know because you just think that choking on things is just something you have to live with (totally me). My esophogus is very "tight and swollen" which explains why I have trouble swallowing things and getting them down. I don't know exactly what the treatment is, I will find out on my next appointment on April 28th.

Easter Shoeboxes & Dotted Swiss

2009-04-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

Easter Shoeboxes are what happens when mom cleans the basement during the summer and gives all the baskets, including Easter baskets to Deseret Industries. Something not realized until around 9pm the night before Easter because mom really isn't into helping out the Easter Bunny. Don't get me wrong, I do like Easter and have some rather fond childhood memories of Easter. Let's just say I'm less than enthusiastic about the Bunny part of it--particularly as the kids have gotten older.

Maybe if I would have had girls and made Easter dresses for them every year like my mom I might feel differently. The smell of dotted Swiss fabric always reminds me of Easter. It seems like our new Easter outfits were always made of dotted Swiss. At least the ones I remember. I'm not sure how my mom did it every year, but it seems like when we were younger we always got a new Easter dress. One year I am certain all five of us girls got them! Pretty incredible for a working mom if you ask me. I seem to recall getting purses, hats and gloves one year too, but you gotta love a cute Easter dress made of dotted Swiss.

I'm not sure how many dozens of eggs we colored growing up, but it was alot. It was a family tradition and in my memory pretty much everyone participated. I loved coloring eggs. Karen seemed particularly adept at it, but then that shouldn't be surprising given her artistic bent. Of course there was also the ritual hiding, and rehiding of the eggs on Easter Sunday and throughout the following week until we tired of it or the eggs got too "used" for lack of a better word. Every year there was at least one hiding that did not yeild all the hidden eggs. I have never been able to generate much enthusiasm from the boys for hiding eggs though.
They DO like to color eggs and every year we have done it despite Dennis wondering if we really need that many hard-boiled eggs and who is going to eat them (generally me but Cooper will help out some). This year we did 18 which was just enough for me, Cooper and Spencer to each do six. We managed to squeeze it in between the baseball & soccer games and a birthday party for a relative. We went for the straight vinegar dye for brighter colors. Dyeing eggs, always a fun time.

As a mom, I've never been that enthusiastic about Easter. For some reason to me, it seems like the Easter Bunny detracts more from the true meaning of Easter than Santa Claus does Christmas. So, I try to downplay that part of it. It seems like I am never really prepared for Easter despite the early appearance of it in the grocery stores. I keep putting it off. This year, I didn't shop for the Easter stuff until Friday. Maybe it is because the boys are getting older and even Cooper, despite not saying it, really can't beleive in the Easter Bunny. (He was there when all the Easter candy was purchased). And so, you get Easter shoeboxes because that is the only thing I know we have plenty of when it is discovered we have no baskets. We did add Easter stickers from the egg dye kit to make the shoeboxes a little more festive, but they were still shoeboxes. Oh well.

Spencer's Spring Break Trip

2009-04-03T16:31:00.000-07:00

This post is called Spencer's Spring Break Trip because it was his idea (or desire) that we not spend Spring Break the same way we spent mid-Winter break, which was hanging out at home and pretty much not doing anything. We were up-in-the-air for quite awhile about where we were going to go. We thought about going to eastern Washington to visit family and friends there. That didn't pan out because some were going elsewhere and the pass between here and there apparently didn't get the memo that it is now officially Spring. In fact during the time that we would have been traveling over it, it snowed 2 feet and was closed for a time for avalanche. Good thing we opted not to head east of the mountains!

Where to go, where to go?? We talked about the Olympic Peninsula, Ocean Shores and other destinations. For some reason Spencer really settled on Portland, so that is where we decided to go. Dennis & Spencer made hotel reservations (in the ghetto of Portland--at least that's what it seemed like when we got there) for Wednesday and Thursday night. We left around 9am on Wednesday in a driving rain that was turning to snow as we headed south. (Apparently the mountain pass wasn't the only place that didn't get the Spring memo). It rained all the way to Portland, non-stop. We arrived at the ghetto around 1pm. (We had to turn around just before getting to the freeway to get the GPS--which thank goodness we did or we would have spent all the time lost in the ghetto.)

The first thing we did was visit Pittock Mansion. Which is the former home of the founder of the Portland Oregonian newspaper. It was very beautiful, with intrique hardwood floors throughout it's 12,000 square feet (4,000 each floor). The picture of Spencer at the grand piano is from our tour. There were about 10 people on a tour with us and when we came to the "sitting room" the tour guide asked if anyone played the piano and we all pointed at Spencer. He was a little reluctant but finally agreed to play something. He sat down and played a simple version of Beethoven's Fur Elise. I expected him just to do a scale or something. Everyone was very impressed. It was a very beautiful home.

We returned to ghetto, swam in the pool and settled in, I thought for the night. The boys however got restless so we made a visit to "Oregon's biggest mall" which is pretty much the same size as Bellevue Square with all the same stores. They were happy though.

On Thursday we had talked about taking a paddlewheel tour on the Columbia, but I let the boys decide and the opted to visit OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science & Industry) and the zoo. I think it was a good choice. OMSI is pretty much like the Pacific Science Center here in Seattle only bigger and better. The had a really cool (at least I thought) Leonardo da Vinci exhibit, where they had models of many of the "inventions" he concocted and one whole floor just about the Mona Lisa and these infrared photos this guy took of the painting. It was pretty cool. The boys of course zoomed through that and I came out about 20 minutes later. The rest of the time we spent exploring all the different things there were to do. The goggle picture is from the "Chemistry" room.

The other pictures (except the one of them in the "face" which is in front of a stadium downtown) are all from the zoo. It is a very nice zoo with lots of the same animals as ours. It is a nice walk and you can see where they are updating alot of their exhibits much like our zoo is doing. It is nice that alot of the zoos are changing to make the habitats more "real lifelike" and using the natural surroundings to enhance the whole setting. Their zoo is set against a hillside but all the "hiking" was very gradual. It was a nice hike and luckily for us it didn't start raining again until we were leaving.

We finished off the day in the pool again and got up early this morning to come home so Tucker could make his soccer practice. Everyone had a good time (even Tucker) and we were glad we got to get out of town a bit thanks to Spencer!

Thank Goodness I Got Tagged

2009-03-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking "What can I do with my blog to update it?" My life has been so ordinary lately that I was at a complete loss for what to post. Spencer suggested I do a blog about him, so the picture is in response to that, but the blog is not about him.

I haven't visited other people's blogs lately either. Not that my life has been so busy or anything interesting, I just didn't visit. So today I was catching up with the blogs I visit pretty regularly and imagine my surprise that Julia D "tagged" me. Now her blog is always well written and usually quite humorous--this post of hers was no exception. I can't compete with that, but I will do my best to answer the questions:

8 Favorite TV Shows: (This is hard because honestly I don't watch that many shows--lots of movies but not shows)

1. Survivor. (Yes, it's true and the really sad part, we watch it as a family. We get hooked every time. Gotta love reality TV).

2. Project Runway (Another show we watch as a family. We can't wait for the dispute between Lifetime and Bravo to end so the next episode starts)

3. The Big Break (Never heard of it? Well that's a surprise. I can't believe you aren't all avidly watching the Golf channel! This is a show I watch with Dennis because that's the kind of supportive wife I am. Actually it's an okay show. Reality TV again where people get eliminated each week based on how they do on some golf challenges)

4. The Big Bang Theory (This show about 4 nerds and the cute, okay sexy next door neighbor is quite funny)

5. Ellen Degeneres (I don't watch it that often. Spencer likes to record it and watch it at night so sometimes when he is watching it I get to see it. I think she is hilarious)

6. The Local News (Yes I know that makes me old. I don't watch it every night but like to catch it occasionally to see what's going on--nothing ever good!)

7. Jeopardy (Okay I'm aging by the minute!)

8. Spongebob Squarepants (It's funny. Actually there have been better cartoons in the past that I have liked but they don't run anymore--Rocko's Modern Life, Angry Beavers, Doug)

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Got out of bed. That's always a good way to start the day. Okay this is honestly very difficult because I am drawing a complete blank about what I did yesterday, Tuesday. Getting old stinks!

2. Unplugged all the cords, USB ports, printers, scanner, etc from the computer just to see if it would work if it was the only thing plugged in. It didn't.

3. Went to work where two kids got suspended from school for arson, and one for pulling a knife. Now lest you think this is a typical day, it's not. I think it's just the pre-Spring Break excitement or something.

4. Attended Tucker's soccer game, in the rain, despite knowing that he most likely would not be playing since he was out sick all last week with pneumonia and only returned to practice on Monday. I was right, he sat on the sidelines, but the team had a 1-1 tie. Most importantly Tucker was glad I came to watch even though he didn't get to play.

5. Came home to find out Dennis had figured out what was wrong with the computer. Fried USB port which shut down the whole thing. Whew. Put a little electrical tape over that port and call it good.

6. Read to Cooper before bedtime from Harry Potter 6. We are working our way through them and just started #6.

7. Watched Grand Torino with Dennis & Tucker, which despite the violence and cursing is actually a surprisingly good movie.

8. Woke up at 2am (technically that would make it today) and couldn't get back to sleep! (Well, that was a good exercise because I honestly was completely blank when I first started!)

8 Things I am Looking Forward To:

1. Spring Break--although we have nothing planned as yet and Spencer thinks this is quite shameful.

2. Summer!--can't wait for school to get out and have the summer off.

3. Wildhorse--the family get together is always a blast. We didn't go last summer so we missed seeing alot of people. It will be fun to see everyone this summer.

4. River Rafting. Something we do every summer on the Salmon River with the Guidos and it is always a blast.

5. The return of the Roches' from South Africa. We miss them and can't wait until they are back!

6. Beach Camping. The annual Chandler family campout at Twin Harbors State park by Westport. Hopefully the Chandlers will be joined by the Roches' this year!!

7. Doing some of the things on my wish list.

8. Retirement

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Wild Ginger (excellent Asian cuisine)

2. PF Changs

3. Taco del Mar (we eat there way too often!)

4. Dick's Drive-In (gotta love those greasy, home-made fries!)

5. Palisades

6. Sam's Club (not for fine dining obviously, just for those nights you don't want to cook--can't beat that great dining atmosphere)

7. Subway

8. Ballard Brothers

8 Things on My Wish List (I have to go look, because I have forgotten)

1. For Victor Escalante to make a full recovery from his injuries.

2. A new sewing machine (dull but necessary)

3. A trip to Ireland/Wales/Scotland--the heck with the rest of the British Isles!

4. For my 3 boys all to serve missions (It's entirely up to them and I have no control so wishing is about all I can do)

5. To lose 20 pounds...okay I would settle for 15. Actually, right now I would settle for 5. I have been going regularly to the gym since the first of the year and haven't lost a pound!

6. Smile more frown less

7. Take a dance class with Dennis

8. Learn to quilt (although I don't think my hands and fingers could handle it for too long)

8 People I Tag

1. Celiac

2. Allie

3. Crazy lady

4. Amy Lee

5. Amy Jo

6. Kelsey

7. Actually that's everybody I know that follows my blog that I could tag. I know there are some of you out there that check it out but don't leave comments so I can't "tag" you. Oh very wise people.

So now, you unlucky tagged people,

1) Post the rules on your blog

2) Answer the six '8' items

3) Let each person know by leaving them a comment. (Julia didn't comment on my blog that I could see)

Tucker at 17

2009-02-27T19:11:00.000-08:00

What I want to know is, how did this

sweet

little

muchkin

become....

THIS!!!

Yup. He's 17!! How did that happen?
Actually his birthday was yesterday, but we celebrated it today because Dennis was in Florida until late last night. I meant to post this on his actual birthday but my scanner wasn't working at home so I had to take the baby picture in to work and scan it there.
Wasn't he a cutie though? Still a pretty handsome lad even though he is looking more grown up all the time. For some reason 17 just seems way older than 16. It's freaking me out a little bit. We are a skip away from him leaving home which I prefer not to think about. So I won't.
Tucker is a good kid (most of the time). He is kind hearted, sensitive and funny. He has a bizarre sense of humor and often makes random comments completely out in left field. He's a good big brother (again, most of the time). He has trouble not spending all his money because he doesn't have the patience to wait. He is still trying to figure out who he is going to be which is sometime frustrating to watch and let it unfold. I don't think I tell him (or the other boys, or even Dennis) how much I love him. He was my first baby boy and I am so glad he came into my life!

Now For Something Completely Different

2009-02-21T13:40:00.001-08:00

It's hard to figure out exactly how to follow up the last post. Everything else fades to trivia in comparison. There has been even more tragedy amongst our circle of friends since that post (the Victor link under Blogs I Love). There isn't more I can say on the subject than I have already said.
So, I am going for completely trivial today. I thought I would post this picture after looking at Inkom Crazy Lady's post with the funny monster card (which reminded me of a cartoon that used to be on Nickelodeon about Monsters). Although not as colorful as her card, it is still kind of wacky and fun.
At our Ward Christmas party they put out paper and crayons and encouraged people to draw. They said there would be prizes. What more can I say than crayons, teenaged boys and prizes. Although there are some contributions from Spencer and Dennis, this was primarily Tucker's take on the occasion--Frosty the Zombie Snowman. (I think he did say he had seen something similar on YouTube or someplace). That's a heart clutched in Frosty's skeletal hands and those aren't Frosty's feet coming out from the bottom. Spencer added the Santa Squid up in the corner and Dennis contributed the hand reaching out of the hole. For whatever reason this just struck my funny bone (maybe I'm warped too and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree). I get a special chuckle out of the little stick figures in the corner, futilily throwing snowballs at Frosty. This has been hanging on our closet door in the living room since the night of the party back in early December. Who knows when it will come down. I thought it was worth preserving so I took a picture of it.
And, in case you were wondering, they did win the prize at the party! (A box of candy canes as I recall.) Go figure. I guess we go to church with people just as warped as we are!

Each Life That Touches Ours

2009-02-07T11:38:00.000-08:00

This week has been quite an emotionally wrenching one. On Sunday we learned that Ezra Sherman a boy from our old ward was in the hospital fighting for his life with leukemia. This was quite shocking since only the week before he had been running around his normal exuberant self. Ezra has a twin brother Milo and both were in Primary when I was the President. This picture is from a trip we took as a Primary to the Seattle Temple in August of 2002. (It didn't seem like it was all that long ago but I guess it was.)In the picture they are the two boys on the front row holding hands and their sister Luka is the girl with the glasses right behind them on the 2nd row. The irony that these pictures were taken in front of the Temple where families are sealed together forever is not lost. Their parents Kandice and Ryan moved into the 5th Ward as newlyweds at the same time we did. Ezra and Milo are two spunky, mischievous (in a good way), outgoing full of life boys. Avid unicyclists and music theater performers who would be turning 11 in March, they were both always sure to have a grin on their faces. Sadly, Ezra lost his battle with leukemia on Thursday night. Kandice and Ryan started a blog for him on Tuesday and chronicled some of their experience. It is an amazing tribute to a special spirit and his family. It allowed people to be able to express their concern and love for the family and for the family to still have privacy at the hospital during such a difficult time. Each time I would visit the blog during the week I would weep. I would also take the time to read the comments people left and would be uplifted by the outpouring of love, faith and prayers for their family. The day after Ezra died, Kandice wrote another post where she shared her testimony of Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father and the eternal nature of families. It is a beautiful, touching testimony of love and faith. They are an amazing family and my life is truly blessed by knowing them. (ezrasherman.blogspot.com or click on the Ezra Sherman link on my blog).
On Wednesday, our school community learned that the father of one of our students had been tragically killed in a bicycle accident after dropping his daughter off at school. The older girl goes to the middle school where I work and Spencer attends and the younger one goes to Cooper's school. Now I am not going to claim some close relationship with this family. I would often see the father biking to school in the morning with both or one of the girls over the years because we lived in the same neighborhood and our routes to school caused our paths to cross. We would smile and say hello whenever our paths crossed. He was a friendly, full-of-life kind of man. After school on Wednesday in our office, I watched with tears streaming down my face as the mother informed the daughter of her dad's death. (She is the sweet little face next to Spencer in this picture from the school play in June of 2006). Her disbelief and incredible anguish was heart-breaking. I will never forget it. My heart just ached for her and I longed to hold her tight and take away some of the pain. Again, the outpouring of love and support from both school communities was amazing to behold.
This week also marks the one year anniversary of the death of 21 year old, Sarah Plants the daughter of my good friend Michelle. (The other girl in the school play picture is Sarah's younger sister Mara which is why I chose this particular picture.) Michelle works at Whitman with me and played an invaluable role in coordinating things between the school and the family. I know it was tough for her to be dealing with this tragic death as well as memories of her own experience, but she is an amazing woman with a kind and generous heart. (She took her kids to a "happy place" this weekend--Disneyland.)
Now you might wonder what is the point of this post. Am I trying to say I had a hard week? Definitely not! Especially in comparison to the families I have mentioned. But I will admit that this post is for me. I want to record the feelings and experiences of this week so that I won't forget them. As I have gone through this week shedding tears daily for these families, I have contemplated life, death and the afterlife. I have assessed my feelings and beliefs on it and can only assert that this life is not all there is! I truly do believe that families are forever and that is the way that Heavenly Father intended it to be. It is hard when loved ones move beyond our vision and personal contact, but they are not gone forever. Yes, a part of them lives on in our hearts, but truly they have merely passed from this life on to the next one with our Father in Heaven and are awaiting a reunion with us there. I cannot actually conceive the grief and sorrow of Ezra's family or those of the children who lost their father, or Michelle's loss of her daughter because I have not experienced it. I do know that when I have experienced a loss of a loved one (little Spencer, Justin & Rachelle) I have been comforted by the knowledge that God has a plan for us and moving from this life--whether before our time or at the end of a long life--is part of that plan. We may not know what God has planned for us, but I guarantee you it is not bad. We may have hardships in our lives but it is nothing we can't endure if we rely on Him and the love and support of those around us.
And so, this week my mind has often returned to a hymn found in our LDS (Mormon) hymnbook, "Each Life That Touches Ours for Good". It is not a hymn that I am extremely familiar with, there are many others that are my favorites, but it has been on my mind this week because the message is so beautiful and reflects the feelings I have had this week. I feel that my life HAS been blessed by having people like Ezra's family, Michelle's family and even the passing acquaintance of the other family in my life. So here's the hymn:

Each life that touches ours for good
Reflects thine own great mercy Lord;
Thou sendest blessings from above
Thru words and deeds of those who love.

What greater gift dost thou bestow,
What greater goodness can we know
Than Christlike friends, whose gentle ways
Strengthen our faith, enrich our days.

When such a friend from us departs,
We hold forever in our hearts
A sweet and hallowed memory
Bringing us nearer, Lord, to thee.

For worthy friends whose lives proclaim
Devotion to the Savior's name
Who bless our days with peace and love,
We praise thy goodness, Lord above.

Wii Got Rhythm - Except Mom

2009-02-03T18:47:00.001-08:00

Dennis wanted to get the kids a Wii for Christmas but unfortunately by time he figured that out it was all sold out around Seattle. He has been watching to see when they would be back in stock at Fred Meyer. Finally one weekend it was in stock and he surprised the boys by bringing one home. This is a picture of Cooper & Spencer playing some game where you have keep a beat. I thought it was kind of funny so I took a picture. Now personally I have not tried the Wii. I really don't want to embarrass myself by showing how uncoordinated I have become. I'm not much of a gamer under regular circumstances. It does look fun, but it also looks like it takes more coordination that I currently possess. I would try it sometime when I was home alone, but I am also technologically challenged as well. I can hardly operate the TV let alone any of the extras that go with it. So, if I want to try it out I have to do it under the supervision of one of the boys or Dennis. Ah the dilemma. We will see if I succumb to the Wii. Maybe, maybe not.

Christmas Tree Pickup 09 for the Roches

2009-01-20T18:16:00.001-08:00

This post is for the Roches who are in South Africa and didn't get to participate in the annual Christmas tree pickup with the youth from our church. Every year, the kids ages 12-18 have fundraiser. Just before Christmas they distribute 5000+ flyers to a pretty nice neighborhood in northeast Seattle letting people know about the pickup. Then they spend one or two Saturdays after Christmas picking up the trees. The church rents a "fleet" of 5 or 6 Handy Andy trucks and the kids are driven around the neighborhoods and pick up the trees.

The kids love it because they get to ride around in the back of the trucks and have a ball together. It's a win/win situation because the trees are brought back to a local park and the grown up toss them into a chipper and the trees become mulch which the parks department uses around the city. They have done it for 11 years I think rain or shine. It is generally cold every year so there is chili, hot chocolate and other treats to keep them going. I can only remember one year where it absolutely poured but the kids still hung in there and had a great time. You can see that the kids totally love this project!

Things I Need

2009-01-14T18:49:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking recently about things I need. It started with thinking about how I needed exercise. Not in the I'm-out-of-shape-and-need-exercise way (although that is true) but in the it's something I need in my life for balance. This picture was taken last year in April after we completed the Whidbey Island 1/2 Marathon. As you can see in the photo I am completely whipped. It took alot out of me and because of that and not having to drive Tucker to seminary any more I gave up running. (I never liked it much anyway). Problem is, I didn't replace it with anything. I kidded myself for awhile that the mile walk to and from work was exercise. But as my stomach and butt have continued to expand month by month that belief has to be given up. What I have discovered though is that I need exercise for more than just the physical aspect of it. I need it emotionally too. In the eight or so months since I have stopped exercising, my mood has become bluer and bluer. Not depressed I would say, but blue or maybe apathetic about things. Must be the lack of endorfins or something. All I know is that I feel better about life if I am exercising. Whether that's because I feel better about the way I look (my clothes fit better for sure) or I just feel better about life in general. I need exercise!
Well, this got me to thinking about other things I "need" for balance in my life. These are just a few things I thought about while walking home today. I'm sure I could think of a million but that would make this blog way too long. (These are in no particular order)
I need women friends. Not best friends, I have never been much good at being "best friends", just good friends. Recently I met with my book club group (Peg in the picture with me & Dennis is in this group) and we talked about how great it was to have a group of women friends from diverse backgrounds and situations. It was pointed out that you can find some connection with just about anyone if you put in the effort and that effort was worthwhile for the connections you make. (We actually didn't spend much time talking about the book we had read that month!) It made me realize how thankful I was for this book club that gave me a "connection" with this particular group of women. We all have different things that connect us in some way, whether it's kids in the same school, kids on the same team or no kids but shared friends. Whatever the reason we came together, it is wonderful to have the opportunity to meet with them and share bits of our lives with each other. I also have wonderful friends from church and school. I am thrilled to have that "connection" to so many really cool & awesome people!
I need family. My family is large and gets larger every year. By family I mean my husband, kids, mom & dad, my siblings, my siblings' kids, the kids of my siblings' kids, my aunts & uncles, cousins, and my in-laws (all of them). (Yes, I am a great-aunt if you didn't catch that). I love to read the blogs (of those who have them) and see what is going on with everyone. Everyone is at different stages of life but connected by the fact that we are family. I love getting wedding invitations and adding new members to the family that way. I love getting birth announcements and seeing new little beings come into the family. I love seeing any one them that I can when the family gets together and hearing about what is happening in their lives and seeing how much the little ones have grown and changed. I love hearing about their accomplishments, talents and even life struggles. I wish that more of them were closer, or we were closer to them.
I need music. As I was walking home today and thinking about music (I was listening to my i-pod), I thought about how much I love the music produced by violins whether it is a jaunty Irish tune or a plaintive ballad. I like music from all kinds of genres. Some music moves me (hymns, movie scores, celtic ballads) others make me want to dance or sing along (I don't with the i-pod) or just make me smile. I am glad their is music in the world.
I need books. That should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me. I love to read and again from a wide range of topics, subjects and genres. I feel restless when I don't have something to read. I am glad that there are so many good books in the word.
Well, lest this blog continue on into ridiculousness, I will leave it at that. Besides, this post isn't nearly as interesting as the one I composed in my head on the way home from work. There are many, many things that I "need" in my life and I am thankful I have been blessed to have so many of those needs met.
(BTW, Dennis signed me up at the Ballard Health Club so now I am getting the exercise that I need)

Again, With the Snow??

2009-01-04T20:01:00.000-08:00

So here it is the night before the 1st day of school for the new year and this is a picture of what is going on right now! I can't believe it. We just had our winter break extended by three days before it even started. Now there is a possibility that it could be extended again. The weathermen have predicted that this snow will be followed "quickly" by rain. I hope for once that they are correct in their forecast.
It's pretty wet snow as evidenced by my slip/slide down the front steps when I went to take the picture. Of course that might have been because I was wearing slippers at the time! It

was just good there was no one there to see it as I think it was quite a hilarious fall. The old feet flying out from under me. Luckily I wasn't hurt other than my dignity--at least I don't think so. I'm sure I will find out tomorrow.
I am actually looking forward to getting back into a routine. It feels like we have been on break for a long time. Not that I am looking forward to getting up. I have been sleeping in every day--and not just for a little bit. It will be a rude awakening.
So here's hoping the rain comes in and the roads are clear tomorrow!
1/6/09 Postscript: It snowed about 2-3 inches overnight but it was super slushy Monday morning so school started on time!! The kids didn't even get a late start out of it. The school was freezing on Monday though! All the snow was gone by this morning but we continue to have typical, crappy gray weather. A big wind storm is blowing in tonight with light rain. Gotta love Seattle winters!

Winter Break Begins Early

2008-12-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

Continuing with the theme of my previous post, brrr it's still cold! Yesterday (Wednesday 12/17), the Seattle School District in a knee-jerk reaction to the dire weather predictions for Wednesday, cancelled school. Sadly, they were left with egg on their faces (which is what you get when you beleive the weather forecasters here who couldn't get it right even if they looked out the window!) For while it was bitterly cold, the expected snowfall failed to appear. It DID snow everywhere BUT Seattle in all directions. Kind of like a reverse snow globe with the globe over Seattle and the snow falling all around. It left everyone scratching their heads in wonderment.

Today, the District is vindicated! Somewhere around 4am it started to snow. (How do I know you may wonder. It involves Cooper and throwing up all night, nothing more needs to be said.) It has continued to snow all day since then. This may look like a pittance to people who live in real snow country but for Seattle it is catastrophic. We are just not prepared to handle it. The bad part of the white fluffy stuff is that under it is always ice. That is the real problem. Now they haven't officially cancelled school tomorrow. But given the fact that there really is snow (unlike Wednesday when there was none) and it won't be going anywhere, anytime soon I am sure that Winter Break has already begun for the kids. (Pictures: fencepost in back yard, front of house, Tucker's adandoned garbage truck in the back yard)

BRRR It's Cold

2008-12-15T20:30:00.001-08:00

Sometime during the winter season we get a cold winter blast of some sort. We might get a little snow with it too. Over the weekend we got the beginning of this year's winter cold blast. They say it is the coldest it's been since 1990 and may last as long as it did then (10 days). I remember the 1990 cold blast. It started during the annual Christmast party at the ad agency where I was working. I went down to the front door early (about 12:30pm) to wait for Dennis to come get me. I waited, and waited and waited. He was working about 30 minutes south of where I worked at the time. There wasn't one speck of snow where he worked but 5 minutes down the road he ran into about 6 to 12 inches of snow and snarled traffic. About 4 hours later he finally showed up. He had spent most of that time inching his way towards my office and hoping he wouldn't pee his pants! He parked the car and we went out to eat. We finally got home about 9pm that evening. We took our dog Duke out for a walk in the fluffy white snow. That fluffy white stuff hung around Seattle for almost a week.

For those family members who live in the snow on a regular basis you might find this odd, but what you have to understand about Seattle is that it doesn't take much snow to bring the whole city to a standstill. We just can't handle it. We only got the amount of snow you can see on the top of the ornament I hung in our tree outside but it is COLD here. The weather has been in the high to low twenties down to the upper teens overnight. It is supposed to stay that way through to the weekend with more snow possible late Tuesday early Wednesday. I love the snow but not the cold!

On a completely different note, I thought it would be fun to do a before and after shot of our living room. Every year I take all the family photos off our fireplace mantle and put up all my Christmas decorations. (It's a great chance to dust the mantle.) I love my fireplace mantle. It stretches across the whole west end of the living room. Usually it is completely full of family pictures. I guess I should have left those up to give the full effect but that's what is piled on the floor in the before picture. Over the years I have collected lots lots of little figures and knick-knacks that I pull out to put on the mantle. The last couple of years a company Dennis does business with buys us a huge, beautiful wreath that fits well on the wall. The three stockings on the left side of the fireplace are the boys' and were made by Oma after each of them were born. (She did this for all the grandkids and daughters-in-law, but not her sons.) The white one on the right is the one she made for me from my wedding dress fabric (she made my wedding dress). The one next to it is a cross-stitch I did for Dennis which replaced the ratty one he had from when he was a kid. (Oma got better at stockings as a grandmother.)

We usually go with Oma & Opa to get a tree (which I think I mentioned on my blog last year at this time), but we didn't this year. Instead we got a free tree from the lot where Tucker is working for the season. His boss gives one to all of his employees--super nice! I love pulling out the boxes with the ornaments. I pull them all out and the kids put them on the tree. There are so many that have such lovely memories attached. As I pull out each one, the wonderful, funny and occasionally sad memories just poor in. I love the feelings that come with decorating the tree!

Underneath the wreath on the mantle (and in the close-up on the left--although the wreath is the ratty K-Mart one we use until we get the nice one) is my favorite nativity display of all time. The Nativity is the same one we had when I was a child. It is a very simple cardboard creation from the 50s. I don't know exactly what it is about it that I like so much. Perhaps it is the way the artist used lighting to emphasize each little part--especially the lighting around Joseph & Mary and the baby Jesus (although you really can't tell that from my amatuer photography). Or the way all the pieces come together to form a beautiful 3-D scene. Or perhaps it is just the childhood memories that are associated with it. Whatever it is I love it. I my mom told me that she bought one of these cardboard nativities for each of my older siblings when they were young. You could buy them for a whole 42 cents as I recall. How I came to get one of my own is a story for another time.

So while it may be cold outside, the feelings are warm and cozy and full of nostalgia inside!

Quirkiness Runs Amok

2008-11-22T17:55:00.000-08:00

I have been "tagged" by my sister in the great quirks confessional. Unfortunately for me, many of the best family quirks have already been spoken for.
I too have itchy ears. I buy my q-tips in double packs. They are not only handy for taking care of that inner ear itch they are great for getting mascara out from under you eyes.
I also must confess to being an obessional readder. I too have been known to stay up until all hours of the night trying to finish a book or get to a "good" stopping place. I don't do it as much as I did when I was younger because Dennis makes me turn off the light. Not sure why, since he is such a sound sleeper.
So when I to think of some original quirks I must confess that I kind of drew a blank at first. I had to think about it a bit. I didn't want to ask any of the boys for fear of what I might find out. I did finally come up with one or two. Maybe lame, but my quirks nevertheless. Here they are:
I hate to call people on the phone. I think I may have gotten this from dad. I never liked it as a kid and I still have qualms about it as an adult. Even if I know that someone is expecting my call I still really have to think about it. I got better about it when I became a receptionist. Answering the phone is not the problem because people are calling me. It's when I have to call other people that I get all nervous. I have to think long and hard about what I am going to say. I especially hate it when I have to call someone to ask for a favor or question. Sometimes when I hang up I go over the whole conversation thinking about what I might have said badly or might be misconstrued. Call me an insecure caller.
I hate waiting at stop lights. I like to take backroads with no stoplights everywhere I go. I have all these routes to most visited places that are unusual just to avoid stoplights. When i ride places with Dennis I have to grit my teeth because he is just to opposite. He goes on major roads with all the stop lights. Drives me crazy.
I hate chipped fingernails. They totally drive me crazy. When I was younger I was a nail biter (a nasty habit to break). I think I developed this habit largely from my dislike of snaggy nails. I would do anything to make the nail smoother, including biting it down to the quick. Of course I outgrew that habit, but I still can't stand nails that catch on things. I now keep my nails cut short purposely so they are less prone to breaking.
That's the best I could come up with. I am sure that I could come up with some other things (especially if I asked the boys). They are kind of lame, but I have alot of the family quirks besides the two I mentioned. Very funny how things run in a family!
I choose not to tag anyone because I think everyone has beend tagged. It is fun to think about quirks in a family though. Genetics or environment? Who knows!

Love/Hate Relationship & Other Stuff

2008-11-17T20:45:00.001-08:00

I hate this tree! I love this tree! This is big, beautiful, amazing tree is across the street from our house. It is difficult to really appreciate how big it is without seeing it in person--especially when the photo is not the greatest. I love it in the summer when it is in full bloom. It has about a billion, maybe even a trillion leaves on it it. I hate it in the fall when the billion or so leaves begin to fall. If we are lucky, the prevailing winds are blowing in a northerly direction and the leaves mainly end up in the park behind the tree. If we are unlucky, the prevailing winds are blowing in a southerly direction and they end up in our yard, against our house, all over the street. Even if we are lucky there are still a few thousand or so leaves from this tree that end up in our yard. I have already filled up our gigantic yard waste container twice with leaves from this tree and the much smaller tree that is in front of our house. (I love our tree in the spring when it is full of plum blossoms).
Now Cooper, he loves the tree across the street! (As you can see in the following pictures.) He went over Sunday afternoon and took over this pile of leaves that some other kids had left. As you can see, there are plenty of leaves to make and remake again and again, one heaping, mound of leaves that any boy would love. Cooper had a heyday.
What's not to love about a big pile of leaves? At least when you are not in charge of raking them up. Fun times!

Groucho & Cowboy Dennis (the other stuff)
I guess Sunday was a banner day (or at least a day worthy of blogging about). Oma & Opa came over for Sunday dinner. After dinner we generally end up sitting around the dining room table chatting about this and that. This Sunday somehow the topic of discussion got on to facial hair or the lack of it. Spencer who is the throes of puberty insisted that he did not have any facial hair. I guess if it is blonde, and a little hard to see that means it's not there. Next thing you know, Oma has my mascara in hand and is "highlighting" Spencer's facial hair. I don't know whether to comment on his Italian heritage showing through or his resemblance to Groucho Marx. Needless to say there was alot of laughter that went on, but it did illustrate how much facial hair he actually has. It did make him look quite a bit older too. And yes, as you can see in the picture without Dennis, Oma colored in his eyebrows too. She did better with the eyebrows than the moustache because I suggested that perhaps she should brush against the grain of the hair rather than with it. You never know what hilarity while happen when Oma & Opa come for dinner! (And no, Dennis is not sleepy or high in this picture--just caught him between expressions I guess)

This last picture is for Ann. Don't know whether she ever looks at the blogs, but this one is for her. She had a hat much like this the last time Dennis saw her in the summer. He commented about how cool he thought it was and she offered to get him one. When the boys and I were down for a visit this summer, she gave me this hat for him. I promised that I would e-mail her a picture of him in it. I never got around to it and was reminded when we saw her at grandma's 100th that I needed to do that. So, since I was in a picture taking kind of mood this weekend, here's the picture for Ann. Ride em, cowboy Dennis!! (I think the hat loses a little authenticity when paired with the sweatshirt, but what can you expect for a city slicker!)

Grandma Turns 100!

2008-11-02T14:42:00.000-08:00

Who in their right mind would travel 1000 miles round trip in two days just for a birthday party?! That would be us because it is not every day you have a Grandma who turns 100! That's right, this weekend we celebrated 100 years of life for my dad's mom, Lydia Vaden and it was on her actual birthday to boot, November 1. It seems like a crazy thing to do, but it was important to my dad and well, it was important for me too, so Dennis went along with it all.

We left Friday after school and drove halfway which was Pendleton, Oregon roughly four hours away. We enjoyed a dip in the hotel hot tub so I guess that almost made it seem like it was a vacation. We drove the final four hours Saturday morning and arrived in Moutain Home, Idaho at about 2pm Idaho time. Grandma's party did not start until 3pm, but we enjoyed hanging out with my two aunts at the American Legion hall where the party was being held.

As one might expect, the American Legion hall in Mtn. Home is not a particulary fancy building. It dates probably back to the 70s or possibly earlier and hasn't been updated since then. For ambiance, there is 30 years accumulated cigarette smell, low ceilings and poor lighting. It made it very difficult to get good pictures, especially for an amatuer photographer like me. I did my best but the photos were either too dark, people's faces too shiny or green or the photos were blurry.

It was a very simple affair with mostly family, various relatives outside of direct family and people from Mtn. Home. There was a country/folk/rockabilly/gospel singer on accoustic guitar (too loud as most people complained but grandma thought he was great). My family, meaning dad's descendents, probably accounted for half the people there. Five of the eight siblings with some of their kids and grandkids were there. Everyone from my family stayed until about 5:30. We the Chandlers were the last to leave when dad left. We then drove the four hours back to Pendleton, stayed the night and drove the other four hours back this morning.

Now why would we do such a crazy thing? I guess it was so my boys could do the two-step and the swing with their great-aunts Boots and Deanna. So that I could see relatives that I haven't seen in 20 years or more, many of whom I would not recognized if I met them on the street. So that I could hear over and over again from those same Aunts, my Grandma and most importantly my dad, how happy they were that I came. So that my children could meet a Great Grandmother that they have never met before (Tucker is the only one who has met her and the last time was when he was just a baby). So we could pay tribute to a woman who has lived a long, somewhat cantankerous (okay really cantankerous) and amazing life.

I don't know my Grandma Vaden as well as I should. We were never particularly close. I think I like to place most of the blame for that on her end (and she deserves alot of it) but I think it works both ways. I don't know that she was every very comfortable with our family and we with her. Who knows everything she had to go through in keeping my dad at a time when having a baby out of wedlock was so very frowned upon? There is so much of her life that is a mystery that she would never divulge and now never will. I don't know all of what makes/made her the way she is. I guess I should have tried harder to find out.

No one is certain how much of her birthday party Grandma will remember. She seemed pretty lucid but who knows. What I do know is that my boys will probably remember it for a long time. They will remember that mom made them go on a crazy drive for a visit that lasted roughly 3 hours. They will remember being kissed, sometimes more than once, by strangers who mom insisted were family. (The Vaden clan are a kissing kind of family). They will remember dancing with their great aunts, eating pickled beets for the first time (Spencer, and he didn't like them) and most importatly, I hope they will remember that family IS the most important thing there is and sometimes we do crazy things for them.

Why I Love the Puget Sound

2008-10-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

We had a visit from my nephew Tyson the other day. He was up here interviewing for a job with Microsoft. We were talking about what it is like to live in Seattle and it got me thinking about why I love living up here. In my spider blog I already mentioned the great weather--truly! (If you like weather that never gets too cold or too hot for long periods of time, this is the place for you! I have to admit that I haven't been to some of these places--even though they are close--but they are places I intend to visit someday (soon). Pictures are worth a thousand words, so here is some of what is great about living in the Puget Sound!

The lighthouse is located in a park that is only a few miles away from our house. It's a huge park with hiking and biking trails, open fields and beaches. It is really cool.

I have always loved the Seattle skyline. It is especially cool at night when you are driving up from the south. I don't know why but it I think it is just beautiful. it is also really cool at night from a ferry.

Downtown Seattle is funky and cool and fun to walk around. Of course there is Pike St. Market but it is fun to wander the waterfront, the Seattle Center, Seattle Art Museum (first Thursdays of the month are free), and lots of other great places. The kids love to ride the bus from our house and wander all the cool places downtown. It is one of their favorite summer adventures.

The Washington coast is only an hour or two away depending on which beach you want to visit. We haven't been to that particular beach in the picture but every summer we go camping a the beach and it is one of the funnest events of the summer for everyone--even when it rains (which it has only done twice in the 15plus years we have been beach camping).

The walking train is in the heart of Seattle around a lake called Greenlake. The trail is just under 3 miles and is very popular for running. That is where I did most of my marathon training. It is beautiful at 6am in the morning with the moonlight glinting of the smooth clear surface.

The picture with the mountain in back is Mt. Rainier which isn't as close to us as in this picture but it is amazing nevertheless on a clear day. There are amazing hiking trails and camping spots. If you love the outdoors then you couldn't ask for a place with more beautiful outdoor opportunities all within and hour or two of the city!

The other mountain range is the Olympics which is the mountain range between Seattle and the coast. This is not the view from where I live but there is a park about 1/2 a mile from our house that has a killer view of the Puget Sound and this mountain range. On a clear beautiful evening, nothing beats the view from this park (Sunset Park) of the sun setting behind these mountains and with sailboats on the sound. If you listen closely sometimes you can hear seals barking and an occasional tugboat whistle.

Since no blog would be complete without one obligatory picture of my kids, the picture with the dragon is from a field trip I took with Cooper's class last year to the International District (or Chinatown for the non-PC crowd). Regardless there is amazing international cuisine to be found in the city of Seattle. Whether your taste runs to Thai, Mexican, Mongolian, Italian or BBQ, you can find it all in Seattle.

Spiders

2008-09-26T19:23:00.000-07:00

When Cooper and I left for school this morning we noticed that it was a bit of a foggy day. In Seattle that means a pretty heavy dew. Because of the beads of dew, you could see all the spider webs. There were probably 10 or more of them in the evergreen bushes in front of our house, which you can kind of see here. They were so cool I had to go back in the house and get the camera to take pictures. Now we are NOT ones to get scared of spiders so naturally we were quite fascinated with all the webs and their shapes and intricacies. I find it interesting to observe the interesting shapes and patterns. They are just amazing. The weather was perfect for viewing them. We walked a few blocks farther and saw tons of webs all over the bushes everywhere. Then we saw a great big one, with a huge spider on it that I just had to get a picture of him. He was HUGE! But he was also beautiful, just sitting there waiting for something edible to come along. SO I had to snap a picture of him too. (Click on both of them to enlarge them to really appreciate how many webs there were on the shrubs and how big the Big Daddy was!)
It was such a cool morning to be out and about and it really made me think about how beautiful the earth is that God made for us. I was thankful for Cooper's excitement, enthusiasm and exuberance about the whole thing. There are so many beautiful things that we pass by every day without even considering. It also reminded me what I love about living in Seattle. Yes, it rains a fair amount here, and when it is not raining it is often gray. But...it is vibrantly green much of the year, the climate is generally mild (not too hot, not too cold). Tall mountains to remind me of Idaho but lots of water everywhere. Yes, there are spiders but there aren't any snakes and flies are almost non-existent. So today I am grateful for spiders and all the amazing things that are on this beautiful earth!

Spencer is a Teenager!

2008-09-15T18:49:00.001-07:00

Yes my tall, skinny redhead is now a teenager! Spencer turned 13 on September 11. We went out for pizza on his actual birthday but saved the majority of his party for Saturday when the Chandler clan could be there. He was very excited to get two things on his list (he always has one prepared for every gift-giving occasion). He got and i-Pod and a gift certificate for Hollister, which he is out spending with Tucker as I type.
I am always so amazed at how different all my boys are from the other, with their own unique personalities and likes and dislikes. Spencer is my little chef. He loves to make desserts. He is especially good at chocolate chip cookies. He is very good a reading and following recipes so he will always eat well. (Unlike Tucker who may be living off Top Ramen). He is very artistic and has a great eye for color, details, shapes, sizes, etc. He is funny, a good student and has a great ear for music. Lest he seems to be nearing perfection, he also has a temper which has a very short fuse. When he gets in a snit, he has been known to shut himself in his room for a couple hours. Moody doesn't do justice to his moods swings at times. He is now several inches taller than me and within an inch or so if being taller than Tucker. He is probably about 4-5 inches taller than Tucker was at age 13. Perhaps he got the tall Chandler gene. Time will tell. He is a super kid and we are blessed to have him in our family.

1st Day & Wedded Bliss

2008-09-03T20:33:00.000-07:00

Today was the 1st day of school for Seattle Public Schools. That means even more now than it did before since they are my employer. The last two weeks I have been working a little extra time to get ready for the big day. Well truth be told, I have been working alot of extra time. Will be looking forward to things getting a little calmer. We did make it through the 1st day though--both me and the boys. I always take a picture of the boys on the 1st day of school and the last day. So here is the one for this year. (I also took one of each boy alone.) I always like to compare the growth from year to year. I guess this one won't be all that helpful since Spencer is crouching. He is actually taller than me and was laughing yesterday about how short I was.

Today was also a banner day for Dennis and I. It was our 20th Anniversary! Yup that's right. We have been married for 20 years!! Scary. Even more scary, that's what we looked like on the big day 20 years ago. The kids find it hilarous that Dennis had hair. They think their dad looks really funny. I guess that would seem weird since they have only known him sans most of his hair. It seems pretty weird to think about being married 20 years, but then I kind of seems like we have always been married.

I guess the fact that we have Junior in high school and have 20 years means that we are officially old. Well at least that's what our kids think. Funny, other than a few extra pounds and a little less flexibility, I don't feel that different than I did 20 years ago.

Last Gasp of Summer

2008-08-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

Here's another picture from Hawaii. This is at the aquarium on Maui. Apparently Tucker posted one of the aquarium pictures of him and his brothers on his My Space and somebody wrote back wondering who the unhappy, round-headed kid was and what was up with the sandal on one foot and the shoe on the other. They must have thought he was some strange kid! This is how Cooper had to walk around for a day or two to keep his foot wound from getting infected and keep the bandaging on. As I mentioned, we had to make a trip to the emergency room because he cut his foot on some coral within hours of our arrival in Hawaii. Luckily it did not keep him from having fun!
This picture of Spencer and Cooper is from the last day at the beach. They spent a long time playing together in the ocean. We spent about 3 hours at the beach (hence the sunburns we all got the last day). They raced each other on their boogie boards, swam, floated and lastly had a contes to see whose tower of sand would disapper in the waves first. They would build a tower then race back to the water to watch the waves pound their creations. It was amazing how well and long they played together! Gotta love the beach for brotherly love. Tucker spent the day in the shade with a t-shirt on because he had burnt his torso to a crisp the day before. Tanning Lotion 4 just isn't the protection you would think?!

We got in late Friday night. Saturday we had an extended Chandler family get together in Port Townsend which lasted the whole day. It was great to see Dennis' cousins from California. They are a great group of people. We didn't get home until after midnight. That left Sunday for doing laundry and getting ready to head for Idaho on Monday. At least Spencer, Cooper and I. Dennis and Tucker stayed in Seattle because they had to work.

We had a great time visiting my mom and dad. Cooper spent alot of time out in dad's woodshop. The cut and sanded, painted and had a blast. I love this picture of dad in his apron. We also went on a four-wheeler trip with dad up into the hills. It was wonderful to enjoy fresh veggies out of the garden every day. Who doesn't like new red potatoes and peas straight from the garden in cream sauce! We had it twice. We spent alot of time in the back yard under the shade tree just visiting. It was a lovely, relaxing visit. It was nice to see Allison and girls and Roberta and Gordon.

Cerese and I took the boys out fishing one evening. Or should I say casting. That's all it was. It wasn't that there were no fish. They were jumping like crazy! They just weren't interested. Well not in the hook anyway. The took plenty of bait. The boys thought it was great though and were actually pretty good at casting. We got bit by lots of mosquitos though.

We left Mackay a little early so we could spend time with Randy and family at Redfish. We wanted to see the damage done by the big wind storm. It was amazing how many treess were taken out by the wind! (See Celiacs blog for pics). We were only staying Thursday night so the boys and I slept in the back of the van. Amazing how much room there is with all the seats down! Well not quite as much as I thought when the boys started to heat up. I made Cooper sleep at the other end after only about an hour. It was cozy but it worked. It was nice to be able to hang with Randy and family. His grandkids are lots of fun. The boys had a good time with them all. The weather was not so hot (thunderstorms Thursday and overcast again on Friday) on Friday so we left early for Riggins and the river rafting expedition.

I think this picture probably looks similar to the one from last year. Not much changes from year to year but that's great because it is always fun! Cooper came on the raft trip for his first time. He thought it was great. We had a great trip downriver this year. Tucker made his first venture at going through a set of rapids in just his life jacket! Ah youth. Or should I say youthful boys! That's not anything I would have ever wanted to do--even when I was young.

So back to Seattle on Sunday and back to work on Wednesday :-( I guess it has to come to an end sometime. These past two weeks were awesome though!

Maui Memories

2008-08-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

This will be a quickie as it is already 9pm and we are leaving early tomorrow morning for Idaho. This is one of cool things we did while in Maui. It was a 5 hour snorkeling trip to Molokini which is just a very tiny, horseshoe-shaped, uninhabited island just off the south end of Maui. It's a popular snorkeling spot so we were in the water with a few hundred snorkeling "buddies". Crowds nevertheless it was still really cool. We were in about 30 feet of water and could see all the way to the bottom. Once I got over not wanting to put my face in the water (which really is an issue for me) it was major cool. It is kind of freaky at first realizing that you are breathing under water. There was a lot of different types of tropical fish visible. Not as many as we were expecting but cool enough. It took about an hour to motor out to the island and we snorkeled for an hour or two. Spencer and I work wetsuit tops to help with sunburning issues--the water wasn't that cold of course. Then we took another boat ride to an area called Turtle Town--for the apparent plethera of turtles to be seen. Unfortunately it seems that the turtles are smarter than the tours. As soon as all those bodies hit the waters the turtles head for deep water. We did see one way down at the bottom. As soon as everyone got back in the boat, up pops a turtle about four or five feet from the end of the boat! Smart turtle. It was still really cool. Nobody got sunburned on this outing despite all the fears of sun glinting off the water making it likely.

We rented an underwater camera so we could get some cool pictures. They gave us a CD at the end of the cruise with all the pictures we took (so these are the only pictures we have right now--I haven't had a chance to download our camera yet and won't until we get back from Idaho). These next two underwater ones I took are from Turtle Town. I had finally gotten over that whole stick your head in the water phobia by then so my big thing was to try and get a picture of everyone under water. The first one is of Spencer just floating along on the top. It took a few tries to get it since just when I would get a good one he'd be too close or move the other way. Tucker was the only one who went all the way under however. He was the only one to swim the whole time with out the aid of a flotation device! (I didn't even get in the water without the float belt they had available.) All and all it was a pretty cool experience.

We had a great time in Maui. A cool family vacation which included a trip to the emergency room, a crazy lady and Mentos, sunburns on the last day, boogie boarding, a luau, watching the sun set and lots of relaxation. A trip we will all remember for sure. It's good to be home, even for a day or two. Will document more next time, plus the trip to Idaho!

Garage Sales

2008-07-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to clean out the furnace room (our general storage room) for months. I knew I wouldn't get around to it until the summer. Last week I finally went on a cleaning jag. After two days of work I got it finished (I also cleaned out the refigerater and the stove including moving them away from the wall an cleaning the floor underneath--eeeeuuuwww). In the process I thought why are we keeping all this stuff? I decided we were going to have a garage sale to get rid of things like Dennis' old bowling ball, my skis & boots and lots of other silly stuff that was just taking up space. (There's still plenty of stuff left in the furnace room.) We also made chocolate chip cookies and lemonade to sell. I told the boys any profit we made they could keep for the trip to Hawaii coming up.
We put signs up around the neighborhood and even listed the garage sale on craigslist. We held it this past Friday and Saturday from 9am to 1pm each day hoping that our junk might just be other people's treasure. Turns out our junk is pretty much other people's junk too. We did sell a few things each day but I would have to say that about half our profits came from the cookies and lemonade ($40--but still better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick as my mom would always say)! Still it was a fun adventure and something I have always wanted to try (although it is NOT on my "list").
It was very interesting to watch the different people that showed up from the "professional" garage salers to the neighbors just stopping by. Some people didn't even get out of their cars they just drove by slowly. Both days the weather was very nice so we just sat in lawn chairs and enjoyed the sunshine. I actually finished reading two library books.
Saturday afternoon when we were done, we just chucked the whole caboodle in the back of the van and hauled it to DI. I'm not sure all the work setting it up was worth the $40 profit. I don't think it is anything I will be doing again anytime soon or if I clean up the furnace room again. It does however always feel good to purge! Until I need something I got rid of that is!

Mama Mia!

2008-07-14T21:48:00.001-07:00

Okay, I freely admit that I am and have always been a huge ABBA fan. Not too surprising considering I came of age at the same time they were internationally big (mid 70s to early 80s). In fact the ABBA Gold CD is one of my favorites to listen to whenever I have a long drive (like to Idaho). It really chews up alot of miles and keeps me awake because I am signing along. We have even endoctrinated the boys to like them too. By we I mean Dennis & I of course--although he may not be quite as big a fan as I am. There's alot of teenage/early 20s memories tied up in that group! Which by the way did you know that the name ABBA came for the first letter of the names of all the members--Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn and Anni-Frid (although she generally went by Frida)? I didn't, I just read it on Wikipedia.
A few months ago Dennis & I went with our good friends the Radfords to the 5th Avenue Theater in downtown Seattle to see the musical, Mama Mia! (written by Benny), that is based on their hit songs. I have to admit that we were a bit skeptical going in but boy was it fun! I laughed so hard in some parts that tears were streaming down my face! Part of the fun was knowing they were about to break out into song and trying to guess which one. Sometimes you could totally tell which one was coming and it was so campy & corny that you wanted to groan but you laughed instead. It was such a fun production complete with these amazing, tight, florescent-colored, spandex costumes at the end. It included a sing-along.--and boy did Peg and I sing along! The performers were excellent and did a great job.
So now there is a movie based on the muscial starring Meryl Streep. I don't know whether it will be as good as the theater production or as fun. I have my doubts. If you love ABBA I would totally recommend the stage production for sure. Peg and I have already vowed to go see the movie. It remains to be seen if it will live up to the stage production.
Meanwhile if you haven't listened to them lately or if you never have--you should (and I mean the original group--not all the really bad pop remakes that have been done in recent years!). It will make you smile

Many Partings

2008-07-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

These are our friends the Dittos--Julia & Logan and their three children Lucy, George & Jane (the cutest kids ever!) Logan was Tucker's Home Teaching partner since we moved into the new ward (congregation) when Tucker turned 12. Logan has been a great example to Tucker and very vigilant about doing home teaching and including Tucker and welcoming him into their home and family. Julia and Logan just moved to Spokane where he will be starting a dental career. We invited them over for a last dinner before they left.

The nature of the area we live in in Seattle is that the wards that we have lived in are constantly changing because there is a large student population. The ward we are currently in has the biggest population and makes big changes every fall and summer. This summer saw a really big exodus of families who had been in the ward since we moved in. One of which was the Dittos.

We are extremely blessed to have these great young families in our midst but it is always hard to see them go. This one was particularly hard for the Chandlers. (Tucker was almost sobbing as he said good-bye to Logan that day.) We are definitely greatful for the positive influence they have been for our family.

Not a few days after the departure of the Dittos we got a phone call from our pals the Roches' letting us know that they would be heading to South Africa!! Neal and Steph have been a part of our family for about five years. They were our Home Teachers in our old ward and we never let go of the connection when we left. They have been to countless family functions, ran the Whidbey half-marathon with us and Neal's family owns the now infamous Cupcake Cabin. They too have been a positive influence on our family and will be greatly missed. They both left for South Africa on Thursday, Neal to stay and Steph will return in about 10 days to wrap things up and head back in September. Thankfully they will only stay there for a year--at least that is the current plan. A grand and exciting adventure for them that will be fun to hear about when they return but they will be sorely missed.

There have been many other families that we have made friendships with over the years who have moved on to other areas of the country and I am thankful for their positive examples and influence for my boys. Nevertheless it is alway sad to have the partings!

The Smell

2008-06-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

There will be no picture with this post and as you read on you may see why. Tuesday night I had a training meeting downtown at the district headquarters. We were learning how to use the new Blackberries the district had purchased for all buildings for communications in an emergency. Since I am the primary user, I thought it was important to know how to actually use it.
So as I am sitting there in the meeting I keep smelling this smell. At first I think it must be the recycling plant across the road. Strong winds coming up from the South do tend to waft very unpleasant smells from the recycling plant towards the district buildings. But that was not it. The smell seemed to come and go. I moved from one place in the room to another and still I smelled it. I sniffed my hands, the blackberry I was using and still I couldn't figure out the where the smell was coming from.
Later that evening as I was laying on the sofa watching TV, I smelled it again. I hadn't smelled it since I left the district headquarters or up until that point but there it was again. I realized it must be on me. I turned my head to the left, the smell got stronger I turned my head to the right I didn't smell it so much.
Keep in mind, that I was still wearing the same clothes I had been wearing all day. I hadn't really noticed the smell at work that I could recall but perhaps I did because the smell was most definitely coming from my clothes. The left-hand side of my blouse to be specific!
So lets backtrack and take a little trip down memory lane. Over Memorial Day weekend, we went for an overnight to the Cupcake cabin. We had been shutting our bedroom door when we were gone for long extended periods of time so the cat would not get hair all over the nice, new, beautiful quilt that Aleta had made for us. So we shut the door of our bedroom. (I know you can already guess where this is heading). Of course, we checked to make sure the cat was not already in the room (wink, wink). There were several stacks of clean clothes all over on my side of the bed that I just hadn't gotten around to putting away and I was leaving them until we got back.
When we got back, I was starting to put away those "clean clothes" when all of the sudden I realized that there was cat poo under one of my shirts (no, not the one I was wearing Tuesday). I lifted the pile and sniffed, sure enough there was cat pee to go with. See, even when we got home we didn't realize the cat had been locked in the bedroom until I began putting away the "clean clothes". I wasn't sure whether I should, explode, barf or laugh. So I sniffed my way through the rest of the clothes to see which had been used as the litter box--well at least I thought I did.
So you guessed it! Tuesday night I was wearing a shirt with cat pee perfume on it!! You might ask how could I not notice before Tuesday afternoon if I had been wearing the blouse all day? It has been unusually cold here in Seattle lately and hour school building cold to go with it. All that day, I had been wearing a sweatshirt over my blouse to keep warm. I didn't notice the cat pee smell until I was sitting at the meeting with my sweatshirt off! The sweatshirt had been masking the smell all day long. I guess it was a small spot because otherwise the smell would have been more potent.
By time I figured it out, it was too late at night to do anything about it but laugh. Hope this makes your day seem better. Spending the day wearing a cat pee shirt sure beats most "bad" things you might have experience in your day!! Good times.

A Grandma Hall Apron

2008-06-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

Last week was my birthday. No special birthday, just a birthday. I received a package from Inkom Crazy Lady in the mail. When I opened it, I was hoping it was what I thought it was (otherwise it was some pretty wild fabric if it was something else). Lo and behold, it was!! I was so excited. It was a "Grandma Hall" apron. I had been jealous of Crazy Lady, Celiac and Aleta because they all had one (Bert probably has one too). A Grandma Hall apron is the coolest thing in the world and Crazy Lady had made me one! That's what I am wearing in the photo of course.

What's cool about a Grandma Hall apron you might reasonably ask? Well, there are no strings to tie, it fits easily over your head and covers your clothing well plus it has the added bonus of the roomy pockets. What's extra special about it for me, is that it reminds me of my Grandma Hall who, just thinking about her brings a tear to my eye. It's true. She was an amazing woman who was so many things that I could spend pages and pages talking about her but I won't. I'll simply say that I look forward to the day when I will be able to sit down with her in eternity.

I will also think about Crazy Lady of course who is also an amazing woman that would take pages and pages to describe adequately. It will also remind me of how much I have been blessed in my life to be surrounded by amazing women. My mom, all my sisters, my grandmothers (yes both of them), my aunts, my nieces, my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law, women from my church, women from my children's school, women from my mission...you get the idea. There have been so many amazing, talented, interesting, wonderful and beautiful women in my life and I feel blessed to be able to count so many of them as sisters, family and friends.

Why should an apron remind me of women? Isn't that an old-fashioned, anti-feminist notion? Maybe so. But I have to say that some of the best, most profound and interesting conversations I have had with women have come around the preparation of food. There's something about working together like that which sparks conversations. There is a bond that develops as you work side by side.

Of course, the Grandma Hall apron is not only for women as Tucker shows here. It also looks quite fetching and manly on men (or almost men). Even ones wearing skinny jeans!

Now if you are interested, you can check out our recent weekend at the Cupcake Cabin on Camano Island. Always a good time with our friends. One of the boys favorite places to visit--especially when the Roches come with us. Just click on the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/MisteChandler/CupcakeCabinMay2008?authkey=a8mvC_OZMtw

Licensed to Drive

2008-05-15T21:30:00.001-07:00

No it's not a new James Bond movie but I suppose if you were out on the road at the same time as Tucker it might be considered an action adventure. Yes it's true, it is now legal for Tucker to drive alone in the car. Scary (in more ways than one). He passed the driving test today--in one try no less. How difficult could it be since the test took all of 10 minutes according to his dad. I guess they are processing so many people every day they really can't do thorough testing. However, it did take him two tries to pass the written test. In this photo he isn't actually preparing to drive more than a few feet though. We just needed the car moved from in front of the driveway to in front of the house. So he drove maybe all of 10 feet after I took the photo. I think that counts as his first drive all alone. Glad we got that over with. We were all just leaving to go somewhere as a family and he asked if he could follow us in the car by himself. I guess he doesn't realize just how expensive almost $4 a gallon is. Oh yeah, he will be learning soon. Nevertheless, a banner day for any teen.

April Showers?

2008-04-20T18:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is snow on my bleeding hearts and it is almost May in Seattle!! I know for some of my blog readers the thought might be "Snow in April? What's the big deal?". Well, it is the latest it has snowed in Seattle since they began keeping records. Friday evening around 5pm it started to snow, not just a light, skimpy fall but a full force, big flake, snowfall. Amazing. You can see from the snow on the car that it was coming down. There was a baseball game going on across the street which continued until there was a very bright flash (lightening) and then a very loud crash of thunder. I am sure the lightening must have struck very close in the neighborhood somewhere because I have never heard thunder here that loud before. You've never seen such a fast exodus of players and fans alike from the baseball field. It is a very odd thing to have snow at this time of year. Of course the snow didn't stick around too long, but then we had a snowfall again on Saturday. It didn't stick either luckily. We had hail today and the weather is supposed to be cool until Wednesday. Weird weather. The rest of the world may be experiencing global warming but I guess we are getting global cooling. It has been a pretty wacky winter and spring here. I wonder what summer will bring??

Two Halves Equal a Whole

2008-04-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

Sure we are laughing in this photo. But we definitely weren't laughing at the end of the race or the next day! This is our good friend Peg with us just before the start of the Whidbey Island Half Marathon. It was a torturous 13.1 miles all of it uphill! Okay I'm exaggerating it was probably only 11 or 12 miles of it that were uphill! Alright again I exaggerate, but it was definitely over half. I was not prepared for that. Still I managed to finish the race only 15 minutes slower than the first one I did in November. Thanks I have to say in large part to my sometimes, Greenlake running partner Clover who is also the Principal at Cooper's school. She ran with me from about mile 3 to somewhere between mile 10 or 11. At mile 3 she said only 3 more Greenlakes. That's how we broke it up. Every three miles we would think that it was starting Greenlake again. It pretty much got me through. We both had to do a bit of walking. Finally we reached a point where I just couldn't run at the point she was ready and she went on ahead--with my blessing of course. She finished 3 minutes ahead of me. Our friends the Roche's also ran in the race and finished before us all. They were there to cheer Dennis on for the last lap around the stadium to the finish. It gave him the inspiration to really pore on the speed which caused the whole stadium to erupt into applause. (Somehow I must have registered Dennis incorrectly because the "official" results on the website show him coming in 4th place overall for walkers and 1st place for men walkers. He said if he had known he was registered as a walker he would have gone slower.) The three of them also cheered me on vigorously. I did muster up a bit more speed at the end but I was pretty much wiped out. I was instantly sore and it lasted into yesterday. Today I could finally walk down the front step without out feeling like I was going to weep from the pain or possibly topple, stiff-legged to the sidewalk below. Yes, stairs particularly down have been a source of intense pain. Monday and Tuesday getting out of my chair at work wasn't so pleasant either. Then again neither was walking. I was pretty much a wreck.
Do I feel the need to do it again?? Heck no!! Although I will be out there again tomorrow taking on Greenlake while Tucker is in seminary. (So that's a no, Neal and Steph there is just no way I will be doing the Seafair Half with you in June!! You two have fun with that!) I've done my two halves and in my book that equals a Marathon. The fact that they were 6 months apart is irrelevant. Which means I can cross that off "the list".

Road Trippin'

2008-04-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

If you have been to Karen's blog you already know a bit about our little Spring Break road trip. You know that it was a road trip in the real sense of getting on the road and driving, and driving and driving and...you get the picture. On my "list" was take the boys to General Conference. It just so happened that this year the last weekend of Spring Break was General Conference so I got tickets for the Saturday afternoon session. We didn't leave until the Monday before instead of the Saturday before because of the Young Women's Broadcast that day. (Being the Stake Young Women's Pres I kind of felt obligated to be around.) If you have no idea where my hometown is in relation to Seattle, lets just say it is an all day drive--12 hours on the road--not including stops. Tucker helped with the driving which he enjoyed immensely--me I enjoyed it in a seat-gripping, non-sleeping sort of way.

We spent Tuesday, Wednesday and most of Thursday visting my parents, which included some fun frolicking in the bit of snow they still have. It wasn't a speedy sled ride, but it did the trick. Unfortunately I had to make an unexpected visit to the local medical clinic (30 miles away) for a sudden bout of...something not fun. That wasn't much fun--including the medication I have to take until this Friday. It was nice to see mom and dad and spend time with them. Tucker and Spencer even made a visit to the school with their cousins at lunch time (Tucker to check out the local female populace of course.) Tucker was amused by the fact that there were only two hallways in the high school. How big of a high school do you need when there are only 80 kids?? (It's true)

Thursday I had a nice visit with my high school pal, Tonnie. She is one of the reasons why I always donate to various Multiple Sclerosis Societies. Tonnie & I went to school together from 1st through high school. She has always been a person full of sunshine, laughter and good cheer. She still is despite her current circumstances. She is back living with her parents in Mackay because her husband couldn't cope with the MS and divorced her (that's the nice short version--there's a much longer not so nice version of course.) She can stand but is mostly confined to her wheelchair now. She calls the climb up 13 stairs to her room each night "scaling Mt. Everest". If you aren't donating to MS causes I hope you will!

Thursday afternoon we drove to Karen's (a mere two hours compared to the 12 of Monday). We had a nice stay and played 3 rounds of Upwords. I blame bad letters for my two losses (of course). She was generous enough to go to Salt Lake with us despite not being on Spring break herself. Another 3 hours to Salt Lake City Friday night to stay with Tyson and his wife Angel. A fun visit.

General Conference was a cool experience. We did get there very early (enough to be on the very first row & the very first seats of our sections). We had fun riding the light rail train that was put in for the Winter Olympics there. This gave us some time to take turns taking the boys around the Conference Center. It is very cool. Cooper didn't manage to get through the whole two hours--he fell asleep on my shoulder. Tucker & Spencer stayed awake but it's hard to say how they felt about the experience. I thought it was great of course.

Sunday was another 12 hour drive back home. In all it was over 1000 miles traveled on our Road Trip. It was worth it!

Funky Formal (or channeling my inner Paris Hilton)

2008-03-19T17:23:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a school fundraiser/dance called the Funky Formal. A good friend of mine (Scrabble buddy Michelle) has been putting on a "Funky Formal" for several years now. Michelle started it because one our friends mentioned one time that she had never gone to any of her proms in high school (just like me I might mention) so Michelle decided to throw a party with a "prom" type theme. People come dressed in all kinds of fun, funny and funky attire. I had been to one before wearing an emerald green bridesmade dress with a huge bow on the butt that I found at Value Village. This year Michelle let the school take it over to use as a fundraiser. I was all prepared to head to Value Village, DI or Goodwill to purchase something truly hideous when I heard that Ross Dress for Less had "prom" dresses on sale super cheap. Since I had been somewhat of a procrastinator, this being the Friday before the Saturday of the dance, Ross sounded like a good deal. I was sure I could finde something hideous there just as easy as the good will stores.

When I got there, I proceeded to pull a variety of dresses off the wrack (some hideous and some not so hideous) and headed to the dressing room with six dresses in tow. When I tried on the red dress I just couldn't pass it up despite the alarming cleavage. Why you might wonder? Well, because for once in a long, long time, I felt beautiful! It's a simple as that. It has been a long, long time since I went into a dressing room, tried something on and thought "That looks really good!" Generally I just settle for "That doesn't look bad."

So, once I settled on the dress (despite super anxiety) I found this really great pair of shoes (also at Ross) that sealed the deal. They had acrylic heels and a rhinestone band over the plastic shoe part (hows that for a really great description). Cinderella shoes. The dress actually cost less than the shoes and the shoes!

On my way home I stopped by my friend Dianne's house for some moral courage (plus she makes jewelry and I was hoping she had something she could loan me for the night). I told her I was going for something totally out of character for me and when she saw me with the dress on, she said I had accomplished that. She loaned me a huge "cocktail ring", a gauzy shoulder scarf (knowning my cleavage issues) and whipped up a pair of dangly earrings while I waited. She was so amazingly supportive of my whole silliness!

I was determined to go full out on the whole prom thing! I never got to go to a prom so this was going to be my chance. Armed with the accessories, I decided that I definitely had to get an up-do and paint my toenails. I bought some nail polish that night and set an appointment for Saturday afternoon at the Gene Juarez Hair Academy to get the updo the next day. Getting the updo on Saturday was totally fun. It actually made me laugh out loud several times. I told the girl "You can do whatever you want, the more over-the-top the better" She was so excited. I think it was her first up-do that she had ever done on her own. Afterwards she was so proud she had to parade me around to show off her handiwork. It was fun. When I stood in line to pay, right in front of me was a little teenaged girl with her up-do, which made me laugh again. I was smiling all the way home. (It's in sepia because it brings out the hair definition.)

I hadn't shown Dennis anything that I was wearing so it was totally fun to surprise him with the whole ensemble. Spencer thought it was fabulous and took pictures. Tucker had a hard time getting over that this person all dressed up was his mom. We had a super fun time at the dance and everyone told me how nice I looked--okay most people told me I looked beautiful or gorgeous but we always have a tendency to downplay things like that. I felt beautiful.

And that is the point of this rather long-winded post. Once in awhile, everyone needs to feel that they are beautiful or that they look especially nice. Too often (at least for me) we go through life just being the same day to day. Sure we get new clothes or occasionally dress up. But how often do most ordinary people get to go all out and wear something amazing. How often do we really feel beautiful outside and in both at the same time? It wasn't just the dress, it was the combination of the whole process--getting the dress, getting my hair done, painting my nails, wearing the jewelry, going out with my husband for the evening, realizing that all that running was paying off, finally going to "prom" even though it was 30 years later...all of it combined together just kind of made me giddy. And for one evening, giddy was a wonderful thing to feel.

Cooper's Baptism and stuff

2008-03-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

Cooper's baptism was this past weekend and it was a wonderful event for our family. One of the members of the Stake Presidency who I work with called the whole day Chandler Day. And it was. Earlier that day, due to a bit of a mix up, Tucker was ordained to be a Priest by Gary Ard who was the Young Men's president when we first moved into the ward instead of Grandpa. It was a wonderful blessing and I think Gary was very honored to have the opportunity. Then Grandpa Vaden ordained Spencer to be a Deacon and Tucker was able to stand in the circle with all the other men. It was all very moving and wonderful. It was great to have mom, Roberta and Aleta all there to experience it with us. Dennis brought mom to church just in time for the ordinations so he was there too.

The baptism was later in the afternoon. It was totally amazing how many people showed up for it! There were some families from our old ward which was great and lots and lots of people from our current ward, plus many of Dennis' family. There were people standing in the hallway. It was a very good program too. I'd say the best one of all the boys. Our good friend Neal Roche gave a funny and very moving talk about baptism. (If you haven't heard the story of the boys role-playing the story of the Good Samaritan with Neal & his wife Stephanie, ask me to tell it some time--very funny stuff.) Neal did a great job in setting the tone for the program. Next it was Tucker's turn to do the baptism. He stumbled a little bit on the prayer but did get Cooper completely under the first time. (And no, he didn't hold him under til the bubbles stopped as Dennis suggested.) Then we had a muscial number by three very talented teenaged sisters from our ward--a capella! When they heard that Cooper was getting baptized they very excitedly volunteered to sing and they did a terrific job. They sang Nearer My God to Thee. They asked me if they should change it because "Isn't it a funeral song?" I told them "Only in the Titanic!"

The talk on the Holy Ghost was by Cooper's primary teacher, Katrine Wheeler and she also did a very good job. One of the better one's I've heard, complete with visual aides. Then it was Grandpa's turn once again to do the confirmation. It was quite a large circle. It really was a very spiritual event all the way around. I think everyone that was there felt it. Members of the ward had generously provided cookies, cupcakes, brownies and punch. It was so amazing to feel so supported by our ward.

After the baptism all the family plus our friends the Roches (honorary family members) came to our house for dinner. It was a very nice evening but I have to admit to being completely exhausted when I finally sat on the sofa at 9 o'clock that night.

Aleta and the girls stayed until Monday (the girls didn't mind skipping school one day). We had a little craft making session that morning. Around Christmas I learned how to make these snowflake/star/flower things from the art teacher at the school and had them hanging in my window. I had mentioned that one of my young women counselors was planning to use them as a craft project for girl's camp this year. Roberta, Aleta and girls all wanted to learn how to make them so we did. They are fun and easy to make and really look beautiful. Spencer stayed home from school that day too--not skipping, he actually had a fever and cough. (First day he has missed in three years!) So it was a fun morning of crafting the snowflake/star/flower for all. The girls were all excited to teach Aunt Celiac how to make them when she comes to visit them for Spring Break. The bottom picture is one of the snowflakes that is hanging in my window.

Sweet 16!

2008-03-03T20:34:00.000-08:00

Wasn't he cute? Then look what happend. He grew up! Hard to believe but it's true, Tucker turned 16 last Tuesday evening. A pretty low key family event. We went out for dinner at Taco del Mar (his choice) then came home for peanut butter pie (again his choice) with Oma & Opa. We got him a couple DVDs and the blue Italia soccer jersey. (Even as a baby he looked good in blue. Still does.) He has a little more hair than back then but still has great eyes. When asked recently by the missionaries what kind of things you get to do when you become a priest, Mr. Smartypants Teenager responded "Date!" Then he answered seriously. But truly, turning 16 is all about dating. Only problem...no money. And mom and dad are not paying for dates. (That's just the mean kind of parents we are!) He is also quite anxious to drive and has visions of getting a car. Again...no money. I'm sure it will all sort itself out over time.

Serenity is fleeting though. The next day, he found out he would not be making the high school soccer team this year :-( Why? Not because of his lack of ability. In fact the coach told him he had what it took to make the JV team. Problem? Poor grades. He had been hoping that he could make the team and then get his grades up but the coach said Tucker obviously did not want to be on the team badly enough to do well in school. Hard lesson to learn but we are thankful to coach reinforced what we had been saying all along at home. On one hand, you hate to see your kids have to go through something so disappointing. But on the other, it is important that they learn that there are always consequeces (good or bad) for choices that you make in life. He just happened to suffer for some poor choices he made all this past fall (not turning in homework, not doing homework, not studying for tests....) Life is like that. Your choices always catch up with you sometime.

Other than his scholarly underacheivement, we can't complain about him too much. He makes good decisions in so many other areas. (Although Dennis really struggles with the flippy hair. Myself I prefer to pick other battles.) We are looking forward to this Sunday when he will be baptising Cooper. I think it will be an amazing experience and something that they will both remember all their lives. Spencer will also be ordained to be a Deacon this Sunday and Tucker will stand in with that as well (I think). A big priesthood weekend coming up for the Chandlers. Mom, Dad, Roberta, Aleta and her three youngest will all be here for it. We are really looking forward to it.

Life and Death

2008-02-20T15:47:00.000-08:00

Recently the frailty of life and the shortness of time on earth has been brought home to me in sad ways. My Scrabble buddy, Michelle just lost her 23 year old daughter Sarah to a brain tumor. Sarah's current condition and prognosis had been a topic of discussion at many of our Scrabble get-togethers. It had also been a reason for scheduling a few last minute games (Michelle needing a diversion for just a bit of time). Sarah passed away on the evening of February 7th, surrounded by family and friends. Peg (my other Scrabble buddy) and I arrived at the hospice shortly after Sarah passed to support Michelle in whatever way we could. Michelle is an amazing woman who never judges anyone, has the biggest heart of anyone I have ever known and the fortitude of a rock. This is the third family member she has lost to this particular syndrome with its incidious genetic strand. She lost Sarah's older brother when he was only 5, Sarah had to undergo chemotherapy as a toddler, only to finally succumb to it recently and the children's father died from it two years ago. That is alot to ask one person to bear.
I didn't really know Sarah all that well, but she was quite an amazing young woman. She lived her life to the fullest because she always knew that the sands of her time here were limited. She was truly her mother's daughter. The local Ballard newspaper did a nice obituary (with Michelle's help) and this caught the attention of a sports writer for the big Seattle newspaper the PI and he also did a beautiful write-up about her. Here's the link:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/moore/351431_moore15.html (I hope it works). There was also a write-up in the Tacoma newspaper.
The memorial service was held at Whitman Middle School (where I work) but also where Michelle substitute teaches on a regular basis and Sarah attended school. It was a very special service as person after person approached the mike and paid tribute to a girl who lived life all out. She had a huge impact on many lives.
It all made me think about why we are here on this earth and what we should be getting out of the time we have. I haven't made any drastic life changes as a result, I've just been slowing chewing and processing thoughts about what I need to change and make better in whatever time I have here on earth. I'm grateful for the faith I have in a life after this one, but that doesn't lessen the need to make the most of the one right now! I think there have been several books written with the theme of living your life like you only had one year, or one month or maybe even one week to live. What would you do differently? It's worth thinking about. I don't know that I could live EVERY day like I only had a short time to live, but it would be worth trying to live as many days as I could that way.
I will be playing Scrabble with Michelle again soon and I will be drinking in as much of her generous spirit as I can, and enjoying her warmth and wisdom. I will also be remembering Sarah and the importance of living life to its fullest!

The Fitting Take 2

2008-02-08T19:36:00.000-08:00

When I got my new bras I was informed that it might take a little getting used to the additional coverage. After two days of feeling like my chest was in a vice grip and my skin was getting chafed, I had to buckle under and return my glorious purchase. When I came to Nordstroms with their swanky bag in tow, perky retail clerk number two was quick to offer that sometimes could take a few weeks to get used to. I kindly pointed out that difficulty breathing and red, irritated skin just was not worth it. After a small bit of back and forth banter I was persuaded to once again enter the back room to try a few more on. The fact that I had come to the mall sans proper boobage containment may have played into my willingness to venture into the dressing room once more. (I just couldn't bring myself to put on one of my old too small bras to go to the mall--I figured I could properly disguise my bralessness with my fleece coat.) After bringing me three very sad attempts to recoup their loss (I had already gotten my refund), she offered to bring in an expert who had been doing this for 10 or 12 years, "one of their best fitters". Meanwhile I put on one that seemed like it just might serve.
See, the ones I had returned had an underwire that I swear would be capable of holding the San Francisco bridge suspended, all on their own. I think they were the major contributing factor in the feeling not being able to breath that I had been experiencing. The prickly lace was the chafing factor. I was also convinced that 34 was the size I needed if I was suffering from severe blood loss and they needed to apply a tournequet around my rib cage to save my life. I did like the shape of the first set but that was about it and not enough of a plus to compensate for the lack of adequate air.
When the expert returned with perky number 2, she confirmed that yes indeed I was a 34. She adjusted the new bra I had on here and there, and declared it was a great fit. It DID feel better than the vice grip set. The underwire, still firm felt slightly less...restricting lets say. Before she departed though, she did offer again that it took some time to get used to the new fit but in the long run it would be better.
I informed P2 that I would take two. She was even kind enough to let me wear it out of the dressing room since I had come sans. The best news in it all was that the new set was cheaper than the first! What a deal.
I have worn them all week and am willing to give them time to break in. But I DO have to admit that I breathe a big sigh of relief each night as I release my boobs to drift southward again!

The Fitting

2008-02-02T21:52:00.001-08:00

I think that I have established through past comments that I am no fan of Oprah's. Too much of what she does is all about her, but that is beside the point. Today however, I have to give her a sheepish thumbs up for her advocacy of getting fitted for a bra. Now I know this is a delicate topic to introduce (no Dennis pun intended), but since I know that about 95% of the people who read my blog are women and most of them related to me, I feel free to expound on the topic. (Men if you're squeamish or embarrassed, stop reading now.) I have been planning for months to make a trip to Nordstroms to have one of these bra fittings she advocates. The only thing I could contemplate with more shopping dread is going in for a new swimming suit. Although this seemed like a treat and I could never invision anything that would make shopping for a swimming suit seem like a treat. This was a different kind of dread.
Mind you, I am not typically a Nordstroms shopper. In fact, I can honestly say that I have only purchased two things from Nordstroms in the past and that was only because I had gift certificates. Actually, truth be known, I am not much of a shopper in general. If you can't find it at Fred Meyer why bother. Oh yes, my wardrobe wreaks of fashion slavery!
In preparation for the journey to this den of polished nails, pointy shoes and snooty sales people I did take a shower, but I did not apply any makeup. This only accentuated the bad hair day I seemed to be having. I just put on a head band to pull it back and sallied forth anyway.
The lingerie department of Nordstroms at Northgate Mall is located on the 3rd floor so naturally I had to parade my naked face through the whole store. The girls at the makeup counter could tell that it was pointless to even approach me.
When I got to the top floor, before me streched a veritable sea of multi-colored brassieres. I knew that white ones were out but was positively floored by just how out they were. I looked around for a few minutes until the one lone salesperson asked if she could help. I blurted out "I am here to get a bra fitting!" like you might exclaim "I just won the lottery!" Glad we got past the impression that I might be cool and sophisticated, but I think she could tell by the casual attire. Her name was Kelly, about 21 or 22 I'd say, cute short hair in the popular red tones.
We proceeded to the dressing rooms where she measured me around the rib cage and had me raise my hands in the air. At which point my badly fitted, self-selected bra proceeded to ride right up over my boobs, causing Kelly to exclaim "See that's what happens when your bra does not fit correctly. We'll take care of that!" She then looked at the tag (36B in case you are wondering) and said she would be right back some fitting bras. She comes back with two and proceded to tell me that I was actually a 34DD. Perhaps I was stuck in a time warp where I could only remember the size of the bra from my first bra fitting. I don't profess to have ever really tried to figure out what size I was since then, I would just grab ones that looked about right and try on a bunch until I found something that felt comfortable and didn't make my breasts look like two torpedos. So imagine how shocked, amazed, even embarrassed I was to find out that I was a double D. It just doesn't sound right! The cups looked gigantic compared to my pitiful bra lying on the chair.
Kelly then proceeded to bring in bra after bra until we got things packaged just right. I won't go into details about what getting packaged right involved. I don't think I could do justice to how funny and yet surreal it all was. I found myself wishing that I lived in 18th century England, where I would have a maid that came in each morning to help me dress. Only then could I imagine getting things packaged right each morning. It was the very last bra she gave me that finally did the trick. It was almost a magical moment when it all fell into place (all puns, innuendos intended). Having all that coverage may take a bit of getting used to, but I could instantly see and feel the difference. Who knew??
There are are couple things I learned from this adventure. 1. It is amazing how sometimes our perception of ourselves is very different from the reality (36B to a 34DD??) and sometimes it takes an outside observer to point out the reality. 2. That despite the advice coming from Oprah, you do have to treat yourself to something special once in awhile.
Now, if only buying a new swimsuit could turn out so pleasant and surprising!! (If you haven't been fitted for a bra girls, go out and do it!)

Winter Musings

2008-01-29T21:43:00.000-08:00

Yes, we do get snow in Seattle. We woke up Monday morning to a light covering of snow. (Lurking underneath for awhile was some sneaky, treacherous ice.) It was quite beautiful. Very fluffy. I wanted to capture how it covered the tree out front but I am not quite the photographer that Celiac C and Gorden are. Although I think the close-up I did is rather cool. What is particularly cool is that you can see the buds coming out under the snow. I didn't even realize the branches were budding until I downloaded the picture from my camera to the computer. It also shows how fluffy the snow was.

Luckily we already had a scheduled day off from school so we won't have to make this snow day up in June. The kids went out for a bit to enjoy it while it lasted. January has been cold though. Last week I don't think I ran once in the morning in anything higher than 30 degrees--which I know isn't cold by Idaho standards (or other chilly places) but is very cold for Seattle. Seems like we always get a bit of snow in January. My January 2007 picture folder also has pictures of the kids playing in snow. We just got the snow later this year. We've had so much that I-90 the main east/west freeway into Seattle was closed for the entire day today due to avalanche danger. Snow in Seattle is fleeting--here today and gone tomorrow.

Now this last picture I just think is kind of cool. It was very accidental. Not exactly sure how I got it to focus on the branches in the background rather than the ones close up. (You should be able to enlarge any one of them just by clicking on it).

What's the point of this post? Not really sure other than snow is cool, even when you only get it in small doses. Or maybe I should say especially when you get it in small doses. I'm just glad that every year we seem to get at least one day of snow to enjoy!

Confessions of an All Night Reader

2008-01-15T19:01:00.000-08:00

Okay, I admit it, I am a compulsive reader. I have been known to stay up until 1, 2 or even 3 a.m. just to finish a good book. As a teenager, I can remember huddling under a big pile of blankets in my extremely cold basement room trying to finish the Sword of Shanara by Terry Brookes. I enjoy many, many genres from fantasy, sci fi, to detective, murder mysteries to historical romance and plain historical fiction (the non-romantic kind). I love to read. I get restless when I don't have something good to read. I have been known find an author that I enjoy and tear through everything he/she has written only to pine away waiting for something new from them. (George RR Martin you break my heart waiting for the next installment of the Fire and Ice series and your last book was just not a tasty enough morsel!) Why must it take soooo long for a new book to come out! I will admit to staying up until 2 a.m. at Karen's one summer to finish Harry Potter #6 shortly after it was released only to realize that I would now have to wait at least two years for another! (Actually had to wait 6 years for the untasty morsel from George RR Martin--and am still waiting for closure!)

I think the one genre that I enjoy the most is historical fiction, particularly medieval fiction and here are two of my favorites. Now I know that Oprah recently chose Pillars of the Earth as one of "her" books but I am so way ahead of her! (And let's not even go into Oprah and "her" things! I could rant for hours!) I read Pillars of the Earth when it first came out in 1989! I loved it then and have since read it at least two other times that I can think of, maybe even a 3rd. Imagine how pleased I was to hear that after 18 years Ken Follett had written a "sequel" (sort of, you could read them in any order) World Without End. I put it on "hold" at the library so that as soon as a copy came available I could read it, but when you are about 251 of 432 people, you know it is going to take a long time to get the book. Dennis was way ahead of the game in reserving it and actually got a copy just before Christmas. Unfortunately it is a very long book (over 1000 pages so no quick read here--even if you do stay up late) and Dennis couldn't finish before it was due back and no renewal since there were so many people waiting to read it. So, I purchased a copy and gave it to "us" for Christmas. I just finished it last night (only stayed up until 10:30--however I had stayed up until almost midnight one night just to get to a "good stopping point"). It was not as good as Pillars of the Earth but it was enjoyable. Not as much history as in the first one but stuff I was familiar with--the plague, the Battle of Crecy, Edward III and the mystery of his father's death. All things I had previously read about in other books. Pillars of the Earth covers Thomas Beckett, Henry I and Henry II, cathedral building, monastery life. They are a well-written peek into medieval life.

If you are a fan of medieval fiction, Sharon Kay Penman is definitely worth getting into. Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross is also a fascinating read. I actually keep a list of authors in my palm pilot because I can't ever seem to remember who wrote things I have read. Periodically I check the library to see if any of them have any new books out because naturally I have read everything old they have written. Others I recommend are Laura Joh Rowland (great series about a Samarai "detective" in 12th century Japan; Parnell Hall (the puzzle lady series) and Owen Parry (Civil War Welsh detective). There's tons of others but of course I can't remember the authors. Always on the hunt for great books to read (just started plowing through Jodi Picoult upon Karen's recommendation--loved My Sister's Keeper) so if you have some recommendations I would love to hear them--particularly of the historical fiction kind.

Christmas Booty er Bounty

2008-01-07T19:45:00.000-08:00

For lack of anything better and feeling that I should update my blog I post these pictures of the kids Christmas morning. We actually did downsize on the gift giving this year but the kids still seemed happy with their gifts. Cooper got a Game Boy (used--but new for him of course). Spencer lots of movies (which were about 90% of his wishlist) and an alarm clock. Tucker got a new soccer shirt and a "camel pouch" for his backpack (see boys below trying out the pouch). We were completly lazy for the whole two weeks of Winter Break. It was a rude awakening to have to wake up early for seminary, school & work today. I also included a picture of Tucker with his cousin James. They are a year apart in age but eerily alike. Same long curly hair, same chin and in the picture the same pose (without even trying). They are very funny together.

Christmas...Past, Present & Future

2007-12-20T21:44:00.000-08:00

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.