Double Digits!

Karina has entered the double digits! She turned 10 this month. She's been saying, "I'm almost 10" for the last few months. Usually this is in the context of, "Mom, I'm almost 10, I don't need/want you to.... (fill in the blank here)." It's been a little bittersweet to see her turn into a true 4th grader. Today she became Student of the Week in class. This is a little bit like being in the spotlight. She was asked what the best thing is about her, and she decided that it is her hair. She is pretty proud of her side-bangs, and knows how to use a flat iron to her advantage.

Anyway, we celebrated by having Mexican food on the day of her birthday, and she had a birthday party with friends on the weekend. We took them to our favorite corn maze, then had pizza and a Blizzard cake at home. She has some pretty fun and cute friends.

Happy Birthday, sweetie! We love you and hope the next 10 years go by a little slower!

Mi Casa es Su Casa

In late August and early September, we were fortunate to have several visits from friends and family.

First, my dad, a.k.a. Grandpa Roger came to watch lots of soccer (Tristan's Bigfoot tournament), and part of a golf tournament (Karina's Club Championship, in which she took 2nd place). The five of us also went golfing, explored Seattle and ate in the parking lot of Dick's Drive In.

Karina also made her grandpa's birthday cake. It was delicious, of course!

In between visits we took a last-minute overnight trip to Leavenworth. It is a beautiful little Bavarian town in the mountains 2 hours away. It was a treat to be there in the summertime - we usually visit in the winter and play in the snow.

Grandma & Grandpa B came to visit before a cruise to Alaska. We took them to Fort Casey on Whidbey Island. It was a gorgeous day, and we even saw a submarine heading out to sea.

Finally, on Labor Day weekend, our friends the Gales came from Boise to stay with us and visit with the Jensens, too. Unfortunately our short Seattle summer had ended the day before they arrived, and Brooke was under the weather. But we always have a fun time reminiscing and playing games. Obviously the friendships among our kids were renewed!

We hope more of our friends and family will come to visit us soon!

Hiking in the Northwest

Last Saturday was going to be a beautiful day in the Northwest. The stars aligned: not only was our schedule free of activities, but Jarrett was willing to go on a hike with me. Nevermind that the boat is in the shop, he was willing. So we drove all of 1/2 hour to hike the Twin Falls trail. It was beautiful and a great way to spend a Saturday morning. We may have to try that again!

Girls' Weekend at Whidbey

It seems like ages ago, but back at the beginning of July I was invited by a friend to get away for a weekend at a cabin on Whidbey Island. There were just three of us, and the "cabin" was far from rustic. It sat right on the beach, and we sat for hours watching out the big windows at cruise ships going by, dolphins swimming in the Sound, and a big blue sky. We watched movies, ate junk food, went on a short hike, and strolled an arts festival in Langley. And of course, we did a lot of talking and laughing. Thanks girls, I needed that!

Soccer Tournament Success!

We spend 3 weekends of our summer going to soccer tournaments with Tristan's select team, the Rapids. Last year the team had a discouraging season. But this year got off to a GREAT start. The Rapids participated in a tournament almost 2 hours north in Burlington, WA. The team looked so good! We ended up in the finals, and faced a tough team on their home field. The Rapids were on top 1-0 with about 7 minutes left in the game, at which point the opponent scored. Tied 1-1 at the end of regulation, they went into a penalty kick shoot out. The Rapids came up just short with 3 goals compared to their 4. While coming in first would have been amazing, the team felt really good about their 2nd place medals. It was the first time the Rapids, a team in their 3rd year, had placed in a tournament. Way to go Rapids!

Family Fun in Iowa

We just returned from visiting my brother, Brian and his family - wife Gayle and kids Ronnie & Cameron - in Des Moines, IA. We had so much fun together! Iowa was different that we expected. It is very pretty and green and is not flat. It was humid. And it rained on the 4th of July. But that didn't dampen our spirits, and it cleared up in time for fireworks. Many thanks to the Borst family for their wonderful hospitality!



There are so many great pictures, I put together this slideshow. You will see the state capital in Des Moines, one of the "Bridges of Madison County," our July 4th fun, the old buildings of the Amana Colonies, and an Iowa Cubs (AAA minor league baseball) game, and lots of cousin adventures.

Karina's Piano Recital Video

Concerts!

I have had TWO musical children this year! Karina continued her piano lessons, and Tristan took up the baritone in 6th grade band. Here they are at their concert and recital last week.

Tristan was the only baritone player in the band!
Here is Karina at the piano.

And with her wonderful piano teacher, Mrs. Lindell.

And here's the whole 6th grade band. One of my favorite songs they played was "Let's Go Band." Brought back memories.

It was a farewell concert for both the music teacher, who retired, and for Tristan, who decided on art and drama for electives next year. So glad he tried a musical instrument, but, even though I'm a former 10-year band member, I'm totally okay with him moving on to other interests. :)

Read on . . . I've done two posts in one night!

Fishing 2010

Our annual fishing trip in Eastern Washington took place the last weekend of April. This year our group was small - only 11 Houser/Dennis family members were there. But the weather was good (I always seem to get the camera out on the last/coldest day!), and the fish were plentiful.
Tristan really became a great netter and hook-taker-outer.
Karina spent some time with her favorite how-to-draw book, but she caught her share of fish, too. She really took full advantage of the pole holders!
I was really proud of how well these two got along for 4 days. They played well with each other, and with cousin Mitchell. Another successful fishing trip!

Jarrett's Totally 80's 40th Birthday Party

A Magical Vacation!

I love everything about vacations. Planning them, packing for them, leaving it all behind, and even coming home from vacation is not a bad thing. (I guess paying for vacations is not my favorite, but it's necessary!) We had planned a vacation to Walt Disney World for many months with our great friends, the Strouds. Planning went on last spring and summer, tickets were bought in September, and we even planned out which parks we would visit on which days. We were prepared!

We arrived late on a Saturday night. In fact, we could see Disney fireworks going on as we landed! The next day we met my Uncle Grant and Aunt Lynne at an old Florida attraction known as Gatorland.
You will never see so many gators all in one place. Amazing. The gators may not have been as 'snappy' as usual, though. It was still in the 40s when we arrived that morning. But look at that sunshine! Here is Tristan wrestling a gator. Wow, is he brave or what? ;) Thanks Grant & Lynne, for a fun day!

Later that afternoon we were off to see the Mouse! We went to Epcot to have dinner and visit some of the countries. We ate Moroccan food and it was delish! Our favorite attraction was Norway. I don't know why they make the United States attraction a good place to take a nap, and Norway gets the water ride that goes backwards?? Jarrett enjoyed shopping at the little Japanese snack store - it held many fond memories of his mission in Japan.


Day 2 - Epcot for the Future World section. Rides!! And Chip and Dale. The adults loved The Land, where Disney grows plants in very unique ways. (Kids thought that was a snooze-fest.) The kids LOVED Fast Track. In fact, we left for dinner and relaxation and came back for our fast-passes at 8 pm, they loved it so much.

Day 3 - Magic Kingdom!! We got to the park before opening, watched the little welcome show when "Casey Junior's coming down the track . . . ." Then we ran like fools for Space Mountain.

On this day we heard from a friend of mine who was getting ready to leave Florida after a week in the parks. She wanted to give us something and it was one of the coolest somethings ev-er! Here's a hint ---> see what Karina's holding onto so tight (because her dad told her not to lose it!)

She gave us a special Fast Pass she had received. You could put it into a Fast Pass machine as many times as you wanted to, and it would spit out a ticket to ride that ride RIGHT THEN! Not hours later like those poor other schmucks getting fast passes. This allowed us to get in a very short line (usually 10 minutes or so) when the regular lines were 60-150 minutes long. Don't worry, we shared a couple of these tickets because we felt sorry for the schmucks. And alas, the Magic Fast Pass expired after the following day.

Here are Karina, Julia, Tristan, Brianna & Marc in line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We rode that one over and over again. And the girls enjoying the ride! We were at the park almost 12 hours that day - we left after the fireworks.

Day 4 - Disney's Hollywood Studios. Not to be confused with Universal Studios (we did not go there). We had the magic fast pass so we rode everything two or three times. The best ride is the Rock n Roller Coaster. Karina thought it a little too fast. We watched a High School Musical show, a stunt car show, and got to meet Mickey & The Incredibles. This was the one park I could have gone back to - there are so many great shows and rides, it's hard to see them all in a 10 hour day!

Day 5 - Disney's Animal Kingdom. I was not expecting to enjoy this park so much. But wow, the safari in itself is amazing. The roller coaster here is fabulous too. And the Finding Nemo stage production was really top-notch. (I don't normally say 'top-notch' but it's true and I've already said amazing and fabulous so....) We got out the ponchos to ride the River Rapids - hey there was only a 5-minute line!!

Day 6 - back to Magic Kingdom. We got a slower start to the day
on purpose and vowed to take a more leisurely pace. We also wanted to fill the kids' autograph books with character signatures, which we did.
Oh! And it was in the 60s this day - the warmth felt so good!

Day 7 - The beach! Were were feeling DONE with Disney. And it was 72 degrees. So we headed to Cocoa Beach to put our toes in the Atlantic Ocean.
Well worth the hour and a half drive. (Except for those tolls! How annoying!) When we got back to the hotel/condo, the kids went for a swim in the pool and the adults pulled up a lounge chair and lounged.

Day 8 - Time to go home. But the flight wasn't until afternoon so we looked around Downtown Disney and then drove to see the Orlando Temple.

I would love to say the flight home was uneventful. But we got a little exercise in getting to our connecting flight, and then Karina had been pretty sick all day and that manifested itself in a bag in the back of the plane. So we were happy to be home and happy that we had such a fun trip with great friends. Thanks for reading this epic tale!

Two months later . . .

So, it's been a while . . . Sorry! Since Tristan's birthday, we've had a very nice Christmas at home and Karina cut her hair off and donated it to Locks of Love.

Here they are with some of their gifts.

Here's our Christmas tree early on Christmas morning (notice it's still dark - UGH!)

And these pictures were taken the Monday evening before Christmas when we went to Snowflake Lane and the botanical garden in Bellevue. It was super cold, but very festive!

And here are the kids putting their finishing touches on the traditional Christmas sugar cookies.

It was a busy holiday season this year! Here's to another year of trying to get the Christmas "chores" done early!