Boy Scout Camp

The boys went to their first Boy Scout camp this year, Camp Fire Mountain in the Mt. Vernon area. It was a very hot week but they survived. The camp created a modified schedule to accommodate the heat.

Jacob said he liked being in charge the most. lol Because he is Senior Patrol Leader he got sign kids up for things, keep track of the time and move everyone along. He also got his rifle and shotgun marksmanship badge. Plus an emergency preparedness badge. By the end of the week though he had caught a cold so he slept all of Friday, poor guy.

Jack was able to achieve marksmanship with a shotgun and half the wilderness survival badge. For the wilderness survival badge, he had to spend the night in the woods with only what was in his daypack and anything in his pocket. He said he spent the night under a poncho shelter huddling for warmth with his friend Jonathan. Dan said that they came back to camp around 4:30 am, cold and exhausted. lol

An extra memory for the boys is that Dad went with them to camp. Dan said the camp was great, except the heat and the food but had lots of great stories to share. I think it is wonderful that the boys and him will have these memories together to carry with them through their lives. 

 

Amelia

 Amelia got to go to Camp Ghormley again this summer. It was a very hot week, but she made it through. One new thing the camp added this summer was horseback riding. She said she really enjoyed it. Amelia said the cabins were hot but they managed. Of course, her favorite thing was the Sundeck, where she got buy candy and pop. I am glad she got to go, she always has a good time. 

Lewiston ID

 

 

We went for the weekend in Lewiston ID for Jack's birthday weekend. Dad rented a state park cabin at Hells Gate State Park and arranged for a jet boat tour up the Snake River. The cabin was nice and so was the campground. We rented a small Uhual trailer so the kids were able to take their bikes. The campground had plenty of trails to ride on. 

We also went to the local aquatic center to swim. It had a lazy river, a couple waterslides and a wave pool. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon. Amelia, Jack and I was in the water the whole time. Jacob slept and Dad hung out some and swam some. I think Jacob slept most of the time because he had just finished up Tri Tech and was super tired. He slept most of the day on Saturday, even once back at camp.

I really like Idaho so I hope we can go back there as a family more often. I know our days of family vacations are becoming limited so I hope we can. I also see we need to change our family vacation from free range camping time to some actual activity, like the jet boat tour. Our teenagers are losing their ability to imagine and play but still aren't adult enough to appreciate sitting quietly. lol

Jack

So my Jack-man turned 13 this year! Of course, I will say, I can't believe it! He has grown-up so much in the last year, maybe even 6 months. He still has that marvelous tinkle in his eye, his kind heart and deep commitment to the people and things he loves. Jack is so smart, funny and ingenious. I am so happy I get to be on his team as he starts exploring who he wants to be as an adult. I know God will do great things thru him and for him. 
 

Jack and Amelia

 

Jack and Amelia decided to be baptized this month. Jack has been talking about it for years. Amelia has recently too. The major factor was that they got to be baptized in an amazing grotto. lol It was a special day and one I hope they remember. 

Jacob

So while cleaning up the closet I came across Jacob's 8th grade completion certificate and his Honor Roll certificate. Geez... 

I am super proud of Jacob. He completed very wonky middle school years and managed to keep up with his academic progress. I am excited to see how well he does in high school.

Amelia

Amelia's softball is about wrapped up for the year. She did very well at both hitting and fielding. I would say her strength is fielding. She is very good at running up to the ball to make the play needed to get the runner out. At her last baseball game, she even got a double play! There was a pop fly that she caught while she was playing first base. Well, the runner on first didn't tag up so Amelia ran over to the base to touch it after she caught the pop fly. She then threw the ball over to third base because she realized the runner on third didn't tag up either! She almost got herself a triple play but her teammate on third didn't realize what was happening so the ball just ended up laying in the dirt. But it was an exciting play, and everyone cheered. Best part was Umma and Uppa were at the game to watch her and got to see it. I wasn't sure if she even knew she had got a double play but she assured me her coach had told her about tagging up and she knew what to do. Amelia is just so smart that she remembers stuff like that. She says her favorite sport is softball but she said that about basketball when she was playing it so we'll have to see. 

Jacob

Jacob has officially finished middle school! I can't believe he is on his way to high school already. This last Saturday me and a couple of his friends' moms hosted a party for the kids. A kind of end of middle school celebration. The kids swam, ate, and hung out. It looked like everyone had a good time.

Jacob is a very capable young man. He is very smart, so schoolwork comes easy to him. He also knows how to work hard at something but to balance his time and energy into things that aren't' as important. Going into high school he has finished his algebra requirement so that is one less thing for him to do. He also is participating in the Tri Tech summer school this year. He is trying out the welding program. Basically for 9 days' worth of class he gets a .5 credit for high school, so that is nice. The biggest bonus is that Jacob is really enjoying the class! After 2 days of welding, he is set on continuing to weld and wanting to be a part of the yearlong welding program at Tri Tech as soon as he can, which is his junior year. Jacob is a person that once he finds something he is all in, so I am not surprised he has it in his mind how committed he wants to be to welding.

Amelia

Amelia turned 11 this year! Wow she had a great birthday! We rented her a bounce house waterslide. It was delivered when she was at softball so when she first saw it her mouth dropped. I have to admit it was pretty big, so hence impressive to an 11-year-old who doesn't get things like that. Her and Jack immediately got on it, playing on it for about an hour the first night. 

On her birthday Amelia started playing in the bounce house as soon as she got up! Around noon she had about 7 friends come over to play. It wasn't the warmest day, but the sun was out, so the girls had so much fun on the bounce house. The girls had lunch, cake, snacks, and hung out. Amelia said it was the best birthday she has had so far. 

Amelia is a such a sweet girl. She is very thoughtful to others. She likes to buy other people gifts. She does a good job at picking out gifts because she is thoughtful about what they would like or want. Amelia is also very smart. She is a quick learner. I am excited to see what she does with all of her potential as she grows up. 

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend we spent at Umma and Uppa's. It was short and sweet, and jammed pack with seeing everyone, so the typical visit back. We had dinner at Mike's house one night and a bbq at Umma's the next. Jacob and Amelia enjoyed spending time with the cousins and relishing in Umma and Uppa's attention. Poor Jack though, came down with something Saturday morning when he woke up so ended up in bed all weekend. He felt very cheated out of the weekend. Jacob spent a lot of time shooting, either 22s or ARs. Amelia hung out with Maysen doing crafts. The kids got to meet the Sharpes' new dog Georgie, who was very nice. They can't wait to go back!

Jack

 Jack has not had a good history with bowling. As a younger kid he was not good at bowling or keeping his frustration in check. In the three times he bowled he ended up in a major meltdown and generally hurting someone else in the process. Fast forward to three weeks ago when he decided to give it another try. He was pleasantly surprised to find out he can bowl better and, more importantly, he can keep his frustration under control. He had a great time bowling, even bowling several strikes. He liked it so much that he and a couple of his friends went bowling again the next weekend. I love that he can see his own personal growth thru an activity. He saw his maturity getting stronger and realized he had another hobby he enjoys. 

Boy Scout Camp out

 The boys went on a Boy Scout Campout this month. It was supposed to be a fishing one, well they did fish for a morning, but it rained so hard, and they all got so wet that after the fishing everyone came home. When the boys showed up at our house it was beautiful sunny skies, but Jack proceeded to wring his coat sleeve out on the front yard. All of their things were soaked! 

From what the boys tell me the fishing part was a success and very fun. Jacob didn't fish for some reason or another but he helped all the younger boys. Jack was the mighty fisherman of the group, catching a fish with almost every cast. He also helped the other boys out by casting for them. Its too bad it got rained out but there will always be a next time. 

Amelia

 

Amelia is doing awesome at softball. She hits the ball each time at bat and does a great job in the field getting the ball.

Jacob

 Jacob's Advanced Woodshop class finished their 9x12 shed. On delivery day they got to miss the whole school day for a "field trip" to set the shed up at the lady who bought its house. Mr. Matson then invited the class back to his house for lunch and to hangout. Jacob was very impressed with Mr. Matson basement, with its ping pong table, poker table, gaming setup and air hockey table. He had a good time on the delivery day but great experience building the shed with a team. 

Amelia (April)

 

Honor Roll (April)

 Both Jacob and Jack made the Honor Roll again for second trimester, both boys had straight As. 

Easter (April)

 

Easter 2022

Amelia (April)

 

I got to participate in two, count of two, school activities with Amelia this month! I am so happy there are finally family events at the school again! I forgot how special the elementary years are. I loved being able to be a part of the boys' elementary experience. The last couple of years robbed me of that with Amelia's.

That being said, our first event was a Literacy Cafe night. Basically, the school picks a book for parents and students to read together and then we got talk with others about the book. Amelia and I read "The Unteachables." We both liked the book. I liked the reading time it took. The event was fun at the school. There were snacks that Amelia loved. We both decided we would do it again. She even picked up another chapter book for us to read together. 

The second event was a salmon field trip to a local park. Her class has been studying the life cycle of salmon, plus hatching some in her classroom. At the field trip they got to release the salmon. They also to tour a museum, play a salmon game and make a bracelet to remind them of the salmon life cycle. Again, it was just so great to be able to see her interact with her classmates, meet her classmates and see how the teacher interacts with the class. 

Amelia is a lovely girl. She makes me so proud.

Amelia (April)

 Amelia and I participated in a Wildflower tour from the local Native Plant Society. We drove about 20 minutes from our house to learn about the plants and flowers on McBee Ridge. I had never heard of the place so it was fun to learn about a new place. The tour got a little slow because we were with some major plant nerds but we still enjoyed it. 

Amelia (April)

 Amelia has started softball through the City of Pasco. She has had several practices now with games starting next week. She says she likes it. Plus with the city team she is put on a team with other girls from her school so she knows several of the girls. I am excited to see how she does and if she likes it. 

Spring Break (April)

 We had an unusual spring break this year. Jacob spent a couple of days camping and fishing with friends. He had a great time. He said he caught the most fish, rode bikes around and generally had a great time. Jack, Amelia, Dan and I went up to Mike's house in the Naches. With late season snowstorms Dan ended up taking Amelia and Jack skiing at White Pass. Well, Jack snowboarded, it was his second time and still really enjoyed it. Amelia tried skiing for the first time. She did some lessons and then conquered the bunny hill. I guess, she did very well and likes to ski. When we were all at Mike's they enjoyed the hot tube, games and wifi. 

The other thing we did over Spring break is go to the Rocky Mt. Elk Foundation dinner. Uppa got us a table and come over to join us. None of us have ever gone to a RMEF dinner. Once we got there the kids branched off with Uppa. We saw them occasionally playing a game or looking at the raffles. The dinner part was great! The food was very good, so good in fact all the kids had at least seconds if not thirds (there was plenty of food). At the end of the evening Amelia won a raffle for some potholders, apron, placemats, napkins and color pencils. Jacob won a silent auction bid for a backpack and won a raffle for a new fishing lure. Jack won a raffle for a nice knife. Overall a very fun night!

Jacob

 Jacob has decided to tryout umpiring little league games this year. He has gone through all the training, 3 Monday nights and a Saturday morning. I think each game he gets 40.00. Right now, Jacob is confident he will do a good job and that he won't be too bothered by the obnoxious parents yelling at him. I know he will do a good job. He is patient with younger kids but also firm when he needs to be. The parents on the other hand, well we'll see about that. My plan is just to listen to Jacob vent if he needs too.

Amelia

 I had Amelia's school conference this week. She, of course, is doing great with her academic learning. What makes me proud is that her teacher says she has incredible communication and leadership skills. Her teacher hopes she can continue to advanced math and leadership classes. We are so proud that Amelia is so diligent at school. 

Jack

 Jack started tennis this week at school. In the past he has enjoyed it and I think, he anticipated being good at it. Well it seems like he is because he made varsity tennis. He was proud of myself, I could tell. He will try to diminish the accomplishment by saying there are only 10 boys and 8 varsity spots but I think he would have made it anyways. I hope he has a good experience and gains confidence from his participation. I will give updates as the season and matches continue. 

Presidents Day Weekend

 For Presidents Day weekend we rented Airbnb house in the middle of nowhere an hour from our house. Really it was just along this farm road that absolutely no one drove by in the three days we were there. My point of going was to unplug and relax, kinda camping but a step up with a house since it was wintertime. 

The weekend turned out just like I wanted, and the kids were able to have a great time. The house was on a working farm with a family that had kids about the same age as ours; they all buddied up right away playing together. Amelia jumped on the trampoline, played with the chickens and puppies. Jacob played with the puppies and hunted sparrows with bb guns. Jack played with the turkey and the puppies. 

I also took Jack out and taught him how to drive a manual transmission. It was a great place to learn since there was no one on the road and we were able to stop and start a lot. We were even able to start on a couple hills for practice. I have to say Jack did a pretty good at it. Of course, he killed it a couple times but that is only part of learning. By the end he said he could be a race car driver. 

On the Monday of Presidents Weekend, Jack and Dad went to Bluewood. Through the Boy Scouts there was deal for a snowboard rental, lesson and ski ticket that Jack took advantage of. He and the other Scouts had a great time learning how to snowboard. Jack said he really enjoyed it and wants to do it again. Dad on the other hand had a great time in the beginning but then cracked a rib on a ski bike he was trying out. Dad will be ok but needs to take it easy for a month. Next winter they plan on going to Bluewood more. 

Hockey Game

 Last night we went to the Americans hockey game. It was Boy Scout night at the game, so we went with a couple other Scouts. Jack and Jacob both brought friends to the game also. 

The fun part of the night was that the boys got to play tug of war during the period break. Now it was supposed to be a Boy Scout troop verses another Boy Scout troop but since we didn't' have enough Scouts Jacob and Jack's friends joined, plus another Scout that was sitting behind us that I recruited. (Jacob was not allowed to participate obviously because of his knee.) Our troop won! It was fun to watch the boys on the ice. Each kid won 2 tickets to another hockey game later in the month. 

Later in the game Jack caught a rubber chicken that was thrown into the crowd that he traded in for a free Dairy Queen gift card. And all the boys got put on the jumbotron later in the game when they were dancing to the Cotton Eyed Joe song. Jack said it was the best hockey game he had been to because of all it. 

Amelia

 

Amelia wrapped up another great basketball season! The best part of the last game was that Umma and Uppa surprised us with coming to watch. Amelia was very happy to see them.

This season Amelia improved on her defensive positioning, that helped her get many steals. She hustled after rebounds and was actually really good at scoring. I hope she will play more basketball since she seemed to like it and it helps with building teamwork and confidence. 

Jacob

 Jacob has started a zero hour shop class at school. He has shop class in the regular school day, which he just finished a neat little table, but was also invited to participate in the zero hour class before school. During that class he will be building a shed with the class that will be sold. It is a great learning opportunity that is fun too. He has had to take all the safety tests for the equipment he has to use. He also has  to draw up all the blueprints to scale for the shed. I hope I get to see pictures of what the shed looks like when it is done. 

Jack

Back in February Jack and his friends went ax throwing. All of the boys had a lot of fun. They got to throw axes, hatches and ninja stars. Jack said he was really good at it. He even was able to stick the double ax throw. Afterwards we all met up at Shakey's Pizza for pizza and video games. It was nice to meet the friends Jack has at school. 

Jacob

 Jacob says his feet has stopped growing at a size 11.5/12. He decided that now that his feet are done growing, he should have expensive shoes. So.... at physical therapy I noticed the bottom of his shoes were wore out and told him I would buy him some new ones. He immediately went into shoe shopping mode, texting his friend for advice on what shoes to buy. I told him hold up! I still am not going to buy him 130.00-dollar shoes. We decided I would cover around 70.00 of the shoes but he would have to chip in the rest of the balance.

After much consideration, and texting, from his friend, Jacob decided on some Nike shoes. Now the shoes have a fancy name and number, but I don't remember. What I do remember is that they are white. It took several days of waiting for us to take him to the mall to get them, but Dad finally took him on Saturday morning. Jacob came back super proud and happy that he got "his shoes." Not only are they super cool and white but they give him an inch and half of more height! 

More importantly his feet are now supported more. 

Amelia

 

Amelia had a fun school project where she created a cereal box themed book report. She did a great job, as you can see. I know keep it with the other cereal boxes in the pantry, just for fun. I pull it out from time to time to look at it. 

Amelia

 Amelia and I had a fun time going to the Family Expo. We have gone in the past as a family but since the boys are too old for it now, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to hang out with Amelia. 

We walked around to look at all the booths. Amelia spun every prize wheel we could find, and she collected all the freebie candy, pens, and miscellaneous she could see. She also signed up for a free dance class in March, just to try it. We got a free sample snow cone. We also got our picture taken in front of a pirate themed backdrop, as you can see to the right. 

It defiantly wasn't the biggest Family Expo we have been too, but it was fun none the less. After the Expo I took Amelia to get lunch and a treat at DQ.

Rocky

 

Meet Rocky! Our new puppy. The kids were so excited to get him. Umma and Uppa brought him over to us on a Friday. By Saturday we had to give them the speech about not complaining about taking care of a puppy. :) Really though they are doing great and really love Rocky. 

I think we forgot how a puppy acts. We were so use to the way Skipper was, a dog with trained in manners, that the puppy stage was a rude awakening. We all kept saying we miss Skipper. Rocky is a sweet puppy so I know he will get there, and I keep telling the kids that. I am hoping Rocky will be with us a long time.

Amelia

Amelia got a hover board for Christmas. She loves it! She is always cruising around the house with it. She rides it while she empties the dishwasher, eating, and really any time she could walk. Her plan is to keep it inside during the winter but start riding it outside once the weather gets nice. 

She also got a Nightmare Before Christmas sweatshirt. She absolutely LOVES that! She wears it constantly, even when she is asleep. We have to insist that she washes it at least once a week.

 

Amelia

 Amelia has started basketball this month. Of course, she had to complain about it a bit before practice but once she got there it was great. Her coach this year seems like a nice lady, who actually can teach the fundamentals of basketball. Amelia has already had her coach cracking up with her witty humor. Amelia feels confident in basketball because she is always one of, if not, the tallest girls on the team. It doesn't hurt that she's a lefty too. 

I am excited to see her play. I already told her I would bribe her with trips to the concession stands for rebounds, steals and points. It's amazing how aggressive she can get with a bag of popcorn on the line. :)

Winter Lodge

The boys and Dan went to the winter lodge campout with the Boy Scouts this month. They rented the lodge at Field Springs State Park. The park gets a ton of snow, so the rangers groom the trails and sledding hill. Lucky for the boys the sledding hill is right outside the lodge. Jacob wasn't able to sled this year because of his knee but Jack did a ton of sledding. He would run as fast as he could to launch himself down the hill. He said he had so much fun expect for one time. He said he hit a bump or something, flipped up in the air, "did the scorpion" (when his feet touch the back of his head, stomach down) and then landed in a pile of snow. He said he laid in the snow for a bit after that one. Dad had to come down to check on him but Jack was alright and that wasn't his last run down the hill.

Puppy Fisk

 Here is the story of how we saw and picked out our future puppy:

I had prearranged to meet the lady the Monday after Christmas on our way home, the lady lived in Kelso. Well around Christmas, the westside was hit with snow. The lady called concerned about the amount of snow, but I reassured her that we were driving home anyways, and we were very excited to meet the puppies. She said OK but, on the way, down she called again to say that they had more snow. Her husband would be willing to drive the puppies down to Shari's parking lot so we could see them. I told her we were on our way so we would just keep going since I wanted to see where she kept the dogs and meet the mom, so we continue on. 

The freeways were clear but once we got off that in Longview the roads got progressively worse, with compact snow and ice. The roads also got progressively steeper and steeper the further we went. But we just kept on going, Dan just started driving slower and slower. The final road we were driving up turned into a steep, steep hill with a sheet of ice over it with hairpin turns. With .8 miles left to get to the lady's house Dan slowed to go around a corner too much, the car couldn't get traction. He had to stop to take off the anti-slip feature of the car he could get more grip, but it was too late. The road was too steep and too slippery. His only option was to just back down the road slowly. The kids were very nervous at this point because it was getting dangerous. They all started giving suggestions on what to do. I had to tell them all to be quiet because their Dad was a good driver and we would be fine. Dan was halfway down the hill when we started sliding towards the ditch. We stop, Dan tried to get us going again but then we started sliding down the hill slideways. I was just looking out my window as slide down this hill thinking, here we go! Luckily, we stopped. At this point we were sideways in the road. Dan was able to jock us around so that our front was pointed down the hill. Thank God! We then crept slowly down the hill.

Once we were down the hill we called the lady, so I guess we were going to meet at the Shari's parking lot after all. She didn't pick up, so I left a message. 15 minutes later I called again. Then another 15 minutes later I called, this went on until we had waited about an hour. At this point we were all very frustrated, confused and disappointed. I finally said let's go, we still had to drive home and it was getting late. Of couse, 15 minutes down the road the lady calls! She said her phone had just gone to voicemail, so she hadn't gotten our calls. ugh... She said if we still wanted to meet, we could. I know I did and felt it was important for the kids, so I said yes. Dan did a quick turnaround and we headed back.

We met in the Shari's parking lot, like the lady originally suggested (yes, humble-pie). She brought two puppies to choose from. They of course were adorable and of course the kids' hearts melted. We held them, took pictures of them, put them down in the car to see them move around and most of all, snuggled them. All three kids wanted both of them because they were so cute. We decided on the bigger of the two. He was a cutie that interacted with us and let me hold him like a baby. 

We get him any day after January 21. Now the list of names is long, but we decided we would wait to get him before we decided on a name. 

Holidays 2021

 Well the holiday season of 2021 is over. We had a great one this year. For Christmas we made to Umma and Uppa's after some heavy snow on the pass. The kids say over and over again their favorite part of Christmas is seeing all the family, of course that warms my heart. Amelia got to spend two days at Tanya's before Christmas. She loved that but her energy was really missed at Umma and Uppa's. It was great to see her on Christmas Eve, when the Martinson's showed up. Amelia was excited to share that John drove 112 on the freeway in Tanya's Telsa. I could see the boys were very envious of that!

Christmas Eve was just so much fun. After a unanimous request to play the fishing game, Umma and Uppa brought it back. The kids love the fishing game and the nostalgia of it.  We also played the brain teasers. Those were fun because we were working in teams. What a great way to work together and build family memories and bonds. 

Christmas morning, we gave the kids a dog collar, leash and dog toy. We told them we were getting a puppy later in January. They were all very excited about it. I told them that on Monday we were going to go pick out the puppy from a litter, that really got them excited. Later in the morning, Jack came into to talk with me about a problem he had. He said, "Mom, I have a problem. I feel like if we get another puppy, we will be trying to replace Skipper." I could see his heart was hurting over this. We talked about how we wouldn't be replacing or betraying Skipper because we could never replace Skipper. I also told him that what he was feeling was totally normal; if he wasn't ready to get a new puppy we could wait. I could see he was physically relieved after we talked. (And just as a spoiler, once he saw the puppy, we are going to get he fell in love).

On New Year's Eve we went to our friend the Schonewills. We used to go to their New Year's Eve Party every year but hadn't the last couple of years because of COVID. It was so nice to be able to go this year. The kids were so happy to continue the tradition. We stayed till midnight. We didn't see the kids hardly at all, only when they stopped by for food. Most of the evening they were hanging out with the other kids in the garage or other rooms.