Halloween Party

E and her friends planned a Halloween party. They had a great time!

 We were the chaperones.........keeping an eye on the ghouls and guys!

My poor friend, Jenn,  whose husband sewed up my hand when I had an accident with the knife, had an accident last week and cut her tendon below her wrist. Good thing Dr. Fisher is always in the house!

First Formal Dance....Homecoming

Saturday E had her first formal dance...only two more formals to buy....then someone reminded me I have three wedding dresses to buy, so formals don't sound too bad.
They had dinner at Outback, went to a dance at a cabin where the boys had decorated (the school dances are just too raunchy to attend) and then they went to 1-2-3 Bounce. Fun evening was had by all!

Fun Family Visitors too...............

Celebrating Evan's 5th Birthday with Funfetti Cake

Pikes Place Market

Back to School!!

Hello Friends and Family,
Summer is over, the rain is falling and the clouds are here to stay! Boo hoo!
Labor day weekend, R and I drove A to BYU Idaho, in Rexburg. It was a quick trip! We had the Prius busting at the seams, thank you to R's perfect Tetris packing skills. She had two plastic bins and one suitcase, laptop, camera equipment and bedding. We stayed in Island Park with the Crellins and the next morning took A to her new home at BYU-I. We helped her unpack, R set up the computer, took her to Walmart, Albertsons and she was good to go! She's having the time of her life, I hope she's studying too.

Her roommate, Rachel, from Highlands Ranch, CO.

Her other roommate, Michelle from Kent WA.

And her dorm chef....uhm....I didn't remember paying for this service.

r started middle school last week and is on the basketball team. He absolutely loves being in Junoir high. He comes home every day with a list of homework to do and he doesn't even mind it. (I'm sure it'll wear off soon!)

E will be attending Bellevue College to work on her Associates degree while in high school. She starts school tomorrow. She's been taking her driver's education course and I have a built in chauffer. She's driving well, but r doesn't like her to drive us anywhere because he says it takes too long to get out of the driveway!
E was invited to homecoming and was excited this week to find a dress for the occasion. Only three more formal dresses to buy in the next two years! Yeah!

S is doing great. I had to change her blog address, for some reason I can't get on the old one to update the information.

I'm trying to adjust to having just two kids at home and cooking for 4. It can be quite quiet on the weekends!

R has been building a retaining wall on the side of the house. Every Saturday morning the kids try to hide to avoid hauling bricks all day.

Warning....when kids leave home for college, the dog stays!!! :-)

So that's the update....I'll be sending out S's new blog address this week!

Summer 2010

The weather in Seattle hasn't really felt like summer, so we keep waiting for summer to arrive. However, it's been filled with family activities that have made if fly by!

R had is adventure kayaking with the Scouts in July, and driving us everywhere we travel. E had fun at Girls' Camp. Gordon Family reunion at Yellowstone....and little side trips and activities in between.

A photo is worth a 1,000 words. Enjoy!

My Hiking Stud Muffin

While we were in SLC, Robert went on a hiking adventure with the "boys" from Sammamish 1st Ward. They left Thursday afternoon and drove to Mt. St. Helens, camped over night and hiked to the top of Mt. St. Helens. R said it was the hardest physical thing he's ever done. He made it up in 5 hours in the deep snow  and then down in 2 hours, sliding on his jacket and bottom.

Graduation and Vacation

A and r had their graduations this month. A graduated from high school on the 15th of June. r graduated from 6th grade on the morning of the 15th. Starting with a 6th grade graduation and then going to a high school graduation makes one put much into perspective. It seemed like yesterday A was graduating from 6th grade!

r recieved the Presidential Award the day after graduation, signed by Pres. Obama...yipee!

We drove to SLC to attend Brandon Rhodes missionary homecoming. He gave a great homecoming address! R flew home and we stayed with the Rhodes and Gordons until later that week. We attended a wedding of one of Andrea's childhood friends at the Bountiful LDS Temple. It was a beautiful day!

Raquel (Gardner) and Adam Gessel

We are home now enjoying the cool weather in Seattle, summer hasn't arrived here yet!

baseball games and senior prom

sorry for the lowercase type...I'm hen pecking...my hand surgery went well. the doctors thought i had severed nerves in my thumb, but discovered today that i didn't so i feel blessed. in recovery mode now.

last weekend e and her date and R and friend went to the mariner's game. my client gave them awesome seats, their feet rested on the dugout. they had a great time even though the mariner's lost. it was the first sunny day in a long time. after the game we were able to get our garden planted all but the corn and pumpkins.

a went to Tacoma to attend prom with her friend, christian. they had dinner in their backyard that overlooked the sound. she had a great time.

we r in for a busy week next week a will graduate from high school......

Where does time go??

It's been since the beginning of May when I added a post.  Time is flying by so fast!

E turned 16 on the 12th. She's already been on three dates, two of them were on her birthday. She's so happy to finally be 16, I don't know why, she doesn't have her driver's license yet. In WA they have a law regarding driver's education,  you need to be enrolled in an out of school driving course before you can get your license. She'll be taking the class this summer.This weekend E, along with two other good friends, had a big 16th birthday bash.

r and his friend, Paul, there attended the party too!

This was E's Child Psychology homework all weekend. She had to care for her baby, luckily the teacher shut the baby off for the party. :-)

r has been playing basketball this Spring and they've done quite well. Last week they were up against a team they thought they would surely lose to. The opposing team were BIG guys with a foot in height advantage. They had a David and Goliath moment, they won, they had more skill. A good lesson  was taught. The were surprised when the game ended and it was 35 to 25 their favor!

r also had a field trip to the International District in downtown Seattle.

Nothing like 7 rowdy boys in Chinatown!

R spent 4 days in Ft. Lauderdale, FL last week. While he was away, the chore of cutting pineapple fell into my hands. Literally, I was cutting the core out of the pineapple and the knife slipped and cut my hand. It's been two weeks  now and I was hoping to get the stitches out. Well, I've been referred to a hand surgeon to see if I need surgery on my hand. No more pineapples for moi! r and our friend, an ER doctor, sewed me up in our family room. r thought that was the coolest thing ever, he wants to be a doctor now.

Here's my damage, Crystal!

A is on the tail end of her high school education. She presented her Senior presentation last weekend. She did a 60 hour project on "Lighting in Photography". She passed and the teacher hired her to take her family photos. Andrea has quite the successful photography business, doing family portraits and Senior photos. She will be graduating on the 15th of June. She has been attending the community college this year and  will take her finals the day after graduation.

Have a happy Memorial Day!

A Busy Weekend

This weekend E and A were involved in a big production titled: "Built on the Rock". It was a musical about the Book of Mormon characters. They have been rehearsing for 6 months and it was an awesome production, off Broadway performance. It was their Youth Conference project for this year. E had a solo part and A had a group singing and dancing part. I wish we had a video of it, they did a great job.

r had a boy scout campout. They all got rained on.

r decided to bring a ceasars salad for dinner instead of cooking over the fire. I guess he was lucky, due to the rain. He came home with all his belongings....WET.

Happy Mother's Day to all!

We're back in the groove again

R returned from Ireland 8 days later than he should have due to the volcanic ash from Iceland. Everyone wonders what he did in Dublin for 7 days longer than he had planned. This is what he did.....
** Worked at the Microsoft office until afternoon and then had to go to the hotel  so he could do conference calls with his Redmond, WA team until midnight.
** Tried new restaurants in Dublin for his "supper". Found a very good all organic gourmet restaurant.
** Stayed overnight at a co-workers home in the Irish countryside. They live in a renovated schoolhouse from the 1800's. His room had an old fireplace in it, that he could hear the birds chirping and the cars driving by all night
** Visit Belfast, No. Ireland on a Saturday. He said that that was all the time he needed to see Belfast, and hear the Brit's view of the "difficult times".
** Attended the LDS church meeting in Dublin. A kind missionary couple from Island Park, Id,  invited him and his  laundry over for dinner. :-)

We missed him while he was gone. After S leaving for Brazil, R stuck in Ireland and r at a NW Experience Camp for a week, we felt pretty lonely. Now everyone is home, except S, but we're use to her being away at college, we're getting back into the groove again.

r had a great time at his camp. He took his photos on a disposable camera so we have to saddle up our horse and go down to the local mercantile to get those dang photos developed. We're so spoiled these days!
He came home with a horsey voice and a tired out look. Photos to follow later........

A said good-bye to her boyfriend, Chavien. He will be learning Haitian-Creole in the Mission Training Center in Provo, Utah for 8 weeks, then he will fly to Tampa, FL where he will be serving for two years. She's more sad to see him go, than her sister. Ha!

E is counting down the days until she turns 16 on the 12th of May. She's taken her written test twice and hasn't passed, so I'm glad she won't be out on the roads! Maybe by the end of the summer she'll be driving. She took her college entrance exam and will be attending the local college her Junior and Senior year.

I hope you're all enjoying S blog and her shared experiences in Brazil.

EHS Talent Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYlkumggalo

Good-bye....

Last Tuesday we said our good-byes at the airport when we dropped S off to fly to Brazil. This was an answer to our prayers for one of her bags....50 pounds on the dot! Yipee, we cheered! The other bag was only 38 pounds, but she had to have 10 lbs. for her books that she recieves in Sao Paulo at the Language Training Center.

  E decided to go to school, easier on the heart. R flew to Ireland the day before. S flew to Atlanta and when she arrived, the plane in her jet way had mechanical problems and couldn't be moved. Someone let her borrow their cell phone and she called to tell me she was going to miss  her flight to Brazil. Delta arranged for a hotel, transportation, and food vouchers, but what was she to do the next day for 12 hours until the flight to Brazil left in the evening. Luckily, a family we know has a married daughter in Atlanta and she picked her up the next day and let her hang at their house until that evening. Another answer to prayers! She called the next evening and said she was back at the airport and ready to fly out. We haven't heard from her since. I'm assuming no news is good news. If I don't hear from her by Wednesday, I'll call in the forces!
Here is the official missionary....

Sister Gordon apprehensive smile?!

R was suppose to return from Ireland on Friday evening and due to the volcanic ash he is grounded until possibly April 24th. Hopefully the luck o' the Irish will help him get home.

Saturday evening I went to a Curling center and learned how to curl. It was a lot of fun and a little more difficult than it looks on the television.

Here was my coach, Aloric Swede, a Brennan (my nephew) look alike. He has been curling for 4 years.

Learning to throw the "stone". 42 pounds, seems pretty light on the ice, but the trick is the "ICE". The pvc stand is to keep you from falling while you're learning. They give you grip covers for your shoes so you don't fall.

Letting go of the stone...remembering to let go!

Sweeping....I never sweep this hard at home!

You try to get your stone over the "T" line and in the blue center. I did get my stone on the blue center once, then the opposing team hit it out. That's where the expertise comes in play!

The Skip is yelling to stop sweeping.....okay, I can't help it I'm OCD!

Our team of 4 won the game. It was a lot of fun....maybe Winter Olympics 2012?! There aren't many Curling Centers in the US of A. We're lucky to have one here in Seattle.

E performed in the school talent show.....I'm trying to download the video, no luck yet.....