Do you ever go back and read old posts? I did today, went back and read all the way to the beginning. I reluctantly started this blog two years ago at the end of July. It has been great! better than I imagined! I found myself laughing again at the funny stories about my children, and marveling at all the things that have changed in our lives over two short years. Cassadie watched the video of her at swim practice and we all had a good laugh. It's easy to laugh now, when she's come so far.

I found myself wondering if there is some way to save the posts; worrying that they may somehow disappear some day. It really has been a great way to preserve all the little things that we so easily forget about.

Green hair and......Ham?

As a child I was VERY blonde, like almost white. I don't know at what point it got so dark, or if there was something I could have done to stop the progression. Every summer, my hair would gradually turn green from chlorine because we swam almost every day. I don't know if shampoo existed to remove the chlorine, or if we just weren't aware of it. Green hair was just an inevitability that myself and my cousin Jessica lived with. She too had nearly white hair.

My son Jarod's hair is almost as blonde as mine was. He swims almost everyday for a year-round swim team, and I had never even thought that he might get green hair. He wears a swim cap, and even if his hair did turn green, I figured it would come out with the Swim shampoo they use. Three things - his hair did turn green, it was caused by one practice, and it did not completely wash out with the "chlorine-removing" shampoo. It wasn't his whole head, just the inch-and-a-half that sticks out the back below the cap. The pool maintenace guy said they had been having some trouble with the chlorine levels...which did not alarm me either.
This picture does not accurately show the shade of green. When he got out of the pool, while his hair was still wet it was the brightest green you can imagine.His hair, while still wet from the pool was the green in the center block. I tried to get it wet later and see if the color would show up again, but it didn't. It's almost like some of the chlorine burned off when his hair dried.

He washed it twice with the swim shampoo, and it was almost back to normal. Although, the next day, his hair turned green again. The green wasn't quite as deep as the first time because the chlorine levels were still crazy but were starting to come down.

ROAD TRIP!!!!!!

In May we took a road trip to Phoenix, Arizona. Alex's daughter, Victoria, was graduating a year early. She had worked her butt off, and was graduating from High School as a Junior. So we piled into the car along with Alex's sister, Juanita, and drove straight through to Vegas on the first day. Cassadie, Jarod, and Juanita had never been, so we spent the night and saw a few of the family-friendly sights.


We drove the 6 hour drive to Phoenix the next day, crossing over Hoover Dam around noon. After checking into our hotel, we took Victoria and her boyfriend out for dinner. It was so nice to see her again. She is all grown up!
Her graduation was the next day, in the stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play. We couldn't even really see her except that they were showing each student receive their diploma up on a huge screen. This is the only picture I have where you can actually tell it's her.

Afterward we went to IN-N-OUT Burger. Alex has been RAVING about it as long as I have known him, and I was rather skeptical. He was hoping it would live up to his memories, and we were both pleasantly surprised. It was great! We all loved it, and it was pretty inexpensive so we ate there twice while in Phoenix.

We left the next day and drove to the Grand Canyon. It was amazing! We had never been, and figured we couldn't be in Arizona and not see it. Oh, and pictures do NOT capture the majesty that is the Grand Canyon. I knew it when I took these, but I just couldn't help myself.



During the 54 hours we spent in the car together, we laughed, we argued, we sang along to some great music, and overall enjoyed each others' company. It was a great experience.

"Not First Child" Syndrome

As a child it sometimes bothered me that there were more pictures of my sisters than of me in the photo albums. I got over it. As a mother I realize that there were reasons for it that had nothing to do with the amount of love my parents had for me.

You would think this would have made me more careful when it comes to my own children. But I find myself taking less pictures of my son Jarod. My photo albums chronicle the life of Cassadie with so many pictures you can almost see every inch of growth. The pictures of Jarod are not even a quarter of the number of pictures of Cassadie. When Cassadie started swimming, I took pictures and video at every swim meet for the first 6 months. Since Jarod started, I haven't taken more than a handful.

I have a few theories as to why this has happened.

#1 As life gets busier, I get caught up in it and forget to document the memories. I fall out of the habit of keeping my camera with me ready to grab a picture.

#2 The squeaky wheel gets the grease. What I mean to say, is that Cassadie is much more vocal than Jarod, and therefore gets more attention. This is not intentional of course. For example, I had planned to buy Jarod some new shoes for Easter. For those of you who don't know, Jarod is very particular about what he wears. I could not just pick out a pair of shoes, I needed him to pick them out. But I wanted to surprise him as well, so I took him to the shoe store and had him pick them out and try them on. Then I said "I'm sorry Jarod, but I don't think I can buy these. They're a little more than I had planned to pay. Why don't you look around and see if there is something else you like." I knew he wouldn't...he's very particular. When he was done looking (which took all of 30 seconds), I said "well, let's go, I'll think about it, and maybe I can come back and get them tomorrow or Thursday." To all of this, he said nothing. He never begged me to buy them, didn't even ask. He hasn't said one more word about those shoes since we left the shoe store. If this same thing had happened with Cassadie, she would have begged, pleaded, offered her soul in exchange for me buying the shoes. There would have been no end to the questions about when she could get them or when I was going back to Yakima.

By the way, I went back and bought the shoes while he was at Karate class. They are in my closet waiting for Easter as I write this.

#3 Cassadie and Jarod are very different in many ways. One big differenc, Cassadie loves attention although she claims not to. She posed for many of those pictures in the photo albums. Jarod hates attention. He would give you a dirty look instead of smiling when the camera was aimed at him....my sister Beckie has a picture that demonstrates this perfectly. I think I have allowed this major difference to be my excuse. I always think that he doesn't like me to take pictures of him so I should leave him alone.

I suppose it could be worse, all his stuff could have been ruined when the garage flooded. ;)

All of this to say, I regret not doing a better job of documenting Jarod's life. I appreciate that my family does a better job than me, and am determined to do a better job in the future.
This picture was taken on New Years Eve 2010. Cassadie went to a party with the Youth Group at church, and Alex had to work, so Jarod and I watched the ball drop in Time Square together.

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

I LOVE the snow. I don't so much like to get out in it and get cold and wet, but I love to look at it. I love the way it makes everything seem quiet and peaceful. I love the way it covers the imperfections and makes everything beautiful!

I don't mind driving in the snow, I kinda like it, and I think I'm good at it. I drive a Jeep Cherokee and it makes me feel like I can do anything. Sometimes I try to slide as I turn a corner and am disappointed. I often watch cars in front of me as they come to a stop and attempt to go again, but simple spin out. I wait patiently (and sometimes impatiently) for my turn and then have no problem at all. Tonight I watched a car attempt to drive up a hill, I pulled to the side of the road and watched as the car went halfway up and backed down again three times. They then turned and drove off in the other direction. I just waited patiently and once they were out of my way, drove up confidently without a problem. Poor little car....

I do get frustrated by others and their stupid decisions. I recently took a trip to Portland to hang out with my two sisters and our two cousins. (That is another GREAT story for another time.) It snowed while I was there, and it made the trip home interesting. The major freeway I took to get out of Portland had not been plowed, and was pretty bad. Not so bad that you couldn't drive a good 40 mph though. However, people began pulling over to put chains on, which wasn't really the problem either. It really got bad, when the big trucks would stop in the middle of the lane (whichever one they were driving in) to put their chains on. No need to pull off the road, please just stop right there. Anyway, it became an obstacle course. It took an hour to drive 20 miles. The only thing that redeemed that hour was the landscape...

And, since I wasn't moving....I had plenty of time to take pictures of it.

To speak or not to speak?

My kids went to the US Nationals swim meet in Federal Way this last weekend. It is a swim meet for collegiate level swimmers and there were some Olympians there. They road separately with friends. When they called after the meet was over to say that they were on their way home, this is how the conversations went:

Me: hey Cass, did you have fun?
Cassadie: Yes, it was sooo much fun......, we got to see........, oh my gosh mom, I'm tired so it doesn't sound like I'm excited, but I really am and I'll tell you more about it tomorrow
Me: sounds great, are you guys headed home now?
Cassadie: Yeah, we left the swim meet a few minutes ago, and Jeff told me I should call you now
Me: alright, so you'll call when you get to Ellensburg?
Cassadie: Yep
Me: Okay, see you later. Love you
Cassaide: Okay, love you too mom
(this call lasted several minutes)

Me: Hey Jarod, did you have fun?
Jarod: Yep (silence)
Me: Are you headed to Max's aunts house now?
Jarod: Yep (silence)
Me: Okay, well, have a good night
Jarod: Okay (silence)
Me: I'll talk to you tomorrow. Love you bud
Jarod: Okay, bye
Me: WAIT! YOU WILL NOT HANG UP WITHOUT TELLING ME YOU LOVE ME!
Jarod: Oh, I love you mom
Me: Thanks bud. Bye.
Jarod: Bye.
(This call lasted about as long as it took you to read it just now!)

It's so funny to me how boys and girls are so innately different. He is a man of few words, the strong silent type. She will talk your ear off about nothing at all.

One-Liners

My children are always saying really good one-liners, and it's usually when they are completely oblivious to the depth of meaning behind what they have said.

Just today Jarod and I were watching a TV show called Wizards of Waverly Place. The kids are wizards in training and the oldest brother finds out that he has finished wizard school, but now has to do an independent study. His sister says "way to go Justin, you finished school just to be awarded with more school", to which Jarod says "that's just like when you graduate from High School". Alex and I had a good little chuckle over the truth in his words. It's good to know that he feels that way....it's just the way things work.

About a week ago, the kids and I were on our way to swim practice. We were driving along behind an SUV with "DO YOU KNOW JESUS?" painted in large letters across the back window. I said "do they think that's gonna convince people to know Jesus?" to which Cassadie said "yeah, do they think they can advertise Him like He's a roll of toilet paper?" Exactly!

This past weekend, Cassadie and I spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Championship swim meet in Wenatchee. It was the championships for Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon, and Northern Idaho. Cassadie swam so well, I can't believe how hard she works. She really amazes me all the time. The funny thing is that she amazes herself as well. Quite often, after a race, she'll tell me that she didn't know she could swim that fast. One day in practice, she had to swim a sprint, and her coach told her to finish in a certain amount of time. She said she swam so fast she scared herself. She just didn't know she was capable of moving that fast. It's funny!

Anyway, back to the meet. She swam in five events. She swam two on Friday, one Saturday and two on Sunday. After swimming each race, the top 20 swimmers come back in the evening to swim a final race for placement. Cassadie got to swim in three final races, placing in the top twenty in three of her events. She also got personal best times in all five of her events, dropping almost 30 seconds altogether.

Her coach tells me that she's hard to coach, but that it's for a good reason. She's progressing so quickly that he has a hard time, there are just so many little things that she still doesn't know. It's kinda like, what do you teach her next that will be the most beneficial? I'd like to say that she gets it from me, but I know that I am not as intrinsically motivated as she is, or as naturally athletic as she is.

I would have pictures except that I don't remember to take any, as I have mentioned in my earlier post, and I can't seem to find my cable that allows me to upload the pictures to my computer. So, I hope to find my cable, and get some video soon so you can all see how much she really has improved.

You can find anything on the internet...

Birds are funny creatures. Living in Central Washington, I have seen my fair share of cranes, hawks, eagles, and other large birds. Alex gets very excited when he sees a bald eagle. I have to say that it is cool to me, but since I have seen then around since I was a child, the sight of one does not thrill me the way it does him. He is often disappointed by my response to a sighting. I do however, get very excited at the sight of a pelican. We have had pelicans in the Yakima Valley for the last five years or so. I absolutely love to watch a flock of them circle in the sky. It seems so majestic the way they soar; their white bodies contrasting the blue sky. It has become a ritual on the way home from Yakima to see if we can spot them in the river. The kids are very excited, I'm sure as a result of my excitement. Tonight, Jarod saw two of them, and we began to discuss their strange bill. He says that when he thinks of pelicans he remembers the scene in "Finding Nemo" when the pelican scoops Nemo up, gets water for him, and flies with him in his bill. Jarod proceeded to look them up on the internet when we got home, because as he says "you can find anything on the internet." He actually found some crazy stories. One was about a girl who had to get 20 stitches from a pelican ramming into her head while she was swimming in the ocean. Another one told about a pelican eating a pigeon...which I find odd. Isn't that kind of like canibalism?

Don't you every wonder why we do this to ourselves?

For those of you who don't know, I am currently taking classes in an attempt to get my Masters' degree. I'm in a program that requires me to take classes for six weeks over three summers - then I complete a thesis-type project and get my degree. This is my third and final summer (cross my fingers), I am taking 14 credits which mean four classes. I am in class from 9 until 3:30 three days a week. The first two summers it was 16 credits each, six classes, and four days a week. 11 of the credits are from education courses and the rest are math courses. All of this to say, it is an intense six weeks.

I can't say that I was excited to go back to school, but as a teacher, a Masters' degree is really a necessity. Not because it changes my job at all, but simply for an increase in salary. I am technically qualified to teach at a junior college with a Masters' degree, so my adjunct faculty position at Heritage University will be legitimate now. (If you didn't know, I have been teaching there for 2 1/2 years, in the evenings.)

So, do I enjoy going to school? Honestly, sometimes. I do enjoy learning new things, especially math, and I love to be challenged. Although I have recently realized that I do not cope well with too much challenge. I am not fun to be around when I cannot figure out how to do something. The other day, I spent hours trying to figure out a math problem, and when I couldn't figure it out, I literally fell apart. It was quite ridiculous. It was kind of like throwing a handful of rocks at a snow covered mountain, and the last one causes an avalanche. In other words, it was one of several things that caused the meltdown.

It really isn't all bad. Doing math all day is fun ( I know I'm a nerd), and the people are great. I enjoy my time with them, although it seems short. I have made good friends.

Why do I even own a camera?

I have found that some times I wish I were creative and could take great pictures like my amazing sister. Most days I am okay with the fact that I did not get that gene. I spent Memorial Day weekend in Vancouver with my sisters and we had a blast. The drive to The Couv was amazing...the wild flowers were in bloom, the trees were all green, the sky was a beautiful clear blue and the mountains were gorgeous. I kept thinking that I should stop and take a picture, but couldn't bring myself to do it. I knew all those cars I had just waited sooooo long to pass would get in front of me again. So, there are no cool pictures to document my beautiful drive that weekend.

The last weekend in May, Cassadie and I spent three days in a park at a swim meet. Hanging out with great people, having lots of fun. I got my camera out several times because I saw something I wanted to take a picture of, but by the time I got it out, there was not picture to take, I had missed the moment. Why didn't I just keep it out?

I just spent the weekend at graduation and graduation parties...did I take my camera? You guessed it, NOPE!

Do you ever see something so crazy that no one will ever believe you, and maybe you're not even sure you really saw it. The kind of sight you would love to get a picture of, or have someone there to witness. The other day, on my way to work, I saw one of these crazy sights. A gigantic metal fish on a Semi-truck trailer. It was the length of the trailer, and as tall as the truck. It was actually quite beautiful. I found myself wondering if I should turn around and chase it down just to get a picture of it. Then I remembered, I don't take pictures, and it would probably make me late for work.

Ichi - Ni - San - Yan ...

So, Jarod had his first karate test this weekend. The owner of the dojo is Sensei Mack Morris. He is about 80 years old and still teaching karate. He has actually been honored by the Prime Minister of Japan for his karate skill, and that's why his belt is white and red striped. He started one of the first karate dojos in America. This is him talking to the students and instructors.If you look closely, you can see that some of them are wearing blue smocks over their gui. Those are the instructors.

For the actual test, they have to show what they have learned in order to get their next belt. Everyone starts out as a white belt. The next belt is white with a black stripe and then yellow, yellow with a stripe, etc. They test them in groups, so all of the black belts tested at the same time. The second group was all of the orange, green, purple, and brown belts. Jarod's group was last; all of the white, yellow, and gold belts. The test was in the gym at YVCC (Yakima Valley Community College) and the gym floor was full of students of all ages. So, this is how it would go...

1. Two black belts demonstrate the move they will need to show, since there are multiple colors on the floor at one time, they demonstrate each of the different things.
For example, the white belts need to show a front kick, while the yellow belts are showing a round kick, and the gold belts are showing a side kick.

2. Everyone does their move at one time, while the head sensei shouts out commands (in Japanese)

3. The senseis and other black belts move around the floor checking and scoring each student. There are 24 of them total, checking 50+ students.


They had to do several self-defense moves, kicks, punches, etc. Then they had to do their kata. Depending on your belt color, you would do anywhere from 1 to 5 katas. Some of the students did katas involving weapons...those were very cool to watch. Here is the video of Jarod doing his kata. He's not so happy about me posting it, but I'm the mom right.



Jarod got his score Wednesday and he passed so he now has his stripe. They begin a new 4-month session next week.

"You can't sell me!"

We went to Cassadie's school band concert tonight. As Alex, Jarod, and I were sitting, waiting for it to start I turned to Jarod and we had the following conversation.

me: So Jarod, have you decided what instrument you want to play next year? (They start band in 5th grade)
Jarod: Nah
me: Well, I think you should choose percussion
Jarod: What?
me: You know, drums
Jarod: oh, yeah
me: It's more marketable you know
Jarod: You can't sell me!!!!! (with complete shock on his face)
Alex and I laugh hard for what felt like minutes
me: No, you know, like when you grow up and want to be in a band you can say "I can play the guitar, the drums, and I can sing"
Jarod: yeah (giggling)

I didn't even know he knew what marketable meant, I fully expected to have to explain it to him.

I know mothers who are worried about the day that their children grow taller than them. I don't worry about that day, I accept it as inevitable and embrace it. I am really curious to see just how tall my children get. I hope that Cassadie is taller than me, not six feet tall or anything, but slightly taller would be good. For those of you who don't know, I am 5'9" on a good day. I also hope Jarod reaches 6 feet and then some.

I have been thinking a lot about height lately because I have been supervising concessions at the high school where some of my sophomore girls are shorter than Cassadie. Actually, one of them is shorter than Jarod. She had a great attitude about it all and was completely cracked up when she found out he was only 9. So we measured them both the other day; Cassadie has hit 5' 3" and Jarod is at 5' 1/4". They both ride in the front seat of the car now. I gave up fighting with Cassadie when she was over 5 feet and about 100 lbs. So they are both the size of many small women now, and I have no argument left. I actually enjoy the car ride more now with someone in front to talk to. We always talked before, but there is something about having someone sitting next to you.

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times...

For those of you who don't know already, I am extremely busy. I recently had to buy one of those whiteboard calendars in order to keep track of it all. I found myself getting busier and trying to remember it all. We forgot Jarod's Basketball practice two weeks in a row and that's when I knew it was time. I just filled it in for the month of February and this is it as of today.



We each have a color, so I don't have to write names. It got too much to have to write "Cass b-ball 7-8pm". We thought about initials, but decided on colors as the simplest way.

So why am I so busy? As you've read before, Cassadie is on Swim Team and also plays AAU basketball. Now, Jarod is also playing AAU basketball, and takes a Karate class. I teach at a local University (Heritage Univeristy) twice a week. So, with all that, we have at least two things to do every night of the week. The kids have basketball games and Cassadie's swim meets are on Saturdays. So on a given saturday, I may be in White Swan (a 40 minute drive to the west) for a game in the morning and then in Benton City (a 40 minute drive to the east) for a game in the afternoon. There have been 2 or 3 times where Alex has to take one and I take the other and we head in opposite directions because their games are at the same time.

Cassadie's next swim meet happens to fall on a weekend when her team doesn't have a b-ball game, so we were lucky. She hates to let her basketball team down, but we would have to choose swimming if it came to it.



You can kinda see her new team suit in this pic. Their colors are green and purple, the suit is green and purple argile. Cassadie really likes it, and most of the younger kids do as well. Most of the older kids think they're ugly.

So, I ask myself everyday, how much is too much? When do I tell my children, "no, you can't do that because you have too much going on already"? We have limited them to these two activities each, and I will continue to chaufer them all over the valley as long as they are enjoying it. When Cassadie complains about having no time for anything, or missing out on something, I wonder if we have hit the "too much". She and I have discussed this very issue on several occasions. She knows that she loves swimming and basketball, and as soon as that is not the case, she knows that she can stop.

Jarod has been playing basketball since last year, they just started up again about 3 weeks ago. It just so happens that he started karate classes at the same time. He loves karate. He has class twice a week, and always comes home with a goofy grin on his face and stories to tell. One day he told me that he has the best balance except for the girl in his class. I told him to be proud of that because girls naturally have lower centers of gravity. The next day it was that he could kick the hardest. I just love to listen to his stories, it makes me happy that he is having so much fun. We watched Karate Kid yesterday. He was completely focused for the entire movie, and he loved it, as I knew he would. You should have seen him trying to do the famous crane move (I'm sure we all tried that move).

4 Things for Angela

So here are my answers to the "4 things" - just a warning though, I am REALLY boring!

4 things I was doing 10 years ago:

Walking around VERY pregnant with my HAAS-of-a-son, Jarod  (I think this should count as two things)

Hanging out every day with Cassadie.  I wasn't working and she was two and a half.

Trying to decide what to do with the rest of my life.  I had an AA degree from YVCC and had no idea what to do next.

4 things on my to-do list today:

Take my kids to Swim practice and Karate class

Correct papers

Correct papers 

and ummm......oh

Correct papers (the end of the semester is next week)

4 jobs that I have had:

Customer Service at an AM PM where I used to get asked if I was old enough to work the cash register....I guess I don't get that question anymore

Payroll clerk for a trucking company (does this go along with Ang's desire to be a truck driver? I wonder....)

Front Desk Clerk at a Super 8 Motel - I started out as a maid and got promoted 

I was a Substitute teacher in a 1st grade classroom one time and those little monsters almost ate me alive - that was my confirmation that I was NOT meant to be an elementary school teacher.  I was exhausted when I got home.

4 movies I have watched more than once:

Top Gun

Karate Kid

Clue

Dirty Dancing

4 favorite albums:

Twilight Sound Track

Alanis Morisette - Jagged Little Pill

Natalie Grant - Awaken

Carol King - Tapestry

4 places I've lived:

A tiny two-bedroom apartment in Yakima, WA - our first place after we were married

A nice two-bedroom apartment in Bothell, WA - our first place after Cassadie was born when Alex was working in Seattle

Another nice three-bedroom apartment in Federal Way, WA - we moved for lower rent and then quickly realized why it was lower

The house we live in now in Zillah, WA

That's it, all the places we have lived in the last 13 years since we got married...I told you all I was boring!

4 places I've been:

Phoenix, Arizona - when it's 10:00 at night and you get out of your car thinking it will be a nice cool summer evening and you can't breathe because it's still 120 degrees.

Las Vegas, Nevada - went there last spring with my sister, grandmother, 6 aunts, and 4 cousins.  We had sooo much fun, and then I got a tattoo on my way home; not in Vegas but in Portland on my way home.

Mebane, North Carolina - we went to visit Alex's Dad when Cassadie was a baby.  It is some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen.

San Fransisco, California - we went to visit Alex's sisters about 13 years ago and we walked around downtown, but I don't really remember anything except palm trees - I had never seen them before.

4 places I'd like to visit:

Italy 

Hawaii

Australia

The area of England that is portrayed in Nodding Hill

4 TV shows I watch via DVD:

Friends

Alias

Gilmore Girls now, thanks Ang

Charmed because my husband does, and I can't really avoid the TV

4 of my favorite meals:

Cheese Zombies and tomato soup like we had at school when we were kids

My grandmother's meatloaf - she can't give me the recipe because she doesn't really know what she put in there

I guess, there are meals I like but I don't really have favorites.  I have favorites for a short time, but then I get tired of it and find another.  

4 things you may not know about me:

I like to read...I say you may not know this about me because I didn't know it about myself until about a week ago. 

When I was in High School, my friends and I would go cliff diving about once a week for a whole summer.  

I once got in a fight with a girl during a Powder Puff Football game - we both got kicked out of the game - and I'm a little ashamed to say that this is one of my favorite memories from High School.

I enjoy driving.  Not the short, everyday, here or there trips; but the long, take your time, set the cruise control and go trips.  For some reason, it is kinda relaxing for me.  It may have something to do with the fact that I am a control freak and so I can't relax when someone else is driving, I don't know.

So there you have it...if you made it this far without falling asleep or leaving, I guess you know a little more about me.

Although its been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas

I had never been to Leavenworth.  For those of you who don't know, Leavenworth is a small "Bavarian" town nestled into Central Washington.  It is about a 2 hour drive from where we live.  I had never really had an interest in seeing it.  I could not imagine why someone would think a Bavarian town would work in the middle of Washington state.  I thought it would look cheesy and misplaced.  I was wrong....very wrong.  It is tucked into the base of some of the largest, most ominous looking mountains I have ever seen.  You follow the river in and then you are surrounded by the mountains.  It is perfect.  You have no idea how completely committed to their theme the town is until you see it.  Gas stations, Safeway, every single storefront no matter what it might contain; they all look completely Bavarian.  The people working were dressed in Bavarian fashions as well.  

So why did I decide to go now?  Afterall, I had lived 33 years without seeing it, and thought I was missing nothing.  Well, we had to go to Wenatchee for Cassadie's swim meet (Wenatchee is 30 minutes from Leavenworth).  It happened to be the same weekend as Leavenworth's Christmas Lighting event.  Most of the families from the team were going, and so we thought we might as well go.  Apparently, people come from all over the country and world to see them turn on Christmas lights!  The main street is completely shut down to cars and packed full of people standing shoulder-to-shoulder.  

The lighting event was kicked off with four men playing these strange looking horns.  They sounded much like a french horn, but very loud.  

There was a gazebo in the park with a lady announcing the event, a choir, and an orchestra,  all dressed perfectly in their Bavarian attire.  They sang and played Christmas Carols the entire time we were there.  

They even did a Bavarian countdown to the lighting of the shopfronts.  I couldn't repeat it even if I wanted to, it was very strange, like numbers coupled with strange shouting. 

I mentioned the mountains earlier, if you look at the backgrounds of these pictures you get an idea of just how huge and close they are.  They were really breathtaking.  

You would think with soooo many people crammed into such a small town, there would be problems.  It was actually quite the opposite, people were extremely generous and polite.  I stopped a couple to ask what a roasted chestnut tastes like (yes they were roasted on an open fire) and they gave me one of theirs to taste.  It was interesting, like a fresh walnut in texture, but less flavorful.  I was trying to take a self-portrait of the four of us, and kept cutting off Jarod's head.  I must have taken three when a couple stopped and offered to help.  The man took the best picture.

 

So, it was a great experience, Leavenworth has won me over.  The only thing our experience lacked was snow, that would have made it perfect.  It was definitely cold enough for snow (Jack Frost nipping at your nose).  I would go back...maybe not just for this event though.  I would go if I happened to be in the area again, but I wouldn't take my family all the way up there just for this.  It might be nice to see in the summer.    

Cassadie's First Meet

Cassadie had her first swim meet today and she had a lot of fun.  She swam in two events, the 50m freestyle and the 100m backstroke.  She did really well for her first swim in a meet.  Her coach was very proud of her, as was I.  She was very nervous this morning, but I think I may have been more nervous for her.  She was so nervous, she forgot to put her goggles on for her first event.  They were still on the top of her head when she dove in.  I was almost sick to my stomach watching her because I felt so bad.  Her coach told her he was so proud of her, he said any other 1st timer would have just stopped, but she swam on and won her heat.  I tried to download the video (about 10 different times) with no success.  They are on my facebook and myspace.

She ended up taking 10th out of 23, which I think is great considering all.  She was definitely not swimming her fastest.  

Her backstroke went well.  Her coach told her that her arms looked great but he would have liked her to have kicked her legs for the entire race.  When she watched the video back, she said "yeah, I probably could have kicked harder than that."  She could have been disqualified because apparently she has to finish the race on her back and she flipped to her stomach as she was reaching for the wall, but the judge didn't see it I guess.  

She had a blast, and has another meet in Cheney, November 22-23.  We're looking forward to it.

 

Mmmmm grapes

I love Fall.  I love how the leaves change, how the weather is chilly at night and warm during the day, how you can bundle up on the couch with a blanket and feel all cozy, and how you can be driving along in the Yakima Valley and suddenly smell grapes.  It is the best smell.  It is not the best smell when they are harvesting hops right next to the vineyard and you get a mix of delightful grapes and pungent hops.  I am used to the smell of hops, but it is always shocking when you take in a deep breath expecting to smell grapes and get hops as well.  For those of you who have never smelled hops, it is a bitter smell that overwhelms and lingers.  

Cassadie and Jarod dressed as a witch and a vampire for Halloween this year.  Cassadie decided that this would be her last year to go Trick-or-Treating.  Jarod will never go alone, so we will have to either find someone for him to go with, or this was his last year also. 

We died Jarod's hair black...he loved it.  I also had to draw on some eyebrows since his are nonexistent.  Look at the way he's standing...he felt pretty cool.

Sometimes I think I get a little carried away with Cassadie's costumes and makeup.  It's the only time she actually likes to look like a girl.  Aren't the socks cute...Mom got those for her.

We had lots of fun.  They got too much candy, as usual.  Cassadie just found her bag from last year the other day, and it was still half full.  She doesn't really eat candy, but she hordes it, so she ends up with candy a year later in some bag at the back of her closet.  It happens every Halloween, Easter, and Valentine's Day.  The lesson here is this:  don't get my daughter candy.

A Dalmation Plantation.... or maybe a zoo

We have a lot of animals...3 cats, a dog, a turtle, and a parakeet.  I guess we like animals, although somedays I'm not so sure.

Cassadie has had quite a history with animals.  When she was six and a half we told her we would get her a kitten if she learned to ride a bike.  She likes to be good at things, and she does not like to have her failure be public, so taking off the training wheels was out of the question.  Anyway, she finally did it, and so we got her a cute orange tabby.  She named it Tiffany.  When we figured out that it was actually a boy we mentioned it to her as a hypothetical situation like "what if Tiffany was actually a boy?"  She was devastated at the mere mention of it and so we didn't tell her.  We got him fixed and called him Tiff behind her back.  Alex referred to it affectionately as a "shim".  It got ran over by a car about 2 years later.  About two years ago, we told her that Tiffany was really a boy.  Cassadie was so upset when Tiffany died that we got her another kitten which she named Abby.  Abby really is a girl.  She had kittens and then we got her fixed.  She is one of the fattest cats we have ever seen.  

As you can see, she has a very small head with a huge belly.  Sometimes she lays in a very unladylike position, sprawled on her back on the floor.  It is a funny sight and reminds me of the marshmallow snowmen we made when we were kids.  A fat, round body with toothpicks for arms and legs.  We started calling her Fat Abby which morphed into Flabby and it stuck.  

She has also had two hermit crabs (which have both died) and now she has a parakeet.  She named it Kianda.  We are not sure whether it is a boy or a girl.  She wanted a female, but the girl at the petstore told us it is too young and we won't be able to tell for a while.  So, we watch for a sign, and hopefully it will be a girl.  Otherwise, we'll have male parakeet named Kianda.

Jarod started with a guinea pig named Jeff, named after Ang and Beckie's friend in Jeff McLain(sp?) in Kansas.  Apparently he had quite an impact on Jarod.   Jeff (the guinea pig) was loud, smelly and dirty, so we gave him to a nice unsuspecting little girl and got Jarod a cat.  Jarod named him Jedi.  He is a solid black cat except for a small white spot on his chest and he is the sweetest cat you will ever meet.  He loves Jarod and follows him around the yard when Jarod goes outside. 

About a year and a half ago, we got Jarod a turtle.  She is a red eared slider and he named her Araynia.  She's not exactly a playful pet.  During the summer, he takes her outside and lets her walk around in the grass.  He talks to her when she's swimming in her aquarium or basking on her log and that's about it.  

Our third cat is Sammy, who was one of Abby's kittens.  He is an orange and white tabby.  He is one of the weirdest and sweetest cats.  He is very affectionate and will lay on your body...he doesn't care what part of your body.  

One day I was laying on Alex relaxing.  Sammy just jumped on my back and made himself comfortable.  He didn't move until I made him.  (Sorry about the red-eye, I know I look creepy, just don't look)

Our dog is Sabrina.  Alex and I have had her since our first year of marriage.  She is a rottweiler/shepherd mix and is about 12 years old now.  She has arthritis and incontinence problems.  Her arthritis means we have to allow her to come in the house during the winter, but her incontinence makes that impossible.  We have her on medication for her incontinence and it has gotten better.  Today I took her to the groomers so she can start coming inside.  We have had some down right chilly nights.  When I went outside to find her, I called and called for her, but she wasn't coming.  Dad helped me by whistling for her, but still no Sabrina.  I was starting to worry, and then I saw her head peak up from some weeds on the north side of the house.  She was so cold that she wouldn't even get up when we called her.  Anyway, she's at the groomers now, and she will be able to come in the house and sleep on a nice warm bed when she gets back.