The Christmas Story

The children at church had a mini Christmas program this year. Each of our kids had a speaking part and then Spencer became a last minute Donkey fill in. It was a great and heart warming message from the children on the true meaning of Christmas. I have been so blessed by our Children's ministry leaders. Out kids are so lucky to have Aunt Sue and Mr. Bill lead them!

FUN SNOW FINALLY!!!

This was the first day of fun in the snow...the snow so far had been really dry and the kids couldn't make a snowball for anything. This girls had a blast with Dad building these two huge snowmen...while mom was working on some things inside and Spencer was sleeping in until around 11 that day! he missed out that is for sure.

bake day 2007

My cooking partner Sarah and I decided that we would continue on in tradition and make our assortment of baked goods for the holidays this year....our favorite and a tradition and recipe handed down from my family is the beloved Almond Roca. I attempted to take precaution by wearing a long sleeve shirt in case steaming hot melted butter popped out of the pan.....but this is what happened when a huge splat of boiling butter shot out and got caught between the protective layer and my skin....and continued to cook! it took over 12 hrs for the burn to subside and that was with it on ice that entire time. But I have to say...I would do it again....it is the best almond roca ever!!!

3rd Grade Potlatch

Through the month of November, the 3rd grade classes studied the Native American history in the Spokane area. In December we had the privilege of a small performance and then share in the potlatch in Maddie's classroom. Maddie did a fantastic job at welcoming all of the parents to the program and then she also had the part as the muskrat in the little skit in the Potlatch. They had a great time!

'Twas the night before Christmas

Spencer had his 1-2 grade Christmas program at school and he was selected for a tiny part as one of Santa's Elves. He had a great time and of course he did the ususal while on stage....hands in pockets! wierd...but so cute.

The traveling salesman

We had a special visit with our friend Joe from Oregon. He is a sales rep and part of his territory is Ritzville, WA. Which happens to only be about an hour south of us. So occasionally we get the chance to catch up with him while he is on the road. The kids always get excited to see him. He brings many smiles and many good memories from home for us. In one of the pictures below he is showing the kids how he can shake his eyes. quite freaky.

The great Christmas tree hunt

Since we planned to go to Oregon for Christmas this year we decided to get our tree as early as possible. It was a lot of fun because it was just after the first snow of the season. We found a tree that Dan nor I knew what kind it was. We both agree it was the prettiest tree we have chosen to date.

Thanksgiving 2007

It was fun having thanksgiving at home this year with family from home! Even extra special since my sisters family finally moved home to the states from Australia. The girls made us a special construction paper quilt that we hung on the wall. It had cute little decorations of pilgrims, native Americans and turkeys. We had a really great time showing Jake, Jenny and the kids downtown Spokane on one of the days they were here.

City League Fall Ball

Tina and I played Fall softball this year with a bunch of friends from Jacob's Well. It was a perfect league for us because we only played one day a week and, with double headers on Sunday evenings, we got 10 games in 5 weeks. We purposely played in a city league and not a church league. For anyone who's ever played in the latter, you know why. If not, I submit the opening verse to comedian Tim Wilson's song, 'Church League Softball Fistfight":

Church League Softball Fistfight
Gettin' washed in the blood on a Tuesday night
What would Jesus do? Lord he wouldn't do that
Knock the hell out of a preacher with a softball bat

We had a blast and met some cool people from other teams. Some of us came out of softball retirement to play and we coaxed others to join us who had never played before. It was a good mix and a chance to hang out with some people from church that we didn't know as well. We even made it to the semifinals in the season ending tournament. We'll definitely do this again next year. I forgot how much I missed competing on a team. It was also cool to see my wife bust out her cannon arm! In the picture below of Tina hucking it from the outfield, we threw a guy out at home on a relay from Tina to me to Spencer Koonz. (who cares that my throw was to the first base side of home and allowed the runner to slide under Spence's tag. The ump called him out and that's what the scorebook shows baby!) Thanks to Doug & Dona Bryant at The Decal Factory for sponsoring our team and a special thanks to Mike McMullen for all the pictures used below. (between this and the Pony League season for Spencer and Logan, I'm gonna make a sports fan out of you yet McMullen)

Some more good action shots

Coeur d'Alene Resort Course - September 29th

For the second year in a row, the fellas from my office and I had the privilege of playing in a golf tournament at the Coeur d'Alene Resort Course. As the pictures below attest, it is a top notch course. We play a scramble format and each foursome has a caddie, two tricked out golf carts and drink vouchers for the beverage cart. Afterwards, they auction off a ton of door prizes and feed us a great lunch with Kobe beef. Much like last year, we stunk as a foursome, but had a blast. Chris is directly to my left, Jason is next to him, and the gentleman on the end (Tom) is a friend of my boss. These pictures are courtesy of Jason. Thanks to Dona for ponying up the entry fee and to Doug for the day off. (did I mention we played on a Friday)

High Drive Parkway - September 22nd

Our niece Grace flew up from Sparks, NV for a 10 day visit this September. They do school year-round in Nevada, so she was actually on a short summer break while our kids were back to school. The kids and I took her for a hike off of High Drive Parkway up on the South Hill. I'd say she looks like she's ready for a hike.