Snow in Lynnwood!

http://picasaweb.google.com/adryder/SnowDecember2008?feat=directlink

This is a link to some of our pictures of the recent snow,
including a snowman with the "kit" Pete and Becky gave
us a few years back. We never thought it would get so
much use here in the Northwest!

Enjoy!

Braden's birthday 2

Braden with 3rd birthday gifts.

Braden's 3rd Birthday

Braden's "Toy Story" Cake,
and Braden with Joanie and James.

Snow in the Mountains!

On Sunday we drove up to Stevens Pass on US 2.
We thought the snow would all be higher than the road,
which crosses the pass at about 4000 feet. But just
short of the summit, we found snow along the road,
and here at the base of the Stevens Pass ski resort
--lots of snow!

We didn't have the right clothes to get out and play
in it, but both boys got to hold some--and Braden
ate his!

First Day of School!

September 2 was the first day of our new fall schedule: James' first day of kindergarten and Braden's first day to go to Ashley's for a half day. Other than James' glasses getting left on the bus in the afternoon (we got them back), it was a great first day of school, and the rest of the week was good too. James loves riding the bus, and Braden never wants to leave Ashley's when I go to pick him up. They are both really into their backpacks, and I think are happy to be back to a "regular" schedule.

Whidbey Island August 31

On Sunday the 31st, we made our usual "end of summer" pilgrimage to Camp Casey on Whidbey Island. But in the ferry line, we ran into our friends the Hagemeiers (James and Annika have been in the same class since Little Red School House), whose parents have a cabin on the island. They invited us to stop by to meet the rest of their family and hang out on the beach for a little while. So we did. Braden and James played with Annika and Nathan, drove a mechanical car in the driveway, played on the beach, and got to meet Annika and Nathan's cousins.
Then we went on up to Camp Casey and flew a kite, walked on the beach, walked past the fort and lighthouse and back to the car and home. A beautiful day!

Robe Canyon Trail: Saturday August 30

We left in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday of Labor Day weekend, headed for the "Old Robe Canyon Trail" just northeast of the town of Granite Falls, about 50 miles from Seattle. When we got to the trailhead (a blank brick pillar at the edge of a grove of trees) it was raining, but we went ahead. The trail wound through the woods, then started down a steep hill through a series of switchbacks. At the bottom, it passed through almost swampy territory, with some large trees, and even larger-leaved plants. When we reached the river (a fork of the Stillaguamish), it was rocky but calm and relatively wide, with the same kind of wooded plain on the other side. As we followed the trail, we got closer and closer to the river, until we were clambering over rocks along a former gold rush train track cut right into the rocks. You could still see RR ties embedded in the rocks, even though most of it had been obliterated by rockslides. We were hoping to reach the main attraction of the trail--two RR tunnels--but the trail was closed just in sight of the first one. But the weather cleared up and it was sunny on the way back up the hill, and the scenery was gorgeous, and the boys did a great job of walking about 3 miles!

Getting Ready for Kindergarten!

Here are some pictures from this week's meetings at James' new school.
It's called Woodway Elementary School.











Here is a Google Map of the location:

View Larger Map

His teacher is Mrs. Cook, here's the class website.


Here's James with his backpack in front of a mural at school,
and the daily schedule for his class.

He's in afternoon kindergarten, from 12:40-3:10, riding the bus both ways!

Park Video

Here's Braden running and singing at the park. He's singing "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" from Veggie Tales.

At the Park

Here are the boys at the park a few weeks ago.
James wore his glasses the whole time, and climbed some "ladders"
on the playground that he hasn't before!

R-Word Video

As part of the response to the "R-word" respect campaign for people with intellectual challenges, Will Schermerhorn, known for several videos on kids with Down syndrome (his son, Mason, was born in 2000), has created a video montage with the Arc of Northern Virginia. Very moving.

Join the R-word campaign and pledge your support at http://www.r-word.org/. (This is a site hosted by Special Olympics which has been prompted by the use of the r-word in this summer's film TROPIC THUNDER. But the response has galvanized numerous groups and brought wonderful new visibility to the abilities and accomplishments of all kinds of people!

Here's the Video:

VBS 2008

If you're interested, our most recent church newsletter
had a report on VBS, which was about Heroes. There are
just two photos accompanying the report, which appears
on page 4 of this pdf document. One is of James with
Elizabeth Dunne, who was his "helper" for the week.
(The other is our new associate pastor as "Pirate Paul.")
Find the newsletter at: http://www.edmondsumc.org/uploads/Guidelights/7-31-08web.pdf.

Here's our "family picture" taken at EDCC by the "snowball bush" in June 2008! You can't tell it's a snowball bush, and instead of Memorial Day it's a month later, but that's how it goes!

Kids in the Kayak

Uncle Ted let the boys sit in the kayak!

James' Glasses!

James got his new glasses on Tuesday.
He's doing pretty well with them.
He doesn't keep them on all the time, but
he's been pretty good about taking them off
and handing them to us rather than
throwing them!

More fun with Zorro!

Beth got to go to Little Bit with us to see James
ride Zorro. These are some of her pictures.

At the Beach with Beth

Beth and I took the boys to the beach one day too.