Batter up!

Max's baseball season started Monday night. He was very excited to pitch for half the game. I think it was harder than he thought it would be, but he did okay. I thought I'd post a few pictures.


The coach was out of town, so Brett filled in. It was the first time Brett has ever coached Max.

Loving her big brother.

Elise was thrilled to be at the game.

RIP Dorothy

Cameron decided to share his milk with his beta fish Dorothy this morning. We scrambled to get the fish quickly into safe water, but unfortunately we weren't in time. Cameron kept saying "I'm sorry, Dorthy. I'm sorry." I felt so bad for him. This afternoon we're making a run to Petco for a new Dorothy. Maybe this one will be a girl.

Brett's Project

Brett has taken up a new woodworking hobby in the last few months. This is the coffee table he finished last night for our living room. The design is his own--no plans. It is made with scrap mahogany trim from Larry and Nancy's remodel. It is a beautiful table. Now he is going to start on a matching end table.

Loving Leavenworth

This weekend was our anniversary trip to Leavenworth, WA. It wasn't far away or for very long, but I can't imagine having a better time than we did.

On our way, we detoured a few miles out of the way so Brett could go look at an old fishing hole. I'm not sure how he found it since he hasn't been there in 20 years. It was waaayyy past the middle of nowhere up a steep, twisting, primitive road which was only wide enough for one vehicle. Brett delightedly threw it into 4WD and even got to drive through a creek bed. He loves that truck.

There really is water all the way down there.

Bavaria Washington-style

Leavenworth is a beautiful little German-themed resort town on the east slopes of the Cascades. All the buildings have German style architecture and there are flowers everywhere. Even the McDonalds and Safeway have gingerbread woodwork and painted folk scenes on the outside. We stayed at the Enzian Inn.

Every morning at our hotel, a man stood on the balcony railing of the breakfast room and played an Alpenhorn serenade. It doesn't look too bad until you realize that he's four stories up!

There is no way you'd catch me standing on that balcony rail!

Brett got to play this neat 19th century piano in the lobby.

Leavenworth's 'Welcome Wagon'

Beautiful accordion

Dinner in a giant beer barrel.

Lot's of gingerbread woodwork and decorative painting.

My two favorite stores--the Wood Shop and the Hat Shop.

Where else besides a faux German town would you find a faux beer hat?

Now you know what is under that fin in the water.

No caption can possibly do this picture justice. It speaks for itself, 'ja?!

A little boy stood staring at me when I tried on this birthday hat. I gave him a thumbs up before putting the hat back in the window. He ran to put it on and turned to his dad. "Wouldn't it be cool to have this hat and if it was your birthday you'd get to wear it!" I had to agree with him that it was a great idea, so now we have a new birthday tradition at our house.


Enzian Falls Putting Green

Our hotel had a very pretty 18-hole putting course we got to play on a couple of times. There were waterfalls, flowers everywhere and even a deer and three mountain goats living on the course.

Nature has equipped this mountain goat to scratch its own itches.

Look whose ball is closer to the hole!

Stuart Lake Hike

Saturday morning we headed into Icicle Canyon for a hike up to Stuart Lake. It was a demanding hike, but the views along the way and at the end made the effort well worth it. It was easily the best part of a wonderful trip.

Lots of big rocks

and raging waterfalls thundering down the canyon.

As nice as the picture is, it doesn't match reality.

We hit snow at the top section of trail. In places, it was nearly three feet deep, as Brett found out the hard way! We mostly followed other people's footprints so we could keep out of the really deep stuff. Eventually, we found our way to Stuart Lake.

The first glimpse.

Breathtaking.

The reason we're grinning here isn't the heady rush of being in nature. It is more amusement at my shocking lack of physical coordination. I had placed my camera on a rock and set the timer before leaping down the slope to join Brett for the picture. As I hopped up onto the rock, I slipped backwards and found myself clutching to the rock to keep from going head over heels. Brett's arm is about the only thing that is keeping me upright. But it is a nice picture.

Another side of the lake.

A bald eagle flying across the lake and the mountain face.

Heading Home

All good things must come to an end. We had a wonderful time and but now we were ready to see our kids. (Thanks a million, Melissa!) On the way home we stopped at this great 50s style diner called Tom, Dick and Harry's.

They had cutouts of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, a free jukebox, lots of black and white checks and chrome. The decor was fun, but the shakes were awesome. We're already looking for excuses to go back.

My favorite decor was the pink Cadillac booths.

So back to home sweet home and real life. We came home to happy and healthy kids (except the one that wasn't happy to see us because she wanted Aunt Melissa to stay). Melissa had put all her endurance training to work in feeding, bathing, clothing and caring for seven kids . . . and a dog . . . and a fish! I think she's the one that needs the vacation now. Let us know when, Melissa, and we're right here!

Yeah Camille!

Camille was inducted tonight into the Soaring Hawks Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society. Selection is based primarily on academics, but with components of service, leadership, citizenship, etc. I think she was happy about it, but felt a little uncomfortable with all the eyes watching.

One of the speakers tonight was a girl named Cindy Wu, who went to Camille's elementary school and her middle school before graduating as a valedictorian at University High School, where Camille will be going. She will be attending Gonzaga in the fall with nearly $40,000 in scholarships. As she was introduced and delivered her remarks it was obvious that she is an extremely well-rounded and intelligent young woman.

Near the end of her talk, she told how in her sophomore year her parents divorced and her mother moved to Arizona with a boyfriend. A year later her father got cancer and went to his native home in Taiwan for treatment, leaving Cindy alone in their home to finish her high school education and her Running Start classes. His treatments were very expensive, so this not only became tough emotionally, but financially as well. Sadly, her father did not recover and died in 2008. Through all of it she just kept moving forward. She spoke of the need for balance in addition to hard work. Her attitude was amazing.

It was only when I got home and told Brett about Cindy that I found out she is the daughter of the late Steven Wu, who was one of Brett's friends at work. It put a different spin on things and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all night. The day of Steven's funeral was the only day I ever recall Brett wearing a suit and tie to work. I couldn't help but think that he must be very proud of his daughter.

A Little Crispy around the Edges, but Still There

I just realized that I forgot to post these pictures from our Memorial Day hike with our friends to the Dishman-Hills Natural Area. We hadn't been there since last summer's bad fires, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

This was last summer.

We were delighted to find it only a little black here and there. Much better than I expected. We did a great hike to a pond. The boys had a rough time there. Max fell in the water doing something unwise and Tanner got his knees stuck in the guardrail surrounding the pond. I think Tanner started to worry when even his parents couldn't get him unstuck. After five long minutes and the loss of some skin, something gave and he was able to get free. I had visions of us carrying him down the trail, suspended by his knees from the detached section of railing.

Max, Tanner Christensen, Camille, Elise and Katie Christensen. Cameron refused to leave the trail long enough for a picture. Natalie and Garrett were riding in style in the backpacks.

Natalie and Dad. Too cool!

We ended up meeting another family from our ward back at Camp Caro for a picnic dinner and a game of wiffle ball. A nice day.

Fathers and Sons (and Mom and Daughters) Outing

This weekend was the annual Fathers and Sons Outing. I love this tradition. Like Christmas, birthdays and the 4th of July, it is one of those times that kids love and remember forever. Ours was at Camp Easton this year. The boys swam in the lake, shot at things with the wrist rocket, looked at a captured frog, played in the dirt, stayed up until 11pm playing ultimate frisbee with a glow-in-the-dark disc, and ate lots and lots of junk food. They grilled brats, drank orange cream soda from a bottle, ate cookies, chips, smores and Hostess fruit pies. I'm not sure how, but no one threw up. I think there is no digestion as tough as a little boy's!

Brett had Cameron wear his light-up hiking boots. It was a good thing he did because then Brett could always find him in the dark. He wanted to wear his boots to bed, but Dad wasn't having that. A late night and an early rise and they were back at it again. They had dutch oven french toast that sounded so good I'm planning on getting the recipe. Some of the boys got a bit macho about sunscreen and refused to put any on. You could tell who they were today because they were the ones with their dress shirts untucked and who were walking very gingerly down the hallway.

Not to be outdone, the girls and I went clothes shopping. Then we gathered with other moms and (mostly) daughters to eat pizza, talk and play. Once Natalie was in bed, Elise and Camille made smores in the microwave and got very sticky and chocolate-y. We played the longest game of Uno Attack I've ever experienced. Every time one of us got down to one card the dispenser would shoot out eight more. By11pm Elise was begging to go to bed, so we started playing cooperatively and a delighted Elise had won in less than five minutes. Camille opted not to sleep with Elise and I in the tent in the living room. That was probably wise. It wasn't a great night's sleep, but it was worth it to see how excited Elise was.

Sadly, there aren't pictures of any of this. I thought Brett had the camera. He left in charging in the office and forgot to bring it along. We'll do better next time.