The Expanding Family (and home)

Yes we still have a blog!
Facebook has changed the way we interact on line. But I'm still not completely pleased with how mercurial and often shallow it is. A blog seems a little more personal and permanent and not so "sound-bite-ish" and "lite."
So I will try to blog some more -- both for the family and for other reasons. I also know my schedule, so we'll see . . .
One of the big changes this year was that when Trey went away to BYU, we rented out his (and Taft's) room to an exchange student from Hong Kong who attends Shoreline Community College. Her name is Mandy and we love having her in our home. And . . . it helps pay for Trey's college -- much needed. Probably need to do a different blog on that.
In any case . . . having the room rented sort of takes it off the options list for when people come to visit, or especially, when students come home from college. We thought of many options, one of which was to see what we could adapt with the playhouse off the deck in back. It will never be "up to code," but we figured we could do a few things (like fix windows broken by missed lacrosse shots . . .). Unfortunately, time and money were both short as we realized that this might be the best option for housing Trey while home from college. So we did the best we could.
We bought a good quality space heater. We hung a few pictures stored from the boys room. Stored a few things that didn't really need to be in there anymore. Hung some fleece over the drafty windows. Found a free bed through a friend who scours Craigslist-type things. And soon . . . Voila! The playhouse became the "Treyhouse" over Christmas.
And he actually loved it.
Thanks Trey for being a good sport.
For those who've been here, the following tour will mean something:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3ja9rPTQSE

Peformances, part 2

For the last little while, Eliza has been working on First Arabesque, by Claude Debussy. With the help of a friend (who has a grand piano and recording equipment), we made the following.

I think she has a great feel for the music.

Ultimately this recording is going to end up as entry in an on-line piano competition in which people will vote (sort of American Idol-like). We'll let you know so you can cast your votes.

Enjoy!

Performance

For his senior project, Trey decided to make a CD of him playing the guitar and singing -- including composing some of the songs. The word got out and he was asked to perform one of his original compositions at an event at the high school called "Tattoo Coffeehouse." Tattoo is the name of a book the school produces each year with the collected works of students -- poetry, short story, art, etc. The "Coffeehouse" night is when they invite students to perform their original work. Sort of like an open mic night at a coffeehouse, with poetry readings interspersed with music.

Our recording of his performance is below. Not bad for the kid who hid behind the pulpit the first few times he was asked to speak in primary and wouldn't give his talk because he was so embarrassed to speak in front of people.

One other piece of background. Trey wrote this song after watching the movie "Up." Those who have watched the movie I think will see the connection -- if you can pick up on the words. Sorry for the bad recording. All I had was my camera. I promise better recordings in the future.




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Taft goes on a mission

OK, so I'm slow on posting. It actually happened pretty fast. Taft got his call the last week of September and had to report to the Mission Training Center on November 4, 2009 in preparation to go to the Argentine Buenos Aires South Mission. The last week of September is also the first week of school at the U of Washington -- and thus the first week of Institute for me (Todd). Taft also got a new job that week. It was a whirlwind preparation. Seemed like we were just sprinting for the 5 1/2 weeks we had to see him off.

Lisa and I decided that we wanted to go down with him, flying down a day before to just have some individual time with him, and hang out in Salt Lake for a day -- especially to take him through the Salt Lake Temple.



One of the fun little parts of the trip was that we had a special travel deal through Sam's Club that included a full size rental car. When we got there they had ready for us one of Taft's favorite cars -- a Dodge Charger. We had no idea that's what we would get. It was kind a fun. By the way -- it was 70 degrees while we were there on November 3rd and 4th -- no a cloud in the sky.

In addition to the temple we got to meet some general authorities (you'll have to ask us about that). And before the sun went entirely down we hike Ensign Peak -- a favorite place of ours from clear back when we lived in Salt Lake during the time Taft was almost 2 until he was almost 7 years old.

We decided we like the new MTC policy of curbside drop off. It was great to do it all in 3 minutes. Todd is fighting off the tears which probably explains why there isn't a picture of Lisa and Taft -- too emotional of a camera operator to press the button correctly. Plus . . . the MTC person was saying (very firmly): "Let's go! If you've said good-bye, let's keep it moving." (She is either a very NON emotional person, or she never had dropped off a son for 2 years.) But we kept it moving -- we didn't want any trouble at such a great event. But, of course, the picture of Taft says it all -- he's ready to go and anxious to get on with it. Sure it's hard to say good-bye -- we can't imagine not having him around for all he is to our family and for all he does -- but we wouldn't have him any other place doing any other thing. It's a deep mix of emotions -- both of which involve tears for parents.

Seattle Kid's Marathon

The Sunday after Thanksgiving there is a big marathon in Seattle that finishes in the old Memorial Stadium underneath the Space Needle. Since we've lived in Seattle (and probably before), they have held a "Kid's Marathon" in association with the full 26.2 mile one. Elementary school children are challenged to run 25 miles in the month of November, and then at this special event on Saturday morning (the day before the big 26.2) the kids run a 1.2 mile fun run -- thus running an entire marathon in the month of November.
Abigail has run the kid's marathon the last 2 years. Parents are issued the same number as the child and allowed to run with them. Lisa ran with Abigail the first year, Todd last year. This year the new Kindergarten student Thaddeus joined the event. To get ready for it, his big sister Eliza (age 14) ran with him to get his 25 miles in the month of November. And this year they added some other requirements -- reading 13 books and doing 13 special deeds of service.
So . . . this morning was the event. The temperature was in the low 40s, but we all bundled up. Todd ran with Thaddeus and Lisa ran with Abigail. Eliza was the photographer.
Lisa reported that Abigail ran steady but was a little nervous after last year when she got a little quesy at the end after running REALLY hard. But she put on a big kick at the end and left her Mom in the dust (and her Mom is a good regular runner).
Todd reports that Thaddeus ran the whole way except for one small part at the top of a formidable hill about halfway through. He was short of breath and so Todd said, "Let's walk and count to 25, and then we'll start running again." When we got to 20 he wanted to start and we ran the rest of the way. When we got to the stadium he put on an all out sprint and both of us raised our arms in victory as we crossed the finish line.
Afterwards they give each participant a space blanket, a bottle of water, a t-shirt, and then they go into exhibition all for handouts on fitness and other food samples.
We all had a good time. Special thanks to Eliza for training the not-always-anxious-to-put-in-his-miles Thaddeus. She earned her merit badge on this one. See picture at the end of a rainy run as well as the congratulatory hug at the end of the event.







This is a great event and I recommend it to other communities.

First Day of School!

The last couple of weeks have been the first days of school for the kids. For a long time it has been a tradition for us to take a picture of the kids on their first day of school. 

     

This is Thaddeus and Abigail as they left the house

to go to Brookside Elementary. This year Thaddeus will be a kindergartner, with Ms. Harris and Abigail will be a fifth grader, with Ms. Nowak. (Abigail claims she is most wanted teacher of the fifth grade!) 

This is them getting on the bus at the bus stop down the road! 

Then we have Miss Eliza. She started her first day of high school as a freshmen at Shorecrest High school the year! 

Also going to Shorecrest, Trey is starting his senior year! 

This year Trevor has also returned to school. He entered the West Point Military Academy in June. The first six weeks were spent in a special boot camp training experience called Beast. Having completed that he has been in school for about a month now as a plebe. (Plebe is the affectionate nicknamed bestowed upon the freshman!)

Unfortunately the many pictures we have of our army man are not available to me at this moment, so I will publish a few pictures of his past adventure as soon as I can access some photos that will actually load onto this site! 

(post made by child number four: Eliza) 

Hi, Trey here. I got asked to put up photos of the recent trip to West Point in order to please my Grandmother on her birthday. So here they are. Unfortunately, I was not on this trip, so the details will be coming from a primary source shortly (Namely Mom or Dad). Happy Birthday Grammy Beth!!!!