Sledding Fun!

GET READY!

GET SET!

GO!!!

We took the kids up to Hyak at Snoqualmie for some sledding yesterday.  To quote Brooke, "All you need is some sand or some snow and the kids will play all day!"  So true.  Nate invited Emma, so even he had a great time.  

This double (or triple) tube was a huge hit! 

Brooke brought along her own personal heater. 

Torah was so snuggly and warm, she slept almost the entire day!

Some of the gang, the ones I could catch at the same time, anyway. 

They didn't stand still for longer than it took to take this picture. 

Emma yelling to Nate to "keep your arms up!"  He'd try to sneak either his arms or feet down to slow them down.  I'm with him!  It freaks me out to go so fast.

Ben had a blast!  He wasn't afraid to go on his own, but really enjoyed going with Brad, too.

Testing to see if Nathan Russell's military snow gear is really snow proof!

After lunch, the kids took a break from sledding to play in the snow and build some snow forts.

Brad and I went for a walk in the woods where the snow was so deep that I stepped into some spots up to my hip!  We found a nice spot by a little river and took a picture of ourselves. 

The river is below us, I couldn't figure out how to get it in the picture with us.

Ben, Cash, and Adana built a snowman together.  After playing in the snow, they hit the slopes for another hour or so.  Everyone had a great time and got thoroughly soaked! 

After a long day of sledding, we stopped at XXX Root Beer in Issaquah for some yummy burgers!

It might not have been good for us, but it sure tasted good!

The decor inside was reminiscent of "Fat Smitty's" in Port Townsend.  I didn't get a picture, but the people next to us ordered XXX burgers...HUGE is the only word for it, dinner plate size burgers.  It gave me a stomach ache just looking at them! We all stuck with more normal sized burgers.  Their home-brewed root beer was delicious! 

Merry Christmas!

We celebrated Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Van Aken's...our traditional "Chinese Christmas."  Don't ask why they call it that, I have no idea and I don't really want to know.  It's one of those things that's been passed down from Brad's childhood. To be more politically correct, I try to call it the "Gift Exchange Game," but it might take a few more generations before a new name catches on!  Anyway, it's lots of fun, especially when we have Ashley, Brandon & Jane, Alicia, Brad's cousins the Willliams family, and our friends the Wises with us.  

Brad opened one of the early gifts...this stunning neon violin clock!  Needless to say, it was not one of the highly traded gifts.  He did manage to bribe his cousin's son to take it at the end of the night by giving him $10. 

Since Pat and Sarah weren't here this year, there wasn't a stand-out "must have" gift.  The most popular ones that got traded every round were $15 cash, a $15 i-Tunes card, two movie tickets, a set of pocket knives, and a Nerf shotgun.  Izaac Wise had his heart set on the Nerf gun and held on to it for a good part of the game.  He lost it near the end, but thanks to some sweet dealing by Alicia, was able to get it back in the final round.  We all know Alicia really wanted that Zhu-zhu pet! 

The kids woke up around 6:00 Christmas morning with strict orders that they could open their stockings, but had to wait until 7:00 to wake us up.  Why did we pick 7:00?  Next year it will be 8:00, at least!  With our attempts to have a simpler Christmas this year, the gifts were all open by 7:30.  I was able to capture some smiles while they were opening their presents. Even though they're not little anymore, and didn't have piles of toys to open, they still enjoyed their gifts and were grateful for what they received.

No, we did not give Nate oven bags!  All he wanted for Christmas this year was a guitar strap, headphones, and cash.  I wrapped the cash in different sized boxes so he would have something to open.

What was Santa thinking, bringing Ben a pocket knife?  We've had to remind him several times that a pocket knife isn't an inside tool!

Christmas afternoon, we headed over to my parents' for dinner and more presents.  

Grandma got the kids these awesome sleds, just in time for our sledding trip Monday! 

Tif posing in the headband/neck warmer I made for her.

Jonah and Brad really hit it off this year.  Jonah was fascinated with cracking nuts!

Christmas dinner!  Grandpa got to sit at the "boy's table" with the younger grandsons. 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

32 years

Last night we celebrated Brad's parent's 32nd wedding anniversary with a wonderful dinner party that Ashley, Brandon, and Alicia planned.  Brandon put together a slide show of pictures from their wedding and early marriage.  Brad was 8 when his parents got married, so it was fun to see pictures of him as a little boy.  Ashley planned a few games, first a "Newlywed" game with questions to Morgan about Vikki and vice versa.  Vikki won, and Brad answered almost as many questions correctly about them as they did about each other.  The next game was trivia questions about both of them and events from 1978.  Somehow I won that one!  

Then we each gave a toast to Morgan and Vikki.  I loved hearing what everyone had to say about them.  Alicia talked about how supportive her parents have always been to her, how they've emphasized the importance of education (she's in graduate school getting her Master's in education), and how they have taught her to work hard.  Ashley thanked them for always being there for her and helping her in any situation she needed help with.  Brad quoted a poem his dad wrote when Brad was a kid:

"O little worm, you work so hard
to burrow in the ground.
You work all day, in the heat
without the slightest sound.
Watching you work so earnestly,
I'm glad that you can't talk.
For then I'd have to tell you,
You're digging on a rock."

And he talked about his dad's sense of humor.  Kylie echoed that and told the "chihuahua joke", her favorite joke that Grandpa has told her.  Brandon talked about how when he wanted to ask Ashley to marry him he wanted to get permission from Morgan first.  He called around the Stake to find Morgan's phone number and everyone he talked to had so many good things to say about the Van Aken family.  Nate and Jillian both commented on how they enjoy spending time at Grandma and Grandpas because they get to eat lots of junk and watch TV late into the night. And I thanked them for their love and their great ability to be non-judgemental and accepting. 

I'm so thankful we live close to Brad's family and have the opportunity to spend time with them. 

Jane fell asleep during dessert.  Never leave your sleeping two year old unattended around Brad's family!

Jillian's Band Concert

In the midst of all our evening events, Jillian had a band concert during the day on Wednesday.  I am so impressed with the progress she's made on the clarinet.  She started playing the trombone at the beginning of 5th grade last year and decided at the end of the year that she wanted to switch to clarinet.  (Yay!)  Over the summer she took a few private lessons, and now, four months into the 6th grade school year, she's totally caught up to the kids who started playing in 5th grade.  Way to go, Jillian!  Here's a sample from their fun holiday concert:

More Christmas Fun!

Three more nights of activities down, three more to go!  I'll probably be sad when we finally have a night when we get to stay home with nothing to do. 

Thursday night was Ben's Cub Scout pack meeting, where he earned his First Aid segment.  His scout leader showed him the patch and asked him what it was for.  He said, "CPR, no, wait, that doctor thing...First Aid!" 

Friday night Mariann and I took Jillian and another friend's daughter to see Annie at BPA.  It was fabulous!  I loved the orphans singing "It's a Hard-knock Life" and "You're Never Fully Dressed without a Smile."  Annie was the first Broadway play I ever saw.  My parent's took me when I was about 8 or 9.  Then a  year or so later, our Stake performed the play and I played the part of Molly.  I had the opening lines, "Mommy, Mommy!  I want my mommy!"  For some reason my acting career never took off...hmmm, I wonder why?

Last night we had a Christmas cookie exchange.  Our house was packed with people.  Our kids and our friends' kids are all getting bigger and seem to take up more room than they used to!  But it was so much fun to visit and eat lots of yummy cookies. 

Gretchen and her daughter made these adorable Santa cookies and "coconut balls" which the kids giggled about, saying they looked like Santa droppings.  Ewww!!!  They were tasty, though

I wanted to get a a picture of all the goodies, but I think this was taken before everyone got there. 

I didn't get many pictures of people visiting, but we had a very nice time together.  I wish we had room to invite everyone we love.  It's so hard to plan something like this and know we are leaving people out.  Our ward is growing like crazy and I really want to get to know more of the new people, too. 

Guy talk, I guess!

Carlyn fell in love with Torah!  

Can you believe she's going to have a baby in ten days?  She looks so great! 

Oh Calm, All Ye Stressful

Someone told me they heard that farsical title for "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful", and I thought it was very fitting for the week we've had!   We've had one event after the other every single night since last Saturday, and it will continue that way until this coming Monday.  They are all good, fun, Christmas-y (for the most part) activities, and all things I want to do (for the most part!), but for a home-body like me, it gets a little stressful being away from home every night. 

Last Friday, Kylie invited a few friends over to make gingerbread houses.  None of the boys in the group she usually hangs out with were able to come, so the dynamics were a little different than I was used to with four teenage girls.  They were very nice to include Jillian and Ben.  Nate stayed as far away as he could, for good reason!  Silliness prevailed.

One of Kylie's friends made the house in the middle.  I'm pretty sure she was just kidding around, but you never know with teenage girls!

Jillian, Kylie, and Ben's creations.

Saturday night was our ward Christmas party, a Whobilation Celebration of historic proportions!  Our ward has grown so much over the past year that I think we've outgrown sit-down dinners.  The entire cultural hall was packed with tables, 10 to 12 to a table, and still people had to stand or sit out in the hall.  The activities committee outdid themselves; maybe as a final hurrah since the word from church headquarters is that the activities committees should no longer exist.  They planned a production of "The Grinch who Stole Christmas" and invited everyone to dress up as Whos.  Ben and Jillian really got into it.  They had more fun dressing up for this than they did for Halloween.

Chloe, Jillian, and two of the Grinch's great-grandaughters, and Cindy-Lou Who (the cutie on the right with  the most amazing hair!  Her mom said it took two hours to put up.  Neither of my girls would have ever sat still that long, and I never would have wanted to spend that much time on hair!)

Best friends! 

Sorry this one's a little blurry, I must have been laughing while I took the picture!

 

More Whos....

and more Whos...

and more...

and more,

and more Whos!  (They reproduce like crazy, you know!)

This is the only decent picture from the play portion of the evening.  I haven't figured out if there's a better low light setting on my camera.

At the end, the Grinch was available for pictures.  Poor Timmy wasn't too sure about him! 

Sunday night was the Stake Choir Celebration.  Jillian has been part of our ward choir for the past six months or so, and it has been wonderful to see her interacting with so many people she normally wouldn't get a chance to associate with otherwise.  Each of the ten ward choirs performed a piece, then at the end they all sang "Joy to the World".  The choirs were seated on the sides of the chapel and into the cultural hall, so the audience was surrounded by music when they sang together.  It felt like we were in the midst of a chorus of angels.  I wish they would have done more combined songs!

Monday evening we went to our ward's Nativity exhibit.  More than 100 nativities from all over the world were on display.  I really wish my camera did better in low light.  I didn't take any pictures because I knew they wouldn't turn out, but there were so many beautiful nativities.  It made me wish I had thought of buying a nativity in the Philippines when Kylie and I were there last summer.  I would love to have a collection of nativities from the different countries I visit.  Yes, right now it would be a very small collection, since I've only been to the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Canada! 

Tuesday was a double event, first Kylie's Holiday Band Concert, then the Relief Society Christmas Party.  No pictures from either event, but both were very nice.  Kylie is in the Symphonic Band and they played selections from the Nutcracker.  After she was finished playing I rushed over to the church to catch the end of the Relief Society party.  I turned over most of the planning to my trusty assistants, so it was a little more relaxing for me this year.  They did a fabulous job putting everything together.  There were several musical numbers and a sister who just returned from Israel spoke about her experience hiking the Jesus Trail. 

Technically Wednesday night I didn't have to be anywhere, but my kids had their activities at church.  We did a little family activity before we dropped them off.  The youth had a nice dinner for the grandmas and grandpas in the ward.  Each "elder" sat with six of seven "youngers" to eat and visit.  Both Kylie and Nate said it was a very fun evening.  Jillian and her group had a babysitting night, which she really enjoyed.  She loves little kids. 

The next five nights are filled with activities as well.  I'm really ready for Christmas break to get here so at least I can sleep in a little in the morning! 

I’m Free!

Wow, what an ordeal.  I’ve never been so glad not to have been chosen for something.  Now that I have officially been dismissed from jury duty, I can give more details. 

So, are you ready for this?  It was an attempted murder case.  Yep.  A biggie!  Do any of you fellow Islanders recall

this case?

When we were first led into the court room, not knowing anything about the case, I had a bad feeling when the sign above the doors read “Criminal court”.  The feeling got worse when the judge started explaining the case and said it was an attempted murder case that could last until the new year.  I went absolutely cold inside when she read the defendant’s name and his charges.  I don’t remember the exact wording, but there were four separate charges relating to attempted murder in which a minor was present, and breaking and entering.  The creepiest part was that the accused was sitting with his attorney right in front of us, looking us over as the judge was reading out the charges.

For the next two hours, the potential jurors sat in the courtroom while the judge went through a series of questions designed to weed through unsuitable jurors.  The only question I could answer “yes” to was “Do you know any police officers or anyone associated with the legal profession?”  I had to answer “no” to the follow-up question, “Would this relationship have any affect on your ability to be impartial in this case?” 

Then we listened to everyone who had hardships, medical or otherwise, which varied from “My 91 year old mother is having medical problems and only speaks Japanese and I’m her translator,” to “I have a two week non-refundable cruise scheduled over Christmas,” to “I was in a car accident last year and shattered my spine so I can’t sit for more than 1/2 an hour at a time,” to “I’m the ruler of the universe and everything and everyone will cease to exist if I’m trapped in this courtroom for the next four weeks."   Unfortunately, being a stay at home mom whose children are at school all day and who doesn’t contribute to the family’s financial well-being doesn’t constitute a hardship. 

Several people were dismissed, dwindling our pool of 52 down to about 35.  The rest of us were taken back to the jury waiting room where we were given a questionnaire to fill out with more detailed information about the case.  That’s when I knew I had an out!   I knew the case sounded familiar, and when the questionnaire mentioned the accused pouring gasoline on his victims, my suspicions were confirmed.  Not only that, but I’ve met the victim.  She attended church once before the attack.  And her son went to school with my kids.  I remember hearing about it right after it happened, how she had been hiding from him because he had threatened her life, and how she was now in hiding again.  I know the accused is guilty, so there’s no way I could be an impartial juror. 

The questionnaires were turned in and sent to the judge to review.  After about 1/2 an hour, the bailiff came back and told several people to return next  Tuesday morning, and the rest of us to return Thursday (today) to be individually interviewed.  I was about 99.9% sure that I would be dismissed after the interview, but there was that little, tiny 0.1% bit of uncertainty.

This morning I arrived at 8:30 with 20 others.  Half of them were called out at about 9:30, and the rest of us sat waiting until 11:30.  Then we were called into the jury deliberating room, where two of the people from the first group were still waiting.  I thought for sure we wouldn’t be done by noon, at which time court recesses for a 1 1/2 hour lunch, and I would have to keep waiting, but things moved quickly and at 11:58 I was called in front of the judge.  The accused and his lawyer, and the prosecuting attorneys were all there.  I was so nervous!  My heart was pounding and my hands were shaking.  I didn’t know what they were going to ask me and I kept thinking of all the things I could say to try to get myself dismissed.  I had several arguments going through my head, and I was praying as well.  It turns out all I had to say was “OK,”  a few times, and “Thank you,”  then I was free to go!  The judge said something along the lines of me being too close to the victims to be a suitable juror, thanked me for my service, and said I was dismissed.  Whew! 

I have nothing against jury duty, but that would have been a tough case to sit through.  I’m very grateful I’m home now and won’t have to worry about going through anything like this again for at least a year, when my name can be added back to the jury pool. 

Test Post

I just discovered Windows Live Writer, a new way to write blog posts.  I’m giving it a try to see what features it has and if it’s easier than publishing through blogger.  So here are some things I can do….

I can finally copy Brooke with her clever strikethrough, although I’m no where near as witty so I probably will never use it anyway.

I can use cool fonts, and change their size.

1. I can use  numbering

• and bullet points

And even insert  tables	but I can’t tell if they have borders
Maybe they’ll show up	when I hit publish?
Oh, I just figured out how to add borders, too!	and even make them different sizes!

OK, this feature is awesome…I can even insert a map with bird’s eye view so you can see where I am right now!

Can you see me waving from the row of bigger windows on the left?

 

That’s me, sitting by the window, trying out all the features on this cool new editing tool!  Yes, I’m getting really bored.  But inserting pictures is much faster than through blogger.  

OK, I just got transferred into another room to wait some more.  I know I won’t be out of here at noon! 

 

 

https://server33.cey-ebanking.com/CLKPCB/125107626/site/help/passmark/faq.asp

Jury Duty

I was going to wait until I was dismissed to write this post, but with all the waiting I've been doing, I might as well get a head start.  I was summoned to jury duty this week.  I was supposed to call in Sunday to find out if I had to report, and when I called, my group number was not requested for Monday.  "Yipee!"  I thought, "This will be easy.  I probably won't have to report at all and it will be over."  Don't get me wrong, I want to serve my community and being on a jury even sounds kind of exciting, but with it being the holiday season, there's just so much going on! 

Monday evening when I called in, I was not so lucky.  I had to report Tuesday afternoon at 12:30.  I still wasn't too discouraged, I thought I would be there for the day and either be dismissed or maybe the trial would settle before it reached court.  After spending from 12:30 to 5:00 at the courthouse going through the jury selection process, I was called back for today at 8:45 to be individually interviewed.  It's 11:00 now, and I'm still waiting!  If I don't get out of here by 12:00, they break for a 1 1/2 hour lunch, and I'll have to wait even longer.  I'm not good at waiting.  I'm getting nervous about being interviewed.  And I'm getting hungry!