Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Christmas Newsletter

Yes, it's finally here! We didn't get it out before Christmas, or New Year's, but almost got it out before our Tree got put away....since the boxes aren't actually in the attic yet, this might count, right? This year it's the thought that counts! We have been asking our kids what the high point and low point of their day has been. We've had better discussions this year than in most years, and way better than the typical, "How was your day?", "Fine" conversation. So we thought we'd translate that to our Christmas letter and let you know how our year went.


Kyler


Winter 09

  • High Point – Inner Tubing w/cub Scouts - this is an annual event with his pack. It's free for all the boys who help sell popcorn during their fundraiser in the fall.

  • Low Point – Going to see Ilea’s concert with Grass Lake Gator Singers Kent District Choir Night- This was a long night, with choirs from all over the district. While each one was pretty good, they all had to march up, sing a few songs, then march off, and the next one came up. It was quite a production, and a very long time for anyone to sit in pretty uncomfortable chairs. This turned out to Ilea's low point too, and she was performing in it!





Spring 09

  • High Point - Mom N’ Me Camp - This was a good weekend for Kyler and Mom, at least better for mom than the weekend with rain. There was sun, and lots of activities. I'm sure we'll both always remember this.

  • Low Point – Cub Scout Activity/Pool Night - Kyler didn’t have much fun because there wasn’t any play time (they learned about swimming and safety, earned a badge, I think).





Summer 09


  • High point – Cruise to Alaska & Church camp - It was Kyler's first time at camp, which was from Wed to Sat. He had a great time, despite this picture. It was Ilea's last time at Jr Camp, and the only time they will be together until 6th and 9th grades. Next year Kyler will be on his own.

  • Low point – when Mom & Dad went on a hot air balloon ride without the kids :(






Fall 09

  • high point – Macy’s parade (we were in it - the costumes are above) & Cub scout winter camp

  • Low point - Ilea going to girl scout camp because he missed her - Isn't that sweet? She went away for 2 nights.






Ilea


Winter 09

  • High Point – Snow - We started Winter with record snow, and it was wonderful. All day last Christmas it snowed and it was so beautiful. Lots of things were canceled, including a few days of school.

  • Low Point – Singing at the Kent District Choir night with Grass lake Gator Singers






Spring 09

  • High Point – Plane ride and End of School - For Father's Day Jenny got Kipp a ride on a small plane, won at a silent auction. It was fun. The kids were able to go up with him. They flew over our house, and down to Olympia and back.

  • Low Point – Cub scout rocket launch day - Fun for the 2 seconds you get to light off your rocket (which Ilea didn't get to do - it was just for the scouts), not so fun for the rest of the time...






Summer 09

  • high point - Cruise to Alaska - we all had a fantastic trip. The weather was great, food was awesome, and it was very relaxing. Couldn't have asked for a better week.

  • Low point – Heat in Fresno - It's great to spend one-on-one time with Grandma and Grandpa, but the temp did hit upwards of 110 last summer. Lots of pool time and air conditioned activities!





Fall 09

  • high point – Birthday & Girl Scout Encampment - For Ilea's birthday we went Bowling with 6 or 7 other girls. We forgot the camera and don't even have any pictures! Luckily her girl scout leader, Jane, remembered it when she took the troop to Camp this fall. They went up to Carnation, in the mountains, and had great weather.

  • Low point - Hitting Kyler with the Clarinet case in the face at the end of a bad week. It was a really bad week.





Jenny


Winter 09

  • High Point – Snow! I loved it.

  • Low Point – Kyler’s Star Wars Slumber party with 5 boys – never again!





Spring 09

  • High Point – 17 yrs of marriage to Kipp - We did end up celebrating our actual anniversary at a Mariners Game, in the pouring rain, but I still love him.

  • Low Point – Gorgeous flowers out back, and then they got knocked down by a wind storm





Summer 09





Fall 09

  • high point – Hot air Balloon Ride

  • Low point - Kent District teacher strike - The kids ended up starting school 10 days late, and we were all ready. We're paying for it now with missed vacation during Christmas break, and shortened mid-winter and Spring breaks (only 1 day).






Kipp


Winter 09

  • High Point - Snow

  • Low Point – Getting the cat declawed - We got new couches, and finally decided we had enough of her scratches. She has literally scratched every piece of furniture we own, and so we got her front claws removed. It was tough on us - she caught a cold on top of everything else, and recovery was slow.







Spring 09

  • High Point – Father’s day air plane trip

  • Low Point – Telling everyone that their jobs are going away because of outsourcing to India - It was rough even before that, because Kipp knew and couldn't tell them. Then you have to tell your friends the bad news, and that they have to train their replacements before they can get their severance packages. It was a rough six months.






Summer


  • High Point - Cruise to Alaska

  • Low point – Knowledge transfer/training people from India, and losing friends and co-workers as the termination dates were reached.





Fall 09

  • high point – Hot air balloon trip

  • Low point - Because Kipp got shingles in Aug, the virus made him ineligible to donate blood anymore. Kipp had donated around 96 pints of blood, and really enjoyed donating on a regular basis.



Monday, January 11, 2010

Burger King, Here we come!

OK, We haven't had very many good meals since, oh, um, Christmas, and I actually planned out the entire weeks menus. I got all the groceries. I even started tonight's meal LAST night, brining the meat in the fridge. I got this gourmet recipe from the chef at the Space Needle, and the simple recipe was called Mocha Braised Short Ribs. It was featured on the New Year's Eve special which I saw in my PJ's since Ilea and I were sick and we had to cancel our New Year's Eve party. The recipe seemed pretty simple, and I'm a reasonably good cook. I bought the meat, and I had the rest of the ingredients. I brined the meat in water, coffee, and salt all night. This afternoon I took the meat out, browned it, removed from pan, sauted onion and garlic, added wine and broth, put back the meat, bay leaves, sprinkled some chocolate chips, put a lid on it, and placed it in the oven like the recipe said, for 3 hours at 350. At 5:15 we came home and it smelled good even out in the garage! The kids were even excited! I put some potatoes in the oven, later added some bread, and at 6 we all excitedly took the pan out of the oven and took the lid off to find this:I think Kipp's reaction says it all.... Kyler wanted to know if we were really going to eat the leaves, which at this point, were the least of the problems....I tried to find the meatiest piece of shoeleather, I mean meat, to see what it tasted like....And we were off to Burger King! What a bummer! I may try again someday. Kipp is currently trying to save my cookware. At least the potatoes and rolls can be used tomorrow.