Christmas 2007

We had a good Christmas holiday or should I say three Christmas celebrations. We celebrated with the Kraxberger family on Saturday, the Smith family on Christmas Eve, and Kelly's family on Christmas Day . We even had snow fall on Christmas Day. Christmas morning the boys found that Santa had left them Star Wars toys. Later they unwrapped a "family" gift of a Nintendo Wii and Super Mario Galaxy game. Below is a picture of the boys modeling the football pajamas they got. Hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday too.

NFL Pajamas!!!

Drew's 4th Birthday

Yesterday, after going to Garrett's first basketball game of the season, we came home to celebrate Drew's 4th birthday. Several friends came and celebrated with us. The kids played outside with their Star Wars masks on a cold, clear December day. Kelly put a lot of effort into making a R2-D2 cake for Drew and it turned out great. Drew easily blew out the candles. He opened up his presents with great delight and had a blast. He was so exhausted from all the fun, that he fell asleep on the couch next to his brother around 6pm. We had to wake him up when some friends came to visit him in the evening. To see some pictures, click on the picture below.

Drew's 4th Birthday

----------------
Listening to: Bruce Springsteen - Radio Nowhere
via FoxyTunes

Happy Halloween

The boys had fun on Halloween. They are very into Star Wars right now. Garrett was Jango Fett and Drew was a Clone Trooper. They walked around the neighborhood together in a "mob" with 6 other neighbor kids. Their pumpkin buckets were pretty full when they returned to the house. Then they convinced Kelly to take them to a Harvest Festival at a local church and came back from there with even more candy. Drew had so much fun that on Thursday night he asked when it was going to be Halloween again. Since the kids are so into Star Wars, I carved the pumpkins with two Star Wars characters they chose. One was Jango Fett and the other was Darth Maul. This year, the boys were not afraid to touch the inside of the pumpkins and actually helped get the seeds out of both of them. You can click on the picture below for more photos from Halloween.

Halloween 2007

Preschool

Drew started preschool on September 12th. He goes in the mornings Monday through Thursday. He loves going to school. His favorite part is snack time and singing songs. Kelly enjoys being able to run errands in the mornings with no kids in tow. Below are a couple of pictures from Drew's first day of preschool.

Football Saturday

Our Saturday was filled with football. Garrett's flag football team had a Jamboree in the morning. The first game started at 9am and we had be there at 8:30. His team, the Irish, played in three back to back half hour mini-games. The kids were a little tired by the last game. We left the jamboree after his last game around 11am. After going home and eating lunch, we left for Qwest Field between 12:30 and 1pm to watch the WSU Cougars play the San Diego State University Aztecs. We parked between 1:30 and 2pm and went to the Pre-Game rally in the Events Center next to the stadium. The kids saw Butch and got their picture with him (see below). They also played in some football air structures, threw the football, and kicked it too. We enjoyed a great Cougar game. It didn't start out great, but the Cougs controlled the game after the first quarter. The Aztecs scored 10 points in the first quarter and then didn't score again until the fourth quarter. We didn't hear a peep out of some Aztecs fans sitting near us after the first quarter. The Cougar quarterback set a school record for completions in a game at 38. He finished the day with 469 yards and 5 touchdowns. The final score was WSU 45, SDSU 17. We got home around 9pm and the kids had fallen asleep on the way home (see below). It was a long, but good day filled with football.

Garrett making a tackle in one of his games yesterday. He is #21 and the second player to the left closest to the camera when the video begins.

The kids with Butch

Kevin and the kids at the WSU game

Tired out kids after a long day of football

First day of second grade

Garrett started second grade today. Yesterday was orientation, so he met his teacher and some of his other classmates. Drew will start preschool in a week.

Olympic National Park

We spent the first week in August exploring the north and northwest area of Olympic National Park. We spent six nights camping at Fairholm Campground at the west end of Lake Crescent. Each day we drove to a different area and went hiking. We visited the Sol Duc River valley, Hurricane Ridge, the South Fork of the Hoh, the Elwha River valley, and the Lake Crescent area. We had a great time and were lucky to have great weather the whole week. Below are links to some pictures we took.

Olympic Peninsula trip

Lover's Lane Loop Trail - Sol Duc Valley

Hurricane Ridge / Hurricane Hill

South Fork of the Hoh Trail

Geyser Valley Loop - Elwha River Valley

Marymere Falls

Old Sauk Trail hike

Postponed on Father's Day due to weather, we went hiking this Saturday. The weather was questionable in the morning, but I convinced the family it wouldn't rain. We went to the Old Sauk River trail just south of Darrington off Mountain Loop Highway. Most of the mountain trails were damaged in the severe weather last fall and winter, but this is a lowland trail which is still in good condition. Many of the trails we have enjoyed in the last two years are now closed and inaccessible for various storm related reasons. The Sauk River has caused some minor modifications in the trail's alignment in recent years. The trail leads towards the river from the trailhead and then follows the river with many river viewing locations along the way. Drew led most of the way excitedly calling out every time he could see the river. The boys tried salmonberries for the first time. They liked the orange berries and pointed out all the ripe ones along the trail. We found a geocache hidden in a stump just off the trail. We found a spot that had access down to the rivers edge to stop for a snack. While we were stopped a group of kayakers went by on the river. We also saw a pair of Harlequin ducks swimming and feeding nearby. It turned out to be a beautiful day with sun shining brightly on the water most of the hike. We stopped at the local grocery store in Darrington for a post hike ice cream snack on the way home. Click on picture below to see more.

Old Sauk Trail, June 23, 2007

Alta Lake Camping Trip

It's been awhile since I've posted, so I must not have done anything significant since I finished our master bathroom. Last weekend, Garrett and I went camping with Garrett's best friend, Kaelen, and his dad Mike at Alta Lake State Park (approx. 30 miles north of Chelan in central Washington). It was my first time visiting this park and I was pleasantly surprised. It is a very nice park and there was hardly anyone staying there last weekend. The highlight of the trip was hiking to the top of a bluff overlooking the lake. The top of the bluff is approximately 1000 feet above the campground. We capped off the weekend by watching Pirates of the Caribbean 3 in Leavenworth on the way home. We had so much fun, that we have decided to make it a yearly trip. Click on the picture below to see more photos.

Alta Lake, June 2007

Master Bathroom project COMPLETED

Finally, the master bathroom "remodel" is complete. After taking a couple of weekends off and finally finding a vanity, we have completed the project. The floor has been grouted for several weeks now. Last weekend we found out the vanity we wanted was not made in the finish we like best. The finish we liked second best was available for the vanity we wanted. We bought the matching mirror and storage cabinet last Saturday. I returned the other mirror and storage cabinet and bought the new vanity last Sunday. I replaced the old light switches and outlet. We installed the vanity and dry fit the counter top. Monday we attached the counter top, back splash, and side splash. Tuesday Kelly cut the base moulding. I hooked up the water to the faucet and drain to the sink. Kelly started staining the base moulding during the day on Wednesday and I applied the flexible grout next to the tub and transition at the door. Kelly finished staining the moulding on Thursday. We applied polyurethane to the moulding yesterday and I hung up the mirror. Today we finished everything off. We installed the moulding, adjusted the light fixture to be centered over mirror, reinstalled the toilet, hung up the storage cabinet, put the blinds back on the window, and hung the door back up. Now we can look at the bathroom and feel great about how it turned out. See for yourself below.

After Grouting

Before

After

Before

After

Master Bathroom project Part 2

The second weekend of the master bathroom project included laying out the tiles, measuring cuts, making cuts, and attaching the tiles with thinset. Yesterday with the help of my neighbor Tom, I laid out the tiles and measured where the cuts needed to be made. Tom showed me how to use his wet saw to cut the tiles and I made the cuts. It was a very wet process. Water sprays up from the blade and shoots directly back. It went pretty well and I set the cut tiles in place for a complete dry layout. Today Tom came back over and we mixed the thinset. Tom laid the first row of tiles against the bathtub. I took over and did the next two rows. Tom gave me a little break and set two more tiles. I finished setting the rest of the tiles. Next weekend I will apply the grout. We have ran into some problems with our new vanity. The one we picked out originally is discontinued and Home Depot hasn't got their new dark color one in and doesn't know when they will get it in. Last night, we got the mirror and a wall mounted storage cabinet to match the new dark color vanity, but we have to wait until they get the vanity in now.

Dry layout
(you can see white vinyl floor between tiles)

Dry Layout

Set Tile
(you can see gray thinset between the tiles)

Set Tile

Master Bathroom project

We picked the "remodel" of our master bathroom as our next project for the house. We are going to put in a tile floor and replace the vanity and countertop. I attended a Home Depot clinic on installing tile last weekend. Saturday we bought the tile, grout, thinset, and most everything we thought we would need for the floor. That night I started the demolition of the bathroom. The demo went pretty well, but I discovered the existing vinyl floor did not go under the vanity cabinet. I plan to put the tile thinset directly on the vinyl tile floor per the Home Depot expert's suggestion. When I took out the vanity and saw there was no vinyl underneath, I was a little worried. I ran to Home Depot this morning and asked the "expert" what he thought I should do. He didn't see it as that big of a deal and suggested that I apply some adhesive sealer to the particle board and then put the thinset directly on it when I set the tiles. So I payed $3.97 for the sealer and left the store happy. After I got back from the store, I consulted with my neighbor, Tom, who has installed tile in two of his bathrooms and we came up with a plan to tackle the tile next weekend. Tom learned about installing tile from the same Home Depot "expert" and he has all the tools for installing tile so I don't have to go buy a bunch of tools (like a wet saw for cutting tile). Before the Super Bowl I sanded the existing vinyl floor to roughen it up and applied the sealer to the particle board. Next weekend we will start to install the tiles.

Before Demo
Before Demo

After Demo

After Demo

Our new tile

Garrett boogie boarding last summer in NC

If you got our family newsletter last month then you saw a picture of Garrett and Drew carrying boogie boards on their way to the beach in North Carolina. I had taken some video of Garrett boogie boarding with our digital camera and have uploaded it on my YouTube account. Here it is: