Established 2001
This weekend, Kristin and Cacee and I finished the Snohomish Women’s 10k run together! We signed up a few months ago and the time flew by. None of us felt like we were completely prepared for the distance – it’s the longest I’ve run since before all my knees issues almost five years ago. In fact, my knee surgeon said 10k is the farthest he’s recommend me running ever again.
But we did it – and we all killed our time goals! I had so much fun and can’t wait for another one this distance.
Every year’s Haley’s school does a fundraiser for money for buying technology. This year, some of the other moms and I decided to walk it with the kids. Some of them make it several miles!
Aren’t these little girls cuties?
This year, Haley had a speaking/singing part in our church children’s production, Three Little Trees. She practiced the songs for weeks at home and even had a weeknight rehearsal. She was awesome as Tree 1! She sang so clearly and nailed her lines!
We came home and took a quick obligatory Easter photo before heading to Grandma and Grandpa Cole’s house for Easter dinner.
We were joined by Grandpa and Grandma Keene – yay!
Guess what else? The deer didn’t eat ALL of my tulips this year. This makes me happy.
Missing from Easter weekend was Jim, who went with our friend Heath to visit our friend Sean in Hawaii. Rough life. 🙂 They hiked and surfed and ran and sat on the beach and ate yummy steaks and enjoyed sunshine and relaxation away from the stress of daily life for a short two days. 😍
This spring, JT decided to continue playing basketball. So did Sawyer. So did Ryder. So we signed them up for spring league midweek basketball.
Then, the next day, we found out about a weekend tournament club team with a coach who we had heard was amazing. Hmmmm…
We generally ask JT and Haley to choose only one activity per season. But in this case, the commitment to join two basketball teams was a) about the same commitment as playing club baseball last spring, and b) the same gear, and c) with the same friends, so lots of carpool options. I asked JT if he wanted to, and he said, “Let’s do it!” So did Sawyer. So did Ryder.
We had our first weekend tournament last weekend. The boys got their new uniforms and looked super sharp!
They lost all three games. They played so hard and just couldn’t find their spot. Plus, some of the boys are newer to basketball and the team’s only been together for a few weeks. We took them out for dinner after, and they ate about 1000 calories each. JT said he felt negative calories for the day!
We also have midweek games and practices for the next several weeks… happy to cheer on my boy!
On Satuday, April 13, our (great) grandma passed away peacefully. Julia Christensen was 94 years old and had lived a full life. She was ready to meet Jesus in eternity! We are so grateful that we had many, many years and memories with her.
I pulled a variety of photos from the past few years as a wonderful reminder of how we got to share life with her.
We went to see the opening night of The Diary of Anne Frank at Seattle Children’s Theater. I prepped the kids with the basics of the storyline: World War II, Holocaust, Nazis, Jews. They were concerned. It felt like a very heavy topic (and it is!). We had dinner on the ferry, as usual, and the kids were not especially looking forward to a “learning play,” as they call it.
We got settled into great seats and waited to learn. 🙂
It turns out, the production is wonderful. Both kids laughed several times, and came away with lots of great thoughts. They had so many great thoughts that we talked for a good 20 minutes on the way home until both declared they needed a break from the hard thinking, and could we please listen to Harry Potter 5?
Afterward, JT commented that he might be interested to read the diary itself. I noted that it can be a tough read (I remember dragging myself through) but definitely worth his time. Then I found this fabulous graphic novel representation – with exactly her same words, selected from each entry – and ordered it. Both kids have been enthralled!
“Stop reading,” I have to say. 🙂 And then we talk about it some more. These are big topics and important issues, and I’m thrilled to have them with my kids.
Over spring break I decided to take JT and Haley on a hike. We invited their friends Sawyer and Jozie and made a whole afternoon out of it. We had so much fun! It was five miles of great attitudes and having fun getting dirty.
This is the view to the west…
And this is the view to the east – Seattle is over there if you look closely.
I was so glad Sawyer had hiked this before and remembered to hike a little farther up the hill so we could see the other side and the Seattle skyline.
Birthday weekend started on Friday, when I got to take my time getting ready for the day while my family scurried about getting ready for school and making my breakfast.
I got to open gifts at breakfast, and I loved how thoughtful everyone was in selecting presents for me!
When we got ready to leave for Crystal for the weekend, I found something special on my seat in the truck…
And then we skied! Three days of spring skiing together. It was glorious.
I also got a new hat. I can’t wait to wear it on the beach this summer!
We have so much fun together in the camper – playing cards and games, watching movies, hanging out, and playing in the snow.
On Sunday, we tried out the chapel service on the mountain. It is ski in/out and it was really good! We will definitely go again when we’re there all weekend.
It was less fun to find out the shuttle service to B-Lot was suspended!
We came home Monday afternoon in time for my birthday dinner with family that night. I had already opened gifts from Jim’s family: a book I wanted and a new pair of Tieks!
We had homemade hamburgers, homemade French fries, and fruit at my mom’s house… and a Reese’s chocolate cake for dessert. With a lot of candles!
Yet again, another wonderful birthday in which I felt special and loved. Here’s to 39!
Last week, I filled in for one of our trainers and flew to LA to help with a FlipGrid training. I’ve had the chance to use FlipGrid with JT’s class at school, and I have a pod and a shirt… so it felt like a good opportunity to log some training hours! Plus, it’s my account to manage, and more face time with our biggest customer is always a good thing. So off I went, pod on my backpack!
I chose a window seat on the right side of the plane on purpose – water view the whole way down. I ignored it most of the time as I was busy finishing the book Educated and I was riveted!
My rental car had Apple Car Play. Okay, now I’m hooked. This will be something I hope to have in my next vehicle!
I stopped at The Grove, an upscale outdoor shopping center, to attend my quarterly book club, HookEd. When I parked, I could see the Hollywood hill from the car. That’s always fun!
Then I met Ali and Madi for dinner at The Henry’s. We had such a nice time catching up!
Friday morning, I headed with my team to the LAUSD central offices for the event.
We had a great time working with 100 educators (and I had some great hallway conversations with the leadership team, which is exactly why I went).
…and then I had a nice dinner at the airport, and flew home, from a premium seat on the left side of the plane, so I could have a water view. I watched the movie Beautiful Boy and enjoyed the downtime!
The end of one season of basketball is upon us. We closed up SKYAA winter league with Coach Gary (an amazing experience and one we hope to repeat) with a team bowling party!
But basketball continues… all three boys (JT, Sawyer, and Ryder) are signed up for spring basketball on not one but TWO teams! SKYAA Spring League and a tournament team through Compete Athletics. The boys continue practicing on our court when the weather is decent, and they have twice weekly skills practices with kids 8-12 at the high school. JT is loving it, and so are we!
The Keene Family