The Keene Family

Bike the Bridge

Haley has gymnastics for two hours twice a week, and sometimes I stay and work and watch, and other times I hit up Costco, and last week it was 76 degrees and JT stayed home with friends and I was itching to get out and ride! So I planned to bike a trail nearby, and then suddenly (already pedaling), I realized that I could bike the Tacoma Narrows bridge, which was only a few miles away. I had plenty of time! I’ve walked the bridge once, but it was so much fun to bike across. And it’s harder than it looks – that hill coming off the bridge is no joke!

What a beautiful use of my time!

Women’s Retreat 2019

Two years ago, Kristin, Cacee, and I (and our friend Cynthia, who has since moved) went to the Christ the Rock Community Church women’s retreat at Alderbrook Resort. It was so fun, and we were excited to go again this year… even though none of us attend church there, it’s a great weekend and a nice local getaway of encouragement!

We arrived on Friday afternoon and got settled in. The weekend theme was “Under Construction.”

We hit up the pool and hot tub after our evening session… robes and all.

Saturday we had a morning and afternoon session, as well as a short break to walk around the grounds. It was sunny and we all set our activity trackers (we all have Apple watches) in sync as we started so no one would get more points. Ha!

I love this photo of us! These two ladies fill my heart. We share life, kids, and addresses… as well as a love for Jesus. What an amazing blessing for us all. 🙂

I joked to Kristin that, when I packed for the retreat, I thought “What would Kristin wear?” And sure enough, I nailed it. So many people commented on our twinning, and one lady asked if we were sisters! We also both won raffle prizes.

The speaker was challenging and used three different Bible messages to help us realize what in our lives needed some remodeling, rebuilding, or maintenance. A wonderful 24 hours away!

Second Grade Assembly

Haley was so excited for her speaking part in her second grade assembly! At first, after working very hard practicing for a tryout, she was told she would not get a part because she had a speaking part last year. We were disappointed that information wasn’t communicated before tryouts… but then she told us she had one last chance – if the learning goal she had written was selected, she would get to read that. She came home the next day bouncing for joy that her goal was selected! She was Goal Sharer #2. 🙂

Haley has such a wonderful group of girlfriends (and some nice boy friends) at school this year. We are so thankful for her sweet crew!

Jim had a presentation of his own at work that morning, but JT skipped the beginning of school to attend, and Grandpa and Grandma Cole came too.

Two Little Visitors

When my dear friend Kristin left for Hawaii for a week to visit her husband (who is on temporary station there for months), she asked if we could possibly have Sawyer and Jozie stay with us for the week. Of course, we said yes!

Sawyer and Jozie play at our house allllll the time, and our families are friends, and we go on trips together, and we all know each other really well. But living with people is different. And we were so impressed with how well everyone acted. They were patient and kind and cheerful and helpful and everyone got along, save for one incident over the weekend – and that’s nothing outside of the normal weekend drama for a bunch of kids playing outside all day.

We were so impressed and would totally host them again!

Picked up the kids from the bus and went straight to gymnastics on the first day. JT set up a Minecraft party behind the bleachers!

I packed four lunches, all week long. Five, counting Jim’s. I told Kristin that was my biggest act of love. I hate packing lunches.

The kids were so cute Saturday morning – all curled up looking at baby photos together!

We had a late arrival snow day one morning, so I made waffles…

And then another neighbor mom still had to be to work on time so I took her girls too and suddenly we had six kids in the house!

One night, Jozie made brownies and we watched a movie together. We had the best time!

Family Weekend

We enjoyed supporting our nephew Preston’s pinning ceremony as he completed Warrant Officer Basic School. We joined him at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Saturday.

On Sunday, the kids and I went to see The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane at Seattle Children’s Theater.

…and then we dropped the kids off with a baby sitter and went to the South Kitsap Young Life banquet with our friends Kristin and Cacee.

It was a whirlwind weekend and we’re back in the swing of things this week.

Utah Ski Trip 2019

I’m just going to go ahead and add the year to the title of this post because we are so sure that we are going back. 🙂

Over the years, Jim and I have done a ski weekend away for President’s Day. Two years ago we took the kids to Mission Ridge and started their first ever ski lessons. Last year we went to Mission Ridge with our dear friends Carl and Katie, and it was fun to have an adult weekend away. This year, thanks to airmiles, travel points, ski passes, and a friend from work, we went to Salt Lake City, Utah for the weekend – and spent less than we normally do going to Wenatchee!

We flew down on Friday morning and picked up my work friend’s car from the airport, and drove to Alta. We have Ikon passes through our Crystal season passes so we skied for free!

We skied for about four hours and then headed down Little Cottonwood Canyon to the Porcupine Grill for dinner. Yummmm.

We arrived at my work friend’s house in South Ogden in a snowstorm! On Saturday morning, we woke up and went cross-country skiing at North Fork Park. Jim and I had never been before, so we were glad to have Jenn as our local experienced tour guide.

After skiing six miles, we stopped on the way home for the famous Mormon Muffins at the Rainbow Gift Shop. Sure enough, they were yummy!

Showers and naps later… we went out for dinner in downtown Ogden at Rooster’s. I didn’t get a “I tried Polygamy” shirt because I had Hefeweizen… but I was tempted!

And then ice cream at Farr’s, right across the street from the temple. We felt very local.

On Sunday, we headed up the hill with Jenn and her husband Jim for Snow Basin, their home ski resort. They are season pass holders and so we got 50% off our day passes. We also got to hang in the season locker private member area for the morning and when we were done skiing… the Olympics were at Snow Basin in 2002 and the lodge is AMAZING. We felt like royalty! Ha!

From the top of the mountain, you can see three other states.

We got to ski in the softest powder imaginable. In fact, our hosts declared it the best ski day of the season this year – and we were there for it!

We got the ski the men’s and women’s downhill runs from the 2002 Olympics. Jim got to 48 mph – we can’t imagine going how fast those skiers fly down the hill!

Happy guy at the end of an amazing day of skiing. 🙂

Quick photo with the moose as we headed out…

Afterward, we went to the Shooting Star Saloon for burgers, chips, and beer. They have a legendary menu: Star burger, Mini star burger, or hot dog. All come with chips. Sure enough, the burger was amazing… especially after a day of skiing!

We flew home Monday morning and had the whole day to do laundry, go shopping, and finish house chores before starting the week ahead. We were invited to make it an annual trip (and even bring the kids), and we’re planning on it! Happy Valentine’s Day to us!

Snowpocalypse and Sickness

February 3, it started to snow. The kids played outside and it was a lovely day. We had dinner with friends. It was nice.

Haley made peppermint brownies. It was yummy and wintery.

We had friends stay for lunch and snacks and had a wonderful time!

Then JT got sick.

He bounced back quickly and we went skiing for the weekend as planned!

The kids and I drove home Sunday during the major snow storm. We came home to about a foot in the driveway!

Then Haley woke up sick.

And then she bounced back in a day. And then it snowed and snowed and snowed. We had about 20 inches at our house!

Then school was cancelled for an entire week. Then I got sick. And Jim got sick (again). The end.

Basketball Season 2019 Begins

We are so thrilled with our basketball experience this year (especially considering last year’s dismal one). We are on a team with friends, with an awesome coach, and JT has already had more points and ball handling time because he’s being utilized fairly. It’s been so much fun to carpool to practice, attend games as a crew, and enjoy watching the Sonics win! 😉

Hall of Famer

Jim’s high school baseball team were state champions in 1996, and they were nominated to be inducted into the local sports hall of fame this year. It was a really impressive ceremony and luncheon with about 200 people attending in support of all the individual athletes and teams who were inducted. We enjoyed going to support Jim and he enjoyed seeing old teammates and coaches at the event.

BETT UK 2019

I went to London last week for work, to BETT (British Educational Training and Technology Show). It is one of the largest edtech conferences in the world, and I’ve wanted to go for years. I was super excited that I had a reason to go this year!

I left Monday, landed Tuesday, and returned Friday – a very quick trip (in fact, I missed some of the conference as it ended on Saturday, but I had reasons to be back). Tuesday I got settled in my hotel by late afternoon and went out walking to see some things I hadn’t before. Then I realized how incredibly hungry I was and, after figuring out the Underground, made it to Chinatown for dinner.

I walked the Tower Bridge and saw the Tower of London from the Thames, which were two things I wanted to do near my hotel. It started to snow while I was on the bridge, and that was lovely!

Then I met up with the Hacking STEM team at a restaurant near my hotel before heading to bed and attempting to sleep off schedule and get ready for Wednesday. My breakfast view was lovely.

Walking into the show was so impressive! I also presented both Wednesday and Thursday in the Microsoft Teacher Academy area to between 30 and 40 educators who drop by.