Great West Gym Fest

Three days after we got back from Utah, we drove to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for Haley’s competition called Great West Gym Fest. We were blessed to stay with my cousin, Cora, and her two kids with my aunt and uncle right next door.

We enjoyed Tubbs Hill Park and a two-mile walk on Saturday morning.

We had lunch at a German brewhouse in town that Cora suggested. It’s like Belgium will never end – more beer and frites. Jim and I decided to give up on February and start fresh again in March!

In the afternoon, we enjoyed some quiet time relaxing at home before the big day.

On Sunday, Haley competed in the morning. We were at the resort on time and ready to go!

Our CDA family came to watch Haley compete, and JT led the “how to watch gymnastics” lessons for Magnus and Heidi.

The awards ceremony was unbelievingly long. Instead of calling maybe four or five places out for all around for each division (7 at our level), they called every.girl.for.every.event. So that was approximately 420 awards. It took an hour and a half.

But we had good news to wait for. Haley had a great meet. She took 1st in vault, 2nd in floor and beam, and 4th in bars… for second overall in her division!

Her team took second place in level 3 as well. It was a great weekend!

Ski Weekend in Utah

Jim and I had already planned our annual ski weekend in Utah months before we knew about the Belgium trip, so two and a half days after we got home… we left again. We flew to Salt Lake City Thursday night.

On Valentine’s Day, we woke up and drove to Deer Valley. And got this picture taken by a fellow skier. Framer! 

We stopped for lunch at one of the many lodges and enjoyed the famous turkey chili. And dessert. And beer and frites, because Belgium kept creeping back up on us, and we were sitting in the sunshine in Utah. 

 

We did this fun thing for the first time: ran a slalom course! You could pay $3 a turn and try it out, and they timed you and made an announcement and everything. We did it twice each and it was super fun!

The view from the gondola isn’t too shabby.

We had an amazing day of skiing – we set a goal to ski every lift above beginner and we did!

On Saturday, my work colleague Jenn (who we stay with) took us cross country skiing again. We did 7.5 miles or so and really enjoyed it.

We stopped for the world’s best corndogs on our way back to the house. They are drizzled in honey!

On Sunday, we skiing with Jenn and her family at Snow Basin. It wasn’t the epic powder bluebird day we had last year, but Jenn managed to find us plenty of powder (as it was snowing all day, there was plenty around) and we had a great ski day.

The tradition is to stop at Star Burger Saloon after Sunday skiing, and this weekend was no different.

Monday morning we got ready to fly home, but Jenn had a final set of calories for us. We stopped at Jeremiah’s for breakfast and…. this. We didn’t eat again until dinner at home!

Belgium for Two

Sometimes I get requests from educators around the world to come speak at their events. Usually, the budget is too small or the timing doesn’t work out. But occasionally it does, and this February I got a chance to speak at an event in Belgium. I invited Jim along, and he accepted!

We stayed mostly in Brugge (translated Bruges) but also spent time in Blankenberge and Gent. To sum up: gorgeous centuries-old architecture, interesting history, chocolate, waffles, and beer.

There are way too many photos to post in a blog, so I made a Sway (view here in a new window or embedded below).

BETT 2020

I had the opportunity to go to London for BETT Conference again this year, and it was certainly a busy week. I presented for Minecraft Education, Microsoft Forms, and ScreenBeam – and I presented at an evening event called Fan Fest at the largest Microsoft store in the world. I met with clients and prospective clients and stayed very busy.

I also got to do a couple of fun things. The best one was seeing Hamilton at Victoria Theater with work colleagues!

That’s a Wrap: Winter Break 2020

I told someone the other day that this was likely the best winter break I’ve had in a long time. I felt like it had a nice balance of time at home with nothing scheduled, outings and fun activities, family events, and friends. Sometimes we get to the end of break and wonder what just happened! This year it felt like we did a lot and yet were rested and ready to start the new decade.

It started with the NASA Gymnastics team holiday party and gift exchange.

Then we had a two-day tournament for basketball.

Surprise! Cousins who flew in for Christmas showed up at JT’s game – so fun!

Day two, JT and his friends ended up getting matching hats at the local outlet shopping center.

Monday we went skiing and brought Preston along.

Tuesday was Christmas Eve, and I served flank steak, steamed baby red potatoes, and Brussels sprouts.

Then we went to candlelight service at our church, a highlight of the year for me!

For dessert I made my annual crumb-topped apple pie (a la mode) and we watched the new Grinch by Pixar before bed.

JT and Haley get new jammies in their stockings every year. I told them maybe they were getting too old for such things, and they vehemently disagreed!

Christmas morning, we always spend at home. We opened stocking and gifts and enjoyed orange chocolate scones and berry bowls together.

Then we celebrated a wonderful Christmas day with brunch with the Coles and dinner with the Keenes.

The day after, we went to see Little Women as a family – and brought along Haley’s friend Emma.

A trip to Gig Harbor on a girls’ day calls for Menchies froyo too! Haley brought her own gift card and paid for our foursome.

The next day, JT and I went to iFly (one of his Christmas gifts) and brought along the Drew kids, who hadn’t done it yet either.

On Saturday, JT and I went skiing together. It was a gorgeous day on the moutain!

Jim stayed home healing from a terrible cold and took the girls to see Frozen 2 in the afternoon!

Monday I took a little time to get out of the house and work on my ISTE Certification. I am working on my portfolio now and it was good to get a little focused time on that over the break.

Then Madi and Ali came over for Movies-n-Masks! We watched A League of Their Own and had snacks and did face masks and foot scrubs together.

On New Year’s Eve, we took the kids to Rise of Skywalker with the Drews. They loved it, of course. It’s the first Star Wars movie they’ve ever seen in the theater!

We came home and played Settlers of Catan (one of my birthday gifts) and loved getting to know the game. I’d play all the time if I could!

Later that night, we headed over to the Drew house for New Year’s Eve. Jim got a call-out scare but ended up being able to stay with us. We had snacks and laughed and enjoyed the night… until we went home at 10:30 pm and went to bed, like the adults we are. Ha!

Happy New Year 2020

We spent New Year’s Eve doing a few fun things we love… first, we took the kids to see Rise of Skywalker with the Drew family (well, three of the six children in the Drew family, and their parents).

Then we headed home to get some things done, and ended up at the Drew house with the Lee family and the Shipp family, to close out the night. We laughed and talked and snacked until 10:30 pm… when we headed home and went to bed!

Christmas 2019

Christmas Eve included the same routine we always have: dinner at home, church, and new pajamas. Then we watched the “new” Pixar version of the Grinch while we ate our usual homemade apple pie. Haley and JT look forward to new pajamas every year. I teased them that they were likely getting too old, and they protested heartily!

Christmas Day we woke up around seven and opened stockings and gifts at home. We had a light breakfast of orange scones and berry bowls too. Then the kids snuggled in with Jim to watch some of A Wonderful Life while I made the egg-veggie casseroles for brunch.

We walked across the street to my parents’ house for brunch as usual. We ate, played a game called Telestrations, and enjoyed opening gifts together.

Then we walked home, dropped off our things, and collected our gifts for round three: dinner at Jim’s parents’ house. We ate yummy prime rib, opened gifts, had dessert, and took our annual family photo.

We headed home in the dark and it felt like bedtime… but it wasn’t. So we cleaned up the house and got things a little organized before falling into bed! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good zzzzzzz….

Sports Weekend

We spent four straight days out of the house at sporting events. We are tired! Friday last week, we went to Haley’s gymnastics meet in Kent.

She did an awesome job and took 5th in her division!

Then we spent two days at basketball in Buckley. Jim is the team’s assistant coach now, and he enjoyed being on the floor with the boys!

Finally, we took Monday off school/work and headed to the mountains. Haley stayed home sick with Grandma Keene, but the rest of us enjoyed sunny skies and rocky snow. We need a little more cover before the skiing can really begin!

First run of the year… wiped us out!

Christmas Cookies

For the last several years, we’ve been invited to Grandma Cole’s house to decorate Christmas cookies as part of our December activity list. The kids look forward to this very much – and so do the adults. 🙂 This year, Grandma prepped by baking the cookies ahead of time so we could walk in and start decorating. We had a great time chatting and decorating and eventually eating our cookies – and now we have a giant platter full in our kitchen, tempting us daily!