This past weekend Kevin was away at a men's retreat with our church at Washington Family Ranch in eastern Oregon. There was a good amount of playtime including this big swing. (Kevin on Right)
The kids had their big jog/walk a thon fundraiser yesterday. They raised money for their school for science and technology for the classrooms. They ran/walked all day. Abbie ran a little more than half a marathon, which was around 15 miles. Preston ran his heart out too and completed around 8 miles. Hunter ran a marathon, yes a marathon! He finished it with his teacher Mrs. Collins and a couple other students from his class. He finished 26.2 miles around 2:00 pm. Noah was bound and determined to run a marathon too. All the students had gone home and the jog a thon was being cleaned up but Noah was still running. The kids and I along with Mr. Bales the school principal stayed and waited for Noah to finish. He finished 26.2 miles at 4:55 pm. Noah is the youngest at the school to ever complete a marathon. A marathon was not the goal of the jog a thon, however, our kids were very driven and to meet this goal and had fun doing it while raising money for their great school. We are so proud of them! I think we may have some future cross country runners. Today our runners woke up very sore. It will be a relaxing day at home today as they recover watching movies and all being together.
Hunter turned 12 today. Hard to believe he is this old. It seems like just yesterday he was born. We went as a family to Sun River to a virtual reality place where the kids got to play. Hunter had his friend Nathan from school come along. It was a great afternoon for a birthday celebration.
Thank you Hunter for being such a gift to us. Thank you for making us parents. We love you Hunter!!
Noah received the character trait award for demonstrating "Wisdom" at school. We are so proud of him!
Saturday was clear. The mountain had been getting dumped on the previous week so we decided to head up as a family. There is an amazing amount of snow for this late in the year. One of the highest snow totals on record. It will definitely be open until its official close on memorial weekend at the end of may. They are even running snowboard and ski summer camps up there this summer. We will likely try and get up one more time in May.
Preston lost his first bottom tooth tonight. It was hanging by a thread and I wiggled it and it fell right out. The tooth fairy will soon be on her way.
Easter morning we went to church and the older kids sang in the children's choir. After church we went to brunch and walked around Drake Park. It was a great Easter.
After some continued stormy weather this past week up at Mt Bachelor, Saturday rose Sunny! Close to a foot of snow has fallen at the mountain over the past week and with fewer people skiing at this time of the year we were hopeful for some powder... which we got! Amazing for mid April.
We met up with our friends - the Bercots (Eric and Joe) for some runs and had lunch at the mid-mountain lodge out on the sunny patio. Great day!
Today was Good Friday and we had our good friends the Warricks, their grandparents and the Dittmans over. It was a wonderful evening celebrating Easter. The kids played outside, painted bird houses and decorate cookies while the adults visited and had lots of laughs. We couldn't have asked for a better evening. When you live far from family your friends become like family. So thankful for the rich friendships God has provided.
Hunter received the character trait of "Responsibility" in chapel this morning. We are very proud of him. Well done Hunter.
