Happy New Year's Eve
We are having the kid's study hardwood flooring re-sanded/re-stained/refinished today. We weren't happy with the results from the first effort. The byproduct of having the floors refinished today is that we have to leave our home temporarily to escape the fumes. We are staying in the nearby Issaquah Hilton Garden Inn tonight for New Year's Eve. I'm afraid that we will not be doing anything glamorous to celebrate. We stayed up late last night moving furniture and setting up rooms. I'm happy to report that we actually slept in our bed last night (first time in 4 months), but we will be sleeping in the Hilton tonight. I'm not sure how much longer I can stay awake and it's only about 8:00pm our time.

Christmas Dresses
The girls went to church today wearing their new matching Christmas dresses. I, of course, snapped some pictures of them together and with Kristy (see below; click to enlarge).

The first picture of the two girls out on the front porch. Look closely. Can you see Berkeley peeking out of the window? And, yes, Dad (me) is to blame for not combing out Olivia's hair (something that Kristy rectified in later pictures).

The second picture is a quick one I took of the two girls when they were giving each other a hug. This impromptu moment caught me by surprise, so the picture is not completely in focus - but it's still cute. The third picture is of my three girls in the backyard posing together just before they left for Church. And the last picture is taken of Kristy and Olivia together inside... just after the third picture was taken.

Moving Furniture Back In
Since we moved back in on December 1st, we had been using our master bedroom as the kids playroom and the room where Berkeley and Eliana were sleeping at night (on Eliana's mattress). Kristy and I have been sleeping on the Murphy bed in Kristy's office and Olivia has been sleeping in her own room.

Well... those days are behind us now.

We have started to move our furniture back into the rooms on the second floor. Eliana's room is 99% restored. The major furniture items in her room are back in place. We just need to rehang some pictures and other minor stuff. But it is pretty much back into the same state it was before this entire attic conversion process started. Well, we did add crown molding to her room... so that's a plus.

We also started to move our furniture back into the master bedroom. We moved all of the toys to Olivia's room to make space. We'll continue work on our master bedroom tomorrow. The goal is to actually sleep in our bed in our master bedroom again... something we haven't done for the past 4 months.

After we moved much of the furniture out of Berkeley's room. We were able to set up Berkeley's bed and night stands at least. Berkeley fell asleep in Eliana's bed tonight, but he'll wake up in his own bed tomorrow morning. I think he will be pleasantly surprised. He has been asking us when he can sleep on his own bed for the past four weeks. There is still much to do, but we are making slow and steady progress.

"Hello?! Hello?!"
We say grace on our food at every meal and at every meal - and I mean every meal - just as soon as we bow our heads, close our eyes, and start to pray Olivia starts yelling:

"Hello?! Hello?! Hello?!"

She takes it up a decibel level if you try and shush her.

Christmas Morning
Here are the pictures... in the order that they were taken. The order of events (generally speaking) on Christmas morning is: open stockings, then get dressed and eat breakfast, open Santa gifts, and finally open the family gifts.

Eliana's favorite gift was the mailbox and home-made packages, parcels, and letters that we made for her. Berkeley loved his legos (we spent the afternoon building the house pictured on the box). Olivia liked the candy in her stocking the best.

Getting Ready for Christmas
Kristy and the kids spent the day making the final preparations for Christmas. Our neighbor Scott came over to play with Berkeley and Eliana. While he was here, the four kids made some cookies for Santa.

The cookies were placed next to the tree before the kids went to bed. Kristy added the presents after they were asleep. We couldn't keep any presents under the tree this year (because of Olivia's happy hands), so all of the gifts - not just the Santa gifts - came out for the first time tonight. It should be fun tomorrow!

Sorenson Christmas Party
We hosted a Sorenson get-together at our house this evening for dinner, games, and a gift exchange. It has been quite some time since we have hosted any sort of party at our home... dating back to Berkeley and Olivia's Birthday Hoedown in July (just over 5 months ago). It was nice to have the extended family back in the home for an event.

Here are a handful of pictures:

Christmas Family Pictures
We took a few pictures of ourselves today sitting around the newly decorated Christmas Tree. Our goal was to take something that we could use for our Christmas card mailer this year... but then I remembered that I don't have a remote for the 30D, and I can't find the old Powershot G2. Oh well.

Trimming the Christmas Tree
Berkeley and I bought a tree last night on our way home from a boy's night out bowling. We trimmed it today. Here are a couple of pictures. One with the tree on it's own and the other that includes the adjacent smaller tree and Playmobil nativity set.

(Update Tue Dec 18 07:24:49 PST 2007 // replaced pictures with better ones)

Olivia's New Bed
When we moved back into our home on December 1st, Olivia moved into her new pink room. We did not set up the crib (it is buried behind loads of other furniture in Berkeley's room), instead she has been sleeping on an air mattress. Today Olivia's new "big girl" mattress was delivered. She seems to have taken to it quite well.

Lost Gum
While driving the kids around today doing this and that, Eliana expressed concern over a lost item.

"Daddy, can you help me?"

"Yes, of course."

"I can't find my gum."

Not exactly something that a parent would like to hear. I asked her if she swallowed it. She said she didn't. I hope I find the gum before it gets ground into the car carpet or something.

(Update Mon Dec 24 15:36:03 PST 2007 //someone -> something)

Secret Sheep
For FHE tonight Kristy came up with an activity we called "Secret Sheep" (or as Eliana pronounced it "Secret Seep") based on the concept of service to others. Kristy gave us each a sheet of six sheep to color. Then we cut the paper into six cards (one sheep per card) and set about the house to try and find things to do for someone else in "secret". After the task was completed, we were instructed to leave one of the "secret sheep" at the scene of the service. The kids loved it - it was a fun (and meaningful) activity.

December Trip to Utah 2007: Day 3: Back at Home
We concluded our short trip to Utah today. We attended Church and had dinner with the folks and then hopped a flight back to Seattle in the evening. Olivia did not travel very well on the way back. She does not really watch movies/TV yet - and she refused to sleep - so we did our best to keep her busy and occupied in our seats.

We returned home to find that our house project better off than we left it (what a relief!). The brick façade that was installed on both the end gable walls looks fantastic! I'll snap some pictures later and post them here.

December Trip to Utah 2007: Day 2: Snow Play
It snowed last night and for much of the day today as well. The kids spent most of the morning outside playing in the snow:

We spent lunch at Robert and Jessica's place and watched Princess Bride. It was fun to see them. In the evening we attended the Christmas party and my Mom and Dad's church. At the party, the kids were able to see Santa again.

(Update Thu Dec 20 07:24:26 PST 2007 // wrapped the a table around the images for the benefit of getting a background color behind the gif thumbnails in the rss feed)

December Trip to Utah 2007: Day 1: Visit from Santa
We traveled to Utah after school let out; we arrived at my folks place this evening just in time for the annual Berrett Christmas party. Santa was the special guest at the party and brought some gifts for all of the kids/cousins. Berkeley and Eliana are entering the peak years of belief in the Santa mythos, so they were very excited about the prospect of sharing their short wish list with the man in red.

Here are some pictures:

Since this party is something my folks host every year, I have set up a "Santa Gallery" link to isolate the pictures that are taken at each "Santa Party". The gallery includes years that span back to 2005.

(Update Mon Dec 17 07:37:15 PST 2007 // converted thumbnails from png images to gif images)
(Update Wed Dec 19 07:22:28 PST 2007 // added captions to thumbnails)

First Day Home
Today was the first time we attended Church together as a family for quite some time. The kids are all finally healthy again. We had a nice relaxing day and the kids are are having fun being home again and playing with their own toys. I put in a pot roast before Church and we came home to a wonderful aroma of simmering meat, onions, and potatoes.

Back at Home... Snow!
We moved back home today... it's good to be back. It snowed in the morning. Here are some pictures of the kids playing in the back yard:

(Update Mon Dec 17 07:37:15 PST 2007 // converted thumbnails from png images to gif images)

Night Out with a Flat Tire and the Sharps
Kristy traveled down to SeaTac today to attend some continuing education for the benefit of her psychology license. Unfortunately she found that one of the tires on the BMW had become completely flat. No worries right? The 1996 BMW 328 includes a full-size spare as everyone knows. Well, about two years ago I ran over a razor blade or something and damage enough of the steel treads that the tire was a complete loss. So there was no spare. Oops.

I managed to find a small 12-volt powered tire inflator and rushed down to the hotel parking lot (thanks to the Coffeys for helping me out in a tight spot!) We managed to get the tire inflated enough to drive over to a nearby Les Schwab and get it fixed. Meanwhile, we had a dinner reservation with the Sharps at Tosoni's. We had to cancel unfortunately. The Sharps ate without us and then met us at the Second Story Repertory Theater for Chorus Line. We had dessert at Matts' afterward. It was a long, crazy night.

Thanksgiving at the Thurmonds (without the Thurmonds)
We are spending our Thanksgiving at the Thurmonds. The Thurmonds are not here but are up at Matt's folks house spending the holiday weekend. We had planned on being in San Diego today but because the kids are sick, we were ill-prepared for Thanksgiving. No turkey. No hand-made stuffing. No pumpkin pie mix. No hand-rolled pie crusts.

Instead of going crazy and trying to throw something together at the last minute, I drove over to QFC and purchased some prepared turkey dinner plates at the service deli counter. I had entertained the thought of going to Salish, but the $50/plate charge made me rule in favor of proximity and cost over taste (at least I can only assume). Actually, the QFC meal wasn't too bad. The turkey (all white meat) was moist and tender, the wild rice and apricot stuffing was pretty tasty, and the potatoes and yams were servicable. The QFC pumpkin pie wasn't too great, but I didn't think it would be - the ice crystals that were still present when I bought the pie didn't scream out "I'm freshly made!" to me. On the whole however, it was a good meal... and cheap too - only $9/plate. Maybe we'll do this every year, but just make the pie ourselves.

Here are a few pictures. After our meal, Berkeley and Eliana decorated a gingerbread house while Olivia walked around sipping on a juice box.

Kids Sick; San Diego Trip Canceled
Kristy took the kids to the urgent care tonight. Berkeley and Olivia both have strep and Berkeley also has croup. They have been given prescriptions for both steroids and antibiotics. The doctor recommended against air travel so we have suspended our travel reservations for our Thanksgiving San Diego trip. We were also to go to Disneyland next Monday; that too is also canceled. The kids are pretty distraught about the latter development.

Canceling our travel arrangements on such short notice (due to illness) was not a problem... with the exception of Alaska Airlines who apparently do not have a health/illness exemption. We will not be given a refund, but a credit toward future air travel minus a $75 per person "re-issue fee" - which is pretty lame. It's no wonder then that we rarely travel on Alaska Airlines - they just happen to have one a the few non-stop flights from SEA to SAN.

We will miss Bertha and Dick (Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson)... and several of Kristy's siblings. Because Kristy's parents have been on a mission (released earlier this year), our kids have not seen much of their maternal grandparents for the last couple of years. Kristy wants to reschedule our trip for Christmas, but I'm thinking it would be cheaper to just fly them up here (if they would come)... there is a pretty good nucleus of Sorenson kids up here and almost a dozen grandchildren. We'll see what happens.

Gerky Revisited
Olivia is now calling Berkeley by name. But, like Eliana, she substitutes the Guh-G sound for the Buh-B sound. She can say other B-words pretty good, like "ball" and "bird" so this must be a local dialect she is picking up.

Whenever Olivia sees a yellow bus (and if Berkeley isn't around), she will sound out "Gerky.... Gerky... Gerky". This is a behavior she picked up from while waiting for Berkeley to get off the Kindergarten bus each day at lunch. Kristy, Eliana, and Olivia will wait in the car near his stop and repeat "Berkeley" over and over until the bus comes.

My First Parent Teacher Conference
I attended parent teacher conference today and met with Mrs. Weber, Berkeley's kindergarten teacher. Kristy was unable to attend (the kids are sick). I wrote down a few of the things that Mrs. Weber said such as: "wonderful little boy", "a gem", "listens well", "independent", and "good strong worker". She also said that when Berkeley and Jake play together that "they get quieter not louder" - a very encouraging sign.

Mrs. Weber also gave me a copy of a "self-assessment" that the kids fill out. It is a two-side paper with pictures of 9 activities on both sides. Inside the border around each activity there is an outline of a star. The kids were instructed to color in the entire star if they felt competent doing the activity pictured, color the star partially if they felt OK about the activity pictured, and leave the star blank if they felt completely unable to do the activity pictured. Berkeley left the star blank for "tying shoes" and "using scissors to cut paper". So I guess we need to work on that. He gave himself a half-star for coloring, painting, brushing teeth, and reading.

Eliana's Preschool Portrait
Eliana brought home her preschool portrait today. Here is the scan.

More Random Pics of the Kids at Play
Here are some more random pics that Kristy took of the kids today.

Another Sketch of Our Family from Eliana
Here is a scan of another sketch Eliana made today of our family.

Berkeley's Sketch of Our Family
Here is a scan of a sketch Berkeley made today of our family.

Eliana's Sketch of Our Family
Here is a scan of a sketch Eliana made today of our family.

Random Pictures of the Kids at Play
We spent most of the day at the house today to give the Thurmonds a bit of a break from us. Kristy snapped a few pictures of the kids at play.

Halloween 2007
The kids had a lot of fun for Halloween this year. They have realized that it is just one big candy giveaway and look forward to it. We just walked up and down our street (15 homes); but that was plenty. Here are a few pictures:

Trunk or Treat 2007
We attended the Trunk or Treat activity at the Church tonight. We went dressed up as classic Halloween characters. Kristy and Eliana were witches (complete with green faces), Berkeley was a ghost, Olivia was a pumpkin, and I was a scarecrow. See pictures below:

Halloween Party 2007
The kids and their cousins got together today at the Thurmond house for a Halloween Party. Everyone was dressed in costume, as shown below:

Tom and Jerry's Staying Power
Berkeley and Eliana have now been exposed to Tom and Jerry by way of their cousins Ebey and Emily and the kids absolutely love Tom and Jerry now... yes, the same cartoons that Kristy and I watched back when we were kids. The Thurmonds can watch episodes of Tom and Jerry via their On Demand cable service (we have no such luxury at our home... by choice!). So Berkeley picked out a movie the other day at the video store, Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases. The kids just can't get enough of Tom and Jerry... they laugh and laugh and laugh at that crazy cat and mouse.

The Last Few Sunny Days
It was a beautiful sunny day today. We spent the morning at birthday parties and then I spent the afternoon at work while Kristy and the kids enjoyed the weather outside. Here are a few pictures:

Chocolick
Eliana pronounces "chocolate" as "chocolick", i.e. this morning Eliana asked:

"Dad, can I have some hot chocolick for breakfast?"

She has pronounced it this way for as long as I can remember, but it doesn't appear that I have recorded this in my journal until now.

Berkeley's Friend Jake
I arranged to have Berkeley spend a couple of hours today with Jake, his friend from school (Jake is pictured here next to Berkeley). When I dropped Berkeley off, Jake came running out to gave Berkeley a big hug. It was sweet. I'm very pleased that Berkeley has found a good friend and Jake seems like he will be a good influence on him (and I hope Berkeley is a good influence for Jake). Kristy and I were not at all happy with the influence of one of his peers at preschool last year (and were relieved to find out that E-v-a-n was not in the same school district).

Like Berkeley, Jake is the oldest boy in his family and has a younger sister (just one). They are both mild-mannered little boys (for the most part) and seems to go together like two peas in a pod. Once we get back into our house, it will be fun to invite Jake over for some activities and watch the two of them interact with each other close up.

Olivia 15-month Checkup
Olivia visited the doctor today for a checkup. She is in perfect health. She wasn't happy to get 4 shots (including a flu shot). Olivia now weighs just over 19 pounds and is 30½" tall. Still long and thin for her age.

Kindergarten Pumpkin Carving Night
Berkeley and I attended a small activity for kindergarten students only (and their Dads) over at Sunny Hills. We carved a pumpkin and then I listened to Berkeley and his classmates sing a few songs. Here are a copule of pictures:

I met a few of the friends that Berkeley is always talking about (like Jake) and exchanged e-mail/phone contact information with a couple of the parents, e.g. total strangers. This parent-of-a-school-kid-thing is a whole new world.

Khan and Christine's Halloween Party
We spent the evening down at the Klatt's and enjoyed their company while we celebrating Halloween. They had some wonderful food to eat;, including pizza from the Flying Pie as well as many other delicious snacks (the blanched asparagus and home-made dill dip was my personal favorite). The kids thoroughly enjoyed the event. There were many other families there, so the kids had plenty of fun playing with the other children. Khan gave me a few lessons in photography as well as a photography book to review; hopefully I'll be able to read it in the next few weeks to get my skills honed for our Thanksgiving trip to San Diego and Disneyland.

Work
I've been heavily and actively involved in our current home renovation project since the collapse of our second floor ceiling forced us to relocate. I've been putting a lot of time in here and there doing certain aspects of the project... not so much to save money, but rather to speed to whole process along and get our family back into our home.

As a result, I've been a complete zombie at work and have barely kept up with my requirements. I felt a bit of blow back today from it. My boss' boss sent me a rather short but sweet e-mail yesterday afternoon informing me of his disappointment in my performance as of late. So I am recommitting myself to put work first and house project second and spent the entire day - with no distractions - just working on work. It was a very beneficial and productive day. I have a colleague that recommends that I take a leave of absence or perhaps just work part-time for the next couple of months. My preference would be to stay on full-time, but my preference (at this point) may not be considered. We'll see.

Another Picture
I posted a couple of pictures of Eliana and Berkeley on Thursday. Here is one taken of Olivia today:

A Couple of Pictures of the Kids
Here are some cute pictures that Kristy took today of the kids. The first is a rare one of Eliana smiling for the camera. The second is of Berkeley playing with a toy airplane we brought back for him from our recent trip to Utah.

Church with Jenna (revisited)
Our current nomadic state has given the kids another opportunity to spend a couple of nights at the Corays. The highlight of any Coray sleepover - for Eliana at least - is being able to go to church with Jenna (see here and here).

We are back at the Thurmonds now and have resumed our somewhat normal nomadic life.

The $500 Taco Bar
Kristy and I are here in Utah. We flew in on a whim to attend a farewell party (of sorts) for our high school reunion committee. It was held up at Dave (Christensen's) cabin in Big Cottonwood canyon. Everyone was able to attend except one person - all of the committee members (except for me) still live in Utah. I had a lot of fun... but I'm a bit exhausted because of so many late nights lately (working on the house). We had a light dinner and played a few games, but predominantly spent the evening talking and enjoying each other's company.

Kristy said she had a good time. There were many other spouses there. She did have the best line of the night... though in private conversation with myself:

"We spent $500 on airline tickets to attend a taco bar?!"

She was half joking and half annoyed I think. I better buy those tickets to San Diego soon or I'm going to be in big trouble.

Big trouble.

Off to Utah
I'm writing this from the Corays. Kristy and I (and Olivia) are about to get on a plane to go to Utah for a very short trip. Carl and I finished the 2nd floor electrical work last night at around 1:30am-ish. I then drove (my motorcycle) down here to Gig Harbor in the fog at about 2am... or at least someone drove that motorcycle down, I was so tired that I barely remember the drive.

Shoo Fly, Don't Fly To Me
The recent uptick in construction progress is warmly welcomed. However, all of the comings and goings in and out of the front door bring with it the last of the summer insects looking for warm refuge. There have been several flies buzzing about the house and Eliana is not a fan of the pests. I know at one time we taught Eliana the correct version of the traditional children's song "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me"; but she has kind of made up her own version where she sings:

"Shoo Fly, Don't Fly To Me"

Berkeley tries to correct her, but he is making little headway.

Don't Be Angry
I attended the Priesthood Meeting of General Conference this evening. I attended the meeting with my longstanding priesthood compatriot (and brother-in-law) Scott. Gordon B. Hinckley, per tradition, gave the concluding talk - the subject of which was self-control, specifically urging us (me) to be slow to anger. I guess that is something I need to work on.

Berkeley's Kindergarten Portrait
Taken last month on class picture day.

"Like Mimi"
I put Eliana to bed tonight. The ritual includes getting pajamas on, going potty, *ahem* putting a diaper on her, brushing her teeth, saying prayers, pillow talk (stories), and goodnight kisses. I marched Eliana down the hallway (here at the Thurmond home) to the bathroom for potty. She had already changed into her new fleece pajamas (it's getting cold around here). The pajamas consist of a soft off-white fleece top and some red, pink, and off-white candy-striped fleece bottoms. Very cute.

Anyway... as we got to the bathroom door, Eliana dropped her undies and her pajama bottoms to her ankles and nudged herself up onto the potty seat. I had the diaper ready, so I tugged her undies and pajamas completely off in preparation for the change.

"No, Daddy. I want to do it like Mimi does it."

"Uh, you are. Mimi sits down on the potty... Eliana sits down on the potty.", I quickly explained.

"No Daddy, I need that.", she pointed to the pajamas and undies in my hand. "On my feet. Like Mimi."

So, I put her undies and pajama bottoms back on around her ankles and all was well in Eliana's world again. Eliana wants to be "like Mimi" I guess... to the smallest detail.

Dinosaurs Alive!
I took Eliana and Berkeley to the Pacific Science Center this morning to catch a showing of Dinosaurs Alive! (in 3D) at the IMAX theater. Both were a bit scared at first - more of the dark and the noise than of the movie - but they eventually settled down into their seats and watched the movie without incident. I believe they looked forward more to the popcorn than the movie itself... even after hyping the movie "coolness" as much as I could.

The kids enjoyed the 3D effects. During just about each of the effect sequences, Eliana would reach out to try and touch some of the dinosaurs. Of course, she would only grab a fistful of air; so she would then tilt her glasses up and then back down again to see the movie with and without the 3D glasses. She did this several times throughout the movie. Berkeley just sat there munching his popcorn and would occasionally utter a word or two (usually "cool" or "awesome").

Strong... Super Strong
We have to empty our pantry and remove the shelving so some repairs can be made to the drywall in the pantry (due to putting new posts in to carry the ridge beam). It took Kristy, Berkeley, and Eliana about an hour to complete the task. We don't have anyplace to put things, so the items were just piled on top of the kitchen countertop.

After the job was done, the kids posed with their muscles.

They are both strong... super strong!

Home Grown Corn
Berkeley brought home two tiny seedlings of corn last May from his preschool. The project was for Dads, so Berkeley gave me the small corn plants. We planted them and have been watering them all summer. There are three ears of corn on the two stalks which are both taller than I am. We picked one of the ears today.

Very tasty. Berkeley and Eliana both had bites and asked for second bites (rare for vegetables).

Olivia Walking
Olivia took about 25 continuous steps from the Thurmond media room to the Thurmond kitchen this evening. She has been trying to walk everywhere lately, but had not been able to muster more than 3 or 4 steps until today. She turned 14 months old on Monday.

The Blue Backpack in the Crowd
I dropped Berkeley off at school by bike this morning (like most every morning). We arrived at his school at the exact same time that the first two buses arrived (including Berkeley's bus). The kindergarten students by rule must sit in the front of the bus, so they are the first to exit the bus. As Berkeley pulled back the carrier cover and pulled his blue backpack over his shoulders, three of his classmates from the buses (all male) were congregating in front of the two of us.

In just a matter of seconds, Berkeley had sped past me and the four of them were walking side by side to their classroom door... half skipping and half walking, each of them seemingly more eager than the next to get to class. I watched the light blue dots on Berkeley's royal blue backpack bounce up and down as he walked up the sidewalk with his classmates. Soon the blue backpack disappeared completely from view.

It's starting.

Berkeley Artwork: Being a Good Friend
Here is a scan of a picture that Berkeley brought home from school today:

I like the flower.

The Opera Voice
Berkeley and I are currently listening to Carmina Burana by Carl Orff on our way down to Sammamish. Today we started with selection #5 on the CD, Primo Vere - Ecce Gratum. After we arrived at home, the catchy tune was still in my head. While Berkeley watched the TV for 15 minutes, I gathered together a few items and changed clothes. While I was in the garage getting the bike ready (the air pressure was a bit low), Berkeley walked into the garage with his backpack on his shoulders:

"Come on Daddy, let's get going to my school. I'm ready to go."

With that small inspiration, I started singing, in my opera voice, this little number (to the tune of Primo Vere - Ecce Gratum):

Let's Go Daddy! \
I Am Ready \
To Get Going \
To My School!

I sang it repeatedly on our bike ride to Sunny Hills. He thought it was pretty funny. Later this evening, he kept asking me to sing in my "opera voice" over and over.

(Update Tue Sep 25 20:39:00 PDT 2007 // fixed some grammar)

120 Points!
Berkeley made up a game last week while we were driving home in the morning from Snoqualmie. For every green light we make on East Lake Sammamish Parkway, then we score 2 points. If we make all of the lights, from I-90 to 212th, then we score 120 points. Those are the scoring rules he made up... I didn't question them... I think we scored 6 points last Thursday and 8 points on Friday. But today we squeaked from I-90 to 212th without hitting one red light. Both Berkeley and I screamed out "120 Points!" when we passed the one at the bottom of 228th. It is unlikely to happen again.

Around the Thurmond Table
With five cousins (5 and under) seated around the Thurmond table at any given meal, the scene resembles less of a casual meal and more of a factory assembly line. Here are the five seated at the table for breakfast this morning (I made them hot pancakes and biscuits):

Olivia is another matter altogether. She gets about half of the food that we serve her actually in her mouth. The rest ends up on her face, in her hair, on her clothes, smeared on the table, or dropped on the floor.... every meal! She's cute though:

Jenna Birthday Party and Bike Riding
We traveled down to Gig Harbor for Jenna's birthday party. It was held at Chuck E. Cheese's - the kids were pretty happy to attend. (Pro Tip: register on the Chuck E. Cheese website with a throwaway e-mail address to get coupons that are essentially 50% off store prices.)

After we returned to Snoqualmie, the kids spent the rest of the afternoon playing outside and riding bikes.

Eliana's First Day of Preschool
Eliana accompanied Berkeley and myself down from Snoqualmie this morning. Eliana's first day of preschool (at Sammamish Learning Center) is today. I biked them both to school. Eliana's preschool starts at 8:50am and Berkeley's school starts at 9:15am - so the schedule works out nicely for the bike ride (Sammamish Learning Center is about 2/3 the way toward Sunny Hills Elementary). The bike ride is about 5 miles round trip. The bike trailer performed admirably, but the 80 lbs of kids and gear slowed me down a bit (especially up the small hills).

Here are some darling pictures of my girl on her first day of school.

Thurmond Home Repairs
We have now been at the Thurmonds for one week and I don't see us moving back into our home for probably several more weeks and perhaps even a couple of months. The Thurmonds have been very gracious and in return I have been doing a few small repairs around their new home. For example, I have rewired their entire home phone and Ethernet networks. They are pleased to now have an Ethernet jack in their kitchen for their home computer. I also completely replaced their kitchen sink plumbing which was in an awful state of disrepair. The previous owners installed new deadbolt locks on the front and back doors, but installed them upside down so that the latch action was completely counter-intuitive. So I re-oriented the locks (a 10-minute fix) despite the fact that Kathryn said "it is low on [her] priority list" - it was driving me crazy!

2008 Neighborhood HOA Barbeque
We held our annual neighborhood barbeque this evening. Like last year, we held it on the first Saturday after Labor Day. It is an ideal time for the activity. This year we had 15 of the 16 families in our neighborhood attend. Our best attendance yet.

The kids had a great time. I am including a few sample pictures below. Of particular note is the one that includes Eliana and the rest of the girls in the neighborhood... quite a group! And look how pretty she is with her shy little pose. I wish she would pose like that for all of our family pictures!

Berkeley spent most of the evening playing with a scooter he found in a nearby driveway. He pushed himself up and down the street several times. It was fun to watch him enjoy the scooter. Might make a nice Christmas gift (that's a hint for any grandmothers reading this).

Berkeley's First Day of Kindergarten
Despite the fact that our current life is in a state of disarray, there is still a schedule to keep. And in today's case... a school schedule to keep. Berkeley starts his career in the public school system today - his first day in Kindergarten.

We are currently staying with Kristy's sister up in Snoqualmie. So Berkeley's first day of Kindergarten first involved him riding with me for about 20 minutes as we made our way from Snoqualmie to Sammamish. Kristy stayed behind with the two girls, so it was just my son and I at the bus stop. I snapped a few pictures (of course!).

All of us were there when he got off the bus:

Berkeley said he had a good day at school. He loved recess and is anxious to go back tomorrow. I'm not sure if he is more excited about school or about riding the bus.

(Update Tue Sep 25 07:56:33 PDT 2007 // of -> off)

Cedaredge, Colorado: Day 5
Today is actually my Grandma's birthday. She turned 90. She has big plans for dinner with my Mom and Dad and my Aunt and Uncle. We weren't able to stay; we caught a 5pm flight out of Grand Junction, so we had to leave Cedaredge at about 2:30pm or so. We were the last of her grandkids and great-grandkids to leave. We had a good time.

After we returned our rental car and had checked in at the Grand Junction airport, we used the escalator to go up to the airport security checkpoint and gate entrance. Because every American must now remove their shoes before flying (kids included), we have the kids wear their Crocs while traveling. Easy on, easy off. Somehow one of Eliana's pink Crocs became lodged into the seam where the escalator stairs end at the top of the escalator. Eliana's foot became trapped and only the quick response by Kristy to Eliana shrieking saved Eliana's foot from any injury. We had no idea that Crocs can pose a danger on escalators (more here).

Now we know.

Cedaredge, Colorado: Day 4
We spent the day at Grandma K's farm today. Our kids spent most of the day outside playing with many of their first and second cousins.

A few of my first cousins have now left, most of the rest will leave early tomorrow morning. I think we were the only family that flew here. Several of my first cousins drove from San Francisco and another drove from her home in the Puget Sound area. Those are going to be long, long drives back home... eeek.

Cedaredge, Colorado: Day 3
We enjoyed a nice day with the extended family. After breakfast we went over to Grandma's and wandered around her 20-acre cattle ranch. We were careful to instruct the kids to avoid stepping in the cowpies. Here are a few pictures (note my shirt... circa the 1997 Kiser reunion):