Houser 'Bout That: 2008

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Winter Wonderland

Alternate Title: When can the rain come and wash this stuff away??!?!

We have had snow on the ground since my last post, and on Sunday night we got dumped on again. At least now the kids are supposed to be out of school! They had 4 snow days last week (wimpy school district would explain two of those). This is the most snow I've ever seen in the Pacific Northwest! Jarrett has been picking up staff in the SUV to get them to work for the last 3 days. The main roads are fine but the neighborhoods have snow packed on them and apparently they don't believe in salt around here because of the impact it might have on the Puget Sound or the salmon or something. I took the kids sledding again today. They never get tired of this stuff! We'll be having that "White Christmas" this year (and it's not even in the form of California fog)!

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family!

(Please leave a comment so I know you're checking in on us! Thanks!)

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Soccer in December!

Today was Tristan's last regular season soccer game. As you can see, it snowed overnight. The field was very slushy and muddy. It was a very slippery and cold game, but the Rapids came out on top, 7-2. Today is also Tristan's birthday, so there were donuts to celebrate.

Karina paid no attention to the game. She and another little sister made a snowman and threw snow balls.

Just last week, here was the beautiful, sunshiny scene at the last game. Notice the heads hanging down - they were following the coach for a much-needed pep talk.

So you'd think that's it, but the Rapids will face off with other state teams in a tournament beginning in mid-January. Brrrrrr!

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Girls' Night Out!

A couple of weeks ago Karina and I went to High School Musical on Ice with our friends Dena & Korin. These girls love HSM and are great friends (the moms are, too!)- what better way to spend a Friday night?!

Here's the finale -

A scene from the talent show of HSM 2

The picnic and sprinkler scene from HSM 2

Sharpay & Ryan from HSM 1. This is just like Karina's Halloween costume.

Sing along with me "High School Musical, celebrate where we come from . . ." (what, you haven't seen the 3rd movie yet?!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

The other night we gathered as a family and talked about gratitude, reading this scripture: "Live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you." (Alma 34:38). Then we counted our blessings. Among them were, "friends, family and electronics" (obviously by Tristan), "animals and homework" (by Karina), "a good job and vacations" (by Jarrett), and "telephones so I can keep in touch with my family" (by me). The list is very long, but ultimately we know that everything we have is a blessing given to us by our Father in Heaven. He has blessed us, indeed.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

A special day for Karina

Karina was baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints yesterday. She was so excited and ready for this event! And we are so proud of her and the decision she made to follow the example of Jesus Christ.

Here's part of what she wrote in her new journal:

"Finally I got baptized. The water was really cold. When I was done, me and my mom was really happy. This day is great!"

A friend who came to the baptism commented that Karina was grinning afterwards and giggled as she left the font.

We are thankful to have such a happy, beautiful little girl. We love you, Karina!

Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Jarrett dressed up for work that day . . .

Jarrett opted for an easy polka-dot pumpkin, mine is the dog.

Tristan's was the skeleton, of course.

Karina carving her kitty pumpkin

Here are the kids in their costumes. Cousin Cyrian came over to trick or treat with us. She's Cindy Lou Who, Karina is Sharpay from HSM, and Tristan is just plain scary!!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Birthday Festivities Part 2 - the actual birthday!

Karina's birthday fell on Sunday, the day of the annual Children's Program at church. She was less than thrilled to have to speak in front of all those people on her birthday! (And I was less than thrilled to be in charge of it, to be honest!)

That evening, we had a little family party for her, with dinner and a cake she and her dad made. She received a new bike that she had to try out before it got too dark.

Adding to the fun of her birthday, and to our weekend in general, was a visit from Grandma & Grandpa B from California. They came to watch soccer, get drug around the corn maze with us, and celebrate with this lucky girl. It meant a lot that they made the long drive to be with us.

Birthday Festivities, Part 1

Karina turned 8 years old on October 19! She celebrated with her friends a week earlier by inviting 10 of them to a pool to swim, and then back to our house for cake and games. The theme was "beach monkey" (she had planned on Hannah Montana, but then invited 2 boys, so that just wouldn't do!).

Here are Karina's great friends. They had a ton of fun at the pool!

In the goody bags were these glasses and vampire teeth. A silly fun time was had by all! (What would a gathering of Karina's friends be without a little silliness! Right up her alley!)

Friday, October 10, 2008

Seattle's Team

A couple of weeks ago we went to watch the Mariners play. They had a pretty bad season (100 losses, ouch!), but they're still "our team." Jarrett received a gift card from some of his friends as he left his former employer. They were so very generous that all four of us were able to sit in box seats and enjoy a game up close.

Here's Ichiro . . .

One of the Mariners (closer JJ Putz) threw Tristan a ball, and the moose signed it.

Hanging out before the game . . . Teixeira from the Angels waved at the kids, but we were on the wrong side of the field to get his autograph (he was the only one we saw signing).