Vacation & Visitors

Wow. A lot has gone down since I entered the last post. The family took another trip to Sun River to meet with the Kinnamans. Lisa and I took a much needed vacation to celebrate our 10 year anniversary; our first big trip away since we have had kids.Kevin has gotten out of the Army and he is now engaged to Holly Mishler -- hooray--and their wedding is planned for the beginning of August. Ryan is now 8 years old. We celebrated his birthday with friends at Boondocks and ice cream with the family. May has been crazy fun, with family coming to visit nearly every weekend; first, Kevin came through on his way to El Paso . The kids had a blast with Uncle Kevie...he even face painted them with Army paints! They laid out in the backyard grass and were seriously convinced that they were camouflaged! Next Drew and Courtney rolled through, driving on their way home from SNU. For the second year in a row, Uncle Drew took the kids to the neighborhood pool for the first swim of the season...even though it was only in the low 70's! Finally, Mom and Dad brought Drew, Daniel, and Pepper out for Memorial Day weekend for a nice visit. It was good to see Mom. Abby enjoyed having a dog for a few days.While all of that was going on, Tiffany and Brendan had baby Makena on May 6th. Horray!!!

We are all so excited to have a baby in the family, again. It also helps that she is so darn cute! Whew, it feels like we need another holiday weekend, just to recuperate from all of the fun and excitement we have been having. This spring has been fantastic! To top it all off, out resident Celtics fan Ryan, has been closely following all of the drama that his team has offered in NBA playoffs.

February in Hillsboro

We originally had plans to come out and catch a Trailblazers game with, "just the boys" and our friends Ed and Parker Veeck. We ended up bringing everyone. Our trip actually turned out to be a little longer and more involved than we had anticipated; as the entire family ended up coming to spend a special weekend with Grandma K. It was a great time. Friday we visited a job site and the kids were introduced to their first "gyser" (a broken water line). Saturday we went to the Zoo and enjoyed a mild, sunny February day. The weather was perfect! (I even wore a t-shirt). Sunday we went to church, over-ate on mom's lasagna, and rolled down Sylvan hill to the Rose Garden to catch Blazers vs. Celtics. Brandon Roy sprained his ankle and the Blazers gave up a 17 point lead to lose to the three-headed monster. Ryan got to see Ray Allen win, buy a basket ball, and he was happy. Will and I got to cheer for our team, see Travis outlaw throw down and poster-ize Paul Pierce. We ate pizza and popcorn after the game and finished off our Sunday with a heathy dose of Looney Tunes. Ryan is now a big fan of Foghorn Leghorn. All-in-all it was a great trip and fun to share the fantastic city of Portland with friends and family. Now, back to life in Boise, once again.

Mad Hooper!

Ryan is participating in Upward basketball. He plays on the same team with friends, Jalen Chan, Gavin Hoisen, and Parker Veeck; all are in his Sunday School class a church. He enjoys playing ball and the games are a lot of fun as the boys actually spaces the floor, pass the ball, and score -- far more frequently than you would think 1st and 2nd graders would do. Ryan has played two games. He scored for the first time this week...a little 8foot jumper from the baseline. He looked good. I am most proud of his quickness and the great defense that he plays. He hustles to his man and moves his feet well. What a great time.

Will left his Howie, his turtle, at Sun River. Drew took it to Oklahoma and has been sending Will pictures of Howie's adventures along the way. Will loves getting e-mail from Uncle Drew and it helps them feel a little closer and reminds them of the good times they had together before Drew finished his Christmas break.

It's been a good couple of weeks. It has been snowing like crazy in Boise. We actually had a "snowday" Wednesday. It gave me some time to catch up on things. In fact, it is snowing now. We have about 3" on the ground. It makes me not want to go out...the roads have been slick.

"Sumpter" weekend...in Sun River

Man, I hurt. Drew took me snowboarding up at Mt. Bachelor. Never done it before. I'm getting old. We had fun, though. I used Kevin's equipement, thanks Kev. The kids had a great time playing in the snow with their cousins. Lisa was unable to come due to some scheduling conflicts with work, but it was still worth the trip however, we won't be doing that again. All-in-all it was a good time and always great to be with family.

Happy New Year

Bringing in the New Year; watched a little football and completed a few projects. We spent the Eve and New Years with the Landes and the Goehners. We just hung out and spent some good family time together. We are easing our way back into the grind of regular life.Lisa had to do some stuff in her office, which meant that we had to get up to the sound of an alarm, once again. The rest has been nice. We took it easy a couple of days ago, and went over to check out some Mayan art down at the museum. There is now an interactive art display set up for kids...and there was also an art activity set up for families to do their own Mayan Art. My yarn art was a yarny-portrait of Rick. The kids had fun, and it was a nice break from being inside.

Go Blazers!

Time to Blog

Wow, when I logged on to this, I realized that I hadn't posted on the blog since Nov 1. Sheesh! It's been busy around here. I have been enrolled in two courses, working on an internship as an administrator, and oh yeah, working a full-time job as a teacher. It also hasn't helped that our little digital camera came up missing for a bit.

Anyway, it's Christmas break, and we have our camera. With Christmas behind us already, we have plenty of fodder for blogging. Beginning with Thanksgiving, we went out to Hillsboro, to hang with my family, attend a riveting Blazers' victory over the Kings, and take the Camero for a little spin. It was a great time. The boys loved spending time with their cousins, which they always look forward to. Abby is so charming when we are with family. Those Thanksgiving Holidays are alway so short, but so sweet.

It seems as though the weeks that followed were the fastest and yet the slowest. Lisa and I have been incredibly busy with all that has gone on. With her being in the first year of this job, in many ways her schedule and events that she is committed to are all set by people in other positions. Next year, I don't think it will be the same, and she'll have a better handle on how to schedule her responsibilities. I choose to not attend any more school! Ironic that a teacher could HATE school so much, but I'm there. I believe that it generates a healthy level of empathy for my students. I'm tired of assignments and deadlines. Professors too; they have a funny way about them and seem to be a little out of touch with what's really important. I have never in my life been so grateful to have a Christmas break...it's truly a break.

Having Children at Christmas is awesome! It's more fun than being a kid myself (well, almost). I get to pick the toys, watch them open them, (let E-pa put them together) and then play with them too.

It has also been fun to work through the Santa thing with Ryan. He came to me after Thanksgiving, very frustrated, and declared that he wanted to go to the North Pole to see for himself whether on not Santa was really there. Near tears, he proclaimed, "I don't believe that Santa is real! Reindeer and Sleighs can't fly...it's magic, dad, I don't believe it. The only magic are miracles, and I don't think that Santa is a miracle." I'll never forget that precious moment, just he and I confirming his faith, there on the floor, in my closet. I explained that he is right. Miracles come from God, and yeah, there is no one man who is Santa. However, I explained that Santa is real...he is real because we all help to remember him as a Christmas tradition...that everyone is "in on" the Santa game. He asked "why?" Because it's fun. Fun for kids and fun for everyone who knows. It's not lying, it is a fun Christmas tradition that helps kids learn the spirit of giving. He loved knowing how and why we all play the Santa game. I explained that it isn't right to ruin it for anyone else who has fun believing.

Christmas is so much more fun when the kids know what's going on. They had a hard time being patient, but they did great, and I am proud to say that they were so gracious and grateful for the gifts that they received. Each of my kids were into different things, which made it easy to shop this year. Abby received a bazillion little Pet Shop toys. Will is into Star Wars guys. And Ryan is into Pokemon. Toys and Christmas...Wow!

Lisa and I put the Christmas gift funds that came to us into a new Canon XT digital SLR camera. Hopefully more pictures will translate into more frequent fodder for blogging. Thank you everyone for your gifts and Merry Christmas. Keep an eye on the blog. We have time for fun, sleep, and catching up on all of those little things we have had to pass over for the last month. That means I'll have a little more time to let you know what's going on.

Fall Back

It is undeniably Fall. October is finished, along with Halloween. The nights are crisp and cold and Ryan is up for the first track-break for his year-round school schedule.

Lisa is enjoying her work and has finished making her regional school improvement visits around the State. It feels as though we have finally settled in on a routine, and now the Holiday season is upon us - yes!

Abby and I have begun dirtying the kitchen together; we're making cornbread to eat with Ed Veeck's world-class, award-winning chili. Speaking of awards, Lisa won three of them (silly awards) for her Chili at the Eagle Naz Chili cook-off, she won an apron and everything!

We hit Boo at the Zoo with E-ma, E-pa, and the Goehners. Big D and the kids had a blast! Despite the high volume of people in attendance (strange costumes to boot), the adults survived! The animals were all out because the weather was amazing. It was good to be out together.

We went to a fun party thrown by one of Lisa's colleagues. You see pictures of the kids competing in Worm Racing, which had them blowing real worms to the end of the "race course". Pretty clever. Really funny.

Instead of celebrating Halloween, Ryan's class had a Stone Soup party which lasted all day. Lisa got to be "room mom" and was in Ryan's class the entire day. She was wiped out after a full day of teaching first graders! It was a HUGE success - come over, we now have plenty of left over stone soup for sharing.

We had lots of fun with the kids during Halloween. Notice that our family dressed up as "The Bronco Nation"...I was rooting for family Blazers gear, but was over-ruled...I guess that since the Broncos are paying a chunk of the mortgage, I am fine with it. Trick-or-Treating isn't so bad when all of the kids are bundled up and actually know what they're doing. We got together with a few families from our home group and were able to visit while the kids trick-or-treated their way through the neighborhood.

By the way, we are really enjoying the home group that we are a part of. It has made our family more connected to our church and we are blessed in imeasurable ways by their friendship, generosity, and prayer. Our whole family anticipates Wednesday evening. We usually eat dinner at the Church and then go to our respective groups. The kids love the Wednesday night experience and we value the opportunity to have a full conversation with other adults...no interruptions, taking someone to the bathroom, or problem solving minor disputes.

Lisa's birthday was the 19th. She got cool stuff and ate Sushi with her family. Grandma and Grandpa K drove their class B cruiser out to Meridian the same weekend. Mom pleased all parties by delivering a cool quilt to Lisa, fixing all of the kids torn toys and stuffed animals, and by welcoming me home with Molassas cookies. It was good to just park it and relax with my family for the weekend.

I'm currently counting the days to Thanksgiving break...the gateway to the Christmas season. Until then...GOOOO BLAZERS!

Fall fever...

It's only Oct 10 and I'm already tired of Halloween. Who's great idea was it to celebrate "evil" and "scary" for a night?! The guys have both determined that they really aren't that into it because they are so incredibly bothered by the "creepy decorations" at Fred Meyer. Cool guys, Ryan and Will.

Other than that, I love Fall, it's perhaps my favorite of the seasons. Leaves, sunshine, cool air, FOOTBALL, and it really fun to golf in the fall around here if the wind isn't blowing. If you haven't noticed, I am really coming to enjoy golf. It has great potential for being an easy activity for all of us to enjoy. Recently we have been going to the park, which is near our home, and hitting whiffle balls. I purchased a cheep set of 5-9 clubs (3 irons, a driver, and putter) for the boys to share. Their equipment is so munch better than mine. They have enjoyed honing their swings and smacking those whiffle balls around. The other day Ryan said, "when you hit the ball right, it feels soooo good inside!"

Our friend Kelli Kinny, spouse of Josh Kinny, recently ran a half- marathon through Boise. We went with our friends, Ed and Missy Veeck (pictured), to see her tear up the asphalt. We had a ton of fun being downtown and enjoying beautiful fall weather.

Will learned to ride w/o training wheels.

School is busy, but good. I showed the scene from the Office to my psych students today; the altoids scene where Jim conditions Dwight with the windows re-start. The students got it. By the way, if you would like to see a sample of what kinds of stuff I do, I have a website for my work - which is pretty stinky (the website, not my work). I also have a website for my Psych class. I'll add the links at the bottom of the page.

Lisa's job is awesome! She feels like she's getting a handle on things despite knowing that the work will never end for her. Job security, I suppose.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa

It's been a while since I have posted. I just got off the phone with my Grandparents in Hillsboro. I told them about the Blog. I was just thinking that it was time to check in with the blog and to thank all of my grandparents of the legacy they have laid down for me and my family. We take for granted how heavily we have been able to lean on their stability and positive influence. Nothing wrong with offering a "shout out" to grandma's and grandpas for some fluffy blogfodder. I love you all and can't begin to articulate how much you mean to me.

Robbynation...

I'm showing my mother-in-law, Robbyn, how easy it is to post on the blog. It's labor day and the kids are back in school...oh joy! Lisa is becoming more comfortable in her new job...and loves it! I am back to school, now as a teacher once again. It will be good for us to return to a routine. The kids all go to school together M,W,F. Will and Abby get to spend Tues., Thurs. with E-ma. The three other days all three go to a preschool called near Ry's elementary school. Ry walks with teacher to and from the preschool so that we have an easy drop-off/pick-up. It is nice that they each get ready together and spend a great deal of their days in the same routine. Ryan's school workload seems really advanced and he is picking up on math, reading, and spelling quite quickly.

Tent Pitch Weekend

I have officially reported back to school and the students return Monday. I'm not ready. We have tried to squeeze what little we can out of summer, while we can despite both Lisa and I returning to work.

We tried something new this year and went camping with a group from church. Chris Graham has instituted "Tent Pitch," an annual event where families with small children camp together for a summer weekend at a location withing a short driving distance (less than 2 hours) from the Valley. This year's location was North of Idaho City on Crooked River. The kids had a blast and it was great to catch up with other couples from the church, as well as get acquainted with a number of families we didn't know. Three families from our church home group attended and the Kinnaman kids were able to spend time with a number of friends. You see the fruitfulness of the river in Ryan's hand. All of the kids spent the day in the shallow river and the adults spent time just hangin' out. Saturday afternoon found the men competing in, "The Man-Sized Challenge"; a battery of tasks which included riding a miniature sized bike, hauling water and rocks from the river, carrying a large stone around the campground - overhead, running up a mountain side, and shooting a target with a BB gun while standing on said large stone. Needless to say, I was not the Man-Sized champion, but I finished with a respectable time of 3:51. We finished our weekend in tru "Kinnaman" fashion. Our Durango wouldn't start and we had to have it towed back to Meridian. Classic! We sure know how to make memories.

Summer is coming to a close...

It seems as though we are simply waiting for the summer to end. I have started my internship and continue to train at the gym while Lisa has been getting her feet wet in her new job. We have a camping trip coming up and family camp in Cascade, but other than that, it feels like summer is winding down.
Tiffany, Brendan, and the Big D recently came for a visit and lodged at Casa Kinnaman. They found a house in Meridian, sort of over by the waterpark, on the way to Kuna. They will move at the end of August.
Brendan and I golfed Monday, with Rick. The only reason I mention this is because until recently I loathed golf; too expensive to get so irritated and take that time away from hanging out with the family. What little game I have has begun to allow me to enjoy being on the course. Banbury golf club is just down the hill about 1 mile from our house. Fantastic course and inexpensive. Monday I shot under 100 for the first time and birdied hole 18. I screamed like a girl, I was so excited!

Will is anxious for football to start. A day doesn't go by that he doesn't ask to see the Beavers, Broncos, or Seahawks on TV. Ahhhh, the joy of parenthood.