Fireman

Uncle Drew serves the Marion Co. Rural Fire District. We went for a visit.

Play Ball!...

Ryan is playing baseball. He is very excited about the competitive nature of the Cal Ripkin league that he has joined. He has proudly been telling anyone who will listen, that he tried out and that he was chosen, by the coaches, for his speed. He is also excited by the end of year tournament that decides a league champion.

The first few games were cold....really cold. Yesterday's game start-time was 9am and it was below freezing when the first pitch was thrown. He is having fun learning a new game and its nuances -- you know, important stuff like how to spit sunflower seeds and stay warm in the dugout.

As you can tell, he runs the bases well. He has played primarily 3B and CF. His first game, he made a great force out play off a grounder.

Baseball will become more fun as the weather turns and his parents don't have to bundle quite so much to stay warm at the games.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Friday was our first time to be in Disneyland. Abby celebrated her birthday by having breakfast with Minnie and friends. The kids enjoyed the costumes from the theme house we rented and dressed up. The park was quite empty and we hardly waited for any rides.

Shamu Slam!

Thursday Dec 17, took us to SeaWorld. The weather was perfect! Sunny-75, not a cloud in the sky...and not a person in the park either. It was virtually empty. We did not wait to get into any attractions. Our family OWNED the place.

These crazies sat in the Shamu show soak zone, two rows away from Shamu's predatory grin. They had a terrific experience, and were indeed soaked. That is something none of them will ever forget...not even Doodle.

More details pending. Stay tuned to my blog, I will be plopping up entries throughout Christmas break to chronicle the trip (and to also "out-blog" my Aunt Sandi)

To Disneyland

Wed., Dec 16 was a special day, as we embarked on a fantastic week in Southern California. It was Abby's first time flying. She was nervous, but as you can imagine, she LOVED the take-off.

The kids were great travelers.

Our first stop was Universal Studios. We were on Benj Goehner's turf...Hollywood. He came to meet us for lunch at Bubba Gump's and introduced us to the glories of theme-park touring.

Thanksgiving

I just realized as I was blogging, that I blogged no Thanksgiving photos.

Ryan and Will went with the big boys as we warmed up our shotguns to prepare for a hunting trip with Dad. What a great helper.

"always treat it like it's loaded" was the first and most important hunter safety message for the little guys. They enjoyed success with the BB gun.

Abby and Grandma K preparing for Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Sandy's house. (see Sandy's blog for thanksgiving dinner photos)

Grandma Kinnaman came to the house to make Christmas crafts and to teach the kids new games while we hunted in Central Oregon.

Notice that Dad is not carrying his gun. He spent the afternoon working with Pepper, his English Setter, on finding birds. She did a great job!We enjoyed perfect weather. What a great hunting trip. Thanks Dad.

From the phone

I can't blog from my phone (yet...but someday, I surely will be able to) but if I could, this is what it would look like. These are spontaneous snap shots from our time in the warm California sun. We returned last night from our travels to Disneyland and those other theme parks. Wow, it's cold, here in Idaho!

This is the California Screamin'-coaster in Disney's California Adventure theme park. The fastest, smoothest, funnest roller coaster that we have ever ridden.

Corona del Mar beach near Anaheim

There is no better way to kill time, while the moms do their shopping, than to wipe out some merchandise and a shop clerk or two in the Disney store.

Attack of the Doodle-bug

Halloween was great fun for the kids. Abby Lou was dying to carve her pumpkin to take to Aunt Tiff's, so we got up and spent some time together making a mess and scraping out a jack-o-lantern. (I'm still trying to scrape crusty pumpkin guts from the table.)

Following the Broncos game, the Lande clan gathered at Tiff's house for a rockin party, complete with crafts, jack-o-lantern cheesecake, a pinata, and of course, trick or treating. uncle John and Auntie Sue joined us to party and follow the kids on their capital candy venture as they toured Tiff's neighborhood. Makena, the little doodle-bug, was a sight to see. She was on the go; excited to be out and about, rollin with the big kids. She marched door to door and wore herself completely out.

The kids had a ball. They ate lots of junk. They stayed up late. They made great memories establishing a solid tradition. Fantastic party Aunt Nini!

Caravan cheer -- *clap* Rah!

Fight! Fight! B-S-U!

Once again, Ry was able to go see the Broncos. Once again they rolled up their opponent, beating San Jose State by 38. This kid reminds me to take joy in rooting for a winner (growing up cheering for the Beavers really lets me appreciate it). To be tired of blow-out style dominating wins is like being tired of having steak for dinner. It is not wasted on Ryan, who enjoyed every drop of his football experience; even the rainy ones that fell on us. Rick and Brendan came too, sitting right behind us.

Tony Peppley came over to run smack at Ryan and after a good ribbing, he offered to bring Ry to the place the players exit the locker room to meet his nephew, starting DE #92, Shea McClellin. Ry encountered a number of players coming from the locker room, but his pen ran dry. Seeing his disappointment, Shea offered to take his hat and get him signatures.

This was an exercise in trust, for sure. Ryan's BSU hat is his personal treasure as it already has autographs from coach Pete, Jeremy Avery, Kellen Moore, and his favorite player, Titus Young.