Welcome, 2012

Bill wants to wish everyone a fun New Year.

We had lots of fun in the Tri-Cities where Lindsey, number 14, played in a volleyball tournament.  She belongs to the Strikers, a traveling volleyball team.  This was the first tournament of the season.  They didn't win this tournament but they played really well.  It is so fun to watch the grandkids learn new skills every year they play at their sports.  Since the tournament began at 8:00 am, we went over the night before so we could enjoy some time together and be ready bright and early.  On Sunday afternoon, Jon and Melissa Forbes and their sons watched Lindsey's last game.  Jon was an usher in Mike and Becky's wedding and graduated with them from Eatonville High School.  It's so fun to see special friends.

Well, well, well. We had a mild winter with only one snowfall in December that melted after several days. Then we started to plan our trip south and we get 15 inches of snow and cold weather. We are used to snow and we know we are taking a chance leaving in February. We always hope we will be lucky and have a clear driveway to get the trailer out for our trip.  However, at the same time of our snow storm, the west side had a very bad storm with wet snow and freezing rain.  Many people were out of power for 2 to 6 days.  There was a lot of damage especially to trees and shrubs.  The wet snow made the limbs heavy and then the freezing rain on top caused them to fall off or fall over.  It was a real disaster so we know our storm was manageable.  

  We have a heartwarming story to share.  There are some of the nicest people on earth that live in our area.  We don't worry about getting around in the snow since we have 2 four-wheel drive vehicles.  We thought it was great when our neighbor plowed out the private road where we and our neighbors live.  On top of that, we were surprised to see this guy on a quad with a plow come up our driveway.  It turned out to be our UPS driver who had delivered a package and saw our driveway hadn't been cleared.  His work on our driveway helped us get our trailer out of the driveway and on the road several weeks later.

A good project during a storm.  We smoked and canned 60 pints of pink salmon.  It's something we enjoy doing so we can share it friends and family.

We stayed at Becky and Mike's with Lindsey and Brandon while they went to Las Vegas for Super Bowl weekend.  Brandon had his friend, Alex, spent the night before going to a band solo and ensemble contest.  They had an airsoft shoot out in the garage.

These guys looked great for playing their trumpets at the contest.  The contest was held on the Central Washington College campus in Ellensburg.  This was the first time we have watched this type of activity.  The boys played very well and the judges gave very helpful comments to the participants.