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January 29, 2006
A Day of Rest
For the last month our Sundays have been quite restful. This is partially because the rain has prevented us from doing any outside projects. Jeremy has also been quite tired from work, so he is not pushing to do something. In fact he's taken more Sunday naps in the last month, than in the last year. Maybe, we are just getting older. Whatever the reason, we are enjoying it.
We played several games together today -- Sorry, Chutes and Ladders, and Jenga. The kids had a blast. Of course we also watched Iron Chef America -- our Sunday evening ritual.
Posted by jennifer at 08:59 PM
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how is comment approval going?
Posted by: mac at January 31, 2006 06:33 PM
No spam yet! And we don't have to appove each one, before they show up on the blog. The Preview step seems to have solved the problem... so far.
Jeremy made all the blog changes, if your interested in the details.
Posted by: Jenn at January 31, 2006 08:44 PM
January 24, 2006
Digital Snowmen
Last week in Harrison's class I helped the kids create a snowman on the computer using KidPix. Harrison was delighted with his drawing, especially the ears.
After hearing Harrison describe the activity, Emma wanted to draw her own snowman. Instead of ears, she added earrings, pink earrings. And pink mittens and pink snow boots.
Posted by jennifer at 08:51 PM
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Those are both incredibly cool pictures. Definitely frame-worthy.
Posted by: Lisa ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.gingerichfamily.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at January 25, 2006 02:06 PM
Wow! Emma is such a girly girl! Hmm, that doesn't sound very technical and stuffy. Maybe I should say, "strongly gendered?"
The top hat reminds me of a mostly true story for Emma: While in office, Abe Lincoln received a letter from a little girl who suggested that he'd look good with a beard. He grew one out, and decided that the little girl was right, and he wrote back to thank her. A few months later the girl sent a letter back that said that she had decided he'd also look better if he'd wear earrings occasionally, and maybe a string of pearls.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the Civil War broke out at this point, and Abe never got a chance to try the little girl's suggestions.
Posted by: Joel at February 4, 2006 06:21 AM
January 16, 2006
Extended Stay - Snow!!
Harrison, in his usual peaceful way, awoke us this morning with the pronouncement: "It snowed! It snowed outside!!"
Jenn said, in a very groggy baritone, "It's jsut the frost."
"No, it really snowed," Harrison persisted. I rolled over and reached to the blinds. The effort actually drug me out of bed so I peeked through and low and behold, it HAD snowed. There was a slight dusting on the ground, and more was coming down.
As the morning progressed it snowed harder and harder. By noon we had enough to go sledding on the hill behind the house!
No day in the snow would be complete without a snowman. What is better than one snowman? Two snowpleople!
Of course, when staying at the Eder resort, one must always take advantage of the hot tub. Our children have a unique way of enjoying the hot tub. They fill it with icebergs and spend an hour and a half splashing each other and throwing half melted snowballs at one another.
Of course, why would you pass up on the opportunity to sled down the hill in your bathing suit?
Posted by jeremy at 04:51 PM
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January 15, 2006
More Yakima Adventures
Harrison, our junior iron chef, had asked to make donuts about a week ago. I said that donuts were a major undertaking that would require a morning with plenty of spare time. That morning arrived and grandma even had a special donut maker. I was pretty skeptical, especially after reading the enclosed recipe booklet, but it seemed easier than dealing with yeast and a vat of hot oil.
The donuts were weird, without much flavor and with a spongy texture. The frosting helped only a little. The kids didn't mind at all, but one bite was enough for me. Next time we make donuts I'll be making Caprial's Italian Donuts.
On Saturday evening Jeremy grilled some fabulous Latin Spiced Flank Steak fajitas. In the process of chopping the tomatoes for the fresh salsa, he managed to chop off a good portion of his thumb -- about 1/3 inch nail and 1/4 inch flesh on a diagonal. As you can imagine, stopping the bleeding was not easy.
On Sunday my Dad and Jeremy work to rebandage the guillotined thumb.
Later in the day we decided to go on a hike at nearby Cowiche Canyon Trail. I wondered if there might be a geocache at this site. We went online and find quite a few. We printed out the clues, put the coordinates into the GPS, and loaded into the Expedition to take my mom on her first geocache.
After a half mile down the trail we arrived at the coordinates and started looking. Jeremy and the kids climbed to the top of the canyon walls looking at all of the unusual rock formations. Our clue read, "This place really rocks." After a precarious, and nerve racking descent, Jeremy found the cache. The kids had fun exchanging trinkets while Jeremy signed the log book.
Posted by jennifer at 02:56 PM
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January 14, 2006
Snow in the Mountains
A winter weekend in Yakima usually means lots of fun in the snow, right in the backyard. But there was no snow outside, so we had to head up to the mountains. We went to my parent's church camp with the humungous hill. The camp was quite full of kids up from Beaverton, Oregon for the weekend.
The large hill had a long line, so we decided to blaze a new run down a smaller side hill. Several of the younger kids, probably in junior high, thought this was a great idea too. So in no time we had a pretty slick run with a jump at the bottom.
The junior high kids joined us for a snowball fight. You better watch out when Jeremy gets that look and has plenty of ammunition.
Of course no day in the snow would be complete without building a snowman.
We drove home, wet and tired, to an absolutely breath taking sunset.
Posted by jennifer at 09:27 AM
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Looks like a blast! I'm not sure I'll see a flake of snow this year...
Posted by: Rich R at January 16, 2006 10:43 AM
January 01, 2006
New Year's Eve
On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, we decided to invite over a few friends and cousins. I was feeling the need to entertain. I got busy happily making artichoke dip, bruschetta, and espresso brownies.
Emma really enjoys the young women that come to visit, whether it be her Aunt Jennifer, Cousins Kari or Erika or Nicole, or the girlfriends that accompany her male cousins. Above Emma and Erin, Adam's girlfriend, are ready to ring in the new year.
Our impromptu party was a lot of fun. I put on some Abba and all of the girls joined in on Dancing Queen. Jeremy and I danced a little together and received many compliments. This is pretty funny, since dancing together has always been a source of frustration. We tried to take lessons during our engagement. It was not fun or pretty.
Not to be outdone Adam, Luke, and Harrison performed the Hasselhof, a silly dance of which I do not know the origin. Adam, care to explain? Download (option-click on Mac, or right click to download link on PC) the video here.
We also played several games including Sorry, Uno Attack, and Guesstures. The kids went to bed easily around 11:00 after an early countdown. This was a fun way to celebrate.
Posted by jennifer at 11:34 AM