The Christmas Gift Adventure

Well, Thanks to all of you kids, we had a great time on the dog sled run. We so much enjoyed the weekend get away with the hotel and the dog sled ride. We left Friday night March 7, and got to Leavenworth around 8:00pm. We bought a new camera just for this event, we wanted to get great pictures and also a video of it.

Saying good-bye to Crazy, the lead dog.The day was beautiful!!!!!!!!! It was in the high 40's and so warm that we didn't have to wear gloves or hats, although dad wore his baseball hat. We got to the place and went out back to a beautiful field of snow, with 28 Alaskan Huskies barking like crazy, wanting to be hooked up to the sled that was out and waiting to take off. We went all over the mountain . The amazing thing about these dogs was that when I was on the sled for about 15 minutes, the musher lost his hat and we kept going. Then on the way back the dogs took off the trail, which was unusual , and the musher, said "what are you doing!!!!!? They pulled up next to his hat and stopped so he could pick it up. WOW!!! Smart dogs , the musher leaned over and said "wow, I forgot I lost it". Shows who really is in charge.

Louis and Perry were great guides and gave us tons of information. Nine of the 12 dogs that pulled us were in the big race in Alaska and finished all 1100 miles. WOW!Thanks again for all the fun!!! We really appreciate your kindness and great IDEA!

It was a beautiful ride and lots of fun, thank you for your gift of Adventure. It was the best gift ever!!!! After the ride we went into Leavenworth and spent the day together. It was really relaxing and we really enjoyed the break away. Sunday we got up and took a ride over to Lake Chelan and drove home. It was a great WEEKEND!!!!!! THANK YOU, WE LOVE YOU

New Car, New Boyfriend, and Clean Room

We got a new family SUV (crossover) car to replace our sad Explorer, which we really loved. Finally after many nights of looking, we haggled and haggled and got a great deal on a 2007 Kia Sorento with only 12,000 miles on it. We are certainly glad that is over. WHEW! Here is a picture of it parked at it's new home. Isn't it a pretty blue color? We were tired of the old green and silver which most of our cars have been, so we chose the new Blue look.

Then Kaci has been hanging with all the Singles Ward members, it's been long nights and tons of fun. Now she has a new boyfriend, so here comes the fun of dating and getting to know you. He's a long shoreman and travels from Everett to Portland to all the docks, working. His name is Aaron and the four of them are doing a lot of fun things together. Every time they say Cory and Aaron are coming over, It throws me off. Here's some pics of Kaci and Aaron.

We also have a new move in, which is Kaci's friend and has become a great friend of ours. Her name is Daphne and she works at the Everett Clinic, multi tasking at the front desk and other things. She's a lot of fun and enjoys all the games and fun our family can put out. She's really jumped right in and can handle US, which is amazing in itself.

This is Cory and Daphne, Kaci's good friends.Next and last is the amazing part of this whole blog. Something happened that was SPECTACULAR, Kaci CLEANED HER ROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was sky high with wash and other stuff and today she cleaned it. I'm sure you are all saying, NO WAY!!!!!!!!!! So, I took a picture so you all would believe me. It's almost as rare as the sun shinning in the Northwest in the winter. WOW! IT LOOKS SO NICE!!!!!!!

The Big Sledding Trip

So today, January 26, 2008 Kaci and her friends decided to have a funfilled day in the mountains sledding and playing in the snow. Actually they were supposed to go with the Single Ward to Mt. Baker to do that, but, they all decided that it was too far away since we were suppose to have a big snow storm come in later today and they didn't want to go that far away. Kaci asked us if she could drive the Explorer because their might be snow and it had 4 wheel drive. So we told her yes and away they went.

After the funfilled day of tubing and sleding and many sore muscles, they decided they should head home. So the piled their stuff in the car, tying a tube on top and headed down the mountain. Kaci the great mother she'll be reminded everyone that they should all wear their seatbelts and she wasn't leaving until they were all belted up. At some point Aaron, (one of the boys) questioning the snow and ice rules of how to drive in the snow.

Driving at about 25-30 mph they slowly came down the mountain. The SUV hit some ice and slid, Kaci being already questioned on the rules of snow from Aaron, cautiously tapping the breaks lightly with no resonse. The SUV, made a 180 and some how ended up on it's side sliding toward the side of the mountain into rocks. Greatfully it stopped sliding about 3 feets before hitting the rock. They all made sure that they were all ok and hung on to each other through the whole ordeal, hanging from their seatbelts. The SUV was on it's side on the driver side so they all had to climb out the other side. They all got out safely, NO ONE WAS HURT, and they all stood and hugged each other and said a prayer.

The police came and ambulances making sure they were ok, then came the tow truck to get our truck on it's tires and onto the tow truck. It's sad too see our little truck on it's side, but thank goodness that truck is heavy or they could of flipped over and hit those rocks. If they would've been in the small car that they were going to take there could've been a whole different story.

Boy are we thankful that the kids were ok and that the Lord watched over them. Kaci said she knows without his hand in this, she knows it would've been different.

Here are the pictures of the Explorer they took with their phone camera.

New Years in Seattle

The Dezember's Hit Seattle

Here are some of the highlights of the Seattle trip over New Years:

First things first, we had to give Mom and Dad their gift for Christmas! The wait was killing them! I packaged it all up in a cute little box with a husky dog inside.

Then they opened their big surprise! Watch the video to see how excited they are! Or maybe it is fear in Mom's voice....you decide!

After that excitement the games began! We spent everynight playing games past midnight. One night we stayed up until 2:30 am! We all took turns napping during the day to make up for it. We tried to eat healthy! We had a lot of buxom guests (hee heee Kyle) who helped us eat all that food. Kaci's friends and the missionaries and there was even a guest appearance by Joel! Finally we got cabin feaver and decided to hit the town! Mom and Dad were nice enough to stay home with Cooper. So it was Kyle, Laura, Duffy and Me and the girls on the town! We had lunch at the Cheescake factory (Yummy) and then headed to the monorail to go to Seattle Center.

It was the girls first time up the space needle. Kendall was a little nervous of the height but Brinley loved the observation deck and looking through the telescopes.

We also headed down to the fountain and had to touch it of course! No surprise, Brinley got soaked.

Then we headed down to Pikes Place Market with all the wierdos. Thank goodness we didn't bring Cooper! But thank goodness we did bring Kyle! He knew exactly where to go! Great navigating Kyle, we would have been lost downtown without you!

Did I mention we finally did the Boeing tour? Dad was so proud! Duffy tried to smuggle his cell phone in and almost got frisked! It was worth the money to see dad beaming with pride.

Yeah so I didn't rotate this picture Kyle... But it is a good one!
Can't wait to go back to Seattle again!

December so far...

So December has been a super busy month for our family, as I'm sure it has been for all of yours! Just wanted to give you all a fun update...

On December 4, Duffy turned the big 3-0! We surprised him by making buttons that had his Halloween picture on them (in the viking maiden suit) and said, "Fun and Flirty--Duffy's 30!" I had Duffy's receptionist hand out the buttons before he got to work. Every staff member and even a few visitors were wearing them when he got there. Boy was he surprised and embarrassed! Then Cooper and I surprised him with cake and ice cream and took him on a shopping spree. We finished the night at Shojis a Japanese restaurant where they prepare the food on the grill right in front of you! Brinley was afraid of the fire!

We have had a little snow off and on all month but it doesn't stick around very long! Cooper and Brinley sure had fun playing in the back yard though...can't wait to go sledding.

We got into the Holiday spirit by attending the Annual Bend Christmas Parade! It was freezing cold. Look at the temperature on the bank sign. With the wind it felt like it was in the teens. Cooper cried the whole time because he was miserably cold, the girls toughed it out and we finished watching the parade at our favorite Indian restaurant Taj Palace-very festive.

Little Johnny is getting bigger every day. He is so pretty I like to call him the "Sultan". Cooper enjoys laying on top of him. We had to bungee cord the Christmas tree to the banister so he wouldn't knock it over. This picture is him next to the girls tree.

Brinley was on the news this week. What a superstar! Here is a link to the newscast: http://www.ktvz.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?ClipID1=2029026&h1=Bend%20boys%20get%20special%20gift%20to%20help%20hear%20better%20%2812/18%29&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=117233&LaunchPageAdTag=Search

Her school is a deaf and hard of hearing school. Brinley and Kendall have really taken advantage of the opportunity to learn American Sign Language. Watch for Brinley in the middle of the piece signing "Yes, please" and "No, Thank You".

Kendall had her Christmas performance last night and her class did the cutest song... the Blitzen Boogy. The picture is pixely, but the sound recording is really good. Kendall is on the back row with a white blouse on, she was a real performer!

This is Kendall last night with her good friend from Kindergargen-Maya. They are such beautiful girls, just had to share.

Have a wonderful Christmas and we'll see you all at New Years! Most of you! Love The Dezember Family!

Kaci's Halloween Birthday Party

It was Kaci's big 21st Birthday Oct 28 !!!!! Wow, where has the time gone? She had a great party with her best friends drinking, eating great food and enjoying the night. What kind of drink is that, Kaci?

Her friend's all came to enjoy the night of Goblins and Ghosts as they carved scary pumpkins, and wow, were they AMAZING. We should've put them in some kind of contests. They spent most of the night carving these beautiful outrageous pumpkins. Drinking Martinelli's and birthday cake and having a great deal of fun.

Then we got to enjoy the great art work on our front porch for Halloween!!!!! We had some great comments on how nice they were and who did these masterpieces. It was fun to decorate with them. Kaci has some talented buddies.

Hope you had a great Birthday Kaci, now that you are a big 21.

Oregon Trail Bananza

We went to Baker City last Saturday. We went to see a museum that people have been telling us is so neat. We got there and it was closed for the season. So we went to small city above Baker City to see the steam engine. We got there and the Engine and Drudger was closed for the season. So we ate some pie to drowned our sorrows. We saw plenty of deer on the drive so we felt it wasn't a complete loss. So we started home when on the way out of the mountains we got stuck in a real live Cow Drive and the kids loved to see the small dogs boss the big fat cows down the street. Finally the cowboys/girls told us to drive through the cows and they will move for us. As you can see they gave us some resistance. (sorry for the sideways pict. thought I could move it around) As we left Baker City we saw a old hotel that was the largest hotel from SLC to Seattle in the 1800's (Syd didn't like the hotel because it was haunted said the owners.) As we got near the freeway out we saw another sign for another museum. We thought what have we got to lose so we went to the Oregon Trail Interpretive Museum where we only had 45min. to go through before it closed. It was neat and the kids learned about how much you can bring on the trail. Which is very little. But we did get some shots of the kids on the real wagon davits of the Oregon Trail.