Stephen at Section Swimming

Thought we'd try something technically more difficult and post a short movie on the blog. This is Stephen's swim at the section meet this year. Enjoy!

End of February 2008

My goodness, how time does fly. It doesn't seem possible that the last time I posted was a month ago. I will work on getting Jeff to post Stephen's swim at sections from last week. He has been busy this week getting his entry in the Mark Time audio awards entered and getting the IBRT grant finalized and mailed off.

Both kids are on the speech team again this year and spending most Saturdays getting up very early to head to school to drive to speech meets. Most Saturdays they have to be at school between 4-4:30 am. It makes for a long day.

Stephen is also on the Knowledge Bowl team this year and spending two mornings a week practicing with the team and heading to school at 7:30. The team is doing very well.

Rachel has convinced Jeff to start an indoor pickup soccer game on Tuesday evenings so they are spending time at the church gym running around and getting her in shape for track season which starts in about 2 weeks and then for soccer which doesn't start until the end of April or early May.

I am beginning to dream about gardens and working the dirt even though the ground is still covered with cold white stuff.

Happy Friday!

I hope this finds you anticipating the weekend. It has been a busy week here as we have all four been dealing with colds, coughs and various and sundry creeping bugs that suck the energy out of you.

We have had a very cold week but are looking to warm up to the 20s for the weekend and that will be nice. Maybe we'll even have the energy to go out and ski. I would love to get outside and move, but have had so little energy to do more than the bare essentials.

Enjoy wherever you are and know that we are thinking about you and you are in our prayers.

Diane

Happy New Year!

It has been a while since I posted and after Jeff talked about posting last night I decided I should as well. We had a wonderful holiday season which provided many memories to last us for years.

As I reflect on 2007 and anticipate 2008 the thought that has occurred to me several times is that we are in a year of firsts and lasts. Stephen will be leaving for college in the fall and I find myself aware that we are doing things "the way they've always been done" in our family for the last time and we are also having a lot of firsts. First time applying for college, first time filling out financial aid forms, last year of boys' swimming, last year we will all be involved in Christmas preparations. Possibly last birthday for Stephen at home. As I encounter each first and last I seek to praise God for the opportunities and the blessings they bring.

May your 2008 be filled with joy and peace through each and every day regardless of what it brings.

Diane

It’s 27 degrees under a sky filled with glitter-snow, and I felt like updating the Icebox Blog. A beautiful winter night is just the thing to get the wordsmith in my going.

Happy belated holidays to everyone. I hope your Christmas and New Years were fun. Mine was spent on a west coast tour of family abodes that began and ended on an Amtrak train speeding across the Midwest. We had a wonderful time as a family, though I strongly recommend making the trip in sleeper cars. We tried it both ways (sleepers on the way out, coach seats on the way back) and can positively report that the sleepers are the only way to go when your trip lasts as long as ours did (thirty hours each way). Still and all, we saw some great scenery, enjoyed truly exceptional cuisine in the dining car (everyone’s favorite part of the trip) and had a great time once we got where we were going. We spent Christmas with my folks, as well as my sister’s family in McMinnville, Oregon, then spent the week tween the holidays (Kwanza, I guess) with Diane’s family in Sedro Wooley, Washington. Many presents, much eating, and many miles on the rental car were our lives for those two weeks.

Back in the Falls now, I’m getting very focused and very excited about the IBRT’s 2008. We have a new board president in Harley Droba who is bringing an amazing amount of energy and enthusiasm to every project he’s involved with. He’s a gifted fundraiser, and led us to our best payday ever the first week in December when we did ‘Calls to Santa’ on local radio station KSDM. Kids called the station and got to talk to Santa Claus live, on the radio, and the whole town got behind it. After the show one night, Harley took his wife to dinner and said he overheard four different couples talking about the show. It will definitely be an item on our plate next year.

Blog posts should be brief, so I’ll cut off right now. Keep checking this space for more on the Adams Family, and the IBRT. Cheers!

Winter!

Winter has arrived in the borderlands. We have 8-10 inches of snow and have been cold for the last week. We had a couple of days with the high the single digits above zero. Jeff and I went skiing yesterday afternoon. We haven't been skiing before Christmas since we've been here. It was great. Hopefully this will be a winter with adequate amounts of snow to ski all winter long.

In about ten days we head out for our Christmas travel. We will drive to Grand Forks, North Dakota and catch the empire builder west to Portland where we will rent a car and spend three days with Jeff's folks then drive to Sedro-Woolley and spend three days with my folks then drive back to Portland and catch the train back to Grand Forks and drive home on January 1st so the kids can start school again on January 2nd. A wild busy trip but one we wanted to make before Stephen leaves home.

Speaking of which, he has confirmed with the University of Minnesota, Morris that he will be attending their school beginning Fall 2008 (of course, dependent on his graduating, which shouldn't be a problem). In January, we begin the financial piece of figuring out how to pay for having a child in college.

Rachel completed a successful swim season and is doing a variety of things this winter to stay busy. She will again (with her brother) be competing on the school speech team. Stephen is swimming and participating on the knowledge bowl team and swimming. Rachel and Jeff are beginning a pick up soccer game at the church and are very excited.

Have a wonderful winter and enjoy the season.
Diane

Time Flies!

It appears time really does fly when you are having fun, or at least busy. I don't know where the last three weeks have gone. We have celebrated two birthdays, finished a swim season, produced the next show as well as all the normal stuff of work and school and home and church. Rachel swam in the 500 yard freestyle at senior high sections yesterday. She didn't do as well as she wanted to do, but we are so proud of her for making it to the section meet as an 8th grader. Jeff and I had not been able to attend the junior high section meet so were delighted we could go yesterday. We drove down to Grand Rapids, watching closely for deer both ways, and enjoyed dinner together and watching Rachel swim. We will enjoy watching her in future years as well.

Stephen celebrated his 18th birthday with a trip to Virginia Minnesota with his parents and lunch at a Chinese buffet that we all enjoy. He also went with a friend and bought a lottery ticket. (He said he had to do something that showed he was an adult.)

This morning I woke to snow falling and about 1 inch on the ground. Not much and it is expected to rain tomorrow but we are all (our family at least, and we don't say it too loudly around here as most people seem to not want snow in the winter) hoping for more snow than last winter.

It is the middle of hunting season around here and the kids have Thursday and Friday off for hunting season. It is actually because the teachers work several evenings for conferences and get the time off in one chunk for hunting.

Have a wonderful weekend.
Diane