SLHS Auction

4 weeks until the 2007 SLHS Auction!!!!

Steph and I, as well as our brother and sister, all had the opportunity to attend SLHS. I think we can all say we are so grateful to the school (and our parents for sending us) for the education we received. It definitely prepared us for the different phases of our life.

So, back to the auction, Oct 27th is the day. We are still looking for people to attend as well as donations to help raise more money for the school. We contacted our favorite local blog site (http://www.westseattleblog.com/) and they were gracious enough to post this notice to the community. You can also check out the SLHS auction page for more info.

Steph and I are co-leading the effort with other Alumni and we could sure use anyone/everyone's help to make this successful. If you want to attend, or donate, or just want to hear more about what is happening at SLHS, let us know.

-Mike and Steph

KK on a Mac

Had to post this pic of kenzie at the apple store..she is a natural on
the computer!

First Test

Well...Maddie had her first test today and she has set the bar high. A perfect 5/5 on a reading test! She was pretty excited to show off the results. School is going great for her. Every night we spend 10-15 minutes reading and she has come a long way and does a great job sounding all the words out. Of course, by the end of the day she is also tired and it is tough to keep her focused, but hey, so am I.

In other Maddie news, we had our first soccer game on Sunday. Maddie did a great job. Format is bit different than last year being 4 on 4, and playing for 10 min straight. Needless to say she was tired by the end of her "shift". We will post some pictures after the big double header this weekend.

Jeff and Amy to Paris

Here is a belated update from my mom on jeff and amy's trip to Paris.
They are actually back now, so I anticipate an update from jeff soon.

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

>
>

> Hi-hope you get this-I thought i'd send an update for the blog on
> Jeff & Amy's trip.
>
> They were up by 3:30 Saturday morning and out of the house by
> 4:30.Steve took them to the airport.Jeff called from Boston where
> they had a 3 hour layover-trip was going well so far.
>
> He called again at 10:30 this morning-7:30 p.m.Paris time.The flight
> from Boston was bumpy-but
> Amy was able to get some rest.

> They had some trouble getting a taxi-it seems that just about the
> time they got to the front of taxi line it was closed down because
> of a possible car bomb threat.They're pretty sure it turned out to
> be someone's lunch!! Anyway got to the hotel-LouisII
> and checked their bags in.Did a bit of exploring while waiting to
> check themselves in.They said that their room is small-but very nice
> (amy had a website for it with some photos}
> Last night they went to Cafe Fleur-for anyone who knows Ina Garten-
> The Barefoot Contessa-from the Food Network or her cookbooks-this is
> where she and her husband Jeffrey{!} like to eat.So Just like Ina &
> Jeffrey-Amy & Jeff had ham & cheese omlettes-Amy had hers with a
> glass of French champagne while Jeff had his with -what else-a Coke!!!

> They were resting a bit then thought they would go out wandering
> this evening.They sounded great-just suffering a little jet lag.

> The kids and I are doing really well-Amy has a Paris Live website on
> her computer-so every morning and evening we all look at it and see
> some of the things Mom & Dad are seeing-especially the Eiffel Tower.

Fishing Trip

This past weekend I had the chance to catch up with some old friends on a Fishing trip to southern WA. Sean flew in from Chicago and we headed down on Sunday. We met Nello and Mike on the Kalama and setup camp. The Kalama is really cool right now because it is Fly Fishing only which is right up my alley. Sunday night we fished on the Kalama until dark. Mike caught a nice Steelhead, then we had some hot dogs and chili. We then adventured out on a first for me, Night Fishing on the Cowlitz. I didnt know what to expect, but it was interesting. I was really surprised to see how many people were there...probably 50 or so. This was a bit different kind of fishing as we used glow in the dark lures and spinning gear. Except for Maggie Lake, I have only used Fly Fishing Gear so I just wasnt that good at it. In the end we didnt catch anything that night, so I am still not "hooked" on spin fishing :-)

The next morning we got up early and started fishing on the Kalama. Nello landed a nice fish, then we headed out to the Toutle. This again was spin fishing and we got totally shut out. The only thing we got was wet! We were caught in a rain storm and I decided to camp out in the car while the other three crazies exercised their arms some more. We headed back to the sunny campground and after some lunch fished some more on the Kalama. Nello, Mike and I worked our way up to what they call the Parking Lot hole and at about 7pm, the fish started biting. Mike had 5-6 fish on in about 1 hour, Nello hooked into a couple and I landed a Fall Chinook. I am not a good judge of weight but it was a big fish. It took me all the way into my backing and I finally landed it. We headed back to the campsite and enjoyed a great night by the fire. We burned through a bunch of wood and a box of paper I brought down.

The next day we got up and had breakfast, another fire, and toyed with fishing or not. The day before was a long day and I for one was sore. We decided to break down camp and go to the "Beginners Hole." It was sunny and the fish were moving in. With polarized glasses you could see the fish coming into the pools. Nello and Mike fish this a lot and they said this was nothing compared to when the fish really come in. However, that also means a lot more people. Mike and I were upstream to start and joined Nello and Sean a little later. When we arrived Nello said that the fish were biting...I scaled down the rip rap bank to find a spot. Lucky for me on my second case I hooked into a nice Silver (Coho). It was a hatchery fish so we kept it..Before it was cleaned up (thanks Hopper) we got a picture. I felt lucky to fair hook the fish as everyone was hooking into fish, but not in the mouth.




All in all this was a great trip. Really enjoyed hanging out with old friend and trying to figure out where all our high school mates are now. I caught and landed my first salmon on the fly so that was great. Thanks to Hops and Nello for being the guides...Thanks Buck for coming out.

The Edgefield Experience

A couple weeks ago Steph and I had the opportunity to get away for a couples weekend to Edgefield near Portland, OR. Edgefield is a McMenamins property that used to be a nursing home in they have restored into a very cool destination. We were invited by Party organizer extraordinaire Ryan Perry. Us, along with the Perrys and two other couples made our way down there on Thursday and Friday and stayed until Sunday. Lucky for us the Nanas offered to watch the kids. Maddie and Kenzie went to Nana and Papa J's while Baby Haas was with Nana and Papa C's.

Rather than driving, we decided to take the train and leave after I got off work on Thursday. The four of us had entire Amtrak train car to ourselves and we had a relaxing trip down I-5 to portland. From there we grabbed a Cab out to Edgefield. Wow, what an experience that was. You thought NY cab drivers were strange, this guy was a doozy. Ryan got him talking about politics and away he went. We got to Edgefield around 10:30 and spent a couple hours just wandering the complex. There are about 5 different bars, 3 different resturants, a movie theatre, a brewery, a distillery, etc. The next day we got up and the guys hit the 17 hole pitch and putt. We started about noon with Hammerheads in hand, and didnt stop "partaking" until the wee hours of the morning. Good times :-) Oh, almost forgot...I had to be on a "short" conf call at 9am that turned into a nearly 2 hour ordeal...so it was a nice break. The next day was kind of tough for everyone...The guys laid low in the sports bar and watched the UW vs. Boise St game...while the ladies ventured on the bus to downtown Portland. Without a car, the option was bus or cab....at $60 one way, they went with the $2 per person route. Public transportation is always an adventure and by the sounds of it this was no different. Our last night we had a great time going from bar to bar with our group. We had dinner outside (BTW the weather was Awesome...high 70's), played a little LCR, and just hung out. Sunday came around and we had breakfast then headed out to the bus stop to make our way to the Train Station...yep, the ladies convinced us to use to get to the train. We had the opportunity to share the bus with a number of interesting characters...one of which kept saying outloud..."It never happened...It never happened....It never happened."

Well, this weekend did happen and it was a ton of fun. We highly recommend Edgefield if you are in the portland area. Thanks to our parents for watching the kids so we could enjoy this time!

Update from Long Beach

Passing along an update from the Jensen Clan in Long Beach.

 

------------------------------------

Greetings from Lakewood, California, where the weathers hot, the kids are back in school (and happily so), and the city of lights looms in our future. Amy and I are leaving for Paris on Saturday yep, the passport arrived and we couldn’t be more excited. Please pray for our safety as we travel, and please pray that our kids will have a safe and sane time at home with Nana J (Jeff’s Mom), who has flown down to take care of the kids, for which we are very, very grateful. Which reminds me: please pray for Nana J's safety and sanity, as well!

On the cancer front: No updates since our last very positive report, except to say that the positivity has only increased. Amy’s hair is growing back; a very cute short hairstyle is emerging. Her spirits remain bright and strong the best they’ve been since this all went down back in January. (Has it really been the long/not long? My sense of time is all warped.) We are grateful for this season of optimism and restoration of strength. Of course, the cancer journey is still ongoing. The only way we will ever know for sure that Amy will be cancer/tumor-free is if she never gets another tumor again. We are thankful for the good health we have today, and we pray for good health tomorrow. And so it goes

But cancer, shmancer we’re going to Paris! We can’t wait to experience it this is our first real vacation we’ve taken alone since the kids were born--and we look forward to sharing some of our adventures with you when we get back. We are thankful for your continued love and support, which in various ways have helped make this long-held dream of a Paris trip come true. Thank you, and God bless you all.

Love, Jeff and Amy

1st Grader

As we posted breifly before, Maddie started 1st grade a couple weeks ago. So far she is really enjoying school. They have like 12 girls and only 5 boys, so there is drama almost every day....and of course Maddie has nothing to do with it :-) She is learning very quickly how to read, which it the main goal of first grade. The great thing is that she really enjoys reading and actually picks up the more challenging books. Knowing her, she will have it nailed by Christmas.

We also shared that Maddie's teacher, Mrs. Gruenhagen, is the same teacher that Steph and I had a long time ago. We dont remember a lot from that time, but when Maddie brought home her first set of paper, we immediately remembered those red stars on assignments!

Here are a few pictures:

The sisters before heading to school

Maddie in her desk

Maddie and her 1st Grade Teacher Mrs. Gruenhagen

The class!

Major Catchup Needed

The intent of the blog was for "frequent" updates on things, but sometimes life gets in the way! No problems to report, just a lack of time to post updates. We have a few key things we want to share, but here are few sneak peaks:

- Maddie started 1st Grade - Wednesday, August 29th was her first day of school at a 1st grader. She has the same teacher that Steph and I had 28 years ago...Yikes!!!!

- Maggie Lake Cabin Trips - Steph's parents found a great lake property near Hood Canal and there have been a number of fun weekend trips.

- Great Grandma Cook moving - Their apartement complex is being converted to Condos, so an emergency search was on for a new place for them. Luckily they found something close.

- Birthdays - Today (9/5) is my Dad's B-day (Happy Birthday Dad)....My Birthday was on 9/2.