The Week(end) in Review

Last week wrapped up the first full week of school for both Maddie and Kenzie. By Friday, Maddie was drained, and Kenzie couldn't wait to go back on Monday. The weekend was GREAT..mainly because we didn't do much. There was no Husky game to watch and be depressed about :-), plus it was a cold/rainy day on Saturday. The only thing on the plate was an afternoon soccer game for Maddie. She played the entire 1st half as Goalie and she really enjoyed it. Of course, like her dad, when asked why she replied "Because I dont have to run back and forth all the time!" To her credit, at this age it is constant back and forth, almost like a good tennis rally. Although we arent supposed to keep score, they did win! Mikayla led the team with a hat trick in the 1st half. They are starting to play really well together and might be on a roll!! Sunday was another laid back day with Church in the morning, Seahawks in the afternoon (I predicted 35-13, so I was close!), and then some friends over for dinner. All in all a great weekend. Now we just have to hope that Fall doesn't come on too quick and we can squeeze some more sun out!

Weekly Plug: Remember it is Hope Auction time. Hope Lutheran, the School that Maddie and Kenzie attend, and the school that Mike, Steph, Jeff and Stacey attended, is having their auction on November 1st. We still have room if anyone wants to attend, and we can ALWAYS use more donations. If we want to contribute just drop us an email at mjandsj@comcast.net and we will gladly talk more. If you are reading this...think about it, as we are trying to do everything we can to make the event a success, and you can help!!!

1st Day of Pre-School

Last week, Maddie had her day, today was Kenzie's day. She officially started pre-school. We started the morning with breakfast and pictures on the front porch (look familiar?) Then headed out to school with backpack loaded and a big grin on our face. KK was a little timid at first as there was A LOT going on...new place, new faces, lost of comotion, etc. In just a few minutes she warmed up with all the activities in the classroom. We snapped up a bunch of pictures of her class that you can see in the slideshow. As you can imagine she is excited to go back tomorrow!!!

Pre-School

Today is the day before the first day of pre-school for Kenzie. She is READY!!! Last night she gave a performance that we thought we would share with everyone. Check back tomorrow for 1st day of pre-school pictures.

First Day of School

Yesterday was the official first day of school for Maddie. After the back to school BBQ the night before (featured here on WSB), she was ready! With the long summer we had to be deliberate about wake up times, eating breakfast, etc. Day 1 went off well...Day 2 was a bit more of struggle, but she will be fine. Today is the first FULL day, so we will see how it went. Here is a slide show of pictures from the 1st day. As you will see KK was ready as well...here official first day is on Monday, so we will have another round of pictures then.

New School Year - Hope Auction

After an extra long summer, the School year is almost ready to start. As you might have heard, Hope is undergoing a bit of remodel, so we ended early and are starting late to accommodate the construction schedule. Maddie's first official day of school is Wednesday. She will be in 2nd grade. Meanwhile, Kenzie's first day will be on the 15th. She will be in P3. Both are super excited to start up school! Tomorrow we have the "Back to School BBQ" at SLHS, followed by orientation back at the school. We will be extra busy tomorrow as I get to give the "Welcome" message, and Steph will be talking about the Auction

So, speaking of Auction. Time to give the plug:

Steph has been hard at work with this year's auction. With our experience helping put on the SLHS auctions in 2005 and 2007, she decided to help make it happen in 2008 with Hope. This is a perfect job for her with her amazing organization skills. It is going to rock! Anyway, the event....It will be on Saturday, November 1st at the Hall at Fauntleroy. Her, Julia and the slew of great volunteers met today to get all the invitations stuffed and ready to be mailed. So, be on the lookout. However, if you dont get one, and are interested in attending, just give us a call, email, etc. Tickets are $50 and it is shaping up to be the best Hope Auction ever.

If attending wont work out, we are also looking for donations. From physical items, certificates, tickets, experiences, services, etc....anything will be accepted. Give us a call, or drop us an email and we will be happy to coordinate pickup of whatever you willing to donate.

Steph and I feel very blessed to have attended Hope and that is why we are passionate about giving back and helping out....and to make it be that special place for our kids. So, we welcome any help you might be willing to offer. Hope is on the verge of some great things and we appreciate all your support.

Birthday Weekend Eve

The Big 3-5 for Mike is tomorrow, so we spent the labor day weekend over at the Maggie Lake Cabin. We headed over on Saturday AM..we were the last car on the ferry after picking up Cafe Ladro and Original Bakery. We decided to take the scenic drive into Belfair and go the Cabin around Noon. The weather wasnt the greatest, but we made do. Josie immediately headed for the lake, while Maddie and KK got on their bikes. On Sunday, Nana and Papa J headed over. Weather was kind of iffy, but not before we got a lemonade stand all setup. By the end of the Day, the girls racked in 9.50 from passers by. Kinda cool, they had the Maggie Lake Tri-athalon...a swim across the lake, a bike ride, and a walk twice around the lake...Ironically we were just thinking about something like this a couple weeks ago...when it was 90 and we were in the lake all day!



So, I thought it would be cool to get my Dad up to Trophy Lake for his birthday (9/5) so that he could catch some of those nice trout. He, Bruce and I headed up and go there about noon. We fished for about 3 hours through sun, rain, thunder and very picky fish!! Finally, as we were about to pack it in, Dad finally got into a lunker...actually we had a double. I had just hooked a fish and it was stripping line off my reel like crazy, when he yelled "I got one too!" Unfortunately, right when he got the fish in and was ready for the picture, the fish flopped out of his hands, and flopped another time right back into the lake. I was able to keep the grip on mine and we got this picture of the two of us together. Anyway, good times!




oh...here is another one that I caught as well :-)


Thanks to Steph, the Girls, Bruce, Sheryl, Mom and Dad for a great birthday weekend!!!