A Baby Shower!

This weekend was a fun time to have a small shower for Briana. There were only six of us, but we had a nice time. After the shower Jon, Briana, Brandon and I explored the outdoor sculpture garden downtown in Seattle and then went out to dinner. It was a great weekend and a good chance to catch up with Jon and Briana. At the end of the weekend Brandon was ready to have a baby so he could get some of the cool gear and Carole was ready to be an auntie! We'll get on the same page some day :)Is that natural fibers?? Briana checks out the blanket I crocheted for Kayden.We were incredibly lucky to have a gorgeous sunny day in Seattle, so we caught some rays in the sculpture garden on the harbor after the shower.Later we showed the guys the gifts and Jon tried out the diaper "purse."

A Vacation to Lutherwood?

Sad, but true! We actually had a great time traveling to the "other" Lutherwood in Eugene, OR. Our friend Tyler just took the Executive Director position there so we went down to see him, Brandon gave their staff a little advice on computers and challenge courses, and we took a day at the beach and hiking for ourselves. It was a good time!

And this is spring...

What we woke up to on March 29th!

Happy Easter

We had a fun Easter, taking family photos for a youth group fundraiser. They turned out great, and the youth made almost $1000!

Old Picture, New Post

Ok, so this is from January, but I just got the picture on my computer! From snowboarding on Mt. Baker. We do love the Northwest!!!

The Finished Project

Well, here are a few. It turns out our apartment is still tiny, and hard to get pictures of the effect the new floors have. Let's just say we love them, they don't smell funky, and it is easy to find where Smokey has been sleeping and drooling!

New Floors!

Yippee! Camp got some money to do new flooring in our apartment so it is out with the nasty old carpet and in with pretty oak-colored laminate! We are having some technical difficulties with the pictures, so for now you only get the "in process" ones, it will keep you coming back for more!
The first step was popping off all the trim so that we could lay the flooring under that...
Then it was time to tear up all the old carpet and other random flooring underneath it. We found particle board, linoleum, some other wood product stuff, tar paper, and then, this:
Yes, that is right, giant holes in the sub-flooring. After Brandon went to the hardware store to get replacement boards at 9 p.m. we called it a night! Then, finally, it was time to actually lay the floor! That didn't take too long, it was the prep work that was the real bugger.
More pictures of the finished product to come, I promise!

Christmas in St. Louis

We have had an amazing time so far relaxing and catching up with family. Here are some high
points!

Carole eating meatballs with the guys....

Hanging out with John, Pam, and the little Havecker in Pam's belly!!!!

Stan trying on some Harley gear,

and Carole and Brandon showing their Army connections....

Spending time TOGETHER!

Striking a "Charlie's Angel" pose with the new Marshmallow shooters we got...

Bonding with Gizmo, who is the cuddliest dog, ever! We would take him home (he really likes big dogs!) but Mom and Dad would probably not let that happen!
The three kids gave Mom and Dad a Nintendo DS, and the game "Brain Age" so that they don't get Alzheimers! (They were very appreciative!)

Brandon got a new tool belt and showed off his best side...
All in all we have had a great time so far. We have two more days and then it is back home to the rain. But 11 days of vacation...we won't complain!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!We just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! We hope that you and yours are having a blessed holiday season. We have been blessed by being done with finals! Yeah!
We are also going to be an "auntie and uncle." And for those of you wondering which of our unwed siblings went and did such a thing.... none of them, it is my childhood friend Briana and her hubby Jon. Congrats you guys!! We are glad we'll have a way to get our baby fix without actually taking the plunge ourselves :)
In a week we'll be heading to St. Louis for some good times with family and friends and we are looking forward to it. Par for the course Carole is already packed and has wrapped and packed presents for half the city, and Brandon hasn't thought of packing and is out shopping for Carole today!
So, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and lots of love to you all!
p.s. We did have a loss in our family recently...Bandit the fish didn't survive our trip to Montana :(

Prayers

Hey everyone! This is just my request for your prayers for my brother. Kendall found out today that he is being deployed to Afghanistan on December 15th to meet up with his new unit. Thanks for your prayers for his safety!

Thanksgiving 2007

Once again we hosted Thanksgiving at our place this year. We were short the siblings (which made it just a little too quiet!) but both sets of parents joined us. It was a relaxing week, the Scheer folks came in on Saturday and then the Selis arrived on Tuesday

We took advantage of the gorgeous weather we had this week and took Stan and Karen to a park on the Sound. It was a beautiful day, but very chilly, especially if you got out of the sun! We saw seals, and took pictures, and collected driftwood, and watched boats. It was definitely a Pacific Northwest experience (but sunny!)
Of course Stan once again had to strike a "Sexiest Man of the Year" pose somewhere. At least this time he didn't almost fall in the water! As always there were random strangers wondering what the heck we were doing. Brandon and Dad Seli got a bike ride in and Brandon actually survived (just barely!) check out the spandex!!! Or don't, it really is disturbing! .

We Have a Hot Tub!

While he was here Dad Scheer did the electrical so we can hook up our hot tub that was donated to camp. (We thought we should let an electrician handle the electricity + water scenario!) It went off with only one minor hitch and we are enjoying it!

How Much Longer?

Hello! How is it going for all of you that are interested enough in our boring lives to check this thing? We are doing pretty well. Today was a tough day at school for me (Carole), people in class are dropping like flies, sick, personal difficulties, etc. We counted today and there are only six weeks left in the quarter! Yeah! It seems like a long time, but I know that I am going to be so busy it is going to go by way faster than I can write Christmas cards. So, if you don't get one, sorry! We are in St. Louis for Christmas this year, and since I am in school and have a long break we get to go for 11 days. I plan on sleeping a LOT!
Smokey is good, but he has developed a taste for baked goods. Twice in the last week we have come home to him having eaten all the bread products off the counter. Hmmm, he might be eating himself back into the crate again!
I think that about sums up the excitement. Continued prayers for camp and the staff and board are always appreciated as they continue to work to do God's will here. Brandon is doing great and still biking and running when I don't talk him into eating instead. :) Love you all!

Back at it

Ok, ok, I am trying to get back into the swing of updating the blog. I am being massively shown up by our friend Jess who is blogging every other day! Granted, she has a far more interesting life than we do! So, what is going on with us. Well, for me it is pretty much school of one kind or another, all the time. I go to the elementary school on Mondays and Wednesdays (not nearly often enough-one kid pointed and gasped when I walked in last Monday). Then I spend the WHOLE day on Tuesday and Thursday in class. I am not exaggerating. I leave home at 7 am to go catch my bus up to campus, start classes at 8 am and go pretty much straight through (minus a lunch break) until 6 pm. By the time I get on the bus and then drive back to camp it is 7 pm when I get home. Luckily I have Fridays off, so that is when the majority of homework happens. It also generally means I can take some time off to spend with Brandon if he were to get a weekend off.

Brandon is still cranking away, busy as ever. Camp is working on redefining the staff's positions, which we are still kind of waiting to see what exactly that means. Think it will be a good thing. He is also working on training for a triathalon for next summer. He is biking a lot (and wearing spandex, uggh, Dad wore off on him!) and running occasionally as well. I am not inspired to join in!

So, all in all, things are going pretty well. Hope you are all doing great, too!

Carole's School

Here is some information about my new school! I am assigned to a 4th-5th grade split class at Larrabee Elementary School. Their upper grades participate in an amazing "collaborative specialist" model. There are 3 teachers that part of the 3rd grade and all the 4th and 5th graders rotate through, one teaches science, one math, and one technology and literacy. It really works amazingly well because all three teachers (4 if you count the social studies teacher who takes the math slot one day a week) are in constant collaboration. They are all backing each other up, and making connections with learning that is happening in the other portables. The upside for me is that all three are specialists in their area and superb teachers with tons of experience.
Here is a picture of the main building (a slightly old picture!)
There are about 190 students and I think 9 teachers, so it is a small school, but so far everyone has been VERY supportive of myself and the other 2 post-baccs placed there. Here is a picture of one of the three portables that house the collaborative model classes:

Carole & Smokey's first backpacking trip

During our few days between summer camp and school starting back up we went backpacking with our friend Holly. It was an amazing trip and we saw some beautiful country. Plus, now Carole's size 4 jeans fit again! If only she had to carry any food she planned to eat all the time....
All joking aside it was an incredible experience. Here are some photos to prove it!Smokey waits patiently while Dad pumps some water. Smokey did a great job with his pack and definitely slept good at night, snoring so loudly Carole thought there was a bear!
The first 2 days were very soggy, but then it cleared up and looked like this:The view from Grizzly Peak.Carole, Holly, and Smokey hiking along. (Sorry, couldn't get it to rotate)The whole crowd in front of what we think was Snohomish Peak. There were a lot of very big mountains with snow and glaciers all around us, and they didn't seem to all be on the maps we had!

Carole's New Skills

Well, hello there. So some of you may wonder how Carole is spending her time lately. A lot of it is actually pretty lame, but I have done a few fun projects. A couple those of you that know me well (Mom) may be interested in a new link over to the right of the blog. It is titled Carole's Webpage, and it is the new webpage (very basic!) I designed in my technology class. Most of the links are very boring, but if you'd like to see a movie of my life go to the "Portfolio" page and try out "Made Me Who I Am" It is a movie I created about my life.
Pray for me, I'm on the verge of a breakdown, thank God it is Friday!

Summer Life

Well, things are going relatively good, I guess!
Carole is incredibly busy, but usually not too overwhelmed, by school right now. She is now spending some time in a summer-school class and really enjoying it. One downside is that she got an eye infection from a cold (didn't know that was possible, did you? Leave it to Carole!) Hopefully that will heal up soon, because the eyes are already feeling pretty stressed from reading hundreds of pages a week! This quarter system thing is crazy, only 2 more full weeks of school and then a week with only 2 of her classes. Time flies when you are having fun!
Brandon is going full-summer-throttle. This was a super-busy week, starting everyday at about 8 and not coming to bed until after midnight. Feel free to let him know he should be taking care of himself :) He hasn't been getting as much wakeboarding time in as he would like, maybe this weekend!
Smokey is missing his buddy Everest, since Nichol came home and took him to her house. Other than that he is doing a great job consoling home-sick campers. He does so well sitting quietly by the sad kids and making them feel better!

Did I mention I'm in school? I am! Finally! I started classes on Monday and we are going strong. It is going to be a very busy year! We started with 17 in my cohort and are down to 16 on day 4 :( So far I am enjoying just about every class, though. I have "teaching math," "intro to teaching," a special ed. class, "ed psychology," and a tech class that is pretty boring so far but hopefully will move fast. I have seen Brandon a total of about 3 hours this week, but some of that is because I'm house-sitting, too. Hopefully it will get better when I'm living back at home. On the other hand, living alone I've been a lot more productive!
By the way, one of my biggest accomplishments this week: I figured out the bus schedule and made it to and from class on the bus every day without going anywhere extraneous!!!
Other things I did this week: cleaned up a mouse head and tail and the mess caused by a cat leaving a mouse head and tail around. Got up at 6:00 a.m. three days!!! Learned that there is a "new" math. Started getting to know the other people in my cohort. So far I've read every word of the assigned readings for every class. (I expect that to last about 2 more days!)
Well that is all the time I have. Have an amazing day!

CFSC-the memories

In early June our Captive Free teammate came to visit us for a few days. We spent a lot of time reminiscing, reading old journals, and laughing. We also showed her some of the Bellingham sites!out on the lake at campsunset at Boulevard Park (over Bellingham Bay)napping with Smokeyon Mt. Constitution (Orcas Island)-half way upthe view from the top of Mt. Constitution (or lack thereof!)then we hiked down to Twin "Lakes" (more of a pond-very disappointing for all the work it involved!) and felt a great sense of accomplishment that we made it back to the top!
When we got back to the top there was a very brief break in the clouds (Jess almost missed it going to the bathroom!)and we could see the lakes we had hiked down to.
Sorry that the pics are so small, it says they are medium :(

Kendall's Graduation and Commissioning

Carole's baby brother was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant Seli
and graduated from college all in one weekend! Way to go, hon!Kendall takes his oath.The family!
Kendall receives his first salute.
2nd Lieutenant Seli gets his diploma!

Bandit

Well, it looks touch and go for our darling Bandit. Apparently our trip made him very depressed because I cleaned his bowl today and when I went back about an hour later he was laying on the kitchen floor. It seems he took the opportunity of an over-filled bowl to try and commit suicide. We have placed him in fishy ICU, but so far he isn't doing much. His gills are still moving but that is about it. We'll keep you posted.

Update: Bandit seems to have made a complete recovery and has not tried jumping out again so far!