Vote for KKI

So you probably know that I love Krochet Kids International for many reasons. And it's not just because my brother-in-law & his friends founded the nonprofit. They are doing great things in Uganda, making a difference in the lives of women and their families. One person at a time.

They are in the running for a $250,000 award from Chase Community Giving on Facebook. The four runners up receive $100K. Wouldn't it be awesome if KKI won!? The problem is they are currently in 11th place. They need to move up in the ranks and they can only move up if they receive more votes!

Right now a blind cat rescue is ahead of them. I am not joking. You can go and check it out if you don't believe me. I know that blind cats are in need of love and care, but are you kidding me? Cats or people? Please take a second today and click on the link below.

Vote by clicking here and check out my sister's blog for a video & some more info.

Fest of Hoops

Today concluded Hoopfest 2010. All four gentleman of team Mose in Socks made it out of the weekend without injuries. And there were no brawls (not that our team is a brawl-initiating bunch - it's just that brawls & Hoopfest tend to go hand in hand). Therefore it was a successful weekend of hoops.

They played well too. After winning both games yesterday and their first game this morning, the boys lost in the semi-finals. They had a chance to redeem themselves and end up in the championship game, but winded up losing to the same team they dominated this morning. Which is just one lesson to be found at Hoopfest: you cannot look past any team because anyone can win if one person gets hot. Other Hoopfest lessons include get on the good side of your court monitor, and if someone looks scary they probably are, and being a good basketball player does not mean you are a good hoopfest player (the opposite of that statement is true as well). So, lessons were learned. Battles were fought. And the boys did well. It was a great weekend.

And the spectators had a lovely time too...

Tonight was one of the first nights it's actually felt like summer around here. And it's about time. These are the kind of days I want to push the pause button on life. Slow down, spinning earth. Rotate a little bit slower around the sun, pretty please. I'm just fine with Clara staying 13 1/2 months for a bit longer. And with slow summer Sunday evenings at the park lasting a really long time...

Visit with the McCoys

This week my dear friend, Erin, and her husband, Jake, came to visit. They've spent the last two years of their lives in Ecuador in the Peace Corps. It had been way too long since we'd last seen them. In fact, we realized that the last time the four of us spent time together was during the crazy snow storm in Denver, 2006 (I was happy to find this event documented on Wikipedia. Got to love that). They happened to get to our place the night before the blizzard began. We were literally snowed in for two days before we made our way out of the five-foot drifts (thanks in large part to Jake & Jono, massive shoveling, and the good ol' subaru forester).

But this time there were no blizzards. Just great conversation. Walks. Time at the park. Meals together. A little shopping. Golf (for the boys). And relaxation. It was great.

Erin and Jake have come to the conclusion that Clara is very much like their cat. She sleeps often, rubs up against you while crawling, waits at closed doors in anticipation, occasionally pukes from eating too fast/overeating, and purrs to show satisfaction.

Hopefully this little girl will learn to walk soon. Her knees are getting awfully dirty.

Father's Day Weekend

This was the second year that father's day has involved celebrating Jonathan as well as our dads. And it was Jonathan's request that we get away to Priest Lake for some of the weekend. Now I vow that I will not post about Priest Lake 500 times this summer. But I guess that will be challenging to do since we have quite a few plans this summer that involve the place. So maybe you'll see more pictures, but I won't go on and on and on about it. You already know how I feel. If you don't, you can reference one of these posts...one, two, three from last summer.

So the three of us spent two nights at the lake. It was the perfect combination of relaxation & activity. We had scones & eggs for breakfast on Saturday, read in our swimsuits on the deck of the cabin as Clara napped in the morning, went on a long hike and had lunch, napped on the deck in our swimsuits as Clara took her afternoon nap, played on the beach in the afternoon, enjoyed a salmon dinner, and had Tamrack ice cream for dessert. I'm pretty sure any combination of food, naps, books, adventure, sunshine, and ice cream make for a great day as far as I'm concerned.

Clara could not get enough of the water...

Trying to push away from her dad so she could get more of the water:

The hike...

Playing in the grass...

Time for swimming!

One of the best parts was that the TV wasn't working, so we turned off our cell phones too and just read, talked and breathed that lovely mountain air. Am I the only one who goes tech-crazy after a while? (as I sit here and compose my blog...) And I finished one of the best books I've read in a long time: Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. So good. I highly recommend it.

On Sunday we woke up to sunshine and had breakfast at Hills to celebrate the Jonnycakes before making the trek back to town.

We got back just in time to watch both our dads perform in a father's day quartet at their church. Now how many people can say that they watched both their dad and their father-in-law sing together in a quartet on father's day? I'm guessing not many ;). Maybe this is the right time to ask the question, how many of your dads were recently inducted to the Spokane Softball Hall of Fame? Nobody?? I am proud to say that my dad was. Pretty impressive, huh? And dad, if you're reading this, I am not making fun of you. I will never make a hall of fame list, in any regard, so I am just jealous.

In all seriousness, I am blessed beyond measure to have a wonderful dad, an amazing second dad (father-in-law), and a great husband who is also the world's best dad to the Claranator. Yeah for dads. And I wonder how many "best in the world" references were made in Father's Day cards across the country? I'm pretty sure it was my go to line each year in all my cards. And I'm pretty sure I used it this year too.

That's enough for now. Happy Father's Day, fathers.

Happy Graduation, Baby Bro

My high school graduation. 2001.

My little brother's graduation. 2010. (not the best pic for many reasons...but had to use it)

Is it weird that my baby brother has graduated high school? Yes and no.

Yes. In some ways he will always be a baby in my mind. It doesn't seem that long ago when I was painting his finger and toenails, twirling him around my arm, and making him promise never to grow up. (Jonathan has known Ethan since he was a second grader. Pretty crazy when you think I didn't even have a little brother until the summer after 3rd grade).

But no. It's not that weird on the other hand. I am getting a bit old to still have a brother in high school. The rest of us are married and have long since moved out of the house. Two of the three of us older kids have children of our own. So in some ways, it's about time.

Happy graduation, Eth. I'm glad you're the one lifting me these days!

Landmark Birthday

Today is my father-in-law's 60th birthday. It's funny how sixty is not old any more. I think "old" might be defined as one generation beyond your parents. For me it is, at least. When my mom was thirty, fifty was old. Now that she's in the fifties, the seventies are old. But soon the eighties will be. I realize I am old, too, in the eyes of some. In fact, I was referred to as a lady the other day. As in some high schooler saying, "that lady over there...", talking about me. Somehow I think girl should be the pronoun, but I think I'm in for many more lady comments. Anyways, about the birthday...

We had a fun weekend getaway to celebrate. Jonathan's sister, Anna, and I had been planning this for a long time. It was technically a surprise, but based on the few hints we gave (pack outdoor gear & swimsuits), I'm 99.9% certain John had it figured out long ago. We met as a family at our house Saturday morning and hit the road on our adventure.

Here is Jono's dad with our invitation & the granddaughters.

First stop: Silver Mountain, Idaho. We booked a sweet condo at the ski lodge for the night.

After checking in, we hit the road toward Wallace, Idaho where we went on one of the coolest hikes I've experienced. The Pulaski Trial follows the route of Ed Pulaski, a heroic forest service ranger, as he guided 45 fireman to safety in an abandoned mine during the Great Fire of 1910. My father-in-law (an avid reader and walking excyclopedia) read a book about it (The Big Burn) and had been talking about taking the hike as a family. It was a beautiful trail (only four miles total) and I would definitely recommend it to anyone within a day's drive of Wallace :)!

We came back and had a great evening together. We had a "make your own calzone" bar for dinner and this ridiculous chocolate cake, pictured below. If you are obsessed with peanut butter and chocolate, like we are (and Jonathan's dad), you will faint with love for this cake.

In the morning we took a walk through Kellogg and enjoyed a little sunshine (the forecast said rain, and I'm thankful they were wrong!). I don't know if there is a human alive who can walk by a playground with a teeter-totter and choose to refrain from tottering. We certainly couldn't.

Then we had breakfast and presented John with his birthday present: a book of letters from friends & family, near and far. It had been a long project but was worth every second. He loved it! The craziest part? I counted all the letters and there were sixty. Exactly.

Before heading home, we went to the amazing new water park at the resort. If I were five years old, I'm pretty sure the place would be heaven. We'll have to go back when the girls are a bit older. Even at their age they loved it. So did Jonnycakes. And everyone else.

It was a memorable weekend. Lovely in every way.