This video is a little experiement. It seems to have worked out well, so you'll be able to enjoy more movies from our brilliant little family!

Snow Time Fun

Today we were snowed in even more than yesterday because of all of the ice on top of the snow!! The news said this is the biggest snow storm the Northwest has seen since the early 90's! The girls made snow chairs today and Chase, Ian, and Abbie went out tonight to play around a bit in the snow!! Chase decided to wear a pair of old boots Great grandpa Parker gave him which was perfect because the soles of the shoe were completely smooth...ideal for sliding!! Just watch the video to see how well that turned out!!! (You can't really see very well but it was hilarious!!) We all are really enjoying the snow because after this winter we won't see it again for another 5 years!

Snow and Decorating for Christmas

Today it is officially winter! We got our first (and hopefully not last) dusting of snow. We also decorated our Christmas Tree today. It looks really good! We got a lot of new ornaments to put on to it this year. Dad decided to get new lights for the tree. I think this is the first year we've ever had colored lights instead of the regular white ones. They look really pretty! We're all really excited for Christmas!

Ian's Wrestling Tournament

Ian went to a wrestling match yesterday. He wrestled five people and took 3rd place in the tournament. It was really exciting to watch him do so well. He made varsity last year, and this year we hope he continues to improve his skill.

Caitlin finished her quilt for Grandma Jackson. She did a GREAT job on her first quilt!



Ian shows off his project for the Culture Fair at school about Robert LeRoy Parker, a distant relative also known as Butch Cassidy.

This is our thanksgiving meal. Grandma Sunshine came up from Utah. We call her Grandma Sunshine because it never rains and is always sunny when she comes. You know the reputation of the Great Northwet. It's not true when Grandma Sunshine comes to town.

Poor Abbie! We promised her she could eat with us before the great Thanksgiving Movie work day. Unfortunately, Tom Turkey didn't cooperate and she had to go to work before everything was ready (we didn't feel like eating raw turkey). She wasn't very happy about it and we were sad she wasn't with us. We did think of her for a while, then we got down to business of stuffing ourselves and listing a few things we were grateful for. Abbie had to eat by herself after she got home, but we did share some pie with her afterward.

Chase is holding the Skyview High Cross Country team District 1st place tropy between his two very fine coaches, Chris Erdman and Bob Brands. Chase did well during the CrossCountry season this year. We have high hopes for him next year. He was 1st place runner at the District meet in Kelso, Washington, then he went to Regionals at Seattle and was 9th fastest runner, which qualified him for State with a time of 16:08. He had a great first run at State with a time of 16:11 coming in at #29. He earned the following awards:

Certificate of Participation at State
Distinquished Scholar Award
Varsity Award

Scholar Athlete Award

1st Team All-League

Runner of the Year

Chase was also asked to be the team captain for the 2009 season and was voted most valuable athlete for 2008 by his teammates. GO CHASE!!!!