Crazy Catch up

 

Well, maybe I shouldn't leave this whole blog writing-thing to the kids.  While their writing skills are more than competent, they just have no time. Not that Moms have much more time, but at least we're still staying up a little later than the maniacs (even that is questionable some nights, however)!

For ease of catching folks up, pictures are in the links below by month, with a  description of what there is to view in the album.

Happy Easter. Happy Spring!

Amanda 

SEPTEMBER 2023   September 2023

• Tina and Cooper go to Texas for one week leading up to Labor Day Weekend. Amanda and Porter join them over Labor Day Weekend just in time to celebrate Niece Victoria's marriage to Joseph Jones.

• Tina and Chris celebrated their September birthdays

• Cooper promotes to a Yellow Belt.   

• Cooper signs up for 4H; a once a month full club meeting and then ocassional projects based on his interests. No big deal, right...?!

• Porter performs with the Woodland Opera House, a production of Roald Dahl's, Matilda, Jr.!  The Troupe works on Fundraising during the Fall, in preparation for the Junior Theater Festival in 2024.  Matilda! 

OCTOBER 2023   October 2023

• Porter turns 12 and a few days later went away for a week to 6th Grade Science Camp at Sly Park. He seems to have had a pretty fantastic week!

• The rest of the month was "quiet" for our standards, as we got into Fall and the Halloween spirit.  

NOVEMBER 2023 

• Moms go to Germany to visit Chris & Taylor, while the boys stay in Woodland with Nana & Papa.  
• Saturday, 11/18, we stopped in the village of Oppenheim upon our arrival. 
• Sunday we toured the Nanstein Castle and Hohenecken. 
• Monday a day trip to Trier and a stop at Burn Lichenberg...a little bit of rain couldn't stop us!  
• Tuesday we hit the open road to Rothenburg, stopping first in Heidelberg, before arriving in the walled city for the night.  Chris has become quite the guide! 
• Wednesday we spend more time in Rothenburg before returning to his home town of Kaiserslautern, stopping in Speyer along the way. 
• Thursday was Thanksgiving, but only for the crazy Americans who smoke large pieces of meat outdoors in near-freezing temperatures!  Thanksgiving night Tina experiences her first Christmas market, at the local Kaiserslautern Market, where we enjoy some delicious Gluhwein and "Chimney Stacks". 
• Friday we venture to Traben-Trarbach for a Christmas Market that's located in 5 Cellars throughout the city; more Gluhwein, pretzel sandwiches, potato cakes and did I say Gluhwein, kept us from wearing down under the weight of Christmas Marketing! It was a fantastic experience, complete with a little snow fall on the way back.  
• Then home again on Saturday on 11/25! Germany!

• The Boys participate in 2-days of 4H camp doing Food Preservation and Arts & Crafts. They come home with homemade goodies like Pesto, Cookies-in-a Jar Kits, Soup-in-a Jar Kits. Wtih the grandparents they go see a movie, try ice-skating for the first time and other adventures.

DECEMBER 2023   December 2023

• We celebrate Jo's 3rd year with us and her 5-ish birthday right after returning from Germany, then to the 2nd Annual "Santa Paws" Event hosted by the City.

• Cooper seems to be getting a little more involved with 4H, doing a Rubiks Cube Project, a Robotics Project, More Food Preservation activities, Community Service and helping with the 4H-run snack bar at a county Holiday Craft Fair.

• Annual antics at the Christmas Tree Farm and cookie making at home

• Porter performs with the Woodland Opera House, this time in his first adult production, School of Rock. Rehearsals begin again for Matilda, Jr.! in preparation for the February Theater Festival.  School of Rock  Porter also plays the role of Father Joseph in the church Christmas play Silent Night.

• Margaret and Cliff come visit for a long weekend

• Amanda's parents move to their new home in Nevada a week before Christmas, but return to celebrate with us. 

• We have our annual East Coast NYE with the Villagers!

JANUARY 2024   January

• On the 1st we head to Galena Forest, Nevada to see the new Grandparent residence

• On the 2nd the Moms say goodbye to everyone and head to Yosemite to celebrate our 20th Anniversary at the historic Awahnee Lodge. The drive to the park was sunny and clear; snow came in the night to both Yosemite and Galena Forest to create a true winter wonderland for us all to enjoy. Moms hike to Mirror Lake and Bridial Vail Falls, the boys love having a driveway with snow to sled down.

• For the MLK long weekend we head to Dogwood Cabin for some more snow fun and snowmobiling with Peter on Ebbets Pass.

• Cooper adds "Natural Build" & "Cooking"...and a RABBIT (whom he has named "Din-Din") to his 4H repitoire.

FEBRUARY 2024   February

• The Boys and Amanda go to Sacramento to see Amanda's high school concert band perform at a state convention for music educators.  The Homestead High School Wind Ensemble was the only school band invited to peform for the weekend and they were phenomenal! It was a super exposure moment for the boys and really special to introduce them to John Burn, Amanda's  former band director. 

• Awesome rains flood our backyard and nothing more.

• Junior Theater Festival, West in Sacramento finally arrives the 9-11th, and boy was the Matilda Troupe ready!  What an amazing experience for the ~2000 participants representing 5 different countries, and validation for young performers everywhere who are involved with theater.  There were presentations and concerts from those in the theater industry, adjudications of shows that each troupe brought, workshops for the kids, commoraderie in meeting other kids from around the world and more.  Amanda was called in at the last minute to chaperone, and that too was a rewarding experience.  In the end, our Woodland Opera House Matilda, Jr.! Troupe was 1 of 6 groups to win the coveted "Outstanding Performance" award and get to perform on one of Sacramento's main stages in front of all the other festival attendees.  Additionally, our very own Porter James was selected as 1 of 2 "All Stars" selected from our Troupe, alongside Danny who played "Trunchbull".  (the performance video, as well as the remarks from the judges are included in this album)  JTF, West!

• A week night Valentine's, with homemade pizza!

• On the 17th the Boy's Christmas present weekend finally arrived; a trip back to SF complete with an afternoon tea and tickets to see Cirque du Soleil - Kooza! We spend the night in SF, then show the boys a bit more of Golden Gate Park, after first stopping in on some of the Santa Clara Cousins.

• Finally, Cooper participates in a Kata Tournament at another dojo in Sacramento, where he and partner Leon place 3rd in their division! And he is still taking care of a rabbit, doing community service, cooking, nature build and rubiks cube for 4H....

MARCH 2024  

• Porter starts back to Little League, playing this year on the Padres (no baseball pictures yet). But here are some random pictures of him the last 6 months: Random Porter

• Porter auditions for an ensemble role in Sacramento, in a production of Fiddler on the Roof; does not get a role, but great experience to audition away from the Opera House.  After the "All Star" nod in February, Porter is invited to submit an audition video to iTheatrics (the main company responsible for the creation and dissemination of Junior Theater Productions) for a spot in one of their week-long camps in New York City...and is ACCEPTED! 

• Cooper's dojo has it's annual Open House (thanks Papa for the pictures, since that was a divide and conquer day for the Moms). Open House

• We quick make the boys go down to the Arboretum on a weekday afternoon, because that is our life, and it has been 2 YEARS(!!!) since Amanda last took their spring pictures!  Arboretum

• Though Nature Build and Rubik's Cube projects are complete, Cooper is still: taking care of Din-Din, doing the cooking project, is "lead" on a 4H bake sale, participating in 3 community service projects and submitting a t-shirt design to the county, as a competition, for the shirt image for the annual Spring Show in May.   Random Cooper