17 November 2013 - Swimming and Science

Joanne got crafty again this week and decorated the doors for this new cabinet in the downstairs bathroom.

Madeline and I have been experimenting with electricity for her 4th grade science fair project.  We found that a potato (we live in Idaho now, after all) conducts only 4 volts of electricity from a 115 volt input, with 20 ohms of resistance.  We're testing various materials as resistors and a potato was just one of them.

Saturday was spent at the Thanksgiving Invitational swim meet in Boise.  Jessica and Emily both had great meets, improving three personal best times and winning four heats (two each) between them.  This is Jessica on the starting block for the 50 freestyle, one of the two heats she won.

On Saturday evening we went to the College of Idaho basketball game.  When the drill team came out for the half time show, Madeline noticed their skin tight, midriff baring outfits and let out an almost involuntary "oh....dear...".  Joanne and I couldn't help but laugh.  The College of Idaho won the game, so all was well that ended well.

10 November 2013 - Seattle

This week zoomed by for us.  I had to go to Seattle for a day for a college accreditation meeting.  Here is the lovely Sea-tac Doubletree Hotel where I spent my Wednesday.

And here is a fine photo of a bunch of us attending the meeting.

On Saturday Joanne and I did weight training together for the first time at the YMCA, then went kid-less shopping.  Afterward, the older two girls and I went to the C of I men's soccer game, where I neglected to take any photos.  Afterward we went to the Y (my second time on Saturday) to fit in some climbing.

On Sunday, dinner with Kathy and Eric and Lara's family was at our house.  I decided to try my hand at tres leches cake.  I made it with devil's food and dulce de leche from Argentina.  It was good, but a little dry, which bummed me out a little.  Not a bad first stab though.

3 November 2013 - All Hallows' Eve

For Halloween, Joanne decided to make another of her famous table runners.  This one is a Charlie Brown/Great Pumpkin theme with some vampire Hello Kitty peppered in for good measure.  It's actually very intricate -- click on it to enlarge and see some of the detail.

Costumes this year resulted in three witches, who roamed the new neighborhood collecting much of candy.  Jessica is not trick-or-treat, but did chaperone the trip while mommy and daddy stayed home and made cookies (to supplement the candy).

This week I ordered a swing set and on Saturday we put it together.  It's not nearly as elaborate as the one in Pennsylvania was, but the girls said it suits them fine so I was happy.  As you can see, it wasn't super warm out putting it together.

The girls were a great help in the assembly, and I genuinely could not have done it without them.

Once done, we all got to try it out.  There are actually three swings (one is missing in the photo below), and a 'tweety' bar.

27 October 2013 - Family Time

This week our family spent a lot of time together.  Joanne found a storage armoire on Craigslist for her to keep craft supplies in.  Madeline helped her fix it up and now it looks really nice.

The girls and I try to go climbing once a week.  Most of the time, especially since it's started getting colder, we end up at the YMCA.  Here's Jessica.

This is Emily on a chimney climb that is really challenging for shorter folks -- but Emily is determined, she made it to the top.

On Saturday, we had a Ward missionary activity.  Emily and Jessica had to be coaxed a little to do the missionary photo board.

After the activity, we all went as a family to watch the College of Idaho women's volleyball team play.  We won 3-0. Despite the way the photo makes the crowd look sparse, there was a good vocal crowd at the game and we had lots of fun.

20 October 2013 - Joanne in Utah

We hadn't been home from Puerto Rico very long when it was time for Joanne to go to Utah for Jennifer's birthday.  Being crafty, and being sensitive, Joanne made a love note for her girlies before leaving town:

Joanne and Jennifer have made a bit of a tradition of getting their hair done when they get together each fall.

While out exploring Provo, they went and found the apartment building where Joanne and I lived when we got married back in 1995.  We had a studio at $325/month in this building, about five blocks south of BYU campus.

While Joanne was away, the girls and I went exploring a little more for places to climb and rappel.  I had read about a place in Caldwell called the Dead Cliffs, which are actually located in the city cemetery.  We hiked all around them, but the relentless covering of Box Elder bugs on the rocks prevented any rope work this day.  Plus, they're pretty short.

There's a pretty view from atop the Dead Cliffs though, and it was a gorgeous day for hiking.

Since fall is setting in, Emily's been cutting roses from the yard and arranging them for display in the house.

Our book cases finally came in, so when Joanne got home from Utah, we unloaded the last of our moving boxes and can finally say that we're moved in.

Emily had her first middle school choir concert this week.  The lighting in the auditorium was terrible, but here she is with her choir.

Joanne, Jennifer and their mom also attended the temple during the Utah visit, then posed for a photo op with the fall foliage on the temple grounds.