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| They say snow is rare here in Sequim. I guess it came to help us not forget about it. |
The new year is starting off with a bang as Sharilyn and Andrea are busy with rehearsals for Saturday's Warriors. Sharilyn tried out and is one of the dancers. Andrea was with us during the tri-out and asked if she could try out. I said no and Christy, the director, said "Oh have her learn a couple lines and she can try out. We went in the back room and practiced. I really was just doing this to humor her because the part was for a 7 year old. I told Andrea that this try out required singing a song by yourself also. She said OK and went out and did her lines with expression and so cute and sang "I love to see the temple" and they loved her and called to offer her the part of Emily up in heaven. She was so cute and she is enjoying this with Sharilyn.
Andrea lost her first tooth. She's only four!!
Andrea was asking if she and Andrew could have an ice cream bar. I sat there thinking about it saying "Hmmmmm"...Andrea then said "Mom, just smile and say yes!" ha ha
Andrew was getting ready to say his prayers and said "We should kneel Up. Like standing Up for Jesus. It's hard for me to but it's like we're working for Jesus." Wow! Out of the mouths of babes... "bless us to never ever sin and never forget Jesus and always remember Him. I'm thankful for Jesus and thankful that He cares for us and thankful we go to true church and missionaries teach the gospel. I'm thankful we have friends. Bless Deven to move to Sequim."
I was called into the RS presidency. Rosalind Sorenson is president and I'm over homemaking meetings which is rather overwhelming especially since there is nothing planned yet for February.
Aaron achieved his Bear, his Faith in God award and some arrow points in Cub Scouts :) He brings me his book and enthusiastically wants to work on his achievements. He loves it.
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| I don't know what dinner this is but we have candles lit! |
Chris went out with a net and got crabs for dinner one night with Steve Christensen. Such a cool thing! A couple times he took the kids and they got oysters and clams during a minus tide. They can just pick them up off the beach. The ocean is so wonderfully plentiful. We love the crabs but the kids and I have some adjusting to do to like oysters and clams.
Jen and Shar are excelling in school and friends. Unfortunately they've had some days of only 4 hours of sleep because of research papers and studying for finals.
Jennifer did a beautiful job in a poetry recital. Also we went to her exciting basketball game and they won. Jen is thinking of forgoing track this year and go out for the musical instead. The HS is doing Wizard of Oz.
Andrew said to me "You were born in Tennessee huh mom." "How did you know that Andrew!?" He kind-of flip waved his hand and said "I just knew it. But one I don't know is where I was born. Tell me where I was born Mom." I told him Idaho Falls. "Oh and Andrea was born in Idaho Falls too. She was born with me so I wouldn't be scared."
Chris spent a Saturday on a YM outing to the Olympic Mts.
February
Jennifer is 18! I just can't believe she is that old. She got a 4.0 for semester! She has matured into such a beautiful and lovely young woman and we are so proud of her. Chris and I took Jen out to lunch for her birthday. That evening she was gone to an away game and didn't get home until after 10:30 so we did presents on the 7th.
Well, we pulled Andrea from the play. She gets so tired at rehearsals and falls asleep. If she doesn't fall asleep she is bored and even though she knows her lines perfectly, she is day dreaming and doesn't recognize her cue. There will be some all day Saturday rehearsals coming up. Christy and I both feel she is just too young.
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| Sharilyn in Saturday's Warrior practice |
Twins started pre-school at the Lutheran Church for a couple hours 2 days a week. They just love it and it is really helpful for me because we can have our RS pres. meetings more easily.
Chris and I celebrated our 20th anniversary. This caused me to ponder with awe over all my blessings. I feel so thankful for my sweetheart and this dear family.
I got through my first homemaking meeting. (now I'm preparing for RS bday party next month) I did a demo on making paper pulp in the blender and pressing it into forms to make pretty valentines etc. There was also an English Trifle demo which we then ate for refreshments. It turned out nice but I feel much anxiety over this calling. It's all on my shoulders bc we can't seem to get a homemaking leader.
Cub Scouts for Aaron; achievement days for Emily; play rehearsals, pep band, YW, solo & ensemble for Shar; basketball games and practices for Jen; 2 ward parties for us; Valentine's program at the pre-school with Andrea and Andrew and taking turns bringing treats to school. We really thought moving would slow our pace of life down but no, not a bit.
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| Jen's last home game |
Sharilyn preformed well in PA for Solo and Ensemble. She got a 2+ (1 is top) A very fun thing is that the photographer from Peninsula Dailey News spotted her out of the literally hundreds of girls and followed her and asked permission to take her photo. We thought it would be a photo collage with many in it but it was just one big picture of beautiful Sharilyn!
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I got a call from Aaron's teacher to tell me of a wonderful thing he had done that really touched her. She has called before just to say how impressed she is with Aaron and Sharilyn (who is a teacher aide after school...HS ends earlier than elementary). She told me they are both so innocent and sweet and she has nothing but praise for them. She said they are not typical. Anyway, there is a boy named Derrick who no one likes. Mrs. A put Aaron next to Derrick bc she know he would be nice to him. Yesterday on the playground the kids were to get partners and of course nobody picked Derrick. Derrick swung around with a hope of getting Aaron and Aaron took his hand. Mrs. A said she knew Aaron would have rather been with Joseph or someone else but she was so touched that he would be partners with Derrick. She told me that when she looks out at all the faces, his shines bright above the others and that he is really a special boy. All she told me really touched my heart and I couldn't have been more pleased. Aaron truly is a valiant, tender spirit filled with love and kindness and he continues to amaze me.
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| Home Puppet shows! |
Andrea lost a second tooth! (Two bottom front teeth are now missing)
March
We are busy as bees and our hive is buzzing with activity. The honey is sweet.
Happy Birthday Sharilyn! Sweet 16!
We purchased property on Mariner View Drive 2 miles east of town. It has a gorgeous view! We look to the left and see the open ocean and to the right is Sequim Bay with the sailboats that glide like fluffy white clouds on the water and then right in between is the majestic white Mr. Baker! Wow! We are so excited to begin building a home.
Saturday's warrior was a success and Sharilyn did beautifully and had such a wonderful time.
Jen and Shar both tried out for Wizard of Oz. Jen will be the tinman and Shar is a jitterbug and in the chorus.
Jennifer had a poetry reading and also she went to the FBLA (Future Business Leaders of American) convention and won1st place in Public Speaking and 2nd place in impromptu speaking! (She will now go to state in Seattle) Jen also had a track meet and came in 1st place in high jump, 2nd place in triple jump and 3rd place in long jump!
Also this month Jen attended a caucus and was elected a delegate. She went to the Clallam County convention and handed out flyers and made a speech and was elected as a state delegate to attend the state republican convention! I'm in awe that she has become so involved after being here such a short time. She is a natural leader.
I registered the twins for Kindergarten and got them vaccinated. I went with them on a fun field trip to PA to the Marine Lab. We saw all kinds of interesting sea life.
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| Excited for their book fair finds |
Sharilyn had a band competition in PA and a spring concert with the band where she performed a beautiful solo! Shar got to go snowshoeing in the Olympics.
Chris went to a scout banquet in Seattle. He also directed a male chorus in Sacrament Meeting which was really nice. Chris and Jen went to a Sonics vs Jazz game in Seattle. It was part of her birthday present.
We planted veggies in the dirt pile in the back yard. The weather has been warm and beautiful.
As for me, I just keep trying to hold everything together to keep us all from blowing away in the whirlwind of life. I made it through another homemaking and also the RS birthday party.
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| RS Birthday Party |
April
First week of April was spring break! We had fun in Seattle and took the kids to Seattle Aquarium. We also had a company party to celebrate the completion of Ci3 and the one year anniversary of the split up of the company.
Happy Birthday Emily! 12 years old!
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| I can't quite figure this out. It looks like it's Emily's birthday and we're on the ferry. It was in our '96 photos. |
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| Backyard Easter Egg hunt |
Happy Birthday to Em and Me! Poor Emily has been so miserable adjusting to braces. Her teeth hurt and she can't eat normally.
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| Jennifer will represent Clallam County next month at the state Republican Convention! I'm so amazed at all she has achieved as a new student here in Sequim! |
Andrew said to me "When I grow up I want to be a missionary and teach the scriptures; the Old Testament and New Testament, Bible and Book of Mormon. I want to go on a mission to Iceland and do these things even when I'm off my mission. I want to make toys for children and teach people how to take care of their teeth and their body. I want to teach all around the Earth. I want to get a horse.
Pooleys came to visit. We ran their legs off. (clam digging, Mr. Bandy's Troll Haven, Salt Creek, Spit, Seattle, Pikes Place, Space Needle etc. )
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| Spit |
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| Salt Creek |
Aaron ran a mile in 6:56 at school! His teacher told him later that he was the fastest runner in the school! His name is on a poster in the gym.
Chris and I took the ferry and spent a Saturday in Victoria. We didn't take our car, just walked everywhere. Such a beautiful, clean and charming city.
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| Emily with her cute homemade piñata! Now that's a great way to get Mom to buy candy! |
I've been helping to paint scenery for Wizard of Oz. Parents are expected to put in a certain number of hours helping. We've been meeting with builders trying to find the "right one". At this point we're all confused but we'll get it together eventually.
Jennifer went to the State FBLA speech competition in Seattle and won 1st place in the impromptu speaking for the state of WA!!! She will now go to Nationals in Washington DC. My goodness! We picked her up from the competition early to get her back in time for play rehearsal. She's been in the paper a lot. (This and also for being elected a delegate to the state convention, track and Wizard of Oz...) She's quite a celebrity around here. Some people have fondly called her Sequim's media darling. Jennifer has a date for the Jr. Prom with Jason Manthey, one of the most popular boys in the school. Sharilyn is also going to the prom. She is going with Jason Beck who she really likes. Both the boys are in our ward.
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The rhododendrons, fruit trees, azaleas, camellias are so brilliantly bloomed! The ornamental plums and cherries and forsythia are now past bloom. There are some bushes who's green leaves have turned a pretty red. Spring is such a glorious time. I've been taking notes and asking the names of things in garden shops for use in our yard someday. Excited to make a pretty garden.
May
Happy Birthday 5 year olds!! :)
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| Aaron, Emily, Andrea, LaRae Clarke, Tami Birch, Fan Tan Alley, Victoria BC Canada |
We had a wonderful parade for irrigation festival. This was the 101st year on highway 101. They had 101 entries and it lasted 101 minutes! Jen was invited to ride in it on a back rumble seat of a fancy 1931 Ford Roadster! She looked so cute with a big smile and waving. As she went by I saw someone point to her and say "Oh look, there's the tin man!"
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| Sharilyn looks so cute in marching band She was the only piccolo in the parade & I just love hearing it! |
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| Em, Shar & Jen |
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| Jen as Hickory |
May 13 - track has ended and the play has ended and the cast party was Sat. night. The girls got home at 2:30am. Jen came home sick and threw up. I think partly because she's worked so hard and had so little sleep and her body has crashed and is forcing her to rest. Another reason could be emotional as she is approaching the end of her senior year. So hard to end good things. She's working on her Rick's College registration and is very blue.
Aaron had a field trip to Victoria and since Shar is the teachers aide she got to go also. They went to the museum. The next day Sharilyn went with the band to Port Townsend's Rhododendron Festival and a couple days later she went with her band to Victoria for the Victoria Days parade.
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| Walking with Jason Beck |
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| Graduation from Pre-school! |
An outing to Salt Creek
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The tide pools here are so wonderful to explore. We saw star fish in all colors and sea anemones and crabs etc. While Pooleys were with us we saw a dead octopus washed ashore.
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Helping mommy grind wheat to make bread:
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| Ah, what's the matter Andrew? |
We loved the hike to Marymere Falls and will do this again.
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We went to Emily's concert for the choir. We loved it and she seemed to really like it too which made me happy because I didn't think she liked singing.
Jennifer attended the State Republican convention as a delegate in Seattle and was gone about 2.5 days. She stayed in a motel all by herself. I was scared leaving her but she was watched over by someone good in our precinct. When she goes to Wash DC next month for the National FBLA Speech comp - that will be even more scary.
Shar was selected from the school through an essay she wrote, to attend the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership conference. The conference was in Seattle for 3.5 days. Shar stayed with all the other youth ambassadors from the state at a Christian college. Also, Sharilyn got a call from someone at a local pharmacy saying that she had come highly recommended to them and they were offering her a job! Wow, how often does that happen! She didn't take the job because she is going to work for Sawtooth.
Sharilyn, Emily and Aaron took a week long sailing class and are now red cross certified, beginning sailors. They loved it and now want a sail boat.
Chris's uncle LaVar Colvin was flying his plane and it crashed into the ocean 200ft down. It took 5 days to retrieve his body parts and those of his friend. They put their temple cloths on top of the body bag for the funeral. This was of course a great shock. We weren't able to go to the funeral but I sent flowers.
Twins are taking swimming lessons at the Sequim Aquatic Rec Center (SARC) While they swim Chris and I worked out on the exercise equipment. Em and Aaron took care of the neighbor dogs for 3 days and now they are taking care of a neighbors bird feeders for a couple weeks.
Aaron received his Arrow of Light at Pack meeting.
John & Marla came for 2.5 days. We took them to Marymere falls and clam digging at the State Park and to the Spit.
JULY
Sequim cancelled fireworks because they didn't have enough money so we enjoyed doing our own.
Jen went to Wash DC for National Speech competition. She was gone for a week and placed in the top 15 in the nation which includes all 50 states plus Guam, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands! Isn't that just amazing! I'm in awe! It's pits my stomach to realize that she will go away to college soon. The kids are growing up so fast. It's thrilling to see them in the here and now and also sad to miss them when they were small. "Little Jenny" is all grown up.
The day Jen got back Chris left on a business trip to LA. While he was gone, Sharilyn and Emily went to girls camp and I took the others to the clam festival here in town. It was like a county fair with pony rides and petting zoo etc. They had a clam chowder cook off. Clam digging has now ended for the summer because red tide is now here. (It makes the clams toxic)
I got to go with Aaron for a day a his Cubs day camp. I had a great time spending that day with Aaron.
We picked lots of cherries and raspberries; all invites from friends gardens. We've met with window people, cabinet people, heater, electric, plumbing etc and we might break ground Aug 5th.
Andrew was saying his very sincere heartfelt prayer, blessing everyone on earth and in heaven and blessing satan so he won't be bad and he'll repent. He then paused, looked up at me and asked "Mom, are there people on Jupiter?" ha ha I guess he was going to bless people on Jupiter.
Chris, Aaron and I went to the beach and found a small shark washed ashore and also a big tuna looking 3ft long fish. They were dead and Aaron wanted to take the shark home to show the twins. We now have a shark in our garbage! ha ha.
A racoon killed the Dawley's beautiful rooster and ate it. Picked the bones clean. Mr. Dawley was so sad.
August
Our new house has begun! They dug the hole on the 8th!
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| The beginning of something great. What stories will take place here? |
I volunteered at the Seattle cannery with some other RS sisters. We canned turkey and I got to purchase a couple cases of it. They asked me to drive and it was scary driving in Seattle. We are enjoying the fruits of the land here. Bankstons share beets, onions, plums, cherries etc. We have zucchini growing in the backyard and there are also blackberry bushes. Jen comes home from the state park quite often with crab that people give her.
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This months temple trip was with Jen, Shar and Em for baptisms. It was a very special day and we took cute pictures afterward. Sadly between being outside taking pictures and getting home we lost our camera. I'm so sad about the camera and all the pictures that were on it. We never found it and it never got turned into the temple lost and found.
We played a musical number in church with flutes, viola and singing. It was a medley of Jesus once was a little child and I'm trying to be like Jesus. Very beautiful. Shar gave a talk, Jen subbed the Laurels and I subbed Em's SS class.
Shar got asked out on 3 dates all for the same day. Joe invited her to the beach, Sylvan invited her swimming and Mike invited her bowling. She went with Mike. The next day Jason (who she likes the best) took her to the fair in PA and out to dinner. They also went bowling and on a picnic to the Spit.
Chris bought a used sailboat. We took it out for an FHE with the Christensen's who also have a sailboat.
September
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| Sharilyn is a Junior! |
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Sharilyn was reviewed and invited to be the Peninsula chapter president for HOBY! She is also a class senator so she attends ASB meetings. She is such a natural leader. Also, Sharilyn's campaign for class president is going well.
Emily is enjoying middle school and sure carries a pile of books. She tells me about the good cooking in Home Ec. and says it sure smells good! She continues to brighten our day with her sense of humor.
Aaron ran for class president. He brought a poster to school and made a speech and he won the position! So proud of him!
Andrea and Andrew are really enjoying Kindergarten but Andrew sometimes doesn't want to go because he wants his buddy, Kevin Beck to be in his class. Also, if ever Andrea can't go due to sickness, Andrew just won't go without her. One day Andrew was home sick and Andrea bravely went on without him. I found out later that she went into the bathroom at school and cried and cried.
Andrea sat pondering and then told me she could remember what Jesus looked like. I asked her what He looked like and she said "He has yellow hair and yellow blouse and so so so shiny like the sunshine!" I was actually amazed because I would have guessed she would describe him like we see in pictures...brown hair, white robe etc.
I'm helping with kindergarten on Thursdays in the computer lab and on Tuesdays at the school library reading stories.
Our family has been asked to perform for our stake "hymn sing". We'll miss Jen on viola.
On Sunday Andrea's teacher asked her how Jen was doing and Andrea started crying because she said she missed Jennifer. Also in the chapel, Franny Sellman was sitting next to the twins and she looked at them and asked in her cute Brooklin accent "So, who was born first?" Andrew looked at her and answered "Adam and Eve!" Ha ha!
OCT
Mom and Dad Klingler came for a week. We had a great time and weather was so nice. Spit, beach at Salt Creek, Troll Haven and general sight seeing.
Salt Creek:
John Wayne Marina:
I went on a couple field trips with the Kindergarteners. One was to the fire station. The kids all got to spray the hose then we all road in the old fashioned firetruck with a siren that makes its sound by turning a crank. They cranked the siren all the way to the school and I had as much fun as the kids did!
Another field trip was to a big pumpkin patch and all got to pick out a pumpkin! It was okay that it was raining and we got wet picking them out. Kind of more fun that way. We then went to Railroad Bridge park and collected giant maple leaves and measured how many kids wide the Dungeness river is. (34 kids wide)
The roof went on our house!
Halloween offers the cutest pictures!!
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| Whoa Aaron!! Ha ha ha! Did Dad put you up to that? |
NOV
Shar and I talked about instruments at the Kindergarten and we played a little flute concert for them.
One night while Emily was babysitting for someone, Shar went to a slumber party, Aaron went to a slumber party and so did Andrea! Andrew was an only child for dinner that night... only for a couple hours that is...ha ha. Andrea called and wanted to come home so we picked both her and Tamin up and they had a sleep over at our house.
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| Masks the twins made in Kindergarten |
Had a nice Thanksgiving and we have so much we are thankful for and feel so in debt to the Lord...but we missed Jennifer and no one joined with us this year so it didn't quite seem like Thanksgiving and Emily had stomach flu.
I heard Andrew say to Andrea "Dree, did you know there's a place called the market of beasts?"
We got to care for 3 rats from Em's science class during Thanksgiving weekend. They were so fun and they groom themselves like a cat.
December
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| Love these seagulls on the roof, Rental House, 618 E Fir St |
Besides just the gifts, and cards, and decorating and goodies for friends etc, it's been a busy time as always at Christmas. We played a musical number for the Stake Cantata, and also one for our ward party...prepared homemaking meeting, helped with school room parties, band concerts etc.
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| I don't know if this pic is in the correct year but we did a comedy number called "Ho Ho Hum" where you start playing and then yawn and act too tired. |
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| Yay! Jen's home for Christmas |
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| Reaching the star |
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| Christmas in Mr. Hasenflug's Kindergarten class |
Aaron's 11th Birthday! :)
