Christmas Time

How to pick the perfect Christmas Tree, Ruiz Family Style...

First, walk through the tree farm looking at each one.

Some are a little too big...

Some are a little too small...

Found it!!

Take obligatory family picture in front of tree.

(Thank Heavans for camera timers).

Cut the tree, with child supervision...Timber!

Throw it into the back of your truck!
(A borrowed truck is best - :-)

Visit with Santa.

Pet (and herd) goats and llamas at petting farm (no pictures, :-(

Take the tree home, place in your house and...

Viola!

Your tree is ready for Santa's visit.

Merry Christmas.

Thanksgiving and Holiday Fun Stuff

The Racoon Racers and Families

The Belmont-Smith Family arrived Wednesday night after an arduous drive up I-5 and we kicked off the festivities the next morning with the Turkey Trot Fun Run. It seems more and more people show up each year to enjoy a run/walk around the Lake Sacajawea. We met up with several groups of friends and it was a great time to catch up with people we haven’t seen for a while. Jill and Cole were the only two from our group to finish the whole lake this year. Way to go Cole. We headed home to clean up, eat some yummy Thanksgiving dinner and watch the Seachickens lose once again. Sigh. Football in Washington this year leaves much to be desired.

Jill and Cole approaching the finish line

We braved the crowds Friday morning for some super deals and then began the process of decorating the house. Although not done, the house is beginning to look festive and the mood is starting to feel a lot like Christmas.

Geo-caching

Dan and Jill "working" the GPS

We decided to try our hand at a fun activity called Geo-caching. Simply put, this is like treasure hunting with a GPS. We went to http://www.geocaching.com/ , typed in our zip code and found several “caches” right here in Longview. So we downloaded the coordinates and headed out to find the stashes, trade a treasure or two and leave our name in the log books for future geo-cachers.

Hollow tree - one of the hiding places

The kids had a blast looking for the hiding places and opening the boxes to find what lay inside. This was a great way to get outside and move around without having to find a place to hike. And it was great for getting the kids to use their observation skills. There are over a half a million geo-caches around the world, so it is something we have decided we can so as a family when we visit places.

We found it!

Lanna showing some treasures

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ruiz and Belmont-Smith Families
Turkey Trot - Thanksgiving 2008

School Pictures and Family Fun

School Pictures!

The girls school pictures arrived a few weeks ago, but I have been too lazy to scan them in and upload them to the website. Here they are finally. Looking back at the previous years pictures hanging on the wall next to the stairs, we can't believe how much they have grown (sniff, sniff!)

Maggie, 9

4th grade

Lanna, 7

2nd grade

WSU Soccer in the NCAA Tournament!

We found out a few days before the actual game that WSU Women's soccer had made the NCAA Soccer Tournament and was playing their first round game in Portland. So we packed our blanket, stadium cushions, dinner and warm coats and gloves, and headed down I-5 to the University of Portland to watch the game. It was so exciting to cheer for a team that actually has a winning record (I will not provide an explanation for the last comment. If you don't know what it is referring too...good. If you do, keep your snide comments to yourself.) It was a close match, but WSU just didn't have enough to overcome a good University of Texas team and lost 1-0. However, it was great to watch how well players at this level play, and Maggie loved watching things develop. Lanna liked when it was time to get hot chocolate. The picture above is of "the girls" at the game. (Dad was there, just not on the picture.)

Sunday pictures!!!

Random pictures from our Sunday.

Lanna was walking around with this basket on her head, I have no idea why, but when I got the camera to take a picture, she saluted me. Ten hut!

Maggie decided to treat her sister to a day at the salon by braiding her hair (as can be seen in the picture) and painting her nails. I hid the make-up, so that is as far as it got, but Lanna felt glamorous just the same.


We went for a walk along the Coweeman River dike on Sunday morning, then stopped at the playground for some playtime on the equipment. Maggie and Dad had a good time on the swings, while Lanna just climbed over everything. There was another dad there with his two little girls, one of which was about 12 months old and in a baby swing. As she came toward her dad, he would say "yeah" and she would laugh and clap her hands. It was so cute, and with her short blonde baby hair and chubby cheeks, she reminded us of Lanna as a baby. This nearly brought tears to my eyes and totally made me want another baby! (See note above about school pictures!) Dan said it was cute, but he wasn't feeling as sentimental as I was. Sigh.

This picture was actually from October, but was too good not to share.

Veteran's Day Assembly

Today was the Veteran's Day Assembly at Columbia Heights Elementary School. Maggie invited Grandpa Dave and Lanna invited Aunt Lisa as their special guests. Actually, Lanna invited Lisa to the Veterinarian's Day Assembly, but it's a big word, she told Lisa and sometimes she gets it confused with the other word. Go figure. Grandpa was all decked out in his Navy dress uniform, which impressively still fits (barely) after more than 35 years of being a "civilian".

We are proud of our family's service to our country, and are greatful to the service they and many others have given so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have today. Happy Veteran's Day.

Mike Julian, fellow Navy veteran, and Dave

Sailor Dave and his bride Sandy

Fall at the Lake & Halloween

Fall soccer is finally over and we have a chance to slow down and enjoy life a little more. Maggie's team finished the season undefeated (13-0-1), as did Lanna's team. It has been a beautiful fall here and the leaves have been slow to turn their colors, but they are finally in full splendor. We went down the lake a few days ago to take some pictures and enjoy the falling leaves. Of course the girls just could not resist throwing, kicking or chasing the leaves. After finally finding WSU Cougar gear in kids sizes, they were so excited to wear them, and I didn't have the heart to tell them the football team stinks...well, basketball is around the corner.

These pictures were a bit staged, as they are actually sitting next to each other hugging and not hitting each other. Two seconds before this picture they were fighting over who's arm would go where, and then they asked "How much longer?" I am sure we are horrible parents for torturing our kids and there will be a best selling book about it later. Halloween arrived before we knew it and the girls were ready for some trick-or-treating. Maggie is Super Girl and Lanna is Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I could have done with a little less skin showing, but Lanna loved wearing her outfit. And she still has tan lines from her swimming suit!

We are looking forward to the next two months as the holiday's approach and spending evenings home as a family without sports or other committments. Thanksgiving is just over 3 weeks away with Christmas following right behind. As the days turn shorter and colder, it is time to put away the soccer cleats and barbeque and trade them for hot cocoa and cuddling on the couch.

Camping at Maryhill State Park

We celebrated the last weekend of summer with another Labor Day camping trip, and this year we decided to try out Maryhill State Park in the Columbia Gorge. The campground was a bit of a drive away (2 ½ hours from home) but very spacious and green (at least at the campsite). When we booked the site, we did not think much about the listed activities, but if wind surfing is listed as one of them, be prepared for windy conditions. (Ummm…okay, good tip.) Fortunately for us, we were on the side of the state that had sunshine instead of rain, but the temperature was a tad chilly.

We went up to see the Stonehenge replica just up the hill from our camp site and had a great view of the Columbia Gorge. Did I mention it was windy in the gorge? The day before we had a crystal clear view of Mt. Hood, but unfortunately, I forgot to take the camera with us. Dan and I visited a few wineries, tasted some different wines and, of course, bought a few bottles to take home. And the amount of stars we could see was incredible. We even saw a few shooting stars.

Skylar went with us and he, Maggie and Lanna had a fun time running around the camp ground, swimming (actually wading) in the river, and hanging out by the fire with their own fire poking sticks. Grandpa fired up the RVQ, and with the flames on the burgers, it was almost like Burger King! Well, okay, not really, but who's keeping score?

On the way home we stopped at Bonneville Dam to see the salmon and steelhead making their way through the fish passage. Wow, the size of some of those fish is impressive.

We didn’t take many pictures, probably because it was windy and cold, and we really didn’t do too much but be lazy, just as a camping trip should be. We don’t have any more overnight trips planned now that school is back in session, but everything is subject to change without notice. Hope you had a great Labor Day Holiday as well.

Southern Visit

No, not that southern. We went down south to Springfield, OR for a visit with the Belmont-Smith family last week before the fall sports and school activities kick into gear.

We started with a day camp for the kids at a park near the Belmont-Smith house, a yoga/strength training Wii session with Tina, then a bike ride thru the out-skirts of Springfield, ending the day with a run thru the sprinkler and splashes on the slip and slide. The weather cooperated nicely and the kids all enjoyed fun times out doors.

We set off the next morning for Ben Irving Reservoir just south east of Roseburg, OR for a day of skiing and tubing on the lake. The weather was great once again, and we had the whole lake to ourselves for the water sports. Maggie and Lanna tried their hand at tubing, enjoying the bumps and splashes, and then moved on to knee boarding after watching Cousin Jo.

It didn’t take the girls long to figure out how to manipulate the board to move from side to side, and Lanna eventually made it over the big wake. The determination on her face was priceless as she pulled and leaned to get the board over. The ride on the smooth water outside the wake was great, but then she realized she had to get back to the other side. No problem though, she did it with flying colors.

Mom took a try at slalom skiing, something she hasn’t done in probably 15 years or more. It took a try or two to get up, but she made it up and around the lake without a wipe out. Halfway through her turn her legs and arm muscles began to burn, and she wondered why she thought this was a good idea.


After Maggie, Lanna and Jo took turns on the tube, it was mom and dad’s turn. Tina asked if we wanted a kid’s ride or an adult ride, and of course mom said an adult ride. Lanna asked why they did not get an adult ride. Little did she or mom know what an adult ride would entail? After being whipped around and thrown over wake created “bumps” she could hold on for only so long before being catapulted into the lake about 20 yards, spread eagle as she crashed into the lake. Lanna then quipped to Maggie and Jo, “That’s why we don’t get adult rides.” Dan managed to hang on to the tube longer during his ride, and was eventually “spilled”, but had much more class on his turn.

After decontaminating with showers for everyone, we spent the night relaxing in Roseburg and then headed to Wildlife Safari in Winston, OR, the next day. The drive through park was fun for the kids, seeing many different animals up close. The ostriches and rheas are quite inquisitive and come right up to the cars. Much to the chagrin of Tina and Jill, we did not open our windows to allow them to “sample” the visitors. After watching on ostrich attack the passenger window, we did not feel brave enough to expose our selves to the flesh ripping beaks of the large birds.

We finished off the day with a trip to the local indoor pool in Springfield, complete with hydro-tube and diving boards. The kids had a great time jumping off the high dive and bombing down the tube. It became apparent that two people going down the tube tandem would gain more speed and shoot around the turns. Lanna became everyone’s favorite partner, and she could barely get out of the water before someone in our group would ask if she wanted to go down again. Ever the thrill seeker, Lanna never missed an opportunity.

The start of school is less than a week away and the girls are eager for it to start. Dan, however, has different sentiments. The trip to Springfield was a great way to wind up the summer, letting the cousins enjoy a carefree visit, and the adults time to decompress before the hectic schedule of fall begins. Fall soccer practice has started and the start of season jamboree is just two weeks away. Goodbye summer….Hello fall.