Deck building continued

So this has been a monster project. It is close to 1,000 sq ft of deck, all built on a hill with many stairs involved. Everyone who knows anything about building tells me those things make this a complicated project. But it looks amazing. Doug and his dad worked for 15 days, and most of those days Doug worked until dark. I can't even begin to calculate the hours Doug spent on his own. But as we are getting closer to the finished project I am getting really excited. Ellie has wanted to be in there helping when she could. I even used the nail gun myself. When we finally get the patio furniture and get to enjoy I know the hard work will pay off. Thanks, Doug and Wayne!

A visit to Kalapuya

So we have our new elementary school opening this fall in West Salem. It is where my kids will go to school and after a lot of stress I got lucky enough to get a job there.(that is a long story with a lot of sleepless nights) I went with many of the teachers for a tour. We are hoping to get our things in by Aug. 15, but they let us know it will probably be closer to Aug. 29. I guess Labor Day weekend will be full of labor for me. But I am really excited about this opportunity. It is a beautiful facility and I am excited to be at the same place as my kids!

My friend Vaness will be teaching 5th grade and will be Ellie's teacher!

The gym

The view from the back of the school, this is where the playground will be. It is amazing!

The front of the school. Kalapuya will be the first Salem Keizer school named for the Native Americans.

Ducks softball camp

In the middle of deck building and swimming I took the kids to Eugene so Ellie could participate in a Duck softball camp. She had a half day of offense on the Duck softball field. She was so excited to be on the real field, in their dugout and using their batting cages. The next day they moved to the baseball field which is covered with turf, since it had rained overnight. The second day focused on catching. Ellie even got tips from the starting Oregon catcher. It was a great camp and she learned a lot. While she was playing softball, Jack was having a good time with Nana. We all stayed the night and went home the next day after a stop at the Duck store. I think it was a great experience for Ellie.

The gal helping Ellie with her bat position is Lexi Peterson, the starting catcher!

They went through the drills the team does, including hitting basketballs off tees.

This is the assistant coach for the Ducks working with Ellie!

swimming and more swimming

What a difference a year makes. Last year Ellie was a good swimmer, this summer she is great. She is swimming for 2 swim teams this summer. This was all her choice and I have been asking if she wants to do that again and she enthusiastically says yes. This week she will swim in 3 meets. She loves it! And she is starting to develop the competitive spirit and really want to win. Last year she only got ribbons in relays, but this year she is rocking individual events also. Her best stroke in a short sprint is backstroke. Her butterfly is really looking great too. She has always had a great freestyle, but she isn't a sprinter so it is hard for her to crack into the top freestyle group. Her least favorite event would be breaststroke. She isn't as fast and since she now wants to win she doesn't want to swim that stroke. Swim meets can be long but she loves it and is excelling so that is fun.

Happy Anniversary! 14 years

July 12th! So we usually like to go away for a night or take a whole day to spend together. But this year Doug was up early working on the deck with his dad all day long. I ran the kids to their activities and after Ellie's swim practice we went to dinner. It was a little more low key than usual but we still enjoyed each other's company and feel very lucky to have each other. We will have to plan something a little special for next year.

1997

2011

A visit with our best friends

It took almost a month into summer to coordinate a visit with our best friends. I think our busy schedule was mostly to blame. However, on July 10th we were able to spend the day and night in Eugene. It is so great to see how well these guys get along. They were very happy to make some Angry bird purchases(these are a really big hit)!

All Stars

Wow, it was hard to decide which pictures to include. Ellie got to play All Stars for the second year. This year she was the older one on the team so she had lots of playing time. She played third, first and catcher(her favorite)! She was definitely nervous but still did a good job. Her second inning at catcher she tagged a runner out sliding home, she ended up on top of the girl but still held onto the ball. She also tossed to the pitcher for another tag out at home. Those highlights made her very happy, which makes mom really happy. Happy kid=happy mom! I also had to include the blurry picture of Ellie sliding home on a steal. The fact that its blurry is a little funny because Ellie is not known for her speed. But Doug said she was too quick for him to get the shot:) All Stars takes up a great deal of time at the beginning of the summer and once again they only played 2 games because they lost both. However, she LOVES it so we will do it again next year if possible.