Ballers Pics

Tor had his Longview Ballers Basketball team photos taken by a teammates's dad this season.

Volleyball Awards

The RA Long Volleyball awards ceremony was tonight, and Jillian was presented with a Varsity Letter Award (a bar patch to go with her volleyball patch), a Scholar Athlete Achievement Award for earning a 4.0 GPA, and the WIAA Outstanding Scholastic Award for earning at least a 3.5 GPA.

17 Years of Bliss

Heather and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary with dinner at Teri's, and ice cream at Baskin-Robbins (of course):

Pumpkin Pickers

We waited until the last possible moment to go get pumpkins at The Patch in Woodland, due to a super-busy sports schedule. The kids had an idea of what they wanted, and took their time finding a pumpkin that was just right - in the end, Jillian and Bridget went for classic style, while Tor opted for a green one (and Mom and Dad's choices are on the ends):

Afterwards, they browsed the barn and picked out a few mini pumpkins and gourds. We got pretty lucky to have such a nice (cold) day!

Tournament Experience

Tor's Longview Ballers Basketball team had their first tournament games at Evergreen High School, and learned a few things as they competed against some of the top teams in the state. It was a tough start, but they're looking forward to tomorrow:

Final Home Volleyball Game

RAL volleyball wrapped up their regular season with a home match against Woodland, winning in 3. Their next match is the first round of district against Black Hills. Jillian had a large cheering section tonight, including Uncle Richard and Mom.

On the opposite side was Aunt Robin, the Woodland JV coach. She gave Jillian a fist bump in the pregame:

Harvest Dance

Here's Tor with his PTO-president Mom at the Olympic Family Fun Harvest Dance. Tor couldn't use his old dinosaur inflatable costume (because it covered his face), so he borrowed Jillian's old rocket boy inflatable costume.

There was lots of music, dancing, LED sticks, and snacks. This is Tor with his buddies Parker and Gram.

Soccer Finale

Tor played his final soccer game of the season today, with the team winning 6-0. They are currently undefeated! His team will play one more game next week, but Tor (and Bowen and Evan) will be playing for Longview Ballers on their first basketball tournament of the season.

Tor made it his mission to keep teams from scoring (or even getting a shot on goal) by playing tough defense and chasing down breakaways.

Kennedy's 1st B-day

Little cousin Kennedy had her 1-year-old birthday party at her house. She is getting to be such a big girl! And she's always in a jolly mood.

(Bridget couldn't make it due to horse-riding).

Another Blue Day

Bridget picked up where she left off, winning 7 more blue ribbons. By the end of the show, she had ended up winning High Point for 13-U Dressage, English, Western and Western Dressage, with a tall director chair as a prize for each one (so, 4 total).

And she won the big prize: a Molly buckle for Overall High Point.

Plus, every time she won a blue ribbon, she got to pick out a prize from a table of items. Bridget came home with quite the collection of things.

Baby Rory!

Little cousin Monroe was born on Friday, October 13, and she came to Aunt Lynne and Aunt Robin's birthday party on Sunday, a couple hours after coming home from the hospital. Lucky Dad and Jillian got to hold her. She was a sleepy little girl.

When not holding Rory, we played with little cousin Kenny, who is motoring everywhere.

Hazel's B-day Party

Neighbor Hazel turned 14, and the girls celebrated with a swim at the YMCA (Bridget rushed home from the horse show to make it), followed by a BBQ at their house.

Hazel loved the Squishamallow that the girls gave her.

A Blue Day

Bridget had a successful Saturday at the Clark County Fairgrounds, winning 9 blue ribbons (out of 9 classes) in Dressage and English! And some of those were Open classes against older riders. She rode Handsome this time around, since it's a two-day event.

Press Clippings

Jillian has put up some good numbers for her team the past couple games, earning her some mentions in the local paper:

Giannis Immortality 2

Tor needed new basketball shoes for this season, since he had outgrown his old ones and was wearing running shoes to practices. We tried Big 5, who had no 5.5 sizes. So, we went to Athlete's Corner, where Tor found the Giannis Immortality 2 shoes. He didn't hesitate to pick out the pink-highlighted ones.

He couldn't wait to try them out, taking them to Jillian's volleyball match (RAL won a nailbiter against Hockinson).

Fellow Mustangs

Bridget continued the family tradition of playing for the Monticello Mustangs, just like Jillian and her Mom. It was Pink Out, and the 7th Grade team finished their season by winning all 3 games against Canyon Creek.

Bridget had a great time with her teammates / classmates, and did very well all season, both playing and being a leader.

Pink Out

It was Pink Out night at RAL, and Jillian's volleyball team came up with a big win against Washougal to move into 3rd place in District. Here she is with cousin Meagan and teammate Kamia:

Aunt Dany's B-day Party

Bridget got started extra early on celebrating Aunt Dany's birthday, staying the night at the Paul Farm. We met up with her in the evening and ate smoked pork and salmon.

Afterwards, Bridget had an evening bareback ride on Gracie:

Lumberjill VB Team Dinner

We hosted this week's RA Long Volleyball team dinner. Mom prepared beef stew, chili and jalapeno cheese chicken soup, plus rolls and salad, and brownies for dessert. The entire team (minus Lila) showed up and Jillian gave them the house tour before eating.

Afterwards, they all played the "real laugh challenge" with Kamia:

Lumberjill Volleyball Team Pic

Jillian's volleyball pictures arrived today, and her Mom shed a little tear when she saw how her little Sweetie Pie was growing up so fast.

Tor & Bowen

While Jillian and I went to baby "Rory's" shower, Tor got to play with Bowen.They spent most of the time playing basketball or thinking up stupid things to do with the basketball. Here Tor is shooting from the deck (with a smaller-less dangerous basketball) to the outdoor hoop and Bowen is the rebounder and throws the ball back to Tor. ( I hope they changed positions too.) They explored outside and shot basketballs on the inside hoop, practicing their dunks!

There were a lot of football games on, so they would cheer. Here a team needs a touchdown to win, so they got Cookie for good luck. Cookie wasn't always thrilled by her responsibility but it didn't work as their team lost. This weekend we noticed how Tor's and Cookie's hair is almost the same color, especially on top where Cookie has waves the same as Tor. Fun day!