Team Dinner

The RA Long Varsity Volleyball Team came to our house tonight for a team dinner. Mom made beef stew, chili and Caeser salad, Dad made sourdough bread and brownies, Aunt Dany made soup, and Tor provided the entertainment.

The girls won candy in a drawing, then went out front to shoot some hoop.

Versus Kalama

Bridget has been (nervously) looking forward to her Monticello Volleyball team playing Kalama and all her former LC Elite club teammates, including Avery:

It was a close match, with lots of exciting plays, but they came up short 25-9, 19-25, 9-15.

Hanging with Kenny & Rory

The kids came to Castle Rock to visit, and Kenny and Rory joined us. They stopped by the wood pile to watch Tor split some logs:

Then we spent the rest of the evening out front, playing.with chalk and water:

Curacao Photo Shoot

 Lots of pics from the photo session in Curacao, but here's the ones that we chose to print out:

Volleyball Poster

Here's Jillian's volleyball poster for her junior season, hanging up in the RA Long gym:

League Win

The RA Long volleyball team kept themselves in the hunt for district with a close win over Woodland.

Jillian led the team with a nice stat line as reported by Blast Zone Media:

Jillian Woodruff led the Jills with 11 kills, 15 assist, 14 digs and two aces. Macy Graichen added 10 kills with a dozen digs and two blocks, while Evelyn Ofstun chipped in eight kills with six blocks at the net. “Jillian is definitely always consistent,” Khlee noted.

Bridget's 14th B-day Party

Bridget celebrated her 14th birthday at our house with family and friends, and Mom made the requested chocolate cake and white frosting:

Just like back in the day, the kids crowded around for the present opening, with Rory joining them:

The game this time around was to guess the placings from the recent State Fair Horse show (Ila won):

Kenny had a great time with the girls late into the evening, playing with the neighbor dog Clover:

State Fair Recap

It was a wildly successful trip for Bridget and Handsome to the 2024 Washington State Fair in Puyallup. Aunt Dany, Grandma Cindy and Hal, and Mom and Dad, were there to support and cheer her on:

This screenshot shows the final results, with Bridget placing in the top 4 of every class that she showed in, with the highlight being the Grand Champion of Intermediate Hunt Seat Equitation.

Here's what it looked like at the fairgrounds, showing all exhibitor placing for each event:

Overall, a fun and exciting time for Bridget and Handsome. And the scones were delicious, too.

Reserve Champion, Twice!

Bridget continued to do well in the next two classes, claiming 2nd place in both Stock Seat Equitation and Bareback.

Her riding at the State Fair is now complete. Now she can have a few scones on her off day and head home with all her ribbons.

Press Clipping

This write-up was from Blast Zone Media about the RA Long volleyball team's last 3 matches, with some nice comments about Jillian:

"The Lumberjills had Washougal on the ropes, Tuesday night, in their 2A Greater St. Helens League volleyball affair, but the visitors could not maintain their momentum in a five-set loss. R.A. Long jumped out to a two set lead before falling off hard down the stretch with scores of 23-25, 23-25, 25-15, 25-10 and 15-10.

Jillian Woodruff led R.A. Long with nine kills, eight assists, and eight digs. Lyla Khlee added seven assists, five kills and one ace, while Alauna Brown contributed five digs and four kills. Eve Huhta also played well with 10 digs on the night.

“We were able to come back from deficits in the first sets but struggled to put the pieces together in the next three,” R.A. Long coach Whitney Nailon said. “Lyla and Jillian do a great job with being versatile and adjusting with whatever we need, it’s nice to be able to move things around the way we can.”

That loss dropped the Lumberjills to a .500 record in 2A GSHL play after opening up their league slate with a sweep over Hudson’s Bay last Thursday by scores of 25-7, 25-19, 25-15.

Woodruff was at the heart of the action for the Jills in that league opener, as well, posting 11 kills and seven assists with a 2.6 score on her serve receive play. Ryane Hayes added five kills and nine aces, while Khlee put up 13 assists with four kills and five aces.

The Lumberjills are also 1-1 in non-league play after sweeping Centralia (25-18, 27-25, 25-14) on the road to open the season and then falling at Tumwater (22-25, 25-11, 25-15, 25-10) in their encore.

In the win over Centralia the Jills saw Macy Graichen post eight kills and three digs, while Khlee put up a dozen assists, five aces and two digs. Woodruff added five kills to go with 11 assists, six digs, two aces and one block.

In the loss at Tumwater the Jills were led by Huhta’s 13 digs on defense, while Graichen put up six digs and six kills."

State Champion!

Bridget won the Washington State 4-H Intermediate Hunt Seat Equitation Championship!

Not only that, but Mom got to announce the final results on the arena loudspeaker (since she was working the mic for the morning). She had to take a few deep breaths, but she was able to pull it together to make the call:

3rd in Showmanship

Bridget and Handsome started off strong this morning at the Washington State Fair 4-H Equestrian Championship, placing 3rd overall in the Showmanship Intermediate Division out of 54 riders (and also out of the entire state of Washington)! Here she is with her Royal Riders teammates and fellow Clark County exhibitors, Tenley and Josie:

Trail Riding

Bridget started out her Washington State Fair 4-H Equestrian Championship by riding in Intermediate Trail on Tuesday night.

Here's Handsome's stall in the horse barn; Bridget is on the Clark County State Team:

Mustang Volleyball

Bridget's Monticello 8th grade Volleyball team had their first match against Coweeman, winning in 3 games. Bridget played the setter position, putting up some nice balls for her hitters, and served a ton of points, including about 14 in a row in the first game.

Birthday Trio

Bridget had an early 14th birthday celebration with Papa Ken and Auntie Karen, who were each turning 78. Papa Ken hosted the party at the Skamakowa Grange Hall (which we hadn't been to in 10 years, since Papa and Bev got married!), where we feasted on salmon and pulled pork.

Lots of Peterson family showed up, along with some Castle Rock American Legion. Here's the kids and grandkids:

Afterwards, we drove to the property to see the latest construction - a silo fire pit, for those rainy days.

Posterized, Again

Bridget continues to be featured in the Monticello Middle School sports media, this time on the 2024 volleyball season schedule:

Season-Opening Win

Jillian's RA Long volleyball team started off their 2024 season with a 3-0 sweep of Centralia. Sweetie Pie again played all-around, setting in the back-row, and hitting outside in the front-row. Two of her highlights were a crushing attack off a shoot set, and a hard hit out-of-system (shown here):

Papa Bob's 85th B-day

We went to Castle Rock on Sunday to celebrate Papa Bob turning 85. BBQ'd shish-kabobs and sides were on the menu, along with Grannie's pie for dessert.

We competed in a game of frisbee goals, then the kids played out front with Kenny, showing her all the games they used to play. Here they are riding in circles around her:

Team Bonding

Jillian joined her RA Long Volleyball teammates for a team bonding day on Saturday. They created team t-shirts, played some outdoor volleyball, made played posters for the gym, and had a big taco dinner.

Bridget's Wish List

Bridget's 14th birthday is approaching, and she produced a wish list to help everyone out.

Horse Judging

Bridget qualified for Intermediate Equestrian Judging at the State Fair, and participated in that today. She placed 5th overall out of 60 exhibitors, an improvement over 10th last year.

Soccer Jamboree

Tor's soccer season started this Saturday with his U12 JH Kelly team. His buddies Bowen and Evan joined him again under Coach Anne-Marie. They won both 1/2-length matches. We also got to see Kenny and Rory:

Volleyball Jamboree

Jillian's RA Long Volleyball team started out the season with a Jamboree at Mark Morris. They ended up splitting, winning the first two games against Toutle and Hudson's Bay, and dropping two close ones against Mark Morris and Kalama. Jillian is being used a little different this season, setting in the back row, and hitting outside in the front row, along with being in the 3-man serve receive. Here's a pic of her with teammate Macy and former Cowlitz teammates McKenna and Addie:

Viola

Tor is taking Orchestra in 6th grade at Monticello, and he chose the Viola as his instrument, which is a little bigger than the violin. He is borrowing one from the teacher to practice with: