Sarah's Baptism

I know I haven't posted for a long time here.  I am trying to post more.  I am not going to go back and talk about the Summer as that is one of the reasons while I haven't written so much.  It is sometimes overwhelming with what to add.

However, I wanted to post some pictures of Sarah's Baptism.  She was baptized the week after her 8th birthday.  Both of the grandparents were able to travel and come be part of the Baptism.  Sarah asked her Grandpa Butch to baptize her.  It was a great program and we are glad she choose to get baptized. Here is a picture of Sarah and Grandpa Butch on her Baptism day.

Sarah and Grandpa Butch

Christmas 2014

We had a good Christmas.  Our kids were excited and we had lots of fun together as a family.  We kept a lot of traditions that we have done in the past, like breakfast first and taking turns opening presents.  We still need to figure out the right way to make it work with our new house.  We had the tree in our family room downstairs and that is where Santa came, but Gus and the other kids tend to come down in the morning to our bedroom and have to walk right through the family room.  Gus ended up walking through.  Luckily he was tired, so he didn't grasp fully what he was seeing around the tree.

I am adding some pictures of the day and a video or two.

Christmas Cookies

Christmas Cookies

Eating Christmas Cookies

Kid's Stockings

Sarah and new science kit

Lilly and Gus opening presents

Lilly loves her pillow from Auntie Shanny

Jess went to Utah for an extended weekend in January.  Here is a couple of pictures of Gus and I enjoying time together!

Gus eating pizza

Waiting for his sister's at the bus stop.

Winter Pineapple Classic

I know it has been almost a month since the run, but I wanted to post some quick pictures.  I also wanted to express my thanks for all those who donated.  I am extremely grateful for all those who were willing to help out and donate to such a great cause.  I hope that one day soon, we will hear the news that there is a cure for Leukemia.

Sarah and her dedication picture

Going up the last obstacle in race

Starting down the back side

Taking a break on the top

Almost down

Only a little muddy

Runners and Attendees

Sarah and her face paint

Lilly's Face Paint

Halloween 2014

I just wanted to do a quick update to post the picture from Halloween.  This picture comes from the Trunk-or-Treat the Saturday before Halloween, but is a cute one of most of the family.  Thanks to Kim Barlow for taking an awesome picture.  We had a fun Halloween as a family.  The kids trick-or-treated at my office and also at our old neighborhood.  It was fun.

Dad, Lilly, Sarah and Gus

Don't forget to donate to the Winter Pineapple Classic.  Both Lilly and I are participating this year.  It is on Saturday.  Here is the link to my donation page: http://llswa.convio.net/goto/kemotaha

My Birthday Wish

Tuesday was my Birthday.  Over the past couple of weeks I have been thinking about what my birthday means to me and what would make it special.  I am at the stage in my life where I don't need much from a store.  As I have reflected, I have thought about the Winter Pineapple Classic and LLS behind it.  I wrote up a paragraph on my fundraising page, that has stuck with me and made me realize what I really want.  Whenever Sarah gets sick or gets a bruise, there is a fear that the Leukemia has returned.  While this fear isn't always visible, it is something that is in the back of my mind.  Watching my child suffer through cancer and the treatment of it, is one of the hardest things that I had to do in my life.  I was helpless to do anything.  I decided to continue to do the Winter Pineapple Classic as a way to do something.  It gives me the opportunity to support an organization that is trying to cure cancer.  While it does that, it is also supporting those who are in the middle of the fight with cancer.  So my birthday wish is to have you support LLS and other organizations fight cancer and work towards a cure.  That and make someone smile each day.

If you want to support me in the Pineapple Classic, please click on the picture above 

Sarah's Seventh Birthday

Sarah celebrated her seventh birthday at the end of September.  She was excited for her birthday and asked for a Meep cake.  Meep is a character from a TV show called, Phineas and Ferb.  The caked turned out not too bad.  We decided to just have the family around for the Birthday party and had the cake on Sunday.

Sarah blowing out the candles

Meep Cake

As part of her birthday, she also asked to go out to breakfast to a restaurant.  She asks often since Victoria, Anna, and Victoria's kids were out visiting and they went to a cafe for breakfast.  I planned on taking her but was unable to around her birthday due to work. I was able to take her this past weekend.  She loved the food and I am sure will want to go out anytime that she can.

Don't forget that we are running for Sarah as part of the Winter Pineapple Classic.  There is a link on the side bar where you can donate to help raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  This group is focused on supporting the people fighting or trying to cure blood cancers.  Please think about supporting us and giving to a great organization.

End of Summer, Gus's Birthday and a Visit from Shannon

Summer is over and kids have started school.  We are back to getting everything back into the school structure.  We had a few fun activities and visitors before school started again.

The first was the Amazon company picnic.  It is hosted at CenturyLink field (the football stadium).  We had a lot of fun as a family.

Dad Helping Gus up a bouncy house

Lilly Crawling through a bouncy house

Face Painted

Face Painted

Twiners

Gus and an Amazon mascot

Jess and Gus on a ride

Sarah coming down a slide

Jess's brother, Richard, and his family stopped by our house to visit.  The kids loved to play together and we hope that next time they can come and stay longer.  I was at work so I was unable to see them this time around, but the I heard none of the kids wanted to leave.

My cousins Anna and Victoria and Victoria's kids came to stay with us overnight.  Jess, Sarah and the cousins went to breakfast in the morning, and I went with them to a ropes course in the afternoon.  I had a little accident where I slipped and slid down ropes about 12 inches or so.  It caused a bunch of rope burns on my hands.  It was still fun despite the pain in my hands and the couple weeks that it took to heal.

Cousins

Ready to go

Picture of the course

Victoria coming down in style

Summer finished off with Gus's Birthday.  He turned four years old and we are still waiting for the terrible threes to stop.  He asked for a firetruck cake, but he wanted the firetruck blue (after changing his mind a few times).  He LOVED the presents that he got and plays with them a lot.  He got a set of monster trucks from one of Mater's Tall Tales, (the monster truck wrestling one).  He got a marble maze tower game.  And he got a remote control car.  He loves each of them and plays with them over and over again!

Gus's Fire Truck Cake

Gus and his marble maze

Blowing out the birthday cake

Gus doing his marble maze

The kids started school in the beginning of September.  They moved to a different school, Highland Terrace. New house = New school.  They get to ride the bus to and from school as well.  Lilly's teacher is Mrs. Williams and Sarah's teacher is Mrs. McCary-Smith.  Both girls like their teachers and they enjoy being back in school, even if it does cut into their play time.  Lilly is in class with a boy named Joseph from church, (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).  Sarah is in class with a couple of girls that were in her kindergarten class at Parkwood Elementary last year.

First Day of School

Waiting for the bus can be crazy

We heard about one of the local fire stations getting renovated and they had an open house.  Gus and I stopped by to see the fire trucks and the fire station.  Gus got to sit in the fire trucks and was really excited.

Let's Go

Ready for the fire

Trying on the Equipment

I am in trouble if he thinks he can drive at 4.

Lastly, my sister Shannon visited us over this past weekend.  In July, Jess and I were looking at the theater and seeing if there was anything that we wanted to go to.  Brian Regan, Shannon's favorite comedian and one that helped made her smile during her recovery, was scheduled to come to Seattle in September.  We booked tickets and pinged Shannon to see if she wanted to come.  She jumped at the chance.  She flew in on Friday, when there was both a Sounders and a Mariner's game scheduled.  I ended up driving the car to work in the morning and taking the train to the airport to get Shannon.  

Shannon at the Airport

Brother and Sister

Jess, Shannon and I were able to have a fun night out.  There was another Mariners game on Saturday, so it took us an extra 30 minutes to get downtown.  That caused us to not go out to a sit down place for dinner but we grabbed something quick.  Shannon had scheduled for us to be able to meet Brian before the show (since he was leaving right after).  There were a bunch of groups that were meeting with him, so we only had a couple of minutes, but it was nice to be able thank him for bringing a smile to Shannon's face during some of her hard times.  Needless to say, but the show was hilarious! I know that Shannon knows most of his jokes by heart, but it was Jess and I's first show of his.  After the show, the three of us walked to the Cheesecake Factory for some cheesecake.  It was nice to get out and have a fun evening.

Don't forget that I am still looking for people to both run the Winter Pineapple Classic with me!!!  If you are interested, send me an email or sign up.  Also if you want to donate, see the previous post as it has the direct links.