River Kayaking

I must appologize for my nonexistent posting as of late, it has certainly not been for lack of adventure, but merely for the reason that school has started and I have been busy teaching.

The next morning after our Fair adventure, we were off to do some kayaking on the Nisqually River with the Rowlands.









After hearing about the numerous crashes and tipping of the last trip, and how cold the water was when you fall in, I picked what I hoped was a pretty stable boat, and what would hopefully keep me remotely dry.

Mom and Casey, Daniel and Megan, Priscilla and Jaime, all rode in doubles, and Mrs.Rowland, Mrs. Langford, Jonathan, and Graydon, Langford, David, Nathan, and Jason Rowland, Stephen and I, rode in singles.

It turned out to be a beautifully sunny day I believe it was around 70 degrees, which I was grateful for in case I fell in.
For most of the trip I followed David because he had been down a few times and I figured would know where the best places were, at first I was a little dissapointed because though I had gotten a little wet from the first few rapids I hadn't had much adventure, Yet.
After we made it safely down each one we turned our boats around so we could watch everyone else.
So far everyone had tipped except for Me, Mom and Casey, Sill and Jaime, David, Nathan, and Jason.
Priscilla and Jaime were in a double and after several comments from them about their supperior boatsmanship (or what ever it may be called) we were all quite ready to watch them tip.
It just so happened that we all got our thrill at the same time.

As we finally approached "The Big One" we watched as one after another the kayaks started to tip, as I decended the rapids, I ran right into a huge boulder, which tipped me sideways and in a few seconds the whole kayak was filled with water.
Daniel and Nathan stopped to help me dump out the water which was very difficult in the middle of the river,and as they did their kayaks went floating down without them.
As soon as I got in, it filled again so we decided to just send it down and float after it.
It was great fun and very exciting except for all the rocks I ran into.
After everyone had finally made it down we all took a brake and most of us sat on the rocks that were scorched by the sun.

After changing kayak arrangements and switching around, we all headed off again, and as we were nearing the end, Megan, Stephen, David and I had a race to the finish line.
David and I being in a double tied for 1st, Stephen was 2nd, and Megan was 3rd.
After carrying the kayaks uphill, we waited in the sun for everyone else, and then we ate pistachios while we waited for the Van.

When everything was loaded up we went back to the Rowlands house for pizza and volleyball,
then to home sweet home and a good nights sleep.

Puyallup Fair

Another one of our favorite yearly activities, is the exciting event of the puyallup fair.( the best county fair in the country!)
In past years we've worn Red, and Orange, but this year mom decided we would all wear purple.

After watching a few shows, we ate our picnic lunch then proceeded to the milking barn to get ice-cream (one cone for every two of us) and our yearly Wilcox chocolate milk samples.












When we had all gone through the hand washing station we walked through "Hobby Hall" the exibit where people enter their collections as well as their craftsmanship, Isaac liked the antique watches. While the children were looking at rock collections we ran into the Ng's and they stayed with us for the rest of the day.

Next was the agriculture exhibit which ( besides all the vegetables) is lots of fun to look at.
The designs they come up with are very creative, and colorful, and you can vote for your favorite one.

Our next stop was the Seattle Fudge booth where we all tried a few samples, after stopping outside so the Ng's could eat lunch, we walked over to watch the horse drag-racing show( buggy driving around cones) Josephine's favorite was the little black horses " they're so cute!"
Next was the Outdoor sportsmans building labled " Go play outside"
where we all tried shooting guns, and attempting to hit little paper targets.(very fun)

Our very last visit was one of the true reasons I go to the fair(besides the fudge) it was to the grandstand food court for the fair famous, fresh baked, hot, scones, where we all got our very own scone filled with butter and raspberry jam.
After that we were ready to go home. ( but stopped home with the Ng's for dinner first)

(pictures soon)

Church Camp 07'

One of the last things we did with dad was the Church Family Camping trip at Manchester State Park.
We were all up bright and early Friday morning packing a few final items, then after breakfast we were on our way, it took about 1hr and and 45 minutes and we finally arrived at 9:00.

After setting up our camp site the boys set up our volleyball net and we played about 15 rounds of "Church League" competition.
After Lunch the guys all had what they call "boffing" (basicly running around beating eachother over the head with padded pvc pipe)
while some of us girls played badminton.
When they were finished bruising eachother I suggested that we play baseball so all the girls went to fetch their brothers and some of the parents played too, we had a really great time and I actually caught three outs.
We had the final inning and our team: Mom,Daniel, Tim, Me, Sill, Mrs Ng, , Josh Ng, Mr Young, Josh , Timmy, Cassie Young, David and Jonathan Pollock, and Isabel, Won 16-8.

After the evening sermon, everyone got their younger children cleaned up and in their sleeping bags, then all the parents sat around the fire while we olders all played a few games.
After 10:00 everyone started going to bed and a few parents stayed up til 2:00, talking.

After everyone had breakfast we played more volleyball, then we all piled into the Rowlands van and the back of their truck, and we headed down to the Sound to have some Kayak races.
There were three teams and we did relay races for about 2 hours, after everyone had gotten thoroughly wet, we piled back in the vehicles and went back to camp for lunch.

That night was the church annual cook-off where whatever you enter in the contest has to be cooked over the fire, including your dessert.
After that we had another evening sermon, then it was talent night, which lasted til about 11:00.
After it was over we were all talking and about to head off to bed when Daniel came and told us that we needed to get our camp site packed up and ready to leave, because dad had to fly out the next morning, so we all hurried over and quite a few friends came to help, (it's a little difficult to pack your stuff in the dark!)
but we had a fun time of it.
The reason we hadn't done it earlier was because we hadn't gotten word from the Army when Dad's flight was supposed to leave so we had planned on staying another night.
As it turned out it wasn't until 11:00 pm so we had the whole day to just spend family time.

Dad's Departure

Tonight has been a sad one for all, and many tears have been shed especially by the younger children over the departure of our dear dad.
To stem the tide of grief for the next 6 months we have Lots of pictures, and good memories, as well as phone calls, letters, and video conferencing to look forward to.(very comforting)

As today was the last opportunity for us to get our family picture taken, this afternoon found us at our favorite portrait studio " The Picture People."
Many of you well know that this is no easy task, especially if the responsibility of coordinating the date/ time/ and color as well as finding all the matching clothes, ironing, doing childrens hair, finding shoes, socks, and bows, falls upon you.
Other than that the only thing left to do is : 1. Get there on time, 2. Smile.

We really do have a fun time and everyone's favorite photo shoot tradition is that when we're finished we get to go to Costco and get Salad, Pizza, and Ice-cream.
This time Dad wanted to eat at home so he and mom went and got all the food while we went home and got changed.

After dinner dad and mom wanted some more pictures of just them two in the front yard. When they had finished we all sat on the couch, looked at the pictures we have taken over the past 3 weeks, and ate our ice-cream.

After we helped dad pack his ruck sack, we had Bible time and as his departure time drew near he gave us all his praise and encouragement as well as his expectations for us while he's away.
Right before he left he tucked each of the sobbing children in bed and prayed over them, then he, Mom, Sill, and Kenneth headed off to the airport.

We miss him already and are excitedly looking forward to his return next year.