the last straw

i

these were my new glasses. Coach designer glasses. Misty (our bad, bad dog) chewed them up while we were gone this afternoon. three dogs will be going to the vets to stay during our Thanksgiving vacation, only TWO might come home. SERIOUSLY. i know this is harsh but she has chewed up hundreds of dollars worth of belongings, including two north faces. She has bit the UPS driver twice and he will no longer come to our house, neither will the water delivery man. i really don't know what to do!!

Another bargain that could not be passed up ...

then again, can any bargain be passed up? I don't think so! My black boots went perfectly. I only had an hour at the mall but I made the best of it ... just went to my favorite store.

Quick Trip

Katie and Ashleigh sitting together at Red Robing after the game.
Right after the game was over, I was wondering to myself why Ashleigh has such a big smile and her team just lost and Katie looks so grumpy??

We made a dash over to Seattle Saturday. We decided last minute to go watch Ashleigh play soccer. Shorewood was in the State 4-A quarter final play offs. They played Woodinville. Unfortunately they lost 2-1. Both of Woodinville's goals were made in the first half, Shorewood scored their one goal in the second half and had a couple of close shots but they just didn't go in for them. According to Elena "they played like crap" ... that happens. A few days earlier they had beat the number one team in state. We left around 8:45 Saturday morning and got home about 12:40am Sunday (you know what I mean). Katie drove most of the way there and when we were coming down the other side of Stevens Pass she declared that "getting to Stevens is pretty easy so it should be no problem for her in another month". I quickly corrected her that she would NOT be driving herself to Stevens Pass this winter. I informed her that she is not even ready to drive to Wentachee by herself, her area is limited to Pateros, Brewster, and Chelan for now! Bob had a few things he needed to take care of, Katie and I met Elena and Ashleigh at Alderwood Mall, we surprised Ashleigh she didn't know we were coming so that was fun. The game was at 5:00 and then we went to Red Robin after. A quick trip but fun, I hadn't seen Elena for at least six months.

Report Card Time

I do not like to use the blogging as a reason to "brag" but sometimes in the discouragement of everyday life and the normal ups and downs it's good to remind ourselves of the positives. So, this is Katie's report card for the first term. She says she is going to try to get the A- up to a solid "A" but the end of the quarter, she was just one percent off this time. I guess I won't complain when I see her on the computer or hear her in her room on the phone, somehow she must be finding time to do her work!!

Pig Money

This is Katie's first purchase with her pig money. She fell in love with this coat. She needed (wanted) a new snowboarding jacket and so she decided rather than the money getting frittered away on snacks, pops, etc she would buy something she can really get some good use out of. It looks pretty cute, she has white pants she got last year for her birthday. I am considering buying these hot pink pants that match the coat for Christmas for her, she loved them too but couldn't really afford both!

Santarem, Brazil

A few pictures of the area Brian is serving at right now. The city of Santarem is located where the Amazon and the Tapajos rivers meet. When the rivers meet one is muddy and the other is clear blue. When they meet the two colors run side by side for kilometers without mixing. the locals call this the "meeting of the waters". It is named after a city in Portugal.

District Volleyball Tournament 2008

Katie in ready defense position
Pateros Nannies just before match started (everyone was still smiling at this point)

This morning we got up early and headed to Kittitas for the district volleyball tournament. We played our first game there on Tuesday and lost to the first place team, Moses Lake Christian Academy. So today it was a loser out game, loser goes home, winner plays again later for the second spot to state. It is the best of five. They lost their first game, won the second, won the third. At this point I was a little excited thinking they might do this (the team they played we had lost both matches during the regular season). We really seemed to have the momentum on our side, but if anyone has watched much volleyball it can change quickly and frequently in any game. So the other team came back and won the fourth game, so it was tied 2-2. The next game to decide the winner is just played to 15 instead of 25. Well, needless to say we lost something like 4 to 15. Very discouraging. They looked really good in a couple games and then in the last game they looked awful. So, it's over. There were a few tears, mostly from the seniors on the team. Katie will now start her four month break. She decided last year to stop playing basketball and take up snowboarding instead. She hopes to work on her pitching this winter though. Katie went home on the bus and Bob and I stayed and watched the first two games that Manson HS was playing since several girls from the ward are on the team. They lost both games so I don't know how the rest of their day went. We of course stopped in Wenatchee on the way home and finally got back to Pateros around 7:30. We left the house at 7:30 this morning! We get to drive back to Wenatchee in the morning for Stake Conference, yeah.

Welcome To The Real World Elder!

Brian left the CTM (Center for Training Missionaries is how they say it in Brazil) on Tuesday AM and headed for Belem. I have no idea where he is exactly but hopefully next week I can send you all an e-mail from Brian with all news!

Belém is a city on the banks of the Amazon estuary, in the northern part of Brazil. It is the capital of the state of Pará. It is the entrance gate to the Amazon with a busy port, airport and coach station. Belem lies about 60 miles upriver from the Atlantic Ocean. The river is the Pará, part of the greater Amazon River system, separated from the larger part of the Amazon delta by Ilha de Marajó (Marajo Island).
Founded in 1616, Belém was the first European colony on the Amazon but didn't become part of the Brazilian nation until 1775. Its metropolitan area has approximately 2.09 million inhabitants. It is also known as Metropolis of the Brazilian Amazon region or Cidade das Mangueiras (city of mango trees) due to the number of those trees found in the city. The newer part of the city has modern buildings and skyscrapers. The colonial portion retains the charm of tree-filled Squares, churches and traditional blue tiles. Belém is served by the Val de Cães International Airport (BEL) that connects the city to the rest of the country and other cities in South America. Brazilians often refer to the city as Belém do Pará ("Belém of Pará") rather than just Belém so as to differentiate it from Bethlehem in Palestine.
The city is home to the Federal University of Pará. The city has a rich history and architecture from colonial times, a natural rubber boom, World War II, 1960-70s Amazonic rediscovery and, recently, a skyscraper boom.

I'M BACK ...

Well, after a long, long break I'm finally back. Yeah. I am now working off Kyle's computer that had to be sent in to have some things fixed. (Kyle took Brian's computer to school and I had to turn my lap top in at work when our agency was bought out). So look for some blogging action to begin!!