Gingerbread Houses

We went to a Christmas party at the Thurston's last week. The kids all made gingerbread houses. In Ryan's 16 years, it was the first time he made a gingerbread house. The other kids have made them in school. Adam and Ryan worked together. In their own words, "it's a lot harder than it looks". Their frosting wasn't quite sticky enough and their house fell down. Then they re-created it and it became a homeless shelter. See if you can figure out which one is theirs. Thank you for a great time Thurston family!




Hint: notice the homeless man out front!

Merry Christmas

Here is our holiday card for 2008!

More snow..

Andy loves the cold temps and the snow. He would stay out all day if he could. Jayda is hurt so she wasn't able to play with Andy but he had a good time by himself. These photos were all taken by Kylie!

Believe in the Magic of Christmas

What's Furry and Blurry?

Andy playing in the snow. The quality of this photo is poor but Andy was having so much fun and I think it really shows!

The card that never was..

Well, after two photo shoots, some head swapping and other miscellaneous photoshopping, I thought I was done with our Christmas photo. I order copies and when I picked them up, I just couldn't bring myself to send them out. I thought the photo was OK, but not great. So...I made a collage from some other photos and went with that instead. Here's our 2008 Almost Christmas photo!

Christmas Lights

We put up our Christmas lights on Thanksgiving weekend. They look so pretty. There are many beautiful houses in the neighborhood so I might try my tripod photography to see what I can come up with!

Sheepdogs!

The neighbor had a friend visiting with two sheepdogs. They came over to play for a bit. Andy and the sheepdogs were so cute together. I can't believe how much they look alike. Jayda played too but looked like the black sheep!

Leading Lines...

Adam's latest photography assignment was "Leading Lines". This is when lines in the photo lead your eye to the subject. Adam had many great ideas for this assignment but went with this photo at the piano. His teacher loved it and told him he should enter it in competition. His grade was 100%. Great job Adam!

WOW!

The sunrise was beautiful yesterday, really showcasing Mt. Rainier. Kylie took these photos from the bedroom window. All we could say when we looked out the window was WOW! Our world is awesome.

More soccer

Another great day for soccer on Sunday. Adam's team tied again with a low scoring 1-1. And more great photos from BJ!

An Old Favorite

We've been working on our Christmas photo. It hasn't been easy so far. I want both dogs in the picture and our last attempt was a disaster. I was looking at past Christmas photos and came across this old favorite of Adam. A hand-tinted black and white from Christmas 2000!

Perspective

Adam's last photography assignment was called "Perspective". They were supposed to photograph something from a different point of view. Adam took many fun photos but chose this one of Jayda to turn in. His grade was an "A".

Andy Graduates!

Andy finished his Beginning Home Obedience class last week. Kylie did most of the handling in class and they made a great team. Andy sure tries hard to please and he loves to have fun!! Tomorrow we start a breed ring class.

Soccer in the Rain

What a difference a week makes. Adam had a soccer game on Sunday and it poured. Everybody was soaked including those of us under umbrellas because there was a strong wind sending rain in all directions. The good news is Arsenal won 4-1 so that made it worthwhile.

Kylie had a soccer game on Saturday and their team won 1-0.

More Halloween!

Halloween morning we woke up with a little excitement. Ryan was Boo'd! Someone left him all sorts of pumpkins on his car. And a dead scarecrow too. Whoever did it was very kind because there was no damage or mess to the car. Just good fun!!




Then after dark, Kylie went trick or treating with friends. Ben and I tagged along. Adam and Ryan were both out with friends. Ryan decided it was a good idea to park in the garage.

The midnight fairy:

Greek Goddess, Midnight Fairy and Wizard:


Sorting her haul afterwards:

Happy Halloween!

I have lots of Halloween to share. First of all is our Snow White and the Rott'n Dwarfs. These seven rottweilers were all in the group we practice carting with. All the dogs were very tolerant of the costumes and stayed in their places while we took pictures. It was so fun getting this together.



More Halloween coming...

Soccer in the Sunshine

Adam had a soccer game on Sunday. It was a great game and they ended up tied 1-1. BJ took some great photos and shared with everyone. Thanks BJ!

It must have been the weekend for ties because Kylie's soccer game ended in a 0-0 tie! Kylie played really well and we kept waiting for her to score. Maybe next game.

Jayda Earns Carting Title!!

Sunday, the Northwest Rottweiler Fanciers held a carting trial in Buckley. Jayda and I participated and qualified, earning her Carting Started title! For those that are not familiar with carting, the dog is hitched to a cart that is loaded with 40 pounds. A course is set up that includes right and left turns, 360's, weaving through cones, walking over a bridge, stopping, starting and going through a gate and a figure 8. The weather was cold but really nice. The course location could have been better. It was along a busy highway but the dogs did very well considering all the distractions. All the dogs in our practice group earned titles. It was a great day.

Getting started. Jayda sits to be hitched to the cart and the weight loaded:

Moving around the course:

Jayda with her ribbon:

Soccer on Vashon Island

Kylie had a soccer game on Vashon Island on Saturday. We took the ferry from Pt. Defiance. It was a beautiful fall day and the girls were very excited. Grandma and Grandpa went along too. We won the soccer game 4-0 so a good time was had by all!!

Ferry docking at Pt. Defiance:

We brought along our fans:

The team waiting for the ferry:

The ferry ride over to Vashon:


Kylie had a good game:

The ferry ride home: