1st soccer of the year.

Kevin had a tournament starting on the 25th of Apr. Started a little rough, with a 3-0 loss. Not what we wanted! Game 2 was against A Mt. Rainier team that had a few boy's on it from Kevin's school. This game was won by us, 3-0. After the game we caught up with some friends from previous years of soccer and had dinner at Red Robin. It was nice to see them again! I then went directly to work after dinner ( Boo! ) and Jenny went home. The 3rd, and last game, was aginst a team from Idaho. As I wasn't there, I can only tell you what I was told. We lost 3-2, although we out shot them by a bunch. I guess it wasn't our day! Anyway,  o.k. start to the year, but space to improve. 

The next tournament for Sharon / Kevin will be on Memorial day weekend.

Later

TUES FROM Boone, NC

This is our campsite in FLINTLOCK Campground. Very cold last two day.

Teachers samples of the watercolor technique I am learning this week. I am having soooo much fun!

I was able (Ihope) to load these photos right from Picassa, rather from Blogger website. Yea! ma

Back from Vegas!

I'm back from Vegas, baby!

It was so great - the Bellagio was beautiful and there was tons to do. The first night, we (my friends Steve and Andrea and I) went to a restaurant called Sensi in the Bellagio. It was so good! I had crispy shrimp to start and then Korobuta (sp?) pork for dinner. It was really tender and yummy. For dessert, there was an option to get a sampler of all the different desserts, so we did that. They brought it out in a tower - I took a picture and will upload it later. Then we went to the Fontana bar - it's right in front of the fountains, so we saw them going off all the time. There was a live band doing cover songs and there were a few couples dancing who obviously had some formal training. It was fun to watch. There was also a wedding party with one guy who kept getting up and dancing...well, dancing isn't quite the right word. More like having small seizures kinda in time with the music. We nicknamed him Corky - I took several videos of him that I'll upload. So much fun!

On the second day, we met for the Bellagio Champagne Buffet. I think we all did a good job of not over-stuffing ourselves so we couldn't even move - it was tempting though. The food was good and there were so many options - I had shrimp, turkey, oatmeal, mashed potatoes and fruit all on one plate!

We made a plan to meet for dinner at The Venetian and then went our separate ways to nap, after Andrea and I did some looking around at the Bellagio shops. It's a good thing that I'm not a millionaire because I would have come home with LOTS of that stuff - they had Hermes, Prada, Fendi, Dior, etc. All those purses!!!!

I decided to head over to the Venetian early to check out the shops there - when I texted A & S I found out they had done the same! When we met up they had already had some adult beverages (okay, one monster adult beverage) and were feeling good. They are so funny! We were all being pretty silly. The restaurant we were going to was really new, so it wasn't on any of the maps. We stopped to ask one of the security guys and he clearly had no idea where it was, but he gave us some directions consisting of 'stay to the right' and we, foolishly, followed them. We ended up in the convention section of the hotel (after a lot of walking) but eventually found where we were going - turned out to be on a completely different floor than what the guard had said. The food was okay - I had deep-fried smoked mozarella, which was amazing, and then gnocci in meat sauce. Then we went to get gellato - yum, yum, yum! I had to head back to the Bellagio at that point because I was going to see O (they had seen a show earlier in the week and O was sold out - I almost didn't get a ticket).

O is a show set in water - there's a big pool and people diving around, doing their Cirque Du Soleil thing. It's really amazing - you should definitely see it if you're in Vegas. However, it was the 10:30pm show and I was tired so towards the end I was just hoping for it to FINISH ALREADY! Finally, it was done and I booked up to my room to go to sleep.

Monday was travel day, so I got my stuff packed, did some last minute shopping, finally faced my hotel bill (eek!) and headed off to the airport. I managed to win back most of what I had lost playing slots at the hotel in a Wheel of Fortune nickel slot machine, so I promptly stopped gambling and sat down to read my book. The flight home was uneventful and when I got home I was greeted with purring and cat fur, so it's possible that the kids actually missed me. The cat sitter left a little note saying that they behaved well, so I guess that's good.

I'm off for the rest of the week and am not looking forward to going back to work. I'll upload pictures and stuff when I have a chance. Viva Las Vegas!

Seattle Supercross 2008

We took Max to his first motocross race at Qwest Field on Saturday. He did really good, despite wanting to go home after the first heat race! Our seats were really good (thanks, Candi!!). We were so close that when the pyro flames went off it made me sweat! The race was really exciting and we had a good time, even though there was a Mariners game the same time/night (can you say $40 parking 4 blocks away...and lucky to get it!). For some reason they closed the Qwest Field parking garage unless you had some sort of special pass.

Here's a few shots from my cell phone camera....

photos on Shutterfly

We are threatened with thunderstorms this evening and have had a few drops. Took the time today to do the loop from Boone around to Grandfather Mountain, Blowing Rock, and back to Boone, via the Tanger malls. I've put up photos on Shutterfly of our trip to Dollywood, Nashville, and some of the Blue Ridge parkway and Cades Loop Rd (part of the parkway on the west end). Grandfather Mountain is one of 507 Biospheres in the world, and big deal here about. Nice drive up the mountain (you are either going up a twisty road or going down a twisty road in this part of the country) to some 5300 ft., and have a great view of the Smoky Mountains. We are just a little early for the full flowering of trees and rhodys, but still very pretty. Tomorrow friends from the Alaska tour are coming to this park for a couple of days on their way to Ky. I am making Jenny's taco soup and Ryan's key lime pie, from many many years ago! Friend from AZ who is coming in for workshop may be here also. Have a great weekend... and good luck at those soccer games! yea team!! Oh! here is the shutterfly site
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2BatnDFy4ZOlg

Parked again

As Mom said, we did a bit of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is like driving hiway 410 over chinook pass. Narrow and twisty. So we opted fora four lane hiway. Still a lot of hills but no fear of falling off. We stayed at Buck Creek campground one night--after missing the turn and driving another ten miles on a road straight out of "Thunder Road", if you remember.( Thinking about it, you probably never heard of it, it was a movie when I was a teenager...anyway, I digress. It was a movie about "moonshine" runners. And it had a song,Thunder Road. One of the lyrics was .."the mountain boy took roads even angels feared to tread."

WE WERE ON THAT ROAD.

When we left there, we opted, again, for a four lane road. That was on Thursday. On Tuesday and Thursday that road is closed for two hours so they can blast rocks. We had to take a detour.
Does the name "Thunder Road" mean anything? Four more hours of twisty, hilly, and narrow. Plus there was road construction there also.

It was a lot of fun, actually and we saw a lot of NC we wouldn't have seen. We saw the tree Tom Dooley was hanged from.

Ryan, Happy Birthday, and the body only gets better from here on in.

All of you take care.

Dad

Happy Birthday Ryan!

You're old now! See you on Friday night!

View your E-card

My Birthday

Well, today is my birthday. It is hard to believe a 37 year old body can look this good! Who would have thought I would make it to this advanced age, in the shape I am in. I will be home for my birthday, which is good. I have been working a lot lately and am ready for a day off. However, a day off usually means a soccer tournament for one of the kid's, which is the case this weekend. Kevin will be playing in the Starfire Spring Classic, which is held in the Tukwila area. His 1st game is at 3:45 on Fri. and then we will be meeting everyone for dinner. He will also have 2 games on Sat. If you are interested in going, let us know and we will give times and locations.

So far, a great start to my birthday!

Ryan

from Marion, NC

Well after a couple of 'side trips', we made it to this park outside of Marion, NC. Actually it is an rv park/driving range. We drove some of the Blue Ridge parkway. VERY twisty, windy road, which after about 65 miles we gave up on. The one thing that really struck me was the forrests of huge!! rhodys along the way. They are not blooming yet, but when they do, it will be amazing! Tomorrow we arrive in Boone, which is north and east of us now. I think it is up in the mountains, so we may have more twisty/windy roads yet to go! Hope Becky has a grea time in Vegas and that the rest of you are having fun. Photos to come!

Testing out mobile blogging

Testing out mobile blogging!

Now I can send messages from my phone directly to the blog! You can see what I'm up to while I'm in Vegas this weekend...or not...

If you want to try it go to go.blogger.com

Sponsor Candi!

Candi will be walking in the JDRF 2008 Walk to Cure Diabetes on 5/31 in Tacoma. Her sponsorship page is here. How much can YOU donate?

Sunday was a really fun day!!

I went out mountain bike riding with a buddy to some downhill, jump infested trails south of the Sea-Tac runway. We rode pretty much all day and had a blast!!

New Party Game

I was at my friend Jess's house this weekend and one of the guest brought the game Apples to Apples. It's really fun and you can play with lots of people. Even kids can play!

Everyone gets a bunch of cards that have various words or phrases on them and when the "Judge" (rotates to a new person each round) picks a card with an adjective everyone puts in a card that matches that adjective in some way. The goal is to get the Judge to pick your card, so you have to try to predict what the Judge will pick - they don't have to go with cards that match the literal definition, they just pick whichever one they like best. You get some pretty funny combinations!

We'll have to have another game night soon and play this game!

Last weekend....

Max & I went for a "hike" around Deep Lake on Saturday while Candi had dinner & a movie with some friends out past Puyallup. It was such a nice day that we took about 2 hours to make it around the lake. We packed snacks and drinks, and went down lots of the "short cuts" to throw rocks into the lake (sorry to all those who were fishing....but hey, it's DEEP LAKE! What the heck do you think you're going to catch??).

Sunday morning was a race to see if I could get the whole lawn/field mowed before the rain came - I won. Pretty much the rest of the day I hung out at home and watched motocross on TV. It must have been the first time in history that two supercross races were on different channels at the same time (I love my PIP). Candi & Max went out for a walk/bike ride in the afternoon, then picked up Max's friend Hunter for a trip to the park. It was the first time in a while that I've had the house to myself.

Jason out

It's Wed in Alabama, ya'll

Well, we are spending night in park in Tuscumbia, AL.... cause we got sort of lost trying to find a different park.... ah, the adventures! Another beautiful day on the road, going 50 mph on the Natchez Trace. No commercial trucks allowed, and much of the time there wasn't another rig or car in sight. 50 mph gives us great diesel mileage too. We are travelling at the perfect time for this part of the country, April is springtime, and we are seeing lots of wildflowers and dogwood in bloom. I have pics but have not uploaded to computer yet. Then I will either send the link to this blog, or try to upload...Great news, we visited one of the antibellum mansions in Natchez and the ranger showed me how to turn off the flash on my camera. I would know this if I could find the book, but you know how that goes! We expect to be in Nashville tomorrow. In spite of any postcards you might get, Graceland is NOT in Nashville, it's in Memphis.... so we will try for the Grand Ol Opery instead.

Remember the Alamo!

This email from the folks came in:

We'll we will remember the Alamo!! a pic of Roger at the Alamo and one of him crossing a 'bridge' on the San Antonio river. He saw the cars go across and couldn't resist trying it himself!

We really like what we have seen of San Antonio and bike ride along the bike path was really nice, quiet, lots of turtles and different birds. Living the dream!

Off to Louisiana and another dream of driving the Natchez Trail.

More pictures here.

Good weekend!

On Friday night I got my hair colored - it's now darker brown. The hair lady showed me a cute way to style it that won't take forever and doesn't involve much hand-eye coordination, so I can kinda replicate it.

On Saturday I went to Isabelle's house for tea and treats during her son Jasper's nap time. It was fun catching up - we only manage to get together every 5-6 months due to schedules, missed phone calls, etc.

Saturday night I went over to Jess's house to watch BSG. The new episodes air on Friday nights so we get together on Saturday nights after her son Gaius (yes, named after one of the lead characters on the show) goes to bed. This episode (Six of One) was a little boring, but the teaser for next week says that they're going to reveal the final Cylon next week.

On Sunday I stayed home and hung with the boys - we did a little laundry (I washed their gross sucking blankets) and cleared out my Tivo to make room for more shows. I watched a biography of Julia Child...okay, it was on Food Network so they call it a CHEFography. Makes me want to do more cooking...okay, some cooking...okay, actually enter my kitchen for something other than ice cream and Doritos.

What did everyone else do?

One week old!

My co-worker's new daughter - one week old today!

Emiline Andree Beliard

No, I don't know why she has a doughnut on her.

Treatment update

I went in for treatment yesterday and everything went well. They're still having trouble accessing my port, but since I only need it every 3 weeks (and it's already my third one) the nurse doesn't think that I should get a new one. I agree.

Next treatment is at the end of the month, along with another CT. Sounds like fun!

I can't believe it!

Everyone's on the blog! Well done all!

Disneyland Pictures

All of us in front of the mickey mouse garden.

Kevin and Kyle with Pluto at the character breakfast in Goofy's Kitchen.

Kyle in Mickey's Toontown.

                                                                                 

1st Blog entry

So, if you can't figure out which Koehn family is posting this, you are retarded! 

We have managed to, once again, get the 3 big kid's on the soccer teams they wanted to be on. And they finished try-outs the week before Disney, so our trip was stress free. ( you believe that don't you? )We had a lot of fun at Disneyland, but were glad to come home. 

My blog sounds like a robot wrote it. oh, well. I will add more when I'm not so tired.

May the force be with you.....

Walking the cats

I've been trying to leash-train the cats so that I can take them out for walks without them running away. It's been...interesting. Turns out that Marvin looooves it outside - I have to fight him to come back in and now he's always dashing for the door. Whitey actually hates it outside - he gets spooked by every little noise and ends up climbing me like a tree.

I got them harnesses and elastic-y leashes - Marvin's harness is a little too small and Whitey's is a little too big. But I wanted to try them out anyway. The first time I made the mistake of taking them out at the same time. Marvin was running away from the door and Whitey was running towards it. I was in the middle with my arms stretched in either direction wondering what I was going to do (and laughing hysterically at the same time!). I was bent over so the leashes would stretch farther and Whitey took that as a sign to climb me and hop on my back. This solved my stretching problem, but created a new one...how to hobble over to the door remaining bent over and dragging Marvin with me. Took a little doing, but we got it done - everyone got back inside just fine.

Then I took each one out individually - Marvin first. He loved it. He inspected underneath all the cars, checked out some mud, looked longingly at a bird, etc. All the usualy cat things. Then I took Whitey out. He hated it. He briefly inspected a bush, but then he heard a car start and it was over - I became a tree and his goal was to get to the top. Needless to say I had both hands free to open the door and block Marvin from running out.

Last night after work I decided to try again. I would like to say that I learned something from the first time, but sadly I did not. Marvin and I went a little further this time - he even climbed part way up a tree! I'm working on getting him to come back to me when I stop moving - it's actually going surprisingly well. Whitey and I didn't get very far. We went and sat on the stairs outside my door, with me holding him. He was starting to venture off my lap when a car drove up. That was it - he scrambled out of my arms and up the stairs as far as the leash would let him. I tired to coax him down, but he was spazzing out a little. Finally, I went up the stairs and grabbed him. Right at that moment a car door slammed and he freaked out, climbing up me again. He somehow ended up on my back with me bent over slightly holding on to the leash - I'm sure it looked a little like I had him slung over my shoulder, but he had his claws dug in so the leash was slack. It felt good. We finally made it back inside, managing to block Marvin from running out again.

I think it turned out being slightly stressful for all of us - everyone got something they wanted but no one was completely satisfied. That must mean I'm doing something right!

Takin' a stab at posting pics!!

Candi & Max on Easter Sunday.


Trying to get rid of the old apple tree stump...

This was about a month ago. When I got home from picking up Max from Jenny's I found a little stowaway hiding in the car.

Here we are in San Antonio!!

Thanks Becky for setting this up... I am not sure I will figure out how to use it, but am giving it a try! We are in San Antonio TX and taking a tour of city tomorrow, from the Alama to the River Walk and several missions. Then we can go back on our own the next day to see whatever we want. Warm and muggy here! Oh, we have also done some 'dry camping' Walmart style last two nights... and we had lots of company too. One store actually has a security guy show you where to park...
btw, Blue Bear is our mascot from our Alaska cruise, and he sits right in the middle of the dash of rig.....
here's to our blog! ma

Woo Hoo....look at me!!

I'm BLOGGING!!

Seriously, though. I plan on putting some photos up when I have a bit more time in front of the ol' PC.

Yummy new latte

On the way to work this morning I stopped at Avenue Espresso on Rainier (next to GreenFresh Market) and got a peanut butter latte! It's surpisingly good - tastes like the milk left over after eating PB Cap'n Crunch cereal...but warm. I highly recommend trying this out!

Stephen King on Duma Key

Here's a video that may be interesting to those Stephen King fans in the family.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/mMEYZ9FZ5OIHM

The Cats get Collared!

I finally got collars for Whitey and Marvin - all the ones I'd seen were too girly and I didn't really want ones with bells on them. They already make too much noise! However, now I'm glad I got the bells - it turned into the funniest thing I've seen in awhile.



They're used to playing with things that make noise, so when the noise was attached to them they started squirming around trying to get it. So hillarious!

Here we go!

Okay - here's the blog y'all asked for! Hopefully we can keep it updated with news of Ryan, Jason, Becky, Jenny, Candi, Rachael, Kevin, Sharon, Kyle, Max, Roger and Ellen Koehn. And if this ends up being the only post...well, at least we tried!