SNOW DAYS

This is our first snow of the year!! We had snow days on Mon, Wed, Thurs and Fri! Woohoo! Wed, I took Micah to Jazz Band before we knew school was cancelled (instead of a 3 hour early release). Thurs was supposed to be a 2 hour delay and ended up being cancelled, so it's been fun.

It was also Thembi and Lwazi's first time in snow ever!!! Thurs snow was the best as it covered the trees, limbs and everything. It was beautiful. The kids all raced down the driveway with the sleds, had snowball fights and just enjoyed the days off school!

I enjoyed actually having my house clean and getting my laundry caught up! Here are some pics from the big "snow days".

CHRISTMAS 2008

Well, Christmas this year is extra special b/c we have two new members of our family! Lwazi Mazi from Margate, Kwa Zulu Natal and Thembi Zulu from Johannesburg, S. Africa! They are such incredible individuals!

Lwazi helped us cut down our Christmas tree this year after he had arrived on Dec. 2nd and we waited for Thembi to arrive a week later on Dec 10th, to decorated it. They both had quite sever jet lag and time change to overcome...but they did and they love Christmas in the U.S.! Lwazi said you can "really feel the Christmas spirit in America" as we hung ornaments on the tree and listened to carols on the stereo.

We hope to show them more traditions as the season continues and hope they enjoy themselves. I know we have as we've been able to enjoy true giving this season!

Here are some pics of our Christmas season thus far!

Lwazi Mazwi

Well, we have a new addition to our family. Teagen emailed a few weeks ago and said he had run into Numfundo, a gal he new from his previous area - Mdantsane. They were with two friends - Lwazi and Thembi. They had work Visas and were wanting to come to the USA but had no idea where they were going or who they were staying with. Teagen said, "My parents would love to have you stay with them". He emailed us and we now have Lwazi with us and are awaiting the arrival of Thembi.

He is such a great guy! We have loved getting to know him and his culture. He is trying to teach us how to speak some Xhosa so that we speak it better than Elder Wise when he returns..haha. He is so humble, so sweet. It is amazing to hear his "story".

He has met Elder Duncan and Lavin and they are all coming this Sunday for dinner and a lesson. Elder Wise and company had taught them when in Georgetown, and he is anxious to learn more. We have loved having him and it's only been 3 days!

Here is a pic of him with us downtown Camas at the Christmas celebration. Micah had a jazz band gig and the Elders came to it. This is me, Elder Duncan, Elder Lavin, Elder Lowry (replaced Elder Rendon), Elder Olson and Lwazi.

Transfers

Well, all good things must come to an end. We got news while in Thanksgiving that Elder Reyes would be transferred to Milton-Freewater. He is actually serving a Spanish mission here, and in M-F, there is a lot of hispanics, so he will be speaking a lot more Spanish there.

Then, we got a late call on Sunday morning that there was some changes and that Elder Rendon would be transferred also - even though he would be leaving on Dec 23rd. So, this night they came over to say goodbye.

I had made Elder Rendon a blanket (showed on him at the right) b/c he loved our "tv blankets". Weird, b/c I started his during Thanksgiving before I even knew he would be transferred. I'm really glad I did.

Our boys were really disappointed that Elder Rendon was leaving, but I told them we cannot be selfish : ) Elder Rendon and Olson have done a lot for our family, have loved us, etc...but other families need him too! We'll stay in touch.


Here is some funny pics of the Elders dressed with our hats and using the RockBand guitars. They had been quoting "Nacho Libre" for the last month! Micah is an actor, so he quotes movies and plays constantly. It was hilarious! Elder Reyes even shared a "spiritual thought" that was "Under the clothes is a man, under the man is the.....NUCLEUS!". He is so funny. We will miss them all dearly. But we know there are more on the way!

Thanksgiving

We traveled to Jim's folks place in Coeur d'Alene, ID (actually Hayden Lake) for our annual Thanksgiving trip. We almost didn't make it as Jim and Levi both woke up on Wed morning with a sort throat and fever. We had planned to leave at 6am on Wed, but we had them sleep in to see if they would get any better. We just didn't want to take any flu bug up to Jim' parents.

As it turned out, they did get feeling better, we pumped them up with drugs and we were on our way. It was a great visit with everyone.

Ben and Amy's fam came up, but had to get Syd back for basketball practices, so we kept Jake and Sammy (our kids were elated!). Of course we hit BLACK FRIDAY. I don't know why they call it black friday, it should be RED friday, b/c that is what happens to your accounts! They go into the RED! Amy BETH's Family was in town (Deenie's) and so Westin came shopping with us. Very cool kid. Great family.

We also got to visit with John and Angela Geddes and family. It was great - as usual - to see them again. We really enjoy being around them and their family. The also have a great family. Jim and John are planning a CAT skiing trip since they have talked about it since apparently HS. John looked at me and said, "Alisa, are you okay with this?". Are you kididng? I'm so happy that he has a passion! He supports me in all mine!!! GO FOR IT!

We played a LOT of games, ate a LOT of food, spent a LOT of money and all in all had a great time. Here is a slide show of some of the pics.

Vipers Last Season Game (Phew)

Micah had his last "season" game. But really..that doesn't mean much! Now, his team does indoor soccer, still practices and then in Jan starts a "PDL" season, followed by "State Cup". So, this is by no means the end for us. BUT...it has been good for him and he is getting better all the time. Elders Olson, Rendon, Reyes and Gabor (Left to Right with Micah in the middle) all came to see his game on this day. Micah loves it when they come to watch him. I think it adds a bit more adrenaline to his game.

It is funny b/c one night, the elders were coming to our home. We had to pick up Micah from practice at 8pm from WHS Stadium. The missionaries live right by there, so they offered to get Micah on the way to our house (HUGE HELP!). Well, they were in their long trench coats, suit, ties, etc. They came to the field and the coaches thought they were from the District and apologized that they ran their practice late, said they would be done right away, etc. They said, "No, we are just here to get Micah". Then they must've thought they were with the FBI! :) hahaa. It was pretty good.

Mudday, Tuesday, or P-day?

L-R: Elder Duncan, Keegan, Alisa, Elder Olson, Brock (in front), Micah, Elder Lavin, Levi, Elder Reyes, Elder Gabor, Stockton, Elder Rendon, Teal.

Today was Veteran's Day! God Bless the Vets!!! So, we had school off and it was the missionaries P-Day! So, we had a day of soccer and fun!! We actually were going to take them up the Columbia Gorge hiking on the beautiful trails of the scenic NW, but the night before, I was checking the weather forecast and there was a RED FLAG on the website that said, "NATIONAL WEATHER FORECAST ALERT". Uh-Oh, that can't be good. I clicked on it and there was a huge storm coming in off the coast, supposed to dump 3 inches of rain on us and bring 40-70 mph winds. Well, these trails were on cliffs. They had cables along them, but nonetheless could be dangerous in bad conditions. The last thing we wanted was to have to call the mission president and tell him we lost a missionary off a cliff :) So, we decided for an "Plan B".

So...this is a pic after a game that we played vs. a girls U-13 team. It's a team coached by a guy in another ward - Tom. It was RAINY (as stated above) and the field was a MESS! Micah's friend Teal and Stockton's friend Brock joined us for this as well. We had 8 missionaries there and some off the mish's did not have cleats or even turf shoes, just running shoes, it was hilarious trying to watch them run! I ended up on my backside a few times and once you did....you just didn't care :) We started out scoring several goals and girls were timid. We decided to play a bit more easy on them to let them score. They did, and then myself and Nicole (not pictured) switched to the girls team so it was all girls vs. all guys...and then we ROCKED!!! It was great! The girls started scoring like crazy. Elder Reyes is crazy good. At one time I took a shot and he dove right in the mud for a save. I jumped on him and squished him in the mud and told him to "stay down" and god him really muddy. Later, I was guarding him and he juked me so bad that I slid and fell right on my "@#%#$"...everyone was like, "AAaaawwweeee"...he came back and jumped on my and said, "AND STAY DOWN" and rubbed mud in my face..it was pretty funny! We tried to take a pic on the field, but it was too muddy...so we came back to our house..this is in our "court" downstairs. So we are missing the Briggs in this pic.

Afterwards, Elder Rendon, Olson and Keegan all stayed for dinner and we all layed around whining about our sore backs :). All in all a great time.

Monkey Butt Scrambles

Okay, so this is from an older race we did in Eastern Oregon somewhere??? But it was a BLAST! It was a poker ride/scrambles?? and Teagen's friend, Austin, was with as (as he usually was :). It was a pretty "wide open" course (we prefer the woods)...but it was still pretty fun...esp the "jump section". It got to be pretty long and hard on the backside - thus the title!!, but all in all was a fun day! Enjoy the pics!

Hood to Coast Relay 2008

Okay, so this is my junk! I have run this relay now for....I lost count....well, since 95, and I only missed one year I believe to surgery to my ankle! So, 13 years!?

Anyway, for any of you who may not know WHAT it is...it is 196 miles of CRAZY! This pic is at the top of Mt. Hood, the start of the relay. If you want to see the terrain and legs, go to www.hoodtocoast.com and check it. It's GREAT!

Anyhow, this is a fun team. I captained a "BYUsedToBees" team for 3 years in which we finished in the top 6 each yeat. That was great fun to see former athletes and reunite with them, etc...but it was a lot of work to get mormon women here to run! (always pregnant!!!). It was a lot of work, so I decided I needed to just run with a "fun" team.

This year was a great time. My first leg was short and FAST! My middle leg was LONG and BORING! My last leg was long as well...and my team stopped 2 miles into a 6.8 mile run for support. My friend came to give me water. She asked, "Why do you have blood all over your shirt?". WHAT? I looked down and sure enough, there was blood all over my tank b/c I will sometimes use it to wipe my face/nose. I fought the next 4 miles with a bloody nose - which I later found out was indicative of dehydration. EEK! I have had heat exhaustion before (ended up in ER with IV's in my arm for a couple hours)...it was NOT good, so I'm a bit paranoid about it.

Anyhow, your team finishes in Seaside, OR for a PARTY ON THE BEACH! That is the funnest part of the run! Here, I'm dancing to a live band (okay, I'm swaying, after 18 miles of hell, it's hard to dance :)

Anyway, it was great fun! My fave story is this: It was a mormon team...my dentist is on it and a bishop. Well, the bishop is in my van and at one leg, this team was going around asking us all if we would like jello shooters. She went to Rick and said, "would you like a jello shooter?". He said, "Yeah, i would like one". I looked at him and said, "YOU WOULD???". I was confused! hahaa!!! I told him it had vodka in it, then he quickly changed his mind!!!! It was hilarious!

This is my leg in the mountains...BRUTAL! Everyone should have to run this leg once! :) But all in all, it is a GREAT run that requires good training and mental toughness!

If you haven't run it yet, you should!

Halloween

"Why so SERIOUS?"...Micah LOVES Dark Night and the joker. We wouldn't let him "trick or treat" this year, but he had a great time scaring little kids at the door. My poor little niece - who usually loves Micah, wouldn't hvae anything to do with him. He has got a great impression of him too (that is the actor in him).

The "little" boys dressed up as "gangsters". But it is funny...their idea of "gangsters" is not the mobster type gangster..is it more the ghetto, rapster gangster. They basically wanted to do as little as possible to just go out and get as much as possible. ha! But this year they were in heaven! We gave them a cell phone and sent them on their way! They checked in every so often and then hit the road with pillow cases in hand!

The rest of us just hung at my brother in laws house and watched some movies and at entirely too much candy. Tally (my niece), was so cute. She made it 2 houses before she was done with "carey people". Gotta love that age!

Levi, Micah and Stockton all stayed the night at their cuz's house and Levi drove them all home the next day in time for their soccer games and reffing duties....then drove them back up for the rest of the day. It was BLISS for Jim and I...a day of "empty next syndrom"! (I don't get what is so bad about it???). The bad thing is..my house was STILL a mess!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN...now BRING ON THANKSGIVING!

HAPPY BDAY JIM

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Jim's bday! We celebrated it a bit late this year and I was sick all weekend! (which is why I'm NOT featured in this picture! But it was still a good bday! He got some new tie down straps AGAIN for his bike...since he lost his nice KTM straps! (men!). the boys made him a nice candy bar card and since he's always complaining about how cold his head is since shaving it all off...I got him this AWESOME sherpa hat from REI (the best store in the universe!). Anyway...we had a good time. The boys love their daddio.

ALL THAT JAZZ

Micah had his first Jazz band "gig" of the year on Thursday night (Jim's birthday - happy bday babe!). He had a solo in a cool song where it was a "call and response". He had to come up with an improvised solo! He did a great job of showing off the "bone". Using slides and "wows" and great a great range from the bone in his solo. Micah LOVES music, he LOVES acting and he LOVES soccer! I wish I had a better pic, but they do not allow flash photography during the music... awe well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIMMY !!!!

MY ARMY!

These guys are my missionaries! : ) From left to right - Elder Rendon, Keegan Campbell (a former track athlete of mine), Elder Olson, Elder Ledford and Elder Cook. All of these guys came to one of my soccer games plus two more...it was AWESOME! : ) My own cheering squad! We have great games of basketball with them, good dinners and good discussions!Elders Rendon and Olson are trying to get me to read the Book of Mormon before Elder Rendon returns home on Dec 23rd.

Elder Ledford is being transferred and came by to say hello and goodbye : ( Elder Rendon and Elder Olson have been a great help to me...and love my family and we love them! They remind me of my son! They consider me their "WA MA" and they are my surrogate sons! I love them! We get a regular flow of missionaries now...hahaa...and we play soccer with them (me, Stockton, Levi and Micah), along with many other people - each Tuesday, which is the day they get to "play" and shop and do wash, etc. Anyway, I am in deep gratitude to all of these great young men!

The pic on the left is a game we played with them...kind of a prank : ) It was great fun! L to R is Elder Rendon, Elder Lavin (la VIN) and Elder Olson. I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to pass out!

This pic is when they came to see my "hi-tech" classroom at school. (they have to be in regular clothes - you know, separation of church and state! :)) Anyway...Elder Olson, me, Elder Rendon and Elder Gabor (like Eva Gabor) It was a big game day...Camas vs. Union...it was also Halloween day and it was a "BLACKOUT DAY". Thus, the black in my hair, under my eyes, etc. No, I don't usually dress this way when I teach! Ha!

Run Levi Run

XC 2008

Levi had a great cross season this year. This race was at the Nike Pre-Nationals at the Portland Meadows Raceway. It was a gorgeous day as you can see. There were thousands of runners and Levi had a big PR (personal record time). Leeve is now heading into swimming season. We continue to chart out races throughout the winter-time to stay in race-shape. It's fun to have a son that loves to run! However, it is NOT fun to have a son that can now kick your butt when you race him! : )

Hood River Ride

Well, I took a personal day from school Friday and we took all the kids out of school, met up with the cuz's from Coeur d'Alene, ID and LaCenter, WA and we rode our fannies off (I'm not kidding...we did!) in Hood River! We arrived about 10:30 am and got home at 10:30pm!

It was BEAUTIFUL there as it was about 69 degrees, the fall colors were incredible in Hood River and we would get to these beautiful scenic areas where we could see the gorge with the Columbia River below, Mt. Hood on the other side with the Hood River Valley below. It was BREATH taking!

We had 12 riders in all...it was like trying to HERD SHEEP! But it was a great time! I am suffering from "KTM butt" in case any of you have ridden a KTM, you know exactly what I'm talking about....and I even wore my padded bike shorts! We rode all together for awhile until Sydney took a wrong turn. They sent me to go after her, which I did...for what seemed like forever...Jim came after both of us, so we ended up getting some "fun riding" in to meet back up with the group. After that, we would break into 2 groups, more difficult and one with the littler guys.

Our group had two pretty brutal hill climbs that would require a staff of people in the middle of the hill to help those climbing over the obstacles. It's one thing to climb a good hill, it's quite another to climb it with 1-2 foot roots and rocks every inch of the way!

At the end of the day, we climbed to this "lookout tower" which was another breathtaking view! On the way down the mountain, we ran out of daylight. Levi was the only one with a headlight on his bike. We put him in the middle to light up the trail, but it was still scary dark. We all made it - miraculously - with no major crash or "field test".

All in all, it was an INCREDIBLE day, full of great memories!

My son, Teagen, is currently in Cape Town, South Africa serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This is a beautiful picture he took of an African Sunset.

He has been there now over a year and a half and it down to 5 months left and 3 days (but who is counting, right?). I miss him dearly, but also recognize how much he has grown into a man and how much he has grown in many other ways.

He has had some INCREDIBLE experiences.

This is a pic of he and some other missionaries in the "middle of nowhere" as he said. It is a cool picture. I believe this is while he was serving in Sada.

This is a pict of Teagen with this BEAUTIFUL white lion cub! He said that he was the only one that these cubs would do this with. He sat on this stump, and this cub came and climbed into his lap! They all scurried to get a picture...he was perfectly content and we have lots of pictures with Teagen and this lion cub. Look at the size of this cats paws!!!