Catching Up on Our Year

Well, let's see... A happy return from Outdoor lab in February! Had a blast and got invited back for a special summer session... unfortunately we would be in Australia so she missed it.


Took first in a domination of her division in the first two tournaments. Missed the third while down under and took 3rd in last tournament but is still holding on to 1st for the year!



Jackie, Kaiya and Tory all picked up where they left off in 2001 - lots of tears when we left but looking forward to their visit next summer!


The elusive Yank-Oz creature!



Spent a week with Kris, Boris and the girls, then two more touring with students - was a good time, but was glad to be back to Karl and the dogs.


Climbed Mt. Gray (in the middle), our first - and quite possibly our last (!) 14er!

Took 4 1/2 hours to climb approximately 3,000 feet in 3 3/4 miles. What a view from the top though! Only took but 2 hours and 45 min to get back but felt much longer!


You can see Lake Dillon and a few ski areas from this angle.



And with that, school starts this week and life goes on in Arvada!

October - December Wrap Up (in photos)

Black belt party - Jackie's first exposure to a potato gun!


Annual trek to Guanella Pass to see the aspen - the boys enjoyed the ride!



Halloween - Jackie went as Lady Gueniviere, Michael as a Harley dog, and Jethro as a little devil.


Last tournament of the year - won 2nd in sparring moving her to 3rd in state in the 11/12 year old advanced division (fought the first 2 as a 10 year old in the higher division). Cousin Jacque came to watch.


Had to throw a picture of mom & dad's house in. Took this the day after they emailed about the 90 degree weather and how beautiful the Great Barrier Reef was. Most of the snow is still on the ground as it hasn't passed 40 degrees in weeks - so it will be white Christmas!! More snow expected Xmas night as well.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!!

Some Testing Footage

Here's the long awaited video. This particular section is Jackie doing the "ring of death" in which she has to show her "johnny on the spot" self-defense skills! Then she is sparring with her instructor. She had to do that twice and then in between she was sparring other testers. A bit hard to watch as mom & dad but she made us proud!

We Have a Black Belt

Jackie passed her test (Friday and Saturday - a total of about 3 1/2 hours) and is now a 1st Dan in the Kenpo karate system!! I will get more up on the blog with in the week. I'm trying to put together video snippets but the Broncos start in 20 minutes so it will have to wait. Just wanted to let all know that she passed!

Our Month

Sorry Kris, I plan on weekly updates but...well I have no real good excuse so I'll just go with what I can!

Let's see, we journeyed to the desert for karate. Jax did a wonderful form but didn't place and put up a good fight but lost in sparring as well. We still couldn't be more proud of her and we had a nice little vacation. Stopped at Glenwood on the way home for some relaxation and to break up the 11 hour drive from Vegas.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, the boys are getting bigger but still have a lot of puppy in them. Jethro is done with his teeth but Mike is still in the teething phase. They haven't destroyed too much of value (yet) but we keep a pretty good eye on them. I'm sure the day will come. Mike had an epiphany that he could actually jump so we've been spending a lot of time teaching him that he although he is capable, he is not allowed on the furniture. He is smart enough to know but aunry enough to not care. We've decided he is the problem child. Too smart for his own good!

We took a Sunday drive up to the Cabin last week just to get out of town. It's looking a bit run down but it's still the Cabin. Danny had been up and painted the shutters and cut up a tree that fell near the pump. The porch needs repaired but he says that may have to wait until next year.

Jax and I are back to school and the year is off and running as if we never left. Back to School night is over for both of us and we may actually make it through our second full week without having to go back to either school for any meetings or events. Have to put the traditional in front of the car photo up! Last year of elementary then it's off to the middle school for all the fun and awkwardness that comes with it!

September is going to be a big month as Jackie is testing for her black belt. She has to do the physical on Friday the 21st - it's closed to anybody that is not a black belt. Karl and I will be at the bar worrying about her! No one tells what the physical is except that it's a real bitch. Her last brown belt physical was 125 pushups and situps, than mountain climbers, and squat thrusts (I don't remember the # but it was a bunch). I can't imagine what she'll have to do. Then the actual test is Saturday the 22nd. It is a 3 hour test where she has to do all the charts from white belt on which includes techniques, combos, self-defense, and sparring, as well as multiple forms. She has been working hard in preparation though and should be able to pass it. It's not going to be easy by any means, but she has the heart and capability! Also this month, next weekend in fact, is her instructor's tournament - the Five Knuckle Frenzy. We've been helping get it set up and will actually see a tournament from the perspective of the people that work it. Should be fun (not really, it's going to be a long 2 days) but it's still going to be fun I guess.

Okay so I guess that's it, I will keep you updated on the tourney and testing - probably in October - seems to be my pattern!

Where the H did July Go?

Well in keeping with my theme of not posting until I have too much to post - here I go. Summer updates (now that it's nearly over):

Garden is doing great. A lot of tomatoes ready to ripen, our greens -chard, collard (or colored if you're Michael on The Office - US version), lettuce have produced but are actually running a bit amuck right now. The cucs on the hill are starting to do well. The weeds are by far out performing them all though. We had to put up a rabbit fence to keep the boys out so weeding is a bit more of an acrobatic feat now.

Of course we attribute this year's success to Karl's new collection of Garden Gnomes that protect the crops from evil.

Had a nice camping trip with Butch and Cakes up to Golden Gate Canyon. Went on a hike, ate and relaxed for a couple of days. The boys enjoyed it once they got used to the fact that they were tied to a tree and could only go about 10 feet!

The rest of the month we did some yard work and put some nice lattice up on the patio and planted a vine and a clematis to grow on it (hopefully) and have been trying, to some success, to train the boys, and of course Karate. We are leaving first thing tomorrow for Vegas for the big Pacific/West Region tournament - The Duel in the Desert. Are stopping in Glenwood for few nights on the way home for some relaxation before heading back to work on the 15th (Jax goes back to school the 22nd - Outdoor Lab year - woo hoo!)

June marches on

Just got back from Hays, Kansas for a Karate tournament in which Jax took 3rd in her forms and 1st in sparring. There were 1o other kids in both divisions that she had to beat. She ended up fighting 4 fights (2 boys and 2 girls) to win the sparring. Something just clicked this time and everything fell into place. This was a NBL (National Blackbelt League) sanctioned event so there were a lot from around the region there Head kick (2 points) - this was against her friend from the dojo.

Her 3rd place trophy in forms.

Receiving her 1st place in sparring - smiles didn't stop the rest of the day!

Her next tourney is in Vegas in August (pleasant time of year to go to Vegas). She is currently training to test for her black belt later in August as well. We are just a tad proud if you can't tell!!!

And 1 more makes a family!

A dog - not a baby! We have no will power and drove back up to Wellington to look at a full size Aussie pup (blue merle like we originally wanted) and came home with Michael. An Australian Cattle Dog/Border Collie mix. He was not quite 7 weeks when we got him (June 2) and was pretty much a stomach with short little legs and a head. He's going to prove to be a brute we think.

Jackie loves him and Jethro is busy being the boss. He better enjoy it while it lasts because Mike will be bigger than him in no time! They both love lounging on their lawn chairs and this is one of the few times that they were both still enough to shoot a photo. If they are not eating and sleeping, they are usually wrestling and running around like crazy.

On another note, Karl ministered a wedding for a good friend's daughter at Mt. Vernon Country Club last Saturday - and we've spent as much time as possible since then explaining to Jax that those big expensive weddings are nice but Vegas is where it's at! I have a funny feeling that what "Daddy's girl wants, she'll get!!" (not if mommy has anything to say about it though!)

Okay now, where were we?

Okay lone blogger, here you go. Since last post:

Karate tourney in Salt Lake (Map quest lies about trip time by the way) but here's the beautiful Temple that we weren't allowed into unless we let them baptise us. Had to get back to the tourney and watch more fights anyway - no time to convert.

Another tournament (RAGE) here in town, took 2nd in sparring.

Jackie and a few classmates had the honor of singing the National Anthem at the Shriner Circus

Started the seeds for the garden - radishes, lettuce, Swiss chard, collard greens, beets, carrots, and kohlrabi. Still need to weed the other half and put the tomato and pepper plants in as well as the front yard flower bed.

Broke down and got a new puppy - Miniature Aussie - name: Jethro Gibbs Mark Schrader.

Jethro Gibbs - from NCIS (Mark Harmon's character) Mark - for Jackie's karate instructor. The next one (we're getting an Aussie/Blueheeler mix in July) will be named Michael after Wee Wee and Michael on The Office.

Jethro was a surprise for Jax. We had actually looked at him and decided to wait for Michael to be born but we caved 2 weeks later and snuck up to Ft. Collins and surprised her when she came home from school.

It's Like Spring

So the sun is shining the temp should be near 60 and I'll quit bitching about shoveling and snow in general. (although we still have about a 3' bank running down the extra driveway - but just because it doesn't get sun) Of course they keep reminding that March is our snowiest month, but enough about that - another few months and I'll be complaining about the heat!

Anyhow, life is moving on here in Arvada. Jackie is now a 2nd degree brownbelt (feb.) and has already competed in her first tourney of the year. She moved up an age division and to advanced so the competition is going to be tougher (11-12 year olds & all brown belts) She was a bit rusty but had a good fight - scored a 2 point head kick but lost. Started a new form (Unsu) and has some work to do to perfect that. She had fun though and that is the main goal! We are traveling next weekend to Salt Lake City for a tourney - as her instructor says "to go beat on some Mormons"- which is not very politically correct but humorous (even to the Mormons at the dojo) none the less.

School is going well, good marks on the last report card. She landed one of the leads in the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" musical at school. (not Ichabod or the headless guy though). She's busy preparing a song on the piano for the school talent show as well. So the short of it, Jackie is keeping busy. Which of course means Karl & I are as well.

Basketball is over now - it was a bit brutal. Jackie scored 8 points on the season though which is about 1/3 of the team total for the whole season. It was a "learning year" for the girls. Once again she had a blast and the whole team left the court smiling and laughing because they had fun, so to me that was a successful season! We still haven't made it to the slopes but have hopes of it over Spring break. The hills finally got some more good snow this last week so hopefully it will last that long.

So life in Arvada moves along.

Still Shoveling

We are starting day 39 of more than 5" of snow on the ground. Not a record yet but with another 3" yesterday, and more forcasted for Thursday and Saturday this week, we creep ever closer to the 63 consecutive days record. We started the day at 4 degrees above 0, not that I'm complaining Pat & Michelle! Should do some melting today as we climb to 40, before the next arctic blast comes.

And last accounts of Blizzard

Arms hurt from shoveling, as well as back and legs. Would have been less of a workout if the gym had been open! In true Colorado fashion by 3:30 the snow had stopped and the sun came out and the angels sang. Okay, no angels but we came in at 1:30 and had the cocoa and schnapps and by 3:30 those could have been angels singing, we just aren't sure!

After the shoveling was done. Nothing says "job well done" like a Guiness while sitting in a snow throne! - Don't be suprised to see this as a Christmas card some day!

Sun's out and the melt begins!

We'll add a photo of the basement flooding if the sump pump can't keep up with the melt!

That's a 6' fence at the back of the picture - probably our biggest drift.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Yes, more photos

Sounded like a fun idea to blog the blizzard - now it seems like a chore. Anyhow - never leave anything you've started unfinished - that explains the empty booze bottles! So started shoveling about 9:30, finished at 1:30 (with a few water breaks). Here you go.

Karl, looking like he's on steroids - which would have made shoveling faster!

Boris, laying in the middle of the snow - he's an odd dog
Jackie helping with task - though the snow came up to her waist in areas!
The split rail nearly hidden along the sidewalk
Mom's car - we had to put the snow somewhere!