Summer Vacation!

Summer break has started - to 3 solid days of rain and clouds - but we're really not complaining! Spent the first day off at ..... take a guess.... a karate tournament. Jackie placed 5th in continuous sparring, 3rd in Bo, 2nd in forms and 1st in point sparring! I actually won my division for a change and brought home my very first 1st place trophy (keep in mind it's the slow-old lady division!)

Jackie finished her first year of Middle school with 4.0, made a lot of new friends, discovered she loves to run (had the best girl's mile time) - hopefully of the Strahl running genes, she has more of Kris', Greg's or Pat's - mine were a bit slow! She is now taller than me and still growing rapidly - aaugh! Though she can no longer borrow my shoes as her boats are getting much larger than mine! She also received an award for excellence in Spanish - which she is planning on using on our trip south of the border next week. Looking forward to a lot of beach time, eating whenever and whatever we want and then there's the beverage fun as well!

Mike and Jethro - well they are still dipshits - but they serve as good entertainment.

Karate Update

Jackie rocked her test and is now officially a Nidan (2nd Degree). She did very well in every aspect but really excelled in the knife defense - she took her instructor by suprise. (She's only the first part of the video - the 2nd is Tracey who was testing for -and passed - her 3rd degree and is very fun to watch as well.)


A total of about 3 hours - combos, tonfas, bo (staff), forms, self-defense, sparring, and blackjacks (20 pushups - 1 squat, then 19 pushups - 2 squats...)

Tea ceremony (saki for instructor) then the punch (actually she got punched by 5 members on the board - karate people are odd - "I respect your test so I will now hit you really hard!"

After a few weeks of rest - it's time to train for Salt Lake. Barely made it out of town before blizzard hit. We made the decision to leave a few hours early and missed the closing of I-70 from Morrison to Vail by about 4 hours. Did get a few extra hours at Glenwood though before heading to Salt Lake the next morning!

Jackie drew the current Champion (NBL - nat'l blackbelt league) for continuous sparring - held her own but lost. Jackie was at the bottom of the weight class and 12 yrs old (13 the next day) and the girl was at the top of the weight class and 16. We were very proud and she was pumped that she did as well as she did! Guess we have to think about going to other national tournaments. Some photos from Salt Lake (April 17 & 18)

On another travel note - we are heading to Mexico in June if anyone wants us to pick up a virus for them! Go figure - we've been planning this (and of course just finished paying for it) for 6 months. We are going to play it by ear - thank goodness for trip insurance! May have to wait to take the trip later.

An Update? ... But it's only been 6 months!

Okay so once every 6 Months is not good but it's better than a few others I know!

September

Jackie's last tournament of 2008. Takes first at the tournament, and wins state decisively! This is her best fight of the tournament (out of 3). The 1st and 2nd place round she won 10 - 0 and it wasn't much of a fight - pretty much Jackie schooling the other girl on how to blitz!

Middle school "rocks" and she's getting straight A's so far in all of her classes including 4 Honors classes! Started babysitting and wasting the money she's earning on clothes and computer games! She still has no concept of what a clean room looks like or that dog poop needs picked up on a regular basis, but I will work on that - until the day she moves out!

October

Halloween - Mike went as a very pissed off devil dog and Jackie was "Miss Understood" - no trick or treating -to old (had more fun giving out candy to the kids anyway!)

Went to Alamosa for a wedding and got to spend time with Michelle, Donny and the kids! Always a good time - would post the pictures but they are the same kill shots of Erin and Clayton's deer in the truck that are on Michelle's Blog.

November

Same old Same old. Work, School, Karate...

December

We had a pretty mellow holiday. Karl was on vacation for all of our break and we did a whole lot of relaxing and nothing -it was great!

Finally got to go to the Karate Banquet and get the well earned State Champion Trophy! (She also finished 3rd in Kata Forms - on the same placard)

January

Had a wonderful visit with Sandy, Darin, Hiilani, Montana and Michael! Went to Keystone to play in the snow and planned a tubing trip that didn't quite work out and we ended up at the Casinos in Black Hawk but still had a blast!

February

Jackie is now training hard for her 2nd Degree Black Belt - she tests on March 28th! She's also committed to competing at a national level so we are off to Salt Lake City in April. Not committing past that to any others until she sees what that's like at this level. The last time she competed nationally she wasn't at the Black Belt level so it should be a whole new story.

As always I will try and keep updated better - so most likely in another 6 months!

Jethro and Mike are settling down (somewhat).

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.