tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-333611872024-03-13T11:56:12.813-08:00Andy and Lisa's AdventuresUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger588125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-7501069138649483682019-05-29T18:20:00.000-08:002019-05-29T18:21:49.565-08:00Wrapping it up...Hi everyone! Sorry it has taken us so long to get our last "thank you post" posted! We've had so much fun writing and answering your questions.<br />
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This post goes our to Grandpa and Nana...<br />
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<b><i>Question: What was one of your favorite memories from our Hawaii tri</i></b><i><b>p?</b></i><br />
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<b>Alyssa: </b>One of my favorite memories was the whale watching trip Katy and I went on with Grandpa and Nana. One of the best parts was when the humpback whale went under the boat and then came up and showed it's fluke. It was REALLY COOL...well...if there were actually a word to describe the feeling, then it would mean awesome and cool combined! You could clearly see the shape of the whale under the water and all of the scraps and scratches on its body. AMAZING! The whole thing was just really cool...the sound of the blow before it dove kind of reminded me of our dolphin at the encounter as we were swimming with it. On the trip we also had dolphins swim alongside the boat as it left the harbor. It was incredible!<br />
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<b>Katy: </b>I LOVED going on the whale watching trip!!! When we pulled out of the harbor we saw dolphins swimming along side us! We saw like 10 whales (that might be over-exaggerating, but that's what it felt like...maybe it was more like 6 or 7) and a couple of them swam under our boat! It was so cool to see the water reflecting off the black and white patterns on their bodies. Watching the whales breach was MESMERIZING!!! When we were close to the docks on the way back, a pod of spinner dolphins came up and swam by us. They were leaping in the wake of the boat's waves. It was amazing to be there and see everything, but the best part was spending time with Grandpa and Nana!<br />
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Thanks again for tuning in to all of our "thank you blog posts" this March of Dimes fundraising season!</div>
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Bye!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-15262179695423393292019-05-20T19:26:00.001-08:002019-05-20T19:26:51.232-08:00Catching up...Hi everyone! It's been a CRAZY BUSY couple of weeks and it doesn't seem like things are going to slow down until school is out! YIKES!<br />
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This blog post goes out to "Mr. Anonymous", The Peterson's, Ms. Helen, and The Pekala's. Thank you all for your March of Dimes donations!<br />
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<b><i>Question #1: What do you think you might like to do for a living when you grow up?</i></b><br />
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Alyssa: I would like to be a biologist...so I can study animals and plants. Perhaps with what I learn I can help save endangered species. It would also be a plus to be a biologist since my friend Sarah would like to be a veterinarian and we could help each other keep animals healthy and happy.<br />
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Katy: I want to be a marine biologist. For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to work with marine wildlife. I think it would be cool to do what I've always wanted to do and help the animals that live in the ocean. One of my goals is to help clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is responsible for killing thousands...or at least I think its thousands...of ocean animals each year. Look it up! It's crazy!<br />
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<b><i>Question #2: What are you most looking forward to on your upcoming Alaska trip?</i></b><br />
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Alyssa: I am really looking forward to going to the Alaska Zoo and seeing all the animals up close...especially the foxes. I am also really excited to go on nature walks and see moose when we are out and about. I would love to see twin moose babies!<br />
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Katy: Probably going to the Alaska Zoo and hiking. I would like to be out in the wilderness and I hope to see a beaver lodge or two...they are so cool! At the Alaska Zoo I'm most looking forward to seeing the wolves.<br />
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<b><i>Question #3: What are you most looking forward to in 7th grade?</i></b><br />
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Alyssa: I am looking forward to my exploratory classes including Greek Mythology. I really enjoyed reading the Heroes of Olympus and Percy Jackson book series and I think it will be fun and interesting to learn more about the Greeks and their beliefs.<br />
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Katy: I'm looking forward to meeting more incredible teachers! Also, I am SO LOOKING FORWARD to percussion having their own class period next year!!!!!!! We won't have to wait for the entire band to tune and we'll have more time to focus on our technique. I'm also hoping to take Jazz Band so I can rock some "sick beats"!<br />
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<b><i>Question #4: If you could be student at Hogwarts, what house would you be sorted into and why? Also, what do you think your patronus would be and why? One more...which Harry Potter book is your favorite?</i></b><br />
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Alyssa: I think I would be a Gryffindor because I am brave, adventurous, and very loyal to my friends and family. My patronus would be a fox because I am smart, curious, teeny, and can sometimes be a little mischievous. I have NO IDEA which is my favorite! I love them ALL!<br />
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Katy: Definitely Gryffindor!!!! I'm brave, loyal, and adventurous. Also, I'm kind, caring, and I'd do anything (well not "anything", but you know what I mean) to help my friends if they were in need! I hope my patronus would be either a wolf, dolphin or cheetah. Mostly I would choose any of those because they are my favorite animals. Oh my goodness! How do I choose THAT...it's IMPOSSIBLE to pick a favorite book! The Order of the Phoenix is my favorite movie though...it's the only one I can what all the way through and not be terrified out of my mind! ;)<br />
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Okay! We have at least one more blog post in the works...so stay tuned!</div>
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<a href="https://www.marchforbabies.org/aginak" target="_blank">https://www.marchforbabies.org/aginak</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-53714307469262200172019-05-12T18:52:00.000-08:002019-05-12T19:02:17.857-08:002 for 1Hi everyone! It's been such a LOVELY weekend and we've had fun resting our sore muscles from track and tennis, reading, biking, running through the sprinklers, running away from bees, and celebrating Mom. In honor of Mother's Day, we took out the dog when she woke up REALLY early today and made Mom breakfast in bed...heated up cinnamon rolls, coffee, and yogurt with granola and chocolate chips (that might not have been the best combination, but it was Alyssa's idea)!<br />
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Hope you don't mind, but we're going to do a "2 for 1" post for Mr. Todd & Ms. Jennifer and Grandma Debbie & Grandpa Stu. :) Thank you so much for your March of Dimes donations!<br />
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<b><i>Question #1: If you could go back in time and revisit any memory, what would it be and why?</i></b><br />
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<b>Alyssa:</b> I would want to go back to the time I got to feed the fox at the Alaska Zoo. Foxes are my favorite animal and it makes me sad that I don't really remember getting to do it. SO I would love to relive that (maybe I'll get the chance when we go back to Alaska this summer!!!!)<br />
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<b>Katy:</b> There are so many Alaska memories I would like to revisit, but the one that comes to mind is getting to see the wolves at the Alaska Zoo. I love wolves...they are definitely in my top 3 animals. It's going to be so cool to see them again when we are there this summer!<br />
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<b><i>Question #2: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?</i></b><br />
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<b>Alyssa:</b> Oh boy! I don't know! There are a lot of great destinations! Hmmmmm...let's think. I already went to Hawaii and it was AMAZING. So I can cross that off the list. Maybe the Bahamas? It's seems like a very beautiful place. The Redwood Forrest would be AWESOME too! Anywhere I can be in nature and not in an urban city is for me!<br />
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<b>Katy:</b> MY MIND! MWHAHAHAHA! Just kidding, but still that would be pretty cool! ;) Actually I would like to visit the largest coral reef in the world...The Great Barrier Reef. In our book series, my character, Tide, has an underwater house in the middle of the reef. I want to see if my imagination lives up to the reality.<br />
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<b><i>Question #3: What does participating in the March of Dimes Walk every year mean to you?</i></b><br />
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<b>Alyssa:</b> It means a lot to see all the families walking for babies who have passed away and those that have survived. It's so heart touching! I'm very honored to be part of it and to be around the survivors of early births, syndromes, and diseases.<br />
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<b>Katy:</b> It's awesome and it reminds me that others have gone through what we have gone through...we're not the only ones. It helps to know that other people might experience the same challenges we have. It was super cool to meet a younger set of Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome sisters at the end of the walk this year. <br />
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Hope you enjoyed this post and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the moms out there!!!!</div>
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<a href="https://www.marchforbabies.org/aginak" target="_blank">https://www.marchforbabies.org/aginak</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-49432888841693704112019-05-08T18:31:00.001-08:002019-05-08T20:23:34.274-08:00Mythical Magic Book Series...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hi! Katy here! Thank you Granny for your March of Dimes donation and putting us over the top to reach our goal! Alyssa and I thought it would be fun to share a little bit of the book we have been working on! Alyssa and I along with our best friends, Elsa and Lily, have been working on this project since before Christmas and finished on May 1st. It has been SO FUN to write this book and we hope to get it published. The book series is called <i>Mythical Magic</i>. There are going to be 5 books and a whole lot of bonus novels. This first one is called <i>Tidal Wave</i> and has 26 chapters plus bonus material (about 25,000 words). Each of the first 4 books will feature one of the main characters and the 5th will include all of their points of view.<br />
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Hi! Alyssa here! Let me tell you a little bit more about how this whole thing began. It started on the bus where Katy was telling Elsa about her book idea. Elsa thought it would be cool for the three of us to write a book together. Before class began (first period) we started to think of ideas for the book. Lily came in the classroom door and asked us what we were doing. After we told her that we were going to write a book, she asked if she could join us and we said yes! In second period we started brainstorming ideas of what the story should be about. Elsa thought it should be about 4 girls saving the world from a bloodsucking demon. Lily thought it should have something to do with the 4 elements of nature (Water, Air, Earth, and Fire). Katy and I thought the story should include animals and mythical creatures. So we came up with an idea that combined all of them...4 girls that are guardians of the elements and each had a magical animal. I won't spoil anymore of the book. Here is the first out of 26 chapters in <i>Tidal Wave</i>. Enjoy! <br />
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Chapter 1: The Beginning</div>
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Once there was a woman named Dawn. She is as old as the universe itself, and was created to keep the world in balance, with Blackwell, the guardian who was created to rule all evil. There would have to be some balance between light and dark, good and evil, so Dawn came to balance the world. <br />
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Soon after, when earth was created, Tide, born in the deepest underwater cave on earth, rose to power, for the world was just water. A little while later, when the air on earth divided itself, and it became breathable for plants and animals, Airna, (whose name was pronounced Erna), was breathed into being. <br />
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When land started to form, Blossom, was created. She was born when the first flower on earth blossomed. She was the living spirit of all earth, but soon Airna, who grew jealous of the beautiful new being, became upset, and started hating Blossom with all of her heart. <br />
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Tide, fully aware of what was happening between Blossom and Airna, decided not to get involved, until Ash came along, when the first humans created fire. Ash did not like Tide one bit, since her water spells put out the fires she created, and they developed a hatred greater than Blossom and Airna. <br />
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After a while, Ash and Blossom became friends, since Ash’s volcanoes created lots of new land for Blossom. In this time, Tide and Airna became friends. The two sets of guardians, avoided each other as much as possible, though Tide and Blossom got along okay because Blossom's plants and animals needed her water. Ash and Airna also got along okay because without air Ash could not create fire<br />
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That is, until Dawn and Blackwell called together all four of them, to form a council, of the main elemental guardians, and the guardians of light and dark. <br />
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They all signed a contract that said they would work together in the council. At first, the girls were hesitant to sign it, but eventually signed, after convincing themselves that you don’t have to like someone, to work with them, in the sake of keeping the world safe from harm. <br />
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And so it was, the magic council, whose power came from the sun, the moon, and the four magic creatures. (All the girls had a magic creature that they had to protect.) <br />
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Tide had a sea serpent named Current, Ash had a dragon named Flame, Airna had Griffin named Griff, and Blossom had a unicorn named Flower. <br />
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Everything went well. For almost 9 thousand years, Until, everything changed…<br />
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Hope you enjoyed this little sneak peek of our book! </div>
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<a href="https://www.marchforbabies.org/aginak">https://www.marchforbabies.org/aginak</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-85341451329889532192019-05-04T18:20:00.000-08:002019-05-04T18:20:52.564-08:00I love you man!Thank you Ms. Shannon, Ms. Lisa, and your families for your March of Dimes donation! This blog post goes out to you! :)<br /><br />
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On today's post we are sharing the top 5 things we love about each other!</div>
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<br /><b><u>Alyssa: </u></b><br />
<i>What I love about Katy is...</i><br />
1. how we can always find something to play. My favorite is all of our imagination games that we have made up over the years.<br />
2. how we enjoy most of the same things. We both enjoy math, tennis, running, dance, and much more.<br />
3. how much she loves animals and is very knowledgeable about them. For example, she knows a TON about dolphins and wolves.<br />4. how very smart she is. I love that we can help each other when we get stuck on a homework problem.<br />
5. how much she loves me even when it's hard! Even though we fight sometimes we always know that we love one another!<br />
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<b><u>Katy:</u></b><br />
<i>What I love about Alyssa is...</i><br />
1. when I'm upset Alyssa is always there to comfort me....even when I'm angry and lash out she always wants to help me.<br />
2. that she has a wild imagination just like me! We are always coming up with crazy games, stories, ideas, and projects.<br />
3. how she understands what I'm going through. If she's already gone through something, she can help me through it and give advice.<br />
4. I love how much she knows about animals (especially foxes).<br />
5. she is so kind, caring, smart, creative, loving, and so much more packed into one little body! ;)<br /><br />
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Thanks for tuning in and we hope to answer more questions soon!</div>
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<a href="https://www.marchforbabies.org/aginak">https://www.marchforbabies.org/aginak</a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-63472990853213742602019-05-01T20:12:00.002-08:002019-05-01T20:15:51.842-08:00Inquiring Minds Want to Know...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hi everyone! Katy and Alyssa here once again...sorry it took us so long, but we've had a Science presentation that we've been working on about Newton's 3 Laws of Motion. It was FUN and we learned a lot! We've also been finishing our book that we've been writing with 2 of our friends, but more about that later! ;)<br />
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Thank you to Ms. Shelly, Mr. Matt and Ms. Taryn and your families for the March of Dimes donations!<br />
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So Mom said, "Inquiring minds want to know...what's your favorite things about Spokane?"<br />
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<b>Alyssa:</b><br />
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My favorite thing about Spokane is having new adventures, meeting new friends, and the breathtaking beauty of the landmarks here. We've been able to go on some really good hikes and seen some awesome waterfalls...Twin Falls and Palouse Falls. My friends are supporting, caring, and they can relate to me in tough situations. They are so fun to do stuff with and great to work with especially on our book series we are writing. I can't wait to learn more from my friends and I hope I can teach them some good life skills too.</div>
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<b>Katy:</b></div>
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Meeting all of my friends, having 4 distinct seasons, and no mosquitoes (okay...some but not a lot) are some of my favorite things about Spokane. If we had never moved from Alaska, we never would have met our best friend, Lily and our amazing group of best friends. We love to laugh, hang out, be active, and partner up for school assignments. They just make me feels amazing...I don't know how to describe it. Also, I love how we have cold winters and lots of snow. Summers are warm and we can play, swim in lakes, and go to outdoor movies at the park. Spring and Fall are GREAT too! We MISS Alaska, but love living here!!!!! Besides, we never would have met Scout if we never moved here.<br />
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Thank You again and we hope to get to write again soon!</div>
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<a href="http://www.marchforbabies.org/aginak">www.marchforbabies.org/aginak</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-83643857430891878502019-04-19T08:50:00.000-08:002019-04-19T08:54:54.624-08:00Fun FactsThank you Amy B for our donation! We thought today would be a good day to perhaps share a fun fact about each of us...<br />
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Alyssa...FUN FACT:<br />
My favorite song we've played in band is "Awake the Iron". I love it because I love the feeling of adrenaline of the song and how intense it is. It was AWESOME to practice and perform. The beats are very intense especially when the break drum was hit. It was so loud Katy had to wear ear plugs in the percussion section. I think Mom took a bit of video at our concert...let's see if we can share it!<br />
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Katy...FUN FACT:<br />
Percussion is 10 times better than flute!!!! MWHAHAHAHAHAHA...Alyssa is yelling at me right now! Percussion to me is amazing because you can do so many things with it. I'm getting to play like a million instruments and it never gets boring. I've played snare, xylophone, marimba, bells, bass drum, tom toms, and set. Hopefully next year I'll get to play the timpani.<br />
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Hope you liked our fun facts! Don't forget to donate and leave us a question!<br />
<a href="http://www.marchforbabies.org/aginak">www.marchforbabies.org/aginak</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-52066852286260327192019-04-16T19:42:00.000-08:002019-04-16T19:58:26.510-08:00Favorites...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.61px; text-align: center;">
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Today's questions are all about favorites!</div>
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Question #1: "What is your favorite animal and why?"</div>
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Alyssa: </div>
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My favorite animal...if I had to choose...is a fox. Hmmmm...I've never really thought about why! I've never had to say it out loud. I don't know. Maybe it's because they are misunderstood and I want to shed some light on them. Or maybe it's just because they are beautiful and the way they are built is amazing. They can run at high speeds for a really long time. They are very intelligent. They are very caring when it comes to their families...did you know that a female juvenile kit will sometimes stay and help the mother with her next litter? Pretty cool right? Or maybe it's because I feel like I share a lot of factors with them...we both have good hearing, we're both almost silent when we walk, we both have a good sense of smell, and I can run fast when I want to be.</div>
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Katy:</div>
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How can I choose!?!?!?!?! I love wolves, cheetahs, and dolphins!!!! I feel like I have a connection to each of them. When I'm running, I feel connected to wolves and cheetahs because I can run for a long time at a steady pace and I can sprint super fast for short periods of time. Wolves are so cool because of how they communicate and want to take care of their family. I love cheetahs and their cool abilities like how they can make sharp turns chasing after their prey while running at full speed. Being near the ocean or water makes me feel like I'm just meant to be there...when I swim, it feels like nothing can stop me. I get super playful in the water like a dolphin. Dolphins have AMAZING creature powers...like when they sleep they can turn off half of their brain. They pair up with another dolphin during sleep...then each dolphin is responsible for monitoring one half of their surroundings with their awake side of the brain. So by working together they can stay safe while sleeping. I could never choose because they are all so amazing in their own way.</div>
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Question #2: "Of all of the activities you've done...dance, soccer, cross country, and now tennis...which is your favorite and why?"</div>
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Alyssa:</div>
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It's very hard to decide between dance, tennis and cross country. I love all of them for different reasons. I love dance because of the way it makes you feel like you're floating through water and so graceful. Cross Country because I love the feeling of running long distances. It's like going on a nature walk only faster. I love being out in nature and feeling like an animal surviving in the wild...they have to run for hunting, escaping predators, and finding territory. Tennis is great because it's so much fun having the rush of running up and down the court chasing down a ball. I love feeling the impact of the ball on the racket and scoring a point against your opponent. I especially love playing doubles because you have to communicate with your partner...to say "I got it" or "that's you...you can do it" or "great hit"! It's just so much fun encouraging each other...even your opponents. </div>
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Katy:</div>
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Oh goodness...it's gotta be Cross Country! I love it because its a way to push myself while having fun. I love seeing what I can do. It's great because you can do it in all types of weather...except for maybe snowing...and natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes.😉 It's always outside and you get to test yourself. I don't know...I just feel free!!!! </div>
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If you want to hear more blog posts from us, PLEASE donate and ask us a question!</div>
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If you'd like to make a donation, follow this link :)</div>
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<a href="https://www.marchforbabies.org/Fundraising/Personal?personId=1968281&participantId=8815404&user=aginak">https://www.marchforbabies.org/aginak</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-4352289064764465362019-04-14T19:21:00.000-08:002019-04-14T19:40:55.820-08:00Alyssa and Katy Take Over the Blog...Hi everyone! Alyssa and Katy here! We're taking over the blog for this March of Dimes donation season! SOOOOOO if you make a donation and leave a question, we will answer it to the best of our ability.<br />
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Thank you Mary-Beth for your donation! You asked us to tell a favorite memory or story about Scout, our dog. Well, here it goes...<br />
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We were in the car on the the way home from school when Mom told us to go in the backyard to help Dad with something. The first thought that came into our minds was...PUPPY! But that would have been RIDICULOUS! Then we thought...to help pick weeds...BORING! We kept guessing stuff on the way home. We pulled in the driveway and went into the backyard. When a puppy suddenly came bounding toward us, we thought, "is this another dog we get to meet to see if this is the breed for us?" Then we realized, "this is OUR DOG, Scout!!!!!!" She was the most beautiful dog we had ever seen in our lives (except for Madison, our old dog, of course)!!!! We cried out in joy! If you'd like more details about what happened next, see the video link because everything after that was a blur of love, happiness, and a big ball of fluffy fur!<br />
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Thanks again and we can't wait for our next blog post!</div>
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If you'd like to make a donation, follow this link :)</div>
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<a href="https://www.marchforbabies.org/Fundraising/Personal?personId=1968281&participantId=8815404&user=aginak">https://www.marchforbabies.org/aginak</a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-36989153909812748542014-05-20T10:00:00.000-08:002014-05-20T10:00:02.351-08:00We're swimming at the Y....M....C....A!!!!I almost forgot about this! Last summer the girls did 3 different camps. The first one was free of charge and was really just an awesome visit from Micki and kids. That was called "Camp Spokane". The second one was a two week gymnastics camp. The final camp of the summer was a 2 week swimming lesson class at the Y!<br />
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The girls have always loved the water but like most 6 year olds with limited time in the water, a little hesitant and nervous about swimming. So we thought an organized class would help them get over some of their anxiety. Overall it went well. They might have been a couple of the weaker kids in the class and didn't quite graduate to the next level but we just took it as that; an introduction and familiarization. As you'll see, they definitely had fun!!<br />
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Check out our YMCA!! Really REALLY nice!</div>
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Waiting for their class to start...getting ALL kinds of excited.</div>
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I love those times when it is impossible for them to hold back their glee. I've seen it in both of them a bit where they try to not act like little girls and brush off stuff that you know they're excited about....jumping in the pool is not one of those times. Total unadulterated happiness.</div>
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Katy was just a little bit more anxious than Alyssa when it came to going under water and trying to swim. Part of the reason might have been their cheap goggles that we got them. She would go under water and immediately flip them up and wipe her eyes. That problem will be fixed this year with some much better gear.</div>
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My one complaint...this dude. You can just tell from his face he should not be giving lessons to kindergartners! This high school kid got under our skin but he was relatively effective and the kids loved him so we didn't say anything. But it was looks like this that made me want to take him aside and shake the highschool out of him. </div>
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Katy putting her whole face under. I know it seems like a small achievement but this took a few lessons before she started doing this. Great job, K!</div>
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I actually got a picture of the anxiety. So sweet.</div>
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Lining up to all jump in. One of the reasons I didn't like the teacher was he had a little toy that he would use to squirt the kids with water! Who does that?! Again, he would just push the line and not quite cross it. One of the ways he made it okay was letting the kids get him wet. Here's Katy getting him back a little.</div>
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Don't know what was going on here but I LOVE Alyssa's face. "You want me to do WHAT?!"</div>
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High 5s all the way around.</div>
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Cutest tooshies and hair.</div>
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This is the girls friend Kaden from Kindergarten. He's a great kid but but still tough to see my little girls making a big deal about a boy. As great as this picture of Katy and Kaden chatting is, I LOVE Alyssa's face as she catches me trying to take a picture of them together. Classic. Oh it will only get worse, Alyssa. I'm just experimenting with the endless ways I will embarrass you in front of your friends!</div>
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Well you can thank a cold for this rare midday blog as I'm home sick drinking lots of water and about to take a nap. At least I'm blogging, right?!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-40125569125238691012014-05-17T22:05:00.001-08:002014-05-17T22:05:19.617-08:00The Summer of VisitorsWhat is this?? Another blog entry that isn't related to a "thank you" for any March of Dimes donation?? Yep. My MO the last 3 or 4 years has been to blog religiously for nearly 5 weeks straight, then to take some time off. Taking some time off turns into months at a time between blog posts. Now I'm not saying that is going to happen again, but I do enjoy blogging and thought while we're having a quiet evening I should keep it going.<br />
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By quiet evening, I mean the girls are in bed and Lisa and I are watching a movie we've seen a dozen times. We have been incredibly active the last couple of days with long walks, disc golf, real golf, basketball, and lawn care. My body is TIRED!! So no way I'm moving from this couch until it's time for bed.<br />
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As I looked through our old pictures from last summer, I found a batch from one of our buddies, Tom. It got me thinking about how many people came to see us last summer! I think we have similar pictures from a lot of our visitors but Tom's visit was great....had lots of fun checking out some of our favorite hot spots including downtown, Coeur d'Alene, and Green Bluff.<br />
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Our sweet girls...making visitors feel like family for 7 years straight!</div>
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What's a trip downtown without a quick ride on the carousel? </div>
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I thought this was a cool pic...looking through a maple leaf (I think) cut-out on a bench near the water.</div>
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Then there was this guy...creepy Elvis Clown who unfortunately would cross our paths a little later.</div>
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I think Tom came at about the minimum the falls were at during the late summer. They are ROARING right now! </div>
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Triplets??</div>
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Alyssa pointing out something for Tom who seems a little confused.</div>
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This was a long time coming...having someone take a City of Spokane pic of the family! It was funny asking kids around us to get out off the blocks for a few seconds so we could take the picture...then struggling to get the girls to stand in the right place, look at the camera, and SMILE! Not as easy as it seems. </div>
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I love these pictures of the kids playing in the fountain.</div>
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And there he is... creep Elvis Clown lured us over for some fun balloon animals. I kept my distance while Lisa took one for the team. </div>
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The girls didn't seem to mind. We may need to work on their creepy clown radar!</div>
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Next stop is Lake Coeur d'Alene! As many times as we had been, this was the first time we walked out on the dock and across the dock. Stunningly beautiful August weather, eh??</div>
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We weren't the only ones enjoying the weather. Check out all the traffic on the lake.</div>
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My sweet girls going ahead while Tom and I stayed back taking too many pictures.</div>
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We couldn't come all the way out without sticking our feet in the water!!</div>
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CdA hosts a speed boat race that was coming up real soon.</div>
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I'll have to think about this a bit but I'm leaning toward declaring this my favorite moose statue ever.</div>
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Time for some farm fun up at Green Bluff!! Every time we go, we find something new to do or fruit to pick. This was a mixture of lots of goats, peaches, and some apples that weren't quite ready yet.</div>
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I don't think I stopped laughing the entire time we hung out with the goats.</div>
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This picture puts you right there with us. You can just hear him saying "bllleeeeeeaaaaahhhhhh"</div>
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Not sure why but this one made me laugh out loud just now.</div>
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Enough goating around, time for some FRUIT! </div>
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My, those are some sweet looking peaches!! ....see what I did there??</div>
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And the apples that we were told we could pick. We're always given a free pass to eat whatever we want while we're out picking. The girls love grabbing an apple and working on it while we walk around and make our way back to the farm. This time they powered through it until the bitter end...those apples were NOT ready. We had picked a few more but they didn't even charge us...they felt bad for the girls and that we spent time picking them. I think we did something fun with them though... Lisa will have to remind me.</div>
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So that's just one example of the many visitors we had this past summer. We now have a few more tricks up our sleeves of things to do so if you're thinking about making a visit, plan it NOW!! Reservations are limited; first come, first serve!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-66986285698651153752014-05-17T03:17:00.001-08:002014-05-17T07:07:59.169-08:00Summer FunI thought we might be done on May 13th but we weren't! Some late, albeit very appreciated, donations came in throughout the day on May 14th! We are thankful for every donation including these from....<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Joe Hayman</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Dennis and Terri</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Barbara</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Brian and Echo</b></span></div>
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and</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Scott</b></span></div>
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What an awesome and unexpected surprised to finish off with these last 5 donations. Thank you again to each and every person/family that donated this year!! I hope to do a more thorough wrap-up of our 2014 March for Babies fundraising in the near future so keep checking in!</div>
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Tonight, I just want to share a few fun pictures from last summer. The girls had received a slip-and-slide as a gift (can't recall who gave it to them at the moment). We didn't have a place to try it out...until now! Right across the street is a "common" area for the neighborhood which happens to be on a slope. Our amazing neighbors offered up their hose and the result was a few hours of unadulterated fun!</div>
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The scene with Lisa, the girls, our neighbor Leslie, and her daughter Hadley. While the slide doesn't look too long it was perfect for the Katy and Alyssa.</div>
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It was funny how Alyssa jumped in with reckless abandon while Katy was a little more cautious. </div>
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But no matter how they went down the slide, the end result was the same! Plus when you're going down a slip-and-slide and wearing matching Little Mermaid bathing suites...come ON!!</div>
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Another fun summer event this past summer was movie night at the park. Less than half a mile from our house is this awesome park. Our HOA fees go toward a lot of things but this is one that we REALLY enjoy! Here's the scene as we waited for the sun to set and Bug's Life to begin. </div>
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Half way through the movie, I thought it would be fun to set up the tri-pod to try and capture our community all hanging out watching a movie under the stars. Very very cool!</div>
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And the girls LOVE it....obviously!</div>
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After the movie, we get to walk home and check out all the stars. Such a fun treat. We can't wait until this summer's movie nights at the park which I believe will include Frozen....dramatic pause......"IN SUMMERRRRRRRRR!!"</div>
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Thanks again to everyone who donated on this final day and to ALL of our donations this year. Again, I'll do a final wrap-up soon with pictures from our walk in Salem, OR so keep checking in on us!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-24785248055184952752014-05-14T22:59:00.000-08:002014-05-14T22:59:11.193-08:00Chasing thunderstorms??Final push has arrived. I have a few "thank you" posts left as we wrap up our 2014 campaign. Today, we want to thank 4 donations that all came on May 13th (the 7 year anniversary of our girls coming home from the hospital)...<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Schrams</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Solums</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Ms. Nancy and</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Ms. Stephanie</span></b></div>
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What a day!! Thank you for helping us finish strong. I included Ms. before Nancy and Stephanie because these were our favorite preschool teachers from Anchorage. The girls continue to long for these two amazing people and we are so fortunate that they are still in our lives. <br />
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So this is one of those nights I probably shouldn't post but I really want to keep going! I'm having some computer issues (not the first time today) so I'm very limited on which pictures I can share. Long story but true. So the pics I do have available include one of our first big thunderstorms that rolled through Spokane. I was so giddy when I saw the radar, I took off to an area where I thought I'd have a good view to set up the tripod. It's been a LONG time I've tried to photograph lightning and I LOVED it!! Adrenaline was pumping, the smell of rain was in the air, distant roll of thunder, and the anticipation of that next bolt....exhilarating!!<br />
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I'll admit that after one of these massive strikes got my heart going. Suddenly I couldn't stop thinking I was going to be the first NWS WCM killed my lightning! Boy would that be a headline. </div>
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So I returned to my safe fortress where I set up the tripod in the living room to see what I could get. Not bad despite the reflections on the window.</div>
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Time to get creative and try to capture what I would normally do without the camera...stand in a safe place and watch the storm. Lisa stayed on the couch and snapped pic after pic until we got a few good ones.</div>
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Really like this one with the bolt over my head.</div>
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I could do this for hours. And actually I think this was a week night and we stayed up past 1am watching the storm roll through. Like I was going to be able to go to sleep when this was going on outside!!<br />
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Great night and I actually have a few more "stormchasing" pics from 2013 that are blogworthy...maybe I'll get to them eventually. <br />
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Again, THANK YOU for all of the donations and supporting something that means to much to us! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-88646411469446494412014-05-13T22:17:00.003-08:002014-05-13T22:17:49.206-08:00Dahlia ManiaWe are just about all caught up and also just about done with our 2014 March for Babies fundraising. Today, we thank<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Renee (and family) for their donation!!! </span></b></div>
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Renee puts us within reach of our 2013 total which just proves without a doubt again that you all are AWESOME!! Thank you all for being our friends giving selflessly, and supporting a great cause every year!<br />
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In blogland (see previous post if you don't know what that means), I think we're up to late August of 2013 and STILL in the Portland area visiting our fellow twin family. Lisa will have to correct me but I THINK after a full day at the zoo, we stopped by the dahlia festival on the way home! We're just ASKING for trouble. I think everyone under the age of 8 took a nap en route to the festival.<br />
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Upon arrival at said festival, I immediately noticed they went all out! Honestly, who puts peacocks on a roof??</div>
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After some festival food, on to the fields of dahlias!</div>
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Katy wanted a turn at taking some pics. The next few are from the eyes of Katy!</div>
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I took over for a few photos....</div>
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...before Alyssa wanted a turn at taking pics of flowers.</div>
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Really not too bad!</div>
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Before we left, Katy wanted to get a few pictures of her with Zebra Cat.</div>
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Taevin just wanted ......more blueberries?</div>
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On the drive home, we came across this dog. I had to slow down for Lisa to get a pic....so great.</div>
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If you haven't driven along the Columbia River, it's a MUST! Such a beautiful and unique landscape. We are very fortunate that so much of our area was once shaped by this massive river.</div>
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Thanks again Renee and family for your donation. We are just about at the end of our 2014 journey. Any more donations to get us up to last year's total??</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-83943336178399188942014-05-12T23:46:00.000-08:002014-05-13T08:10:14.126-08:00Going to the Portland Zoo Zoo Zoo....It has been much tougher than normal this year to keep up with the donations...no doubt a great problem to have. It just so happened that my busiest time of year at work has lined up perfectly with our 39 days of fundraising. After flying home yesterday, I was too tired to tackle the blog last night falling asleep on the couch multiple times during the afternoon and evening. But tonight (after a couple of hundred miles on the road for work!!), I'm ready to resume!<br>
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Back on May 9th, we need to recognize two donations that helped us reach the number 2 overall family team for the Salem, OR walk!!! Thank you </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Tom</span></b> and</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Julie!!!</b></span></div>
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These two donations put us at a very impressive number for the year! Thank you for your continued love and support!!!</div>
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In blogland (if you don't know, blogland is where we continue to update you on our multiple adventures), we are still in Portland and visiting with our friends Micki, Rhett, and their amazing family. In addition, we managed to meet up with a very important preschool teacher from Anchorage, Miss Stephanie, at the Portland Zoo!!! This was Alyssa's favorite teacher!</div>
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Ms. Stephanie also brought her whole family that we were able to connect with.</div>
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You can just see the love.</div>
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frog</div>
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Snake. Hmmm.... I wonder how Lisa feels about this.</div>
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Oh yep, that's what I thought.</div>
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How do the goats feel?</div>
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Taevin brought along his spunk!</div>
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As did Rieve!</div>
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The polar bears were REALLY active which was a ton of fun to watch.</div>
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We managed to time a bird show (I don't know what it's really called) and find a great seat to watch all the action around us.</div>
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What's funny is I remember pictures that my Dad took from probably before I was born at a similar type show. Not as good as his pics but not too shabby either. </div>
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And here's Katy riding a rhino!</div>
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Taevin still being cute.</div>
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If you need any help in putting yourself in the right mindset, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkW_gXw1yok" target="_blank">click on this link</a> and then check out the next few pictures (after the ad).<br>
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Back to cute kids being cute.</div>
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Very cool part of the zoo where you could purchase little cups full of bird crack. They ate it up!!!</div>
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I have a very similar picture of Alyssa looking that intently at a butterfly from our visit to the Museum of Natural History about a year ago.</div>
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Two of my favorite pics from that trip.</div>
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I felt so bad for Alyssa. She kept trying and trying to get a picture of the penguins. No matter how much I told her to try to step back, she just kept standing next to the glass and tried to click click click. At least I was able to get a few pics like this of Alyssa with the penguin.</div>
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On the way out, we were all pretty tired and run down. Some of us wanted desperately to buy a stuffed snake and when we didn't get what we wanted, we threw a royal fit. Alyssa reacted by finding the nearest giant stuffed bear and hugging it.</div>
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Katy had a full on break down.</div>
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...Which is fine. Because when it's all said and done, she's still only 6 years old and spent the majority of the day being a very well behaved little princess. Every princess breaks down every now and then. Thank you Katy and Alyssa for holding it together 97% of the day!!!</div>
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And thank you Julie and Tom for your donations this year!! May 13th is our last day to raise money. If you haven't already, please consider donating to March of Dimes right NOW!!! Click on the link at the top right and donate what you can. We love you all!!!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-13342061339166313622014-05-09T22:04:00.000-08:002014-05-10T09:50:44.578-08:00Don't Go Chasing WaterfallsI hate that song. <br>
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Seriously hate that song but I love people who donate to March of Dimes!!! Thank you to the<br>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Kriedermans</span></b></div>
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and the</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Reiters</b></span></div>
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for your donations this year!! You each have a very special place in our hearts. Thank you for your continuous love, support, and friendship!<br>
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This blogland post takes us back to last summer when we made a trip to Portland (Silverton), OR to visit Micki and fam. This was our 2nd trip to Portland as a family and this time with much better weather! Enroute, we were able to see a few crop dusters as we got closer to the Columbia River.<br>
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And then what must be one of the largest wind farm we've seen! Windmill after windmill for miles and miles.</div>
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We had an amazing time visiting Micki et al at their home in Silverton, OR. One of the phenomenal attractions to the area is the Silver Falls State Park. Just a quick 15 minute drive from their house and we were right in the middle of incredible scenery.</div>
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Time for a short hike to the falls. </div>
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Wow!!! I don't know what I expected but that wasn't it!! AMAZING!!</div>
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Confession time: okay I was having a great time! I was enjoying the time with friends, time with family, and time with nature. But it was also a Saturday in early September and that means college football. So here's my confession, I was continuously checking the A&M football score! There I said it!! I feel better now.</div>
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The pictures never do it justice but I love taking these pics looking straight up the tree. They are HUGE!!</div>
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I agree. I have the two most beautiful girls on planet earth!!</div>
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Not to be outdone, that's a pretty cute couple. I say "cute" because Rhett is like 5 foot, 2 inches. Regardless, I still love them both. You guys are an inspiration and thanks for being our friends through all these years (despite the repeated attempts to humiliate ourselves!) </div>
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Just 3 more days to get your donations in!!! Please donate to the link on the right before May 13th!! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-9195476276954591522014-05-08T19:36:00.001-08:002014-05-09T17:53:55.310-08:00Green BluffWe're not done!! I think that is the theme of this last week of fundraising....we are NOT done! Keeping us going beyond our goal is the <b><span style="font-size: large;">Pekalas!</span></b> Thank you for your life long friendship and support! We love you VERY much!!!<br />
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Some of you may know that I am currently in the DC area with my parents. Why? Well I submitted an abstract on a long shot for a climate conference and it was selected AND somehow I managed to get the trip funded. So this last week has been a combination of climate conference and spending time with the parents. Thank goodness my talk is finally done (as well as the conference) so I can now have a few nice stress free days with M&D before heading home on Mother's Day.<br />
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So if there has been any question has to why I haven't been able to maintain the blog, there's your answer. It has been a little challenging with my crazy schedule and final preparations for my presentation. I'm hoping to share that presentation eventually on Youtube. I'll let you know if that happens.<br />
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Meanwhile in blog land, I came across some great photos from I think was our first visit to Green Bluff. What is Green Bluff you ask?? It's about a 40 minute drive from our house to a host of orchards and farms where you can go and pick your own fruit. We had heard about it since the day we arrived but this was our first chance to go try it for ourselves. At the time, apricots were in season. While I don't remember even trying an apricot, I definitely had my reservations. Oh MAN were they good!!!! We all had a BLAST picking the fresh fruit off the trees.<br />
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But first, check it out! Anybody recognize what this flower/weed is????</div>
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Even before we made it into the farm, the girls were fascinated with the giant sunflowers growing around the parking area.</div>
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Hopping on for a tractor ride out to pick some fresh apricots.</div>
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Confession time. I've never been a big fan of fresh fruit or veggies. I know, I know. This day changed my whole perspective. I could not believe how incredible fresh fruit was right off the tree. Changed my life.</div>
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And I'm happy to introduce the girls at such a young age.</div>
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My apricot picking, ladder climbing ladies.</div>
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No recollection of this photo being taken but still funny. Well played Lisa.</div>
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On our way back after picking several pounds of fresh fruit.</div>
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Couldn't resist taking a few pics of a couple of roosters wondering around the farm.</div>
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Obligatory exhausted kid pick after plenty of activity. Love these kids.</div>
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So again I apologize for being a day behind but hopefully you understand why...I'm not even at my home computer with access to all of our pictures!!! If you haven't already, please consider donating these last 5 days! We will end our efforts on May 13th. Please donate!<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-75369992014880825752014-05-06T20:30:00.000-08:002014-05-06T20:30:46.420-08:00Quick trip to the land of needles and coffee<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Fundraising has hit a wall. It's a GREAT wall to be at...$5000...but it's a wall nonetheless. The two donations that got us up to where we are today were from...<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Shaun</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Mom Brown</span></b></div>
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Shaun holds a special distinction of being one of only a handful of people to have walked with us at the March of Dimes. Shaun has been a great friend and BIG supporter of our efforts since day 1! And I know many of you have too...I just wanted to give a special shout-out to Shaun for sticking with us for all these years. Thank Shaun! We all miss you!<br />
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I know I'm going to get some grief for this but the next exciting trip in 2013 was a quick 2 day trip to meet up with Sam in Seattle and do some shopping at Ikea. Exciting I know. Sam chose something like a 10 hour layover hoping I could just make a quick drive to the other side of the state to check out Seattle with him. Lucky, I had nothing going on and was happy to get up at 4am to make the trip happen.<br />
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You may be asking why I would get grief for this?? Because there will not be one picture on this entry of any of the girls!!<br />
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So I arrived at Sea-Tac in my clown car ON TIME to pick up Sam. Okay maybe I had to pull over half way there to take a nap. But at least I'm being responsible...in my earlier years I would have pushed through but now I recognize when I'm too tired to drive and can pull over to take a quick nap. Even if it means making someone wait an extra 30 minutes or so at the airport. :)<br />
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Of course we first had to go to the Pike Place Market.</div>
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And take a few obligatory blurry fish throwing pictures.</div>
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Camera equipment, beer, and water. I think we ate too but I'm not sure.</div>
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And then it was on to check out the needle.</div>
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Before you scroll down to the next pic, take a closer look! That's Mount Rainier in the background. I think this was the first time I'd really seen Rainier...you know with all the rain and clouds in Seattle?</div>
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I didn't even remember taking this picture but I got to thinking about it when I was looking through. This is the site of where the KOMO news helicopter crashed about a month ago right next to the Space Needle! No idea if that's the helicopter but interesting nonetheless.</div>
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More Rainier...but this time with Safeco and Century Link in the foreground.</div>
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Now we have a little more in the foreground...appears to be a balding, hungry, and slightly irritated Washingtonian. </div>
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Exploring the area around the needle. </div>
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There are few things in the world that will make me gag by just looking at them. A wall full of chewed gum is one of those things.</div>
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We got a hot tip from a colleague to go check out the Ballard Locks leading up to Lake Washington.</div>
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GREAT idea, Rose!! Very, very cool.</div>
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Boats in....</div>
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Boats come up...</div>
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Boats out!</div>
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Then it was down to the fish ladder to see the salmon making their way through the locks as well.<br />
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A picture of Sam and Salmon. Say it...it's fun.</div>
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Sam and ....art?</div>
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So small apology to those who only come to see pictures of my girls growing up. This is a blog about our FAMILY adventures. :) On that note, if we can get off $5000, I'd be happy to go back to sharing pictures of our little inspirations!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-66395625379540964352014-05-05T20:15:00.001-08:002014-05-05T20:15:07.996-08:00Katy and Alyssa Lou Retton??Catching up! Today we recognize donations back from April 30th. Almost caught up... actually if nobody donates, we'll be caught up tomorrow! Hopefully we'll have some more donations so we can keep catching up on the blog!! <div>
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What was really special about April 30th is that we reached our goal by noon on April 30th..with a whole 2 weeks left to go!! Wow you guys amaze us every year. So the folks that put us over include...</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Petersons</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Laura</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Kitsmillers</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Gilkesons*</b></span></div>
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and</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Cari</b></span></div>
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So what does the * stand for. The Gilkesons were sneaky and waited for just the right moment and made the actual donation that put us at our goal. Well done!!</div>
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In blog land, we are up to early August 2013 when we entered the girls in a gymnastics camp! So far, they have done dance but this summer they tried a few new things (hint hint). I'm thinking it was a week long camp with a show-off party at the end to demonstrate to the parents all of their new amazing skills. </div>
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We had a bird-eye's view with all of the other parents. First part of the routine was an impressive warm-up / dance routine. ....just a little sarcasm mixed in there.</div>
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Easy to spot the twins. I'm going to guess this part was Twist and Shout.</div>
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The Monster Mash?</div>
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Doing the Robot! The girls have been practicing that since before they could walk!</div>
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No clue... looks fun though.</div>
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La Macarena.....eehhhh</div>
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YMCA</div>
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Itsy Bitsy Spider??</div>
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Love how Alyssa watched the spider going up.</div>
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Whooo. Finally all warmed up so we can now do some routines. Katy first.</div>
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And Alyssa!!</div>
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Nailed it!!</div>
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The scariest part was they all got a chance to run down the trampoline and do whatever they want one time!! Seriously? Terrible idea. I have no idea how they didn't break something.<br />
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Katy was a little more reserved as she bounced to the end and....</div>
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flipped onto the mat!</div>
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Evidently this is what Alyssa was waiting for. She was going ALL OUT!</div>
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She wanted to get as much height as possible on her flip. In doing so, she barely made it to the mat as you can see here. Crazy crazy girl.</div>
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Sweet story. The girls completely connected to this older girl. They were constantly checking on her and trying to get her to watch. You'd think she might have been annoyed with all of the attention but she was so sweet. I honestly was surprised when the girls asked if I could take their picture with her and she lit up and said "SURE"! Look at those faces...absolutely genuine admiration. Love it.</div>
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Making progress! Please keep those donations coming so we can keep catching up on the blog! Thanks again for everyone who has contributed this year to help us reach our goal. Now let's see just how high we can go!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-70902780447284075362014-05-04T22:46:00.003-08:002014-05-04T22:46:53.549-08:00Horsing AroundBack on April 29th (yes that's how far behind I am) we had a HUGE day. Thanks to donations from...<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Shannon</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Nate and Kim</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Marla</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Debra</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Lilian</b></span></div>
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Told you it was a huge day! Thanks to all of those donations we were getting very close to our goal of $4660. Once again, we are overwhelmed with gratitude to all of you who choose to donate. Thank you so much!!<br />
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In the blog world, we are up to the beginning of summer! In late June, Micki brought the fam for a fun visit. I only have pics on the good camera of the horseback riding. I believe Lisa has LOTS of pics on her phone from the rest of the week. I think they coined the phrase "Camp Spokane". So at some point, I'm going to have to go back and share those. <br />
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But for today, I thought it would be fun to share pics from the first time the girls went horseback riding. Rhett's parents don't live too far away from us and have a couple of very tame, sweet horses. So we met at their ranch and saddled up. The girls were VERY excited!<br />
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Some days you just let them choose their own outfit. Be sure you have a camera though because capturing those moments will be worth its weight in gold!! Well done Alyssa. I hope you don't hate me when you're a teenager!</div>
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Katy was up first.</div>
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I think this is the same face Katy had when riding with Uncle Tom on the 4-wheeler.</div>
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So the whole time Katy was riding, I was keeping a very close eye on an approaching thunderstorm. Ends up it was foreshadowing for the storm of tears that was about to hit the happy ranch. Notice Katy scratching her fingers??</div>
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Still scratching. Yep....allergies. Ends up the girls are allergic to horses!! So all the hugging and horse kisses wasn't the best idea after all. Katy and I retreated to wash up and look for some allergy medicine while Alyssa took her turn.</div>
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We didn't want to keep Alyssa from riding but knew it wasn't going to be pretty. She did a much better job limiting the hugs and touching her face. </div>
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Definitely my favorite picture.</div>
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We had to cut our visit short to head back into town and find some allergy medicine. The itching subsided very quickly...especially after washing down the medicine with a corndog from Red Robin!</div>
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Thanks again for the donations. I hope we don't get stuck at $5000! </div>
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We have so much more to share!</div>
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By the way, an anonymous comment showed up asking how much the going cost is for more pictures. The answer is of course, whatever you're willing to donate!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-21649562241059328582014-05-03T21:04:00.000-08:002014-05-03T21:04:09.446-08:00Just about summer time!!As I continue to try to catch up with the blog and look through all of our pictures, I found a few from the girls last few days of Kindergarten. When I look back at our donations, I realize it's time to recognize my bff. Yes... Sam...you're up!!<br />
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So first... Thank you</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">SAM</span></b></div>
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for your donation. </div>
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It's a total coincidence that I happened to be up to the last days of school on our "exciting list of things to post" list. Enjoy!!</div>
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First, a few pictures of a 6 year old looking a lot like a 12 year old!!!!!</div>
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Alyssa or Katy?? If the first guess is correct, we'll donate an extra $20 in your name!!</div>
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On the last day of school, they had a field day and family picnic. I couldn't stay for the field day but of course I made it for the picnic!!! </div>
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Is it me or do I have the cutest kids????</div>
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They certainly have their Daddy's sense of timing! Camera??? Hurry put something in my mouth and look natural!!</div>
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Sheri and Kaden... so wish Kaden would have stayed at Windsor Elementary. Great family.</div>
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The next few pictures is the evidence of "spunk".</div>
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My sweet girls had to go talk to their Kindergarten teacher for a bit, Mrs. Mellott. </div>
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And because this blog post is thanks to a meteorologist's donation, I will include a picture of weather! This picture was taken at about 6am out of my bedroom window with NO tripod!! Top that, Sam????!!!</div>
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We had two more donations bringing our total to $5,000!!! I hope there is more out there! We'll be pushing for more donations all the way up to May 13th! But for our sake (and sanity), please don't wait!!! </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-88185921893169172892014-05-02T22:00:00.000-08:002014-05-02T22:00:05.154-08:00Visit from Alaska buddiesI'm still a few days behind on "thank you" blogs. I am catching up as fast as I can. Being on the road a lot lately has not helped my cause. BUT....after an awesome day off, playing golf with Lisa, and then spending a few hours on the yard, I am READY!! Today we thank the April 27th donation from Kirsten!! <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">THANK YOU KIRSTEN!!!!</span></b></div>
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As I continue to catch up on the blog, we are all the way up to early June of 2013. Something VERY exciting happened in early June, our next door neighbors from Anchorage stopped by to see us for a few days. To say that Alyssa and Katy (and Lisa and I) were excited would be a gross understatement!<br />
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First, the anticipation. We all stood out front and watched and waited for our guests to arrive.</div>
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Waiting....</div>
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And doing something that resembles waiting....</div>
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FINALLY!!!</div>
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THEY'RE HERE!!!!</div>
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Such happy girls</div>
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Lisa and I were just trying to remember how many days they were here. I'm thinking it was only a couple of nights but we sure did pack in the fun. We LOVED having our old neighbors hanging out with us in our new home.</div>
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Frolf anyone??!</div>
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Steve getting in the hopscotch action.</div>
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I found some more pics on Lisa's old iphone. Great times at Chaps...our standard restaurant that we take our guests for breakfast.</div>
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After that, a little chilaxing time in the back yard. </div>
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And we learned of Steve's childhood nickname, TV Stevie?? Who knew that the marathon runner could be hypnotized by an episode of My Little Pony! </div>
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Another standard visit is the carousel downtown Spokane.</div>
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And of course a visit to the falls.</div>
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And for the first time, we took a ride on the gondola over the lower falls!</div>
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After a fun day of catching up and playing with old friends, nothing like settling down with a book.</div>
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So sweet....</div>
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I found this picture mixed in on Lisa's phone which I thought was hilarious that it was taken during this time. Then I remembered why. For YEARS, we had this frame hanging up in our stairwell in Anchorage with the original pictures of random people and their pets that came with the frame. Every now and then, we'd get a friendly reminder from our neighbors (and everybody else that visited us) that we should eventually put some pictures of the Browns in there! Well after about 9 months of living in this home, we finally ....FINALLY...were motivated by our guests coming to fill it out with our Alaskan Adventure pictures! Thank you Petersons for inspiring us to stop procrastinating...and of course for visiting us! :)</div>
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Thanks again for the donation Kirsten! FYI, we are STILL raising money! We're raising money for March of Dimes all the way up to May 13th so just because we've met our "goal" doesn't mean we're not going to keep asking! If you haven't donated yet, please consider making ANY donation to a great cause.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-50062366487387135112014-04-30T23:30:00.000-08:002014-05-01T10:59:30.538-08:00Kindergarten comes to an endAs I continue to catch up for all of the donations we've been receiving (and YES as of April 30th, we've reached our goal!). But because of my crazy weekend, I need to still owe a lot of blog posts!<br />
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Today, I want to recognize the donation that was made by Jim and Kristine! It was funny, just before our walk was to begin in Salem, I checked the phone and saw we had a donation. What perfect timing!<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Thank you Jim and Kristine for your donation!!!! </span></b></div>
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As we continue to catch up on the blog, we are now up to early June 2013. What significant event happened in June of 2013?? The girls graduated from Kindergarten!! First, I have to share a couple of random pics from the days leading up to the big celebration.<br />
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At the time, Alyssa never looked so old! </div>
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Caught the girls watching a show with just about EVERY one of their friends lined up beside them.</div>
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I think I shared this one on fb. Nothing like a fresh cut lawn and sitting on the patio, drinking a beer, while the grill warms up. Oh man I can't wait!! </div>
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Last day of Kindergarten and the girls didn't have a graduation per se, more of a musical play. </div>
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Even now I look back and think how OLD they look in these pics!!</div>
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I'm such a lucky guy.</div>
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You know those silly moments when you see cute kids doing really strange songs and hand motions, and the parents ooooo and aaaahhhhh with no less than 200 cameras pointed in their direction? Yeah, we became those parents.</div>
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All of the kids had some part to play. Some got to play instruments or hold up signs. Both my girls got SPEAKING parts!!! </div>
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"We will now sing the names of the Spanish speaking countries"</div>
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Here is a wide angle of the spectacle. So many cameras.</div>
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Katy's turn! I found a friend up front that I knelt down next to and was able to get some good pics. You can see how she totally knew I was right there but refused to look at me.</div>
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Yeah look at that smile. She knew!</div>
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"Come and see my farm, mi granja"</div>
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Singing with conviction! Love it.</div>
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Couldn't help but laugh. This poor kid got typecast. He wore it well though!</div>
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Just look at those smiles!</div>
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As we were leaving, the girls wanted to go grab some flowers. I noticed the light and said "YES!!! Go, GO!!!" So happy with how these pics turned out.</div>
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My girls are growing up so fast. Hard to believe we're almost done with 1st grade! </div>
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Again, thank you Jim and Kristine for your donation. Regardless of us meeting our "goal", I hope more will continue to donate. <i>Our real goal is to give you a great cause to support.</i> It's our wish that we will inspire you to reach down into your pockets and find a great cause like this to support.</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-78459163825779910072014-04-29T20:52:00.001-08:002014-04-29T21:05:17.540-08:00#WinningFirst time for everything....this time it's using a hashtag in the post title! Why? Because it DESERVES it!!! Let me share a little story with you. Dave, a long time friend from Alaska, kicked my butt at fantasy football. Well he kicked everybody else's butt...I was merely outscored in the final game! ;) That being said, Dave told me to hold on to his winnings until a date to be named later. What he had in mind was donating his entire fantasy football winnings to March of Dimes!! <br />
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I have never shared any donations before but this is worthy. </div>
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<b>Dave donated all $410 of his fantasy football winnings to March of Dimes!!! </b></div>
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What a freaking stud! If that doesn't inspire you, I don't know what will!</div>
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If you follow our progress, you may have noticed I haven't posted on here for several days despite us receiving several donations. The reason is we were out of town. The fam made a quick trip to Silverton, OR to visit our very close friends and share something we have only talked about doing for 6 years; marching together! The stars finally aligned and we were able to march together at the 2014 March of Dimes walk in Salem, OR. How awesome was that?!!! </div>
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The only downside is the timing. I have had very busy weeks at work before but I believe these last 2 weeks....THIS is the busiest I've ever been! So despite the busy schedule, I put that aside so we could make the trip to Oregon and spend the time with our co-fundraisers and besties. It was a great trip and well worth the sacrifices I made at work.</div>
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So back to the pictures...that's why you come and visit anyway, right?! Late May, 2013 we were surprised to learn of one of our best friends and her family from Alaska were coming to the Spokane area to visit. We found a way to spend an afternoon together. </div>
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My favorite part of this visit was seeing the girls reconnect with their Pre-School friend INSTANTLY!! We hadn't seen Laken in almost a year and they all just instantly picked up right where they left off. Fun to watch.</div>
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I couldn't help getting in the act. Because all of the girls were just learning to read, I was easily roped in to reading a few stories.</div>
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Shannon's mother-in-law lives on a beautiful property north of Coeur d'Alene. They have turned their backyard into a space primed for adventure and exploring for all ages.</div>
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Carly, the youngest of the bunch, getting in the action.</div>
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When you're 6 years old, it's hard to resist picking every flower you see!</div>
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Following big sister and friend's example, Carly also couldn't resist.</div>
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An early picture of life time friends!</div>
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This was just one of many visitors we had during the summer of 2013. Lots of great pictures and stories still to share. Thanks again to Dave for his VERY generous donation of all of his fantasy football winnings. #winning!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33361187.post-44962573733337271912014-04-24T23:30:00.000-08:002014-04-24T23:30:00.543-08:00Dance recitalThe donations continue! After an amazing day yesterday, we got big donations from <div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Emily and</span></b></div>
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For you, we have a great moment from May of 2013; the girls' first dance recital in Spokane. This dance studio is a little more intense than the one we went to in Anchorage. They put on a full production with kids from preschool all the way up to through high school. It was impressive! </div>
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The girls played shadows in the ballet Coppelia. They worked hard on their part for weeks and weeks. The dress rehearsal wasn't real smooth but the girls were patient as always.</div>
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When it was finally their turn to rehearse...perfect little angels.</div>
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Even though it was past dinner, you can tell they were holding it together like little champs.</div>
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Love this picture.</div>
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The big day! I had fun floating around the back of the theater dialing in</div>
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on the right settings for the camera. </div>
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Soon enough, it was the shadows turn on stage.</div>
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So perfect.</div>
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We were so happy to see their kindergarten teacher come to watch! She had 20 kids in that class and no way she could come to every recital or game or whatever...but she made it to </div>
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Katy and Alyssa's!!</div>
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And then offered to take a picture of the happy family!</div>
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The rest of the time was spent by Lisa helping out by watching all the girls and me taking more pics.</div>
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BRAVO!!!</div>
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The girls were so fascinated with the main character from the ballet, a graduating senior from a local high school. She had come up through the same program the girls are in now.</div>
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My little princesses!!</div>
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If you're wondering, they are currently working on the </div>
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2014 recital which is only a few weeks away! </div>
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Again, thank you so much for the donations today! Keep'em coming!</div>
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