Holiday Piano Recital

Neal has the video, but here is a photo of the two piano players after their recital.

Basketball!

Portia is playing basketball this winter. She has a great coach and is having a lot of fun!

Princess on… The Bluey

"The Bluey" is what we call this rather enormous not-a-bean-bag piece of furniture.

GMM visited

And I actually took a photo, too! The kids always enjoy the brief but fun- and love-filled visits from their GMM.

Everybody ran this year!

And nobody got hurt, either. Graydon (who had a soccer game later that day and needed to take it easy) coached his brother to a sub-30-min 5K, which they were both very proud of! Portia ran all on her own and finished just a couple of minutes later.

Mauser is making more friends

Whaddya Know!

We all brought home some hardware. Wiley came in second to his big brother in the 14 & under boys category. And I came in second in the "Athenas" category. Any woman over 165lb can compete as an Athena. 💪

Team Tanner Early Morning Selfie

Had to get one more before the sun came up!

Yeah, I am crazy

To be fair, it was Graydon's idea. He, Wiley, and I competed in a sprint triathlon a few weeks ago. It was an early morning!

Welcome Mauser!

We adopted Mauser while on vacation in Ste Emelie this summer. Sorry we're a bit behind with our updates… She made the trip (rather grudgingly) on the plane home and has become a crucial emotional support through Kiwi's loss. Her curiosity and spunky personality makes us laugh. She purrs like a motorboat (or so Portia says) and just likes being around her people. Maybe it was even a little comfort to Kiwi when Daddy told her "It's ok Kiwi, you can let go now. It's Mauser's turn." And I'm convinced there is a bit of Kiwi's soul in this kitty. ❤️

Good-Bye Kiwi

 

It took me almost a month to post this because I still struggle to think about it, but here goes...

After being a loyal and very much loved part of our family for over 12 years, Kiwi departed this earth on August 25. She had been reasonably healthy until the last week, when her energy started to fail. That day she lay down in the grass and did not get up again. I like to picture her like this, running like the wind through the bluebonnets up in heaven, chasing tennis balls or swimming after boat bumpers but never getting tired or sore, and finally, finally!, catching that darned squirrel in the backyard. 

Searching the blog for the keyword "Kiwi" like I just did to find this photo shows the lifetime of memories and love with which she leaves us, and we know she is waiting for us on the other side. We love you, Kiwi. 

Two Canada fans… in Canada



Umpteenth Ste Em Project: A step down with a handle!

Bridging the waterfall is a perennial favorite

GMM and all her grandkids!

Three-week throwback: who’s jumping??

Happy Independence Day

Goofy paddler

Portia’s Mural is for the Birds!

Portia spent a few days at the lake with Nana and Gramps and they asked her to paint a mural background for the ducks. This is her work!

Getting ready for July 4

Three kids on a budget literally trying to see just how much bang they can get for their buck.

Portia got 5th place at the Champs Meet!

At the end-of-season "Champs" meet with all the teams competing, Portia came in fifth overall in the girls 7-8 breaststroke with a personal best time almost a second faster than any previous swim. The was the only girl from her team (Westover Wild Orcas) in the final heat. She (and her junior-coach brother, who can be seen at the end of the video cheering her to the finish) are super proud.

Here's a link to a video of her swim!

Wiley got to swim with the “big boys”

Sometimes the older boys' relays needed an extra swimmer, so Wiley got to swim "up" a few times. Wiley might not have helped them win any races, but they were still super supportive and great role models for him.

Even the big guys like earning ribbons!

A summer swim season has come and gone…

This year, Graydon served as a "junior coach" so here he is coaching his little sister on the blocks.

Late spring brings babies! Fawns, that is.

Photo is of our front yard and taken from the front door.

Ta da! 🎉

The deck is now safe to use. Just in time for 100-degree (F) days when nobody wants to be outside anyway…

Note to self:

Check the weather forecast before painting!! This is what happened the first time I tried to paint our new deck railing… it cried, and so did I.

Almost there…

Graydon made a cameo or two

Want to acknowledge that G did make an effort to help. It was miserably hot work. We worked in the shady hours whenever we could.

Ro-roh… no wonder the deck felt “soft”

The deck boards were a little rotten, but they were holding up the *completely* rotted support structure. So… sigh, another deck project had to follow.

Hi! We’re back

Oops, didn't realize we had skipped an entire month in the blog. Here's a photo from late May of Portia entertaining her brothers with a funny book, all hanging out together in Mami and Daddy's bed.

Proud Math Nerd #2

Portia also got a medal for her second-place finish in her school's Math Olympiad Tournament. She also had a 99th percentile score of her most recent standardized math test, garnering her an invitation to apply to the National Math Stars program.

Proud Math Nerd #1

Wiley got the medal for his first-in-his school finish at a local Math Olympiad Tournament a few weeks ago.

Celebrities?

No, just a couple of engi-nerds who "clean up nice."

It must be swim season again

It’s not what you think…!

These didn't come from Colorado! Graydon brought baby lettuce plants home from Nana and Gramps' house where we stopped on our way home.l to pick up Kiwi.

Skiing Selfie

We like snow, too!

Of course (!!) Mami spent a few hours this morning shoveling our cars. There is a very friendly young man, Logan, who drives by in a small tractor with a snow blower attachment to keep the roads somewhat passable. We rearranged the cars so they fit side-by-side so he can clear the rest of the driveway, too!

A window to the winter wonderland

Winter Spirit

Unlike the four older boys on the trip (ages 11-14), who are glued to electronics whenever we allow it, Portia has been outside in the snow for hours every day - even after a long day of skiing! With the mountain closed today, she spent a few hours sledding on the steep roads in the little subdivision where we are staying. She's dug forts, created trails, made snow angels, jumped off cliffs into snow banks, and of course sledded.

Snowed in

Spending the week of spring break in Monarch, CO at a fantastic house less than 10 minutes from the base station. Even better - we got almost two feet of snow in the last 24 hours. The mountain was closed today, but it will be awesome tomorrow!

Cub Scout —> Scout Wiley

Wiley "crossed over" into youth scouting this weekend. He earned his "Arrow of Light" as a Cub, which is the only badge that can be carried over into the Scout uniform. Congrats to Scout Wiley!

Brotherly collaboration

One hand each controlling the action of the Minecraft avatar…? I thought it would be a disaster… but it seems to be working really well and they're having fun.

Update

Graydon's left ring finger was broken "quite thoroughly" at the growth plate right next to the knuckle so he's now in this cast for the next three weeks. The good news is that the hand surgeon was happy with the ER doctor's work setting it so he will not need corrective surgery. In three weeks he gets a smaller more flexible removable splint, with full recovery anticipated in eight weeks from the date of injury. So seven more weeks of this very active boy climbing up the walls a home… 🤪

Happy Valentine’s Day

From the emergency room! Trigger warning for Uncle Ian, but everyone else, see if you can figure out why…

Breakfast

Wiley and Portia making breakfast this morning. I do not know how the xylophone is involved.

Firebuilder!

Portia built this fire all by herself. I only lit it (and opened the damper quickly when it started to smoke…). Very good use of a sick day home from school last week!

Happy 14th Birthday, Graydon!

No cake of course, for our never-liked-cake big guy. But some Happy Birthday marzipan, and some healthy orange slices.

A teenager’s revenge?

He's even more efficient.

Skiing cousins

Jonathan is only six weeks older than Portia, and while Portia has a few more days of experience on the slopes, Jonathan made up for that with a little more gumption and a thirst to prove himself. So the two of them made great skiing buddies.