January: Jacob’s first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. We dug our way out of a lot of snow!
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| Snow at our house |
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| Our backyard |
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| Jacob's 1st Pinewood Derby |
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| Siena's 4th Birthday |
February: Siena’s 4th birthday (Feb. 5th). Jacob and Marcus tried downhill skiing. All the kids tried cross country skiing at
our house.
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| Siena's "modeling" photo shoot |
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| Cross country skiing in our backyard |
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| Jacob skiing at White Pass |
March: We drove down to California
to drop the kids off at Becky’s parent’s house, then…
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| What happens to kids with cabin fever. |
April: We flew off for a (real)
early anniversary trip to China. We spent
7 days in Beijing visiting the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and more. Then we took a night train to Xian and spent
2 days riding bikes on the city wall and visiting the Terracotta Warriors. When we got home, we celebrated Elise’s 2nd birthday (April 1st)
and Marcus’ 6th Birthday (April 21st).
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| Bird's Nest, Beijing |
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| Great Wall |
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| Tiananmen Square |
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| Becky making dumplings |
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| Chuandixia Village |
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| Rickshaw ride |
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| Temple of Heaven |
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| Summer Palace |
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| Train ride to Xian |
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| Riding around the Xian city wall |
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| Terracotta Warriors |
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| Terracotta Warriors |
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| Elise's 2nd birthday |
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| Marcus' 6th birthday |
May: Becky turned 34 (May 18th). We bought baby chicks and built a chicken
coop.
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| Painting the chicken coop |
June: Becky went with Matt and his
students on a field trip to see the King Tut exhibit in Seattle. We took a quick weekend trip to Utah for a
wedding. The kids were all excited to
welcome their first Emhoff cousin into the world when Jason and Sharilyn had
their first daughter Ember.
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| Kids with their new cousin Ember |
July: We spent 4th of July in San Diego, Ca. We went to Legoland with all of the Meinzer
cousins and grandpa and grandma.
Afterward, we spent some time cooking ourselves visiting the National
Parks in southern Utah and Mesa Verde in Colorado. Matt spent a week as a Scoutmaster up at
scout camp.
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| Legoland, California |
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| Legoland |
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| Tidepooling in La Jolla, Ca. |
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| Meinzer cousins |
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| Hiking the Narrows in Zion NP, Utah |
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| The Narrows, Zion NP, Utah |
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| Bryce Canyon NP, Utah |
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| Bryce Canyon NP, Utah |
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| Camping in Capitol Reef NP, Utah |
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| Goblin Valley, Utah |
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| Elise in Goblin Valley |
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| Jacob in Arches NP, Utah |
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| Siena in Arches NP, Utah |
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| Elise and Matt in Arches NP, Utah |
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| Hiking out to Delicate Arch |
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| Delicate Arch |
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| Delicate Arch, Arches NP, Utah |
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| Mesa Verde NP, Colorado |
August: We went to a Meinzer family
reunion down in the Redwoods in California.
We went to a Norah Jones concert in Portland. We went on a dinner cruise and salmon bake in
Seattle for our 10th anniversary (Aug. 23rd). Jacob started 3rd grade and Marcus
started 1st grade. Matt
started 8th grade again.
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| Siena and cousin Emmy at Meinzer Family Reunion, California |
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| Our cabin at the family reunion |
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| 10th Anniversary dinner cruise |
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| 10th Anniversary Salmon bake |
September: Matt turned 34 (Sept. 18th). We canned and froze lots of vegetables from
our garden.
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| Our garden |
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| Elise, the garden helper |
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| Eggplant |
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| Winter Squash |
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| Gypsy peppers |
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| Anaheim Peppers |
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| Elise and Siena, Guardians of the chicken coop |
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| Siena and her friend Spencer |
October: We started getting eggs from
our chickens. Becky slaughtered our mean
rooster, Jumper. Carved pumpkins from
our garden.
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| Marcus with one of our first eggs |
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| Pumpkins |
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| Jumper the Rooster before... |
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| Jumper the Rooster after |
November: Matt went on his annual canoe
trip with his dad and brother. We celebrated
Thanksgiving in Yakima with Matt’s dad. We
visited Becky’s family in Lincoln City, Or.
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| Canoeing the Yakima River |
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| Canoeing the Yakima River |
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| Thanksgiving with cousin Ember |
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| Lincoln City, Oregon with cousins |
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| Grandpa Meinzer pulling the girls out from a sneaker wave |
December: Jacob turns 9 (Dec. 15th); Celebrating
Christmas and New Year’s in California with Becky’s family.
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