PHOTOS 2004

Well, the year has turned and -- naturally brought new things to do and see.  As usual, the newest stuff appears at the top and it gets older the lower you go.  Be sure to page down to see it all!

We were extremely proud when, early in 2004, Julie was honored by the Junior National Honor Society.  Looks like she's taking after her mom as far as grades are concerned!  We forgot to mention that late last year, one of Kendall's poems was honored as a state finalist in a writing contest.  He was also one of the top finishers in our district's recent school testing.  (His teacher confided to us that he had out-scored the kid who is considered the local "math genius."  But don't tell him that!  We don't want him to get a swelled head!)  Speaking of heads, in the second picture, Kendall shows off his "two face" haircut.  Don't worry, grandma!  After snapping the picture we finished cutting the rest.

The home construction has left us with a huge pile of dirt in the yard.  This winter, it became a snowy mountain.  After keeping the kids off it for a long while, I finally relented and let them sled on it.  (I had been woried about buried rocks & other obstacles.)  Naturally, they took the opportunity to play King of the Hill rather than merely sledding.  The pile will be -- hopefully -- landscaped into the yard this spring.  I wouldn't mind, though, if the kids still had something to run their sleds on.  (As long as it doesn't run into our neighbor's back yard!.

Winter means basketball in our household.  Both kids did well, and so did their teams.  They learned to play better, too.  Kendall made a nice shot in a game in which none of his team's top scorers could seem to find the net.   Julie won the local freethrow contest -- but they missed the finals to play with her team (who only had 5 players for much of the season!).  We were very proud of them both.