Our last two weeks in Belfair... and we are gone

It's Wednesday, September 28th, we left Belfair State Park a little sad, but eager to start our new journey.  The last two weeks here have been filled with lots of fun watching Jayden play football for his Jr. High school teams, Jonathan playing soccer for his Premier team, and seeing Joshua grow another 1/2 inch in about 2 hours and of course having our newest grandson Austin Joseph arrive into this world.

Right now we are sitting in the parking lot of Camping world in Tacoma Washington, which is only about 35 miles from Belfair.  We are camping here tonight because we are having some work done on the RV (oil change, etc) before we start our trip south.  Barring any problems found while they work on the rig, we will be heading to Black Diamond Washington for tomorrow night and then onto Spokane on Friday.  You may ask why Black Diamond, which is only about 30 miles from Tacoma... well, we don't want to spend the entire day driving to Spokane, arriving in the dark.  And, there is a bakery in Black Diamond that has been there since 1902 we want to have breakfast at and of course, buy breads, and other yummy stuff.  http://www.blackdiamondbakery.com/

Getting ready to go home,  Mom removing
 the tape.

Well, Joshua grew another 1/2 inch.  I had the privilege of spending the day with he and Stephanie at the hospital and actually got to go into the operating room with him while they sedated him.  Some of you know that Josh has severe scoliosis, and has a titanium 'grow rod' in his back along his spine.  Every 6 months, he goes in for an adjustment where they make a small incision in his back and move the rod up to adjust for his growth and straighten the spine.  Josh has become a pro at this and it was very special for me that he let me participate. 

Jayden - 12 years old

Throwing a touchdown pass

Jayden started 7th grade this year and besides playing baseball and soccer, he decided he wanted to try football.  In Junior high, they have three teams, Varsity, Junior Varsity and the 'C' team (mostly 7th graders).  When the coach saw 5'9", 140lb Jayden, he decided to let him try and play on all three teams. He is one of only a few, who has had the opportunity to do this.  He suits up for the varsity games, and plays if they get far enough ahead.  On Jr. Varsity, he plays on defense and quarterback, and on the C team he is the starting quarterback...... and a good one at that (so says some proud grandparents).  Since Deane played football in both high school and college, he has really enjoyed watching him.    Jayden is a busy boy, with football practice almost every night after school and soccer practice a couple times week.  He plays football during the week and soccer games on weekends.  On top of that, he is carrying a 97% in math and the school is talking about moving him up into the advanced math classes.  Go Jayden!!!!




Jonathan keeping a goal from being scored

Jonathan started high school this year and along with his high academics, is continuing to play on his Premier soccer team as well as joining his high school baseball team.  His soccer team is traveling to Spokane this weekend for a tournament, and Steph is flying with Jonathan for the game.  They are staying at Joe's so we will all be together for one last weekend.  Jonathan at almost 15, is 6' tall and an excellent Keeper (goalie) for his soccer team.  Not much gets by him (on the field and intellectually).  He continues to excel scholastically in the accelerated program and will most likely start taking college classes while attending high school.  Doing this, when he graduates from high school, he will also have completed a number of credentials towards his college associates degree.



Suzanne and Jim (Mike parents) invited us to dinner at their home and another time, the four of us made the drive to Union and 2 Margaritas for dinner.  We also celebrated Joshua's 11th birthday at their place  with the whole family.  We enjoyed seeing them at all of the boys games and we are so thankful they are here to help Mike and Steph get all of the boys where they are suppose to be each day.

The hosts here at Belfair are like a real family.  We were the new kids on the block as the other 3 couples were returning hosts of many years.  We connected with Les and Karen Houghton of Farmington NM because, like us,  they enjoy playing games.  We had a great time playing Jokers and Pegs.... well, at least Karen and I did....... Les and Deane did not have as much fun as we did!

On September 22nd, Austin Joseph was born.....

We are onto new adventures. First stop.... seeing grandsons Alex and Austin in Spokane.  Oh yea, Joe and Deanna are there too!

We will see everyone here again next June.........