Playing Hard

These last two weeks we have been very busy being sporty. All of the activities we chose for the summer (except swimming lessons) and fall have overlapped. So, how are we keeping fit?

This year Daniel is old enough to participate in some community sports, so he chose Soccer. Practices started last week and games begin the Saturday after labor day. He loves to play, and assures me he's the best one on the team. He's not, I've watched, but he is improving rapidly.
The city, in conjunction with the San Fransisco Giants, offers a free summer baseball program, so he also signed up for that. Dewain was drafted to coach and runs from the train station to the truck to the sports park each Tuesday to make it in time for the games, luckily he has a great assistant coach Jason (who works in Tracy). Practices were at the very inconvenient time of Friday at 5, but at least Dewain could consistently be home by then (he gets home at two on Fridays during the summer). Today is the last game (hooray). Daniel turned out to be pretty good, both at hitting and fielding.



















I signed Joshua up for gymnastics, which he loved. If he continues to enjoy going and participating, I'll sign him up for another month. He is wiry and energetic, so the sport is perfect for him. When he is 4, he'll be eligible for the all boys class, curing his sole complaint that "there are only girls in my class."
Nathan is just a busy baby, crawling around after his brothers. This also keeps me busy. Dewain and I have been enjoying the Wii Fit. Dewain especially likes the yoga and strength exercises. While I also like them, I more often do rhythmic boxing or hula hoop. Of course, we both have fun with the balance games.

School Fundraisers

Dewain and I really hate school fundraisers. I feel like my hard earned money is being spent on way over-priced items so that the school can net only a small percentage. So the rest of you are lucky. We won't be mailing catalogs, calling you to ask if you want to subscribe to a magazine, or hawking candy, wrapping paper, or other shoddy goods door-to-door. This does have side effects. Daniel won't be able to earn silly prizes (he'll be sad, I won't) or work hard on a worthy cause. Since our family does want to contribute to Daniel's classroom and elementary school (Bohn Elementary), here is our alternate plan. Daniel will be happy to color a picture, provide a photo, read a story, make a treat or something else you'd enjoy within his capabilities in exchange for a donation to help him purchase supplies for his classroom or to make a direct donation to the school. Please contact me (rachellgarner@yahoo.com) if you are interested in helping Daniel fundraise for his school, without paying overhead. Otherwise, we encourage you to donate your time, money, or goods to your local schools!
[Photo: Daniel's first day of first grade, Aug. 2008]

The First Post

It's a momentous occasion, the writing of the first post. So, I will begin with the momentous occasion of our year (to date). In February, DW successfully defended his dissertation, I packed up our household goods (thanks Susan!), and the Priesthood quorums from church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) helped load our truck in -4F Illinois weather. We slowly made our way through an ice storm around St. Louis and ended the day with my Dad (who was our volunteer moving truck driver) getting the Penske stuck in a mud-pit behind the hotel. He really wasn't to blame for this as there was a sign that said "moving trucks park in back," still we had to pay for the tow. Eventually, we made it to Modesto, CA where DW's Aunt and Uncle graciously hosted us for several days while we finalized housing plans and arranged for move-in help. So, we finally landed in Tracy. The housing is cheaper (but not cheap!) and DW is able to ride the ACE train into Pleasanton to work every day. Not a great solution, but it works. "Where is work?" you ask. Dr. DW is a research chemist with Clorox and works on the anti-microbial team, enhancing and inventing cleaning products that you use everyday (or we hope you use, because there is a profit-sharing bonus). All together, this graduating-moving-job thing (some people call it real life), has been our major event, earning the coveted first post award.