Christmas Dinner - Not at our house for a change

This year, Hish and Michael hosted Christmas dinner so we were lucky enough to not have to cook for a large rabble.  The food was great and the company was fun.

Ready to eat

Dont forget the crackers

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Our artificial tree finally gave up the ghost this year. It lasted well, but after 16 years it was past the sell by date.  I went to Costco and got a tree, cut the end off, trimmed some branches, and we were all set to decorate.

Siew Gin and the boys did all the decorating, and had fun selecting what ornaments to put on the tree.

Cody unwrapping his bauble

Tyler has not mastered smiling yet

Ugly sweater boys

BBC Christmas Tournament

I organized another badminton tournament for Christmas this year. Same format as before. Round Robin with adjusted scores.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and got a lot of games in.

BBC Christmas Tournament 2017

Cuda vs FST Dual meet

The boys had a dual meet on Sunday, and they each had a lot of events to take part in. Cody did 25 back, 25 fly, 50 back and 100 free.  Tyler did 50 back, 100 back, 100 breast and 200 Free.  Tyler managed to add to his list of state times and Cody knocked a lot of time off his 100 free.

Cody leading 100 Free

Tyler not leading 200 free

Gingerbread house

In the old days, this was a huge activity and very competitive. As all the kids are now older and able to do their own gingerbread house, the level of competition has gone down and the quality of house has matched it. 

Let the decorating commence

Hulstrom Dodgeball Competition

The boys signed up to take part in their school dodgeball competition.  They were in separate teams, and we had a long day as they won all their round robin matches, and their first knockout match before finally getting knocked out.  They did win K-2 and 4th grade competitions.

Cody is the winner

Tyler is the winner

Cody in action

Tyler in action

Cody December Pizza meet

Cody had a tough schedule for this pizza meet.  He swam 50 Breast, 50 Fly, 50 Back and then 200 Free.  We felt a little sorry for him, because as soon as he had finished his 50 back. He had to get straight back on the blocks and compete in 200 Free. This was a race against his friend Harper, and turned out to be a battle of boys vs girls.  Cody started the first length slightly behind, but good flip turns and strong streamlines allowed him to get ahead and stay ahead to the end.

Cody in his 50 Breast

Cody wins swimmer of the month

Each month a swimmer is chosen as the swimmer of the month. This month Cody was the winner. He has been working hard at practice and we have seen a big improvement in technique and stamina.

Cody top swimmer

Millser boys finish their Turkey trot in under 30 minutes

We woke up early this morning to complete our annual turkey trot. This year is was pretty hot (55F) and the course was changed to add in some hills .

Cody had a plan to finish in under 30 minutes and complete his first 5k without stopping/walking.  For the first mile there was no complaints, the second mile a lot of remarks about wanting to stop, and then in the last mile the complaints died down as we encouraged Cody to finish strong.  He finished in 29:40 and was pleased that he made it all the way round.  Tyler also ran with us as there was no official timekeeping for the race.

Ready for the start

Ready to race

First mile completed

On to the third mile

Crossing the finishing line

All the stats

Cody writes to his parents demanding the end of chores

As part of his school work, Cody wrote a letter to his parents.  The topic was his choice, and he (s)elected to write about getting his chores stopped.  He did have a good set of valid reasons why they should stop, but alas the chores will continue.

No chores please

Of course there will be chores

Tyler makes top 20 in the US for Kumon Reading

Tyler has finally broken into the top 20 (for his age) for Kumon Reading.  This August he made the top 20 list, coming in at number 12.

Number 12

Alan wins gold at the Pikes Peak badminton tournament

I wasn't planning on playing this tournament, but the senior division was short of a player so I did end up playing and winning two matches which was enough to secure gold.

Winner

Tyler passes Kumon Reading Level J

Tyler passed Reading level J today. This is great, as we now only have 2 more levels to go until completion.

Good job Tyler

Cody passes Kumon Reading Level EII

Cody passed Kumon Level E11 today. This puts him around 4 months ahead of Tyler as Tyler passed his in February. Cody got a perfect score in his test as well.

Perfect Score

Tyler and Cody's Wild Wild West Birthday Party

Tyler and Cody turned 10 and 8 respectively and this year we have chosen Wild Wild West theme. They were quite excited about their parties and helped out with food prep and decorations and a whole lot of horsing around, of course.

Weather, thankfully was nice as we had around 50 guests which just about made our house burst at its seams.

They were quite happy with their party.

Drinking cups for the kiddos

Cody's cake

Appetizer table

Adults completely chilled that none of the kids were around

Hats and Bandanna wall

the Raos

Kids

More kids

The Raos

Tyler's Cake

Me in my Saloon girl outfit

The Heides

Sienna