Making Cider!

Our new house has two apple trees in the back. It brought to mind all those fun years of cider pressing on the hill at the farm (Dowers). We were happy to have our friends, the Toews family, invite us down to CDA to press our apples into cider and thus share the "art of cider making" with yet another generation! We had a LOT of fun!

We had a process, of course!

We started by rinsing most of the debris from the apples and pears.


The girls would gather the apples from the tarp and put them through the "first washing."


Good workers!


Then they'd check the fruit for rotting and any other "undesirabilities." Those that passed inspection went through the final washing before being grinded. Kimberly liked this job best! :)


They needed us for David's muscle ... kidding! :)


We put it through two different filters: A mesh strainer and then this thin tea towel.


Here's the "liquid gold!"


The final reward: Cheers!


Kimberly and Sadie are great friends!


Kimberly loves the opportunity to play "Big Sister!" :)

After it was all said and done, we ended up with 12 jugs of cider. YUM!

Farmer's Market

Yeo trying to keep that hula hoop on some non existent hips ...

Kimberly and her cousins attempting a new way of hula hooping ...

Ring around the Rosies works, too! :)

Afterwards we piled everyone in the back of Tracy's (David's sister) truck. She was a little worried about them being back there ... but we'll give her a break since she's from Washinton ... ! ;) As you can see, the kids LOVED it!

Fun Times with Friends

Just another afternoon of building memories and developing friendships ...


The girls love to "spoil" Miles Landis by being at his beck and call! ;)

Great exercise either way ... for the girls! :)

Biking to Dover

There's a great bike path from Sandpoint to Dover (about 3 miles) that we took with the girls one afternoon. It's beautiful and we had a great time!

Had a fun biking with the girls; singing bible songs with Kimberly and Sound of Music songs with Yeo Won. :)

We rewarded ourselves with a hot cup of cocoa as it was a little chilly ... ! :)

Yeo's First Soccer Game of the Season!

Yeo Won, the Lean Machine: 8 years old Team: Meteors


Yeo on the sidelines with a teammate and her coach.


She's a fierce competitor!


Good start to the season, even if they didn't win this game.

Meteors: Loss Opponents: Win

Kimberly's First Soccer Game of the Season!

Kimberly: 5 years old Team: Fish Sticks


We were surprised at how quickly and ferociously she got right into things!


And then there were the down times ...


At this age, the kids are taught the basics of the game. One component is learning where and how to stand on the field ... and Kimberly got to boss around her teammates when they weren't following directions quickly enough ...


She's going to be a great player!

Fish Sticks: Win Opponents: Loss

First Day of School

Unfortunately I wasn't able to hang out as they wouldn't open the doors (even to the office for questions) so David had to get both girls to their respective places by himself. He did a great job but I'm bummed to have missed out. (I'm making it up by volunteering in the classrooms this year.) Regardless, the girls were very excited and really enjoy their classes.

Camping at Farragut

Every year we try to organize a reunion with our running team from college. Unfortunately, only one other family was able to make it this year. We got to meet their newest addition, Elijah William Edgerly. He was a cutie and SO GOOD! :)


This was taken after completing the 9-hole frisbee golf course.

David's Spokane to Sandpoint Race

In a nutshell, Spokane to Sandpoint is a 12-person 190-mile relay race that starts at the ski lodge atop Mt. Spokane Ski Resort and progresses through some of the best places to run in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho until finishing at Lakeview Park in Sandpoint, Idaho. Each runner will complete 3 legs varying in distances from 3-8 miles.

David's first leg was 3.7 miles, second leg was 2.5 miles, and his last leg was 7.1 miles. I can't remember what his times were (they were posted on FB), but he averaged about 7 minute miles.


David's hand off to a teammate in Riverside Park, Spokane, WA


Team crosses the finish line together at Lakeview Park, Sandpoint, ID


Team huddles together to give congrats and say goodbye at Lakeview Park, Sandpoint, ID