This week I headed down to Tucson for my fathers memorial service. My father's home church, The Center for Spiritual Living put together an intimate service.

Tucson Center for Spiritual Living

I spent a day executing some provisions of the will. This included transferring title on Frank's car. Having the right paperwork and a DMV that knew what they were doing smoothed the transfer. As it turns out, I had to transfer it twice. Once into my name, and a second time to the new owner. I timed it, I owned dad's car for about two minutes. In that time I had no mechanicals and never had to add gas.

Grand Marquee that John Pletsch helped buy. Thank you John.

Before the service I took in a few sights. A year ago I visited dad and paid a visit to the Gabrielle Giffords memorial. This trip I spend time remembering that tragic event. I also cruised by my father's home.

Giffords Memorial and the home on Roger Road.

Thursday evening we met for the service. I brought a few pictures, flowers, and a small pot of dad's ashes. Reverend Donald Graves led a thoughtful service. I spent about a week preparing for this and wrote up a detailed eulogy. While we waited for the service to start, I enjoyed hearing all the great stories about Frank's time in Tucson and got more material from dad's friends in attendance. All together, I think I could have talked for half an hour. I took the advice of my minister and that of some expert books to narrow my talk to one theme. I had so much to share but needed to keep it focused.

My pictures, Our gathering, Rev Donald and Steve

On Friday I spent a reflective morning riding the streets of Tucson with fellow cyclist Sol Manion. Follow this link to see the Strava entry. Sol knew why I was in town and pulled out all the stops to make my ride extra special. I showed up with shoes, helmet, kit, and Garmin in hand. Sol had a great bike all outfitted and ready to ride. We made a quick seat height adjustment and hit the road. Sol set the bar pretty high, I hope to return the favor when a friend asks me to join them for a special ride.

Steve with the loaner bike from Sol, and also Sol, my personal guide

The kids have been asking for gingerbread houses again this year. I had forgotten how much work it is, but Carl was a big help this year. Steve made the dough Friday morning, and Friday night we rolled out, cut, and baked the components for seven gingerbread houses.

The next morning, Steve took Veronica & Étienne to the second Winter Grand Prix race. Étienne wasn't feeling well and DNF, but Roni had a good, though muddy, run.

When they got home, Steve & Carl assembled the houses.

Once all the friends arrived, it was a sugar-overload free-for-all!

The boys' general design aesthetic is to cram as much candy as possible onto the house. Veronica is a bit more nuanced.

There is a possum who has been lurking around under our front and back decks, and for the second time Sunday night he came up on the back deck, right up the the slider, and looked into the kitchen. We are never fast enough to get a photo of him at the door; here you can see him quickly exiting the backyard.

Merry Christmas to all, including marsupials!

New Balance and local shoe store Super Jock 'n Jill sponsor the Winter Grand Prix each year. Veronica is listed in last years results with a fourth place finish, missing the podium by one point! This year Étienne is joining her and will run in the 4th grade bracket.

Veronica and Emma before the race and the race start.

It is a mass start for two laps on a one mile course. Today was a road coarse and the next event will be a muddy cross country.

Here is Veronica feeling the two weeks off from running. Étienne is looking strong and finished with a time of 15:50. All are welcome to run an individulal day, or cheer on the runners. We are at Magnuson Park and the schedule is on the Club Northwest web page. Come join the fun!

Today was the Cascade Striders Cross Country meet at Wilburton Park, Bellevue. Every year, this seems to be the wettest race.

Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope.

Étienne enjoyed the weather. I worked hard to keep him out of the puddles/lakes. During the walk-through I spotted a few spots that needed a lifeguard! The kids love it though. One parent commented that their kid loves cross country because they get to have fun AND see nature.

Here is Étienne rounding the first corner, and again crossing the finish line. He finishes with a powerful kick. Anybody in front of him may get run over if they don't hold their line.

https://youtu.be/bA55JuReXng

Here he is with a strong kick mid-race. Wait for it...wait for it...OK zip forward to 1:42.
Étienne finished the 3,000 meters in 16:33. As a team, the Rain City Flyers took First Place for the Boys 9&10. Go Rain City!

After running we made a bee line to the Rondello Piano Fall Recital.

Étienne played Our Detective Agency, Star Traveler, and Storms on Saturn. This is his fourth recital. Today we even had a friend, Noah, join the studio.

We'll add more photos from the cruise soon, but fall activities are in full swing! This Saturday was Carl's first confirmation retreat, Étienne's first 3K cross-country race, and Veronica had another invitational cross-country race in Tacoma. Also, my Uncle Carroll and Aunt Carol-Ann held their annual cider press party.

Étienne is now in the 9-10 year old category, so he has to run a 3K race. He asked me to take a photo of the 8-and-under start, since he has friends there. The "rabbit" was wearing sandals, which I hear are the next big thing in running footwear!

Étienne at the start, passing on his first loop, and running strong on his second loop.

Veronica had a new PR at 19:31, and both the Ballard girls & boys took 1st place at the Curtis Invitational!

After the race, we went to my Uncle Carroll & Aunt Carol-Ann's house for their annual cider press. Here is Étienne pressing the cider while Carroll mans the apple chopper. Friends Gareth & Malcolm enjoy the trampoline.

Finally, today was the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi, so Ballard First Lutheran held their annual Blessing of the Animals. That dog on the left was a real troublemaker!

Note: click any pic for a larger picture.

Nancy joined us for a seven day Alaska cruise. A big thank you to Mrs. Phelps and Mr. Berryessa for driving us to the cruise terminal. We sailed out of Seattle on the Norwegian Jewel. Our first day at sea was a little rough but the kids did great.

We start the cruise off with the drink of the day! The sun is out, wind is light, and our views are spectacular.

The Crown Princess follows us out of Seattle. Along the way we see Shilshole Marina with Ballard in the background.

Our first night in the dinning room. The engines are directly below us but the noise is low. I notices they ate a light dinner and I took Carl for a little fresh air while the girls enjoyed dessert. Service was great and the menu was a bit longer than I expected.

New to us this cruise was a viewing gallery into the bridge. The ship showed off it's various welcoming plaques, christening champagne bottle, current engine/course/power display, and of course a view of the actual working bridge.

A typical breakfast for Étienne included two boxes of Fruit Loops with chocolate milk. Hay! he seemed happy all day. The second photo shows the slide that became so popular throughout the cruise. Étienne also loved all the towel art.

(Watch this post for updates, I have many many pictures to show off.)

On Aug 19, Nancy flew out for a visit/cruise. We started with the requesit tour of the Ballard Locks.

We saw the smaller lock in operation. The large salmon filled the fish ladder and we got a great view. Stay tuned for an update from our Alaska Cruise aboard the Norwegian Jewel.

If you have not been following the 1077 pictures on Smugmug, here are the boys.

Click each thumbnail for a larger picture.

This morning I dropped the boys off. They catch a luxury bus in Shoreline and get a ride to the ferry and Orcas Island.

This was the only smile. the rest of the time they barely acknowledged their surroundings. Watch Smugmug for photo updates!

Smugmug is live. Here are the boys in their camp groups. Étienne is in the front row far left in the Hoh Cabin photo, and Carlton is front row second from left in San Juan Cabin. We are tracking their shirts and watch everyday for new/clean shirts.

Veronica rehearsed the past two weeks for the roll of Sir John Falstaff in William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. This is her second class with the Taproot Theater. The staff specifically asked her to play Falstaff. Not her first choice, she jumped in with both feet and embraced the large greasy womanizer character. This production set the town of Windsor in Las Vegas...

On the warm stage, she complained of wearing the large heavy costume. My 14 year old daughter with five o'clock shadow proved quite the shock. She learned the lines early on and concentrated on the intonation and staging.

Be sure to ask Veronica about the adventures of hiding in a laundry basket! Great show Veronica, thank you.

Here is her opening scene: