A week in Manson -- Hello Lake Chelan!

One of our favorite places in the world is Manson, WA. It's the place of many wonderful family memories for us. It's where my grandpa and grandma Keeney raised my mom, Aunt Tonn, Uncle Tom and Uncle Dave. It's where my mom and dad took us each summer to visit our grandparents. Memories of running through the apple orchards, climbing cherry trees, swimming in the lake, driving into "town" (Chelan) in grandpa's big green truck, root beer floats, and being with family. It's a cherished place for all of us Keeney's and a place that I want my husband and girls to know and love. Last summer all of the Keeney's spent a week together as we laid Aunt Tonn to rest -- a sad time for sure, but also gave us a renewed sense of the importance of all of us being in Manson together. So this year, we did it again! A whole week together! Uncle Tom, Uncle Dave, and Mom rented a house on Wapato Point - big enough for all of us kids and grandkids. Fun, Fun, Fun!

This is the house we rented -- it doesn't look too big from the outside, but it was enormous! The best part of the house was the deck overlooking Lake Chelan. All of us fit -- Uncle Dave and Aunt Kathleen, Shannon and Neil and Clara, Tim, Marc and Jenny and new baby Hannah, Uncle Tom and Aunt Bonnie, Mom and Jay, Kristi, Mike and the 4 of us!

Here is the view from the deck looking towards Wapato Beach.

Aunt Bonnie and Martin have such great smiles!

Cute cousins! Clara has really grown this past year -- she'll be 2 next week and is already talking like a 4 year old! She's so cute and so smart!

Sofia and Audriana could not wait to get into the icy cold water of Lake Chelan -- and I really mean cold! I couldn't even get my feet in!

We didn't have very good weather the first couple of days, and in fact, we had a day of rain, but luckily it cleared up enough so that we could enjoy some sun the last half of the week!

When the weather wasn't cooperating outside, we didn't care, because the girls loved the big indoor pool at Wapato Point. The water was a lot warmer than the lake, too!

We had many fun nights that began with a big dinner and ended with GAME NIGHT! Such fun. We played "Imagine If", which was just hysterical, and had all of us laughing the night away.

Neil's famous waffles for breakfast!

Peek a Boo, Clara!

The girls are wearing their new Manson Trojans t-shirts that Uncle T and Aunt B bought for the girls. I just love them and think they look so cute. Kinda cool that the girls have tshirts from the high school that their grandma graduated from. Go Trojans!

Jay was not able to be here with us the whole week, but did arrive on Thursday evening, just in time for dinner! Mom and Kristi made bbq pork chops, baked potatoes and sauteed mushrooms, asparagus, and zuchinni. The dinner was awesome and Mom sure was a lot happier once Jay got there. She missed him.

Geez....look at that view! There isn't anything like it!

Mom and Sofia playing around and having some silly time!

What an amzing couple.....inside and out. This is probably one of the best pictures I have ever seen of them -- although they don't ever take a bad picture! :-) Both of my uncles and their wives exemplify such great examples of marriage and friendship for all of us. We love you guys!Finally warm enough to hit the beach! The girls had a good time digging in the sand.Mike decided to bring his scuba gear and take a look beneath the lake -- it was fun for all of us to see him get "geared up" and dissapear beneath the water. Mom, Jay, Martin and the girls and I decided to go into Chelan in search of the Chelan museum. It was awsome! I want to go again when I can really spend some time looking and reading -- the girls always seem to get through museums much quicker than Martin and I! Sofia, of course, has no idea what this old record player is all about!

Here's baby Hannah! Marc and Jenny brought 8 week old Hannah out for a couple of days. She is so beautiful and of course, little Sofia was so excited to get to hole her.

One of the best memories for me (and I'm sure for Audriana, too) was watching Jay fish with Audriana. He had brought his gear so that he and Audriana could spend a little time fishing together. They were only at it for about 10 minutes, when they got a little tug on their line! Here's the fish that they pulled up! Pretty darn exciting!!!!

The house below is the house that the Keeney's lived in on Wapato Point (before it was a resort, of course!). The 4 Keeney kids had to walk straight up the hill all the way to school each day. It's also the house that my Mom and Dad had their wedding reception in the backyard in! After my mom got married and moved out, my grandparents sold this house and bought the one up on the hill in the midst of the apple orchards that I remember going to each summer to visit my grandparents. During this trip my mom was able to reminise about this house and pass on some great stories to all of us.

Aunt Kathleen created a very exciting rock experiment for the girls during the week. I knew something exciting was happening when rocks kept falling out of the freezer everytime someone opened it. Also, Sofia and Audriana would keep checking the freezer rocks, as well as putting more in! What was happening? Well, that was the question......did the rocks change when they were put in the freezer? If so, how? How about if water was added on the rocks? Did the color change? Oh my.....so many experiments. Uncle Dave even took pictures of the rock subjects! A few days after we got back home from Manson, the girls received a little box in the mail. They were so excited and opened it right away. In side was pictures of their experiments, as well as very official certificates of completion for both the girls. They also each got a very cool ball that changes color when you squeeze it (fitting, eh?), as well as Baskin Robins gift certificates! You would have thought that Christmas had come early! :-) My Aunt is the best! This simple experiment (and the excitemet that came with it!) kept them entertained and engaged with their natural curiosity about life-- both of them were so into it!

At Wapato Beach - Manson, WA

Our Lady of Fatima Church Picnic! So Fun!

Audriana won this race! It was the 50 yard dash!

Sofia had a really good time doing the bean bag toss!

They even got nice awards for their efforts! Plus a sucker!

Lots of people showed up....the weather was beautiful! We sat and visited with our Sunday School families -- Suzanne Bassett and her kids Matthew, Mark, Amy, and Sarah -- and Bill and Liz Chaves with their kids Erin, Derik and Kevin.

Audriana and Sofia are ready to do the 30 yard Hopping race- they were so patient while the little boy next to Audriana got a quick lesson. No surprise....Sofia won. She's a very fast hopper!

Both of the girls won big at the Cake Walk! Very exciting....very good!

Sofia's Pre-School Montessori Central program at Comstock Park

Ahhhh.....the end of the year school concert for Montessori Central -- we've been to many (Audriana had 4 of them, but this one was special. Special because this was Sofia's very first concert and she did not dissappoint us. She was in the back row, next to Addy, and the two of them really sang their hearts out. They sang about 6 songs and then Mrs. Pipella did the kindergarten graduation for Grace, Kate, Patrick, and Orion. Then it was time for the picnic! We brought chicken and watermelon. Aunt Kristi came, too. **

Mom did not make it because she found out from the doctor today that she had broken her hand (!) when she fell walking the loop at Jay's cabin last Friday! She had to get some things done tonight before she gets a cast on it tomorrow morning. Poor grandma! Martin didn't make it either because his flight from the Bay Area did not arrive until 9pm (after the concert). I videotaped the singing so both of them can see it at a later date. I was so proud of Sofia -- she really did an awesome job up there with all her classmates! :-)

Of course, she opted for a beautiful dress and matching flip-flops! She looked adorable.

We got to Comstock Park a little early so the girls could play on the playground -- Sofia had no problem climbing, sliding, and jumping in her dress and flip-flops. Very talented is she!

Here is Sofia and her best little friend, Addy. Of course Audriana had to get her mug into the shot!

Here is the whole Montessori Central group! Sofia is in the back -- very hard to see her because she was looking down at the second I took this picture...you can kind of see one of her legs, and her light blue dress....

Great job, Sofia! You are really growing up and we could not be more proud of you!

Memorial Day at the cabin 2010!

We love our annual trip up to the cabin for Memorial Day weekend! We all missed last year because Mom and Kristi were down in Arkansas for Lily's graduation -- so it felt good to be back for the long weekend here! Martin left Thursday night for his trip down to the Bay Area to visit Aura, Bri, Denise Elayne, Tita, Bayardo, Juan Carlos and Karlita, plus all his friends and extended family. He loves this time away -- we miss him! -- but it is so good for his soul to be back down there with his true lifelong friends and his Bay Area family. He misses them all so much. Anyway, I took Friday off and was able to take the girls to school. I went grocery shopping and got everything ready for the trip up to Pend O'Reille Lake. I got the girls to bed early (by 6:40 pm) and finished packing and organizing for our early morning drive up to the cabin. The girls were so excited and woke up at 5am. We all got ready and were out the door by 6:45 and met up with Aunt Kristi by 7am at Fred Meyer. We arrived at the cabin by 8:30am on Saturday morning! Here is what we saw as we drove the last few miles to the cabin -- it was such a beautiful sight I had to stop and take a picture of the cows!

It was a rainy and cold day, but I had brought the girls' bikes because they really love to ride around the yard -- and of course they love to ride "the loop". The rain didn't stop them at all from having fun -- it's a good thing that I brought their heavy coats and sweatshirts!
Lisa and the boys arrived a bit later and the kids were all so excited to be together again! They are such good playmates and friends!

Because it was basically raining all day long, we did spend much of our time in doors just chatting, eating, and playing games. Here is Grandma and Aunt Kristi playing Dominoes with Noah and Sofia.

Another reason that we love this weekend together with everyone, is that we get to celebrate sweet Noah's birthday! He turns 5 on Monday, May 31st, so Lisa brought all the supplies for an awesome Sponge Bob party! He's so adorable! Happy Birthday, Noah!

Here's a shot of Mike, Kristi, Mom and Jay just relaxing....

Here's LaNae and Rusty -- the kids love Aunt LaNae and they really love playing with Rusty, too!

More rain forced the kids to come in for frequent breaks -- we all had a good time playing Sofia's favorite game of DVD Bingo!

I love this picture -- it's on the long stretch of "the loop" riding their bikes. It's so funny to think that Sofia began riding the loop with her trike, then her bike with training wheels, and now her bike with no training wheels!

Mikah and Sofia found these little white eggs in the grass....they came running in to get me and told me to bring my camera for a picture! :-)

The cousins

The cousins -- again!

Audriana 7 1/2, Ryan 9 1/2

Noah 5, Sofia 4 1/2

Mikah....2....and so cute!

Mike and Jackie left Saturday afternoon after lunch, but it was fun to see them for those few hours! The rest of us all stayed the night and woke up to more rain, although, we did have a few more breaks in the rain so we were able to get out and walk a little bit on the loop. LaNae left to Priest Lake mid morning, and then Kristi had to leave arount noon because she was going to see Carrie Underwood that night. My camera battery died that afternoon and I didn't get any pictures of the kids down at the water throwing rocks into lake. We took advantage of the break in the rain and drove down so they could play. It was great. It was sad when Lisa and the boys had to leave after lunch, but I know they had such a fun time -- and it is always fun for us adults to watch them create these memories that will last a lifetime. We all rested after they left -- it was pouring outside -- and Sofia slept for over 2 hours. They were tuckered out! The girls and I were the only ones left and had a good time with Mom and Jay for one more night. Monday we woke up to more rain -- and it didn't stop! We had breakfast, then decided to get packed up and got on the road just after lunch. It was a special weekend for all of us -- but we missed Martin a lot!

Denise Elayna ~ 5 years old

Martin's grandaughter, Denise Elayna Chenier, is so beautiful and so sweet! Martin's favorite moments when in the Bay Area are getting to see her and spend time with her. She is Aura's daughter and is 5 years old. She is also Audriana and Sofia's Niece! Isn't that funny?! She was born in December of 2004 and Sofia was born in October of 2005 -- so Sofia was born being an Aunt! :-) We really wished we lived closer so they could grow up together......but we love the pictures and fun stories that Aura and Bri have about her!

Sweet Karlita Pena ~ 4 years old

Isn't she adorable?! She is Tita and Bayardo's daughter and was born on November 1, 2005, just one day after our Sofia. So, these cousins are only 1 day apart! We talk about her all the time, but what makes this picture so special is that it is our very first picture of her! Martin is down in SF right now, so I told him that he must send me a phone picture of Karlita -- he did a great job! We wished we lived closer to them......Antioch, CA seems so far away.