13 June 2009 by ben.

Stuart MacDonald led Jazz Band 2 and Jazz Band 3 through their end-of-year concert last Thursday evening.  Both bands showed off their chops as they swung through a challenging pair of sets largely of compositions written by local area composers.

Jazz Band 2 entered the stage in surprise garb meant to reflect Stuart’s preference for wearing sweaters onstage.  Both band’s contributed towards a pair of stylish retro shoes for Stuart.

Stuart MacDonald and the Roosevelt High School Jazz Band II

Stuart MacDonald and the Roosevelt High School Jazz Band III 

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20 April 2009 by ben.

Kim’s grandmother, Ida “Nanna” Stabbe, turned 100 in May.  We visited a month before her actual birthday, during Sandy and Bonnie’s spring break, and enjoyed a nice visit with Nanna, Aunt Susie, Uncle Lyle and Aunt Phyllis, and many other relatives.  Here is Nanna before she cleaned our clocks at the family version of pinochle (”hunchnocle”):

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8 March 2009 by ben.

Yesterday, Bonnie competed in two music categories at the 2009 Solo and Ensemble Competition.  If a player is judged the category winner, then he or she or they win the right to compete at the statewide competition held in Ellensburg in April.

I didn’t take any photos during the performances, but I did take a few during setup.

Kevin and Bonnie warming up to play Blue Bells of Scotland

 From left, Dan, Bonnie, Tim, Jimmy, Zach, Ethan, Shandra preparing to play.

Bonnie finished tied for fourth place in the city.  Here is an excerpt from her Blue Bells of Scotland.

The ensemble won a trip to the State finals with this performance of Grand Valley Fanfare.  However, they will decline to compete at State because three members will be performing on that same day in the Reno Jazz Festival.

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2 February 2009 by ben.

Recently, my Aunt Susie sent me and Kim a newspaper clipping of a remarkable photo.  She, plus her mom (99 years old), her daughter, her grand-daughter, and her great-grand-son posed together at the wedding of grand-daughter Brandy.

Click the photo to see the newspaper clipping.

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23 January 2009 by ben.

Aunt Sallie

Last Sunday, Kim, Bonnie, Sandy and I drove to Eugene, Oregon, to help celebrate my aunt’s birthday.  Her children and grandchildren, esp. Georgi, Mike, and Margaret (and others I’m sure!) hosted a gathering of about 100 family and friends at a church meeting hall which was only a few blocks from their old family home on Park Avenue.  All seven of Aunt Sallie’s children attended, as did her two nieces and nephew of her brother George who passed away a few years ago.  I’d never met Uncle George’s children and I had not seen several of Aunt Sallie’s kids since 1971.  So in a way, this party also felt like a reunion.  Afterwards, many of us met in cousin Corey’s motel room for several more hours to get caught up on family and life in general. Read the rest of this entry »

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22 December 2008 by ben.

Snow continues.  Raffle gets a lift.  Everybody is happy!

The first day of winter brought the 2nd consecutive day of 6+ inches of snow falling in our neighborhood.  This is definitely the whitest week I’ve seen since I moved to Seattle in 1979.  Raffle (the Snow Queen) was born in northern Alberta in December, and so she only knew snow for the first five months of her life.  The snow in the backyard finally got too deep for her, so we cut channels so she wouldn’t vanish in a drift.

From left to right:  Pippin, Bonnie, Raffle, Sandy

Raffle enjoying her life as the Snow Queen, being waited on by Sandy

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21 December 2008 by ben.

Our snow and cold just won’t go away!  The low on Saturday morning was 14.9 degrees F (-9.5C), the coldest ever reported by my weather station, with the average for the past two days just 23 degrees F.  Saturday, another snow storm moved into the area, dropping 7″ (18 cm) of new snow.  My brother, Nathan, in Montesano near the Pacific Ocean, reported 14″ (35.5 cm) of snow by 10 pm last night as it was tapering off at his house.  Seattle was spared most of the high winds from this powerful storm, which generated gusts of 70 MPH in Enumclaw and 100 MPH in Cumberland.

Kim and I got back from the Christmas shopping shortly after the snow began to fall in earnest just after 3 pm, and so we were able to enjoy the rare spectacle of snow on a very cold day in Seattle.  I took these shots after 10 pm around our home.  In this first photo, our older corgi, Raffle, plays a bit in the snow.  She’s about 86 in ‘people years,’ but bursts with exuberance in the snow!

Raffle loving the snow

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18 December 2008 by ben.

Snow and cold have dominated the Seattle area weather for the past five days, with today’s snowfall the most fun.  28 degrees and light to moderate snow all day created excellent conditions for sledding on icy streets near Dahl Field.  With school canceled again, the girls and their good friends shared shrieks and smiles.

Anna (left) and Bonnie (right) trudge back up the hill

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28 November 2008 by ben.

Bonnie and Sandy both marched with the Roosevelt High School marching band this morning in Seattle’s annual Macy’s holiday parade.  Wednesday, Kim took them and their friends to the Display and Costume shop to choose decorations for their instruments including tinsel, bells, and red cardinals for the trombones.  At 6:30 this morning, they gathered at the high school to prepare for the parade.

Kim and I trekked to Seattle Center just after 8 AM and caught the old World’s Fair monorail to Westlake Center where we rode the escalators down and walked a few blocks south to a great vantage point for watching the parade pass by.   Although the skies rained on their parade, it was very light rain, and clowns and other parade people tossed candy our way to keep us warm.

Roosevelt High School marching band

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6 September 2008 by ben.

Thanks to the efforts of Kim and Bonnie, our backyard garden became a hummingbird cafe this year.  We had multiple sightings each day for several weeks, one time with three zipping around at the same time.  There were so many flowers from which to feed — gladiolas and tiger lilies and others — that one time a hummingbird zipped around, fed, and rested, and zipped around some more over a twenty minute period until it was too bored with our flowers and flew away.

Hummingbird enjoying an early evening snack

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