January woes- I need some sunshine!

It was a fairly uneventful week. We had Monday off for MLK day, a two hour delay on Wednesday due to ice, and Friday off as a record keeping day.

We are currently keying up for Pinewood Derby on Tuesday- Josh's first one. Steve and Josh spent Saturday at school using the shop to cut out and fix his car. The pictures are attached as proof that Josh did most of the work. I don't know how many cub scouts actually do their own cars; I think it is a dad's excuse to make a car. ???? Oh well. Josh had a great time.

Matt spent Friday morning at school in a full run through of his play Annie. For those of you that are interested, his play is on Thursday, March 5th in the evening. It should be a fun show. He also spent Saturday morning at a merit badge clinic doing his citizen merit badge. He should be promoted any day to the second class rank. Pretty cool!

High school starts new semester classes tomorrow with new students. Shawna is excited to attend Science and History this semester- her favorite subjects. I start two 9th grade English classes and my ASB group- mostly with new students. My officers stay the same, but the rest are new.

Alli stays after school at least three nights a week to study for her Science Olympiad event coming up in March. This year she is doing a building event- Bridge building. She loves every minute of it!

We are all looking forward to a little needed sunshine. I'm tired of the cold, and I am very much looking forward to Hawaii over spring break! Miss you much. Try to stay warm. :) Deb

Winter Mayhem

MLHS ASB board 2008-2009.

It went from really cold with mountains of snow in our yard, to puddles of muck in a day. I know western Washington got it worse than we did, but it did make quite a mess.

Matt got to have a bit more winter fun when his Boy Scout troup went up to Winter Camp north of Wenatchee. He passed off a few things and then spent the rest of the day sledding. He had a great time. His Scoutmaster reported that Matthew was a diehard. Everyone else got cold and headed to the lodge, but Matt kept going and going and going. I don't have pictures yet; hopefully I'll have them soon.

Steve and I went out on Friday night and played pool at a friend's birthday party. Though I haven't played in about 20 years (wow- how is that even possible?) we had a great time and even won a few games. Saturday night, I went out "with the girls" in our ward for a group visiting teaching event and watched "Bride Wars." It was cute, but very chick flicky, so I'm glad to have friends to share with.

I'm posting some pictures from my ASB Christmas party that I haven't posted yet. I am blessed with a great group of officers, and we have lots of fun working together.

Miss you all! Deb

Snow Day!

We awoke suddenly on Monday morning with a phone call that informed us that school was cancelled for the day because of snow. Woohoo! So we loaded up the family in the suburban and headed off to the snow covered sand dunes for some major sledding. We took the four wheeler and covered even more ground. We had a great time together on our bonus Christmas vacation day. :)

The rest of the week was back to business as usual with scouts, young women's activities and school. I spent the week grading papers and getting ready for the end of the semester (only 8 more school days).

We are off to another crazy week upcoming. Miss you and love you all. Banda family

Happy New Year!

Katie loved her new High School Musical shirt.

Shawna helped Katie finish her Brown Bear puzzle.

A puzzle work in progress.

Katie loved her new shirt from Aunt Debbie.

Cocoa rested on Shawna's lap during the trip.

Shawna and Allison all dressed up for New Year's Eve.

Katie loved to hear Matt read to her.

Alli played with both Cocoa and Jem.

It has been quite a week around the Banda house. We have basically spent the week in denial avoiding the topic of school starting again tomorrow. (Boo!) We spent the weekend in Wenatchee at Greg and Michelle's house playing cards and avoiding the world. We had a great time! Greg cooked a turkey, so we had a Thanksgiving Two and exchanged a few presents. Cocoa got to meet their new dog Jem. They had a great time chasing each other over the yard.

For New Year's Eve, the girls attended a dance at the church. They had a great time hanging out with friends and dancing. The boys and I hung out at the house and watched the ball drop.

School starts tomorrow. It is hard to believe that the semester is almost over. Wish us all luck. It is currently snowing, and we are all hoping for a two hour delay. Much love to all, Deb