Camp Invention Summer 2008

So Forrest attended Camp Invention this past summer. He was so excited as he loves to build, learn and create. He also got a chance to escape the Tacoma house...After camp our home and its contents became fair game for his "science" experiments. One of the most memorable was his Game Boy that didn't require batteries. He took two electrical leads (from a science kit) and attached them to the Game Boy. He was so proud when he showed me. I admit, it did look impressive. The goal was to get it to run without batteries or an electrical source. The result: he fried the Game Boy. Oops...the sacrifices we make in the name of science.

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Traditional Irish Blessing - dedicated to Lucas who graduates this year! We love you!

Masterworks 2008-2009 Season

Masterworks kicked off its 2008-2009 season with Celtic Celebrations. It was an energizing concert. We were lucky to have Fiddlehead perform with us and Commerford School of Irish Dance. As usual, Gary (our director) arranged some amazing music. My favorites were from several tunes from Riverdance, Celtic Gloria and Autumn Reel. While researching music for this concert I came across a video of Irish Blessing. See above.

Suzuki Book 1 Graduation!

Worth noting... at the end of summer Forrest completed Book 1 of violin school and is now well into Book 2! This is the result of 3 years of a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Forrest loves his violin now and is very proud of his hardwork and progress. An 8 year old playing J.S. Bach, Handel, and C.M. v. Weber. How cool is that?

Tacoma Youth Symphony & Pumpkin Carving Contest

Where can you attend a concert in costume, watch musicians perform bare-foot and also in costume, and see Darth Vader conduct an orchestra with a light saber? The Tacoma Youth Symphony! We all enjoyed the music. Favorites were: theme to Indiana Jones, Stars War Melody, and Lion King.

Later that same day we attended Westminster's pumpkin carving contest. Seth (Forrest's friend) took 1st place in most Creative in the youth division. Only 1 award, but they figured out how to share it!

Forrest: Cub Scout, Pumpkin Carver, Flag Carrier

Boys in his den.

Korbin, Deaven & Forrest

Forrest & Deaven opening pack meeting with flag ceremony.

Forrest receiving Bobcat badge.

One day after his 8th birthday, Forrest (and his friend, Deaven) joined Cub Scouts. On October 30th, he and other members of his den earned and received their Bobcat badge. He also received a music loop for his belt. The best part of the evening? Forrest and Deaven opened the evening with the flag ceremony and performed it perfectly. Well done boys!

The Dudley's Emerge from the Fog

Yikes! It's been since April that I posted anything...

Life is a swirling mass of hot air. Sometimes it sweeps you up and hangs onto you for quite sometime. In May, our Snohomish condominium sold after being on the market for 6 months. Yes, we got caught in this slow buyer's market. The good news: we were able to turn around and purchase in this crazy time. So, for the last few months of spring, we were consumed the with sale, rental search and purchase of property. After a long and futile search in Olympia, with the clock ticking on our 1031 Exchange, we settled on a 104 year old house in Tacoma. It is 4 blocks away from the University of Puget Sound and in the bustling and hip 6th Avenue District. A great area.

Forrest and I spent the summer painting, scraping, laying tile, painting, scraping, doing yard work, painting, and scraping. It wasn't until the second week of September until I came up for air. I've never seen a kid so happy to return to school. During the first week of school, Forrest was assigned a summer memory book. Guess what made it in there? If I remember correctly, I think his drawing was of a house and a skull and cross bones. Who says summer is all about fun?

Within 2 weeks of closing, we found a renter. Even though we were NOT going to rent to an undergraduate, guess what the Dudley's did? You got it. Meet Garrett, 24 years old, single, honors student and all around nice guy. That was until he let a nice and cozy gathering of his frat friends explode into a out-of-control party. Yup, the Dudley's hit the jackpot!

In June, Grammie, 87 years old (Lit's mom) broke her hip. She was found 6 hours after falling in her upstairs hallway. It broke our hearts. Reluctantly she succumbed to surgery and emerged healthy but very frail. She recovered just fine but did not make progress in physical therapy. Right now she is in a convalescent home, thankfully in her own private room. Anne (Lit's sister) had a decorator come in and bring some special items from her house to make it feel homey. She will not be returning to her beloved home of 20+ years. Needless to say, this is a difficult time for the Virginia, Colorado and Washington Dudley's. We have felt blessed that Lit was able to coordinate some business trips on the East Coast so that he has visited her 3+ times since her accident and will leave again mid-November and December.

So, you might see why we sequestered ourselves. To end on a high note, Forrest started his 3rd year at Faith Lutheran School. He is in the 2nd grade. His teacher is Mrs. Klumb, a loving teacher of 25+ years of teaching experience. He is thriving academically, socially and spiritually. We are thankful that we found a small family-oriented and faith-based school for him.

Things we are thankful for between April - September:

*Grammie coming through surgery healthy*Anne Wescott-Dudley being there for Grammie*Lit's multiple trips to Virginia*Forrest getting 100% on all his spelling tests (minus 1)in 1st grade*Forrest passing all his geography Passport tests*Forrest getting an Attendance Award*a healthy family*Mom's work at FLS and MCE*Lit surviving his biggest emergency management exercise in July*completing Suzuki book 1 and discovering enjoyment in playing the violin*nightly family dinners*Westminster Presbyterian Church*great marriage*singing*Forrest reading 6 books this summer*surviving the Tacoma house*