Sarah at Seaside, December 22, 2009

Sarah at her first band concert

Hangin' out at home

While up in Kingston visiting the Hoffers I tried to get some photos of just "hangin' out". Sarah likes to be around people and she loves their dog, Lucy, who is one of the dogs who survived Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Visit to Oregon

In the Corn Maze. It was Sarah who came back and led Patti and me out of the maze.

Wearing a stylish little green cropped sweater that Grandma made her for her 12th birthday.

First day of Public School

Sarah playing flute

Sarah with her flute

It is important to practice the flute in front of a mirror for proper posture and lip placement. Sarah has taken a couple lessons from a swim team peer who has played for 3 years. Kate has helped Sarah learn to make a sound and learn several notes. She is starting to read music (something she wouldn't do when I tried to teach her piano...she always played by ear).

Rented her flute from a Silverdale store. Some of each month's rental goes toward the eventual purchase of a flute (or other instrument) if she wants.

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Shoo Fly Pie Quilt

Sarah's second quilt, the first with triangles, and the first human size quilt! (The first quilt she made was for her doll and was in intense rich colors.) Here are some photos as it went together:

Rolling to remove excess threads:
Sarah had a couple of photos taken on her camera also and Bryce and Sarah checked to see if they came out okay!

AHHHH....the end of a successful project!!!

Sarah's quilt

After working on her quilt at Aunt Bev's a few weeks ago, the quilt made a trip to Heidi (the quilter). Soon Sarah and Heidi were emailing back and forth to each other. Here is a recent email:

From: Heidi
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:08:55 -0400
Subject: photos!
To: Sarah

Alright Sarah girl, here are the photos of your wonderful quilt. Yes, the thread is aqua although it's hard to tell in the picture. Hope you like how it turned out. I will get it to your aunt Bev soon and then you get to do the binding!

Hash Brown Casserole

Grandma gave Sarah a Teen cook book this past week and Sarah tried out one of the recipes at Aunt Bev's house---it was called Hash Brown Casserole.

We had it for breakfast and it was an acclaimed success! The Taste Testers only suggested minor adjustments. For example Bryce suggested adding some bacon and Uncle Don (who LOVES onions) suggested adding MORE onions.

We were able to save a small portion and took it over to Grandma for lunch and it reheated well!

At the Dallas Aquatic Center

Sarah gazing out to the pool. She and Bryce dove off the diving board, slid down the water slide, and played with innertubes. And Sarah would sometimes come and pose for a photo with me while I read at the side of the pool.

Point No Point

Sarah fly fishing

The Brady "Twims" and the Hoffer Girls

Petra was in Port Townsend for a fiddle camp. Her girls dropped by for a visit and here is the updated photo. My greatest joy was I could easily pick out Wren from Clio...no problem. I haven't seen them in 5 years? But, they have grown up more and more different. They were completely identical to me in China and pretty much when they were 5 years old. What a difference.

The Brady

Sarah and the horses at Civil War Re-enactment

No big surprise, Brent loved the guns and battle and Sarah loved meeting the horses and feeding them treats. Apparently, it's not as easy as it looks. She dropped the treat several times before she learned to sort of shove it up into the horse's mouth!

Relaxing at our team area

Kyle Fox talking with Sarah while Brent watches Colin play his D.S. For some reason, Bryce is plugging his ears in the background.

Sarah with Coach Ashley

Sarah checking in with her coach to find out how she did. What does she need to work on? What did she do well? P.S. notice the little tummy? She's gaining some weight....yeah!!!!

Sarah Hoffer, Alice Healy and Katherine Andersen. Three beautiful swimmers!

Sarah at Pendleton Swim Meet

Sarah on deck before her race. It was 90 degrees every day and the water park next door was a welcome relief on Saturday. Sarah was awesome in her races....she dropped lots of time off her events.

She was 12th in her 50 meter back...dropped 10 seconds (in a 50 is incredible!)

She was 17th in her 200 IM...dropped 16 seconds!

She was 33 in her 100 Free.

19th in her 50 Breast.

20th in her 50 Free (dropped 3 seconds!)

18th in her 50 Fly. (dropped .... drum roll... 14 seconds...in a 50!!!!!!!!)

14th in her 100 Back...dropped 8 seconds.

13th in her 200 Free ... established a time (never swam before)

Her coach said he was "shocked" at her 50 Fly and "surprised" that she won her heat in the 200 Free against a girl twice her size! She had an AWESOME meet!

Sarah's new fish

Sarah has a new fish. I think his (her?) name is Skipper? Or maybe it's Flipper? I'm not sure. Anyway, she wanted to borrow my camera to photograph him (her?). I thought the fish seemed a little hyper. Always doing speed racing in circles around the fish bowl. Or maybe he was seeing his (her?) reflection in the side of the fish bowl. Hmmm.....one of the puzzlements of life.

Sarah Knitting

Sarah over Memorial Day (on the Oregon coast)

Here are some photos of Sarah visiting Anna (Aunt Jan) recently. She's on Coxcomb Hill with Youngs Bay in the distance. She's knitting with her mother.

Little Boston Totem Pole

Alan and Sarah and I took a little detour over to Little Bostom and got out in the drizzly overcast day to photograph the totem pole there. And I was surprised to see a new one being carved.