The Guddat Gang

This is what happens when I'm in charge...

2012-02-16T22:30:00.000-08:00

This is Jon. I'm on vacation this week. It's been great to give Brittany some much deserved down time and be able to hang out with the girls. Some might question my parenting, but one person who won't is my four year old, as Adelyn constructed a pile of pillows and blankets (she called it her "jump pile")to soften the blow of diving off chairs and the couch. Every jump includes the word geronimo, which she pronounces, "GERBONIBO!!!!!!" Very cute and fun. She's a little bit crazy. She also just fell off the bed while sleeping (at 10:30 this evening) and within 10 seconds was back in bed snoozing again. The pictures of GERBONIBO below speak for themselves...

Outdoors with my girls...

2012-02-06T22:53:00.000-08:00

This is Jon. As the weather turned cold (and stays that way) my three girls have wanted to venture outside more. It's been really fun to see the girls bundle up and explore or at least get out and have fun. The pics below are from the last couple of months.

Me and the girls on our Christmas Eve hike around the Yakima River and Umtanum creek.

It was cold enough that the ice over the creek was pretty solid. Of course we didn't know that until the girls had decided to get a little adventerous.

The girls in Seattle. Visiting Grandpa Jeff around the Downtown Seattle area.

Exploring the Yakima River around E-burg.

Getting crazy on the sleds on top of Craig's Hill in E-burg.

I was on the business end of a horrific crash on a pretty aggressive sledding run. There was a jump on the end of it that I was planning on hitting a lot better than I did. Luckily the left side of my face broke my fall.

The Ellensburg Rodeo arena from the top of Craig's Hill.

My girls and their friend in the backyard. I looked this morning and the only thing left is the scarf with the hat sitting on top.

Kind of random here, but east of Ellensburg is a wind farm. Whether you like the idea of wind farms is one thing, but they do look pretty spooky at dusk. Picture doesn't do it justice, even when it's blown up, but kind of cool to look at.

You can't really tell, but in the below photos, Delaney and Brittany are checking out the deer and elk feeding along the Whiskey Dick Ridge, east of E-burg. I would guess we saw a total of 50 of them over a five mile stretch, so that makes me wonder how many we didn't see.

The significance of this photo? We were in Vantage along the Columbia River and I saw a bunch of geese in the grassy area in the photo. Upon closer examination, I also noticed two guys in camoflauge above the hill. I put two and two together and came up with the idea that I could have been caught in the crossfire. We can laugh about it now.

Very cold, so we were literally chillin' on the Columbia River in Vantage.

A little bit of Christmas

2012-02-06T22:24:00.000-08:00

This is Jon. As you can see, I've jumping around the seasons with the blog. I've finally uploaded a few of Delaney's school Christmas pictures and a video.

Delaney's Cheerleading Video!

2012-02-06T22:04:00.000-08:00

Catching up with y'all again...

2012-02-06T21:38:00.000-08:00

This is Jon. It seems as though the free time to blog is non-existent. Here's a quick update of the last month or so.

Grandma Debbie made the girls jewelery and they wear it non-stop. The girls were striking so many poses that it was difficult to get them to stand still and look at the camera. I think it's better this way anyway.

Delaney was a junior Kittitas cheerleader as a kindergartner last year and jumped at the chance of doing it again this year.

Adelyn was super proud of her sister.

My three cheerleaders...

Catching up with y'all

2011-11-06T21:49:00.000-08:00

This is Jon.Long story short, I dropped the computer on the kitchen floor. One repair and a new hard drive later, I've got it back.Here is a brief and convoluted run down of the last month or so.................

New dress for Delaney for her 7th birthday.

Whoa, we're jumping around here. We just got a new ATM at the ol' Wells Fargo and I took some pictures of the instalation process. Pretty cool, but very loud during business hours.

I'm pretty happy about it as you can see.

Adelyn has to bring a snack to class every so often. Her most recent day was on Halloween. She chose rice crispy treats and Brittany added orange food coloring for the seasonality of it all.

Even though Adelyn is frowning and even though it looks like I'm wearing lipstick, I still think it's a cute photo.

Back to Halloween things, Delaney dressed up as Fiona from Shrek.

Fred Flintstone and Fiona.

Delaney went as Fiona, Adelyn dressed up as the donkey from Shrek.

The girls, with neighbor friend Olivia, played games downtown...and yes, the brooms are backwards.

Pumpkin carving with the gals!

Picture speaks for itself.

Morning of Halloween, heading off to school.

Me and my girls at the pumpkin patch.

The girls and me with Grandpa Jeff.

Takin' the girls to the river and lake

2011-09-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. We had a little bit of cabin fever on Sunday morning. Since CWU lost, UW lost, Wazzu lost and the Seahawks were losing, I decided to take a break from football for fear that I was going to go crazy. The girls and I decided to explore. We headed to Lake Cle Elum northwest of the metropolis of Ronald (seriously, about 10 people live there). First we went on a hike along the Cle Elum River to see salmon spawning. Unbelievable. If you consider the work a salmon has to put forth to extend their habitat, it's mind boggling. The girls didn't really understand that aspect, but were able to see quite a few salmon (some where pretty big) struggling against the current.At the start of the hike. Obviously the girls were excited with my education-based guided tour.
My fellow tour guide.
The girls were coming up along the river. At this point you could make out the salmon under the water and could definitely see and hear the splashing against the water. Again, just amazing to watch.
Along parts of the path were signs describing the points of the trail. Years ago before the Cle Elum dam was built, what is now a trail and lush habitat used to be part of the Cle Elum River. Now it is a forested river bed.
At first glance, Brittany is doing her very best Sacajewea with Lewis and Clark pose. I'm not sure why I've come up with that. Seriously, as we watched the river, salmon were all over the place. We tried to stay relatively still and quiet as we could tell the salmon could hear and feel the slightest movement.
One of the countless spawning salmon we discovered.
Daddy, Delaney and my faceless Adelyn. Once again, posing for five seconds is torture for my sweet four year old.
Dynamic duo!
After our hike, we ventured to Lake Cle Elum. Depending on the part of the season, the lake could be right at the edge of the boat launch OR as it was yesterday, about 400 feet from the boat launch. When it's down that low, you can drive on the beach and set up shop there. This lake is pretty amazing. We were the only ones out there and as you can see, the terrain is cut in the mountains. The place is seriously magical, although I could be talking about the people in this photo.
Love these kids!

Addy's first day of preschool!

2011-09-13T21:58:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. As if we needed another example my two princesses continue to grow up too quickly, Adelyn's first day of preschool was Monday (and Delaney's first day as a first grader last week, see below post). Adelyn was hot and cold on the whole thing in the days leading up to the big day. We adjusted our enthusiasm accordingly, sometimes talking about it, sometimes getting excited about it and other times not discussing it at all...which obviously screwed everything up.

This is the best photo we could get of Adelyn in the front yard before school. She's not much for standing still for photos and definitely had some anxiety about her first day of school. But she looks so cute here.

I wish I could say she was so excited to get to school that she ran to the car jumping in and was rip roaring to go. Nope. She basically locked herself in the car to take refuge from her parents and the reality of going to school.

In classic Adelyn form, if we do get her to sit still for a picture, her face is not just a normal smile.

See?

We brought her backpack with us because she loves wearing it when we take Delaney to school. Today, not so much.

The first 45 minutes or so Adelyn was not having it. Didn't want to sit down with the rest of the class (10 other kids, ranging from 3 to 6). Didn't want us to leave. Didn't want to participate. I was pretty sure the preschool would kick us out and report us to CPS for being bad parents or something. You can see that she was curious here, but again, it took a little time (and luckily we weren't the only parents that stayed behind). After the first hour, she was fine. By the end of the two-hour day, she didn't want to leave. Today at school, she barely said goodbye as Brittany dropped her off, so I guess that means she has friends at school!

Best friends and painting buddies...

Puyallup Rodeo

2011-09-10T09:35:00.001-07:00

This is Jon. I decided that a week's worth of rodeo entertainment in Ellensburg wasn't enough so I headed to Puyallup for a big rodeo there. Throughout the year within the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, there is a ProRodeo Tour which designates certain rodeos as "tour" rodeos (Ellensburg is the final tour rodeo of the year) where the money earned on the tour qualifies you for a tour playoff (top 24 in the tour standings) and tour championship (top 12 in the tour standings). The playoff is this weekend in Puyallup. The tour championship is in two weeks in Omaha (I'll probably not make that one).
I'll save you from all the nitty-gritty details, but basically, there is a ton of money to be won in Puyallup this weekend. Guys have turned around their seasons with a win at Puyallup. In 2009, defending world champion calf roper Stran Smith needed a big payday to keep his season going. I called him two days prior and asked him if he felt like his back was against the wall. He told me "Big players make big plays on big days." That's actually one of my favorite quotes. How can you not like a guy like that? He won the rodeo and made $17,000.

This is Jason Havens. He's a bareback rider out of Prineville, Ore. He and his travel partners are some of my favorites: Great personalities, always have time for me and my reporter things and they have an on-going video blog of some of their antics on and off the road. Anyway, Havens had a tough go of his first horse on Friday afternoon, so much so that he was offered a re-ride, since the horse didn't buck as well as he should have and thus cost Havens some points, which ultimately means costing him some money. You take re-rides. I've never seen a guy not take a re-ride.

This is Havens later in the afternoon as he's nodding his head to get the chute gate open. Like pretty much everyone, Havens is a pretty cool guy, but he's very intense the seconds before the chute opens.

This is his re-ride. It's a Calgary Stampede horse named Hurricane Terry. Ironically, Havens drew Hurricane Terry last Sunday in Ellensburg, scoring him for an 80-point ride (Havens would later win Ellensburg that Monday). He scored 85 to lead the first round in Puyallup on Friday. Great horse. Calgary Stampede has some of the best.

The start of steer wrestling, or as it's commonly called bulldoggin'. I wasn't trying for this photo, but it shows the rope around the steer's neck breaking (which also pulls the rope in front of the horse to pull away) instantly before the steer wrestler crosses that plane. It allows for the steer to get an adequate head start. If a cowboy breaks the barrier, it adds 10 seconds to your time, which means no money.

Ellensburg's Riley Minor (in red with the rope) in team roping with older brother Brady Minor (not in the picture). Like steer wrestling immediately above, the steer in team roping gets the head start as well. This is right before the steer breaks free. Unfortunately for Riley, he broke the barrier and ended up missing his steer anyway for the no-time. Tough luck. He's not riding his horse, Dollar. His main horse is at a vet in Snohomish with some gland problems in his neck which makes it difficult for the horse to breathe, which obviously means you don't ride him. These guys take better care of their horses than they do themselves.

Ellensburg calf roper Jake Pratt seconds before he nodded his head to start his run. Pratt is definitely up and coming, as one of the better rookies in 2010. Now, Pratt is trying in vain to get to the National Finals Rodeo. He made two solid, clean runs to position himself in second place going into today's rounds. If he stays among the best, he'll make between $5-$15 depending on how well he does overall. If he is on the heavier end of that scale, I'm thinking he'll need to plan to go to the NFR in Vegas. With the Minor brothers (and some cousins as well) and Pratt, Ellensburg has some great ropers and the Kittitas Valley is known as more of a roping town (although bull rider Allen Helmuth is having a great year). It seems like many successful saddle bronc riders come out of South Dakota. Every calf roping world champion since 1995 has called Texas home. It's interesting how there are distinctive regional areas for certain events. Alright, it's interesting to me at least.

14-time world champion Trevor Brazile. He's won eight all-around titles (meaning he won the most money out of everyone combining multiple events), three steer roping titles, two calf roping titles and one team roping title (with Patrick Smith). He's won the most money of all time ($4 million +) and is just 3 months older than I am, so like Dad and Bruce Willis/Kurt Russell, we have a lot in common. Days like Friday, though, prove that everyone is human. Brazile didn't have a world championship type of day and will leave Puyallup without a check. This guy is a perfectionist, without being a jerk, but of course, if you don't win, you don't make money and that can weigh on a guy. Just a few minutes after this photo was taken, he was hanging out behind the chutes with his wife and two young kids laughing and playing. That's another reason why I like rodeo, it's so family oriented.

Tyson Durfey, however should leave Puyallup with a big check. The Colbert (near Spokane) calf roper is leading the two-head average (ahead of Ellensburg's Pratt) going into today. You'll notice Durfey is wearing a pink shirt. Breast cancer awareness is a big deal to him and he donates a lot of time and money to the cause. He again gives me whatever time I need, but yesterday I wasn't there as a reporter, I was there just to hang out with a bunch of ropers and riders behind the chutes.

Lee Ann Rust. She's a rookie barrel racer this year...........and she's 53-years old. A couple of years ago (after some life lessons, I'm trying to put together a story on her because she's a kick) she decided to hit the road full time. She's doing very well. She hasn't sealed up her bid to the NFR, but she's very close. She did alright in Puyallup but probably won't make very much, if anything. Here she's rounding the second barrel.

You see a bull with no rider here.........oh there he is, seemingly flying in the air. That first bump was a bad one.

Seriously?

We'll end with something tastier. A Sales Family Super Burger with extra grilled onions. It tasted dang good..............and I'm still feeling it 18 hours later.

First day of school for our 1st grader, Delaney!

2011-09-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. Today was Delaney's first day of 1st grade. I can't believe how time flies! Yesterday was the open house where she was able to see her room and check out her desk (although Mrs. K and her classroom were right across the hall from her kindergarten class).

Open house the afternoon before school. Delaney was thrilled to check things out. Her desk is right in the front of the classroom.

Good friend Ruby with Delaney. Ruby and her baby sister Lyla are hanging out with us this fall quarter as her mom finishes up her student teaching. I've learned that like my own kids a few years ago babies don't like me.

Delaney's desk, decorated for the first day of school.

Not sure why this is blurry, but it's a great photo of Delaney at breakfast.

Sisters and best friends forever!

Daddy, DRae and Addy!

The ladies getting ready to walk to school...

Excited Delaney right outside of her classroom.I should've taken a picture of Brittany outside of the school at the Parent Group table. Anyone who has been following this blog will remember that Brittany was voted in as President of the club, so she's a pretty big deal.

More pictures of the rodeo

2011-09-07T12:42:00.001-07:00

This is Jon. Another Ellensburg Rodeo is in the books (for the 89th time) and like every year there was plenty of action and not much proof (by photos at least) we were there. It's always a favorite and very busy time for both of us. Got to hang out with a lot of friends and favorites over Labor Day. Below are a few pics from the weekend.

This was taken Saturday Night at the Xtreme Bulls Championship. This is always a guaranteed sellout (roughly 10,000 people) at the arena. Lots of fire, fireworks, explosions and some crazy bull riding. Fans may notice my new Cinch shirt. I fill it out well, I'm not gonna lie.

As you can tell, where Brittany and I set up shop are right next to the roughstock chutes. We get very close to the action. It's a good thing when I say I had a mixture of dirt, manure and drool on me from the action. You can't put a price on that.

My favorite statistician, who just finished her 12th Ellensburg Rodeo with me.Here's a link of some of the articles that were published.http://www.dailyrecordnews.com/rodeo/ Here's another link of a picture on ProRodeo that caught me on the very right bottom side of the photo............lookin' good. http://www.prorodeo.com/Story.aspx?xu=3318

Delaney and Adelyn take their parents to the fair!

2011-09-02T00:24:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. Today the Guddats made the annual trip to the Kittitas County Fair and we had to be carried out of the place. This year we decided to splurge and buy all day ride wristbands for the girls. We got our money's worth within the first 30 minutes, easy. We ate well, saw so many friends and enjoyed the animals. I of course, went straight to the 4H and FFA barns to compare their produce to mine, more specifically my tomatoes. I think I would have given them a run for their money. I wasn't confident in my tomatoes, so I didn't enter. Rookie mistake.

Adelyn drivin' Delaney around in a jalopy. Brittany said this looks like Drivin' Miss Daisy.

So for some reason, it took the girls a little bit to get up the courage to go on the rides. We finally got them on the jalopy ride and then Adelyn decided that she was done with it all.

She obviously got over her pouting pretty quickly.

Delaney was an animal with the slides and rides. Adelyn was, too.

Apparently, Delaney loves snakes. She's not scared of them at all. Seriously.

Adelyn? Not so much. Not really into them.

I'm thinking she's going to want a snake for a pet.

Omak Stampede!

2011-08-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. The day after Adelyn's birthday celebration we headed to Omak to take in the world famous Omak Stampede and Suicide Race. Omak has been on my bucket list of rodeos to see and I can check it off, although I'm pretty sure it won't be a "one-and-done" trip. Very fun.

Me and my girls...

A few years ago the rodeo underwent some major capital improvements to increase the fan-friendliness of the rodeo. The old stands were torn out and a new covered arena on both sides that wraps around the arena floor were put in. Great views, intimate setting. Yeah, I said it. Rodeo coverage is what I do and I said intimate.

It was about 145 degrees outside. I really liked it, but of course I was wearing my hat and sunglasses with SPF 500 on my skin. The girls thought differently and chilled out in the shade for a bit.

Delaney loves to wear my hat. I love to see her in my hat.

Don't worry about Adelyn's tounge. She had just finished her grape snow cone.

Ellensburg native Kass Kayser. He caught and flanked his calf well, but the tie came loose for a no-time which means he went home empty handed. Makes for a long trip home.

Jacob O'Mara scored 83 points on Big Bend Rodeo's McNasty. The win earned him $3,734 for his effort.

Most rodeos have a unique quality, some are unique on multiple levels. Perhaps the most unique part of Omak is the Suicide Race. As you can tell from the photo, horses are ridden bareback by their Indian riders, come down a very, very steep hill into the Okanogan River and finish the race in the arena. It's a PETA nightmare and a fan favorite.

On the way home, we went through the Coulee Corridor, which is where the Columbia River used to flow before an ice dam broke and diverted the Columbia River to its present course. This is coming down the hill from Dry Falls into the Sun Lakes area. Picture doesn't do it justice.

Trying to keep up with Derrick Begay. Begay, along with team roping partner Cesar de la Cruz, won the team roping in Omak, pocketing $3,710 in the process for winning the first go and the two-head average. Any way, we left the arena at the same time and drove tandem together until we parted ways about 90 minutes later in Soap Lake. I don't know if it was due to the adrenaline of a big win, the fact that he needed to be in Caldwell, Idaho, quickly (about 10 hours from Omak) or the fact that he had a radar detector (hopefully) that tracked police, but we were driving "quickly" shall we say. Made it for a fun drive.

More pics of Addy's birthday party with friends...

2011-08-21T10:46:00.001-07:00

This is Jon. More pics from Addy's birthday. We didn't take many photos as we were trying to corral kids, feed 'em and keep 'em from getting too crazy. The nice thing about Adelyn's birthday is August in KTown is always so nice, so much of the day was spent outside.

Adelyn wanted a pinata. Here the kids were getting ready for what turned out to be a little bit of violence! Kayla, Delaney, Kenzie, Baneley, Al and Adelyn. The kids all live within a few houses of each other. Makes it easy for them to travel around the block without having to go far.

Brittany got into the mix. The pictures are a bit out of order, because she didn't go first, I promise.

Adelyn had some good form here.

The girlfriends. Al didn't make this photo. He felt a little out of place only because he was the lone representative from the male gender. We hung out a bit, representing well.

Adelyn Blair turns 4!

2011-08-21T10:36:00.001-07:00

This is Jon. We celebrated Adelyn's 4th birthday party over the course of a few days. Parents party, grandparents party and kids party. She was very spoiled. Can't believe this girl is four!

Addy Bear with her new Barbie Bike.

Two lovely ladies...

Getting ready to dig in...

She looks like she's ready to hit the town in her new outfit.

A big boost in her piggy bank!

My two girls lookin' cute.

I think she looks adorable in these two pics!

Ocean Shores, year 3...

2011-07-04T10:29:00.001-07:00

This is Jon. This has been the third year we as a family have visited Ocean Shores during the Sand and Sawdust Festival last week of June.

We took advantage of a decent breeze on a picture perfect day, flying kites given to us by Grandma Debbie. The girls had a great time with them. We kept them up by anchoring them in the sand under some driftwood. The only problem? Adelyn kicked both kites free twice. After running in the sand frantically trying to catch them (I felt like Rocky Balboa in Rocky III, when he was racing on the beach with Apolo Creed, does anyone know what I'm talking about?...Anyone?). After the second time, we decided to wrap up the kite-flying portion of our schedule.

Just chillin' in the sand on a great day. Soaking up some rays, taking in the sites of world-class sand castles, watching the waves on the beach. Good times.

She looks so cute here.

Not sure what was going on here, but it is funny.

So, you'll notice that there are no pictures of: 1., sand castles, 2. wood carvings, 3. the four of us swimming at the jetty. While I can't confirm or deny it was my fault, apparently our camera doesn't do well while buried in the sand. I was able to download photos the other day, but the lens will not work. If you can steer clear of discussing this with my wife, that would be wonderful as she won't have this reminder of what a fool I am.

Time for the zoo!

2011-07-04T09:24:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. It's been a few years since Delaney and Brittany have been to the zoo and about 12 years for me. As for Adelyn, she had never visited before last week and both girls were mesmerized by all the animals. Really fun to watch their excitement throughout the day. Both girls started their day with some goat grooming. The goats barely moved, probably due to the extreme relaxation via the grooming brushes wielded by my girls. The tigers were napping, but that didn't seem to faze the girls who were cautious they might somehow get through the glass. We went to the polar bear site twice. The first time two of them were just chillin' on some rocks. We decided to see what was up the second time around and were treated with one of them swimming in the water cooling off. Really fun to see. Addy not scared at all from the idea that she looks somewhat tiny compared to her watery counterparts. My girls, checking out the reef underwater. Guddat family picture.
I guess you can call this a petting zoo, aquatic style!

We watched the elephants walking around and as we left we heard some trumpeting, rushed back and this is what we saw.

Father's Day and big girl beds..........

2011-07-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. I've been beind on my blogging the past few weeks, but it's just because like every family starting summer break from school, we've been pretty busy.

My girls spoiling me on father's day.........

We graduated Adelyn from her toddler bed to a full sized bed two weeks ago. Her long legs were cramping the toddler bed so it was time for a change. She immediately took to it. Here, the girls are celebrating I guess with the new addition.

And this is how Addy Bear celebrated later that night.

Kindergarten graduation!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-06-19T11:35:00.001-07:00

This is Jon. Wednesday was a big day for Delaney as she graduated from kindergarten wtih her friends. We're very proud of our big girl. We've seen such a improvement in her reading, sight words and her confidence with friends and teachers. First grade is right around the corner!

Both classes (Mrs. O's and Mrs. Paul's classes) graduated together. Close to 60 kids!

Addy, Daddy with the happy graduate!

Proud Mommy!

Delaney's kindergarten teacher, Mrs. O, on the left. Mrs. Bray, on the right, was the classroom assistant

Celebrating afterward with gifts for the graduate!

Delaney is a ROCK climbing STAR!

2011-06-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. I missed this one the other day, but Brittany spent time with Delaney's class last Monday when the school brought in a rock wall for the kids. I guess the last week of school is difficult to keep the kids focused and this was a perfect remedy.

Day trip to Palouse Falls

2011-06-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

Put Palouse Falls on your bucket list. I first went there when I was 19 and I was mesmerized by the falls. I've always wanted to take my girls there and after a few cancelled trips, we decided today was the day. I always say this, but pictures don't do it justice. The falls are nearly 200 feet tall and are at their mightiest in the springtime. As much as I appreciate nature, there is someone prettier than the falls in this photo! Adelyn didn't quite make the photo. She wasn't in a mood to sit still. Upper falls with my two princesses.

My wife is so cool...............

2011-05-24T16:09:00.001-07:00

She is now the PRESIDENT of the Kittias Parent Group. Yeah, that just happened.

Garden is growing...

2011-05-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

We've finally finished our planting, although we'll continue to add to the garden as we harvest in a month in a half. As of right now, we've got a red pepper, green pepper, chocolate mint, pole beans, tomatoes, cilantro, peas, carrots, cucumbers, spinach, green beans, watermelon, raspberries and strawberries. That's in addition to our exploding Rainier cherry, apple and apricot trees and rhubarb.
We've planted a bunch of annuals in the front yard and a bunch of sunflowers (mini and giant), fresias, ranunculas, tigridias, anemones and lillies. My guess is everything will either explode with color or our yard will go back to a "natural state" of crab grass, dandilions and noxious weeds.
But the real news of the weekend was the return of a woodpecker. You might remember that last spring there was a woodpecker who tried in vain to pierce the top of our chimney. This year his friend is back (bigger and more colorful) and has turned his attention to our cherry tree. Delaney for some reason named him "James".

Here he is in the tree.

This is a minute-long video of him, but you can get the gist of our day within the first 20 seconds...

Daddy and Delaney explore the farm!

2011-05-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. Delaney had a field trip to a local farm about five minutes from our house and I wanted to chaperon the trip just so we could hang out together. Part of being a chaperon of course is to watch over your group of kids at all times. My group was five kindergartners, and on my way out our door my wonderful wife gave me a kiss, a pat on the back, a "good luck" and a laugh. Whatever. All I know is I NEVER had all five kids together at once and averaged three kids at a time with the other two hopefully not off getting trampled by farm animals. I can also tell you that 99% of the chaperons there were of the female gender. My buddy Nate and I were the only dudes there. It was a bit embarrassing to be honest as all the women flocked to us like flies on honey. The family had a bunch of equipment and machinery on display for the kids to explore and climb aboard despite the fact that the farm was very much in operation while we were there. Delaney loved "driving" the tractor. We went on a hay ride and one of the goats got loose from his pen. We corralled him up and had him ride with us, much to the delight of Delaney. As you can tell, it was a perfect day for a field trip. The hayride took us around one of the large pastures where many grazing cattle were ready for a little bit of lunch. Delaney had a handful of alfalfa. I encouraged her to use the feed to entice the cattle a bit closer. She wasn't having it. There's a first time for everything and Friday was Delaney's first ride on a horse. She was thrilled and did very well. There were birds nests all over the place, many of them with eggs. The kids spotted a few while we were walking along a stream toward a pond. There were frogs all over the place as well. This girl got rid of any fear she had of amphibians and took charge of collecting frogs. Very cute. This is Delaney with Mackenzie. You might recognize Kenzie from her stellar season as one of my toughest players on our Advantage Dirt Contractors "Mighty Huggers" soccer squad. Her dad is the special teams coordinator for CWU football, so clearly he's cool. Me and my little farmer.

Addy and Daddy exploring...

2011-05-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. Last week's torrential downpour certainly played havoc on our rivers and creeks, which led to plenty of flooding. Adelyn and I decided to head out and check out the local terrain.

My little explorer, getting soaked in the rain. She didn't care one bit though.

This is the boat launch (underneath the cresting river) at one of the parks in Ellensburg. About two hours later when we drove by again, the river had gone up probably another foot to overtake the entire parking lot and then some.

Addy and I drove down the old canyon road to the Umptanum campground. We hiked around a little to get a bird's eye view of things. This is a foot bridge that leads to trails to a waterfall. We didn't make it much past the other side of the bridge as the trail was washed out.

This bridge was rocking and had a pretty good shake to it, which didn't bother Addy Bear one bit. She was hanging over the side, running around it and giving her Dad a pretty good scare a few times.

My little explorer.

Random photos from the last couple of weeks...

2011-05-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. We had a pretty good Mother's Day until we all started getting sick, led by Addy. Brittany got her favorite breakfast (bacon and cinnamon rolls) and was greeted with gifts, flowers and art work from her girls.

There's a new place in town called "Bounce Central" and the girls love it. We really like it because it's cheap and it's a great way to watch the girls play hard and crash later. Awesome.

As you can see, Mommy got into the mix with the girls as well.

Brittany's friend Holly and her daughter Abby visited as well.

We went to the fourth annual Bares and Broncs this Saturday, but I'm sure you already knew it. I mean, I wrote about it in my weekly "Under the Hat with Guddat" rodeo column as well as my special preview section on Friday. Anyway, it poured buckets, sheets of rain, huge drops, making the arena one big slop of a mess. Every cowboy who got bucked off or didn't land on his feet were covered in mud. A great time, though. Any time I'm in the arena, it always is.

My girls........

Spring colors in our backyard...

2011-05-14T23:32:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. We've been in the backyard a lot lately, trying to shape our yard and garden as much as we can just to enjoy it as much as we can. Unfortunately, due to the plague going through our house, we've all been sick off an on for the last two weeks, but last week it seemed as though the grim reaper was in our living room. Needless to say, I put weeding and planting on the back burner and I'm paying for it this weekend, but it's been fun to get out there and clean things up.

Our tulips, one of the first things we planted years ago before we even bought the house and were still renting. The last couple of years have been a bit bleak for the flowers, but this year they've seem to come back.

The apple and cherry trees in full bloom. Last year wasn't good at all for either tree. The cold spring zapped the blooms and neither came out with much fruit. This year looks to be different.

My girls..........

Cute DRae

The picture's a bit blurry and Adelyn doesn't care much for picture perfection, but Delaney still looks so giddy to be playing outside.

Adelyn still looks adorable even with closed eyes.

Cuties again...

Anytime they can be outside, they're thrilled.

Jon takes on the Calf Scramble

2011-04-26T21:32:00.000-07:00

Let's get right to the point. I'm up for a challenge. I like dare devil things. I like to drive fast. I like rodeo. I put 'em all together on Saturday.
Every year the Central Washington University Rodeo Club hosts one stop on the Northwest Regional schedule right here at the Ellensburg Rodeo arena. Every year they have a calf scramble and for some reason or another, I had never entered until this year.
What's the calf scramble? You have a herd of calves. They have ribbons tied to their tails. A bunch of non-sober college kids (and one over the hill red head) chase the calves in the middle of an arena trying to get the ribbon for the prize. What was the prize? I have no idea, I didn't win.

If you can tell in the blurry image, this is early on in the scramble. I'm one of the blurs trying to catch another blur.

This is a relatively unflattering picture of me trying to run toward calves that seem to be nowhere near where I am. Some people have already given up at this point. Not me, though.

OK, at this point, I maybe have given up a little.

In one last hurrah, I made a push for it........and came up empty handed again.

Two things I don't like about this photo: 1. I had lost the contest. 2. This is probably the worst photo ever taken of me. Seriously. Brittany, let's utilize photoshop a little more next time, huh?

Below is the link to my weekly rodeo column for the Daily Record recounting my duel in the dirt.........
http://www.dailyrecordnews.com/sports/under-the-hat-wheezing-through-the-mad-scramble/article_45d50e40-7021-11e0-9868-001cc4c03286.html

Happy Easter!

2011-04-26T20:33:00.001-07:00

Probably like everyone, our Easter weekend was spent with lots of family and while we didn't get to see everyone, we were still able to have a good time. The girls had an Easter Egg hunt all three days of the weekend, so obviously there is candy in the house that mom and dad are stealing as I write this.

As always we dyed Easter eggs. The girls are always so creative with their colors. As the picture would indicate, they were behaving pretty well here.

Delaney, striking a pose.

I happened to take this shot just as Addy dumped an egg in the blue egg dye. As you can tell, it splash in her face.

My trio, beautiful as ever.

Me and the girls showcasing our favorite eggs.

One of the Easter egg hunts was at the rodeo arena during the college rodeo hosted by CWU's rodeo club. The annual rodeo happened to fall on the same weekend as Easter weekend and the club covered the entire arena floor (almost the size of a football field) with eggs.

Can't get any better than this: My girls in a rodeo arena!

Proud daddy with his egg hunters.

The next day, the girls hunted eggs at Uncle Terry's annual Easter get together in Yakima.

Trying to start blogging again!

2011-04-10T08:59:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. Between life being hectic and our blog page not working for the last month or so, it's been difficult to find the time and patience to blog. Even this post was interrupted by blogging errors, but here are a couple of photos from Rob and Misti's wedding..............

Addy's getting better

2011-02-13T20:00:00.000-08:00

No photos to share, but after 36 hours in the hospital, Addy Bear looks like she's getting better. The prognosis is recovering from RSV, a respiratory illness that normally affects children ages two and younger.

Earlier this week, I'd say around Tuesday, we could tell Adelyn was starting to get sick, a sniffle here and there, and a cough. But on Wednesday things got worse and Thursday was not good. We decided that if we had another fitful night of sleep, we would take her to the doctor on Friday morning as a phone call to the pediatrician made us worry a bit. After a visit with our doctor, we were admitted to the ER and then admitted as an inpatient a few hours later.

Friday night was another fitful night of sleep hooked up to the IV and taking many tests, but Saturday is noticably better, good enough to potentially go home tonight, as long as the doctors on call see Addy Bear drink plenty of liquids and eat a bit more food. Right now, I'm sitting next to her while she tackles a grilled cheese. Two bites into it is the most she's eaten in the last two days combined!

They are so cute when they sleep...

2011-02-08T22:59:00.000-08:00

I rest my case...Just Kidding!!

Delaney's day as a Coyote cheerleader!

2011-02-08T22:45:00.000-08:00

Last week the high school cheerleaders in Kittitas sponsored a mini-cheer clinic for the elementary girls. Delaney of course was all over that! She did such a good job and I think was only nervous for a minute and then shined in the spotlight!

2011-01-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

Create your own digital ecard

Adelyn got into the make up........AGAIN!

2011-01-16T16:23:00.000-08:00

This is what greeted us in the bathroom a couple of days ago. Adelyn got into her make up again and by the looks of her face, had second thoughts about it all. Two things should be noted here: One, this was about two hours after we had put her to bed. Two, the make up was Brittany's idea for a gift.

Delaney's a baller...

2011-01-16T16:19:00.000-08:00

This is Jon. Delaney signed up for a Saturday basketball camp through next month and yesterday was day one. She was pretty hesitant once we got there. There were about 45 kids, give or take a few, and most of them had some sort of basketball skill, with a few of them pretty solid players for their age. She struggled with dribbling and shooting, but by the end of the 90-minute session, she was much more comfortable with it all, thanks in large part to her new friend and coach Megan.

Here they are, just chatting after a drill.

Practicing bounce passes.

Practicing lay ups. I think Delaney's right leg in the air is pretty cute.

This is Delaney practicing her form for lay ups. I think she thinks they're doing some sort of dance.

Another quick couple of photos...........

2011-01-02T23:08:00.000-08:00

This is Jon. We also got to spend Christmas Eve with Grandma Debbie in Cle Elum. The girls met me in my office in Cle Elum, we closed the bank early and had dinner with my mom. Of course, before we did that, Adelyn was helping me in the bank branch and while we were screwing around behind the teller line, she pushed one of our silent alarms and didn't find out until a nanosecond later when Wells Fargo security called.

Grandma Debbie with her cute grandkids.

Below is me and girls chillin' on New Year's Eve. Our original plans was to ring in the new year with our cousins in Tacoma and then spend the day on January 1st at the Guddat Family Christmas. Unfortunately, due to sickness and schedules, none of that happened. We still got to have fun though and we popped out the sparkling cider for the girls to sip on.

I think this is a great photo. However, upon further discussion, Brittany and I both think the smirk on Adelyn's face says, "wait 'till I start sneaking the real stuff later in life."

Christmas with the Guddat Family!

2011-01-02T22:59:00.000-08:00

This is Jon. We headed over to Dad and Sharon's house to spend Christmas with my side of the family. Jerrod, Megan and kids were there as well as Jim and Sanda and Great Grandma Guddat.

Let's get right to it: Jim said his presents were going to make him and Sanda "favorites". Since everyone got pillow pets, that statement can't really be debated.

Grandma Sharon and Jocelyn spent time reading a book with everyone.

Grandpa Jeff writing down the house rules. With five cousins, plus newborn Jacob (and Preston to be here soon) we all needed to ensure the house didn't get torn apart.

Back to the gifts: In classic Dad and Sharon form, the cousins' gifts were unique and personalized. Each of them got a book with their names the basis of the story. Really cool.

Adelyn had big hugs for her big cousin Jocelyn.

Jayden was no match for the girls' hugs, as well.

I'm posting this because Jayden looks EXACTLY like Jerrod did at five years old.

Me and my home boy, Jacob.

Not sure why Jerrod can't hold the bottle like 99.9% of the rest of fathers.

Delaney and Grandpa cuddling with her new cousin.

Great Grandma helping the kids cut out and bake cookies.

Everyone including Grandma Sharon got into the mix.

Great Grandma helping out Adelyn.

Grandma supervising the frosting while holding onto Jacob.

Christmas night with the Liedtkes...

2011-01-02T22:29:00.000-08:00

This is Jon. As with tradition, the Liedtkes came over on the night of Christmas to do a little celebrating at our humble abode.

Jon and Duane. Yes, it gets this crazy with us in the same room.

Delaney unwrapping her new scooter. Ever since Addy Bear got hers for her birthday, Delaney has wanted one.

Adelyn's High School Musical yearbook. I'll admit to reading it as well.

Zach and Delaney.

Adelyn was content to sit in the middle of the floor to read her new books.

But she and Delaney got energized for a little craziness with Uncle Zach.

Happy grandparents.

Delaney is clearly thrilled with the new BBQ grill since Daddy nearly blew up the house with the old one.

Christmas Day.......

2011-01-02T22:16:00.000-08:00

This is Jon. It's been a while since I've posted and since it's January 2nd, I figured it's time to put up our Christmas photos.

Making cookies the night before Christmas. Adelyn had soaked herself because apparently, she forgot how to drink out of a cup. Delaney is high on sugar-based frosting.

You'll notice the frosting on the wall, table, clothes, hands, face...

Christmas Eve. So cute.

My girls, just chillin' with some of their new gifts and playing the Scooby Doo version of the game Trouble.

Christmas at Uncle Terry and Aunt Cheryl's........

2010-12-20T20:25:00.000-08:00

This is Jon. As we do each year, we headed down to Yakima to spend time with Brittany's mom's side of the family at their annual Christmas party.

Santa has made a personal visit every year and last year was the first year the girls warmed up to him without our help. This year was pretty much the same for Delaney, but Adelyn was a little skeptical. Santa does a great job. Gifts, stories, songs and a Christmas lesson.

The girls with cousin Madison.

All the kids at the party. If you notice Delaney is in the middle holding Santa's magic key.

Adelyn chatting up Santa. If Dan is reading this, he didn't wear his Santa hat the entire time, but it was very much near him.

Adelyn thrilled with her new make up kit. The makers of Oxy Clean carpet cleaner are thrilled that Adelyn has since painted her carpet with the make up. Not sure who made the call to get a three-year old make up, but I'm sure she's a really pretty lady whose name begins with a B and ends in rittany.

Delaney and her Zu Zu pet, which is really a motorized rat with wheels. The thing has already scared the ()*^)(&*()*& out of me a few times since I've seen it scurry across the kitchen floor and I've mistaked it for a live mouse.

Brittany's brother Logan with Lyndsay and Kaia. This picture is great since Kaia is checking out Santa and it looks like he's doing the same thing.

Kaia and Aunt Brittany. I like Kaia's hand placement here.

Logan sportin' the 'stache. I've decided that's going to be my Christmas gift to Brittany this year.

Delaney on display!

2010-12-18T10:28:00.000-08:00

This is Jon. Delaney's last day of school until the New Year was yesterday and Thursday acted as a great finale for the kids. Kittitas Elementary put together its Christmas Concert for us to enjoy.

Delaney practicing with her friends in class during school earlier that day.

Cute class.

My little princess before we left for school. New dress courtesy of Blue Grandma.

Delaney and friends with full, booming voices!

Beautiful Delaney...

Proud parents afterwards in Delaney's classroom.

Here are some videos to enjoy.............

Taking advantage of the snowfall!

2010-12-13T21:29:00.001-08:00

This is Jon. Like everyone on this side of the mountains, we got dumped on this past weekend. The girls and I spent the afternoon frolicking in the snow.

Brittany got things rolling by crossing the line early.

I wish I could say that Adelyn took this photo, but she didn't. I had the camera on a timer and while waiting for the camera to click, Adelyn took off and said "peace out." I guess waiting 10 seconds for the camera to get the shot is about 15 seconds too long.

Body part 1 of snowman 1.

The finished products. Yeah, Delaney isn't looking at the camera, but I couldn't resist Adelyn's pose.

Adelyn with her new friend.

As much as it snowed on Saturday (the snowmen were made Sunday), it got pretty warm on Sunday, to about 38 degrees or so. Needless to say the snowman got a little bit drippy by the end of the day. Delaney's snowman had a pretty good lean to it and the last thing I did before I went to bed was check on its status. It is lying down for a nap is what we told Delaney. Adelyn's is probably a day or two from that as well.

I took time to build Delaney a snow fort as well. This is us taking a break in the middle of construction. I had high hopes of tall walls, maybe a window or two. Delaney was absolutely beside herself upset that I called it a "fort" not a "princess castle." I found myself working hard on the thing and realized soon after this picture was taken that she had already checked out.

Good shot by Delaney.

I don't understand the crazed look from Brittany, the chunk of ice or the madman behind her.

An eclectic group of random photos and videos...

2010-12-12T09:45:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos that never seemed to make it on the blog from the last few months.

This is my public apology for breaking my favorite mother in law's cake she made for Delaney. It was very tall and I decided to cut it a little aggressively and it took a turn for the worse. Sorry Mrs. Liedtke.

Toothless Delaney. The other day DRae lost her sixth tooth. She's lost her two upper front teeth and her four lower front teeth. Right now, she looks like the victim of a fist fight.

Against her better judgement Brittany left me and the kids alone about three weeks ago. We decided to attack the craft closet and came out with coloring books, construction paper, sharp things, things that stain clothes, things that stick to chairs. I'm happy to report that nothing bad happened and that not only did the girls make pretty things, but I deep cleaned the kitchen and bedrooms.

Adelyn and her apron which really is a decorative winter towel for the kitchen. She's her own style.

Field trip time to Dusty's Nursery. Delaney and some of her classmates. At the top left is Owen...ask Adelyn about him. She's got a crazy crush on the guy, and I can see why, I mean, he was our top scorer and most well behaved kid on the Advantage Dirt Contractors "Mighty Huggers" co-ed U6 soccer team.

Mrs. O's class on the hay bale. Delaney is in the orange about halfway up.

Adelyn comes on all the field trips with Brittany. She really just blends right in.

Delaney's kindergarten school picture.

Aunt Misti dancing with Delaney and Adelyn during Thanksgiving at Dad and Sharon's house. I like how Adelyn nearly knocks herself out during her bow.

Delaney and Adelyn dancing during Delaney's classroom Halloween party. The camera pans to the left. The lady in the bumble bee outfit is Delaney's teacher, Mrs. O.

Below are a bunch of photos I'm not sure why I didn't blog in June. They are especially close to my heart for two reasons: One, they're my girls. And two, 90 degree weather sounds nice right now since we got buried in snow last night. It was snowing when I woke up and didn't stop until about an hour before bedtime. It was awesome.

Happy Birthday Brittany!

2010-12-05T10:24:00.000-08:00

Friday was Brittany's 29th birthday and like the true rodeo fan she is, we went to Rodeo City BBQ to eat some ribs while wearing bibs.

Yeah, that says, "I (heart) Rodeo City BBQ." Like usual, Brittany is stunning.

I found some old photo albums of Brittany when she was a toddler. The kids and grandparents got a kick out of looking at them. I see striking resemblances between the three girls.

This shirt will definitely be worn at the Ellensburg Rodeo. Hot!

The gift that seems to define Brittany: the gift card.

Nothing going on in this photo except the fact that it clearly was twin tolo and for some reason Delaney was holding Cathy's arm up for a long time.

Birthday girl blowing out her singing candle.

Family photo, it only took 10 tries. The best one of all three girls was ruined by me making a funny face, so that wasn't included.

Decorating the tree...............

2010-12-05T10:09:00.000-08:00

After cutting the tree down last Saturday, we brought it in the house and then decorated it the next day. We have found that every ornament has a story to it as our tree is very "Charlie Brown" -ish - not symetrical, a bit bare in some places and nothing is uniform in the decorations - which is perfect for us.

Delaney was in her element. She's a girl that has to have everything planned and the same, so designing the tree was something she was looking forward to.

Girls checking out the ornament options.

Delaney with an ornament made by Grandma Debbie in 1983. Jerrod and I have split up the ornaments mom stitched over the years and now our kids get to put them on the tree.

Adelyn focused on the corner of the tree and didn't really stray from that area. Almost every night since then she has rearranged the ornaments in "Addy's Section."

Delaney looks spectacular here, sorry her dork of a Dad got into the frame.

Adelyn trying to place the star at the top. Some stories about the ornaments here: The two moose ornament to the right of my elbow is from Victoria, BC, a trip Britty and I took in July 2008. The ornament immediatly below my elbow is a gift from a girl Ryan Hill dated for a while (the breakup story on that one is classic). The circular ornament at the right edge of the photo is from our first anniversary trip to Ocean Shores, it's a sand dollar. The trolley car below and slightly left of the Ocean Shores ornament is from San Francisco when she and I went to the Bay Area to hang out with John and Logan in April 2009.

Delaney tried as well.

We found our Christmas tree!

2010-11-28T10:56:00.000-08:00

This is Jon. As we have done five out of the last six years, we've taken to the forest with a saw and a forest pass to stake our claim on a Christmas tree deep in the woods. Usually we don't head out until December, but we were feeling festive a couple of days after Thanksgiving.

We parked across the highway from the Mineral Springs camping area in the Wenatchee National Forest on our way up Blewett Pass on Highway 97. After playing Frogger with the cars and trucks at 60 mph (Addy won) we trekked through the snow. I'm not sure if it's the most snow we've had during our excursion for a tree, but there was plenty on the ground that got very deep the farther away we got from the campground.

Yes, bathroom break. Yes, this is 3 minutes after we started. Yes, I stood there waiting patiently.

The above pic is proof that the girls could not stop eating snow. We weren't discouraging eating the snow, but that's what they did the entire time when they weren't throwing snow at each other.

Daddy, Addy and Delaney! In my left hand (protected of course) is my 20" raker tooth saw. That's all man right there.

Beautiful Brittany!

My girls frolicking in the snow.

We found our tree. My guess is it was about 11 feet tall (you can't cut down anything taller than 15 feet), which allowed me to trim it up a bit once we got home.

Picture doesn't do the scene justice.

Putting up the Christmas lights

2010-11-28T10:30:00.000-08:00

This is Jon. For some reason I usually don't embrace the Christmas spirit until after Brittany's birthday in early December (she's 29 in a couple of days, by the way), but this year, I was in full force the day after Thanksgiving despite the fact that it was around 20 degrees (of course it was -5 a few days prior to that).

Me at the start of the masterpiece. I'm in front of Delaney's front window, which is now wrapped in lights as well.

Great form. You can't coach that. Look at that stretch.

Brittany clearly has other things on her mind with a obvious photo of my money maker.

Not realizing Brittany was taking a photo of me from the living room window, I decided to have a less-than-sexy look here.

This pic is already out of date. I've got more lights around the windows to the right of the house and have wrapped the north side windows and eaves (right side of photo) with lights. If the snow melts or I get a little more ambitious, I'll line the roof with lights.

Halloween fun for the Guddats!

2010-11-14T13:23:00.000-08:00

It's been a few weeks since I've put up any photos, but here's Halloween in Kittitas.

Brittany putting make up on our kitten.

The wicked witch.

My three girls at Haunted Halls at Kittitas High School.

Addy with her pumpkin before the carving begins.

Delaney with the finished product.

You can't really see Adelyn's pumpkin, but her face is so cute.

Picasso with his masterpieces.

The pumpkins weren't really on fire here. I was trying something with the camera and this is the image that came out. It blurred anything bright. At first glance though, it looks as though Addy is running for her life.

Delaney's cute little pumpkin on Halloween morning.

Ready to roll on Haloween night. Fred Flinstone, Adelyn the kitten and Delaney as Dino.

The Guddat Family. Brittany was Raggety Ann.

One more round of birthday pics...

2010-10-24T11:00:00.000-07:00

Delaney with her turtleneck sweater dress from Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Jeff.

Adelyn telling a random, wide-ranging story to Grandma Sharon, while Delaney looks like she's heard it all before.

Above and below, Adelyn showing off her jumping talents to Great Grandma Hazel.

Delaney's birthday party with friends

2010-10-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

Delaney with her friends: Matti, Julie, Delaney, Kenzie and Addy. There's the spooky baby in the bottom of the photo, too.

Delaney with a skirt from Blue Grandma.........because clearly they didn't spend enough on her a couple of days prior.

Carmel apple time with the crew. Good call by Brittany.

Until the girls started getting hopped up on straight carmel.

They worked off plenty of sugar though.......

Tuckered out Addy after it all. She had to sleep with balloons that night. Don't worry, we watched her closely and took them away once she fell asleep.

Delaney's day...

2010-10-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was Delaney's sixth birthday.......wait a second............OK, done getting all emotional. Brittany did some crazy prepping and planning getting ready for Delaney's school birthday, kid birthday and family birthday as well. We were saying how we were going to keep it low-key with just a few friends and such, but it's still amazing how much you have to do to prepare.

The night before DRae's birthday, we make birthday cookies, which were pumpkin-themed cookies on a stick. Pretty cool actually.

Morning of her birthday before school.

Shoogs (Addy) and Boogs (DRae).

Not to be left out, Adelyn shows off her new socks, perfectly matching her outfit!

Birthday girl with her cookies and friends at school.

Birthday card from Grandma Debbie. In classic form, she wrote a secret message on the back...and forgot what it said. We'll never know.

She's just cute.

So is she.

Delaney and her lunch box. I remember when I was a kid that getting hot lunch at school was the cool thing to do. Delaney was beside herself happy when she got her "cold lunch" lunch box from Blue Grandma and Grandpa.

Happy Anniversary, Brittany!

2010-10-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

Eight years ago, Brittany said "I do!" (and I breathed a sigh of relief!)

Two very cute pictures of me and my bride, taken by Delaney, our budding photographer. Below, however, was the reality that Brittany and I didn't spend our actual anniversary day alone, which was OK, because we got the previous weekend to ourselves. Adelyn had to get in as many shots as she could and it took a few minutes to actually get a shot she wasn't sneaking into.

I was joking the other day about how I vowed to make every anniversay day a "passion-filled day of romance" and clearly the above pictures prove that. I must've made that vow before we had kids!

Jon and Brittany at the Battle in Seattle

2010-10-17T09:38:00.000-07:00

Every year Central Washington plays in Seahawks Stadium (I'm not paid by the company that has naming rights to the stadium to say their name, thus, it's Seahawks Stadium until I get a check) every year and the last two years Western Oregon has come to town. Before that, the CWU/Western Washington rivalry was in place, but the liberal administrative whackos in Bellingham decided to get rid of a 100-year old tradition and cut football after 2008. That's another story.

Cutest couple on the field before the game.

Me and Scott Husar (left) and Sammy Henderson on the right. Scott does the stats during the Battle and Sammy is the spotter. I've known both for a long time and have gotten to work with Sammy for about six months out of the year for the last five or six years. We sit side by side each other for every CWU football and men's and women's bball games.

The golden voice on the PA mic. I actually figured I'd look a lot better than this. Brittany must have caught me saying Shawn Kaeleanamoku. Seriously.

Beautiful Brittany with the CWU marching band in the background.

The classic Jon and Brittany pose. Jon holds the camera, Brittany looks stunning.

Below are some pics that Brittany took of herself during the second half. When I downloaded the camera this morning, there were about 1,000 pics of her in the press box, and they were pretty much the same pose over and over again, seriously. Below are three of them.

Jon and Eric Sorensen. He's from K-Town and played football and baseball for the Coyotes. He plays baseball for CWU now and is their ball boy during the games. Brittany and I were on our way home. Eric and crew were on their way to a bar called Cowgirls, Inc. It sounded pretty nice.

This is me in action. I look and sound like a dork.

WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!! TWICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-10-17T09:19:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it...........well, yes I can. The Advantage Dirt Contractors "Mighty Huggers" picked up their first and second wins of the season with a convincing 6-1 victory followed by a hard fought 3-2 decision.

Things started off slowly, with McClure Construction scoring the first goal, but then Owen caught fire and scored with abandon. The kid was on fire. No one could stop him. I was really happy for the kids. Technically, there's no scoring tallied, but everybody knows who wins (including the kids, they kept on saying, "Coach, we're winning!"). Honestly, I don't discuss winning or losing, but do a lot of high-fivin' and such.

Delaney and Nathan on the attack. In the background in the red is Owen's mom. Since he scored about a million goals on Saturday, I'm going to have to send her flowers or something.

Planning our attack. Nathan in the foreground, me and Boogs and Owen in the back.

After the game, it was happy kids and celebration. I was given a gatorade bath and carried off the field like they do for all coaches who win the big game. Unfortunately, none of it was caught on camera, but it did happen...honest.

Fall is upon us..........

2010-10-14T23:43:00.000-07:00

It's getting chilly in K-Town and I took the time to really start getting prepared for the winter. I'm told that up through Christmas should be relatively mild here, but the onslaught of snow and cold temps should come by January. I was tearing down the garden and trimming the trees and lilacs and watched as the girls started taking over the leaves. I didn't even have to bribe them or falsify the "fun" of raking leaves.

So after creating a small leaf pile, the girls decided to try and knock down the remaining apples from the tree (although like the cherry tree, not much was there all summer).

Then climbing the trees was a priority.

About a minute later, Adelyn took an ill-advised dive...

Craft night in Kittitas

2010-10-14T23:26:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. Brittany does a good job in keeping the girls creative and active and last Thursday they decided to make door hangers and picture frames. The girls just soaked it up............and soaked our kitchen with glitter, which got transported throughout the house.

Delaney preparing to use her letters for her door hanger.

I thought this picture was really cute.

Not finished or anything, but proudly holding the colors they choose to use.

Three smiling beauties.

Delaney Rae turns six next week, thus the "6" on her door hanger.

Best part about Addy Bear's door hanger? A quick glance makes it look like it says "Addy's Bar". Kind of funny, huh?

Man, we can't catch a break, FIRE THE COACH!

2010-10-09T19:46:00.000-07:00

OK, so first things first, I'm having fun and from as far as I can tell, my team is as well, but can we please taste victory once this year?!?!

The Advantage Dirt Contractors were looking good to start Saturday morning. We were up 2-0 against Generations of Ellensburg after three minutes of play. Owen was on fire. We were rolling. Then, in a coaching move I will regret for a while, I subbed out my starters and the wheels fell off. Our 2-0 lead quickly evaporated and we lost, 6-2.

Here's Boogs. She's defending an opposing player in game one. Jake and Kenzie are to the right of the pic. It was cold on Saturday as you can tell from the long sleeve shirts and sweat pants. However, the kid with the ball was wearing his jersey under his sweatshirt, which is a no-no according to the by laws. I'm waiting to see if my official dispute with the league to force his team to forfeit will be honored................just joking...........but c'mon! Toughen up, buddy.

So this somwhat describes my demeanor in game two. You can see my arms held out in confusion. Jake is prime for the pass, but D-Rae and Kenzie are busy stealing the ball from each other. The other team is nowhere in sight, which is weird since the scored NINE times to our one goal.

So the Advantage Dirt Contractors are 0-10-1 on the season. I'm worried our sponsor (Owen's dad) will pull his logo off our jerseys and I'm definitely on the hot seat. After the games, Brittany said, "I knew we were in trouble when the coach started calling plays." (we have no plays unless you count me pleading with the kids to watch the ball). Cathy, my favorite mother in law said, "Jon, I like you and I'm not trying to be mean, but you got outcoached." Solid burn, right there.

Advantage Dirt Contractors move to 0-8-1

2010-10-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

After a 5-1 shellacking to the neon green team, the Advantage Dirt Contractors "Huggers" (I'll get to our mascot in a moment) battled to a 3-3 tie with Thorp Fruit and Antiques on Saturday afternoon. Down 2-1 we rattled off two goals to take the 3-2 lead very, very late in the game. I say "very, very late" as in the game was pretty much at the end of the time limit (no refs or official clock in co-ed U-6, just both coaches agreeing on when the game is over). We decided to line up for an extra few minutes and that's when the wheels fell off. My kids were tired, many were just standing on the field watching the ball at their feet (kinda funny actually) and in the middle of a unscheduled substitution (where one players just says, "I'M TIRED!" while running off the field and the replacement leisurely walks on the field while the opposing team's best player rumbles by with the goal in sight) we were scored on to make it a 3-all tie. But hey, that's better than the first game, definitely.

We'll see how practice goes on Wednesday..............

As for our mascot, everything is very unofficial. Some teams are the Tigers and all that, but one parent mentioned to me how my team is always hugging and roughhousing when I'm trying to coach. Hilarious at times, drives me bonkers other times. I haven't officially dubbed our team "The Huggers" (except to my wife) but that's our mascot in my opinion. When the girls greet each other, it's by loud screams, running across the playground to meet each other like they haven't seen each other in years (although it's only been a couple of hours since kindergarten got out). When the boys arrive, they sheepishly welcome the fanatic girls.

A round of applause for my wifey.........

2010-09-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

So the big news in the Kittitas Guddat Estates today was the fact that my wife, Brittany Guddat, now needs to be addressed as Mrs. Treasurer or Madame Boardmember. Yes, Brittany is now the Treasurer of the Kittitas Parent Group. She was an attractive candidate because...........well, she's attractive, but also because with Delaney being in kindergarten this year, Brittany was going to be around for a few years.

The Kittitas Parent Group helps raise funds to cover the costs that state funding does not - for example, field trips - through bingo nights and other efforts.

I want to help out with the Parent Group as well, but when I walked into the meeting, I felt about as uncomfortable as a dude walking into the all-women's club "Curves". Everything stopped, talking ceased and all heads turned in my direction. I took that cue to wave to my wife, turn around, flex my biceps slightly and leave the room.

When Mommy's sick and Daddy's in charge...

2010-09-19T16:36:00.000-07:00

...this happens...

Addy is potty training (quite successfully and very quickly I might add) so she's pretty much pantsless 24/7. She doesn't usually wear Brittany's boots, though.

That's Addy again, wearing Delaney's wicked witch hat. Don't know where she got it.

Delaney and her sunflower she's been growing since the last few days of school. It finally bloomed at the beginning of this week...and Delaney's wearing Mommy's boots now.

Advantage Dirt Contractors learn a few more lessons...

2010-09-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. Saturday was the official start of the season for the Kittitas Valley Junior Soccer Association and with two games on the schedule, the Advantage Dirt Contractors were hoping to erase the memory of an 0-3 record from last week's jamboree...it didn't happen. We took another two losses, 4-1 and 4-2.

Cute lil' Delaney in full uniform.

I'm trying to rally the troops before game one. In the background in pink is Matti's little sister. I'm told she's pretty studly athletic and I'm thinking about forging her birth certificate so I can slap on a jersey.

Delaney in action. Matti is clearly in awe, that's why she's not moving. To her right is Jake.

To say Delaney's been difficult and not receptive to my coaching is an understatement. On Tuesday, she was being a bear and I had to remove her from practice, much to the delight of my wonderful wife who had to take her home, kicking and screaming. I was trying to catiously correct her on Saturday and this was the reaction I got. We'll see how Tuesday's practice goes.

This was our team meeting after the second game, which was a loss to ESM Consulting. We scored the first goal and I was dumbfounded on how to coach with a lead! Of course, the wheels started falling off when we scored on our own goal...which is also what we did the week prior in the jamboree. A bit frustrating, but a great shot, so I tried to positively reinforce that one.

Jon visits the Pendleton Round Up

2010-09-19T15:50:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. Last year was my first year to take in the Pendleton Round Up and Brittany and I had press passes for this year, its 100th anniversary. Due to some scheduling mixups, Brittany couldn't make it, but I decided to make the trip Friday morning. I'm glad I did. I missed my co-pilot big time, but I'm glad I got to see a favorite rodeo on its 100th year.

Me, right before the start of the rodeo. I went as press and while I was picking up my press packet and ID, I noticed that the press office was the same as last year: Food, water, Coors, Coors Light (sponsors of Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) and Pendleton Whisky were available in the fridge. They treat their media right!

Pendleton's Grand Entry is small in comparison to Ellensburg's, however, it's pretty powerful. As the start nears, the murmur from the fans in attendance grows into a frenzy and as soon as the clock on the scoreboard in the background hits 1:15 in the afternoon, a huge cannon booms the start of the rodeo. The National Anthem is sung without any introduction or fanfare and the lady who sang on Friday brought down the house. Above is the way the queen and her court arrive in the arena. Their horses jump into the grass arena (which is one of the many things that makes Pendleton so unique) and once all are in (a queen and three princesses) they take a couple of laps around the track and are joined by five men who are holding flags (US, Canada, Pendleton, etc.) Very simple, but very significant.

The one thing I've noticed about Pendleton is the fact that the rodeo truly celebrates it's Indian heritage. Tribes from all over eastern Oregon and eastern Washington are showcased and rightfully so. I snapped this photo for Grandma Guddat.

Pendleton's trademark slogan is "Let 'Er Buck!" which is prevalent throughout the rodeo. The mural to the right is the official seal, if you will, of the rodeo. The Let 'Er Buck room, as the sign would indicate is immediately below the sign. The room is world famous, plenty of illegal and barely legal actions have happened in this setting. There are security guards, alcohol monitors and signage that keeps people relatively calm now, but I'm told that back in the day this room was nuts. There are multiple signs at the entrance and in the place that says "NO PICTURES. ANY PHOTOS WILL BE DELETED FROM PHONES AND CAMERAS ON SITE."

As part of the festivities that come with 100 years, this sculpture was unveiled this year.

A video to somewhat give you an idea as to the size of the rodeo grounds. First of all, Pendleton is known for its grass field which is extremely unique in rodeo. I'm sitting in the old "sun bowl" as it was called for 99 years until the new stands were built after last year that offered covered arena seating. The upgrades cost around $8.5 million and they are fantastic. The view and seats are great, and someone said it was a million-dollar view, to which the Round Up President said, "no, it's an $8.5 million view." The bucking chutes to the left of the video are painted in a rainbow of colors, again typical of Pendleton. They announced about 17,000 fans in attendance. To give you an idea, Ellensburg is a huge rodeo in its own right and sells out at 9,500 or so. The Ellensburg rodeo paid out nearly $315,000 this year, whereas Pendleton paid a tad more than $580,000. Ellensburg will always be my favorite rodeo because it's...well, Ellensburg. But Pendleton will always be a very, very close second.

Some random videos I never posted for some reason...

2010-09-14T22:15:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. Here are some videos from May when John and Delaney brought down the house after finding a karaoke site online.

Below are scenes from Missy's wedding last week...

Melissa and William's wedding...

2010-09-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. Saturday was an absolute blast. The Haggerty and Carter family put on a great show in honor of Melissa and William's wedding. Our two little princesses were flower girls for the big event and they were ecstatic to be a part of the day.

My beautiful girls beforehand. They hung out in the bride's room with the rest of the bridal party.

As Missy poses in the background, cousin Stephanie, the maid of honor, cuddled with the girls. This is a great photo of the three of them!

Blushing bride with a blushing flower girl...

Her smile just lights up a room!

Delaney loving every minute of being pampered by her lil' sissy.

Brittany obviously wore something different for the wedding, but she was in comfortable clothes as she helped Missy and the bridesmaids get ready for the big day.

So Addy Bear looks pretty cute on the end, but this was the most cooperative she would be during the photos. Kind of frustrating during picture time, but oh well. William in the middle doesn't seem to mind. At his right is Stephanie. At his left are Katie and Allie, more cousins.

My aunt Jeanette with her lovely daughter.

At this point, I was already fighting some emotions of just going to a wedding. As soon as I saw the girls walking down the aisle (without fighting I might add) I was hurtin'. I'm one big emotional wreck when I see my girls in situations like this and can only imagine what it's going to be like IF (yes, I said IF) they ever get married.

Good form by Adelyn with the flower petals.

Delaney was very aware of Adelyn and how she was doing up at the altar. Adelyn stayed there for about three minutes or so, then checked out and hung out with me. Delaney stood up there for the whole time. She did very good. We were so proud. Plus, they look so beautiful.

OK, so maybe she wasn't perfect, but she was good. Brittany quickly corralled Delaney and got the flower basket out of her mouth.

Aunt Jeanette promised the girls they could pick up all the flower petals from the floor after the wedding. Adelyn snapped back into formation when she realized the ceremony was wrapping up and both danced down the aisle. Once everyone had walked by, the girls got their clean-up on!

The reception was a blast. Great food, great music and my family really knows how to have a good time.

My Dad and Uncle Jay clearly should be professional dancers.

The girls loved dancing with Dad and Sharon...

...and by themselves.

My grandma requested Three Dog Night's "Jeremiah was a Bullfrog" from the DJ. You can't tell here, but she was dancing a bit while my Dad sung the lyrics, discussing how he sang this song in his high school choir.

Holy Moly, my wife is hot!

After this drink, she got a little handsy with the groom, who clearly is OK with it all. I'm told this was sparkling cider, but it can't be confirmed.

My cousin Linda catered the event and did a fabulous job. The girls ate and ate and ate at the fruit and chocolate fountain. They got about three weeks worth of fruit servings in them!

By the end of the reception, the girls were draggin' a bit. Adelyn was starting to check out.

Missy and William, off to Mexico!

This says it all, doesn't it?

Advantage Dirt Contractors get a few moral victories...

2010-09-12T11:28:00.000-07:00

No pictures to show you as the camera was at Missy's wedding, but the U-6 Advantage Dirt Contractors ended up going 0-3 during the jamboree and because of that, the head coach (me) is on the hot seat.

We lost to Thorp Fruit 3-1 Williams Florist 4-1 and Napa Auto 1-0. We actually scored twice against Williams Florist, but that counted for the Floral Fighters since it was in our own goal. Great kick though.

Technically no scores are kept in the coed U-6 rec league, but I'm a guy and guys know who wins and loses. We didn't discuss that at all. High fives all around and lots of cheering during all three games. Kids had fun, very tired (a few of them flat out laid down on the field during the game) and ready to go for next week's slate of games.

Advantage Dirt Contractors practicing up!

2010-09-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. Yesterday was the first practice of the Advantage Dirt Contractors U-6 coed soccer team. Three boys and three girls. Delaney is on the team as well as her Dad, which is something that I wanted to help out with, but wasn't sure I was up to expectation as head coach. I still am not sure of my coaching ability, but I'm hooked. It's awesome.

I'm clearly motivating the right way, here. Nathan and Matti are enthralled so much they're looking the other way. I'm in my comfort zone, though, since this is the same reaction to my management techniques at the office.

Coach: Alright! We're going to warm up with a lap around the field!

Matti, Mackenzie and Delaney: Nope, we're going in our clubhouse.

Coach: Silence as they do just that.

This is me and Nathan...and no one else in the general vicinity. They were all on the slide, which is just out of the range of this photo. The dude in the red is Brent Huppert, who is on the Ellensburg Rodeo Board, so obviously he's cool, but he's currently looking for his son, Jake, who has spent a majority of the time laying the grass both days of practice. I'm pretty sure his defense technique will be as effective and Matti's and Mackenzie's grass throwing technique.

Me and my team from left to right: Jake on the ground in the goal, Nathan, Mackenzie (who lives a block away from us and her dad is a coach for CWU football, so like Huppert, is cool), Delaney, Mattilyn and way over to the right is Owen (who happens to sit right next to D-Rae in kindergarten). Our first game is Saturday and it's a jamboree format, three 15-minute games. In my coaching meeting a couple of weeks ago the director specifically looked at me and the other U-6 coaches and said, with a smile, "no matter what, even if it's hell, even you can survive it for 15 minute spans," and that is why most of our games will be 15 minutes.

In all honesty, it's really fun. The kids have an attention span of about 30 seconds, so if I'm not switching it up often enough, they head right to the play area. Our first practice was more productive than the second practice since I had them do drills before scrimmaging. The second day? "Coach! Can we scribble?" (since they forgot the word scrimmage).

Delaney's first day of school!

2010-09-09T22:27:00.000-07:00

This is Jon. Huge day for the K-Town Guddats today. It was Delaney Rae's first day of kindergarten! We've been looking forward to this for a long time, as has Delaney herself. Luckily we had a dry run of things on Tuesday with an open house, which helped make today a bit easier for her (and probably Mom and Dad). We're beyond proud of our big little girl. She did so well!

Delaney checking out her new outfit in front of the mirror.

Delaney's proud little sister, Adelyn Blair wanted to pose with her. Yes, both are wearing backpacks and, yes, only one is going to school.

In honor of Delaney's choice of tennis shoes, I wore my black Chuck's too.

Walking to school, which is a block away, with Adelyn leading the way.

Getting on the campus. Depending on what time kids get there, they are probably playing out in the playground for 5-15 minutes before school starts.

Delaney hanging up her coat right above her nametag, with her friend Ariana (from Head Start last year) right next to her.

Delaney sitting at her table with her friend (and teammate from soccer) Owen.

You know, I was surprised that Brittany and I did so well. No tears, some sniffles though from Brittany on the way back home. What complicated that was the fact that Delaney's teacher, Mrs. O, gave the parents a gift bag with a note that said this was a gift for you as a thank you for bringing your precious gift to my class...and BAM!...that got Brittany. Adelyn, however, took it the worst. She truly missed her big sister. She's not one to sit still, or sit on your lap, but she sat and hugged Mommy for a solid 20 minutes when we got home.

I picked D-Rae up from school that afternoon. She and I waited outside for a few moments as she waived and said by to some new friends.

Delaney walking into the school. At the very end of the clip is her friend Ariana.

This is Delaney telling us all about her first day. She's our girl!