a left out Dutchman

Nordic Museum Ballard
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

I felt a little left out yesterday as Esther, Bjorn, Jenny and I went to the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard. Of the four of us, I was the only one without a Nordic heritage. Jenny is from Hans Christian Anderson stock, and could connect with her Danish roots. Bjorn and Jenny treated us to the visit which included a lecture by the author of 'In Cod We Trust.' The museum is very nice, occupying an old school site. The exhibits are a progression of rooms which trace the immigration process, from the poverty of the old country to the opportunity and success of the 'the new world.' I, of course, enjoyed the maritime history of the Vikings. The lecturer told about his adventure of returning to Norway to discover his roots near Trondheim. Bjorn and Jenny also treated us to a delicious lunch downtown at the Icon Grill. We ended the day with a stop to pick up Markus at SPU and supper at Alkai Beach.

A sunny day off

one of my favorite places - Pt. Hudson in Port Townsend
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

Esther and I took advantage of the sunshine today and drove to Port Townsend. The weather and scenery were gorgeous. The hillside town seems to soak up the winter sun with all of it's southern exposure. I, of course, toured the marinas and boat yards while Esther checked out the shops. A great MLK day. The Obama inauguration is tomorrow and the town was all abuzz.

Hippy New Year

Hippy New Year
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

It has been a busy week of back to school. One of our activities was to make up a lost Christmas party on account of snow closures. We made it up with a 'Hippy New Year' party. Several students did a great job of dressing up for the occasion. Today was the basketball game of teachers vs sixth grade, and tomorrow will be the annual school wide Geography Bee where our class finalists will make a good showing.

Velkommen

Norwegian family visit
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

On New Years we had the pleasure of hosting some guests for Norway. Esther's cousin Touren and her husband Fedrick and son Barent are in the states visiting their daughter Anna and family who live in Tacoma. Esther's brothers and families were also here, which made for a very full and merry household. On Wednesday, eight of us went snowboarding at Crystal where we experienced massive powder and snow all day. The ladies stayed home and enjoyed a day of leisure and shopping.

iPod Touch for Christmas

iPod Touch for Christmas
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

I have been enjoying my Christmas toy. Esther gave me an iPod Touch. After a year and a half of envying Don's iPhone features, I have joined the handheld fun. An iPod Touch is basically an iPhone without the phone, and the phone bill. There are thousands of applications available, and I'm only just beginning to explore them.

Bjorn and Jenny find out the gender of their child

My niece Bria caught the moment on video with her new camera.


It's A Girl! from Peter Bulthuis on Vimeo.

The Christmas Surprise

The Christmas surprise
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

We are doing lots of Christmas partying in Lynden with family between snow storms. Monday night was with the Bulthuis family and Wednesday night with the Eides. During our gift exchange Christmas Eve, Bjorn and Jenny opened a message from their OB/GYN, informing them of their child's gender. They have been waiting three weeks to open it, as have the rest of us. Only 4 of the 15 of us guessed right -- A Girl! Though most were expecting a boy, we are all thrilled that there will be a new Bulthuis girl in the family.

an early start to Christmas break

snow day
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

Like most people in Western Washington, we received a good dumping of snow this morning, along with frigid temperatures. School was cancelled today and tomorrow, giving us an extended start to the break. However, the road conditions are keeping us from working on Santa's sleigh load. Markus and I even got our 4x4 truck stuck in a ditch nearby. I am ashamed to admit it, but it took a friend with a chained up Chevy truck to pull our Toyota out. I was able to rip off some sheetrock in the rental basement. I think I fixed the leak, but things need to dry out before I patch it all up again. Esther is enjoying the extra time to spiff up the house for Christmas.

Old Cedar Forge

blacksmith tools
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

Our usual Christmas shopping adventure took a unique detour this weekend. Esther got word of a Blacksmith guild in Allyn that has an open house once a year. It is held at the home and shop of the master blacksmith, and includes demonstrations and a shop full of ironwork for sale. The house is amazing, with rustic decor and the blacksmith's craftsmanship. The grounds were packed with people, music and food: a real holiday community affair. Needless to say, we snagged a few gifts for Santa's sleigh before hitting the malls.

December outdoor duties

Stock's tree farm once again
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

Every year we pack up what's left of the Bulthuis family and visit the local tree farm. Pickings are getting slimmer these days at the farm, but tradition cries louder than aesthetics, so it's off to Stock's for tree and candy cane. I was also able to get all the lights on the roof today. I was glad that the rain held off. Light and dry are both scarce commodities in the Puget Sound winter, so when you get both at the same time, you make hay.

roof makeover

roof makeover
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

I have been anxious for several weeks now about re-roofing the backside of our rental house on the Thanksgiving break. Will the weather hold? Is there enough time to complete it? Well, after an iffy day yesterday, we decided to go for it today. We had lots of help with Tim and Josh deLacy helping and we completed the whole thing in one day: shake tear off, plywood sheeting and roofing. The fact that our current renter is a roofer helped make it go quick and smooth, especially when it came to shingling. We will wait until sumer to do the front half of the house as the shakes are not in as desperate shape. Thanksgiving was spent with the Bulthuis family at Doug and Pam's. It was a great afternoon and evening, and we were able to introduce Rob Nelson to the Lynden connection. He and his family just moved to Lynden as he has a new job at the border.

Norwegian birthday party

Norwegian birthday party
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

Esther's brother Mike and sister-in-law Marti both turn 50 this year, so Kay organized a big surprise party for them. It was a Norwegian dessert party with lefsa, krumkaka, marzipan cake, etc. About 50 guests came to the afternoon festivities. Mike and Marti were completely surprised as the friends that hosted the party pretended to pick them up for an afternoon in Vancouver; but after picking them up, pretended to have left their passports at home, dragging them to their house. The plan worked well. Thanks, Kay. On the way back from Lynden today, Markus and I joined a Harper Church tailgate party and Seahawks game at Qwest Field. For a while it looked as though the Seahawks might stay with the Redskins, but all to no avail as they choked with a last minute possession.

PLCs

The educational world is notorious for its in vogue jargon and acronyms. A current one is 'PLC' - Professional Learning Community. The last two days, I have been in Seattle with hundreds of other educators being instructed and inspired in how to develop PLCs in our schools. Essentially, PLCs are teams of educators (grade level teachers or subject unified teachers) that work together to analyze existing student performance and develop strategies to improve student learning (how's that for educationeeze!) More simply, it's teachers working together rather than just working in their own 'kingdoms.' Research shows that schools who have developed strong collaborative teams are having significant improvement in student performance. I actually enjoyed the conference and believe that our school will benefit from more structure in our collaboration. I got to experience the Seattle commute for a few days. The Vashon foot ferry makes it convenient for me to walk out my door onto the ferries which puts me downtown. It was about a half hour walk to the Weston Hotel, which was enjoyable exercise. I'm sure the commute would get old eventually; especially considering the hour and a half time each way.

Leavenworth

river walk - Leavenworth
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

This past couple of weeks have been a little hectic and I hope to get back in a regular blogging routine. My MacBook is back from the Apple store after having a hard drive replaced. I have been a little disappointed with the frequency of 'issues' with this laptop. The other four Apple laptops that I have purchased for the family in the last seven years have not had any 'issues'. Esther and I went on a day trip to Leavenworth last weekend. It was damp and cold, but we did get our Bavarian fix for the year. We also had the opportunity this weekend to visit Quest Church in Seattle where Markus attends. It is a merger of a Korean and Covenant Church near the Ballard bridge. The congregation is predominantly young and Asian. Pastor Cho had a very good sermon. He is a passionate and articulate communicator.

my beautiful bl?..brunette?

my beautiful bl?..brunette?
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

The scariest thing that came to our house Halloween was already in it! In honor of 'crazy hair day' at Orchard Heights, Esther gooped up her locks. I much prefer the blonde, but maybe it's just my familiarity. My accomplishment for the weekend was hauling my sailboat out of the water for the winter. Blue Wing is now cleaned and securely 'moored' beside the garage. Much of the last couple of weeks has been spent at our former house. The past renters of five years (has it really been that long?) moved out and we needed to get it ready for the new renters. Well, the new renters are in this weekend. They are a young couple with two young children. As we were cleaning this week, we decided that if we had to, we could move back. The 'lightness' of the main living area has a strong appeal for us.

The Intermediate Multiage Monsters

Mr. Moore and Mr. Bulthuis are having a very enjoyable year teaching 61 adorable students. To some, our children may appear strange, almost peculiar; but to us they are stunningly stellar students that fill our hearts with joy. You can check out our pool of pupils here.

another Buthuis?

a family weekend
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

The whole family came home to Southworth for the weekend. It was somewhat of a celebratory event as we were rejoicing in the announcement of a new Bulthuis entering the world next spring. Yes, you read it right, Esther and I will be grandparents! Though the young couple was not expecting the pregnancy, they are excited about the prospect of becoming parents. Jenny is doing well so far in the pregnancy; a little morning sickness, but otherwise, feeling pretty good. Her work in the early childhood program at Nooksack Elementary is going fine as well. Markus broke away from his busy college life to join us for Sunday. Esther had the additional treat of connecting with longtime friends who live in Montana and Bellingham. (she gloated in her 'gramma' status)

the year of the boat

the year of the boat
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

I recently read a book that I really enjoyed. Unlike my usual fare of epic sailing adventures, this book was about a local writer who took on the challenge of building a small wooden sailboat. The author is Lawrence Cheek, who lives in Seattle and writes travel books and magazine articles. With the skill of a wordsmith, the author describes his frustrations and joys of the boatbuilding project. It is not a book of building technique, but a diary of self-doubt and determination. He often digresses into philosophical musings about life which emanate from his boatbuilding. An added connection for me is his interaction with 'my boating world': the Puget Sound, Wooden Boat Festival, Sam Devlin boatyard near Olympia - settings with which I am very familiar. I have often contemplated building a wooden boat, and though I can't say that this book has inspired me to get started right away, it has given me a clearer picture of the challenges and rewards of taking on such a project.

Foothills Trail - 'take two'

September view of Rainier from Orting
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

This past June, Esther and I took along a couple of boys we were babysitting to the Foothills Trail near Orting. We didn't make it very far as it was quite hot and the boys were young. We loved the trail, and were anxious to explore it again someday. Well, we took the opportunity today to ride the entire 30 mile round trip trail from Puyallup to South Prairie and back. The weather was perfect: sunny, but a little cool. We thoroughly enjoyed the trail. It starts in farm country, goes through Orting and then follows the Carbon River and the foothills to South Prairie. This is definitely our favorite trail so far. Esther did great on her clunky old cheapo Murray. We've decided that she has earned the right to a new bike. Next spring we will have to go bike shopping for her. In other eventful news of the day, Markus departed Southworth for another year at SPU.

Leaders Hike

our classroom leaders at the lighthouse
Originally uploaded by Southworth Sailor

Once again our annual classroom leaders hike took the bad weather alternative to Dungeness Spit. On Saturday, Don and I took a dozen of our classroom leaders on a hike. Several parents also joined us for the ten mile round trip hike to the lighthouse and back. All of the kids made it; and in pretty good time! I think the lousy weather kept the kids from poking along on the beach too much. After the hike, we hit the excellent swimming pool in Sequim. We have a great bunch of fifth graders who help manage the 60 students in our classroom. The hike is something a little special we like to do for them. On Sunday, I had the opportunity to preach at our church. I spoke on the conscience: 'God's ally in the human soul.' By Sunday night, it felt like I had a seven day work week!