The Schwarthoff Family 2009

December, 2009

Frohe Weihnachten!

November, 2009

Dark season, bright news. The memory prices have gone up - there even is a DRAM shortage now, which means Micron is profitable again. No consolation for the many former employees. But much hard work has payed off.

The Philharmonsters was a Halloween Children's Concert by the Boise Philharmonic. It sparked new interest in little minds.

October, 2009

Swine flu, go away.

We are off to bike.

September, 2009

Are we out camping again? Yes, this time in eastern Oregon, not far from the Hell's Canyon gorge. High mountains, streams, lakes, huckleberries, not so many tourists.

Bicycling is getting interesting. Let's see what Mama thinks when I'm going faster!

Would you like some health care debate? The nation's citizens are tearing at each other over what to do about the United States having the highest per-capita health care cost in the world. We can do a lot of politics with that.

August, 2009

Red Fish lake once again. Barbequeue on Fridays, festivals, pools...

July, 2009

Sunshine brightens our days - it's gorgeous. The best time to head up into the mountains, where we spend a long weekend with 32 families from church at the foot of the beautiful Sawtooth range, celebrating, cooking, hiking, splashing in hot springs, and being cold at night.

June, 2009

Vacation time. A long drive south, to find half of Germany's travelers at Zion National Park. Camping is fun, and watching nature's beauty can be explained to the little ones, but it's not interesting until it makes lots of noise (like motorcycles).

After a week, the kids get their world, which is no bigger than a swimming pool. The city Las Vegas around it, though, has many things to see that keep everyone entertained.

May, 2009

How long the wait, until the rains stop, the waters disappear into the depths, and the sprinklers are all that makes the city green! Petra is in Germany to see some rain (for her 20 year highschool reunion), and we sit by Parkcenter Pond, throw out a fishing lure, and eat ice cream afterwards.

Helena is in an imitation stage the boys never had. In the bathtub, she lies down backwards, like her brothers do, and gets a panic fit, because her whole face goes underwater. At bedtime, she gets tackled by each brother for a goodnight kiss. That is if they can get her, since she senses what's happening and runs away giggling.

April, 2009

Easter sends the sun to Idaho. How wonderful that we can be outside, hunt Easter eggs, and celebrate twins' birthdays (4 years). Summer plans are in the works.

March, 2009

The lady has decided it's time to walk upright. That hands down bumped her up two notches on the cuteness scale. Within three weeks, she has become very confident on her two feet, running everywhere her brothers go. Today, she practiced setting fashion trends - daddy's underwear around her neck, and brothers' on the arm.

In the morning, I am riding to work in a freezer, despite spring being announced.

Micron has decided to close one production line in Boise, with more layoffs. Plus, more cost cutting is in the works, affecting everyone. Employee morale is falling to uncomfortable levels.

February, 2009

While we at Micron continue to torture our brains for new ways to cut costs, the winter sunshine pulls us out of the house and onto the trails. Helena gets around on her knees ("no, I don't like walking"), and all children are interested to see grandma and granddad over video link to Germany. Preschool for the boys seems like it's always been like that.

January, 2009

Germany was quite a time! So good to see all grandparents for a while. The number of uncles, aunts, cousins, and German friends was too large for little brains. And, EUREKA!, all went as planned, with no limbs, relatives, suitcases lost.

It was so cold that the castle moats in Luedinghausen froze over, prompting a veritable skater's fest. Mulled wine was available for one fifty, announced by a fanfare.

The economy has started to breathe hard. Especially memory makers like Micron have to cut back severely. We must save every penny. Watch the news to see what's happening - things are changing.

Copyright Hubert Schwarthoff