Happy New Year 2014!

Happy 2014 everyone,
It has been a busy couple of years since our last post, but wanted to let you know we are all doing well. Doug is still working as a hockey director overseeing youth hockey in the area, Keri is still working at T-Mobile, Kourtney is a high school senior, an IB candidate and the VP Communications for DECA and Alexa is a high school freshman and her soccer team won the GU14 USYS National Championship in July 2013.  Last, Tucker is an adorable new addition to our family!
We wish you all a HAPPY & HEALTHY 2014!
~ The Kirtons

Happy New Year 2012!

West Seattle jumping, Whistler skiing & Straubing, Germany visiting!

Happy Holidays!!

We had a great Fall with the girls entering into 10th and 7th grades and both playing Fall soccer. In November we were thankful for a clean PET/CT scan for Keri. In December, we spent a week in Whistler with family, and the last day of the year, skiing at Crystal Mountain with friends!

Photo taken with a T-Mobile myTouch4G Slide.

We hope you all have a HEALTHY, HAPPY 2012!

Cheers,
The Kirton Family!

PS Next update will be in the Summer 2012!

2011 Spring - Summer Update

Hi all,
It has been a busy Spring/Summer for the Kirton family. Here are the highlights:

Frankfurt, Germany

Kids: Year end school grades were all A's for both of them, Yay! Soccer tryouts: Both made the same teams they were on before, Yay! Kourtney has her driver's permit...Yikes. Alexa got braces..ouch! Keeping us busy with all their activities & lots of fun times!

West Seattle

Parents: Clean bills of health after Doug's knee surgery & Keri celebrated being cancer free for 2 yrs- April. Doug saw U2 in Denver with his sister, Deb and brother-in-law, Alan, amazing! We also celebrated 17 yrs of marriage in July the same time Doug's brother, Scott, visited with his girlfriend, Danah.

Sinsheim, Germany

Vacations: Spring Break- Palm Springs, fun times. Summer- Germany -Women's World Cup Game (USA vs Columbia) unbelievable, and staying with life-long friends (Fleischmanns) was like home away from home!


EFC '98-Red

Summer Soccer Tournaments: Kourtney - 2: Kent (1 pt from final) and Bigfoot. Alexa- 3: Crossfire Challenge- Finalists, Slammers Futbol Classic -Semi finalists, Mustang Stampede Champions!


September and another school year (7th & 10th grades) are just around the corner, we wish you all the best of health and happiness! Next update will be after the holidays!
Love,
The Kirtons

Jan-March updates

Hi all,
Transitioning to a quarterly update seems a bit more realistic for us to maintain. At the end of the day, Q1 2011 was a good one with lots of sports and b-days for all of us!

Kourtney: Her ISC select soccer team came in 2nd in State. She went to her first HS dance: Tolo and now she is playing Skyline HS JV tennis. In March, she turned 15 and started Driver's Ed.

Alexa: Turned 12 in Feb. Her EFC team lost in the semi's of an AZ President's day tournament and NWCL playoffs, but then they won RCL Spring league and are now about to start State Cup. Her basketball team lost in the semi's of the league playoff tourney and now she is on a Spring select b-ball tournament team.

Keri: Turned early 40-something in Jan. Coached Kourtney's team to the state finals and is now taking the spring off from coaching. T-Mobile is in the midst of being acquired by at&t, so after about 9 years with TMO, we have about 12 months to see how that plays out. She still has a clean bill of health! :-)

Doug: Turned mid-40s in March. Directed a bunch of youth hockey tournaments and while playing "lunch" hockey, strained his MCL, but no surgery needed, just rehab.

Buddy: Still protecting us and going on his "Walk-abouts" whenever possible. We recently learned he has arrhythmia, so he needs to be careful and stop chasing the deer!

We hope you have a wonderful Spring!

The Kirtons

October & November update

Hi everyone,

We haven't secured this blog yet since we have to type out every email address that we would want access to it, and well, that will take a lot of time, so on w/ the update.

Birthdays: Oct 2nd was Keri's dad, Bob's, Oct 3rd was Doug's mom, Norma's, Oct 4th was Doug's brother, Scott's, and Oct 17th was Keri's mom's husband, Carl's birthday, Nov 14th was Doug's dad, Doug Sr.'s birthday. Alles Gute Zum Geburtstag everyone!

We decided to have a professional family photo session on Sunday, Oct 3rd by Gina, ginamazzaferrophotography.com , since after going to the dermatologist, it was discovered that Keri had a basal cell carcinoma under the left eye. So knowing that she would have a scar very soon, once removed, she wanted to get a "before" family photo.  Plus we have never really done one like this before.  Look for our Christmas card to be a nice one :-)

In Oct., the girls had so many sports games, it is hard to keep track, so between Kourtney's high school soccer, Alexa's 2 soccer leagues and select basketball and our cousin, Sean's, Skyline HS football games, we were busy nightly with some activity. We even went to the UW vs OSU game with my dad, Andi and the Andersons...what a game!!

Doug visited his sister, Deb, in Denver and made an appearance at our Colorado College 20th year reunion  (Class of 1990) and met up with some of our good friends from back in the day. He also met with some USA Hockey friends, old coaches, etc. He was also lucky enough to go to a Craig Hospital gala with Deb and Alan that he is still talking about how cool it was, the venue, the food, the entertainment and the company.

Keri ended up getting Moh's surgery on Oct 25th to remove the basal cell carcinoma. The Moh's surgeon had to go in 3 times to remove all the cancer, and ended up taking about a quarter size chunk of skin. Then the plastic surgeon made an incision an inch or so long from the corner of her eye to the crease of her nose. The next week, through Halloween, Keri had a black & swollen eye, but it's healing nicely.
For Halloween, the girls went out as an '80s aerobic instructor and a carrot.

November saw Doug going to Chicago for a USA Hockey seminar while Alexa's b-ball team won the Skyline Tip-off tournament over Veteran's day weekend -so much fun!  Kourtney's high school soccer ended with her being the 3rd top goal scorer on her team and then her ISC Arsenal '95 select team started up immediately.

Keri had one more surgery to remove a polyp that had been causing issues during her monthly treatments. It was a routine, go-under, out-patient surgery on 11/23 at Northwest Hospital -right in the middle of the Seattle snow storm and she was able to rest/work from home due to the snow throughout Thanksgiving week and weekend.

We had another wonderfully yummy Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Tracie's; Friday Alexa had another b-ball tournament; Sat. we went to the most exciting HS football game we've ever seen when Skyline beat Curtis 35-34; and Sun., we hit the slopes of Snoqualmie- so easy - 30 minutes and we were on the mountain! 

Never a dull moment and in a blink of an eye, Oct. & Nov. are over.

December is upon us and we are busy scheduling all the sports games, holiday parties, skiing trips -Whistler, another PET/CT, and more house plans......should be an exciting holiday season!

We will have a Holiday blog Update sometime in Dec. so check back!

Happy, Healthy, Holidays everyone!
-Keri, Doug, Kourtney and Alexa (& Buddy)

September update

Hi Everyone,
Well, I think we are going to make this blog a bit more secure. So after this month, you may have to log on and request to be added to our list in order to see the blog, it is just a bit safer to control who can see it :-) Thanks for your understanding.

September saw all of us getting back to the routine of school, work, carpools & sports. We (D&K) are now fans of multiple Skyline sports: girl's soccer, football and girl's select basketball. So every day of the week, it is either soccer, basketball practices/games or the Friday night lights of high school football :-)

We hope you have a great Fall!

-The Kirtons :-)

August update -2010

Hi :-)

The last month of Summer was a good one. It started out with Alexa's soccer tournament in NO CA, called the Mustang Stampede. They won 1 game and lost 2 games. Keri was able to visit with her college teammate - Tami Lightle (Carteen) and Glenda & Carl also came down to watch! Now, Alexa's EFC fall season starts in Sept. and she'll have tryouts for the 6th gr. Skyline select Basketball team too.

Next came Kourtney's "Big Foot" tournament, where the team was 1 PK from the Finals. (Kourts made her PK :-) But they had a great time camping, dancing and playing in the river, along with playing soccer. The next day, Kourtney's entire team was off to High School soccer tryouts. Kourtney made the Freshman/Soph. team with a few friends. It should be a good HS season! Her ISC team starts again in November.

Doug spent a week in Germany, brushing up on his Bravarian German, and playing in an "Oldtimer/All-star" game. The Straubing paper was having its 150 Anniversary and flew him in for the occasion. He had a GREAT time visiting with all of our friends and enjoyed celebrating the town's Volksfest (Oktoberfest-like). Straubing lost the game 11-8 or something like that, Doug had 3 assists, not bad for an old guy, who got put on the line with current DEL players.  Also, Happy B-day to Noah, who turned 15 on the 11th!

Last, both girls started school on Tues., Aug 31. Kourtney is a Freshman and Alexa is a sixth grader. The first day was very exciting, they both only got lost a couple of times, but survived!

Keri is still NED and her GM-CSF treatment is ongoing and seems to be keeping her CLEAN, just like we like it!! Thanks for your continued support!

Take Care and Happy Fall!

Go UW,  Go Skyline, Go EFC, Go ISC, Go Bulldogs!

~ The Kirtons

July update

Hi all :-)

July was full of fun!  We spent the 4th of July up at our wonderful neighbors (the Perlas) family's place in North Bend. Later that week, Keri got fitted for and received a new lymph massage machine called, Flexitouch, now she gets daily a electronic lymph drainage massage on her left leg. Ya! 

Then in mid-July, we went out with our good friends, the Bryants, on their boat and toured Lake Washington, got pulled on a 3-man inter tube and had dinner on the water in Kirkland -fun times!!

Then, Alexa went to So CA for a soccer tournament called Slammers. They won 1 game & lost 2.  We just wish those darn CA and Hawaii teams will come play us in the rain, then we'll see how they handle the elements! 

The next day, after Alexa returned, she and Kourtney flew off to Canada to visit their grandparents, Aunt Angie and cousin Bella. Alexa stayed for 10 days and Kourtney for 15. Doug also went to Canada a few days later for an Orillia Travelways national championship team reunion. They also visited our good friends, Earle and Michelle.  Jessica Rankin turned 18 on July 21st - HBD Jess! Keri enjoyed 5 days of quiet and hanging out with Buddy and then she celebrated 8 years with T-Mobile. Doug and Alexa returned in time to for Keri and Doug to celebrate their sweet 16th wedding anniversary on July 30th. 

Thanks & Happy Summer! ~ The Kirtons

June Update

Hi everyone,

June is full of celebrations!! 

At the beginning of June, Alexa and I went on her 5th grade camping trip for 3 days at Camp Warm Beach! We had a great time - the last horrah of Grade school for our family! Alexa was then invited by her good friend, Anna, to go to the Sounders game, where her Coach, Michelle French, was the recipient of the "Golden Scarf"! A video was played on the big screen showing all of her accomplishments and it also included a photo that had Alexa & a couple teammates in it :-)

After that excitement, we move into the "graduation" stage....all 6 kids of the Kirton & Rankin clans are moving on to the next phase in their lives: Connor graduated from College, Pierce was drafted in the 38th round by the Toronto Blue Jays and is now playing for the Gulf Coast Blue Jay's in Florida, Jessica graduated from High School, Noah and Kourtney are now moving into High school and Alexa is moving into Middle School. Good luck to all of them, boy they grow up fast!

 

Doug was invited back by the Straubing Tigers in Germany to come play in a game against their rival town, Deggendorf, in "oldie/All-star" hockey game. He will be going in mid-August. It will be the first time back for him since he left in 2001.

We celebrated Father's day by going to a soccer tournament with Kourtney's team in Burlington. We also hosted a big party for my Aunt Tracie, who turned 50 yrs old this month, she doesn't look a day over 35 though! And Alexa's soccer team had a tournament and just missed making to the finals, but now are getting ready for a CA tourney mid-July.

Last, I had my 6 month PET/CT on June 22nd and it came back CLEAR again!! I now have had 4 clear scans since July 2009. We are all very relieved and excited with this news. I will continue to take my GM-CSF shots and regular check-ups. Thank you for all your support!

Happy SUMMER everyone!
The Kirtons! 

May update

Hi everyone,

May started off with going to Safeco field to watch UW play Stanford. Pierce Rankin, Keri's nephew, plays for the UW.  Then on 5/17 we all went to the M's game in a sweet suite w/ Mom and Carl, Rankins, Aunt Deb & the Clines on 5/17.....Alexa, Kourts, Deb (who visited for 2 weeks in May :-)  and Doug were cheering for Toronto? Who invited them ;-)  M's lost  :-(

Alexa finished up Spring Basketball with an undefeated season & winning the playoffs. She also had her 5th grade concert where she played th guitar to the Beatles.

Kourtney finished up w/ Middle School track.  Also, Kourts and a couple friends (Megan and Monica), from her soccer team, participated in the Relay for Life 5/22-5/23  Eastlake HS -for Cancer and walked from 11am - 7am. They were The Mosquitoes (because cancer sucks!) We were so proud of them and after pulling an-all-nighter, they had a soccer scrimmage the next morning! What troopers!

My college roomate, Kristen Whitcomb Pochipinski, came to visit for a night w/ her son and quickly gave Kourtney her first driving lesson....letting her drive the rental car...backing it out of our driveway. Yikes!

Last I went to the Northwest Melanoma Symposium w/ my mom and listened to many SCCA doctors, (Dr. Byrd & Dr. Yee), talk about the newer treatments they have for advanced melanoma. I am already involved with Dr. Yee's T-Cell trial in case I ever need it and then they discussed the new drug Ipilimumab- soon to be approved by the FDA and a treatment I could possibly go on, once approved. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-06-07-melanoma07_ST_N.htm Those symposiums always hit me with statistics that make me realize that every day is a blessing :-) I have now been on GM-CSF for a year and still NED - 13 months and going strong :-) I will have my next PET/CT at the end of June.

Thanks all - more exciting news to come in the June update!

-Keri

April update

Hi all :-)
April updates are going to be quick, as we are almost through May...:-)

We spent Easter with Aunt Tracie and family. Wow, what an amazing cook she is....we brought the wine ;-)

Alexa's soccer team played in the Semi's of State cup and lost 2-1 in a close game. It was only their 2nd loss of the year, so it was very emotional. Ugh! They then had a 6-day break before "tryouts" for the next season....Crazy, but exciting. She made her team again, so she has another year with Eastside FC & Michelle French, we are very fortunate!  Alexa also played many of her Spring basketball games in April with her Skyline Spartan team. This photo was snapped & put on the home page of the basketball league's website and as her uncle Scotty said "that girl had no chance". 

Kourtney had soccer tryouts as well and made the ISC Red team and has continued to take tennis lessons. She is running track for BLMS and brought home another straight A report card :-)

Pierce had his 21st B-day on the 26th...wow these darn kids grow up fast!

Happy April everyone!

-The Kirtons! 

March update

Hi everyone,
Here is our March update:

Alexa had soccer and basketball games every weekend. Her basketball team ended up winning their league championship playoff tournament by winning by 1 point in the Finals.  Then her soccer team ended their Spring league and started their Challenge Cup state tournament games with 3 games in Vancouver, WA and we were visited by my cousins (Corey and Todd), wives (Geri and Misty) and son (Brandon). By the end of March, her team made it to the semi's to be played on April 10th. 

Kourtney had her 14th b-day on the 19th and celebrated by going to Gene Juarez for some pampering, manicure, pedicure & make-up application. Then we had a few friends / family over for cake. Yummy!  The ISC soccer team she was playing on made it to the quarter finals of the silver division Challenge cup before being eliminated. Her middle school soccer team, in the inaugural season, went undefeated with Kourtney scoring 6 goals in 6 games.

 This photo of her using her left foot looks like me in 1985 when I was at Lakeside....check it out :-)

 

Doug celebrated his 44th birthday a couple days after Kourtney's. I took my first business trip in a while, I went to Chicago for 3 days mid-March.  I am still taking my GM-CSF shot treatment (2weeks on/off) and now am on high dose Vitamin D to get me back up to a normal levels. Wow, what  a difference!  I feel much better, it makes sense that I was low in Vit. D since I have been avoiding the sun ;-)

We ended March with the girls' Spring Break and went to NJ/NY for a few reasons : 1) to visit the Pelkola family, friends that moved there 1.5 yrs ago. Patty & Scott, Grace & Anja  2) I was able to visit my new account for work 3) to see NYC city sites - we saw Letterman & Wicked, we visited Carlos Bake Shop (Cake Boss on TLC), the Empire State Building, little italy, Wall Street & Times Square. We took trains, taxis, a ferry past the Statue of Liberty and the subway.

Here is a slide show of our trip for those relatives that want to see it!  http://smilebox.com/playEmail/4d5459784d6a55344d6a633d0d0a&sb=1 

Thanks all!

-The Kirtons

PS Also Happy Birthday to Connor- 3/16, Bob R.-3/20 & Kim- 3/28!

Fabulous February Update

Hi all,

I don't think we have ever had such an action-packed month as we just did!

Kourtney was cleared to play soccer again 5 weeks after she broke her collar bone, but her soccer team lost in the quarter finals of State, just before she was able to play.  But she is back now and playing on 3 teams, so she has practice every day for middle school soccer and then at least 2 games a weekend and one game during the week. She also is back playing tennis too and just registered for high school classes.....I can't believe that!

Alexa, along with turning 11 years old and having her Uncle Scotty and his girlfriend, Danah, visit us from Calgary, was literally busy every day with either soccer or basketball (or both). Her basketball team played their last game of the season today and won to solidify 2nd place in their league! She will have her Basketball playoffs the first weekend of March. Her soccer team has also solidified 2nd place in the PDL Spring League, they start State cup mid-March with a trip down to Camus, WA for 2 games over that weekend.

The highlight of the month and one of the best vacations ever, was our trip to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics! We stayed with Deb, Doug's sister, in her apartment, downtown Vancouver!!! First, Doug & Deb watched Shawn White win Gold in the half pipe, thanks to Alan getting them great tickets. Then we all watched the USA beat Norway in men's hockey.

Us girls then got to go watch Evan Lysacek win the Gold for the USA in the Men's long program -thrilling! While Doug made his way into the "sold out" Molson Hockey House to meet up with his college roommate Chris, and watch on the big screens, the Canadian team win in a shoot-out. Alan flew in from Denver that night & joined Doug and got VIP treatment - again, not sure how they worked all of that, but there is a story behind it all! Doug, Deb and Alan then watched Germany play Belarus in men's hockey, after visiting and getting into the German Saxony House - in the Vancouver Yacht Club - spectacular view and another story can be told on how they got in there despite the VERY long line.

Last seeing the cauldron and doing a ton of shopping rounded out the 5 day winter vacation for the Kirtons! Gotta love the Olympic red mittens!!!

Doug played in the Microsoft All-Star/Celebrity Challenge, 2/27, and his team won in a shoot out, but Doug wasn't able to find the net this time around, he now has no room for getting on the girls about missing shots ;-) Last, I had my yearly brain MRI, 2/22,  and it came back CLEAR again, so we all are very happy about that fact!

So all month we have had much to celebrate and be thankful for......except for the outcome of the Gold Medal Men's hockey game....oh well, at least 3 out of us 4 Kirtons were happy with it!

Thanks all! Until next month!

-Keri