Dear Family and Friends,
Merry Christmas! Here’s the scoop on the Riener Family and what we’ve been up to this busy and CRAZY year.
Our family vacation this year was an extended weekend trip to Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Peshastin Pinnacles State Park, and Snohomish Falls. We especially loved Leavenworth, immersing ourselves in Bavarian culture and food. We also enjoyed the tour of the Snohomish railroad museum and seeing all the old trains.
We also made a trip to Grangeville, Idaho over the Thanksgiving weekend and had a mini-family reunion visiting Grandma Riener, Carleen, Richard, Richard III, Jodi, and Marty. We look forward to seeing more family at Christmas time.
In June, Anne and Ed celebrated their 20th Anniversary!!
Warm wishes,
-Ed, Anne, Michael, Steffen, and Joseph
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He practiced all year and was finally able to take and pass the state driver's test, so now he is a licensed driver. Michael also was able to get a part-time job working at Walmart as a cashier.
Michael loves to perform in musicals, choir, and play his guitar. His dream is to live in Nashville.
He also has decided he wants to serve on an LDS mission and recently completed the paperwork. We anticipate he will be leaving us in the early spring, but don't know where yet.
He's a straight ‘A’ student and especially loves math and science. When he grows up, he wants to do something with the sciences or possibly military intelligence. That's right - I'm raising a spy. :-)
He was in the honors program last year and was able to attend Project Citizen. The class project was on bullying. They won 2nd place at State. He plays trumpet in marching band, concert band, and pep band. He also won the honor of being in the top 10% of 8th graders in Mason county last year.
Steffen earned the rank of Eagle Scout, becoming the youngest (at 13) to earn it for our troop. Over the summer, he gave back to the scouting community by volunteering at Camp Hahobas for five weeks. He plans to return this year as a paid counselor.
He's struggling at school, but school has always been a challenge for him. However, we were able to get him an out-of-district transfer and he now attends a middle school that has been more recepetive to his needs and wants to see him succeed. He is currently being tested to see what areas he needs help. In the meantime, he has been receiving after-school tutoring in math and reading.
He likes to ride his bike, play video games, and perfom comedy. Joseph is very creative and likes to make stop animation videos. He also likes to do scouting activities, but doesn't really care about merit badges. He recently decided to follow in big brother's footsteps and joined band - as a drummer.