Snow, Snow Go Away Come Again Another Day!

Today is day six of snow here in the Pacific Northwest and it is finally starting to melt...yippppppeeeeeee!

The kids have been out of school for six days and believe me when I say it is time to go back to school.

The below photos don't even begin to show the snow we had, today is my day off and I finally had a chance to take some photos, the problem is now it is starting to melt.

Don't get me wrong I love the snow, it has been very pretty to watch but I would have been happy with just a couple of days of it. Now it is time for the snow to go bye bye!


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Alex Favorite Thing To Do

For Christmas the family received an X-Box 360 from santa...Thanks a lot Santa, we owe you one. Alex has always loved video games but the 360 takes it to a new level. I guess you could say Alex is an X-Box 360 addict.



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Sky Showing Off...

His Christmas present from big sis Melissa. Melissa got everyone huskies presents from the company she works for, The Huskies Headquarters in the U District.




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Sky Primping

It starts so young....I swear it takes Skyler and Alex longer to get themselves ready in the morning than any of the rest of us. Between the three boys we go through a bottle of hair gel every week!



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Merry Christmas From the Sampson Family

Dear family and friends,

What a year 2006 has been, full of new challenges and changes. At the beginning of 2006 we were beginning our third year in Vancouver Washington. As 2006 comes to an end we find ourselves in more familiar surroundings and back home in Shoreline Washington. Here is a brief year in review from our family.

The first part of the year brought Melissa home from college after being away from home and our family for her senior year of high school and her first semester of college. We missed her very much and love having her home with us again. On the flip side was the challenge of Steve’s Fathers failing health, and his ultimate passing away in early February. Although it was a sad time, it was also a time of strength and a faith building experience for our family. We find it so very comforting that Blaine and Eleanor are back together again and back in the presence of our Heavenly Father.

Melissa has taken part of the year off from school to reevaluate her plans while working fulltime. She’s taking marketing classes at Shoreline Community College while she decides what she wants to do. While in Vancouver Melissa worked for the GI Joe’s Sporting Goods Flag ship store in Portland as department lead. Before moving back to Shoreline, Melissa secured a job with the Husky Headquarters in the U-district where she was the store manager. We said was because Melissa has just been promoted to Merchandising Manager for all six stores. This is a position of considerable responsibility for a 19-year-old kid. We’re so proud of her! She has so much going for her and she’ll be a great success in anything she undertakes.

Kyle is in his junior year of high school at his mom and dad’s old high school rival, Shorewood, where he has been able to reconnect with many of his childhood friends he’s grown up with. Kyle left behind some very good friends in Vancouver that he continues to keep in touch with. Kyle is enjoying his junior year of high school where his favorite classes are social psychology and photography. This year is also a milestone for Kyle. He turned 16 and completed drivers ed! He’ll be getting his drivers license as soon as his waiting period is up in a few months. That will certainly increase his independence and open up a whole new world of adventure for both Kyle and his parents.

Alex continues to be an incredible kid. It is truly amazing to see how well he is doing considering all he has over come in his short life. Alex is in the third grade back at Echo Lake where he went to Kindergarten. Last year for Christmas Alex received a pocket bike (mini motor cycle) from Santa that he enjoys getting out and riding as often as possible. He picked up on riding very fast and shows quite a knack for it; much to his dad’s pleasure…looks like we have another potential racer in the family. Alex also enjoys playing on the computer and video games, which he usually masters in one or two days.

It’s been a big year for Skyler. He started first grade this year and loves school and loves his teacher, Mrs. Nichols. Skyler is a fireball of energy. Never slowing down, he even moves in his sleep. Skyler favorite past times are playing with our cat, dog and rat, and playing on the computer, video games and riding his bike. Oh, and keeping his older brothers on their toes. He always has to be in the thick of things. If we only had all his energy!! Skyler is showing a very competitive nature giving both of his brothers a run for the money.

The beginning of this year found Lisa speaking with State Legislators regarding WASL issues in addition to protesting at the state capital along with other locations around the state. Lisa still sits on the board of directors for Parent Empowerment Network where she fights for the rights of children in our education system. Lisa has been published in numerous newspapers around the state and continues to speak publicly on educational issues and counsel parents helping them to navigate the educational system. A month before moving back to Shoreline Lisa accepted the store manager position for the Alderwood Romy Boutique. Romy is a European style fashion boutique for women. Lisa loves her job and the team she works with and hopes to move up quickly in this new company. In addition Lisa is back in the scouting program as bear den mother for Alex’s Cub Scout Bear den, adding to Lisa’s all ready busy schedule.

The first half of he year saw continued growth and profitability for Steve’s company, ES&A in Portland, OR. It also saw continues efforts by one of their Portland competitors to recruit Steve to run that company’s Seattle division. When Steve started his position with ES&A in December 2003 it was with the understanding that this company would be re-establishing their Seattle offices and move us back to Seattle within two to three years. However, after over two years it became apparent that it would likely be much longer before his company would be able to move back into the Seattle Market. While we enjoyed living in the Portland – Vancouver area, it was always our plan to ultimately return home to Seattle, sooner rather than later.

In April Steve began to seriously consider accepting a position with Heath Northwest in Seattle. After several meetings with the owners and a visit to their Seattle offices, we decided to accept their generous offer and move our family back home to Seattle. This was a very difficult decision for Steve as he was seeing some great successes at ES&A and felt loyal to them. But the lure of moving back home and working for great company, offering a better a compensation package really made this decision a no brainer for us. They even paid for professional movers to move us, so we didn’t even have to contend with the always-tedious ordeal of moving ourselves. We simply packed boxes and directed the movers where to put everything. Steve started his position as Vice President of Sales for Heath Northwest the first week of August. Although he has his work cut out for him, he has a great staff and the full support of their parent company backing him. He has already seen some great success and has landed some great accounts, and the coming New Year is looking to be a promising one for his business.

We feel blessed to have such a wonderful family and fortunate for all the blessings we have received, as well as for the challenges we have endured and overcome this past year. We wish all of our family and friends a very merry Christmas and a joyous, healthy and prosperous New Year.

All our love,

Steve, Lisa, Melissa, Kyle, Alex and Skyler Sampson

Melissa and Her Poor Car

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Just when you think things are going great...BAM

While Melissa was in Seattle on Tuesday interviewing for jobs she was in a car accident on Highway 99. First let me say she is okay, just a little sore and bruised but it could have been worse and when you see the photos you will understand why.

The women that hit Melissa traveled across 4 lanes of traffic doing about 40 miles per hour and hit Melissa in the driver side door. The police and fire department where called and the lady was ticketed. Melissa limped the car home to grandma and grandpa while we started the process of filing claims.

The ladies insurance company has been awful to deal with refusing until today to issue her a rental car. I think the BBB complaint we made yesterday aided in getting the car today.

Now here is the topper and it is pretty unbelievable, the insurance company after talking to Melissa and the women who hit her has determined that Melissa is 10% at fault for the accident because she didn't use "evasive action" to get out of the womens way who had travels over four lanes and hit her. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT! Melissa didn't see the women coming until right before she was hit. Now take into account that the lady hit Melissa square in the center of her car and if Melissa could have use "evasive action" she still would have been either hit in the front of the car or the back of the car. Who knows it could have been even worse than it was. The insurance adjuster has made this determination with out seeing the police report or talking to the witnesses so we feel that when this info is out they will reverse their decission and if they don't than we will get a lawyer. There is no way that Melissa is going to have this on her record, she did nothing wrong, she was simply driving down the road.

UNBELIEVABLE! The good thing is Melissa is okay and on her way home tonight. I will post photos of her car later tonight.

Just so you all know the insurance company that is giving us a hard time is AARP Hartford.

Going Home!

Well it is official we are coming home!!

After moving to Vancouver almost three years ago, it is time to go home! When we moved to Vancouver we knew it was only temporary and that we would be back home.

I can't wait, and either can Melissa or Kyle. Steve would have liked to have stayed in Vancouver, but honestly I think it is only because of how close we live to the race track. Now instead of a 10 minute drive to go racing it will be a 45 minute drive to race. Alex and Sky are really too young to really know the differance. Although Alex is showing signs of his anxiety again, I hope the SM doesn't come back in full force but I am expecting a little of it. Whatever may come we will deal with it as always.

I never did feel like I fit in here, like I did in Seattle, although I have met some great people here and have been super successful in fighting the WASL here. Now it is time to put my energy else where...watch out Shoreline here I come.

I think my mind set changed from thinking yes I could live here in Vancouver to NO WAY I want to go home when I had a shot gun point at me at my house and a creep tried to push his way into our home. And to think we live in a nice area in Vancouver. It was at that point that all I could think off was going home where I have family, friends and support. I didn't have that here and dealing with the trauma of thinking I could have died by gun shot wound was just to much to handle.

So we will be moving on the 3rd and 4th of August. Steve will start his new job with Heath Northwest at the Portland office on July 31st and then start managing the Seattle office on August 7th where he will be the Vice President of Sales. That same monday the 7th I will begin my career with Romy Boutique as the store manager and I am truly looking forward to this opportunity. Melissa will start a job as assistant manager of the Dawg Pound (Husky shop) in the U district.

It is going to be a challenging year but one that I look forward to.

Seven days and counting until the move....hummmm, maybe I should get packing.

Happy 6th Birthday Skyler!!!

Our Rose Cup Weekend

Before I post how the race went this weekend I want to post the reason we did this. It was another venue to bring attention to our cause. To let parents who don't feel good about the WASL, but don't know where to turn, know that they are not alone and that there is a organization fighting for their children's rights.

This race may have been in Portland but being right next to Vancouver many people from our state attend this event. I was able to talk with many people from Washington at this event and then there will be all the people reach through the article in the paper.

This venue was our way of "thinking outside the box" something that our state is no longer allowing our children to do, but as parents we need to encourage in our children. We need to think outside the box to get our message out that WASL is a flawed test and if that means throwing a anti WASL emblem on a race car and entering it in the Rose Cup than so be it. This emblem will be on all my husbands races for the rest of this year and we will be racing again in Portland, in Seattle, and in Mission BC. Parents need to know they are not alone!

We had the photographer from the Columbian with us for a couple of hours, but then again he was a car nut so that was to be expected. The reporter was with us for just under an hour. He had no experience with the WASL at all, he is a general reporter not an education reporter but he still did okay in his reporting.

To put this race in perspective, my husband normally races in the ITE class where he places in the top three, these are similar cars in speed and capabilities.

This weekend he raced in the Rose Cup which is an SPO classes. This class has some seriously fast cars, but was a chance in a life time to mix it up with these fast cars.

The track is 1.964 miles long.

The top three races cars were as follows:
1st place Chevy Monte Carlo, specially built race car...fastest lap time 1:13.230
2nd place Dodge Viper...fastest lap time 1:15.771
3rd place Porsche 962...faster lap time 1:13.965

Steve placed 23 out of 41 cars ( the Columbian had the wrong number of cars)...his fastest lap time was 1:27.423

As you can see this comes down to seconds!

In this race there were 2 Monte Carlo, 4 Vipers, 1 Corvette, 2 Pont Grand Prix, 1 Mustangs, 13 Porsche, 5 Panoz GTS, 2 Cobras, 2 Camaros, 3 RX7 just to name a few.

One of the highlights of this weekend was talking with students who have taken the WASL and hear their stories, it just made me want to fight this test all the more. I talk with one 19 year old who was a 4.0 student all through high school yet failed all three sections of the WASL. Like she said to me, if I was graduating in the class of 2008 I would not be getting my diploma yet I worked hard in school and had a 4.0 GPA. Another told me how she threw up each day before the WASL this year and was sick to her stomach through all the testing, she said she barely ate during WASL time. She said she didn't have her scores yet, but figured she didn't pass, she said there was stuff in the Math WASL that she has not yet learned. Another family talked to me about the stress this test was causing in there family and was happy to know there was an organization fighting this test. I could go on and on!

Despite the comments made in the comment section on the Web site of the Columbian, I feel the weekend was a success. We were able to touch many families and got our name in the newspaper once again. Now there is not a shadow of a doubt in my mind that Johns Laird's Fathers Against Mothers Against WASL will rear it's ugly head this week, that is to be expected from the bias Columbian Newspaper that is pro WASL! But I will hold my head up high knowing that we got our message out down here in Vancouver.


http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/06122006news35244.cfm

Taking it to the test

Monday, June 12, 2006

PORTLAND -- Lisa Sampson is putting her foot down about the Washington Assessment of Student Learning exam.

Her husband, Steve, helped out by putting his foot down on the gas pedal at Portland International Raceway this weekend.

An Oregon racetrack might seem a strange place to tell Washington parents about the test, but Sampson had a good reason for being there. Her group, Mothers Against WASL, sponsored a car competing in the Rose Cup race.

The black 1994 Chevrolet Camaro Z28, which hits speeds of 120 mph, was adorned with the group's "WASL-busters" logo. It was driven by Steve Sampson.

While others might take a more traditional route for their cause, Sampson had the idea of decorating her husband's race car.

"We decided to do it a couple of weeks ago," she said as engines revved in the track's pit area.

Putting the logo on the car is just another way of spreading the word, said Lisa Sampson, who is an executive board member for the organization.

The response from race fans was good all weekend long. A lot of parents don't like the exam, but they don't know how to oppose it, she said.

Sampson was ready to tell them how. Parents can request that the test not be administered to their child, she said. She also told parents that they could request copies of their child's test.

Sampson isn't opposed to testing, she's just against the WASL.

"It's a flawed test, it doesn't measure basic skills," she said as race cars slowly drove past her after the race.

She has also said that the exam tests how students think as opposed to what they know.

It's not a standardized "bubble test" that many adults took when they were in school. "It's a very subjective test" that is graded by people who aren't educators, she said.

Honor students have failed it, a test that they should easily pass, she added.

And high school students shouldn't be required to pass the test in order to graduate, she said.

Sampson has opted her son out of the test at Mountain View High School. And she plans on doing the same for her other children, who attend Ellsworth Elementary School.

"Why subject your child to a flawed test?"

Meanwhile, Steve Sampson had his own version of a pass/fail test to worry about and finished 23rd out of 51 racers. He didn't do too badly, considering that the amateur driver was racing much faster cars than he usually does.

A Chevrolet Monte Carlo that is "scary fast" won the race, he said. A Dodge Viper came in second overall.

Jose Paul Corona can be reached at 360-759-8038 or jose.corona@columbian.com.

So that ladies and gentleman is my weekend Rose Cup Report!

Two weekends at the Race Track

Happy 16th Birthday to Kyle

Watch out world....driving and dating!!!

Kaylee Putting a Flag on Grandma and Grandpa Sampson's Graves

I am sure Grandma and Grandpa Sampson were looking down on Kaylee putting a flag on their graves with the biggest grins!

Thank you Andrea for the wonderful photo, truely a memory maker!

Today was Dad and Alex Day!

What a fun day for Alex today, he went out with Dad to breakfast to McDonalds and then went to the race track to watch the pocket bike races to see if this is something he would like to do...you guessed it, he wants to race pocket bikes.

After lunch dad loaded up the pocket bikes and Alex, Skyler and Dad went riding, Alex had an off day with riding, he crashed three times, but he is just fine, I am just gald we made him change into long pants instead of the shorts he was wearing earlier.

Later that day Dad and Alex went to what Alex calls the beach, it is an area on the Columbian river that Alex likes to play at. The above photos are of Alex at his beach.

Tommorrow is Dad and Skyler Day!

Alex's Swimming 9th Birthday Party

For Alex's 9th birthday he wanted to go to the local pool with his friends for swimming. Although they didn't swim...they did however slide, and slide and slide some more down the water slide.

Then it was back home for rootbeer floats and playing around. Alex had a great time with his buddies...Trevor, Matthew, Cody, Paul!!!

Steve is back on the track!!!

After taking a year off from racing to rebuild his race engine that he blew in a race the previous year, Steve is back and doing GREAT!

Steve's first race of the season was last weekend and he not only won 1st place in his class but also 1st place in his race. Way to go Steve!

Steve is incredible to watch on the race track and we invite all our friends and family to come and check him out...you won't be sorry!

If you would like to keep up to speed on Steve and his racing you can go to his racing blog at http://stevesampson.blogspot.com

Way to go Steve....Watch out racers Steve is back!

The Boys On Their Pocket Bikes...These Things Really Move...30+ Miles Per Hour!!!

Alex wants to race his pocket bike, so we are in the process of checking that out to see what it involves time wise and cost wise. Alex is pretty fearless on his bike so he would probably do really well!

Our Family Mission Statement

The mission of our family is...

to create a nurturing place of order, truth, love, happiness, and relaxation; and...

to provide opportunities for each person

to become responsibly independent, and effectively interdependent...

in order to achieve worthwhile purposes.

Our family Mission

To love each other...
To help each other...
To believe in each other...
To serve each other...
To enjoy life today and live it fully...
To celebrate our family's faith, heritage and traditions...
To wisely use our times, talents, and resources to bless others...
To love and obey God with all our hearts, soul, mind and strength...

We are charter members of each other's "fan club"...
We support fellow family members by being there for them...
We are loyal...
We are peacemakers by being bigger than any problems, by making the best of any situation...
We work together to create a setting in our home, which is most conductive to our growth and progress...

Our home is a place of happiness, harmony and good times...
Our home is a safe harbor, protecting us from the winds and storms of the world...
Our home is a gospel-centered home and we live principle based lives...

We Are A Family First and Forever!

Photo's From Grandpa Sampson's Funeral

Random Photos From The Last Year