Old St. Nick

Dan started a new tradition this year. He dressed up like father Christmas and offered complimentary photos w/ Santa @ a place called Faybainbridge here on the island. Its basically a park w/ a nice log cabin, open shelter w/ fire place and picnic tables etc. We rearranged; set up Christmas lights, Christmas tree, lit the fire and served hot cocoa, cider to any who came. Next year we will get the word out better, but we did have some who shared the magic. Dan blessed the children and he seems to have a special way w/ them.....they seem to just gravitate toward him. I wish I could show you some of the precious pictures of the looks on their faces, but I don't have permission from parents. You can see a very suspicious Annie-Grace.....who seems to know already:(

December 18th 1993

Many of you remember 16 years ago, when we enticed our dear friends and family to San Antonio for our little Christmas wedding. I remember finishing finals and rushing to unload my things to Dan and I's new apartment. My sweet dear friends helped tremendously...drove all night, taking shifts and getting a little lost. I'll never forget waking up in the car on the drive down to hear Jennifer say, "Dang, how many toll booths do we have to pay to go through?"...."uummm, one. How many have you driven through?" I think she answered w/ the number three. But, we got there ok, and on time :) I still chuckle at that conversation.
We spent our anniversary by going into Seattle for the day when the kids were in school, having coffee, Christmas shopping, and had a very nice french meal in Belevue. Low key, but nice. Got home in time before the kids were in bed, and had Wilson be our photographer ....(we had to take several pictures).
So, hard to believe it's been sixteen years, I know it's been Jesus walking beside us to get us here. I'm blessed and thankful. And, although I would do a few things differently along our journey, I would still do it all over again. May we have another blessed sixteen and many, many more!

Thanksgiving Part II

And, a Happy Belated Birthday to my sweet husband Daniel....I love you, loverboy:)

Thanksgiving Part I

A very nice Thanksgiving w/ Guy, Charlotte, and David in town. Debbie w/ her kiddos, Bernice, Madrid, Andrew and Bliss. Thanks for celebrating w/ us!

Day Shift

So, it's been about 2 months now that I have been on day shift. I thought the change from days to nights was going to be this astronomical event in my life that was going to make everything better. Ya know how you look forward to something for a while and you just can't wait for it to happen...and then its just....."what it is". I mean my commute is the same, its just that I ride to work in the dark and come home in the dark. It's still a 12 hour shift, same patients just more interruptions. Same amount of sleep between shifts, but I think I'm more rested b/c I'm sleeping during the night instead of during the day. I miss the night crew....so much fun, but the day crew have been really nice and helpful in my transition. I met some nurses on the boat who work in the city too, and we all sit together as we ride the ferry into Seattle. I'm settling in again to this transition....which seems to be my life- change:) Is God telling me something? Miss you all; hope your doing well, big hugs!

Day Hike

Daniel and Lucy just got back from a little camping trip and found some treasures to show the rest of us. So, we loaded up our crew (Huggy included) and went 100mi west of us to the very scenic Olympic Mountains, a National Park and Forest. It is amazing. Camping the way God intended, I'm sure. We saw this amazing waterfall, after we hiked about a mile through the very green forest. Sol Duc is known for its hot springs (haven't done that yet), campsites, and waterfalls. We also drove to Hurricane Ridge, a 17mi winding, (I don't like winding up a mountain) but the views were spectacular. Huggy loved walking the trail w/ us, totally in his element.

We are also entering Fall w/ a bang...maybe I'll have those pictures next; and yes....I am showing off...b/c I still want more visitors :)

Not so Funny

Last Sunday night, Noah was skateboarding @ the park w/out his pads on. He fell and fractured his distal humerus in two spots that lead to the joint. Apparently not good. We were on pins and needles this week after a few visits to PA, doctor, then to Seattle Children's ortho-pedic doctor, pedi- surgeon and then CT skan to reveal (thank you God) NO surgery. My sweet husband did all these doctors visits- thank you sweetie. Meanwhile Noah is learning to write w/ his left hand and dressing and showering are still a bit challenging. He's doing good....the not so funny face is actually him not wanting his picture taken:)

Question.

How is it that my kids were the ones that caught the flowers and the garter????? Strange. They had no idea what they were doing. They saw a fun competition and ran for it!

More of Reception

My uncle Scott (my mom's brother) and Noah



































We were pool side for a lovely hour'ish and then the Texas rain came....

The Reception

Dancing flower girls





My mom kicked up her heals during the mother/son dance....no slow dancing for her!

The Wedding

The ushers Noah, and Wilson w/ their great grandmother Hellen....so glad she could be the there.









The Wedding Couple!



















The flower girls, Lucy and Annie-Grace, they couldn't wait to see the wedding kiss....silly girls.

Courtney, and my mom, w/ her mom. Grandma Jones, all the way from Appleton, Wisc.


Finally, Noah @ the rehearsal, practicing his "ushering".....well done, Noah!

First Born

Wow! The first born is the finale of the summer birthday mania. He waits patiently all summer, as his siblings celebrate. It's a good way for him to exercise his maturity:)
Fourteen!!!! I have a fourteen year old....where has the time gone? He is a wonderful first born.....and watching him enter his teenage years has so far been a joy when compared to the typical American teen. He works hard in school, much more than his siblings, and I can't wait until he discovers how truely gifted he is. Just when I think he might be displaying some typical teenage attitude....he does something so sweet, or a friend will say what a polite young man he is... Happy Birthday Noah!!!! We love you!!!!

August 18th!

Well, the birthday summer mania continues in our household. Number three in line is my sweet Wilson. This is an amazing boy who I can't believe is in his last year of "boyhood". He STILL, loves to hug on me, and tell me he loves me everyday, and it makes me sad that I can't carry him, pick him up, and have him sit on my lap like he used to when he was little. He is growing....and we discovered the other day that his foot is now officially my size. (I have big feet so this is quite an accomplishment!) I love you Wilson! and...I'll get working on that baby album:)

"Baby cakes"

It's hard to believe my youngest child is 8 years old. Annie-Grace would be very angry w/ me for the title of this blog, b/c I am only aloud to call her affectionately "baby cakes" in private....but hey, hopefully she'll forgive. So, the birthday feast included an ol' southern breakfast...bacon, eggs, biscuits, gravy, shrimp coctail, funnyons, tootsie rolls, and mint oreos! Whew! This girl cracks me up. She has a wild sense of humur (must be from Daniel)...I worry what will come out of her mouth when she sees my family this fall...but she mostly says things w/out malice, just words straight from her brain to her mouth. Oh, the drama! Yet, when your sitting next to her on the coach, she will lovingly stroke your hand, and always is willing to grocery shop to keep me company, a big smile when I look @ her, will joke w/ you and can take a good teasing, and so many sweet things........yep she's my baby cakes:)

Quick Update

We found a wonderful owner for Boo. A nice family wanted him; she owns and works her own convenience store, and wanted a big dog to protect her @ night when she's alone and working. Cute family w/ one little girl, Boo just popped up into their SUV and made himself @ home. We miss him, but know he'll be happy.

For Sale!

So, we've had some issues. Boo is great, and we would really like to keep him, but when our landlord came over the other day b/c the entire 1/2 of the downstairs had flooded, (another story). He reminded us of the original lease, which says, " one dog". Oh, we were sad...he is normally a really nice guy, and we didn't know what irked him...maybe it was b/c he had to have the septic tank pumped out, after the flooding....any way he would not budge on the Boo issue:( And, so he must go....

Double Digits

Lucy turned 10 years old yesterday. My first daughter, brings to mind so many pleasurable thoughts...her nicknames..."Lucy-limer, Loo-Loo bug, Lucy- Goose....really she has many. She had a day in Seattle w/ dad; went up to the Space Needle, donuts for lunch and a movie. She came home to her favorite foods, (prepare for some nausea). Brown beans, cornbread, potstickers, shrimp, Lucky Charms, 3 musketeers, brownies, Oreo caksters....argh! We had a chaotic family party, no presents. This year being the "birthday experience" year. (the cruise gramma paid for us to have a family reunion, and Kory's wedding is everyone's birthday present). Anyway, we remanenced about her "bath tub birth", went through her severly lacked baby album, and enjoyed eating our variety of foods. Lucy your a joy and a pleasure....so glad Jesus gave you to us!

First Official Trail Run

In an effort to not lose the progress I made in training for the Rock n Roll 1/2 marathon, I signed up for some local races. (I'm also really missing running w/ DeVon, our time came and went too quickly).
The Roots Rock Running Series I thought would be great b/c no early morning ferry, close proximity, less expensive and different. Different, b/c they are trail runs. Other than the trails around my house, I had never done one before and found my self signing up for two just to stay motivated. This one was the 8 mile Bear of a Run. Yep, just go in where you see those flags and eventually come back out. It was beautiful, and sometimes I thought if I looked up, I would surely be taken down by a tree root, sharp turn, or maybe that hill that the only way up was to stair climb. Was that the "Bear" in Bear run? But, it was fun...and thanks to some new running friends Erika and Leah, we were able to girl talk our way through it. Although it was very quiet going up that Bear Hill. Argh. I am sore. No chatter there.

Before and After

Well, this is the "after" picture. Relief...and soreness are the words that come to mind. The Rock n Roll 1/2 marathon was beautiful, (great weather), very organized, (over 25,000 people), and an over all great experience....and a great excuse to gab w/ my friend for over 2 hours w/out interruption. Is that why we run??? We had to get up at a very obnoxious 4am to catch our 5:20am ferry over to Seattle....w/ so many people, we didn't even pass the starting line till 7:30am (race started @ 7:00). I have to honestly say I was the least prepared of the two of us....I was thinking @ mile 6..."I could be done right now", but no.....just 1/2 plus finished. DeVon ran strong and if it wasn't for her, I would have stopped long before. Despite my very heavy legs, and the never ending finish line "Are we there yet?????", we managed a very respectable time of 2 hours 16min. A little Advil and I'm sure I'll be fine. The second picture, is the "before" shot....yes, before sunrise.
We got home @ about 12:30, to my very sweet husband serving us a lovely appetizer of guacamole and chips, followed by yummy fruit salad, then some trailblazer stew (yes, Charissa, we still love that recipe), followed by lovely key lime pie. Yum!!! Happy Trails....it's done!!!