The Dodd Family

Phillipines for Christmas!

2011-12-31T12:58:00.000-08:00

Philippines Trip December 17-December 30, 2011

Sometime last spring, Brian and Jennie encouraged us to go and see Simon and Jodi in the Philippines. We knew we wanted to, but didn't think that we could swing it financially. So, Brian and Jennie offered to fly us over. Even though we didn't want to take advantage of their kindness, we couldn't resist and planned our trip. We are so glad that we did. Here is a day by day description of our wonderful time there.

Day 1: Travel Day

I don't know if I have ever seen AllenaMae so excited about an event. She is such an adventurous girl! She embodied the excitement that all of us were feeling, except just more intensely. The flights were fine.

We flew Asiana Airlines...good food! Each seat had it's own little TV that we could watch movies, TV shows, play games and listen to music through. It even showed updates on how far we had gone on a map. The kids were totally entertained by this and their 3DS's. They were really good, although I think Tim got a little weary of Allena's constant chatter, since she was so excited. We slept on and off through the first leg which was about 11 hours, then through the wait in the Seoul Airport and the second leg to the Cebu airport which was about 4.5 hours.

When we arrived, it was about 12:30 am, Cebu time. So we took some melatonin and tried to sleep until morning. It wasn't too bad, but we were tired in the morning.

Day 2: Magellan and Santa Niño

Since we were tired, it was a good thing that Jodi had an active day planned for us. We went to see the tourist highlights of the city. First was the Santo Niño which is a doll kept in a big glass case in the middle of the city.

The story that was told to us was that the doll was given to the Filipino people by Magellan. After the doll was given, there was a miraculous conversion of many Filipinos which many attributed to the power of the doll. Now the doll is revered and each year the people have a contest over who can make the most beautiful outfit for the doll. Groups choreograph dances in which the story of the Santa Niño is told for a dance contest. This festival is celebrated on the third Sunday of January.

After the Santa Niño, we went to to the street market and bought a couple of purses.

Then we went to Fort San Pedro for lunch. It is a fort that was made out of coral and is now converted into a park.

While we were there, we noticed an interesting fruit growing on a few of the trees. Allena thought is was beautiful because it was pink. A couple of the workers got some down for us (for a tip!) and we later had it in a fruit salad. It tasted kind of like a cross between an apple and a strawberry.

Next we went to the memorial of the site where Magellan was killed called the Lapu Lapu Monument. He was killed by a native Filipino--named Lapu Lapu!.

I am still unclear about whether or not the Filipinos like Magellan because he gave them the Santo Niño or if they hate him (because they have a big statue honoring the guy who killed him). Anyway, the statue was cool.

When we got back to Simon and Jodi's, we decided to keep moving so that we wouldn't get too tired. So, we went to a pool that Simon and Jodi have a membership to. We enjoyed sitting and having a drink while the kids swam and even fished! Tim and I did decide to take a dip, which felt very refreshing and woke us up a bit!

Simon and Jodi's neighborhood. Very safe!

Day 3: Nails and Mountain Pool

When Simon and Jodi and the boys were here in August, Jodi got Allena and I excited about getting manicures and pedicures for half the price that you can get them for in the States. Allena and I had never gotten one so we were really excited. Jodi had been to the salon before so she showed us what to do. We picked out our colors and our toe-nail art and then sat and had several Filipino ladies work on our fingers and toes. It was fun! And our fingers and toes turned out great!

He actually made it!

After lunch we went to this pool on top of a "mountain" just outside the city called "Mountain View Park." It was a beautiful, but kind of scary drive up a windy, jungle-y road. The view of the hilly jungle was amazing. What a fantastic display of God's creation!At the pool, the kids enjoyed swimming and we enjoyed watching them and some other dare-devil swimmers who were doing all kinds of flips and dangerous stunts into the pool. One guy even climbed up on the roof time of the building next to the pool and jumped into the pool from there! The lack of obsession about safety in comparison to the US was scary but also surprisingly refreshing somehow. No one got hurt and it was highly entertaining.

After we left, we went to go pick up Simon from Lexmark and then went back to their place for a delicious Filipino meal of marinated BBQ chicken. The secret ingredient? Banana Ketchup!

Day 4: Go Carts and Shopping/Movie

This morning Jodi and I tried to go on a walk only to get caught in a monsoon! It rained so hard that we could not finish our walk because the rain was in our faces and eyes so much that we couldn't see! It was a nice, warm rain though. I didn't mind being out in it all at! Here we are, wet to the bone!

All the boys, plus Allena went go-karting, while Jodi and I took pictures. It was really hot out on the track but they all enjoyed the competition of trying to race each other.

Tim and AllenaMae rode together, Simon and Isaac rode together and Sam and Eli each had their own car. Sam's and Eli's went slower than the others since it was a kid car. I enjoyed watching them all and they had fun driving.

Cousin's having fun after Go-Karts!

We went to lunch next at Teriyaki Boy, which is kind of fast-food-ish type of Asian restaurant. The food was great and we had fun all being together. Up until this day, Simon was pretty busy with work.

After lunch, the boys all went to see the movie "Mission Impossible 4" and us girls went shopping. We were in a mall that was very American feeling. But, being the bargain shopper that I am, we still found some good deals on earrings and some other things for Allena. When the movie was over, we met back up with the boys and headed back to swim in Simon and Jodi's pool. then we were treated to another delicious Filipino meal of marinated BBQ pork made by Simon and Jodi's house helper, Pearlie and the temporary helper, Betty.

Day 5: Knock-off Shopping

This morning, we left the boys at home together playing "GoldenEye," while Simon and Tim visited a furniture store and Jodi, Allena and I went "knock-off" shopping. It was in the upstairs area of a mall where all these booths were set up tons of clothes, shoes, purses, jewelry etc. I was looking for a white pair of converse shoes to replace my falling apart Keds. I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did find a cute white shrug for only $4.

We had a relaxing afternoon. I tried to follow the sun around Simon and Jodi's pool while the kids were swimming and then helped out in the kitchen. Everyone else just relaxed and played video games, and such. We played "Outburst" together that night, Dodds vs. Dodds. It was great fun!

Day 6: Crocolandia!

Allena and Isaac on the teeter totters at Crocolandia

We drove to Talisay City, which is not too far from Cebu to go to a wildlife park called "Crocolandia." It was really awesome! I like zoos anyway, but this one was great because the animals weren't in large exhibits where you had to peer in hopes that you see an animal, they were in small habitats...I guess cages. So it probably wasn't the best for the animals, but it did make for great viewing!

There was a talking bird that was hilarious! We would talk to it and it would say "Good morning!" or "Hello!" or "Papa!" Then there was another Cockatoo that was showing off for us.

But the best part was when Simon bought two chickens for feeding to the crocodiles. One of the zookeepers attached it to a fishing pole type of thing and the crocodile jumped out of the water and ate it...chomped it down, head, feathers and all!! Twice! It was AWESOME! What a highlight!

That afternoon, we just relaxed again since we were planning for a big day the next day. We decorated Christmas cookies. They were beautiful and delicious!

Day 7: Christmas Eve Banca Boating

We got up a bit early to prepare for the day...sunscreen, food, water towels etc. Then we drove over to the hotel where the boats launch. We met another family that was joining us, which was Simon's boss and his family.

A little row boat took us out to the big banca boat. We walked up a long wooden plank to get on. There were many helpers to help steady us and to get our bags onto the boat.

The boat was gorgeous. It was all white with nice cushions and white bean bag chairs for sitting in. I felt like I was on a fancy yacht!

My Happy Place

We headed off to the first island where we prepared for snorkeling.
We snorkeled at the Gilatungan Marine Sanctuary. Simon and Jodi shared their equipment with us and also rented some equipment for us.

I had a hard time with snorkeling because I get a bit panicky feeling with my nose covered up and my mouth holding a snorkel.
Everyone else had fun though and of course, we all saw some beautiful tropical fish.

When we were all done we got back on the boat and drank coconut milk straight out of the coconut! When the juice was all gone from the coconut, the boat crew cracked open the coconut and we ate it. It was a green coconut, which, I think means that it is not as ripe. So the flesh is kind of squishy. It was good though.

   After everyone had returned to the boat, we then motored to the next island which was called Pandonan, where we had lunch.
     This island was idyllic. We sat in a little grass hut and ate our lunch, looking out on the blue sky sandy beach and crystal blue water. After lunch we played in the water, beach-combed and sat on the beach, enjoying the sun.
      It was wonderful! It kind of felt a little like "Gilligan's Island." Off on a small island in the middle of, what seemed like, nowhere.

After not long enough, we got back on the boat and took the longer cruise back to Cebu. The ride was splashy, but it was fantastic to sit in the comfy bean bag chair and enjoy the sun and the water.

When we returned back to Simon and Jodi's, we all showered and had dinner. After dinner we had a little "Christmas Eve Service" together. The kids took turns reading the Christmas story...

...and then we all prayed and sang Christmas carols together.

We didn't forget to put milk and cookies out for Santa with AllenaMae. It was a great way to end a wonderful Christmas Eve day. Too bad banca boating probably won't be able to become a new Christmas Eve day tradition!

Day 8 Christmas Day

I specifically instructed the kids that they weren't to get up before 6 am. So at 6:01 I opened my eyes hearing shuffling down the stairs.

Jodi, bless her heart, had put together "Santa" presents and Allena was eagerly passing them around. When everyone had arrived, we prayed and thanked Jesus for a reason to celebrate together. We took turns giving gifts from youngest to oldest.

Jodi and Jennie (Tim's mom) had picked out these intricately hand made Barbie gowns for AllenaMae when Brian an Jennie visited. She loved them.

The Cebu Dodd's were so generous to us Seattle Dodds with several thoughtful gifts. They even gave Tim a GPS for his car!

A highlight for us was seeing the all the Cebu Dodd's opening their Nerf guns together that we had brought in our luggage from the States (praying that it wouldn't get confiscated).

The kids were all happy--well, mostly. We had a little issue with one of Allena's Santa toys breaking. I think she was wondering how Santa's elves could do such shoddy work! It was forgotten though, in the midst of dressing her new Barbie up in her new dresses.

Jodi has the same pearls as Barbie!

After presents, we had Krispy Kreme doughnuts together (a new thing in Cebu!) and then got ready for church.

We went to the church that Simon and Jodi have been going to. It was a really nice service. Lots of singing!

After the service we went to lunch at a Thai food place. Originally we were going to a Mexican restaurant that we had reservations at, but they had called on the evening of the 23rd and said that they were actually going to be closed.

So, we went to the mall hoping that something good would be open so that Jodi wouldn't have to cook, since her help had the day off. The Thai place turned out great.

Sam loved the green mango shake

When we came back to Simon and Jodi's, I made a bunch of phone calls back home since it was Christmas Eve there. I was thankful that Simon and Jodi have a phone that is hooked up to Wi-Fi, I think, so it didn't cost them for me to make all the phone calls.

Allena played in the pool while I talked on the phone. I was sad when I was talking to everyone that I didn't get to see them on Christmas, but sitting by the pool, in the warmth made it a little easier. And knowing that this trip was a once in a blue moon opportunity.

The rest of the day, we played games together and ate dinner. We had a match of Dodds VS. Dodds playing Outburst! I don't remember who won, but it was a great way to end our Christmas day!

Cheers!

Day 9: Guitar "Factories" and Artevalman's

There are some interesting things in Cebu!

When Jodi told me that we were going to the Alegré guitar factory in Mactan. I should have known that "factory" was not really quite the right word. Really it was just a couple of buildings where guitars are handmade.
They had a wall set up that had the insides of guitars displayed, so that one could see all the bracing inside the guitar and then a showroom with all of the guitars, ukeleles and other string instruments.

The salesmen played the instruments for us. They were really good. I was sort of like a kid in a candy shop and I couldn't resist getting a ukelele for myself. I was so excited because it is really easy to learn a few chords with which you can play a million songs.

After Alegré we went to a bunch of other guitar workshops. This was where we first heard the mellow, gorgeous sounds of the Jackfruit guitar. The first one we played was pretty poor quality....it looked kind of bumpy and rustic, made entirely out of the wood from a Jackfruit (Langka) tree. But when I picked it up to play it, I was absolutely amazed at the beautiful sounds that it made. The high notes that can be a little tinny on other guitars were full, the mids were not too loud and the lows were rich and mellow. Like butter!

I fell in love with it! If I had not already bought the ukelele I would have bought that one right there, despite the crummy craftsmanship. Lucky for me, Tim liked the sound too, but he was had higher standards than me for the quality. So, we didn't buy the first one that we saw. At the other shops, we experienced the same wonderful sound from all the other Jackfruit guitars, but none of them were up to Tim's standard of quality. So we didn't buy one....that day. (See day 11 for the end of the story!) *****TIM'S COMMENTS***** It wasn't that I had a 'super-high quality' standard for all instruments. You have to understand that the guitars we saw made of Jackfruit were made like I might make a guitar--and that is not a compliment to myself. Some were nailed together, others had gaps in the bindings. The necks were curved and the bracing on the top of the guitar (the sound board) were classical bracings--not meant for steel-stringed instruments. Combined with the fact that I was afraid that any guitar made in the Phillipines might fall apart once it hit the humidity levels of the Pacific Northwest, I wanted to give it at least a fighting chance of lasting longer than a month in one piece. All of the factors combined made the beautiful sound of the guitar even more amazing. Ok, I'm done. *****END OF TIM'S COMMENTS*****

We got stuck in some serious traffic on our way back from Mactan because of the flooding from the heavy rains and because of construction. Finally, we arrived at "Joe's Grill," which is one of Simon and Jodi's favorite places to eat. We enjoyed great Filipino BBQ and green mango shakes. mmmmm!

After lunch, we went to a place called Artevalman's that was like a tourist warehouse. It had things Filipino and Cebu that a tourist might want to take home. Well, almost all things. We finished almost all of our shopping for friends. I even found a few little things for myself! It was hard for this bargain shopper to resist the good deals. Because Simon works at Lexmark, they got a 40% discount on all regular price items...pretty good! We also went to a shop that sold other Filipino items and Simon got a Coconut Liqueur to try. We all had a pretty good laugh over the label on the bottle. Tim says that it gets even funnier after you try the stuff!

Day 10: Haircuts and more shopping

This was the day that we were supposed to go to Coco Palms Beach and Resort for some fun in the sun, but the heavy rains had continued through the night and it didn't seem to be clearing up much. So we decided to go later in the week.

That was good, in a way, since we had double scheduled ourselves. We had made haircut appointments with Jodi's hair guy. Allena and I both really needed a haircut--and in the Philippines, we could get a wash, cut and style for the same price as a spray and cut in the states.

Phillip, Jodi's very gay Canadian hair-stylist living in the Philippines, did a great job on both of us. I wish I could make it look that way again! Allena was very happy with her cut and proud of herself for being willing to get about 3 inches cut off.

Later, after lunch, we went back out to get the straw purses from Jodi's purse lady at the downtown markets. I was excited to get good deals on purses and jewelry. We also went back to the store that had some Coconut Liqueur that Tim wanted to bring back for his boss.

After that, you would think that we would have been done shopping, but there was one more place that Jodi wanted to take me. It was this place that had lots of fancy dresses for great prices.

Piano stairs!

She had to twist my arm, of course, to go! Allena decided to stay home and the boys actually came with us, just to get out of the house. We found some really great things! Jodi bought me a dress for my birthday that I can wear to choir concerts and I bought Allena an amazing big purple, ruffly dress for her Jester Show (talent show) that was coming up in February.

Check back with the Dodd Family blog in February to see the dress!

That night we had a rematch of Dodds vs. Dodds with Outburst. I think we actually won. It was fun!

Day 11: Bohol Tour

The Leaning Tower of Loboc!

We got up EARLY to catch a ferry over to the island of Bohol. When we got there, our tour guide, Ray, was waiting there with his van. He whisked us off to our first destination, which was the zip line!

It was over a canyon with a river at the bottom. From the pictures, it is hard to tell how deep the canyon was, but it was DEEP. I was pretty scared to go on it, actually all of us were, at least a little. But we faced our fear and did it. I was glad, because the view was beautiful. I think the scariest parts were watching my kids (even though Allena went with Tim) leave the solid ground.
When I came to the end, it was really scary because it looked like I was going to crash into the launching station. The whole thing was a exhilarating!

Are we having fun yet?

After the zip line, we headed out to the Chocolate Hills. They are actually grass covered limestone, from when the island used to be below water.

Although Ray, our tour guide told us some interesting tall tales involving giants, about how the hills were formed.

In the summer, the grass turns brown, so they look like a sea of chocolate kisses. We climbed up to the top of the lookout point to get a good look at the hills. It is a tradition to ring the bell at the top when you get there.

Along the way to the Chocolate Hills, we saw rice paddies, which I had never seen before. Apparently, there are little snails in the paddies that destroy the plants, but there are also these White Herons that live near the rice paddies that eat up the snails.

Also along the way was a deep mahogany man-made forest. It was actually planted by Boy Scouts of the Philippines, many years ago in response to deforestation and landslides. The forest is about 2 km and there are so many trees. It must have taken the scouts many months to plant them all. It is beautiful and cool inside the canopy.

Right now the forest is protected from logging. Hopefully it will stay that way. Otherwise, where would these giant centipedes live?

Our next stop was a butterfly sanctuary. First we ate lunch in a little hut and then we had a tour of the place.

It was very interesting and our tour guide for that was very informative and made it interesting.

We saw some beautiful butterflies and pretty plants too. It must have been a special day for butterflies or something, because we saw several pairs mating.

Allena got to hold a butterfly whose defense mechanism is to "play dead."

Next on the list of destinations was the Tarsier Monkey Sanctuary. Tarsiers are the smallest monkeys in the world and are found only on certain islands of the Philippines. It was hard to get a good picture of these little guys that are a little smaller than a squirrel. This is the best one.

We climbed up a winding hill to see all these little creatures and then the path led us down to a gift shop that had Tarsier Monkey everything!

After the monkeys we went on to Boa constrictors, ostriches and some different monkeys at a small zoo. The boa constrictors were tame, so people were able to pet them and touch them.

There was one, though that almost took Tim's head off!

We stopped at a roadside knife-making place. Really it was just a hut where some guys were working hard at making knives and machetes that had a cool cover on them that said "Bohol, Philippines." Sounds kind of hokey, but it was really cool to see the knives being made right there and knowing that they had been hand crafted, right there by the side of the road.

Sam bought one for himself and for Connor (since Connor was taking care of Guacamole, the Anole.) Isaac bought a really big one!

The little road down to the guitar guy's place

The next stop was a guitar guy that Tim found out about while he was researching Jackfruit guitars. Ray, our tour guide, was very helpful because he called the guy and found out where he lived and how to get to his place. It was across the island, so we had to kind of hurry up our last activities in order to make it to dinner and our ferry. But it was totally worth it because when we got there, we found a very nice Filipino man with his own guitar making shop

He agreed to custom-make Tim a Jackfruit guitar, then give it to Ray, who would put it on the ferry to Cebu and then Simon and Jodi's driver, Nestor, would pick it up at the ferry dock. As Tim paid for it, I was a bit nervous that all of this would actually happen and that one day, we would have a Jackfruit guitar.

However, just a couple of days ago, we got word from Jodi that the guitar had indeed arrived! It is gorgeous and I can't wait to hear Tim play it! We may have to wait until the summer when the Cebu Dodd's come to visit.

*****TIM'S COMMENTS****

See? Here's a picture!

If you want to read more about Jun Reputana and where I read about him, go here

*****END OF TIM'S COMMENTS*****

We had dinner at "The Garden Cafe," which is a cafe that was started by the Peace Corps as a way to employ the deaf and mute in the area. It was all decorated in American Old West decor. Normal stuff to us, but not normal for the area! We had a good dinner and then headed off to the ferry terminal.

The ferry was delayed, by a lot and we had to wait a long time. It was cool to see some interesting things while we were waiting, though, like a blind guitar band...

...and a chicken in a basket.

Day 12: Coco Palms

"Hello, this is Eli, we're heading to the Coco Palms Beach Resort."

Finally we were able to go the Coco Palms Beach Resort!

We were slightly bummed when we got there, because there were supposed to be big inflatables in the water for the kids to play on, but because of the impending weather, they were not out.

The pool was still great though, with a big slide that was super fun for everyone and a big fountain in the pool.

There were no rules against making trains on the slide, which made for fun times.

Another happy place

I got to sunbathe a little, but the clouds and wind did come in. We had some drinks, had lunch and relaxed.

We might have stayed longer to enjoy it, but Allena hurt her leg when she jumped into the pool.

We weren't sure if it was broken, fractured, sprained or if Allena was just being dramatic. (We found out later, when we got home that it was a sprain.) Tim thought it was more than drama, so we headed back to Simon and Jodi's.

When we got there, we did some more packing. The boys had a Nerf gun battle and Allena put her leg up to rest.

After a great dinner at the Mexican restaurant we were supposed to go to on Christmas day, we said our goodbyes that evening and then tried to get some sleep because our plane was out at about 1:00 a.m.

We did so much when we were in Cebu, but the best part was just getting to spend time with Simon, Jodi, Eli and Isaac. The kids enjoyed spending time together too. They are a great family and we love them so much. They were great and gracious hosts and we were blessed to be able to stay with them and have them show us such a great time!

Day 13. Lotte World

We have enjoyed Krispy Kreme in many locations around the world now!

We had a 12 hour lay-over in Seoul, Korea. So, we decided to go into the city. On Jodi's suggestions, we went to "Lotte World," which an amusement park inside a giant mall in the middle of Seoul.

Tim was great at leading us to the bus, and then into Lotte World. We were so excited because for some reason that we didn't understand, we got a discount on the price by about 50%! I think the reason was God! We didn't get to ride very many rides because it was soooooo crowded.

By the time we found our way around and decided what to go on and waited in the hour long lines, we only got to ride "Pharaoh's Fury," (which we thought was a roller coaster, but ended up being an extra scary "Indiana Jones" knock-off,) French Revolution (the big rollercoaster,) and Jungle Adventure (a raft ride that, luckily, did not get us wet.) Allena liked the "Disney" feel to it and they both enjoyed the churros!

We love you Lotte!

Sometimes she got carried by Daddy!

Even though we didn't get to be there for very long, we were pretty much ready to go and get ready for our next flight, especially after not getting much sleep the night before and with Allena hobbling around on her hurt leg.

A good fast-food burger tasted great!

We had some Burger King in the airport and checked in for our last flight.

The flight was pretty uneventful. We tried to sleep as much as possible. As you can imagine, we were very happy to arrive home!

November into Dec.

2011-12-10T08:22:00.000-08:00

Veteran's day-Almost Christmas,

Tim went to Florida for a business trip. He actually had an ok time because he jumped in with both feet and did a fantastic job.
It was a trip that was basically for getting to know customers of the UC4 product. A "wining and dining" trip of sorts with a bunch of technical seminars thrown in. Tim's boss was amazed at how well he did. I was very proud of him, although I missed him while he was gone.

My parents were able to come up for part of the time when Tim was gone which was a life-saver! They came and spoiled the kids and I for a couple of days, taking the kids swimming, buying us dinners and generally just making it more enjoyable while Daddy was away. We had a great time with them!

Chelsea came to visit for Thanksgiving week. We loved every minute that we got to spend with her! She was able to stretch herself out to all the people that she wanted to see while she was here and still spend a great deal of time with us, which we appreciated. Tim did Chelsea's new pictures down by Redondo beach
and then we all took some pics together.

After that, we went to this cool (literally!) new ice cream/yogurt shop where you choose all your ingredients and then they put them all together, freezing them with a blast of liquid nitrogen. Sam thought it was very cool and it tasted good.
The last day that Chelsea was here was the Civil War. We all hung around and ate yummy snacks.

I don't know how Tim did it, but somehow he has gotten both of the kids to root for the Beavers. Chelsea did a some cool wood crafts with the kids....a picture frame, and a little white board. They turned out great! We loved Chelsea's visit and miss her very much!

Thanksgiving day we had the Wheatons and the Schleiffers from our church over. I cooked the (BIG) turkey and some of the fixings and everyone else brought dishes. Everything turned out great and we really enjoyed spending time with these wonderful families. We even got to play some games and do a craft which Betty S. brought! Even though we missed our families, it was very nice to spend time with people from our church family!
Tim and I did a run a 5K run in Seattle which was part of the Seattle Marathon series. We almost didn't make it for the run because we weren't sure if Chelsea was going to be home that morning to watch the kids, but we did make it. Tim said he didn't make his goal for a finishing time, but I was just glad that we ran it.

Sam's class at school put on a musical called "Pirates." They did two programs, one in the morning and one in the evening. Sam was "YellowBeard" in the morning and a Prisoner at night. YellowBeard was the big part, so Tim and I both made arrangements to be there. He did a fantastic job and we were very proud of him. I couldn't believe how well he sang all the songs an octave lower than all the other kids! He even did all the moves and everything! If you want to see it, you can go to here.

We opened the gifts that we got from Brian and Jennie. It was sweet of them to send us gifts even though their main gift to us is sending us to the Philippines for Christmas to visit Simon and Jodi!

The UC4 Christmas party was fun this year, although Tim was pretty sick, which was a major bummer. He tried hard to enjoy himself though! The food was great and we had fun hanging out with Tim's coworker, Mitch and his wife Erin. We got some pictures taken at the party that we haven't figured out how to get yet. Hopefully I will add those soon.The next morning after the party, we headed down to Portland for the "Family Christmas" gathering. By "we." I mean me and the kids. Tim stayed home since he was still feeling so crummy. It was really awesome to spend time with everyone. The girls made a gingerbread house the afternoon we arrived. Later on we all opened gifts. Lots of wonderful presents were given and received! Then Santa came, which produced varied reactions. Allena helped Grandma read this year's Santa poem and she was so excited, as you can see. Molly wasn't so sure! The next morning, we all had brunch together before we had to head back to Seattle.
Tim loved his gifts when we got back.
AllenaMae is in the Knight's Choir at her school. She is very proud of the work that they have done and enjoys every minute of it. Her concert was awesome, but unfortunately it was on the same day as my concert for Olympic. If you missed it too, you can catch it the you tube performance here.

The Tonseth's took us to dinner as a Christmas present this year. It was awesome to spend time with them!

The recital for my studio went well. It was a busy time for me, so I made some blunders.....like mistakes on the program, forgetting the ornaments for the students at my school and not practicing the piano as much as I could. The students did well. Allena played "March" from the Nutcracker and sang "The First Noel." She did very well and I was very proud of her. We tried to get a group photo, but none of them turned out great. Here is the best one.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T05:58:00.000-07:00

October 2011

Tim and I went to go see one of our favorite comedians, Dmetri Martin. It was super fun and funny! I was pretty embarrassed when I dropped my phone in the middle of the performance and he stopped and asked me if my phone was ok. He does that a lot, interacting with the audience, but I just wasn't expecting it to be me. The other funny part was that before the show, we ordered a drink at the bar, since we were there early and oh my goodness, I have never had such a strong drink before! Nothing like the 2 for 1 happy hour drinks at the Torres, Mazatlan! (Holy cow, I guess I don't get out into the real world much! =)

That same weekend, we went down to Portland for Molly's first birthday party. I can't believe that she is already a year old! And what a cute one year old she is! We really enjoyed spending time with everyone, even Nancy, Mike and the girls came down. We hung out together and had dinner on the Saturday. We celebrated birthdays that hadn't been celebrated yet. Then the party was on Sunday. We helped Sheri do some of the set up. Tim held the "Moll-ster" while we set up.and then enjoyed pizza, watching Molly open her presents and watching Molly have her first birthday cake. I think she liked the doll we gave her. I love my sweet nieces!
I think that my dad was probably the one who started it...clipping a clothes pin or chip clip on the back of someone's clothes and then waiting to see how long it takes them to notice. Juvenile, but entertaining! It has become a pretty fun game in our household. Everyone gets it from time to time and everyone tries to get someone else. This time it was Sam who got Tim and he even took a picture. =)

The next weekend was the Boy Scout Camporee. It was our first actual Boy Scout event. Sam will be crossing over into Boy Scouts in February if he gets all of his Webelos requirements done. The Boy Scout troops invite prospective Webelos to come to the Camporee with them to get a feel for some of the fun things that they do. Unfortunately, Sam and Connor didn't have all that much fun. The activities for the camp were designed to be team challenges, but there were a few things that made it less fun than it sounds. One difficulty was that the activities were so spread out throughout the camp, that there was a LOT of walking from one place to another (my feet were absolutely aching and throbbing by the end of the day.) Another problem was that once we got to each activity there was a LOT of waiting around until it was our turn. The other issue was that for many of the challenges, the whole team was not able to be involved. Sam got to be a part of this challenge. While he was blind-folded he was following verbal directions given to him from a scout with his back to Sam, who was getting non-verbal directions from another scout that could see Sam. The goal of the activity was to direct the person in the blind fold to find the baseballs scattered around the grass and put them in the bucket. This was ok for Sam, but the rest of the team just had to watch, or just hang around. All these things added up to a little more boredom than fun for Sam and Connor. The time back at the camp, eating, talking, doing "camping" stuff was way more fun for them. Here is our tent back at the site...we put it up in the dark so it is a bit lopsided, but it was fine for all of us to squeeze into to keep warm and dry. Both boys did a great job of pitching in and helping. On the last morning the leaders did a thing that they call "Scout's Own," which is a short church service of sorts. They picked a beautiful location to consider God and His creation.
Hopefully the next Boy Scout experience will be a little more positive. Lisa, Connor's Mom, and I had a great time together.

The church had a fantastic harvest party this year! If I had known it was going to be so cool, I would have made sure the kids invited all of their friends! There was pumpkin carving, a bouncy toy, cotton candy, face painting, a cake walk, bobbing for apples, and the best part....the candy hunt. We all had fun!

Then there was the Cub Scout harvest party that was still fun, but not quite as cool. Bobbing for doughnut holes was fun The best part though, was that I was in charge of the "Gross Foods" game. You know, the one where you have a food that the kids touch without looking at it and try to guess what it is. I had it all vienna sausages (cut to feel like fingers,) peeled grapes (eye balls) , cold spaghetti (brains,) jello (heart,) squished up brownies (poop) and the crowning achievement (which the kids helped me with)...stomach juices made out of water, green and yellow food coloring, oil, vinegar, chewed up grapes, garlic and chopped up Vienna sausages. It smelled and looked DISGUSTING! Sam loved having other people feel the things and get grossed out.

Tyler found out that we had a live animal trap and since the raccoons always try to eat Mitten's food, Tyler wanted to try and trap one. Unfortunately, all he got was this ugly opossum. He was still glad he caught something though! =)

We set out to go pumpkin picking. Our tradition is that we go get doughnuts first and then go to a pumpkin farm to go get our pumpkins. This year we tried out Legendary doughnuts in Auburn. They had lots of very gourmet flavors and they all looked delicious. We all agreed that the bacon maple bar tasted like "breakfast." We tried to go down to a pumpkin farm but it was sooooo crowded that Tim and the kids didn't want to stay. So we went down the street and picked out pumpkins at a church that was raising money for a food bank. Good thing we went there because Tyler wanted to get a giant pumpkin that ended up costing around twenty dollars! We were glad that it went to a good cause.

When we set out to carve our pumpkins, I was surprised to find out that Tyler had never carved a pumpkin. His carving turned out amazing! I was impressed. The rest of ours turned out great too. This is mine

Tim's
Sam'sAllena's The cub scout pack did our adopt-a-road clean up again. Sam was not excited about it, but when we got done, the road looked a lot better!

The kids Halloween costumes turned out great. We found a Dorothy costume at Goodwill for Allena and she still had her red sequin shoes that she bought last spring. Sam's was also from Goodwill and it turned out even better than I expected. He and Connor were "Men in Black." I thought they looked fantastic....and so grown up too! Halloween was on a week day, so the kids didn't get to trick or treat for as long as they wanted to, but of course, they still got plenty of candy!
Well, a day after the fun and happiness of Halloween, our week turned sour. Tyler decided, in a moment of frustration with us, to move out. We did everything we could think of to try to get him to stay, but in the end, we had to allow him to make his decision. Tim had told him from the beginning that if he decided to leave, he would be gone for good because of how he had gone back and forth from our friend's the Pleasants', household. Tim didn't think it would be fair to us to accept this behavior. So he now gone and we miss him so much. We really had tried to make him feel at home and part of the family. We tried to accept him, love him and encourage him toward his goals. Now we can only pray that God will be his light and He will guide and protect him. We will miss you being part of our family, Tyler. We will continue to love you. I will be praying this verse for you...
"May your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing quickly appear; then may your righteousness go before you, and may the glory of the LORD be your rear guard." Isaiah 58:8

Getting In Some Last Summer Fun and Sam's Birthday!

2011-09-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

September, 2011

Before school started, we tried to enjoy as much of the last of summer as we could. I took Rachel to Wild Waves with Sam and Allena one afternoon which was a good time. The only problem was the fender-bender I got in when leaving the parking lot that evening. Ugh! What a pain that was. Rachel and Evelyn stayed the night and then stayed with Sam and Allena the next day when I had a meeting to go to for school. They all get along so well. I was glad so that I wouldn't feel guilty about having to go to my meeting.

We celebrated Tyler's half-birthday since he wasn't with us on his real birthday. It was actually past his half birthday, but we decided to go for it anyway. Tim ordered him a big bright orange sweatshirt from Oklahoma State University, since that is where he lived when he was younger. It didn't come in the mail, so Tim photoshopped a picture of Tyler with the sweatshirt on so that he could see what his sweatshirt would look like. It was really clever and funny! Sam made the cake....it actually has a picture of a motorcycle on it. Allena colored this poster for the celebration.

One event I forgot to mention last month was Tim's company outing. They had a day of going to the Family Fun center and then having a cook-off. Tim was on the winning team!

One nice evening we went to Five Mile Lake park for a picnic. Not much to tell...we just hung out and enjoyed spending time together. Tyler and Allena went swimming in the lake. We came home for dessert that night because Sam and Tim made lime tartlettes, Yummy!
I took Allena to the Pacific Science center while Sam was at Northwest Trek with Connor. We went to the planetarium and learned about the stars and how to read a star map. She did a demonstration in the Science of Fear exhibit in which it demonstrated the fear of falling and recorded your reaction to the sensation of falling. She also did a demonstration about the fear of electric shock....this took a little courage because it actually gave the person a tiny electric shock!
Allena made matching bracelets for her and her bear Coconut! =)

The kids started school right after Labor Day. Allena was very proud to be a part of the 2/3 grade Gate class. We walked to school with Anita and Athena who go to our school now!

Tyler started back at TJ, but he is now also going to the Puget Sound Skills center, taking fire fighting. ! He really seems to like it and is even thinking about going into fire fighting as a career.
We took these pictures when we visited at the open house.

Chelsea started back to teaching in the Jefferson County Public schools in Denver CO. She continues to teach preschool. I know those kids are very lucky to have her as a teacher! She is also going to school in order to finish her 4 year degree for Early Childhood Education in a cohort program through the University of Colorado. With a new apartment (all her own...no rooommates!) school, and teaching, she has a very full load. Thanks be to God though, that he has given her a wonderful house-church to be a part of. I am thankful that she is finding people that love her and want to help take care of her, since I am not there to do it! We are so excited for her to come home at Thanksgiving!

Mittens is my buddy recently! She even lets me pet her belly! She still runs away when she sees Allena or Tim coming. Occasionally, she will let Tyler and Sam pet her on the back.

Tim and Allena went to a Mariner baseball game together. They had a really good time together and Allena enjoyed it more than I thought she would. Maybe it was the Dippin' Dots ice cream! She was pretty excited to have the chance to run the bases at the end of the game.

Allena's last performance for her dance performance group was at the Puyallup Fair. They did a fantastic last performance and then we got this picture of the whole group. After the performance, Allena wanted to ride some rides with her friend Hailey. So, even though it was HOT we went ahead and bought some ride tickets.

At church, the group activity during Sunday school was to create a living piece of artwork with tine foil, plastic wrap and toilet paper that highlighted a theme from the book of Judges. Our group dressed up Allena as the Statue of Liberty! She looks so cute, plus we won the competition!

For Sam's birthday, we decided that he was old enough and responsible enough to have a new pet. At first he wanted a Leopard gecko, but they didn't have any at the pet store, so we ended up with an Anole lizard...whom he named Guacamole. He is very cool. I like to watch him eat the live crickets that Sam feeds him! Sam has been doing a pretty good job of taking care of him. He has spent much of his own money on supplies and food, without complaining, so I am very proud of him for that. It's a bit of a pain to have to go the store for crickets, but hopefully, as Sam learns how to take care of the crickets, they will live longer in their little container.

We celebrated Sam's birthday with presents and pie. Sam had to bake a pie for a project at school, so he actually baked his own apple pie for dessert. It was yummy, of course! Our main gift to him was Guacamole, but it was also fun to give him a couple of t-shirts that Tim picked out for him, including this Badgers shirt and also this funny book that I got him when we were in Ashland about disgusting things, which we all know he would appreciate! He got some awesome gifts from relatives too, including some great Lego sets from Simon and Jodi.

His kid birthday party was the next weekend. He had Connor, Skylar, and Jonah come over after school. I let Allena bring a friend swimming so that she would leave Sam alone to play with his friend, and then I told Luanne that I would watch Anita, so it was a big crowd that we took swimming at the community center pool After swimming was pizza at the house. Then the kids all played outside and inside....all over! Hide and seek, video games, capture the flag by night etc. It was a wild time! Luckily, all the kids were well behaved and they actually all got along well....girls and boys! We did cake and presents later. Sam didn't want us to sing for him, but we did anyway. =) Tim made a delicious cake for Sam. No more shape cakes for Sam, I guess....an end of an era *sniff, sniff.* Jonah couldn't stay the night because of his soccer game the next day, and Skylar just doesn't do sleepovers, so Sam, Connor and Tyler stayed up late playing video games together. Sam said that it was a good party.

Speaking of the end of an era, I can't believe that Sam is 11. Doesn't he look all "pre-teen?" Wow! How did that happen so fast?!
Tim and Tyler had to work on the motorcycle. At first they were having a good time and joking about how they pulled off half of the parts in order to get to a thing they could have gotten to more simply. It turned not funny soon after though, when it became apparent that the reason that the bike was not working was because of a seized engine. This was caused by the fact that Tyler had been putting off changing the oil. Right now, the bike is running a bit....after a lot of work on Tim's part, but it is not running quite right. We are not sure if it needs a new engine or what. We are just praying for a solution and trying not to be too mad.

In a sermon that I listened to, I learned about two kinds of life that the Bible talks about. In John 10:10, Jesus says, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Apparently there are two main words for life in the Greek language that are in the Bible and each of them is translated to our word "life." The two words are psyche and zoe. Psyche can also be translated as "mind," but it mainly refers to our temporal life, the day to day stuff, circumstances of our lives. Zoe refers mainly to eternal life. (There is another Greek word for life, which is Bios, which refers to our living being.) So, you can probably guess which Greek word was actually in the verse above. What I found fascinating is that the pastor said that when Jesus talked about having Zoe, he wasn't talking about something in the future, but something we can have now. We can have "life" untouched by the world and it's circumstances, difficulties, headaches, etc, etc. An eternal life that starts now. Ok....I am sold.....I want that! If you are interested in hearing this awesome sermon, here is the link to get the podcast. http://marshill.org/teaching/podcast-info/. The sermon is by Shane Hipps and it is called "Beneath the Waves." Hope you enjoy it!

A Wild Adventure with the Cebu Dodds, Lost Teeth and More!

2011-08-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

August 2011
It is already September, but I am writing about August. I really should have made a blog halfway through August because we did SO much. But I guess that is why I didn't have the time to do the blog....having too much fun!

On the evening before August started, Allena lost one of her front top teeth! Then, two weeks later, she lost the other one!

The month started off with a fantastic visit from the Cebu Dodds. Every time we are able to spend time with them, we come away wanting more. How I wish we lived closer! They arrived mid-day on a Saturday. For the afternoon, we just hung out around the house.....the kids played on the trampoline and played video games together. Tim was actually sick, possible some kind of food poisoning. When Allena started feeling like Sam was hogging Eli and Isaac, Awesome Auntie Jodi suggested that we go shopping for Allena's birthday present. Allena was very happy about this and we ended up spending the majority of time in Claire's helping her pick out hair accessories and stick-on earrings. After that we found a pillow pet, which she had been wanting ever since she went to Camp Harlow and found that she must be the only 7 year old girl who didn't have a pillow pet. After our little "girls only" shopping trip, Auntie Jodi had a new best friend in her niece. This is a picture of Allena with some of her accessories.

We went to dinner at "Wingdome" which is a restaurant that Sam had heard about on the show "Heat-Seekers" which is a cooking show about finding the best spicy food. "Wingdome," in Kent, was featured on one of the shows because it has wings that have sauce with degrees of spiciness ranging from 0-6. Sam really wanted to go, and especially wanted Tyler to try the number 6 wings. Unfortunately Tyler didn't end up being available, but the rest of us enjoyed wings in the lower numbers! Sam and Eli were the most adventurous, trying out the number 3 wings.

The next day, we went to Wild Waves. It was a gorgeous day for it and we all just had so much fun. Allena stuck like glue to Auntie Jodi, the boys all hung out together and Tim took lots of great pictures! It was the best day at Wild Waves that we had had all summer!

What a fantastic day we had!
The next morning we played some games
and hung out a bit more at the house before they had to leave to go back to the Philippines.

We are soooo looking forward to coming to visit them at Christmas!

A couple of weeks after the Simon and Jodi left, a mysterious package came in the mail. Simon had told Tim that he was sending him something that he thought he needed. We couldn't think what it was. We were both shocked that it was this giant computer monitor! Thanks again, Simon and Jodi! You are so good to us!
The next weekend, my friend Linda came to visit! We had a fantastic time! Thursday when she came, we let the kids swim in the pool at her hotel and then we came back to the house for dinner. We went to the Pacific Science Center the next day with Sam while Allena was at her dance camp. I totally forgot to take any pictures while we were there, but we had an enjoyable time. Sam's favorite part was the traveling exhibit on the science of fear. Linda, very generously, took us all out to dinner at the Olive Garden that night. It was delicious! The next day, we had to do a bunch of stuff for Allena's performance group. She was in a parade in downtown Auburn and then did a performance there too for the Good Ol' Days festival. I thought I got a video of Allena in the parade, but apparently I didn't push the record button until right after the bit I was trying to film. Oh well! But anyway, "Auntie" Linda was a good sport to come along to all that with us. After that we scooted off to the Point Defiance Zoo (also Auntie
Linda's treat...wow!) Finally, I remembered to actually take some pictures! We got to see the new Clouded Leopard cubs! They were soooo cute, but it is hard to tell from this picture!
Allena's favorite were the penguins. After the zoo, we had to drop off Linda at the train station. What a great visit....thanks for coming, Linda!!
There are many beautiful lakes around our area and I decided that we needed to have a lake day. After Allena's piano lesson the next week, she and I took Fran's paddle boat out on the lake that she lives on. It was Allena's first time on a paddle boat. We got all the way out the the middle of the lake. What a beautiful view. Allena and I both appreciated the beauty of it. Later that day, Sam's friend Jonah came over and we all went to float around in Lake Killarney, in Federal Way. I even went floating! I don't know if the boys just came for the ice cream that we had afterwards or not, but I don't care, because I enjoyed it! Next summer, I want to either get inflatable kayaks or a raft for the kids and I to go floating in because of all the lakes around here!

My sweet husband bought me these gorgeous roses "just because." I am so blessed to have a fantastic husband!

Allena did a dance camp in which she, along with the rest of the kids in the camp put together the abbreviated version of the ballet "Hansel and Gretel." She really loved the camp, even though it was a lot of hard work and the finished product was great! It was actually the best show, in my opinion, that her dance studio has put on since she has been there. Here is Allena afterwards with Tim, then with Sherwin (friend from church that used to babysit her) and then with the Sydney, the girl who danced the role of Gretel. Allena did a very good job. After the show, the teacher said that there was a part that everyone else was starting too early, but Allena was listening and waiting for the music so that she started at the correct time. Yay, AllenaMae!!

On the same weekend, we had Allena's show, we also had the Cub scout campout AND the family camp out! Sam stayed the day at the Cub scout camp out while I went back and forth to the show, and then we all left later that evening to join the family down in Castle Rock. I think that Sam enjoyed the Cub scout camp out. It was just about the same as last year, but just a little less organized. The "Hobo Stew" we had for dinner (potatoes, carrots and meat wrapped up in tin foil) was yummy, but took forever to cook on the coals. I led the human clue game again which went over pretty well. It was a toy story theme, "Who Killed the LGM (Little Green Man.) Allena was excited that she got to be a character this time...she was Bo Peep. Sam and his den did a couple skits that were funny at the campfire. I was glad that Sam got to participate in the flag retirement ceremony again. It almost made me cry when I saw Sam clutching the flag to his chest and walking down the steps behind an older boy scout. This actually surprised me because I am really not all that patriotic. I guess it is just that Sam was involved in something much bigger than himself, and he was handling it so reverently and respectfully. What a kid!

I was thankful when we finally got to the campground where mom and dance, the Jones' and the Simpsons had set up camp that afternoon. I know that my dad was relieved too when I got there since he wasn't really a fan of the idea of me driving down with the kids at night anyway. Dad was sweet enough to set up the tent for us, so soon after we arrived, we crashed. The next day we went to the playground in the morning and then to park along the Toutle River and let the kids play in the water and the sand. The kids were interested to know that the sand that they were stepping on was mixed up with ash from when Mt. St. Helens blew it's top. When we got there, Allena saw a boy swinging from a rope swing and into the water and she started begging me to do it. If dad had been there, I probably wouldn't have let her because I would have been too afraid that he would have a heart attack, but he wasn't so I decided to let her try it. It was a bit tricky because if she let go of the rope at the wrong time, she would fall on rocks instead of in the water. I made her watch the other kid a bunch of times and then she tried it. She stood on a tall rock on the shore, grabbed tightly to the rope and I pushed her out over the water. She let go at just the perfect time! Seven or eight times in a row! Until....we took a little break from it to play with the cousins and she must have got out of her rhythm because the last time that she did it, right before we had to leave, she let go a little too early. Everyone on the shore (including those related to me!) must have been thinking that I was a totally foolish mother, because Allena started screaming and screaming that her leg was broken. Turned out that she just got a bruise and that she had REALLY scared herself. Oh well. The look on Allena's face of victory over a difficult task and overcoming her fears was pretty much worth it. She knew without a doubt that she was a courageous girl. That night we did ate a delicious dinner, sang a little and had S'mores with giant marshmallows. Nancy's turned out perfectly! Sheri and Jason left with the kids because both girls had a cold and it was pretty challenging for them with Molly being so young. I hated to see them go, but I know that they all probably slept better that night. We had a nighttime trip to the playground so that we could stay up to see the stars. Everyone was pooped though, so we didn't stay up too late. The next day it was time to go...lots of mosquito bites and lots of good memories!In this picture (above) Uncle Mike is holding up a citronella candle. We told him that it was the perfect place for the candle and that he should just stand there and hold it for us. What a champ!

We left for Lake Chelan the morning after we got back from camping. We were all excited to see a new place and to spend time with our friends, the Sorenson's (minus Stein.) The resort was called Campbell's, a beautiful spot dircctly on the lake. The second picture is a screen shot from a web cam that is mounted on top of one of the buildings. Can you see me and AllenaMae on the corner of the dock? Tracey and I were able to sit next to the lake and the kids went from pool, to the dock for fishing,
to the hot tub and to the lake. It was sunny and hot the whole time. I was a bit worried at first since Sam and Kai didn't seem to want to do the same things, that Sam would just start entertaining himself by bothering the girls, but God answered my prayer and provided another friend for Sam that was staying at the resort. Tracey and I ran each morning around the lake while the kids relaxed in the room. Then we got our coffee at the Starbucks across the street and headed down to spend the day by the lake. Lots of relaxing and reading and playing. I even got in the water a bunch since it was so nice and hot. One of the highlights was the two fish that Kai caught. He was mighty proud! The boys (including some other boys that were hanging around) gutted and fileted the fish, which turned out to be a real male bonding experience for them all. I barbequed them on the outdoor barbeque and the kids and I had a fish snack! Another highlight was going down to a campfire on the beach and having some s'mores. Ice cream was a must as well!
I enjoyed having more time to talk to Tracey. I'm so glad that we are friends and that our families get along!

I think that God is a great teacher. I know that is probably the understatement of the year. But most good teaching resources talk about how students need repetition and then chances to use the new information that they are learning. God must know this (or rather, He is the originator of these concepts) because I feel like he has been teaching me this month what he is expecting from me as a teacher and what I need to do to be successful, not only at school, but in the kingdom of God. How wonderful that it goes hand in hand! The key to success that He has shown me lies building relationships with my students. He showed me though a book that I am reading called "Teaching with Love and Logic," through a seminar at school, and also through the prompting of the Holy Spirit that building a relationship with a student is the pathway to their mind and ultimately their heart. I suppose I had always known the heart part but didn't realize that the mind could be included too. I just makes sense though. We all want that unconditional love that God provides and until we know Him, we look for it in the people around us. I am accutely aware of the fact that I am the only Jesus that my students may see this year and I am to love them according to John 5:12 "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." May they be loved and in turn learn a little about music and a lot about God through me.

Camp Waddell and More!

2011-07-31T08:17:00.000-07:00

July 2011

Tyler got his driver's license AND, after taking a class, his motorcycle endorsement. He is now riding independently around town on the motorcycle! Way to go, Tyler!

Every summer for the past four or five years now, the kids have gone to the VBS at St. Luke's church. Each time they just love it! This year Anita, Athena, Jonah, and Raisa all went too!

Allena and I went to go see the premiere of Disney's "Aladdin" stage production at the 5th Avenue Theatre downtown. We went with Tracey and JJ. Dinner beforehand was at "Elephant and Castle," and then we walked down to the show. It was fantastic. The girls really enjoyed it and so did the moms! I thought it was cute that they changed the signs in the theater to have an Arabian-looking font!
Allena went to Camp Waddell at Grandma and Papa's the third week in July. She was so excited and talked about going the whole week previous. And I think that she had just as much fun as she anticipated. They went to Enchanted Forest, went roller skating, played with Ellie and Ryan (Siena's cousins,) went shopping, went on a bike ride, played in the pool with Siena and Papa, played chess with Papa, went to the park, got strawberries and made strawberry shortcakes, went to Powell's to get books and then to "Keana's Candyland" for lunch.... among other things! Can you imagine how exhausted Grandma and Papa must have been!

When I brought Allena down to mom and dad's I got these cute pictures of Siena, Molly and Sheri. It was Molly's first time on the rocking horse!
While Allena was away, Sam and I got to hang out a together more than usual. I enjoyed some extra time with my sweet boy! We went to Wild Waves with friends, Connor, Evan and Jonah. I even let them go around the park together to a few things by themselves, since Evan is a 7th grader. Sam liked the independence. We also went to Owen Tonseth's birthday party. Sam was very excited that we had bought two foam swords....one for him and one for his dad, Brandon. =) Another highlight of the week was making homemade cinnamon rolls. Wow! They turned out sooooo good!

The next week, Sam went down to Grandma and Papa's. He also had a fantastic time. I think it was good that Sam went second since he is a lot more low-key than Allena. The best part for Sam was going to Wings and Waves, a new water park in Portland that has a 747 on the roof of the building with water slides coming out of it! He loved it! They also went to OMSI, Powell's and out to lunch, Malibu Grand Prix, and swimming. He also had a good time playing with Siena and Molly. Grandma let Sam cook a meal.... he made pork noodle soup with rice and gyoza on the side. They all said that it was yummy! I know that Sam had a really good time and I am so glad that he got to spend quality time with his grandparents!!

While Sam was away, Allena and I got to hang out together! We also went to Wild Waves with friends-twice! This is a picture of the fish that they fed in the pond. Pretty gross! Actually, it is kind of interesting in a way though, how the fish practically come out of the water and get on top of each other in order to get the food. We also went ice skating. That was fun! Allena is a great ice skater! I also enjoyed spending extra time with my wonderful girl!

The Cub scout pack meeting for July was a water fight. It was too bad that it was in the stretch of crummy weather. Although that didn't slow down the kids much. They had a ton of fun getting soaked and soaking each other! Sam and Allena even got new water guns from daddy for the occasion!

Also with Cub Scouts, we went to the Tacoma Nature Center to earn the Naturalist badge for Webelos. What a great place! We had a really good tour guide/teacher who played fun games with the kids and took them on an informative hike. I wish that more cubs could have been able to take part in it! We saw some wildlife, like these tortoises along with ducks and even a hawk. Sam was determined to get a picture of an ant, and he finally did!

I was excited after going to my favorite grocery store, Valley Harvest, because I picked up a can of squid for Sam. I thought he would think it was cool. What a surprise we both had though, when we dumped out the can to reveal a WHOLE small squid...tentacles and all! Sam was a little too grossed out to cook it up and eat it, which says a lot! Mittens didn't even want to have anything to do with it when Sam tried to feed it to her!

Sam and Allena are excited about the giant marshmallows that I bought for the family camp-out!

One of the favorite activities of the summer, when the kids have friends over is to put the sprinkler underneath the trampoline! Bouncy and wet fun for all!

Allena lost her first top front tooth on July 31st! I think she looks pretty cute!

I had a bit of an epiphany this week having to do with money. The Bible is pretty black and white about money. In Luke 6:13 it says, “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” I have generally thought of myself as one that doesn't struggle too much with greed and the love of money. But, I was in a Bible study with my friend Teresa yesterday and she happened to mention that her aunt, being a nun, turns over all of her money to the church and then submits an application with all the expenses that she expects and receives just enough money back from the church in order to cover the expenses that she anticipates. I had never known this and it made me think. I always say that all of my money belongs to God anyway, but what if I had to give ALL my money to Him at the beginning of each month and then ask for it back when I needed to buy something? Would I think about each puchase more? Would I consider more carefully, "Do I really need this, or could God make better use of this money?" Do I ever abuse the freedom that God gives me with my money by being careless about how I spend? Certainly, I am not going out and spending willy-nilly, but this experience has really made me think and I would like to become more thoughtful and prayerful about purchases in light of all this in the future. If God is my caretaker, I want to trust Him to be so and not my money.

Vacationing and Camp in July!

2011-07-10T07:06:00.000-07:00

July, 2011

What an awesome time we all had at the beginning of July! God truly blessed Tim's and my time together and the kids' had a wonderful time at Camp Harlow.

First we went down to Portland for the 4th of July. We got to see Mom and Dad, Lisa and Curt, Sheri and Jason and Siena and Molly. Always a wonderful treat!!!We went swimming of course, and Papa played a game with Allena called the "Bucking Bronco" on one of the floaties. Allena tried to buck Papa off!
I can't believe that Molly is getting so big! What a chunker! And she loves her Grandma and Papa!Allena received presents for her birthday from her aunties and Grandma and Papa.
We went over to Sheri's neighborhood to set off a few fireworks. The comment of the night was..."Whoa! Those aren't Oregon fireworks!" And we were using the tame Washington ones! We set off those gross growing snakes and smoke bombs, which Sam loved and we all did sparklers.
The kids liked Sheri and Jason's new swing set too!

The next morning we set out EARLY for Camp Harlow. I was pretty nervous about how Allena would do at nighttime. The previous week, she had worked on falling asleep without listening to her audio book. It only went ok. She had used her puppy "Florissa," who has a little song in her paw as a substitute. So of course, the over-protective mom in me freaked out when I discovered that she had forgotten Florissa! I can't believe it, but I even went to the build-a-bear store in order to get a bear with the same sound byte in it! Lucky for me, God helped it to not be an expensive endeavor....I got the bear with a coupon and the sound for free because it was the display one since they were out of that particular sound...$5! Good thing, since it turned out that she didn't even need it anyway. Oh well, "Coconut" is now a great addition to her build-a-bear collection. =) Sam seemed pretty excited about camp and was glad to see Eli and Isaac there. Here are some pics of the kids the day we dropped them off.

We got to see Dave Mertz, "Dave the Wave" who used to be the co-director of the middle school camp while we were there and is now the director. And we saw Soda, Andrew Bullock whom we knew from our years out there. Also pictured is the Dean of Women for this year, since I was also the same position years ago. It is kind of a generational picture. Great to catch up with old friends!

After dropping off the kids at camp, we went to breakfast with Jodi. I was glad to have the chance to catch up with her and hear about life in the Philippines. We do miss them so much. I just wish we could be next door neighbors or at least live in the same state....or country! We ate at the "Glenwood Cafe" on the UO campus....one of my favorites from my college days,,,,,,mmmmmm....homefries with cheese and delicious coffee!

After getting the kids squared away, a good meal in our tummies, a good visit with Jodi, and a couple of t-shirts from the UO bookstore, we headed south toward Ashland. On the way, we stopped at Rice Hill for ice cream, a tradition Tim remembers from growing up. Ice cream for lunch....just the thing to do on vacation! When we got into Ashland, we checked into our bed and breakfast which was really nice with a beautiful view of the surrounding hills. We walked around the town and took a run through Lithia Park...one of the most gorgeous parks with a bubbling creek running through it. The next day we went on a backstage tour of the theaters. We were a little disappointed that we didn't get to see more of the backstages, but rather heard about them. But it was still fun. That night we went to see Love's Labor's Lost, which we mostly enjoyed even though it was really hot that night (we were in the outdoor theater) and I felt really sleepy for the 8:00 pm show after having dinner and seeing the "Green Show" (pictured below) which is a musical show in the courtyard in front the theatres.
This day was our anniversary and we came back to the B and B to find that the owner had put champagne in our room! So we toasted our anniversary...and then went to bed so that we would be ready for our next exciting day. I was so excited because we went rafting/kayaking in inflatable kayaks on the Rogue River! It was a perfect, hot day and we just had a fabulous time. I had always wanted to try out kayaking and it was just as fun as it looks. We went with a guide company that did a great job. We felt totally safe and had a delicious lunch to boot. You can probably tell from the pictures how ecstatic I was about the opporutnity to go! Now I want to buy inflatable kayaks for the family! After rafting we high-tailed it back to Ashland in order to check into our next B and B and make our Henry IV preview which was very helpful in understanding the show which we saw that night. It was surprisingly wonderful! We both really enjoyed it!

Oh yeah, we had some GREAT food while we were there!
At a yummy italian restaurant.

The next day, we had to leave to go get the kids. Before we got them though, we went to lunch with Linda in Eugene at (of course) Burrito Boy.

By the way, on our trip, Tim became an expert and holding out the camera to take a picture of us both at the same time. =)
The next day, we had to leave to go get the kids. Before we got them though, we went to lunch with Linda in Eugene at (of course) Burrito Boy.

The kids were happy to see us and it was clear that they had had a great time. Allena said that she didn't miss me at all! I was glad to hear it because it means that she was having too much fun to think about what she was missing. Camp Harlow comes through again! Here are pictures of them (and Eli and Isaac with Sam) with their counselors on the last day. A cute picture of cousin Isaac the last day of camp. Looks like he had fun too!

On the way home in the car for almost a straight 90 minutes, Allena talked and talked about everything that happened at camp. I thought she would be exhausted and fall asleep, but I couldn't believe how much she had to say! I realized that our trip away was relatively quiet!

We went back to mom and dad's that night, had some dinner and slept there. The next day, we went to a bbq over at Melinda's. It was a "family" reunion of sorts with the Hepburn, Waddell, and Neal families all getting together. What a great time it was to see everyone! I hadn't even met Nancy's youngest daughter, Emma yet, or Jackson, Adam and Sarah's little boy. We didn't have a ton of time to catch up because Sam, Allena and Tim wanted to hit the road after a tiring week, but I am so glad that I got to go and see everyone for a little while. Tim set the camera up to take this fabulous picture of everyone.

This summer I have been reading 2 Samuel with my LTG (Life Transformation Group.) The structure of the group is set up such that, if one person does not finish the reading which we agree upon for the week, we all have to repeat the reading for the next week. We got through the first half of 2 Sam. in 2 weeks, I think. But the second half took 4 weeks! And this was only after I begged that my friend finish it so that I wouldn't have to read it again. It wasn't that I didn't think it was good, it was just that it was kind of depressing. The first 10 chapters are mostly good. The book starts off with David becoming king because Saul is finally killed and David is very successful, winning victory after victory and constantly pleasing the hearts of the people and seeking the heart of the Lord. There ar e several instances recoreded in which David asks specific things of the Lord and God answers. Then in chapter 11, things begin to crumble. David commits adultery with Bathsheba and then has her husband killed on the front lines of battle when he finds out that she is pregnant. The Lord then delivers this sharp rebuke: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. ⁹ Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own." Consequently, the last 12 chapters are filled with murder, deception and selfishness, plague and rape. David's own son turns against him, one of his sons rapes one of his daughters, the leader of his army murders another just to secure his position as head and there seems to be constant turmoil among the people of the kingdom about whom their allegiance belongs to. If there was ever doubt in someone's mind about whether or not there would be consequences for their sin, 2 Samuel should clear this up. We now have Christ, of course, who takes away our sins, but I am reminded by the book of 2 Samuel that Christ doesn't generally take away the consequences of our sins here on earth. God wants us to learn not to sin, and if there are no consequences, we won't learn as well, just like a child being disciplined by a parent. God needs us to know that our sin hurts ourselves and those around us. He needs me to know that, I should say. Maybe that is why I had to read the second of of the book so many times!

Spring into Summer!

2011-06-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

May-June 2011

Well, hope you have a few minutes, because this is a long edition of my blog. May and June were pretty busy, so I am finally sitting down to write about it all. We leave for vacation/camp tomorrow, and it is my goal to get it done before we leave!

At the beginning of May I was able to go on Allena's class's field trip to the Pacific Science Center. It was a fun day enjoying first grade fun and seeing the great museum. The highlights were the butterfly exhibit and the Pacific waters touch tank.

Since we received such a generous gift card to Outback Steakhouse from the Geske family for the Grandma Mary CD recording, we decided to share it with Nancy and Mike since they helped out with the recording day and because it was Nancy's 50th birthday! The kids stayed at the house and played Wii while we went out and enjoyed a delicious dinner.

Allena had such a great year in Awana. The awards ceremony was nice and a great opportunity to say thank you to her dedicated leaders. We are so thankful that there are adults that love Jesus enough to spend time teaching young ones about Him. It has been a true blessing for Allena.

Sam's May pack meeting was at Camp Kilworth. His den did a really funny skit which ended with putting a pie in the Cubmaster's face. It was pretty funny....wish I got a picture of it! Despite the fact that the Cubmaster was the one decided upon it, the den still got the "best skit" award. Sam was happy, even though he doesn't look it in this picture.

Tyler went to prom with his girlfriend, Jessica. He made it special by making her dinner, and then creating a romantic little candlelit dinner in his room! Very nice!

The kids and I went to a release party at Borders for the new Rick Riordan book that came out in May. The party ended up being a little lame, but the kids had fun anyway. Sam wrote his name in hieroglyphics and Allena wrapped up another party-goer in toilet paper to make a mummy. They got a free Lego set at the end, which made the trip down to Puyallup worth it...mostly! =)

Mother's day was wonderful. The kids and Tim gave me great gifts and Tim made me the most amazing Red Velvet cupcakes. Well, they were actually Beige Velvet because he didn't put in any red food coloring, but they were absolutely delicious. The frosting tasted even better than it looked, if you can believe that. I missed having Chelsea around, but she made sure to call me which was sweet and she also sent me a TJ Maxx gift card which I spent on a cute pair of summer shoes.

Allena and I were very excited to go see Mary Poppins, the Broadway musical that is now touring around the US. It was showing at the Paramount downtown. We actually were going with other dancers from the performance group at Allena's dance studio. Maybe it was the fact that we were going in a group and that we paid the teacher to get the tickets, or maybe it was the fact that Tim is always the one who is responsible for grabbing tickets when we go to a show, or maybe it is because I am just plain scatter-brained....but we got all the way to Seattle before I realized that I forgot the tickets at home. I called Tim in a panic. He and Sam had just gone to see a movie. They had to leave the movie (glad it was just the two dollar theater) to go home and get the tickets. Meanwhile, I parked in a very close lot to the theater, so that I would have enough time to beg and plead with the ticket agent that if Tim sent a picture of the tickets and read all the information to the ticket agent over the phone, that they might let us in. Just in case, Tim also started driving toward Seattle while all this was happening. What a mess I made! In the end, the ticket agent did let us in, and Tim and Sam were able to turn around and go home, after making it most of the way to Seattle. Sam was a champ about it, he said that he didn't mind, as long as we got the same movie later from Red Box. The show was very amazing. Allena and I both enjoyed it so much. It was a quite a bit different from the movie, but still had the classic numbers like Supercalifragilistic and Chim Chim Chiree. It was a late show, so Allena fell asleep in the car on the way home.

Our friends Jacqueline and Dave went on vacation to Florida and came home with a huge amount of shells from all their beachcombing. When she told me this, I had no idea that there were going to be so many. I asked her if they left any shells on the beach atall! Because she had an over abundance of shells, Jacqueline decided to host a shell-crafting day which she invited us to. Allena and I went and had a great time! Allena did a plaque with her name on it that she decorated in shells and I decorated a plant pot with shells. Both turned out great. Allena also had a good time playing with their dog, Zadie.

Allena had a Goldilocks and the Three Bears program at school. She was a little disappointed that she didn't get a specific part, but we told her that she was probably needed as a singer in the chorus to help lead the other kids with her strong voice. That she did, and more. She was so animated with all the motions and expressions....we loved it and were so entertained! Here are just a few of the many expressions.

Sam did a science experiment for the Science Fair at school. His experiment was measuring the length of time that different vinegars bubbled when mixed with baking soda. He used apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, and malt vinegar. The results were mixed, no clear winner, but he did a great job executing the experiment and his presentation board looked wonderful.
We went to Wild Waves as a family one afternoon, just for a few hours, to ride a few rides and get our pictures taken for our season passes. It was not crowded at all. We didn't do any wet rides because it was not a very warm day, but we had a fun relaxing time together. I love the picture of Tim and the kids at the beginning of this blog edition that we took while we were there!

We went to go see Evelyn in the show "Annie" at her middle school. She played an orphan. She and the rest of the cast did a really good job. Evelyn was very excited to be in the show and I know that she enjoyed it so much. We were glad that we got to see her "musical debut!"

Recital season was upon us in June. First, Allena and I performed in Fran's recital. Allena played a piano piece called "Rondalla Aragonesa," and I sang a song called "Trees" that was part of a song cycle, the composer of which lives in Seattle and actually came to the recital. I got to meet her and actually be a fellow judge with her for the senior scholarship contest that Fran does each year.

Then came Allena's dance recital. She and her class did a routine to "Magic Carpet Ride." As usual, Allena did a fabulous job of knowing the whole dance and staying with the music. She has also been working on smiling while she is performing....she looked so adorable up there, smiling away! Grandma and Papa came up the the recital and brought her flowers. Afterwards we went back to our house and Nancy and Mike met us there for a bbq. It was fun to hang out with everyone.

We went swimming at the motel the next morning (got the picture of Sam doing a hand-stand under water) and had some breakfast with Grandma and Papa. It was so wonderful of them to come up and visit!

The next recital was the one for my studio. I hardly ever remember to take any pictures at my recitals, so I don't have any this year. I need to start putting someone in charge of taking pictures for me. It went well though. I was disappointed that one of the students, Iggy, didn't perform, but everyone else did a great job. This time, in order to make the program a little longer, I tried to include more duets. This was a highlight. Especially Connor and Evan playing "The Entertainer," Jazmin and I playing a duet called "Valencia" and Summer and myself singing "Laudamus Te" from the Vivaldi "Gloria," accompanied by Jazmin.

This year Allena was in an after school activity called "C.L.I.M.B." club. It is a club for girls that is designed to build self-esteem. The name stands for "Courageous," "Loyal," "Inspiring," "Motivated," and "Beautiful (on the inside)." Allena really enjoyed it. At the end of the year there were two activities that mom's were invited to....a pajama party where she made this delicious cupcake and awesome necklace,
and a Chuck E. Cheese party. In this picture, a group of kids were instructed to scream, "I want free tickets." If they screamed loud enough, they got free tickets....you can imagine that they did.

Crazy Hair day at school is always a favorite. Can you see the blue in Allena's hair? I took the picture in the afternoon when most of the blue hairspray had worn off. In the morning, she had two blue ponytails!

I planted a garden this spring, thanks to the help of our neighbor Larry. He tilled the section for me and gave me some seeds and plant starts. Hopefully we will soon have some beans, sugar snap peas, a pumkin, a sunflower and a squash!

Allena's birthday party was big! She had lots of friends that she wanted to invite and I let her invite them all! Actually it wasn't too bad. She wanted an Egyptian theme, so Tim made a pyramid cake (very nice job!), the girls made Cleopatra headbands, and the boys made golden amulets (Sam's idea.) We also did a scavenger hunt to "Find the Mummy" that was hidden in the house in the golden sarcophagus (shoe box spray painted gold with Ken doll wrapped up in toilet paper and tape inside.) Sam and Tyler were a big help. All the kids had a good time, I think and Allena received some very nice presents.

The night of Allena's birthday, we had the dinner of her choice....crockpot chicken, and opened presents. Tim and I had both been collecting things over the previous months, things that were on sale, and such. So, she ended up with quite a few things....which she was happy about, of course!
Tim and I had been talking about how we were going to help Tyler with transportation. He doesn't have his license yet, but he is almost ready to take the test. When we looked into putting him on our insurance, in order to drive the truck, we found out that it was going to be pretty expensive. So, Tim had the idea to buy him a motorcycle. Apparently, a motorcycle does not have to be insured and it is fairly simple to do one's own repairs. We thought that this was a pretty good solution. Tyler was very excited about it. Tim had been praying about the search for a motorcycle.....about how much we should spend, where to get it etc. He had contacted a few individuals from Craig's List, but nothing much had come of it. There was one in SeaTac that was listed for $700 and Tim had not contacted them yet because he was looking at more of the $500-$600 range. He ended up calling since it was one of the closer in proximity to us than ones and he would probably spend a bunch on gas anyway, driving the truck to a further location to pick up a different motorcycle. So, when Tim took Tyler to see the motorcycle in SeaTac, they really liked it. Tim wasn't sure if he should offer less than the asking price or not because the bike was in really good condition and was obviously worth more. After hesitating for awhile, finally Tim said, "Would you take $600 for it?" The guy paused and said, "Tell you what, if you take it off my hands right now, I'll give it to you for $550." What a blessing! This can only be God, because that is not how bargaining usually works! We are so thankful that God is helping us provide for Tyler. As it says in Phillipians 4:19, "My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus."

Amazing April!

2011-04-30T07:51:00.000-07:00

Allena is excited about her costume for her upcoming dance show!
April 2011

My birthday and spring break started off the month in a great way! Sam and Tim made me a wonderful Greek style birthday dinner! It was Sam's idea. He gave me a list of all the ingredients that were needed and then after church, he and Tim got to work. They made Greek salad lentil soup,
gyros, and home-made baklava (which is no easy task.) It was all perfectly delicious. I especially liked the salad because of the Greek vinaigrette dressing and the baklava was amazing! After dinner my sweet family gave me presents. Allena made me a mask, and Tim gave me a revolving picture frame.Spring break was great! I checked out a novel from the church library by one of my favorite authors and actually read about half of it. It was a much needed break. I didn't get to spend quite as much time with the kids as I would have liked since I left too much of the preparation for the Grandma Mary CD to the last minute, but we still had a really good time. On the Wednesday, Tim took a half day off work and we all went to the Family Fun Center. What a blast! Sam and Allena went on a roller coaster simulator that they thought was awesome. Tyler went on a 3D ride simulator. The tokens went fast as they went from game to game trying to earn tickets. I felt so nostalgic when one of the first things that Sam wanted to do was try to get these big plastic animals and dinosaurs from a crane machine. When he was little he loved plastic animals. He never liked trains, cars or sports and every time he could spend money, he would buy more plastic animals. It made me smile!

Right at the end of spring break, we had the "Grandma Mary CD recording" day. Jean and Erv, Vicki and Steve and the kids, Kerrie and Rich and her kids, mom and dad and Sheri all traveled up to be part of the event. We had been planning it for several months via email. Most of the out of towners arrived on the Friday night and they came over here for dinner. After dinner, we went over to the church to familiarize Mariah with the sound system, and to rehearse a bit. The next morning, we got up bright and early to start rehearsing and recording. Mom and dad, Sheri and the kids arrived a little later. Mariah used the project as her senior project for school and worked closely with Tim in the sound booth. It was a whirlwind of rehearsing, recording, laughing, crying, eating and enjoying each other and the music. When Vicki read her memory of Grandma Mary and sang the song with Cam that Grandma used to sing to her, it brought tears to my eyes. I immensely enjoyed spending time with all the family and creating a wonderful tribute to Grandma Mary and creating the memory of working together with the family.

Here is a great pic that I got of Molly the morning after we did the recording. What a cutie!

Here are the kids' class pictures from this year. Hopefully Sam wasn't as unhappy as he looks!=)
I was able to pick 5 students from my choir to participate in a regional Honor choir. It was a wonderful experience for them. The director that worked with them was wonderful. I learned a lot by watching her!

Allena did track at her school. She was very excited about it! I am not usually a fan of doing more than two activities at a time and she already had dance and Awana. But, she was so excited about it, and it was minimal commitment with a very short season. One day after practice, the PE teacher told me that she is actually really good at the long jump. She was very excited for her track meet. She did the 100 meter dash, the softball throw and the long jump. She got 6.5 feet on the long jump!

At JJ's birthday party, Allena got to "make" her own stuffed frog. It is kind of like "Build A Bear," but it is a kit that you can order. All the girls at the party made one and then got to decorate a t-shirt for their new stuffed friend. Allena had a great time doing it and named her frog

We went to mom and dad's for Easter. At first we were not going to go because Allena had another track meet scheduled the day before Easter. But she prayed about it and then felt certain that it was ok to miss the track meet in order to spend time with Grandma and Papa for Easter. The day before Easter turned out to be beautiful weather. In the morning, we walked over to the Easter egg hunt for neighborhood. Siena and Allena both wore bunny ears.
Sam was a big help in pushing Molly in the stroller. The hunt was just for young kids (Sam handled it with a good attitude) and the girls got prizes and candy after they gathered eggs and turned them in.
After the hunt we went home to get ready to have pictures done at JC Penny's. These turned out great! It was such a nice day, that we just had to stay outside for the afternoon, so we went to the Wilsonville park and let the kids play. Papa went with us and went on the teeter-totter with the kids. Lisa and Curt came over for Easter dinner that night and we all relaxed together. The next morning we went to church and then out to lunch at Burgerville! =)
In children's church on Sunday, I designed a lesson to demonstrate the power of the resurrection. The inspiration verse was Phillipians 3:10, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection." We played a card game in which each child had a "God" card that they had made. We played a modified game of "War." and when the "God" card was played the ultimate power of the card made the person who played the card automatically win and get all the cards. Then to further the demonstration, the child who won then got to pass out cookies to all the other kids. The game wasn't really a good card game, but it did demonstrate the point that when we allow God to win in our lives, (over all the other things that pull us in every direction) we win and everyone around us wins too! This is the power of the resurrection!

February and March...where did they go?

2011-03-31T15:12:00.000-07:00

February and March 2011

Sam started fencing lessons! When given the choice between baseball and fencing, Sam chose fencing. Tim takes him down to Tacoma on Wednesday nights for his lessons. He says it is boring, but that he likes it better than soccer. At least it is a step up for him and we don't have to sit in the cold for the games this year! I think that he shows a lot of potential for the sport. He is listening well to his instructor and learning the moves quickly. My cousin Gil gave us some of his old uniform pieces. I am looking forward to seeing him in the full uniform.....which, I think,is a bit frightening looking, but I know Sam will like that.

AllenaMae got 2nd place in the speed skating competition at Skate Connection when we attended Sam's pack meeting there. Those roller blades that I got at a rummage sale a couple of years ago were a great bargain for the enjoyment that she has gotten out of them. Sometimes, I even let her rollerblade to school, as a reward for being ready on time. She loves it and she is really good at it.

The kids made this "Armor of God" costume in children's church one day. Here is Allena in her get-up, looking fiercely ready for battle!
February and March were busy months for me at school. This is probably why the days went so fast. In February, I had a fund-raising dinner for the choir called "Notes and Noodles." It turned out to be successful in that we made about $1000 for the choir. But, it was A LOT of work. IF I do it again next year, I will need to make some changes and get more people on board to help. The ASB (Associated Student Body) laws at the school are difficult to work with and make everything a little harder. For instance, all the tickets that we sold had to be numbered and color coded. So I (along with my very helpful friend Tracey,) made all the tickets one afternoon.....yes it took the WHOLE afternoon on a Sunday. Next time, I will just use the roll of tickets that you can buy and make the tickets all one price to avoid the hassle. Despite all the work, it was a success and I was glad when it was over. After the dinner, I then had to focus on preparing students for the Solo and Ensemble contest. The picture above it from that contest. I actually had 8 students plus one of my private students that participated in singing their solos. It was a good experience for the kids, but again, lots of extra time for me after school and at lunches, preparing the solos. Any person who doesn't think that teachers deserve summer off and vacations off, has obviously never been one, or seen the extra time that teachers actually put in!
Allena and her friend JJ are in performance group again this year. They actually had to audition this year and both of them got it. These are their uniform t-shirts for the performances. They have bright white sweatshirts too. Needless to say, these items of clothing will hang in the closet until performance time so that they can stay stain-free!
Tim cooked us English pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. They were delicious, as always. I don't think Sam helped this year, but we will have to put him to work next year so that he can continue this Dodd tradition.

Sam's class at school had a music program along with the rest of the 4th grade, the 5th grade and the GATE class. Sam was really dreading having to be in the program because he just doesn't like to perform. The program was great though, and we really enjoyed it. The picture directly above is from a number they did where they all stood in two lines and did a body percussion Rondo. (Ask Sam what "Rondo" means!) Sam also had a speaking part in which he introduced a song. I was impressed at how Sam payed attention and followed his music teacher while playing the bass bar. If only all students could be like that! =)

Mariah, my cousin and God-daughter from Washougal, WA, came in February for a training that was being given on the sound system at our church. This was in preparation for the recording that we are going to be doing of my grandmother's music. The training session turned out to be only somewhat helpful, but I was really glad that she came so that we could spend some time together. It was a bit of a busy day, going from one activity to the next, but Mariah was a good sport and hung out with us for the whole day. She is such a delightful and talented young lady! It hard to believe that she is so grown up when I feel like it was just yesterday that she was the cutest flower girl ever at our wedding!

Sam was part of the flag ceremony at the last pack meeting. He continues on the Webelos path. This time next year, he will be graduating from Cub scouts and will become a real Boy Scout! That will be very exciting!

At church one morning, during the Family Hour, there was a game in which a person had to take a piece of spaghetti in their mouth and try to get as many pieces of pasta onto the spaghetti as they could with their hands behind their backs! The kids had fun at this....Tyler was a pro!

If you have ever read the book of Ecclesiastes beyond the well-known passage of "A time to laugh, a time to weep, etc" then you know it is a book like no other in the Bible. For someone like me, who always likes to look at the bright side, I have a hard time with the opening line (and closing) line, "Meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless!" So when I saw that there was a sermon series on Ecclesiastes, I decided that I should listen to it, instead of continuing to dismiss the book. My listening has really been clearing things up for me. Apparently the Greek word that was translated into "meaningless" is more literally translated to "vapor." This makes more sense to me. This life IS vapor....everything we have, everything that we see with our eyes, every dollar we make, almost everything that we do will eventually dissipate into nothing. This is the realm of the temporal. There is also the realm of the eternal...that in which God resides. These things, our relationship with Christ and our relationships with others, these are not the things that the writer of Ecclesiates is talking about. So the question that the pastor put forth in the sermon was, "How much time do you spend in 'vapor management?'" Of course, vapor cannot really be managed. When I think about myself trying to manage all the "vapor" in my life, I understand "meaningless, meaningless! Everything is meaningless ." May we all spend less time worrying about the vapor and more time involved in the things that really matter to God.

The Cebu Dodd's Vist and More!

2011-02-28T06:58:00.000-08:00

January and February, 2011

January started off with more Christmas fun! The Cebu Dodd's came to visit us for one glorious day! It was so wonderful to see them and we were so thankful that they were willing to tack on a day in Seattle to their already busy visit back to the states for Christmas. We really didn't do a whole lot....just hung around and and enjoyed each other's company.

Tim and Simon tackled some of the issues that our TV/Blu-Ray/receiver have been having. Two Dodd brains are better than one! I think they got it at least figured out by the end of the day, if not solved.

The kids played Wii, played on the trampoline and helped me roll peanut butter balls.

For dinner we had Mexican fare and cracked open the Christmas Crackers from Aunty Linda. This is the cutest picture of Simon and Jodi with their crowns on!

We opened Christmas gifts together. The Cebu Dodd's were very generous to us Seattle Dodd's. They even got a pearl necklace and bracelet set for me and Allena since pearls are a great price over in the Philippines. I was surprised and thankful. And I think they look great on me! =)
Another highlight was this handmade purse made out of a real coconut!

Simon and Jodi stayed at a nearby motel and the kids had a slumber party here. The next morning we got to hang around a bit more before they all had to get ready to leave. It was a short but sweet time!

The Cub Scout Pinewood Derby was early this year, so Tim and the kids scrambled to get their cars ready after the holidays were over. Tim did a replica of Simon's Volvo that he re-built, Allena made "The Mouse-inator" and Sam's was his very own creation, made entirely by his hands this year....only a few little pointers from Tim. As you can see below, Tim's car was a bit bigger than the others! It was a little different from last year in that no one won. It was still a good time and the cars looked great!!

The Paparazzi caught this glimpse of the trend-setting 6-year old, AllenaMae Dodd. Sunglasses and cowboy boots are making their way into next season's fashions.

We went to Grandma and Papa's the first weekend of February. I couldn't believe that I forgot to take hardly any pictures! Molly had decided that anyone besides her parents was a stranger and would cry when she was held by someone else or even if sometimes when she looked at someone else. Poor Sheri couldn't pass her around like she would have wanted to. I am sure Molly will get through the stage. Lisa and Curt came over for dinner even after they had had a busy weekend going to Medford. We appreciated having the opportunity to hang out with everyone!
We have a new teenager living with us! His name is Tyler and he goes to our church. We didn't really know him very well when we found out from his sister, who had watched the kids a couple of times, that their mom had kicked him out of the house because he turned 18. (She sent him a text while he was at school telling him that all of his belongings were out on the lawn waiting for him and that he was not going to be living there anymore.) Since he is still in high school and did not have a job, he really needed a place to stay. He stayed with the youth pastor, Brandon for about a week while Tim and I discussed the possibility of him staying here. I had really felt from the Lord that someone was going to fill our extra room, but I just didn't know who. This seemed to be the answer. Nevertheless, we brought him in on a trial basis, so that we all would have the opportunity to get to know each other better and find out if it would be a good fit. The week went well. He was courteous, kind to the kids, helpful and easy to be around. After praying about it, we offered for him to stay here until he finishes high school. This may be another year from now because he is really behind in his credits due to his lack of support at home and his lack of confidence in himself. Since he started living with us, Tim has really gone to bat for him at the school, contacting the teacher and helping Tyler get back on track. If Tyler keeps up with it, he will graduate. June 2012. Here are some pictures that Tim took of Tyler for his 18th birthday. The girl in the second picture is his girlfriend, Jessica.
Allena and Tim had a great time going to two daddy-daughter events in February. First was the Daddy-Daughter Ice Cream Social put on by the CLIMB club at their school. They made some crafts, danced to a saxophone player, got their picture taken and of course, ate ice cream.

The other event they went to was the Daddy-Daughter Date Night put on by the City of Auburn. They went with Stein and JJ. It was a sit-down dinner and dance. They all enjoyed the dinner (amazing!) and then Tim even danced with Allena (amazing too!) Allena had a wonderful time and enjoyed the time with Tim. She loves her Daddy! The other night after Tim left the room and I kissed her goodnight she said, "Mommy," I said, "Yes." She paused and then said with a smile,"You picked the right husband." I chuckled and agreed wholeheartedly.
While the daddys and daughters were at their event, the moms and the boys went bowling! As you can see by our scores, we are not the best bowlers in the world, but we had a great time trying. We even bowled without bumpers! Afterwards we went to Johnny Rockets for burgers, shakes and fries!

I am not sure when I took this goofy picture of me and Sam. But I think it is when he made me an espresso with my new machine. Of course, he topped it off with whipped cream because he knows I love it!

AllenaMae was in the Jester Show at school, which is basically a talent show. She played "Red Feather," and a song that she wrote called, "The Dangerous Castle." She did a fabulous job and we were very proud of her! They gave her this awesome certificate for participating.

Tim's company moved to a new office in Bellevue. Surprisingly, the new building is less than a mile from the old one! The new office has more space and is looks a lot classier than the other place, plus he actually sits by a window with a view. On a clear day, he can see Seattle!

Allena has been working really hard in school in order to get and maintain keeping, her "Knight Badge." It is a badge that kids get when they demonstrate responsible and respectful behavior. Allena got hers taken away for awhile, but then worked very hard to get it back. When she did, I took her ice skating at a Friday evening public skate session that had disco lights and black lights to skate to. It was pretty funky! Allena skated very well!

Speaking of skating, Sam got to go to his friend, Jonah's, skating birthday party. It was at the nearby skating rink, which I think is smelly and loud. The kids had a good time skating, and I enjoyed talking to Jonah's mom, Teresa, who is my friend.

I have been trying so hard this year to keep my focus on the Lord, allowing Him to be the focus and the reason for everything that I do. I was recently talking to my friend Teresa and she, being used by the Holy Spirit, reminded me that it is not about what I do, but about what I am. It seems like I have probably written about this before, because it is something that God has to remind me of frequently (apparently). In the Bible, He talks so much more about who we are, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control." Gal. 5:22. I have to remind myself of the words that are not mentioned in that list, such as, efficiency, perfection, accomplishments, worthiness, and praise from others. Please Lord, help me to focus on who You want me to BE and not all the things I must DO.

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. " 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

These pictures are a bit old, but they just got downloaded to our computer. They are pictures that Allena took with her DS and then altered. I think they are funny!

I have been trying so hard this year to keep my focus on the Lord, allowing Him to be the focus and the reason for everything that I do. I was recently talking to my friend Teresa and she, being used by the Holy Spirit, reminded me that it is not about what I do, but about what I am. It seems like I have probably written about this before, because it is something that God has to remind me of frequently (apparently). In the Bible, He talks so much more about who we are, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control." Gal. 5:22. I have to remind myself of the words that are not mentioned in that list, such as, efficiency, perfection, accomplishments, worthiness, and praise from others. Please Lord, help me to focus on who You want me to BE and not all the things I must DO.

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. " 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Having Fun in Birch Bay

2011-01-02T07:44:00.000-08:00

12/26/2010-1/2/2011

During the busy times of Christmas it seemed like going on our vacation to Birch Bay was just one more thing to do. But, once we got there, we had a really fun time. We were all so glad that Chelsea came with us for the first 4 days....what a treat to be able to spend that time with her.

The pool was a big hit with the kids. It was a little too cold for my taste, especially because it was an indoor/outdoor pool. When we went to the Worldmark place in Seaside, we loved the outdoor pool even though it was early April and 40 degrees out because the pool was so warm. This one was warm enough for the kids....but not for me! The one time that I did go in, I didn't last long and ended up in the hot tub. Tim lasted a little longer than I did which I appreciated. The first night I didn't even attempt it and sat by the side all bundled up. And the kids of course were much more tolerant and had a great time.
One of the other highlights was using the new espresso machine that Tim got me for Christmas! We made lattes, mochas and steamers everyday! Luckily, Tim thought to bring the chocolate and caramel syrups as well as the whipped cream. Yummy! I drank waaay too much caffeine, but it was sooooo delicious! At least the kids got lots of calcium drinking the steamers!

Another highlight was playing "Apples to Apples," which Sam got as a Christmas gift from Grandma and Papa. We had so much fun playing together, especially while Chelsea was with us. Sam made us all laugh when he put the card "Rainbow Ponies" down for the category of "scary."

I think it was one of the first days, we decided to go for a walk down to a candy store at the end of the road. As we walked along the bay, we beach-combed for rocks. There were so many beautiful ones. The bucket we were collecting them in got pretty heavy! ( I kept saying, "Find beautiful, SMALL rocks!) We collected some really neat ones....I wish I had not forgotten them when we left.

Also on the way to the candy store, we took a family picture, sitting on this old broken down wall which was along the pathway next to the bay. This is the one at the beginning of this edition. In order to take the picture, Tim built a rock tower to place the camera on. We didn't know it at the time, but the property we were on was private property and the rocks Tim was using were part of the property. The guy, who presumably owned the property, shouted across the street from his house...."Can I help you?" Tim said, "No, thanks, we're good." Well, the picture turned out great, but we did feel a little guilty when we later noticed the "Private Property" signs. Later in the week, in the very place that we sat to take the family picture, someone piled a giant pile of rocks up. Apparently the owners didn't appreciate trespassers, even though it is on a path along the bay. Oh well, we did get a good picture. At least we got that because when we got to the candy store, we found out it was closed! So we went back to the room, with our rocks, and had espresso instead!

The next day we went to Vancouver. We were a little nervous because we were not sure that AllenaMae's expired passport and birth certificate were going to be enough to get her back and forth over the border, but everything went just fine. We first went to Granville Island in Vancouver because it seemed like a fun place. It was kind of like a big shopping district along the water. There was a lot to see. Here was something interesting we saw.We shopped around at all the stores
and got a treat. Tim and I got a giant chocolate eclair, Chelsea got a fruit tart and the kids both got ice cream from Roger's Chocolates. We also stopped to see some young dancers from a local dance company. Allena, especially, enjoyed watching them. After Granville Island, we went to the location of where Chelsea did her Discipleship Training, hoping to be able to see some of the staff that she knew when she was there. It was so disappointing to find that the building had actually been sold and torn down! What a major bummer. So we stopped at a little cafe and got a snack (I needed my afternoon coffee!) and then headed back to Birch Bay. It was a great visit to Vancouver. We must have wiped out Chelsea, because here she is on the way home.

The next morning we woke up to snow! I was just about to go out for a run, when I opened the blinds and got a big surprise! I ran out to tell the kids who were just waking up. So, instead of going for a run, we all went for a walk and played in the snow. There really wasn't that much snow, but enough to make snowballs and snow angels.

This was Chelsea's last day with us. Chelsea missed the snow because she had gone to visit her friend Stephanie the night before in Bellingham and they didn't get snow there. Stephanie is the one who adopted our cat Tigerlilly. When we went to go pick Chelsea up, we tried to find her in Stephanie's house, but we couldn't. We were disappointed because we really wanted to see her and find out if she remembered us at all. Chelsea saw her the night before and said that she had become really fat! I am not surprised because she probably still eats the same amount of food but is laying around the house instead of chasing after Mittens (and lizards!) Anyway, after we picked up Chelsea, we went Glow Golfing, which is miniature golf indoors with black lights. After that, the smell of Cinnabon lured us in and we all indulged in the gooey goodness of delicious cinnamon rolls.

It was hard to say goodbye to Chelsea when we took her to the bus station. She will not be able to make it out here for another year because of teaching and going to Thailand in the summer. I am glad for her that all these things are going so well for her and that she is making the most of her opportunities. I have always told her that God is going to use her life in a mighty way to serve and build His kingdom....and He is! I just wish that included being closer in proximity to us! We all prayed for her and her future before we left. As much as I miss her though, I know that Allena misses her more since she doesn't even remember a time before Chelsea.

On the way back to Birch Bay, we saw the most amazing sunset. The tide was way out, but there was still water on the sand, reflecting the gorgeous colors, making sort of a double sunset. We parked along the bay and took many pictures while the kids played in the sand. Here are some of the best ones. (That tiny person in the first picture is Tim.)

The next day we were off to Victoria! We made our early morning ferry, thanks to Tim (and no thanks to the bad directions from Google!) After arriving, we drove into the city and were able to check into our hotel even though it was pretty early. We had a great room in a pretty fancy hotel that Tim got for a great last minute on-line deal. This was the view from the room. We ate some lunch and then went swimming. The pool was awesome! It was in a solarium and it was a gorgeous day. While floating around in the pool, if I closed my eyes and turned my face toward the sun, I could imagine that I was in Mexico! We swam for at least an hour and then went in the hot tub too.
Then we hit the town. We parked underneath the Empress. Since I told Allena that kings and queens have stayed there, she really wanted to see it. It would have been nice to have tea there, but it is not priced to be a family event. So we walked through rather briefly and then went to get a snack. Sam got a huge muffin! We also picked out some gourmet fudge for "the Aunties" that we were going to see.

Tim navigated us over to Auntie Betty and Uncle Ken's after that. They had everything all prepared for us...it was lovely! First we sat and had appetizers and talked while the kids watched the "Planet Earth" 'DVD that Uncle Ken set up for them. Laurie and Auntie Kay were there at first and then Rob and Nicholas showed up. This is when the kids joined us again because they wanted to hear the adventurous stories that Nicholas and Rob were recounting. The best story was the one about the coyote head that was currently being stored in Rob and Laurie's freezer. Apparently, while Nicholas and Jeremy were on the road from Saskatchewan, they accidentally ran into a coyote. Jeremy, who has a fascination and interest in animal skulls, and who happened to have an axe in his car, promptly chopped up the coyotes head and hauled it down to his parent's house, where it now sits in the freezer. I don't think Sam and Allena even knew they had such interesting relatives! And of course, this was not the only story they told. Rob, Laurie and Nicholas had to leave though after a little while and so we sat down to a very nice dinner after that. They had little gifts for all of us, which was so sweet. There was dessert too, and when we finally left, around bed time, we were all stuffed. On the way out, Aunty Kay gave me this book that Great Grandpa gave to Great Grandma. It is a leather bound book about composers. It is very old and delicate and I am just thrilled to have it. What a treasure! We said goodbye to Aunty Kay that night, since we wouldn't be seeing her the next day. It was so good to see her. She is getting along in years and is getting pretty frail. She still has her sharp mind and sweet spirit. It was a blessing to be able to see her.

On the way back to our hotel, we stopped to take a picture of the Parliament Building all lit up for Christmas. You might know that I have very high standards for Christmas light displays (I don't like the look of a strand of lights haphazardly thrown up onto a tree or something.) So, now I have seen the ideal!
The next morning we got up and went into the city again. We shopped poked around and all the different shops and made sure to stop and get a bunch of Cadbury's and other Canadian treats. There was a joke shop that we stopped in where Allena tried on this pink wig. I think she looks smashing in it! We went through the Empress again, to see if there was anything else to see there. Allena was pretty impressed with the fancy bathroom and she saved a tissue from it....a tissue from the Empress Hotel! Sam is holding ice from the fountain.

On the way to the ferry we stopped by Rob and Laurie's to see all their animals. The have a bird that lives in their bathroom and a lizard that lives in a tall cage in their tv room. Jeremy was there so we got to see him and he fed the lizard for the kids to see. Jeremy also showed them the frozen coyote head, along with his collection of animal skulls. It was a very educational visit! Betty and Ken met us there. It was good to see everyone one last time before we had to head to the ferry.

The ferry rides were both uneventful, but beautiful. The weather was clear and sunny so we could see all the surrounding land and ocean very well.

We were just arriving back in Birch Bay for New Year's eve, so we didn't do much of anything. Tim purchased some champagne at the duty-free store and so we had a toast after the kids went to bed.

I got up to watch the Rose Parade. AllenaMae watched a little with me, but Sam played his DS and Tim slept in. The rest of the day we just hung out....went to the bay and skipped rocks (Tim is an amazing rock-skipper!) and watched the movie Elf later on. Since it was a rather busy vacation, going here and there, it was nice to end on a very relaxing day.

What a wonderful year God gave us! There were a few changes....going back to West Valley Church, changing elementary schools, and me getting a choir teaching position. So far these have all been good changes. Allena has still struggled in school a little, socially speaking, but she has an awesome teacher, who is a believer, so we are confident that she will come out well in the end. We know and believe that God has a plan for our lives and for our family. Continually, we try to follow Him and His wisdom for Proverbs 24:14 says, "Know that wisdom is sweet to your soul. Those who find it will have a future hope." I am thankful when I think about the verse James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the Heavenly lights." I have probably quoted this verse before in the blog. It is an important verse to me because I never want to forget any blessing, the small blessings during each day such as the kids' antics, the smiles and the hugs, or the big blessings like watching the relationship grow between Tim and the kids, or the fact that both Tim and I have steady jobs in a time of recession. I never want to forget that each and every blessing that we have is directly from the Father who loves us and gave His Son to die for us.

Christmas!

2010-12-25T06:32:00.000-08:00

12/2010

So much Christmas celebrating happened in December! It was a full month, but still very enjoyable. Tim found out that he had to go to Oklahoma City for work just a couple of days before he had to leave. (here is a cool picture that he took while he was there. Apparently, they cover the trees with lights there.)
It just happened to be that it during the week that was hugely busy for me. I had the recital and a parent's meeting/Christmas Caroling event at my school. At the end of the week, all on Friday night December 17th was Allena's dress rehearsal for her program, Tim's company party and Sam's Christmas pack meeting. Fortunately, my parents came up to take care of the kids and their activities while Tim and I went to his company party and then stayed downtown. The whole week was a bit of a blur. The kids were really good and helpful while Tim was gone, so I was really thankful for that.

The first weekend of December, Linda, (aka "Aunty Linda") came up for a weekend visit. It was so wonderful of her to come up and great to see her. We didn't end up doing the one thing that we really wanted to do while she was here, which was go to Zoo Lights at the Point Defiance zoo because it was soooo rainy that day. We did get to go out Christmas shopping, take Allena to her Nutcracker Tea Party, and go out to Red Lobster with Tim and the kids. I can't believe that i didn't take a picture of us while she was here! Oh well, we had a really good time and I am so glad that she came.

The recital for my studio went well, although it was much shorter and quieter than in the past, since I only have 7 students now. Everyone did well though and I was proud of them. AllenaMae did well, playing "The Little Drummer Boy and singing "Christmas Is." The highlight for her was that her teacher, Mr. Weichert came to see her play! What a treat that was.The parents meeting and Christmas caroling event went pretty well. The students were very hyped up as you can see here.
But it was really good to have the meeting, because I was asking the the parents about the possibility of going to a music festival at Wild Waves. I was glad that the parents were interested in making it happen...we'll see if it does. Sam went to Connor's house and Allena went to JJ's house. We are blessed to have good friends to help us out!

At the beginning of the school year, I decided that I would use one of my personal days to either go to one of Allena's field trips or help out in her classroom for a special event. When she found out that she was making gingerbread houses in class and that parents were invited to come help, that is what she decided that she wanted me to do. It was fun helping out in her class and getting to see the environment that she is in every day. It is clear that she has a very good teacher and a good group of students. The students had a great time making their gingerbread house (actually, the were made with small milk cartons from the cafeteria and graham crackers...brilliant!) In the end, the tiny houses were loaded with candy and the kids were pretty sticky, but it was worth it. Sam made a house too, in his class. Don't they look great?The UC4 Christmas party was fun, but not quite the same as in the past years. Last year, they hired a couple of dance instructors who taught some basic dance steps. This year, they hired a hypnotist to do a show. It was really pretty lame. Not only was it kind of embarrassing for those who were "hypnotized," which Tim and I were uncomfortable with, but it was also long and boring. Tim and I sat at the dinner table and talked to people instead. We sat next to Erin and Mitch, which was great because we got to hear all about their new baby. Although I am usually a bit nostalgic about the infant years, it doesn't take long talking to a couple with a new baby to make me somewhat thankful that we are done with that part of our lives. Their baby, Phineas, is very cute though and I loved seeing the pictures. We also sat beside the president of the company and his wife. They are really nice and down to earth.
That night, after the party, Tim and I stayed downtown at a really nice hotel that Tim got a good deal on. It was a nice way to relax after a busy and stressful week. We had a delicious breakfast the next morning at the hotel restaurant. I was so thankful that my mom and dad stayed with the kids so that we could enjoy this night out.

The next day was AllenaMae's recital and the "Family Christmas" celebration at the Jones' house. After Tim and I came back from Seattle, we wrapped up the last gifts and then headed over to the Jones'. We hung out with everyone (Simpsons, Sams, Waddells and Jones and Uncle Jimmy,) for a little while and then had to get AllenaMae ready for her dance recital.
The recital went very well. I was so worried about the Chinese hat that she had for her performance. We had bought a separate hat from the rest of the group because we didn't want her to share hats with anyone. This year we might have shared since the head of the dance studio discovered that she could use lice-killing spray between performances. But, we had already bought the hat and there was a recent lice outbreak nearby, so we decided that it was better safe than sorry. We NEVER want to go through the lice ordeal again! Anyway, the problem with the hat was that it was kind of heavy on the edges and didn't secure on to her head very well, even though we tried to use lots of bobby pins. So, I decided to be one of the back stage helpers, which allowed me to check her hat right before going onstage. I got to watch the performance from the wings of the stage and Allena did a very good job. The dance was very cute, although very short too. Allena was very glad that Grandma, Papa, Ev, Rachel, Sam, Tim and I were all there to support her.

After the recital we went back to the Jones' for the rest of our family Christmas celebration. It was so nice to spend time with everyone. Molly was the center of attention, just as babies should be. I couldn't believe how much she had already grown! Mike made delicious Mexican food for everyone, so we of course stuffed ourselves. After dinner, we exchanged gifts with the Jones' and mom and Nancy gave Uncle Jimmy some 60th birthday presents. (Oh my gosh, Uncle Jimmy is 60?) I was so excited about the gift that Nancy and Mike gave me....a Goodwill gift card! I can't wait to use it! The kids all enjoyed giving gifts to each other and hanging out together, talking about Pokemon. They all get along so well now, it is great to see.
After the Jones', Sheri, Jason, Siena and Molly came to stay with us for the night. Siena and Allena slept in the same bed together all night long! Allena fell asleep before Siena did, but it worked perfectly for Siena to have another body in the bed with her. The next morning, we got hang out a bit, have a cup of coffee, and let the kids play a little, but then we had to get to church, since the kids were singing for the service, and the Simpsons went back over to the Jones' for brunch. We were glad that they stayed with us for the night.
At church that day, the kids sang a special song. AllenaMae had a solo as part of the song "Christmas Is," which she also did at the recital. Tim played guitar for the kids. It was really cute....Betty Schleiffers was sitting next to me and afterward, she said, "Where are the tissues!?" through her tears. Of course we got video of the performance and not pictures. After church, to celebrate a good performance, we went to lunch at Burger Express and I got this adorable picture of Tim and AllenaMae.
That night at church, there was a Christmas party. One of the games for the kids was a relay game in which the kids had to unwrap a Hershey's Kiss with mittens on, eat the kiss, and then run back to the line. It was pretty fun to watch. After the games, there was a white elephant gift exchange. I got the best gift, which was a giant tin of popcorn!
Chelsea came in the next day from Denver. Well, actually, she arrived the night before, but she stayed with her friend Crissa for the night and then came to our house the next day. We were so happy to see her! Allena wanted to make pancakes for her when she first came, so as soon as she showed up we sat down and had some buckwheat pancakes, poured and flipped by Allena. The first two days of her visit, we didn't do much that was special, except for going shopping for her gifts. There were some things that she really needed and I needed her to try them on, so I just took her shopping for her gifts. Chelsea has been running with a friend in Denver, so we went running together a couple of times. It was just good to spend time with her.

A couple of days before Christmas, we went down to my parents house. Siena stayed over as well, the first night we were there and she and Allena stayed in the "Executive Suite," which is my parents' walk-in closet with sheets hung across the clothes. Allena said it was the "best place that she had ever slept!"

The next day was Christmas Eve day and Sheri, Siena, Allena and mom went to go see "Tangled" while Dad, Tim and Sam went to Tron in 3D. Jason was working, so I got to watch Molly. She slept a lot of the time, but I still really enjoyed getting to spend some one on one time with my new niece!

We had a delicious roast made by mom, and some awesome mashed potatoes made by Sheri for Christmas dinner. Later on, Santa showed up! The kids were all very excited and to my amazement, Molly didn't even cry! They all sat on his lap, even Molly, and got a present and then Santa read one of his yearly poetic creations. He outdid himself, as usual! After Santa left, Allena looked out the window to see if she could see him go off in his sleigh, but unfortunately, she couldn't see a thing in the dark night. Despite this, she is still a Santa believer.
With all the hype from Santa coming, and the different sleeping arrangements (this time, Allena and Siena were in a fort in Dad's office) all the kids had a very hard time getting to sleep and I don't think either of the girls ended up sleeping in the fort.
But it was Christmas, so oh well. Luckily, they did not get up super-early, like I was expecting, so that was good for all. We prayed a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord for the ability to be able to exchange gifts with each other and then started opening presents. It was a joyous time for all. Many wonderful gifts were given and received. I got my mom a big package of black socks that she needed. Mom and Dad got Tim a nice bathroom in which he posed for this picture. Doesn't he look like he belongs in a catalog? Mom made the traditional Christmas morning 'tree" pastry. Yummy! The kids helped put on the sprinkles. Later on Lisa and Curt came and we exchanged gifts with them too. Tim and Curt both got sweatshirts of their favorite teams. Despite the divisions in the family, we all still love each other anyway!
Allena was excited to show Auntie Lisa the fort that she and Siena had made.
We left late in the day on Christmas day and headed for home since we were leaving for Birch Bay the next day. At home we exchanged gifts with just our family, except Chelsea, who was still with her mom and family. We also opened great gifts from Brian and Jennie. The best part of the this was watching the kids give their gifts to each other. They were both so excited to give their gifts, because they knew that it would make the other so happy. You can tell by the looks on their faces.
Tim surprised me with an espresso machine! I didn't even know how much I wanted one until I had one. It makes GREAT espressos! I just love it. It was in stark contrast to the gift that I got him, which was a blu-ray player for which he had sent a link via email to me and then, when I used his Pay Pal account to pay for it, he got an email announcing the purchase. So much for a surprise. I am glad that it was at least what he wanted.

I was so thankful that we had a wonderful Christmas. Probably the most truly Christmas moment that I had was in church a few weeks before church when we sang the song "Welcome to Our World," by Chris Rice. The most touching part of the song goes like this.
Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born
So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
perfect Son of God,perfect Son of God.

When I sang these words, I couldn't help but cry. When I pictured Jesus as a sweet, precious, helpless baby, whose tiny heart would later break over the sin of the world and then be given as a sacrifice, it was overwhelming. How unfair it seems. But that is how much God loves us. He came in the flesh, with a tiny heart and tiny hands, at the mercy of the world so that later on He could show us unequaled mercy.

Thanksgiving with Nanny and Grandpa!

2010-12-14T06:40:00.000-08:00

December 15, 2010

Sam was very excited about his field trip to Blake Island with his 4th grade class at school. He had to be at the school more than an hour before school started and they were gone all day. They got to ride a cruise ship to the island where they visited a Native American center and learned about the lives of Native Americans now and in the past. They ate salmon for lunch and saw many totem poles. Sam took our old digital camera and got some great shots!

We had a major snowstorm here right before Thanksgiving! There was so much snow that we missed two days of school! I always like snow days....playing in the snow, drinking hot chocolate and an excuse to do nothing else but enjoy the day. When it first started snowing, Allena made a little snowman. We had no idea it would turn into a huge amount of snow. The first day off was a gorgeous, sunny day.
The kids and I went out in the morning to the sledding hills nearby, borrowing our neighbors sled, which is actually a water sled, but it works great. We got some good runs in. Later on we went back out with Jasmine and Raisa Pleasants, our neighbors and friends from church. That was fun too then we all came back for hot cocoa with lots of marshmallows!
Nanny and Grandpa showed up the day before Thanksgiving, when the snow was still here. They almost didn't make it because of the weather, which was a surprise in November. I am so glad they did make it because we had a ton of fun. We started of by taking Grandpa sledding. Tim and his mom stayed home while Sam, Allena, myself and Grandpa went out to sled. It was a cold afternoon, but we had a great time.

The next morning, we went out again, minus Sam because we knew that the snow would be gone soon. Grandpa decided that he wanted to try going down laying on his back and headfirst with Allena laying on top of him. This did not work out so well. They ended up like this, off the sled and at first Grandpa thought he had dislocated his jaw.
In the end he was ok, but he decided not to do that one again!

After our sledding adventures on Thanksgiving day, Nanny and I got busy in the kitchen preparing our Thanksgiving feast . Everything turned out pretty good, although my stuffing was not as good as my mom's. Tim was excited because Jen made Yorkshire pudding. Yum! It was a wonderful meal.

We played a lot of games while they were here with only a couple of meltdowns! The kids are getting better at not being so competitive (and so am I!) but there are still moments.
We generally had a lot of fun though. I think that playing "Buccaneer" was the hit for the kids. (When we got out the game, Sam took the opportunity to tell his joke, "How much do Pirates pay for their earrings? A buck-an-ear!" Lol!)
We also made sure to take Brian and Jen to our favorite doughnut shop, Krispy Kreme. Somehow, we easily polished off a dozen doughnuts! The reason that we went there really was because Toys R Us is right next door, and of course the kids needed to spend their "Grandpa Money." There were tears from Allena though, because she had her heart set on getting this long wig that was like Rapunzel's hair from the movie "Tangled" which we had seen the day before (while Sam, Nanny and Grandpa saw the new Harry Potter) but it was not at Toys R Us. Later we got it from Target and she wore all around the house that afternoon after much fussing with it because it doesn't fit very well. But it did look lovely!After church on Sunday we went out to eat at Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse. They have some good ribs and really delicious rolls. (Thanks again for taking us out, Brian and Jen!) We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon that day with a few more games. Then they had to leave early the next morning. It was a wonderful visit! I am so glad that they came and that we had such a fabulous time. It is too bad we can't see each other more often.Allena had her first visit to the eye doctor. She did a good job at the exam. I told her that it is a little hard sometimes but she did great. Pictures of her with her new glasses will be in the next edition of the blog!At the most recent Den meeting, Sam had to put on a puppet play with his friend Connor. They were very goofy and entertaining. Allena had two fun events at the beginning of December. The first was a "Polar Express Party" at JJ"s house. That was great fun for Tracey...12 girls in PJ's eating pizza, drinking hot cocoa and watching Polar Express. It was no wonder that the next morning she wasn't up for going running together! The other fun event was a pool party for her school. It turned out that there were not many girls there from her class, but that didn't stop Allena from having fun! She must have gone down the slide about 20 times! She loves to swim.I had my first real concert with my new choirs. We had a few performances earlier in the year but they were with other schools. The holiday one was just with Olympic orchestra and choir. I got the idea in my mind that I wanted to do what my choir director in high school always had us do. We would process down the aisles holding electric candles, singing "The Carol of the Bells." My mom and dad helped this come to reality in buying 62 little battery powered tea lights. Thanks again mom and dad! I am so glad that we did this, because it turned out pretty good. The kids really enjoyed it too. I was pleased with how the whole thing came off. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures at the concert, but the next day, the choirs had parties and I took this picture of my 6th grade choir. They are so funny.
My friend Linda came for a visit, and I am so disappointed that I didn't get any pictures of her or us. What a bummer! We did have a good time though, going shopping, going out to dinner at Red Lobster (yum!), taking Allena to her Nutcracker Tea Party (this I did get a picture of ) driving around seeing Christmas lights, and going to church. I so appreciated being able to spend time with Linda. It is so wonderful that she is willing to take the time and effort to come up and see us. I hope that she hasn't changed her mind about ever coming again since she was forced to take the bus home to Eugene after finding out that the train was shut down due to mud slides on the tracks.

With the busy holiday season of performing, presents, and preparations, I have been praying along the lines of the story of Mary and Martha in the Bible. You may know the story....Jesus comes to the home of Mary and Martha and Martha runs around getting stuff done, while Mary sits at the feet of Jesus, listening to everything that He says. I have often pondered that story. I am, by nature, more like Martha. I have a hard time NOT being busy. You all know this about me. But the point of the story can't be that being busy is wrong. I think Jesus must have been busy. He healed, traveled, performed miracles and taught everywhere he went. I have read in a Bible study that Jesus was busy but not stressed out. There is a big difference. Martha always gets a bad rap for not taking the time to sit and listen to Jesus, like Mary did. But, sometimes, the busy times are unavoidable. I have concluded that the difference is first of all, knowing our limits of activity and second of all, how we handle things when we do get busy. Do we (I) get frenzied, stressed, irritable, and grouchy like Martha did OR do we (I) handle all the work and activity with love and grace allowing Jesus to speak to us, even in the midst of it all, like Mary did. This season I have been praying that I will be able to be busy like Martha, but have the heart and mind of Mary. So far, God has answered my prayer. In the midst of trying to eek out this blog, last week, while Tim was in Oklahoma City, it was a VERY busy time, but God helped me (for the most part!) keep it together and not come apart at the seams. Praise be to God for that!