Westport to Hawaii!!

Our 2010 has already been filled with excitement! Grandma and Grandpa took our whole family on a trip to Westport to start off the year. We were there from Dec. 27 - Jan 2 and had a great relaxing time. The kids could've stayed there forever running back and forth down the long hallway, going in the hot tub every day, playing Wii and taking beach walks with Grandma and Grandpa. I stayed in the house the entire time! - Except for going on a movie date with my hottie. I never even saw the beach - It was cold! And I was determined to start and finish a crochet blanket for some reason.

On Jan. 4th we got our much anticipated first foster baby! We'll call him Baby J cause I don't think I can put both a picture and his name on here. But isn't he a cutie!? We'll have him for at least 3 months and he's a great little man. He's only a month younger than Opal so whenever we go out everyone asks if they're twins.

The kids devoured the gingerbread houses! It's really the part they look forward to as soon as we make them, but we save them for so long, that by the time we eat them, you can hardly get any candy to pry free. This year, however, they were creative and completely destroyed and ate the whole house - gingerbread and all!

Hawaii!!!

First of all, I must say, God is amazing!!

The back story: I have been doing a study where I pray for my marriage and my husband and really work at being a non-selfish, Christ-honoring wife. I still have very far to go! One of the challenges was to think of what your husband has always wanted to do, then pray and try to make it happen for him. So on Dec. 10th, I started praying that somehow we would be able to go to Hawaii - something I knew Peter had always wanted to do.

On Dec. 23rd, our friend asks if we want airline tickets that had to be booked by Dec. 31!!! Of course we said, "Yes!" Our whole trip was a series of blessings; we got the last seats on a flight to Maui, we got a great car rental deal by just asking in person, way cheaper than if we had booked it online, and our hotel/B & B's kept getting cheaper and nicer the longer we stayed!

The first day we had some amazing, pork filled Hawaiian food, then found a hotel in Kihei. Actually, at the first place we stopped all these older men in speedos kept looking at Peter funny as he tried to find the office. Peter came back and said that he decided not to even go into the office because he was getting "kind of a weird vibe from the place." I later read in our Maui book that this place was, "recommended for the gay and lesbian crowd" Ha!! So we kept going and found a great hotel on the beach.

The second day we decided to do the Road to Hana. First we had a great breakfast - eggs and fried rice (Peter's new favorite) and coconut and pineapple french toast. Then we bought some cheese, crackers and salami for lunch on the way and hit the road-six hours of winding one lane sea cliff road. It was gorgeous! I probably would've enjoyed it more if I didn't try to read about what we were seeing and driving at the same time. Our little book helped us find what a lot of other people missed on the drive, like the cool Twin Falls that were freezing cold, but had a rope swing, so Peter dove in.

On the Road to Hana - one of the little falls.

Peter on the rope swing at the Twin Falls.

One of the black sand beaches you could drive down to on the Road to Hana. We were going to stay overnight in Hana, but ditched that plan when we found out that the resort out there was about $600 a night. We drove back into town and stayed in Wailuku at a Bed and Breakfast. We got the last empty room! And it was beautiful! Complete with a 6 headed shower the size of a small room.

The innkeeper recommended a small Vietnamese restaurant for dinner, and we tried out the Pan Pacific version of fondue. As we cooked our squid at the table, Peter looked at me and said "Clint Eastwood is behind you." Thinking he meant on tv or a poster, I was surprised to find that the actor was indeed standing directly behind me waiting for a table. Not bad for a rundown Asian hole in the wall tucked under the freeway!

The third day we headed over to Lahaina, picked up some snorkel gear and went up to Napili to do some snorkeling. I even got in the water and tried it! We saw some amazing fish and coral and enormous humpback whales from the shore. That night we stayed in Kaanapali in a luxurious condo for only $100 a night! It was so nice we decided to stay there the rest of our trip.

The beach our condo was on.

I got in the ocean a total of 4 times which is very amazing! I don't like water... or sand. This trip really was for Peter, but I wanted to do stuff with him - so I forced myself to go in.

The fourth day, we went on a snorkeling boat trip. First we headed out to the Molokini crater - which is half underwater. The boat served us breakfast and then they took us to another location to see some sea turtles and have lunch. Then we chased down some whales just for fun. It really was a fun day, even though I was scared to death at first.

The fifth day, we walked out to the beach with our snorkel gear and down to a place called Black Rock where we did some more snorkeling and saw some more turtles. Just as I put my head in the water, one of the turtles ran right into me - which scared me so bad I screamed through my snorkel tube. I think I scared him even more cause he took off. I felt so bad, the big snorkeling rule is not to touch the turtles - I hope my sunscreen didn't endanger him! Poor turtle - he's probably having nightmares about me! After snorkeling, we had crepes for breakfast! Then we spent the rest of the day napping, watching TLC!!, and swimming in the pool. Every night after I fell asleep, Peter would go for a beach walk and look at the stars.

Day six - we had to go home! We got more crepes for breakfast and then headed to the airport. And because God is so good - we were the last ones to get on our flight back to Seattle! We both feel so excited and giddy to have been able to go on this spontaneous trip. It was so relaxing and beautiful, and helped us both remember just how much our God takes care of us - even in the little details of life.

Thank you so much Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Tonya, Miss Kim and Mr. Joe, and Wendy - for everything! We love you!

Happy Birthday Jesus 2009!

Christmas Eve 2009

We went to a candlelight service at Lake City Community Church this year. It was beautiful and fun to include our kids in the lighting of the candles and the symbolic passing on of Jesus' love and the Good News about Him to others.

After the service we went home and opened our traditional white present with the gold bow which always contains our matching Christmas jammies. Eben had it figured out, but to the rest it was a surprise. We spread the matching tradition to Grandma, Grandpa and cousins this year and made them all wear the matching attire the next day at our house.

Christmas Day 2009

Every Christmas we have the same traditions to follow. Peter calls me the director, because I tell everyone what to do and when. And Peter is the producer, because he does everything to make Christmas happen. He does the stockings, all the Christmas buying and wrapping, makes the Christmas breakfast and the meal, lights the fires, turns on the tree, gets the cake ready with candles. And then he lets me and kids enjoy it all. I really love him! He loves to see people relax and have fun. I really appreciate all that he does on our family's most anticipated birthday of the year.

My mentor mom from Mops made us a beautiful chocolate peanut butter mousse cake for Jesus' birthday cake this year. And we successfully made the nativity for the top out of white chocolate without destroying 3 microwaves like last year! Hurray!

After we sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and blow out the candles, Dada reads the story of Luke 2 from the Bible.

Then we open stockings. Grandma and Grandpa get one too.

This year the kids all went shopping for each other. Peter took them all on their own separate trips to the Dollar Tree and they picked out whatever they wanted for each other and me. Kivi bought the boys light saber swords which were a big hit. Besides the kid's gifts to each other they opened lots of presents from Mimi and grandparents. I got Peter a griddle, which he's been begging for, and he got me a whole set of new stainless steel pots and pans!

After all of the unwrapping, Dada sends us on our traditional scavenger hunt around the house to find clues and finally our "big present". This was the first year I knew what it was. We splurged and got the whole family a YMCA membership. We are very excited to use this, and hopefully it works out for us. It's been very confusing so far!

Our family pic with our matching jammies.

Uncle Chris and, as Jasper says, "Uncle Tonya" and cousins come over for lunch/dinner and we all open more gifts, eat Dada's delicious turkey dinner and play with our new toys.

One more picture. That's all.

First Love

Opal has fallen in love with Baby Jesus. Right now, it's just the little porcelain or plastic Baby Jesus' or ones she sees in our many nativity books. Everyday she looks up to our mantle and asks, "Baby Jesus? Baby Jesus". Which means she wants to kiss him. Then she says, "O a bed!" (Translation: Go to bed!) and puts him back in the manger.

Eben has a new love for books. When we first started reading with him he was anything but excited. More really, really scared. But he is now reading at a level 4 and it's given him so much confidence to know that he can read almost anything Mama and Dada can. He is currently reading The Pilgim's Progress of his own choosing and we can't be more proud of what a great reader we have.

Ok, a great, great little love story. However, I must admit, I didn't hear it from Eben himself. So please be careful with our tender hearted boy's first story of love.

On Sat. Dec. 19th, Eben had a 2 hour long rehearsal for Lake City Church's Christmas pageant. When we came back, he was beaming. The first thing he said was, "Mama, I met a new friend! You have to meet her!" So he introduced me to Hannah. That's about all I got of this story. He commented about her throughout the day, but I didn't really think anything of it. The rest of the story comes from Hannah's mom the next day during the pageant. She comes up to Peter and I and asks if we are Eben's parents. Then she tells us about how Hannah went on and on after the rehearsal about Eben. Hannah reports that they couldn't keep their eyes off each other. Eben told Hannah that he loved her and that she was the only woman for him and he'll never look at another woman. Then the cutest: He tells her to wear the same shoes the next day at the pageant, so he can find her. I was so shocked! They are so tiny!

So of course after they are done with their performance and are exiting out the sanctuary doors, I ask Eben if I could take a picture of him and his new friend. He says, "Oh yeah, sure!" and escorts her over to the Christmas tree with his arm around her back and then does that cute little couple pose seen above. During the next service, they perform again. Eben and Hannah stand next to each other the whole time and they hold hands throughout the entire last song. Ahhhh. Kindergarten love. Who knew we had such a romantic. Of course he is Peter's son.

The Christmas pageant was so wonderful and real. We loved it! Eben was in the choir and then Jasper and Kivi came out in little sheep hoods and sang Away In The Manger. They all did such a great job. Here's Jasper and Kivi's part:

Gingerbread

Our HFG girls came up with a great plan to decorate gingerbread houses together last year, and it went so well, we decided to to it again. In the past, Grandma has bought us gingerbread houses to decorate, or I've bought greatly discounted haunted houses left over from Halloween. This year because I'm so cheap, I couldn't bring myself to spend $8.99 on each house, so we made them ourselves. Eben and Kivi picked out a pattern from the internet. Eben chose a country store and Kivi wanted a barn. I went with a simple regular house pattern for Jasper and Opal. It ended up being a 3 day process!

Day 1: We made the gingerbread. It had to be refrigerated for hours.

Here's Jasper helping roll out the dough.

Then we cut out our pattern pieces and baked them.

Day 2: We cemented all our buildings together with royal icing. Later I found that just powered sugar and water work just as well.

Day 3: We all went to the Schocks house and decorated our houses with candy!! Opal really loved this. She successfully put 2 candies on her house. With about 30 candies she'd touch it to the house, then stick it in her mouth. So Grace helped her finish hers while she took a sugar nap.

All the big kids of our group (minus Cooper who was picking up his Daddy!) and their houses.

I grew up doing an advent calendar every year of my childhood since I can remember. It was shaped like a big Christmas tree and everyday my sister and I took turns putting on a different ornament. I looked forward to it every year - even through high school! I wanted one for my kids, but I wanted it to be Christ centered. I'd bought 18 foam nativity people, animals and stars for about 99 cents from Goodwill before Eben was born with the intention of turning them into my envisioned fabric nativity advent calendar. I finally got around to making it this December and I love it! I used 2 place-mats as the backgrounds and basically just glued the whole thing. I was going to sew it, but ended up liking the rough cut edge more.

Each day a different kid takes a turn putting a piece on the advent calendar and they love it -which makes me even more excited. They also take turns every day turning on the Christmas tree lights and unwrapping a Christmas book or movie.

On December 24th it will look like this. Hee hee hee!

Remembering

On Sunday, December 6th, the Lakewood officers and their families were allowed to view the caskets. We took the kids with us, because they had been asking a lot of questions about "Dada's friends". We were the only ones in the viewing room besides the honor guard. We explained who was under each flag to the kids. Peter later wished we had gotten a picture of the four caskets in the viewing room. It was sad, beautiful and surreal.

The attendants at the refreshment room were so excited to give the kids cookies and hot cocoa. I'm sure the only takers of sweets for the day. I could tell the kids were confused at how to eat a cookie without being overly happy and giddy. They knew this was a sad time for Dada, but they were being showered with treats. Afterward, we went to the police station for dinner. So many people have been so kind and donating food to the station non-stop. Then the kids went out front to the memorial that had been growing by the hour to give Mr. Greg, Miss Tina, Mr. Ronnie and Mr. Mark the pictures they had drawn for them.

Of all our kids, Kivi has definitely been the most affected. She asked questions non-stop about the shooting, the people involved, why everyone wants to show so much love, about the families, and all about Dada's friends. She could point to each officer and tell you who's who. I wrote down one little conversation because it was so cute:

Kivi: I hope all of those police officers are in heaven.

Mama: I hope so too. I hope they all knew Jesus.

Kivi: Mama, all police officers know Jesus!

December 8th: The Memorial Service

Our day started at 7:00am when we dropped the kids of at Auntie Tonya's. Then we headed back to the station and had breakfast with all the other officers and their spouses. The procession started when the hearses came and drove through the lines of saluting Lakewood officers. The family limos followed, then we got in our cars, lights flashing and followed.

Here is Peter's car going by the station about to drive under the giant flag.

The video I took as we started the procession going past the police station.

We were about the 15th Lakewood police car back from the family cars. I had no idea how affected I would be by this procession. I figured we would drive to the Tacoma Dome in a long line, park and go in. I was blown away by the amount of people who had come out in the freezing cold to show their love and support. Holding signs, holding flags, some saluting, some with their hands over their hearts, some crying. So many people. And we were going so slow that we were able to look them in the eye and nod to each other. A reciprocal thank you. The people I remember the most were a little girl with a sign bigger than herself that read, "HUGS" and a little Asian woman down on her knees, arms held high, holding a flag in each hand, tears streaming down her cheeks. I cried the entire drive.

The amount of people already at the Tacoma Dome was overwhelming as well. Everything was done with such precision, silence and an honoring slowness. Here the pallbearers are preparing to take the caskets out of the hearses. The families were escorted in. Then all the Lakewood officers and spouses went in. There were three rooms set up with refreshments. A room for the families, the Lakewood officers and the honor guard. And the Forza girls who had been in the coffee shop were there serving coffee to us. (If you look at the top of the buildings you can see snipers. They were everywhere.)

This picture is so beautiful. It's when the bagpipes are playing and coming down the isle. Peter and I are in the bottom right corner. Bagpipes stir something in you.

The whole service was done well. It started late, because the procession was so long, over 2,000 cars, and everyone in the procession wasn't even able to attend at the Tacoma Dome. They had to start the service even though the procession was still going. There were long pauses between speakers, which I appreciated, because it gave us more time to focus on the ones we were honoring that day. We had nowhere to go. This whole day was set aside for them. The most memorable speech for everyone, I'm sure, was Greg's kids. I was also amazed at how much Christ and His love, comfort, protection, and sacrifice was mentioned. I really wasn't expecting that at all. Lakewood's Chaplin, Alve, even gave a challenge to everyone there to find out more about Christ and accept Him into their lives!

It was a humbling, amazing experience that I was honored to be able to attend and hope to never have to again.

After the service, we joined the procession going back to the Lakewood station and then to the reception at Farrelli's in Dupont for all the Lakewood officers. Instead of going to a second reception at the casino,we headed home at 12:30am. A long day, a good day, a sad day, a day of honor and respect. A much needed way to remember and say goodbye.

November 29th

On Sunday, after Peter and I had our morning devotions, we got a call from Stacey Wiley, a friend and Lakewood officer's wife, asking if Peter was working. I told her no that he had gotten it off and was right here. She said, "Well that's good, now we know it's not him." She said that four officers had just been shot at a coffee shop. She might have said "killed", but I only heard "shot". I assumed all would be well. They are officers. They have protective gear. They have guns. They've had training. They would be at the hospital. They would be fine.

We also assumed it was Tacoma officers, because it had happened in Tacoma. I've never seen Peter put on his uniform and get out the door so fast. Peter told me who had been murdered before I left for church. While I was at church, I realized that Tina had taken Peter's place at work that day. That was amazing and crazy and weird and horrible and wonderful.

This used to be Peter's squad. Tina and Peter had worked closely together when they did schools. She had given us her son, Marcus' clothes and toys for our boys. Eben wore Marcus' jacket to church that day. Peter met up with Greg weekly for coffee. He liked being with him because he was more than a cop. He was a great dad and hubby. He was real. He was a fun person. He was relatable. They shared stories about their families and life, not just cop talk. Mark had been to 4th of July and helped Peter put our dock in the lake. And Peter had bugged Ronnie non stop to come to basketball - a sport he loved. But taking his daughter to school was the highlight of his day and always came first. These "four officers" were his friends.

I'll never know just how affected Peter was by this. We didn't really see him for the next two weeks, except for family events we had already planned. He didn't eat during the day and after I fell asleep at night he would leave and go to the police station. He said he and all the other officers would just walk around like zombies. He said he felt "white, like nothing".

A lot of appreciated concerned calls came in that day and the week following, before the names were released and after. And though Peter didn't feel like talking or responding to anyone, the prayers and kind words were and are very helpful. Just knowing that our friends and family are there to support us, although we feel very minute in this whole ordeal, is a great comfort.

This is the board at the station that shows who's working. This is Nov. 29th's schedule. I know it doesn't look like much, but Peter wanted to remember seeing their numbers on the board.

Christmas Tree Hunting

On November 28, we, the Butts and the Metcalfes met at Hunter's Tree Farm to go cut down our Christmas trees! A tradition we've had for about 8 years now! The kids love feeding the goats, the tractor, the ride out to the trees in the wagon thingy, the hunt for the perfect tree, hot cocoa, and this year we even saw Santa.

Kivi and Bubs feeding the goats.

Our cute, small group of tree hunting friends.

Eben, Kivi, and Jasper "helping" Dada cut down the tree with sticks. We found the tree within 2 minutes, right off the main road, but we wondered around and Dada played hide and seek throughout the trees with the kids before cutting it down.

The kids were so funny! After Peter cut the tree down, they spent about 10 minutes working together to cover up the tree stump with dirt and branches so no one would find where we got our tree!

Us and our tree.

After we all went out to pizza for lunch, we came home, Dada set up the tree and the kids and Mama got busy decorating while Christmas music played.

Eben and Dada put the finishing star on the top.

I'm so glad that God gave us this fun family day when He did. If we had waited one day later... it would have been much different.