The Greatest Sacrifice

We went to Israel in 2023 and got to see the Garden of Gethsemane. The same garden where Jesus prayed the night He was betrayed.

And we saw the steps they took Him up, to get up to Caiaphas' house, after He was arrested in the garden.

He was illegally tried, then beaten, and crucified. On the third day the women went to the tomb and found the stone had been rolled away. And an angel said to them, "He is not here. He has risen!" Mark 16:6

This is where they believe Jesus was laid after He died.  

This weekend we remember Jesus's sacrifice on the cross. He died for our sins, so we can be reconciled to God. God is holy and our sins: our lies, our greed, our pride separate us from God. So Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice - once and for all.

We also celebrate His resurrection. He overcame death so those who follow Him will live forever. He allows each one of us to choose: eternity with Him or eternity without Him. He doesn't force anyone to choose Him, but His desire is that everyone spends eternity with Him. 

After Jesus' sacrifice, we can now boldly enter the presence of God. He welcomes us into relationship with Him, now and forever! What a great and glorious God!

Christ is risen! And following Him is the path to eternal life! Hallelujah!

 

Happy Easter!

Busy With Good Things

There has been so much going on around here lately. Good things though.

Beth went for an eye test and will be getting new glasses soon. She helped me fill out the paperwork then I had her take it back to the desk. The admin thanked her and said she really appreciated her bringing it back, I couldn't hear if Beth actually said anything back to her. The tests went well and she found some new frames. It was funny to watch her expressions as she tried on different styles and colors. I suggested she look away from the mirror, then glance back at herself, she made some awful faces, "I take it you don't like those?" "Nope." And we'd laugh. The frames she ended up with are called Purple Confetti. They're due in next week.

That was last Friday, the 20th. This past Friday she had an appointment at the Dermatologist for more cortisone shots for the alopecia. Afterward she wanted to go out for frozen yogurt so we went to our favorite place: Revelations Yogurt. We were there a few weeks ago too.

After we left the yogurt place we walked around the shops for a few minutes and came across this mural. It's of the pier I often walk when I'm down by the waterfront.

Let's see, we've finally found some new dressers! We've been to so many stores, we're thankful the search is over. They'll be delivered this Friday.

They'll be delivered before we head to church to help with the Good Friday service.

Plus Beth's case worker is coming by tomorrow for the in-house assessment. Just to make sure Beth is in a good living situation. We'll take her downstairs and then Beth will show her around her apartment.

We've had a new little boy in our Sunday school class. So now there are three kids, one girl and two boys: 7, 5, and 3. They're all autistic and have many of the same behaviors. Today they did so well together, it was a really good day.

I got a framed picture sent off to my sister.

Took a bunch of stuff to Goodwill that had been taking up space in our office area.

Tomorrow we go live with our new room reservation system at work.

And next Monday Beth and I have dentist appointments.

And I think that's enough for now! :) 

I hope you all have a great week! 

World Down Syndrome Day 2026

March 21st is World Down Syndrome Day because most people have 46 chromosomes (23 pairs.) But people with Ds have an extra one on chromosome 21. So 3/21 has become a day to celebrate all those "with an extra" as it's known in the world of Down Syndrome.

We found out Beth had Down Syndrome after she was born. We called our family and asked them to come to the hospital, so we could tell them all together. We were a little  surprised because there was no inclination during the pregnancy, not even a hint that anything was different. They asked a lot of questions about Down Syndrome which we couldn't really answer because we didn't know ourselves. But we all instantly fell in love with her!

Getting ready to go home

A few months old

We were assigned a social worker who came to the house and began physical therapy.

Since she was our first baby we didn't really know what to expect, Down Syndrome or not. She learned to sit up at one year and learned to walk at two.

When she was two the social worker recommended she start preschool to give her the best possible start to education. Chuck and I talked it over and decided to try it, so with a lump in my throat I put our two year old on a school bus! And she loved it! 

Then we had Sharaya. And then Diana. And we just... raised our kids. Taking one day at a time. Trying to figure out what worked best for each of them. You know, parenting! 

Kids grow, they learn and adapt. Parents love, they set boundaries, and they teach. 

And then, before you know it - 

Sharaya and Diana learned to drive cars, got married, had kids... all things Beth will never be able to do. She struggled when Sharaya first got pregnant and Sharaya remembers Beth not speaking to her for a long time. Was Beth confused about what was happening to Sharaya (did I not explain it to her?) or was she sad that she might never get to have kids? It's really hard to know. 

But today Beth loves her life. She loves having her own apartment downstairs in our daylight basement. She's got her own space but has family close by if she needs help with something. She loves her family, her sisters, her brother, and her nieces and nephew. She loves riding DART to her day programs - Karaoke and bowling. She loves her job and the people there love her. And she loves her church. We started going there when she was just 4 years old. She knows her way around there better than most. 

People with Down Syndrome love their routines. (So do some of us without Down Syndrome! 😊) And Beth has made some pretty good ones. Happy World Down Syndrome Day.

Where to Begin?

It surprised me when I looked at the calendar and realized how long it's been since I've posted. There's been a lot going on so I'll try to update you without rambling on too much. 😊 

I took the header photo picture of Beth in front of the Brattle Book Shop when we were in Boston for Diana and Peter's wedding back in September of '21. We decided to go for a walk and when we got out of the hotel, decided to just go around the block. Then we came across this cute little book store.

Right after my last post I flew to San Diego to spend some time with my sister. We try to get together a couple times a year but as we get older it seems to be getting harder. We do our best to make it happen though.

While I was there she put her dog Nalla down. She was a German shepherd and had lost the use of her back legs. She was 12 years old and there was nothing that could be done to help her so it was time. It was really hard but I was glad I was there. Got to say good-bye to Nalla, and was a little distraction for my sister.

In spite of that, we played games, took walks around her small mobile home park, and laughed a lot.

I took this when they visited us in 2020

Bougainvillea! 

We don't have this in Seattle and it's so nostalgic when I visit San Diego

Parcheesi! This was our mom's favorite game

After I got home I realized I never got a picture of my sister and I, so here's one from when I was down there last year.

My flight home was delayed so I walked in the front door a little after 10pm Saturday night. Hadn't planned on going to church the next morning but had a meeting in the afternoon so ended up just going to that. We were preparing to host a large pastor's conference and each team was meeting to go over last minute instructions and training. For the first time in seven years, I wasn't part of the custodial team! I got to help with 'catering', which included serving the meal at the dinner Wednesday night, then making all the box lunches for the attendees and volunteers the two following days. Custodians are mainly independent and it was so much fun to work side-by-side with others!

The dining room ready for the Pastor's Dinner

Some of the servers waiting to bring out the salads

We left a little after 9:00 Wednesday night and were back there at 6:30 Thursday morning to begin making the box lunches. Our team leader said we needed to make 340 lunches - each day. That's a lot of sandwiches! We made a large assembly line and it took us about three hours to get them all done. Then we packed the boxes with a liner, sandwich, fruit, chips, cookie and napkin. All packed with prayers that the Lord would touch each heart and meet the needs of every person attending.

Saturday I sat in my recliner the entire day! We were told later that there were pastors and spouses, plus church staff from 115 churches at the conference. We continue to pray the Lord would encourage those pastors and staff members as they go back to their congregations and cities.

There's more to tell you but I'll close for now. I'm catching up on laundry today (we got the day off) and all those little things that just pile up after a while. 😊

Have a great week!

A Little of This and That - and Updates

A couple of weekends ago Chuck and Sharaya drove from Seattle down to Santa Clara, CA to join in the Super bowl festivities. The day before the game they went to the Fan Experience at a convention center with all things Super bowl related: food, activities, displays. They enjoyed that but said it was very crowded. 

The next day, even though they didn't have tickets to the actual game they found an Irish pub that was flying the 12's flag and spent the day there. 

They got there before it opened and there were enough people waiting outside that the owner let them all in early. By the time the game started that afternoon they said it was so loud you couldn't even hear the TVs, and the place was packed and people were crazy... and they had the BEST time! They were so glad they went! (I didn't go because I wouldn't be able to handle that much noise for that many hours.)

Diana and Oliver were dressed in their green to represent the Seahawks! 

And this was me watching from home without my hubby. I think it's the first big game we haven't seen together. But I was wearing my fuzzy socks, and had some hot tea and fun snacks. And we won! So I had fun!

Let's see, what else? Oh, Chuck bought a new car recently. New-to-us but still, new! It's a 2022 Hundai Tucson and he really likes it. I say 'his' car (we each have a car) but it's actually our family/retirement car. He wanted to get something newer that would last us through our golden years. We'll pay it off before he retires and we expect this will be the last car we ever buy.  

It's a little strange to be planning for the last years of your life. I'm still close with friends from high school and we were texting this morning about retirement and Medicare and mentioning how it's crazy that we're at that age now. Life really goes by so fast.

We had a few days of sunshine so for lunch one day I walked around our parking lot at work. And saw these little daffodils, they made me smile! It's a little early for them here but we've had some nice weather this winter. The plants are so confused.

Well, I think that's about all from here. Oh wait, updates! 

• Beth's foot is completely healed from where she stepped on the nail.
• It looks like hair is growing in the area where she had the cortisone shot for the alopecia so we made another appointment for next month.
• I was able to cancel the biopsy and schedule a third mammo. I asked if we could do it in Bellevue (about 20-30 minutes east of us) because I was told they have a machine where you can take pics while seated. And she curiously said, "Well, we have one of those machines here too." I don't know why the lady in Seattle didn't tell me that! But we now have a new appointment scheduled for Seattle.
• Chuck is going to physical therapy a couple times a week and his back is doing much better.

Okay now I think I've covered everything. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Valentine's Day

Hello! I'm stopping in for a few minutes to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day. I hope you know how loved you are.

Beth and I got haircuts yesterday. Same style, just trimmed. Then went out for frozen yogurt.

This morning we went shopping for new dressers. The top drawer of our dresser is broken, which impacts the second drawer as well. And Beth has had her dresser for many years. In fact, she and Diana had it when they shared a room while they were growing up. Definitely time for a new one. We've been looking for a year or so but haven't found any that we really loved. Same as today. There were a few we liked okay, but none that we really wanted. So the search continues.

Then the three of us went to The Olive Garden for lunch. We hoped it would be less busy than tonight and we were right. Got seated right away. Had a delicious lunch - those bread sticks! - and brought home leftovers. 

Now we're back home just hanging out, watching the Olympics and relaxing. Hope you had a blessed day!

Deep Breath

 Do it with me, deep breath in... and exhale.

One more time, deep breath in... and exhale.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. My last post was about Beth stepping on the nail. That was on a Thursday. 

Then on Monday she had her first cortisone shot in her scalp for the scarring alopecia. They're going to monitor it to see if it works. If they can see hair growing in that area, they'll do more injections next time. She did okay with the one, but I'm not sure how she'll do with multiple shots at once.

Four days after that, we went downtown Seattle for a follow-up diagnostic appointment. They couldn't get clear images so they've decided to just do a biopsy. "We really don't know if it's needed, but just in case, let's do it." Then they explain the procedure as "difficult, painful, and lasting about 45 minutes."

I'm going to call them to see instead, about trying once more to get better images. Really praying about what we're supposed to do about all this.

Chuck hurt his back a couple weeks ago and started physical therapy this week.

I have been overseeing our room reservation system at work for more than 12 years. It's not supported anymore so for the last few months my boss and I have been learning a new program, and transferring all the data from the old to the new. Every room, every user, and every resource, (chairs, tables, tablecloths, cups, plates, napkins, stanchions, room dividers, sound tech) everything the admin might want for their events. 

Yesterday we had a zoom call with the company, and with the 13 admin who will use it for their departments. With set up, the zoom call itself, Q&A and lunch afterward, I was in there for four hours. By that point I was done! 

I've decided this weekend I'm not doing a thing! Maybe a load of laundry. And watching the game on Sunday. Seattle Seahawks are in the Superbowl! It's been exciting around this city lately.

Last Friday after Beth's appointment downtown, we decided we needed a little retail therapy.

She tried on some jean jackets but the sleeves were very long on one, and the other was just a little too small. And for some reason these didn't have working side pockets. That girl loves her pockets!

I'm sorry this is short but it's about all the energy I have for now. I've been reading your posts, but not always commenting. Hoping to get back to that soon. Have a great weekend. 

Breathe in.... and exhale. I've got to remember to do that!